hi, everyone. welcome to "on the money." i'm becky quick reporting from where the berkshire at that way meeting is under way. how you save for retirement. the strategies that have guided the world's greatest investor. the ceo of sole. what's it like to work for warren and is he the world's greatest boss, too. is zika virus in your vacation plan? what it could mean to summer travel. and believe it or not, not for your pets. cure what ales them and is it a good idea? and started swinging again. >> "on the money" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "on the money." your money, your life, your future. now, becky quick.

>> we begin with the zika virus. though the outbreak may be far from middle america here in omaha, it's still top of mind. it's now found in 66 countries and spreading and can cause devastating birth defects. as summer travel season begins, it's impacting tourists around the world. that's our cover story. while the mosquito-borne disease, brazil is the ground zero for the outbreak and it will be home for the summer olympics starting in three months. the tiny mosquito could have a huge impact on the tourism boost but here zika may cut the revenue by 20% or $47 billion. >> we will do everything to ensure the health of the athletes and all the visitors. >> in total, it could cost $3.5 billion this year. mostly from loss tourism revenue in countries from mexico to

jamaica and aruba. dengeu cost the economy $8.9 billion and more than tourism may be affected. mainland china was $2.2 million of potential investments. the u.s. costs could surge and president obama has requested $1.9 billion from congress to battle zika. so where is that money being spent to best protect potential mothers and newborns? >> dr. denise jamieson is with the centers for disease control and prevention. dr. jamieson, thank you for joining us. >> you're most welcome. >> there are a lot of questions circulating about this and i think it comes down to two basic categories. what do we know about this disease and, more importantly, what don't we know? >> what we know is that zika is generally a very mild disease inned

inned a adults. it causes fevers and red eyes and a rash and joint pain. we know that it causes microcephaly and other brain disorders. >> if you are in the pregnancy population, what should you be doing to protect yourself? >> the best way to protect yourself is if you can avoid travel or residing in areas where there's ongoing zika virus transmission. if you are in an area where that is occurring, you can take steps to protect yourself. notably, avoiding mosquito bites and also ensuring that your partner uses a condom. >> i know that here in the united states we have not had one case of transmission from mosquito bites at this point. in fact, the mosquitos that are responsible for transmission are not here in the united states but other mosquitos transmit

dengue virus. how likely is there an outbreak at some point this summer in the united states? >> well, in the continental u.s., you're correct. there are no local cases of transmission. however, in puerto rico, there are ongoing cases of zika virus infection. in terms of the mosquitos, the ones that carry zika are in the parts of the united states and however the virus is not here in the continental united states. >> we've heard from the head of the cdc saying he wouldn't be surprised to see minor pockets of outbreak somewhere in the united states this summer. how likely do you think something like that is? >> we know from other related diseases carried by the same mosquito, we are likely to see small numbers of cases in the continental united states. that's correct. >> would we know about this because of testing, how thorough is the testing or is this a situation where we won't know that this is on our shores until

women are born with babies impacted by microcephaly? >> that's a good question. the cdc is working with state, local and territorial health departments tone sure that we have adequate surveillance. we're monitoring potential cases and we're monitoring the situation to ensure that we will know if there's local transmission of zika. >> what about a zika vaccine? >> well, researchers are working on a zika vaccine. there is -- there are some vaccines to other related viruses so researchers have sort of a jump-start on that. but it's still going to take time and in the meantime it's really important that pregnant women know how to protect themselves. >> dr. jamieson, thank you for your time today. >> thank you. now here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week "on the money." america's economy is growing but very slowly. gross domestic product, a scope of the size of the u.s. economy climbed by just half a percent in the first quarter of the

year, the worst performance in two years. slow growth is not unusual in the first quarter. business investment was weak. the dow plunged more than 230 points on thursday, partly because of the weak gdp report and also partly because apple missed earnings expectation. that was the market's worse decline since february. stocks continued to fall on friday. as expected, janet yellen did nothing and left interest rates unchanged and indicated that it plans to move cautiously because of concerns about the slow economy and inflation. the next meeting is in june. and trek will soon have a new home. dreamwork bought the animated character to the big screen. the price tag is $3.8 million. up next, the businesses behind berkshire hathaway's portfolio are worth billion and

