1. well we certainly hope we've given you some essential tips that you can use when you serve and enjoy wine. and that's gonna do it for our show today, thank you for joining us, we hope you enjoyed your stay in wine country and we'll see you again next time. for more information about today's show, log on to our web site - inwinecountry.com hi, everybody. welcome to the wall street journal report. i'm maria bartiromo. will america soar orland with a thud? what it means to your economy and money. a superstore may be coming to a neighborhood near you. how one of the richest men in japan wants to transform american retailing. having the talk with your aging parents. how to protect their money and have them navigate the sciences of retirement. "wall street journal report" starts right now.

what's making news, as we head into a new week on wall street. corporate america is getting its report card as earning season kicked off this week. important because we will get inside into just how strong companies are today and how the broader economy is doing. so far it's been a mixed picture with technology giant google beating expectations, as do jp morgan chase, although there was a slowdown in corporate deal making, and that hurt jp morgan stock. it was a strong week for the markets nonetheless, the dow up 300 points on monday, the best day since august. and triple digits on monday after bad news coming out of europe. the federal reserve market committee released the minutes from the meeting in september. they showed policymakers considered even more quantitative easing with a third round of bond purchases,

although they did stop short of doing it. the minutes also showed members' favorite steps to increase the feds' transparency. hedge funds founder raj rajada wrrks at was sentenced to ten years for insider trading. a professor at the university of chicago's booth school of business has a singular insight into how the fed works, what it does and what it can do. he joins me right now. welcome to the program. >> good to be here. >> federal reserve chairman ben bernanke recently called the unemployment rate a national crisis. has the fed run out of things to do? >> i think it's very important to make a distinction between what the fed can and cannot do. people talk about whether it's run out of ammunition or not. it's always had ammunition to

affect inflation rate, affect deflation and affect interest rates. that's what they've done to try to lower the short rate and also lower the long rate. but what impact does that have on the economy? well, that's a separate set of issues. the fed can provide the foundations for growth, it can make sure there is good function of the financial markets, it can assure that there is enough credit available, but if there's a lot of fiscal uncertainty and regulatory uncertainty, people aren't going to purchase and firms aren't going to hire. >> what would you like to see congress and the white house do to truly have a job creation plan that is sustained and creates jobs, gets people back to work? >> i think sustain is the really important issue. just short-term changes of the tax code are probably not going to have that much of a long-term boost to really get firms to hire. what we really need to do is restructure the tax code to try to get rid of a lot of the particular loopholes, and that

would allow us to broaden the base, reduce the overall rate, and this is exactly what the president's bipartisan commission talked about. that could be much more pro growth. >> we talk about this a lot. i feel like i've been hearing this idea of tax reform for a long time. >> oh, yeah. >> it does include lowering corporate taxes to get corporations to hire, because they feel like when they hire one person, it's not just about the salary, it's about the health care benefits and the long-term benefits that person will get, and that costs money. so why haven't we seen an overall reconstruction of the tax code given the people? the bowl simpson agreement came up with that. we keep hearing about it but it doesn't happen. >> i keep my fingers crossed. maybe i'm too hopeful that that's what the committee is going to come up with. maybe they can put us on a path to going to more fundamental reform. we have a very high tax on

corporations on capital in the u.s. and that's one of the reasons why we're not getting some of the longer term investment and the hiring we really need to have for recovery. >> let me ask you about trade. this week congress passed that long long-awaited trade bill sitting there and having gone there this week. we have a trade with korea, colombia and panama. is this going to have an impact on the economy, in your view? >> it has two gakimpacts. it shows congress and other parties can work together to get good outcome. we had by paipartisan consent. fortunately we're doing this. i think it's going to be good because it shows that congress can work but also substantively it's good because we're significantly reducing the tariffs in places like korea much more than we're reducing them here, so we'll be able to

export more cars and more goods to these countries. >> what's your take on europe right now? >> it's still stumbling along. markets seem to be more comfortable with the stumbling, but there's still going to be stumbling. when you have an institute structure when you need the votes of 17 sovereign parliaments and slovakia can hold up the entire thing, it's a good sign. there's still bumps in the road, but europe has to look at it and say, is this the right structure for us going forward? >> knowing where we are right now, do you think we are going to see a double dip recession in this country? >> i don't see the data supporting that right now. after my time in washington, i never say never about anything. we're seeing some recently good numbers. we saw some challenging numbers over the summer, but september numbers a little stronger. retail sales were reported this week a little bit stronger. i think there's hope. i wouldn't say we're going to have a strong recovery, but i don't see any basis for saying

