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. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. interest rates were the hot topic around the world today. china's central bank raised its key short term rate this morning, the fifth hike since october. tom, china is trying rein in inflation. >> tom: susie, the trend of higher interest rates could continue tomorrow when the european central bank is widely expected to raise its rates as well-- the second such move this year. europe also has a growing inflation problem. >> susie: should american consumers, businesses and investors be concerned about those higher interest rates? suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: for many of the world's largest economies, this is the direction that interest rates are going. central banks in china and europe are hiking rates to battle inflation pressures because that's their primary agenda. but, higher rates

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. a banner day for blue chips. the dow surged more than 200 points, its best one-day performance this year. at the close, the dow added 202 points, the nasdaq rose 61 and the s&p 500 up 21 points. then after the bell, susie, apple did it again, posting stunning earnings. >> susie: tom, we're running out of adjectives to describe the amazing growth at apple. it earned $7.79 a share in its fiscal third quarter, crushing estimates by almost $2. revenues also came in better than expected, up 82% to $28.5 billion. and that growth comes as consumers keep snapping up apple products. 20 million iphones were sold in the quarter, more than nine million ipads, about four million mac laptops and 7.5 million ipods. as the company said today, it "sold every ipad it could make." >> tom: they are impressive numbers, according to gba research analyst david garrity. >> these are phe

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. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. late today, the aaa credit rating of the united states was officially put on notice. moody's investor service placed the government's bond rating on review for possible downgrade. without a debt deal on capitol hill, moody's points to a "small but rising risk of a short-lived default" tom, that warning comes as the federal reserve says its ready to add more fuel to the economy if the recovery runs out of gas. >> tom: susie, fed chairman ben bernanke made that pledge during his semiannual congressional testimony today. that helped investor confidence, at least initially. stocks rallied sharply during the chairman's testimony but backed off those highs as the day wore on. by the close, the dow was up just 44 points, the nasdaq was up 15 and the s&p 500 gained four. >> susie: when it comes to

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. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. it was a day of watching and wondering on wall street. watching for progress in washington on debt talks. and, tom, wondering what would happen to financial markets if there's no deal by president obama's friday deadline. >> tom: susie, so far the u.s. stock market has been fairly resilient, supported by a steady stream of strong corporate earnings. after yesterday's huge rally, the dow dropped only 15 points today. the nasdaq lost 12 and the s&p 500 slipped almost a point. >> susie: still, many experts say investors should brace for a wild ride if lawmakers are unable to reach a deal and the u.s. defaults on its debt. erika miller reports on just how violent that reaction might be. >> reporter: in midtown manhattan, the national debt clock looms, highlighting the amount of money owed by th

i'm susie gharib. tom, have a great night. >> tom: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. good night. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "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

i'm susie gharib. good night everyone, and goodnight to you too, tom. >> tom: good night susie. i'm tom hudson. good night everybody. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like 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" video. to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org.

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. >> susie: good evening, everyone. my colleague, tom hudson, is off tonight. well, it's a nail biter on capitol hill tonight. just as lawmakers in the house were about to vote on house speaker john boehner's proposal to raise the u.s. borrowing limit and cut the deficit, the vote was postponed until later this evening. after that, the measure heads to the senate, where it's expected to fail. meanwhile, the chief executives of the nation's largest financial institutions are weighing in by urging lawmakers to reach a deal. the c.e.o.s of bank of america, citigroup, j.p. morgan chase and goldman sachs warned that the consequences of not acting would be "grave for the economy, the job market and america's global economic leadership." so, are we really any closer to an agreement? darren gersh has the latest. >> the chair will protest pone proceed

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. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. just one more week until an important deadline, july 22. tom, that's the date when president obama wants a debt- ceiling deal in hand. >> tom: susie, an agreement by a week from tonight gives lawmakers time to write and vote on new legislation before the august 2 deadline. >> susie: it looks like its going to be a working weekend in washington as both sides still seem far apart on an agreement. >> what i've said to the members of congress is that you need, over the next 24 to 36 hours, to give me some sense of what your plan is to get the debt ceiling raised through whatever mechanisms they can think about, and show me a plan in terms of what you're doing for deficit and debt reductions. if they show me a serious plan, i'm ready to move. >> we're in the fourth quarter here. time and again,

i'm susie gharib. good night everyone, and good night to you too, tom. >> tom: good night susie. i'm tom hudson. good night everybody. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> be more. pbs. . i'm your new teacher, miss stacey.. she could pass for a teacher or even go on to university. our anne. diana? my little sister's awful sick with the croup. i would have been too late... you saved this little baby's life. i knew matthew was up to some foolishness. don't you like it? doesn't gilbert look dashing tonight? i hadn't noticed him. i want to wish you all the luck in the world, anne.

