rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> tough one. >> it is.ally depends on how you look at the argument. you bring up a fair point. >> i don't mean to be insensitive. does victoria's secret discriminate against men they don't offer clothes for dudes. does big and tall discriminate against small and thin people, they offer big and tall. >> good point. >> not the bottom line. it's tough. >> tough one for sure. we'll leave it to the experts. >> exactly. >> tough one for sure. we'll leave it to the experts. >> exactly. we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep, and lunesta eszopiclone can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. do not take lunesta if you are allergic to anything in it. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. lunesta should not be taken together with alcohol. abnormal behavio

abc's chief business correspondent, rebecca jarvis, breaks it down. >> reporter: tonight the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.66. drivers in the middle of the country are especially hard hit. midwest prices on average have jumped a whopping 66 cents this month. versus the rest of the country where prices are up between two and 12 cents. that's because? >> that's because of the refinery of work, it's ongoing in the middle of the country, and it will end soon. >> reporter: but in the meantime, it's adding up. a month ago, a road trip to the grand canyon from minneapolis would have cost $700, today about $900. experts say drivers on the coast should buckle up. americans pay the most at the pump during summer months. tips for your trip. park in the shade. less gas evaporation. plus fill the tank all the way up. filling up halfway only means you'll burn more gas going to and from the station. rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >>> and still ahead on "world news," looking forward to the weekend. look at this pool. you can see that test figure at the bottom of the pool. but how ab

abc's chief economics correspondent rebecca jarvis is at the stock exchange tonight. cca, good evening. >> reporter: david, good evening to you. and what it means is that a lot of folks could have a very nice surprise when they open their investment memos this month. it also could have a positive ripple effect on jobs and the economy. >> this month and the way the market has been going this year makes me very happy. >> reporter: newly-retired carey horowitz watched his 401(k) crater for years, but instead of panicking, he did nothing. a decision that's paying off for him and many others. since hitting bottom in march 2009, stocks have climbed a staggering 139%. so, if you invested $10,000 during the worst of the great recession, today you'd have more than doubled your money to almost $24,000. >> people will not have expected how well the 401(k)s have done, because honestly, the broad public hasn't paid a lot of attention to where the stock market has gotten to at this point. >> reporter: but investors are still nervous. before the financial crisis, 65% of us had money

abc's rebecca jarvis tells us how it all went down. >> reporter: this is how we usually think of bank robberies, guns, masks, but with this $45 million bank heist, not even an alarm bell. >> the scheme was organized for months and planned down to the minute, reminiscent of the casino heist in "ocean's 11." >> reporter: after an eight-man team of 20 somethings who allegedly in one day worked their way around new york hitting 100 atms collecting $2 million in cash like trick-or-treaters. about halfway through the heist, they came here to this bank of america where in just three transactions, they allegedly stole almost $2500. authorities say the suspects flashed their loot in these photos. prosecutors say the men were guided by unknown cyber masterminds who hacked computers at middle eastern banks creating homemade debit cards which they distributed to other bands of small time crooks and hit atms in 26 countries. no customer accounts were compromised, but still we could feel the effects when an increase in security gets passed in fees. rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >>> boston bom

rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >>> and another bit of encouraging economic news now. more americans are making their mortgage payments on time. according to transunion, the percentage of home owners two or more months behind fell by 21% in the first quarter of this year, the biggest drop in two decades thanks to the surging housing market and steady job gains. >>> all right. we may soon be able to read treasury secretary john lew's signature. used to look like this, a series of loops that didn't have any resemblance to his name. this is what it looks like now, a little ways to go but can see a lot of that signature that will be on every new dollar bill. >> i kind of liked the looped-loops. >>> good to be al gore. the former vice president is now nearly as itches are mitt romney. grown his net worth to more than $00 million thanks to the sale of his cable channel current tv as well as his stock in apple and successful investment firm. mitt romney is worth $250 million. >> right after that failed presidential bid he was worth $9.9 million. now 200 million. >> you start

rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >>> and coming up next, a joke played on an entire city. what is the story behind this picture? we'll tell you in our instant index. we'll tell you in our instant index. look what mommy is having. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. 100% vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high bl

