this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib brought to you by. >> sailing through the heart of historic cities and landscapes on a river you get close to iconic landmarks, to local life, to cultural treasures. viking river cruises, exploring the world in comfort. record territory, ben bernanke sparks a rall pushes stocks to all-time highs. so where are the best opportunities now? >> pain at the pump, when you pull up to fill up, don't be surprised if you have to pay up. gas prices are rising and

predicted to go higher but for how long? >> and rip off from a multimillion dollar house to the big house, we have the story of a woman who defrauded taxpayers like you in a medicare scheme so brazen, it's hard to believe. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for thursday, july 11th. good evening everyone. a day of milestones on wall street today. stocks surged and the major averages hit new records thanks to a broad based rally. all ten of the s&p 500 sectors were up. what happened? all it the ben bernanke rally. investors were inspired to buy stocks this morning following news we told you about last night, the fed chairman saying the central bank will continue it's easy money policies. why? because bernanke says the weak u.s. economy still needs help. the buying was explosive. the dow soared 170 points closing at 15,460 and the das

knack jumped and the s&p up 2 points. even the small cap russell 2000 index is in record terror tonight. the ten-year treasury rose with the down to 2.57% and gold up 32.50 to 1,279. joining us to talk more about today's market activity and what may be ahead is chief equity strategy. did ben bernanke say anything different and if he didn't, what sparked the rally? >> not a lot different, tyler. the emphasis and maybe our listening and interpretation was a little bit different. i think the world largely felt when he made his speech a couple weeks ago that he was signaling

that we're going to start going the other direction and in fact, he was but he kept saying if the economy is strong enough, and i think last night he said the economy clearly isn't quite strong enough so we're there with the guns to help. >> so bob, who should invest tors be really listening to? fed chairman bernanke or the ceos parading talking about outlook for their businesses and earnings for the next couple mont months? which is more important, the fed or earnings? >> that's a great question. the feds almost finished it's work. that's the pe or evaluation improving the stock market is a wonderful thing. pretty soon it will depend on earnings and corporate ceos are delivering mixed messages. on the whole, positive but not all of them and big magnitude. we have to watch the next releases quickly, which will be fast and furious never the next few weeks. >> do you expect the earnings

picture will be reasonably good beginning tomorrow with jp morgan and wells fargo in the banking sector and then as you look out, bob, beyond this past quarter into the second half of this year and 2014, do you think there's going to be more earnings momentum or a continued slog? >> i feel a lot better about the second half of this year and into next year in terms of earnings improvement, highest single digit earnings gains. the quarter that we're about to report could be slop by again, particularly, tyler, the revenue level. revenue gains in the first quarter left something to be desired and we may have not quarter of the sloppiness which is part of the reason they may be back before it moves substantially higher. >> we get excited when we see the stock march yet going up and hitting records but the individual investor stayed out of the picture as you know. wondering what your take is on this wall street journal piece by the ceo and founder of swab,

the title why individual investors are fleeing stocks. are there ways to fix things so the individual comes back in? they say it's really important that nobody benefits if the di invtor dootpaicipate in the . what do you think, bob? >> there is no question about it and in someways the individual investor participates in retirement plans and the like, maybe not buying and selling themselves. a lot of individuals feel that they can't compete with the muscle of the professional in the market, if you will. my view is there is some element of truth to that but the other hand, the old days who got the information the fastest? now everybody gets the information at the same time. so if i were an individual and not quote a professional, i wouldn't give up but i would make sure i relied on financial advisors and products that can help me get there, as opposed to having to do all the work myself. >> bob doll, good to see you.