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welcome back to omaha where berkshire hathaway's annual meeting is under way. it's a company with a 100-year-old history and yet only in the last 15 years has it really found its rhythm with more than $30 million in debt in 2001, jim webber focused the company on one category. run it. it's worth half a billion dollars now. joining us is jim webber. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me, becky. >> it's kind of a novel idea when you look at the nikes and

under armours of the world, what made you decide to just focus on running? >> we saw an opportunity to focus on ourselves and running is the biggest category in all apparel and it becomes more than a sport. it becomes a fitness health and wellness pursuit for people. we saw an opportunity to build a brand and we haven't looked back. >> how do you execute that strategy? >> well, it's interesting because first it starts with product and so running is a repetitive activity usually on asphalt. so it really matters and we are way in to creating performance products from head to toe, whether shoes or sports bra because the proof is at 26 miles. >> really, it's 26.2. >> it begins with product and connecting people's lives. >> what is it like to be a small fish in a really big ocean and then have warren buffett as somebody you can turn to or get

advice from? >> you know, i can compare and contrast. we had four owners at brooks in the last 15 years and i have to say berkshire for us in building a brand is the best platform you could ask for because, you know, i think warren buffett is truly a long-term investor. so we're challenged not just to imagine our business well, and we do, we want to deliver sales and profits but it's about building the brand over the next decade and we've always had that mind set. so as a place to build our brand in a very competitive category, berkshire is a fantastic owner for brooks. and so that's how we experience it. because we are operating as if we own the brand. >> you know, it seems like it can be a pretty tricky environment when you look at places like sports authority, they are going out of business. >> yeah. >> how do you try and extend your reach and in an evolving situation? >> it's extremely dynamic. convenience and price and

internet typically in our category, shoes are selling over the internet. but at the same time, there's a brick and mortar experience that's got service, community, the center of the run, fun runs, training running groups and the like. so the middle is, i think, the toughest place to be. there's really good operators out there in sporting goods but i think you've got to bring that experience to the store. the customer will go somewhere else. >> millennials are now outnumbering baby boomers in terms of the generation here. >> yeah. >> how do you reach out to the millennials and are they customers, too? >> 24% of people who run forfeit fitness are millennials. usually in their late 20s, their busy and raising households and that's when they find our brand. we have to be lit up digitally because that's where they are. we have a significant e-commerce business but the real engagement

is socially and digitally. >> is that the biggest part of your marketing? >> no. we're still a company that shows up at 500 running events a year in some way because runners are there. but they are doing all of the research so we have to recreate this grassroots phenomenon in the digital realm and we are doing that. >> thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me, becky. if you've ever flipped through a catalog, you've probably seen it from othrienta trading. >> great to be here. >> about four years ago, you guys were facing difficult times and what happened? how did warren buffett become interested in the company? >> we went drthrough the recessn

and we've always been profitable and successful and our owners at the time decided to sell the company. we went through a sales process. they didn't get the valuation we wanted and my cfo said now we need to talk to warren. warren doesn't get involved in auctions. my ceo knows the ceo at berkshire sent him an e-mail on a friday at 10:00. within two hours, our phone rang and it was warren. he said, tell me about the business, send me whatever financials you have and i'll get back to you soon. that was friday afternoon. tuesday he called back and said we should talk. i'm in town all week. i said i'll be there in an hour. he said come on over. we went over and had a two-hour meeting with warren and at the end of the meeting he said, let's do the deal. >> were you surprised by the speed with which this whole deal transpired? >> a little surprised but it lives up to everything i had heard about warren.

it was everything -- he came exactly as billed. he was so smart. the questions he asked, he's so intelligent and so down to earth, self-deprecating. he was funny. i said what about due diligence? he said, you don't need to do due diligence, leave cash on the balance sheet and we'll close quickly. >> and speaking of bosses, you were on undercover boss a few years ago. was there anything that you learned from that experience that you still take away from today? >> for me, it was communication. for me it was great to work side by side with those employees and understand and get to know our employees better and understand their frustration. a lot of them had great ideas but nothing was happening, or at least they didn't realize, sometimes things were happening and there was no feedback. so after the show, the first thing i did i said, here's a list of all of the things we've done in the last three months that we've implemented in the

warehouse because of your su c immediately from there. >> i get the catalog at home and i often flip through it. how do you breakdown sales these days in terms of how much is coming from the catalog, how much is from your online component. is it a marketing tool for you at this point? >> absolutely. the catalogs, we still mail over 200 million catalogs a year but it's less than we used to. we've shifted to digital. year to date so far, almost 90% of the orders are coming online. 82% of our sales are coming online. >> i've got to tell you, it's the catalog showing up that reminds me to look online. >> and i've heard some announcements where people are eliminating their catalog business. no, we will always have a catalog because of our scale and we're able to print and mail catalogs very cost effectively but we are shifting less away from print, reducing print spend and shifting more to digital marketing and we're seeing good response there, too.

>> thank you for your time today. >> thank you, becky. great to be here. >> really appreciate it. up next, we are "on the money." is building a solid nest egg easier than you think? if you want warren buffett's advice, it could be that simple. some of the strategies he follows, next. and later, medical marijuana has new patients. gs you show up.