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. american investors got an early start on fourth of july fireworks sparking a stock market rally. tom, investors were encouraged by a report showing u.s. manufacturing is still healthy even though the economy is weak. susie, the major stock averages posted strong gains for the fifth day in a row. the dow rose 168 points. the nasdaq added 42.5 and the s&p 500 was up 19. those numbers helped stocks post their biggest weekly gain since the bull market began more than two years ago. the dow was up 5.4%. the nasdaq added over 6% on the week. and the s&p 500 tacked on 5.6% since last friday. >> susie: so far it looks like the second half of the year is off to a good start. darren gersh reports. >> reporter: just like the traffic heading for the beach, the economy in the second half of

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. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. my colleague tom hudson is off tonight. more debate and deadlock in washington today on the debt deal. house republicans are now scrambling to find more cuts after their plan fell $150 billion short of their $1 trillion goal. our washington bureau chief, darren gersh, brings us up to speed. >> reporter: after a blunt warning from their leaders to fall in line, some house republicans are doing just that, rallying behind house speaker john boehner's plan for a short- term extension of the debt limit. >> let's go take what we can get in this, get the five yards, get the first down and fight the next battle. >> we are very mindful not only of the fact that we can't default on our obligations, but also that if we do not rein in on government spending, if you do not get that under control, that w

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. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. we're less than a week away from president obama's deadline for raising the debt ceiling. tom, today the president said he and republican lawmakers were "making progress" after a series of weekend meetings. >> tom: susie, with the clock ticking, these are the latest developments. as we know, the leader of the senate says the chamber will meet every day until congress sends the president legislation to make sure the u.s. government does not default on its obligations. the house is set to pass a budget cut, cap and balance bill tomorrow. it includes a proposed budget amendment to the constitution, but credit rating agency moody's says the u.s. would be better off if the debt ceiling was eliminated entirely. >> susie: the debt showdown wasn't the only dominant topic in the nation's capitol tod

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. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. the bitter stalemate over raising america's borrowing limit and reducing its deficit continues playing out in washington. tom, it looks less likely that lawmakers will have an agreement before next week's deadline. >> tom: susie, even though there's still a little hope for a last-minute deal, it doesn't seem possible at this point before early august. a new reuters poll finds a small majority of economists thinks the u.s. will lose its triple-a rating from a least one major rating agency. we'll hear directly from the rating agencies tomorrow, when executives from standard & poor's and moody's investment services testify on capitol hill. they'll be questioned about the role their industry plays in the debt ceiling debate. >> susie: in tonight's program, we'll detail why every american has a

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. still no deal on the debt ceiling. have taken a step backwards. tom, today was supposed to be president obama's deadline to have a deal in hand, instead for the second time house speaker john boehner called those talks with president obama. >> susie, the break down in talks late today came over tax increases in the american's healthcare and other kiz putes unrelated to the budget. where does this leave the issue? the hypothetical seems more and more like a possibility here zeus see, what if congress fails to raise the federal debt limit before august 1nd. timothy geithner met with them today to talk about what could happen. they gave no details on any contingency plans. >> susie: tonight, we'll look at the impact on the bond market if there's no deal. and in just a moment, we'll

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. we're a few hours away from an important deadline-- july 22. that's the date president obama originally wanted to have a debt-ceiling deal hammered out. but, susie, it looks like that's not going to happen. >> susie: tom, democratic congressional leaders are at the white house tonight meeting with the president. house speaker john boehner thinks a majority of house republicans will end up supporting some kind of compromise to avoid a government default. >> tom: despite boehner's predictions, the only thing that's certain about the borrowing limit fight is, right now, there's no final agreement in place. but as darren gersh reports, behind the scenes, there are signs progress is being made. >> reporter: listen hard and you'll hear a new tone in washington. there's a