one of the biggest gainers in the dow today, microsoft. the same day it announced a major reorganization. as the world's biggest software maker struggles in a world of tablets and smart phones that don't use the operating system, the company is shaping things up and refocussing efforts. jon fortt explains. >> reporter: times are changing in the pc business and microsoft is trying to change, too. steve announcing a highly an tils pat -- anticipated restructurinrestruc. we are rallying behind one company, not a collection of divisional strategies. the new structure will have four main engineering divisions, operating instructions, clouds, apps and devices but not on marketing, finance departments and nhls. >> it's a needed realignment. they have to shake the tree. >> reporter: it's been 11 years

since microsoft had a restructuring this deep, that's when microsoft first organized into business units. the mobile and cloud revolutions by the iphone and amazon are a big reason they are under pressure now. research firms idc and gardener said shipments dropped 11%, which means that microsoft needs to look for growth in other areas. nokia that uses microsoft software in the phones unveiled the new lumia 1020 today and he is sure he picked the right partner. >> to combat samsung, apple feels like a good place. if you look at the an droid market now and the players in the android market environment, it's a tough slog. >> reporter: how will we really know if microsoft is making the right moves? in a year and a half, we'll see products developed under this new structure, if they are mind

blowing steve job will look like a genius. who will be the next microsoft ceo to make big changes? the sharp rise in sales of tablets and smart phones comes at the expense of the old fashioned desktop computer. worldwide shipment ps of personal computers fell for the fifth quart near a year down 11% from april through juniper i didn't do. as pc sales take a serious slide, china unseeded hewlett packard to become the world's number one pc maker. lonovo who bought them back in 2005 controls 17% of the world's pc market. hewlett packard slipped to second place. ford is cutting the price of the all electric 2014 focus sedan by 10%, about $4,000 off the sticker price for this year's new model. the auto maker wants to make surprises are competitive when the focus electric hits

showrooms in the next few weeks going up against different sized cars, the laef and neon. it's a matter of time before those crude costs trickle down to what we pay at the pump. as hampton pearson reports, you might see big price hikes as early as this weekend. >> reporter: pain at the pump is coming back with a vengeance. gasoline up in the last few days and could be up 20 cent ps in the next few weeks. motorists nationwide feel blind sided. >> it would suck. it would make everything more uncou uncomfortable. >> it will lesson the driving i do. >> i'm going through $200 a month, $250 a month in gas. >> you have to pay it, home, work, grocery store, that's it. >> reporter: and in california where gasoline prices are hoovering around $4 a gollon and

motorists pay the highest gasoline taxes in the country, 27 cents a gallon. >> they are milking us for everything they can, because they can. >> reporter: 3.63 a month ago before falling to 3.47 currently according to aaa. the coming price spike is creating a not so perfect storm for consumers as the summer driving season moves into high gear. >> they will get sticker shock over the next couple weeks. i think you'll see the impact really after the summer. i don't expect anyone to change their vacation plans now. >> reporter: crude oil's future is trading above $105 a barrel and translating to big increases in the retail gasoline spot market. not good news for a still fragile economy, especially c consume consumers. >> households benefitted by $15 billion over the next year relative to where gasoline prices normally are. so we have a gasoline tail wind

but of course, that could change if gas prices move higher. >> the price spike may be temporary. refineries are producing more gasoline than the past six years but demand is higher than a year ago. it is after all, the summer driving season. for "nightly business report," i'm hampton pearson in washington. from the roads to the skies where more flights are running late, on time ratings for the biggest airlines fell again during may. the department of transportation reports 79% of domestic flights arrived on time during the month of may, down a year ago. hawaiian airlines, often the top seater, was more often to arrive on time and american eagle was most likely to make you late. a federal budget surplus at least for the month of june. the u.s. government posted a 117 billion-dollar surplus last month and that's thanks to rising tax revenues and public spending cuts in the sequester

legislation and some big payments coming into treasury from the bailed out mortgage giants fannie mae and freddy mac. senators want to break up the biggest banks say they got bigger, more powerful and take more risks since the financial crisis. aimed at separating traditional lending like investment banking, insurance swats. the sponsors include john mccain. democratic senators elizabeth warren and maria cantwell. another big city spurns wall street. will the biggest retailer get a foothold on the lucrative downtown market. first, how the international market closed today.