we're going to have a contraction. >> and the federal reserve president i spoke to this week. take a look at what he said. >> we've had a horrific shock, if you will, that's destroyed the economy, that's left millions of people out of work, many people now unemployed for six months or longer, and to put all those people back to work and do the rebalancing that the economy needs to do is going to take time, and it's going to be painful. >> so we're in this for a long time? what do you think? >> unfortunately, i think already a lot of challenges. we have a long time to go with the deleveraging. we need to work on the housing market and we haven't made a lot of progress there. that's one of the big disa appointments i had on the regulatory going forward. nothing on freddie mac or fannie mae and that weighs on

taxpayers. i don't think the fed in and of itself can cause the growth when you've got other burdens down there. >> the occupy wall street movement continues to grow. what do you think that's telling us? >> the unemployment rate has been over 9% for a very, very long period of time. europe had been used to this sort of standard operating procedure. it's not in the u.s. i can understand why there is a great deal of frustration. i don't see exactly where the frustration is focused, but i can understand why there is a lot of frustration out there. >> randy, good having you on the program. >> good to be here. up next on the "wall street journal report," can japan concede with american consumers? one of the best known shopping addresses. how to get organized and how to talk about it. as we take a break, have a look at the stock market end of the week.

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new york's fifth avenue is a legendary shopping district. now it's getting a new neighbor with japan's largest retailer, unique low, the brand, known for affordable basics is taking on the world's largest consumer market with a flagship store that will be the largest store on fifth avenue. will american shoppers respond? the u.s. chief operating officer joins me now of unique low. mr. kugo ku, nice to have out show. $300 million lease, reported to be the most expensive retail lease ever in new york. you see opportunity with the american consumer, clearly. why is that? >> we think this is a great time to be in america. people are concerned about value for money and we offer some

incredible products at an incredible price point. we are made for all. whether you're 16 or 60, you will find something here at unique low. >> it's interesting because this is a very tough time to be opening stores and certainly doubling down in the retail environment. we all know what's going on in the global economy. but you want unique low to reach $12 billion in american sales by the end of the decade. you're looking to build more stores when other retailers are closing american stores. how will you do it? was it tough to shore up now in this economic landscape? >> no. actually, this is a great time to get started, because again, the consumer is concerned about value for money. the consumer is concerned about disposable income. whether they purchase gasoline or whether they purchase a cashmere sweater, they're looking for value. right here at unique low, for the next few weeks, we have cashmere sweaters on sale between $49.90 and $59.90.

there's great value. 100% cashmere in 29 collars for men and women. >> a second store opens on 49th street next week. a real big expansion in the u.s. here. that brings the total in the u.s. to three stores, 1500 american employees. what's it like to work at unique low? i love the story your ceo has done with some innovative thinking, sending employees to japan for a training period, making english the company language. why go through these steps? >> well, we believe the future of pararetailing in the mass segment involves the globalization of the world. the people who are most able to become global and grab market share are the ones who are going to win this competition. we believe unique low is very well placed to make that happen, to become number one worldwide. >> it's very interesting to see you sending employees to japan

to learn the culture. tell me about balancing that culture with the american culture. how does it differ and what's most important in terms of ensuring that your employees are well balanced to make the brand really global? >> our heritage is japanese. we did, after all, begin in japan. and particularly the japanese are into cleanliness and friendliness, and most importantly, customer service is something we really value. for example, if you purchase an item at unique low, our employees are taught to give the credit card back with both hands out to the customer. in japan, that is a sign of respect. we have all the workers doing that at the register as well. the challenge is to globalize each market, and what we love about americans is their positive energy, and their friendliness, and their hardworking dedication. so we obviously want to combine

those strengths of japan that we have in our heritage with the strength of america. >> i love the fact that it really is a family business. your japanese ceo's father found unique low as a menswear store in the 1940s. you all have reinvented the brand in the 1980s. how is business going in your home country right now, in japan? >> it's been a little soft over the past couple months, but we're very positive that things are going to turn around for us as well. obviously we're working on product, making even better product than we have thus far. kutak, one of our best sellers worldwide, very special in fabric and product, we sold 89 million last year and we're going to sell 100 million this year. >> you've made acquisitions also in brands like vera wang and the sale of barney's department

store. do you plan to add to the stable of companies again? are you still in expansion mode in terms of acquisition? >> our chairman has always said all things are on the table. we are concerned about value for our shareholders, doing what's in the best interest of our company, and doing what's in the best interest of our brand. as in many things in life, there may be a right time and a place, and we will make the perfect decision at that time. but what you can see from our track record is we are very different investors. we've made some great investments and we've walked away from investments when we didn't think there was value in the company. >> we'll leave it there. thanks for being on the program. thanks very much. we'll see you soon. talking dollars with mom and dad. how to protect your parents' money and ensure their golden money and ensure their golden years stay that way.

