captioning sponsored bwpbt >> paul: the fedolds interest ras near zero and sees light at the end of the cession's tunnel economist michelle girard an market strategismike holland join us to discu the central ba's latest policy statement. >> suzanne: overhaing the tion's financial rule book it's something barney frank wants toeep on the front rner. the inflntial lawmaker says he wants a bill on the house floor by nember. >> paul: google's c.e. says get readfor a spending spree as the internet goliath ars up touy a company a month to expandts business. >> taking the stairsnot taking the elator. getting up and ming around. weake walks at lunchtime where we might just go ta restaurant

and t down. >> suzanne: boosting emploe health a wellness, it's at the heart of an innovative pgram lower employer health care costs. >> paul:'m paul kangas. suzanne: and i'm suzanne pratt. susie ghar is on assignment. this is "nightlyusiness report" r wednesday, september 23. "nightly business rert" is made ssible by:

this program was made possib by contribions to your pbs station fromiewers like you. thank you. 7//& >> suzanne: good eveng everyone. the federal serve is upbeat abouthe economy but policymakers todayept interest rates at htorically low levels again. at t close of its 2-day meeting, the fed said conomic activityas picked up". but it went on to y that activitys likely to remain ak for sometime. on inflation polymakers don't seem worried. on rates, look for tse to stay w for an extended period. the fed also streted the timetable for s debt buying

progms, including mortgage backedecurities. it wilnow remain in that markethrough march of next year. joing us now to help read today's fed tea-leaves is michelle girard, senoir economist at rbs a mike holld of holland and company. lcome to the program. >> good to be here, thanks. >> what isour aessment of the fed's state today? it ems to be the most optimistic tt they've been about e economy in some time. do you ree with it? >>es and yes. ihink inoth instances it' been several meetings, seral months since we've heard this kind of optimisti i don't want to overstate it, there's still good rerence in there to the horrible jobs picture and so on, but things are gettingrudgingly better, d think that's a fair assessment as i lk to businesses and retailers, things have at t least leveled ofand are beginning to move up a little bit.

>> so why didn't the stock marketally or why do weee the selloff that we saw, do you think? >> stock market ona day--day hour toour minute to minute basis is setimes totally irratnale and some people say often irrational. in the last half-hour tre was a big program thatome people comin, there was nothingin t federal reserve statement in, the on market statent that had anything to do with peoe being discomforted is is what the mart wanted to hear, there was in surprise. what about the take on ination? i think so people may hav been surprised to e that there is absotely no reference, ty removed the talk about commodity prices that have been ming higher and clrly theyon't seem, aat least too worried aut inflation. do you agree with at? >> think they are always worried. i think their worry now inudes the possibility that we would he somethinghat

is anaema and that's declining prices which we had in the0s. if we get declining prices that's a recipe fo economic nighare. th don't want that. weo have a huge amount of excess capacity in plant and equipment and also in the lar force. now we have thgs around the world not getting a lot better, with thexception of asia. i think y and i spoke earlier, was in chinaast week, they've got strong economic activy and a little bit of inflion in the airis what they're talng about. havi said that, the u.s. federal reserve is not in any way woied about inflation right now. ey're worried about jobs, i think jobs is numbe one, in terms of ccerns right now. >> what does the market tnk in terms of when the fed is going to start t raise rates? is it connected to what happenon the job front? i've heard people say that untithe unemoyment rate peaks we're not ing to see a hiken rates. do you agree with that and is that theerception in the market rht now?

>> i ink the way you described it is exactlywhere wall seet and the economist are. they thinkhe middle of next year at the earliest for the fed to rae rates. someeople are saying not until thend of next year. but i don't think anyf those mean anying in terms of what you describe, it's all u to the jobs picture. until jobs turn around, i think the federal reservwill be lott to do anything to encourage ople not hire people. i think they wt jobs creat, t this economy going. >> i wt to touch for a nute on this morning backed secuties question. it's a ltle technical. t for people at home, it too late if theyaven't already to refinancen terms of getting the st rate that you possibly could becau of today's ws? >> i don't thin so, suzanne. i think at the federal reserve is sayin is there gointo be around a little longer to try to make the transion to their getti out of thi business, and as you say it's inside basebl, but to get out ofhis business i don't think it's necessarily something that is gog to cause mtgage rates

to jump up. i think the's enough slack in the syste right now that these lowates should be arou for a while. >> getting back to the stock market for a second, are you making any changes in terms of your portfolio because of toy's fed news? >>o. as i said earlier, i think the federa reserve said exacy what people hoped they wld say, what theyad prered people for, for them to say. and think at's ver important, what bernanke has done sce this crisis beg. he and the federal reserve, i'm in the camp of they've done a lot of good things. made couple of stakes, but overall have done some heroic things, they have not surised the market and they didn'to that today. they didot surprise the market today. >>ery good thoughts. thk you so much for joining us this evening, mike. >> okay, suzanne, sorry to miss mhelle. >> my guest, mike hoand. >> pl: wall street started the day in a cautious mo as