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born with a hunger to fly and a passion to build something better. and what an amazing time it's been, decade after decade of innovation, inspiration and wonder. so, we say thank you america for a century of trust, for the privilege of flying higher and higher, together. ♪ warren buffett is one of the greatest investors of all time and he has used some very simple principles and some of which you can use yourself. joining us right now, how you can be your own buffett, correspondent share rsharon

epperson. when you're looking to buy stock, there's so many different strategies and stocks you can buy from. what's one way that he narrows down his list? >> one of the things -- and you've talked to warren buffett more than any journalist. he believes you should never buy what you don't understand. buy companies that you really know something about or that you want to learn a lot about. and then research specifically the history of the company and its leadership. how long that leadership is going to be there, the management is going to be there. it can be very, very important and then stick with that company. buy something that you want to stick with for a while. >> kind of like the peter lynch strategy, things that you can see and buy yourself. >> absolutely. >> one of his well-known principles is buy and hold. how does buy and hold really work? what does that mean? >> he believes in finding fairly price stocks, stocks that you believe based on their profits, based on their dividends which is a portion of the profits that you can get for holding onto that stock.

don't pay attention to the daily price fluctuations. you know, you don't want to look at the stock price and you want to hold on to it for at least ten years or more. it's important to make money buy investing, not by trading in and out of the stock. >> what about when you should buy a stock? does he give advice on that, too? >> there's advice on when to buy that stock and you have to think about what you're comfortable with and make sure that you have money on hand to take advantage of opportunities. the thing that rea trips up a lot of investors is the greed factor. you know, or the fear factor. they are too scared to get into a stock or too greedy to get into it when they need to. it's important to put your emotions in check and keep it in check and remember that you're buying a stock that you are comfortable with and that you intend to hold on to for a long time. >> you make it sound easy. as we know, anybody who plays with the market it's never as

easy. >> he does make it look so easy. but it can be helpful to investors. >> sharon, thank you. great to see you. >> great to see you, too. up next, a look at the news for the week ahead and treating your pets with pot. we will talk about the highs and lows of the controversial treatment. >> that's a good boy. ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪ ♪jake reese, "day to feel alive"♪ you can fly across welcome town in minutes16, or across the globe in under an hour. whole communities are living on mars and solar satellites

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stories that may impact your money this week. on tuesday, indiana's democratic and republican primaries take place. also, auto sales for april and we'll see if the car makers are still in high gear. on wednesday, a service sector with the ism nonmanufacturing survey. thursday marks the anniversary of allen shepherd jr. being the first american to go into space. we'll see how many jobs are added to the economy when the unemployment report is released. as more and more states legalize medical marijuana, a new patient population is emerging whether it's for pain, arthritis or anxiety, cannabis is now being offered to canines. our jane wells has more. >> this is joy griffin. >> this is the last person you'd expect to see at a medical marijuana dispensary in los angeles. she didn't come here for herself.

she came for joy. >> well, basically, joy was diagnosed in january with cancer of the bladder. >> reporter: radiation and chemo would cost thousands of dollars but griffin had a friend who used medical marijuana to recover from cancer surgery and recommended it and that's when she discovered the hottest new field in cannabis. >> there you go. i'm going to squirt it in there. >> reporter: pot for pets. >> that's a good boy. >> reporter: deborah has been giving her dog tyler a cannabis-based product to deal with arthritis. >> he's running in the park again. >> reporter: the same product was given to sunshine to stop her seizures. it worked. >> she's eating her whole meals when generally she's a picky eater. >> reporter: there's not a lot of research of cannabis on animals which is why peta is holding support and also vets cannot legally prescribe it.

you have to go where they can sell it legally to humans and in california that means you have to have your own medical marijuana card. some veterinarians feel at the very least the products can't hurt, especially since they have very low levels of thc to prevent pets from getting high and one vet started his own line. >> we're using medical marijuana for illness, pain, arthritis, anxiety and these are common ailments that we see in the veterinary clinics every day. >> look at her. she just looks healthy, eats well, has a lot of energy. >> and instead of spending thousands of dollars on chemo and radiation, she's spending about 100 bucks a month. for "on the money," jane wells, los angeles. >> what will they think of next? our thanks to jane wells. that's our show today. i'm becky quick. thank you so much for joining me. mother's day is next week and we'll take a look at the best companies for mom. each week, keep it right here. we're "on the money." have a great one and we'll see

you next weeke

right now, excitement is building for the 37th annual blue cross broad street run. they will begin their ten mile trek starting at 8:00 this morning, and nbc 10 will bring it to you live. runners will definitely need their rain gear, we'll see wet weather at race time. how much and when will be in the upcoming forecast. this is nbc 10 news today. i'm rosemary conners.