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and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. welcome back. of all the money discussions in life, this is the one most of us dread. when is it time to parent your parents financially? jeff bodike is the author of "protecting your parents' money: the essentials of guiding mom and dad into retirement." having that talk with your parents about money, their money, is one of the most important chapters in the book.

>> it's chapter 1 and it's chapter 1 for a reason, and that is because it's the most important topic. most of it is managing their money, but the rest is about talking with mom and dad. you're talking about their mortality, a touchy subject, which is money, and they can see there is financial elderly abuse out there. a lot of it is perpetrated by ki, and parents are really reluctant to have an open conversation about money with you for fear that maybe they lose control of their assets for fear of an idea that you have for yourself. >> and also, they're getting so many conflicting people, getting calls about change your phone, do this. so there is confusion about money. when is the right time to bring this up? how do you begin it? and i know the language you use is very important, right?

>> the time to bring it up is when you notice something is wrong. it may be just a weird tic in the back of your mind that something is not quite right with mom and dad financially. maybe it's obvious, mom and dad come to you and say, hey, i'm having trouble paying the bills, i'm having trouble generating the bills, can you help me? that's clearly a sign for you to step in, and the way to do it is real care and concern about your parents. you have to keep them in control of the process. you don't want to be in a position where they feel you're trying to usurp control of their money, because it's never going to work that way. so you want a conversation that's open and honest. you want to say, mom and dad, i'm concerned about this. we need to do something about your money, and i want to be in a position to help you when it matters most. >> walk us through the logistics. what's the first step for adult children to do who need to understand these new responsibilities, that you have to take care of your parents'

money, too? >> the first step is clearly the talk, and once your parents are on board with having you take control of their money and helping them with this process, then it's a matter of building a financial profile of mom and dad. where is their money coming in? where is their money going out? you need to go through their tax files and find out, do they have cds in some state that they don't pay attention to anymore because they've forgotten about them? can you go through a budget process with them to determine what their real expenses are every month and their discretionary expenses, and if you can match their real expenses to their real income, all this discretionary stuff you can start playing with and let them live the life they want to live. >> how do you determine how much they need to live, and with their extra money, what should they be doing? >> how much they need to live on is an individual family discussion. you need to go through their car

notes, whatever they have to pay for every month, that's what they need to live. whatever mom and dad do with that is up to them. do they want to save more because it makes them uncomfortable in retirement that they're going to run out? do they want to spend money on things they have fun doing, macrame classes, golf, spending it on the grandkids. >> if, in fact, you believe your parents cannot live at home or will not live at home, how do you figure out institutional care and what's right for that family? >> there's a bunch of options. it could be you have to have mom and dad live at home and you have a caregiver come in, it could be that siblings have to come in because you don't have the money to cover this stuff. it could be you think, they have medicare, they're fine, but the fact is medicare doesn't cover

care in a nursing home or something like that. you have to decide what mom and dad have that they can afford. >> jeff, thanks for being here. why the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich could soon make you say "nuts!" an airline's job, is to take you from where you are... to where you need to be. and we're not just talking about points on a map. with a more intuitive delta website and mobile app... and the most wifi equipped planes. we let you be everywhere at once. innovations like these are extending our reach so you can extend yours. and now, even at 30,000 feet you can still touch the ground.

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check out the web site, wsjrcnbc.com. look at the stories in the week ahead that may move the markets and impact your money this week. a busy week of earnings again. we'll hear from sachs, bank of america and others. mcdonald's, microsoft, at&t ask general electric. part owner of the company that produce this program. we'll get important inflation indicators. tuesday is the ppr report. and then on wednesday, the consumer price index will be out. the total number of residential units that started construction last month also coming out this week. that's happening on wednesday, as is the federal reserve's beige book which is a surge of regional economies in the united states. prices are on the way up

with peanut butter. few planted the legume and there were droughts in the northeast. peanut prices have increased to more than $1100 a ton. that's up more than 450 a few years ago. the peanut butter companies will be raising prices at the end of the month. peanuts contributed $400 billion in a year. who knew? i'll see you