good news in some of the nation's biggest retailers. cash registers were ringing for than usual in the month of june. big chains including costco and victoria secret reported the strongest sales gains since january with revenues up almost 4% since last year. soring temperatures and an improving economy and summer discounts encouraged more shoppers to spend more money. in the meantime, walmart is dropping big expansion plans in washington d.c. after a living wage measure was passed for employees of big boxed stores in the district. it's the latest set back for the world's largest retailer. our courtney regan has more now. >> reporter: one of the nation's biggest cities is going head-to-head with the world's largest retailer. walmart is terminating plans for

at least three d.c. locations if it's forced to pay minimum wage employees 50% more than the current level. the washington d.c. city counsel palsz passed a living wage bill requiring retailers with more than 75,000 square feet and annual sales of over a billion dollars to pay a minimum wage of $12.50 an hour up from the $8.25 rate. walmart doesn't currently have any stores in d.c. but started construction on three with three more planned. as a result of the city counsel's decision. they will not pursue the throw locations it has not broken ground on and is reviewing the financial and legal implications on the three under construction. >> it's about time that walmart and these large retailers pay they fair share. i mean, we done worked and worked and worked and worked and barely get minimum wage half the

time. people have families to take care of. >> reporter: walmart feels it's being unfairly targeted arguing it planned to bring 1800 jobs to d.c. they said the wages meet or beat benefits by most competitors and less than 1.5% earn the federal or state minimum wage. >> costco is located here now and have no objection to the living wage law. in fact, they are doing very well in grossing revenue here. home depot is located in the nation's capital and also doing very well. >> reporter: it's not law yet. the d.c. mayor has to sign the bill, and it has to go through a review period. the supports of walmart's presence have time left to lobby the mayor to veto the bill. >> i'll lobby to definitely veto this bill. >> you never should hit one part of the business community against the other. >> reporter: other cities

including san francisco and santa fe have approved across the bored bin mapproved minimum hikes. on a record day in the markets, stellar gains by individual stocks to tell you about in tonight's market focus. we begin with disney. it was a dow leader as a jp morgan note called investor's attention to the outlook to the tv and parks divisions calling them atrakttive. shares gained more than 2.5% closing at $66.58 and the stock is up more than 34%. amazon broke through the $300 barrier for the first time ever after an e commerce data forum reported sales jumped in june. amazon shares closed just below 300 gaining 2.5%. micro devices led the s&p

gainers. chips going to be use in gaming consoles for microsoft and sony expected to be big sellers this holiday season s. merrill lynch raised to buy from under perform. investors traded amd at nine times normal volume driving the price up nearly 12%. the stock closed at $4.45. the sell gene reports the lynch pen cancer drug slowed cancer in a trial. they are looking to broaden the use to increase sales and says it will talk with u.s. and european regulators about those test results. celgnen closed at $134.92, more than doubled in a year. jp morgan says the sale of assets will unlock up to $4 billion in value. shares gained about 3 1/4%.

growing demand for new phones sparked a virgining market for copy cat hand sets and seems like china where so many of the gad lets sold are made is also ground zero for the knock offs. >> reporter: this is what the chinese authorities don't want you to see, open selling of counter fit goods. >> this is not an apple. it's not an american made product, so where is your iphone? iq phone. >> reporter: the i clone designed assembled in china. like the ones at this electronic supermarket in beijing feed the perception china gains a system with counter fits and currency control. in june the u.s. pointed a finger at chinese wind power firms accusing it of stealing

trade secrets. they aren't commenting. china says it plays by the rules. >> of course, china would like to protect it's own business but if they try to follow each national practice. it's not doing it. >> reporter: not everyone agrees. in one prominent case they ruled against a chinese government monopoly on processing credit card and bank transactions but a year later, the industry is still waiting for action. mastercard started processing chinese currency or rnb but told to stop by china central bank which said the move was illegal. >> what we were doing is reading the cross border space and rnb settle the in hong kong so i don't see how that breaks any rules or laws. >> reporter: is it a fair playing field? >> not yet. not yet. to be perfectly frank, there is this motion the u.s. is a mature