investors waed on the fed. the w posted a 20 point loss with the nasdaq off 2 poin by late morning then stos slowly recovered as hopes grew that the newsrom the fed woulbe good and when was, the dow jumped to a 60 point gain. bumarket bears sold into the strength. >> suzanne: reports at efforts

to reform the finaial regutory system are dead are premature. so says barney frank. the chairman of the hous financcommittee today waded into the frato get that legiation written and onto the house floor by novemr. as stephie dhue reports, eryone agrees an overhaul's needed but no one agrees ohow it should beone. >> reporter: right now tre are a handful of regators overseeinghe financial system. but none has the per to dismantle finaial institutions like a.i.g., bank of arica and tigroup, if they were about fail. house nancial services committee chrman barney frank says that needs to change. >> wwill be providing a mechanism for putting n-bank financial stitutions out of evybody's misery. >>eporter: the administration wants to give that authorityo the federal reserve. but the's no consensus that's the right way to go. while the fed had thpower to regulateortgages, it didn't do it, until itas too late. and many doubt giving the d

more powerow would prevent a future cris. but treasury secretaryimothy geithner says someone needs be in charge. >> if you give that responsibity to a bunch of people, en you can't hold them accountable r performae. >> reporter:here is also disagreeme about creating a conser financial protection agency. republicaneb hensarling says that approach is heavy hded and could extend to retaers who provide creditlike walmart, target, and my's. >>e see something that is very broad, very draconn. >> reporter: but geithner ys the goal is to keep potentia prlems from slipping through regulatory crack >> if you are in the busess of providing financial cred, and that is your biness and your competing withanks and thrifts that are doing tt, there shoulde a common basic set of standards and protectis. >> reporter: but frank saynot all fis selling financial pructs will be subject to the oversight a new watchdog ency, including car dealers and 1(k) providers. anif you're looking for plain vanilla produc, those won't be quired either.

stephanie dhue, "nigly business repor, washington. >> paul: join us tomrow night in pritime as we take part in the "pbspecial report: health care reform". n.b.r. joins other pbsews and public affairs programfor this 90-mute, in-depth look at reforming the nati's 2-1/2 trilli dollar health care system. as part of that our sees "bill of health" h been looking at the challeng employers face in providing care to employee night, jeff yastine reports one program, making grt strides in cutting corporate

health care costs. >> reporter: workers athe americaniabetes association go about their daily roines the same as everyonelse. but look closely. you can see these. pedometers. tached to their belts. the hi-tecdevices measure and record how far an emoyee walks each d. digital health monitoring stations like this are at the coref virgin healthmiles one of erepreneur richard branson's companies. it's an example of newhinking. when it comes toowering health insurance cost instead of manang the cost of an employee getting sick, focuon improving eir health, which might keep them out of the hospit in the first ple. for ose employees that are trying to be respoible with their behaviornd take rsonal responsibility in their health. so lot of our clients are implementi it as of day one and ey get a return on investment the dayhey implement it because ey're sharing that portion of the cost of the progm.

those peop who don't participate, their alth insunce is a little mor than tho people who d >> reporter: here's one way think about thisew approach. if y have a car, you buy auto insunce, if you have no accidents or speing tickets, you get a 'good iver' discount. you're considered 'good risk.' suppe companies could get a discount on health pla, if its workforc as a whole, had a better 'health risk?' the towers perriresearch firm calls these companie"high rformers," and found they saved anverage of $1,200 per worker annually. employees at these health- cused firms paid $324 less than counterparts elwhere. but david ilmette of towers perrin says it takes long-term corporate focus to see tho savings. >> there are probably half dozen serious condions that drive e majority of healthcare spending. and mostf those conditions can impacted by behavioral changes. in fact almost0% of healthcare costs can be impacteby changes in indidual behaviors.

whetr it's exercise, eating right, knowing your mbers cholestorolevels, blood pressure, done consisttly across a large population people can really have a positive impact overime. >>eporter: of course, you can encourage employeeto go to the gym. even buy them a gymembership. th doesn't mean they'll use it. t insurance discounts, cash rewards and coetitive spirit, n help. ameran diabetes association emplee chad whittaker says he lost 30 poundsthanks in part to the b-carrot-little stick approach of virgin healthmes. >> i think its great becse it keeps you the mood to get up and get moving. all us. we try to excise, but are the some nights where you just don't want to do i but if you're the middle of a lk challenge, that means you've got to get up a do it. so it reallyushes you. >>eporte so, as congress nsiders its choices, so does the nation's priva sector. at stake: the cost of alth plans, a healthier wororce, profits for sharehders and solving a decades olproblem:

how to contain theising cost of heahcare, and the insurance that pays for it. jeff ytine "nightly business report" miami. >> pl: now let's take a look at some stocks in the ws tonight.

>> pl: tonight's "street critique" guest says it's en a great rally t eventually that shoe is gog to drop. he's todd harrison foundernd c.e.o. of minyville. todd, welce back to n.b.r.

