>> gharib: yes, i can hear you now. as you heard, the s.e.c. said today that this goldman sachs settlement sends a powerful message that other firms that violate fair business practices will pay a heavy price. do you think goldman sachs is paying a heavy price? >> i think goldman sachs is paying a heavy price since it was only one transaction that was covered by this settlement. goldman sachs is still in the position of having to worry about s.e.c. enforcement regarding its prior practices and of course s.e.c. possible enforcement if it fails to conform with the settlement. >> gharib: and the reaction from some other people on wall street was that goldman sachs got off easy by paying $550 million. >> well, goldman sachs paid only two investors in this -- in a very narrowly drawn complaint, and then they then paid a heavy fine and they entered into a large number of agreements regarding future conduct. those are very serious and i think set down patterns for the rest of wall street to look at. >> gharib: let's talk about some of the remedial act

>> gharib: i'm susie gharib and thank you for watching. have a good night. >> hudson: i'm tom hudson, thanks for tuning in. we hope to see you tomorrow. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org.

i'm susie gharib. goodnight everyone."nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" video "how wall street works". to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org.

sues gasusie gharib is on assignment. i'm joined by my colleague, suzanne pratt. we have two big stories. ben bernanke's economic outlook, and the president signing financial regulatory bill into law. >> suzanne: stocks tumbled as he warned congress. the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain. >> tom: that does not mean that the fed is changing its forecast. darren gersh picks up the story. >> reporter: no, ben bernanke is not expecting the economy to drop back into recession, but economists euphemistically call a double dip. but he had bad news for those who are out of work. unemployment is coming down more slowly than he and his colleagues had had expected, and will remain well over 7% for 2.5 years. add that to somewhat tighter credit rules and you get this. >> most participants viewed uncertainly about the growth for employment as greater has normal. >> reporter: but some of the uncertainty may be temporary. the home buyer tax credit ended in april, as did most of the economic impact of tax credits for energy-efficient appliances. and the government is n

susie gharib is off tonight, suzanne pratt joins me. wall street continued its focus on earnings today, suzanne, with disappointing results from boeing, comcast and c.v.s. caremark. >> suzanne: tom, we're just over the halfway point for second quarter results, and despite today's numbers, corporate profits are a lot stronger than they were last year at this time. >> tom: but, remember where we were a year ago. the second quarter of 2009 was a disaster, making for easy comparisons this year. that has investors scrutinizing the quality of earnings. and, as scott gurvey reports, so far that quality leaves a lot to be desired. >> reporter: earnings up 52%. companies beating estimates. margins at record levels. what more could an investor want? but there's trouble beneath the topline numbers. economic growth depends on growth of sales. howard silverblatt of standard & poor's says that is still missing. >> sales are only growing at 3% to 4%, that's why the margins are so high. sales are key here, until companies get sales they are not going t

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for watching. the new c.e.o. of b.p. said today his first priority is to "clean up the beaches" and "restore the gulf." robert dudley was named c.e.o. of the british oil giant, replacing tony hayward. as we reported last night, susie, dudley is an american and longtime b.p. insider, and the change in leadership will happen october 1. >> susie: tom, that announcement came as the embattled company reported a second-quarter loss of $17.2 billion. the massive red ink was due to the more than $32 billion b.p. is setting aside to cover costs from oil disaster in the gulf of mexico. excluding the charge, b.p. earned $5 billion, compared to nearly $3 billion a year ago. >> tom: b.p. also announced plans to sell $30 billion of assets before 2012 to help pay bills from the spill. suzanne p

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for watching. relief will soon be on the way for 2.5 million americans who've lost their unemployment benefits. susie, the senate today cleared a measure to extend those benefits. >> susie: tom, two republicans joined 56 democrats and two independents in voting for the measure, breaking the senate stalemate with a 60 to 40 vote. the house is expected to take up the measure tomorrow, and send it to president obama's desk next week. >> tom: democrats and republicans both agreed the benefit extension was needed, but they disagreed on how to pay for its $34 billion cost. as it stands, new borrowing will pay for the measure. >> what we do not support and we make no apologies for this is borrowing tens of billions of dollars to pass this bill when the national debt is spinning complete

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for watching. the report card on european banks is out, and most of them passed the test. susie, 91 institutions went through the stress tests, and only seven failed. >> susie: that news boosted investor confidence, tom, and stocks on wall street rose across the board. investors were relieved that most european banks are in good financial shape. >> tom: but despite the passing grades, there are still questions tonight about the credibility and methodology of the tests. scott gurvey reports. >> reporter: the 91 banks tested by european regulators represent 65% of the total assets of the e.u. banking sector as a whole. the test required the banks to assume a severe economic downturn, and then measured to see if they could still meet capital requirements. regulators from 20 countrie

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. wall street wrapped up a tumultuous week in the red, with most of the major averages closing the day down over 2.5%. tom, investors sold stocks on worries about the economic recovery, and discouraging quarterly reports and outlooks from general electric, citi and bank of america. >> tom: susie, today's losses erased the week's gains and all of the dow's 30 stocks were down. the dow fell 261 points, the nasdaq tumbled 70 and the s&p 500 lost 31. big board volume swelled to 1.5 billion shares. nasdaq volume settled well above two billion shares. >> susie: what troubled investors about today's quarterly results were not the top line numbers, that's revenues, not the bottom line earnings. bank of america, citi and g.e. all reported second quarter earnings above analyst estimates, bu

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening, and thanks for joining us. the u.s. recovery lost momentum this spring, susie. that came as consumers spent less and imports surged. >> susie: tom, "sluggish" is the best way to describe growth in the second quarter: the gross domestic product, or g.d.p., slowed to an annual rate of 2.4%. that's down from a revised 3.7% in the first quarter, but on the positive side, this is the fourth straight quarter of growth. >> tom: the smaller g.d.p. figure was balanced by a big jump in midwest business activity. the chicago purchasing managers index marked its 10th straight month of expansion, up to 62.3. any number over 50 signals growth. today's numbers highlight the cross currents in the economy, and whether growth will be strong enough to drive down unemployment. suzanne pratt takes a look at wh

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone, a big setback for small business tonight. senate republicans blocked a $30 billion plan to boost lending for the nation's small businesses. tom, president obama was counting on this bill to create jobs. >> tom: susie, the legislation also would have provided $12 billion dollars in tax breaks, but opponents argued it was just another expensive program packed with extra spending. >> susie: this impasse affects out-of-work americans, and small firms, which employ half of all american workers. many of those companies have not been hiring. erika miller introduces us to two business owners with different reasons for holding back. >> reporter: jewelry designer bonnie riconda say she's one of the fortunate small business owners. sales at her company, calico juno designs, have not gotten

. >> this is "nightly busines this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt everyone. a plea today from president obama for congress to pass the unemployment bill. the president urged lawmakers, tom, to put aside politics and to approve an extension of benefits to millions of americans out of work. >> tom: susie, this unemployment insurance bill is expected back on the senate floor tomorrow. republicans say they'll only support an extension if the bill does not add to the national debt. >> susie: still the president said lawmakers need to help americans who have been laid off during this recession. >> we've got a responsibility to help them make ends meet and support their families, even as they're looking for another job. that's why it's so essential to pass the unemployment insurance extension that comes up for a vote tomorrow. >> susie: millions of americans will be watching that vo