market, developed market and china is developing so that, you know, there needs to be time for the field to be totally level. i think we can go faster. >> reporter: for "nightly business report," in beijing. coming up on the program, the story of a woman who prayed on the elderly and ripped off taxpayers. a bold multi-million dollar medicare scheme. first, how the most widely held stocks closed today. it has been estimated that medicare fraud cast taxpayers $80 a year and some say it's

double that. one couple turned that fraud into an art form. in fact, the woman was so good, investigators say she deserves an award, calling her a master of deception. >> reporter: the crime beginning in suburban new york. they own add small medical supply company but wanted more. >> this is one of the more despicable crimes that i've seen. >> reporter: they hatched an elaborate scheme, used older patients identities to bill medicare but never provide services. helen playing the starring roll. >> you look the part and say the right things, you'll get through there. >> reporter: she did. she boldly walked into dozens of nursing homes, blowing past security and check points, her eyes set on the patient's charts. >> she stole base sheets that

contain demographic data you need on a patient to steal their identity. >> reporter: the scene played out with amazing skill. joe and scott are two of the main investigators on the case. they say she was unstoppable making her moves at night and on weekends. >> she would hold herself out as a doctor. she dressed well. she drove a big mercedes and i think she intimidated some of the people at the homes that she belonged there. >> reporter: armed with stolen patient records, she created fake order forms and forged doctors signatures to submit claims for gauze, claims, walkers and expensive creams billing medicare thousands of dollars every day and pure profit. >> overwhelming evidence that there was a massive healthcare fraud scheme going on. >> reporter: went on for four years growing from a home office to a large industrial space. the couple billing med cure more

than $10 million and raking in $6.5 million, taxpayer money and living large. $2 million for this house in long island filled with expensive furniture, luxury cars, handbags, and private school tuition for their daughter. helane posing as a doctor at fancy lunches, making the society pages and keeping the act going at nursing homes. >> nobody knew her. >> reporter: we sat down with prosecutors from the u.s. attorneys office for an exclusive look into the case and the evidence is stunning. she focused on this pricey cream called hydrogel. she became one of the nation's leading providers. look at this, she claims one 85-year-old woman is so riddled with deep wounds she needs eight packs of the gel but the nursing home administrator calls it mind

boggling saying quote she's a very healthy women, physically and mentally and it's ridiculous to think she would have any kind of ulcer. in one case she ordered boots for a man that clearly didn't need it. this patient was a double amputee. he had no legs at all. she didn't stop there. she orders hydrogel for the amputee's knee, thigh and ankle. when she's audited by medicare she fights back. >> somebody taught her well because she wrote the right things. when it goes to the system, it looked legitimate and paid. >> reporter: finally, one family takes a close look at their benefit statement shocked at what they find. >> i have no idea what this company is doing and we never receive this wound care. >> reporter: it doesn't take long before investigators move in on her home. >> she was hide income a closet, so we pulled her out of the closet and arrested her. >> reporter: the defense argues someone else is to blame.

someone who occupied helane's body. >> they claim she had multiple personalities and one committed the fraud and not helane michelle. >> reporter: the judge didn't buy it. helane michelle was convicted and sentenced to 12 years. helane michelle's attorney will say they are planning an appeal. medicare made changes to the system so now it's much easier for them to catch schemes like this but investigators say a black market for patient's face sheets, the documents she stole out of the nursing homes still exist and as for her husband, he pled the country right after she was arrested and is currently on the government's list of most wanted. >> amazing story. >> amazing story. went onto the tune of $6 million in pure profit to them at the expense of the taxpayer and the victims in the nursing home. >> she really did play the role and now in her defense as they

appeal it, no telling how they will convince jurors or the judge. >> one of her many personalities they say. how about that? >> that's "nightly business report" for us. i'm susie gharib thanks for watching. >> i'm tyler mathisen, thanks for me, as well. have a great thursday evening everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow night. "nightly business report" has been brought to you by. >> sailing through the heart of historic cities and landscapes on a river, you get close to iconic landmarks, to local life, to cultural treasures. viking river cruises, exploring the world in comfort.

it's friday, july 12th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. senior officials 20 two days meeting face-to-face and didn't always see eye to eye. they wrapped