>> gat to be back, paul. >> paul: wha did you make of the fed atement today? looks like policy makers are eing signs of recovery. are you positive? >> i think we'v seen a smooy before with them, i think they'll be accommodating as long as possible and they artrying to squeeze the public back into ris assets. and they've done that in lar part but the proveial saying o wall street the first move after a fed announcement is a false move you saw a gurve up and took off at the end of t da >> paul:tocks are neartheir highs of the year, as / long-time trader whaare you seeing in the maet? >> what i'm seeing is risk being shuttled back a forth between the publicnd private sector, a lotf secondaries now as companies take advantage ofhigher stock prices. and mu like energy, risk isn't created dtroyed it simp changes form. and i thinkhat's largely at we're seeing and it warns a t of caution on t part of invtors. >> paul: you were bearish on technology when yo joined us

la month. but those stocksave continued to moveigher. do you still e trouble in the teck secto >> the technology sector is a bang for the buck play for portfolio managers. but to be clear, that last trade was just that, it was a trade, a defin risksetup. once that triggered i was out of the trade and i'm trading from the sho side now, but it's vy defin risk management. pae cut your loss and let your profits r, inther rds, right? >> that's the way torade them. >>aul: okay. you're an experienced trar, that'sor sure. any particular stocks u do like a these levels? >> i cautiou at these levels and i don't wanto be a broken recd, but i will say the one thing that concerns me is the unirmity and the opinion that we're gog to continue higher. for ceain credit markets are pointing in that dirtion, but from pundits to poticians to hedge fund managers across the board there's uformity in the believthat we're going to

continueigher, and i thi every time everyone isn one side of the boatou gotta be careful. i'd procd with caution. >> paul: so caution is your by word for the moment, correct? >> it is, but you rpect the up side. i just, opportuties are made up easier than losses. >> paul: and i can chae from day-to-day. todd, i want to thank you for joining us again. >> as always, my pleasure, pa. >> pl: my guest, todd harrison founder of minyanvil and author of the-book "memoirs of a minyan." >> suzanne: tomorrow, aetn chairm and c.e.o. ron williams tells us why he thinksixing the heth care delivery system is the key to reform. >> sanne: friday october 2, will be the last pout for shareholder's ofhe money market mutual fund thabroke the buck a year ago. investors in the rerve primary fund will lit $1 billion. ter that, the fund will hold $3/2 billion which could eventually go to sharehoers. the primary fund had $ billion

undemanagement before it lost biions in the collapse of lehman brothers. >> paul: t russians are cong, to the n.b.a. russia'sichest man is buying a controlling ake in the new jersey ns basketball team. mikhail prokhoros is also takingver the development of a new arena for the netsn brooklyn. he paying $200-million for 80% of the team and mang funding commitnts for the atlantic yards project. he'll be theirst non-north amican n.b.a. owner.

>> suzanne: in the "moy file" tonight, cutting youhealth care costs here's personal nance journalisterri cullen. >> the average ct of a family heth-insurance policy has jumped to nearly $13,5 a year, according to theatest survey by the kaiser family foundatn. worse, workers whoet help paying for health insurancfrom their employers e paying much gher premiums, averaging abo $3,500 out-of-pocket eacyear th's double the amount they were paying just 10 ars ago. and the days more insurers are motoring, and in some cases penalizing, indivials with higher premiums for unhealth hats such as smoking or lack of exercise. so wt can you do to combat rising costs? despite thjump in premiums, therare some ways to keep costs low.

your health-insurance prider gives you the option, consider raising yr dectible, the amount you pay before insurance kks in. the higherour deductible, the lower your premiums. to protect yourself from whack to the poctbook, consider tting up a health-savings account with your ba or insurance prider. th an h.s.a., you make tax- dectible contributions up to $3,000 for sines and up to $5,9 for a family in 2009. but chk with your insurer rst, to make sure the plan y choose qualifies f an h.s.a. next, check your cdit history foerrors that may be keeping your score low. believe it or no insurers have found thateople who live fast anloose with their credit often the same with their heth, so they charge them more. finally, if you' ever needed a kick in e pants to live a healthier lifestyle, this it quting smoking and rticipating in employer- sponsorewellness programs can help y live a longer life, and shave yourealth-care costs as well as your waistline. i'm terri cullen. paw terrhas more tips on the nbblog. you'll fine that,treaming

video and more at "nightly siness report" onpbs.org. you can so email us at nbpbs.org. >> paul:ecapping today's rket action, stocks lose the early gains, deste the fed's optism. the dow lost1 points and the sdaq fell almost 15 points. at's "nightly business repor for wednesday, stember 23. i'm suzanne pratt. goodnight, everyone. and good night to u, paul. >> paul: gdnight suzanne. m paul kangas wishing all of you the best of gd buys. "nightly business rert" is made psible by:

this program w made possible by contributions to your pbs station from vwers like you. thank you. captning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.or