and, diane, there are no guarantees on that front. >> on our financial coverage, rebecca jarvis, thank you. >>> and a wake-up call tonight for anyone who takes ambien or the generic version of the sleeping pill. a new report shows a huge jump in emergency room visits and most of them are women. abc's lisa stark with those details tonight. >> reporter: a growing number of those who are popping the sleeping pill ambien, or its generic version, zolpidem, are ending up in the emergency room. a new study finds adverse reactions, which can include hallucinations, paranoia, and confusion, sent more than 19,000 people to ers in 2010. a 220 percent increase from 2005. and 2/3 of them were women. >> why more women than men? >> i think we know that women clear the drug from their system more slowly than men. and in fact, the fda recommended a lower dose in women. >> reporter: this sleeping pill has often been in the news for a very dangerous side effect. >> you hit something with your car. >> reporter: sleep driving. i tried a driving test simulation on ambien and found out how scary this is. 30

here's abc's rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: what a week for stocks and the economy.st off you have the jobs report. 7.5% unemployment, the lowest level in four years. 165,000 jobs were added to our economy in the month of april. meantime, stocks finished out the week at their highest levels ever. the dow recently was above 15,000 during friday's trading session. the s&p 500 finished out the week at record highs and you know what that means, your 401(k) is going to be looking much better this month. it's been about four years since the depths of the great recession and in that time, stocks have recovered 139%. so if you put $10,000 into the stock market in march of 2009, guess what you would have right now? about $24,000. for those who sat and waited and didn't touch their savings and left it there and let it ride and probably had to look away at times, this worked out. rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> nice to get some good financial news this morning. rebecca, thanks to you. >>> it has been described as part political rally, part trade show, part victory lap. t

rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> nice to get some good financial news this morning., thanks to you. >>> it has been described as part political rally, part trade show, part victory lap. tens of thousands of gun enthusiasts descending upon houston for what may be the most watched nra convention ever, the theme this year, stand and fight. abc's jeff zeleny is in washington this morning. jeff, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, dan. you're right, the nra says that its membership is up and the group's leaders are fighting what they call a culture war. but they're coming face to face with some of those families of those newtown shooting victims. >> bless you. >> reporter: this morning, the gun lobby is riding high. >> we are americans, we are proud of it, and we are going to defend our freedom. we promise you. >> reporter: the nra is gathering for the second day of its annual convention, celebrating their latest legislative victory. >> leave our freedoms alone. >> reporter: five months after the newtown massacre re-opened a national debate on guns, not a sing

rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> we can still dream. there's always the next drawing.in it. >>> now we go to a man in houston who likes to dance like nobody's watching, but in reality, everybody's watching. >> carlos takes his disco dancing routine on the road every day, showing off his signature skills. whoa, check him out, along a very busy parkway, by the way. hundreds of people exercise in the same area, but carlos is hard to match. >> juan carlos has been at it for 15 years. he describes his style as purely freestyle. >> 15 years? >> check it out, i like when he grabs his head. do it again. no, no. >> i love it. anyway, i wonder if this song is the music we're pumping into it or this is actually his music. >> it's ours. >> i would love to hear what he's really listening to. he doesn't have head phones in. i don't think he's listening to music at all. >> burn some calories there. >> i love him. >> he must get honks. there it is. that's the move. that's the one i like. >> you waited long enough until we saw it. >> he starts touching his head all sexy. >> that is ver

abc's rebecca jarvis has the story. >> reporter: it began like any other night on a holiday weekend inc city. the casino crowded, bars busy, hotels booked full. early sunday, authorities responded to an emergency call at the revel hotel. >> when we got there we realized that we had 22 people trapped in the elevator. oh, they were anxious. it's particularly uncomfortable when you feel like you're trapped. people get claustrophobic. >> reporter: the fire department cut power, replied open the elevator doors and dropped a 35-foot ladder down the dark shaft to the car below. four firefighters wearing harnesses descended on to the car, attached ropes to the one helped them up the ladder. it took 45 minutes to free everyone. but then a second emergency. 28 people stuck in another elevator at the same hotel. >> normally we get -- you know, we probably get six to ten of those types of calls a year. but we've never had one back to back like that. >> reporter: still these things can happen. for example, this guy trapped for 41 hours. the cast of "modern family" begging for help. >> get us out! >

rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> okay. time to check out the weather now.ou will want to grab an umbrella along the east coast. rain from the carolinas to new england. severe storms, with some hail and possible tornados. roll across the middle of the nation. >> the southwest dries out. we will have temperatures 10 degrees below normal. cooler in denver. seattle as well. readings in the upper 60s in the northeast. a high school teacher in new york taking a unique stand against bullying saying she is wearing her effort on her sleeve. that makes it our "favorite story of the day." >> absolutely. her outfit is her effort here. simply because she has been wearing the same one every day this year. faith perry says she got the idea when she heard some kids bullying another student about not having enough money to buy clothes. >> she says her message to students is it doesn't matter what is on the outside, perry says, it is what is on the inside. things like character are the most important. >> who could argue against that? >> she calls it her uniform against bully

rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> funny how gas goes up right before the holiday weekend. >> yeahis all about? >> just saying. >> number of people driving is up, fraction from last year. >> look at that. >> hey! >> and on that road trip. >> you are going the wrong way! >> i know where i am going? >> how do they know which way we are going? planes, trains, automobiles. too old referencing the movies. >> i had the party at my house this year. i don't have to drive. >> nice. >> we'll be right back. [ kitchen counselor ] introducing cascade platinum. its triple cleaning formula delivers brilliant shine that finish gel can't beat. it even helps keep your dishwasher sparkling. new cascade platinum is cascade's best. [ female announcer ] stress sweat is different than ordinary sweat. it smells worse. get 4x the protection against stress sweat. introducing new secret clinical strength stress response scent. >>> this next story, musical debut, let's call it. john muller unplugged in the strangest of settings, the new york city subway station. really? >> yeah. >> it is our "favorite story o

rebecca jarvis, abc news, old bridge, new jersey. >> numbers are pretty staggering too.imports versus domestic. domestic sales up 10%. imports down almost 9%. when we talk domestic trucks, up even more, 13%. altogether, it looks like, imports are just down and down significantly. >> i'm probably eventually going to be in the market. for a new car. my eyes, for the first time in years are wandering on some of these fords and chryslers. they're looking really good. i think they bridged that gap, or at least the perceived gap between imported cars. >> they look nice. they run well. they're reliable. >> reliable. i think american car companies have finally, finally gotten it right. >> took a while. >> took too long. >> the way we like it though. >>> when we come back, the death of the rapper from the group crisscross. >> in "the skinny," jennifer aniston and brad pitt, why their history forced jen to potentially reschedule her wedding. you're watching "world news now." ♪ jump jump ♪ kris kross >> if you are a kid from the 80s you recognize the song as soon as you hear it. un

rebecca jarvis asks the oracle of omaha, warren buffett. >> i don't know the answers of what the marketill do next week, next month, next year. the economy has generally gotten better over the last four years. the stock market got very depressed. i wrote about it in 2008. late 2008. and said stocks are very cheap. they're not as cheap now. >> he adds that no matter what you decide to buy, the secret to financial success is always get more for your money than you pay for. >>> the free ride is almost over for millions of online shoppers who make purchases without paying taxes. the senate is expected to pass an internet tax bill today. that means most retailers will have to collect sales taxes and pass it on to states where the buyer lives. it would not apply to businesses with less than $1 million in sales. >>> and general motors has just announced plans to spend more in the u.s. than china in the next three years. they'll invest $16 billion in u.s. facilities through 2016. they were criticized last month for announcing an $11 billion investment in china during the same period. >>> apple

abc's chief business and economics correspondent, rebecca jarvis, spent the day talking to the experts. >> right now it is a very competitive market. >> reporter: two weeks into the hunt for their first home in san diego, and the robinsons can already see it won't be easy. >> just the few homes we've looked at so far, they've sold within a few days of us viewing them. >> reporter: today's study confirms home prices are up, especially in hot markets like phoenix, las vegas, los angeles, san francisco, atlanta, and dallas. the problem, a nationwide housing shortage. there are lots of buyers, 25% more this year than last. but the number of homes for sale is actually down. and sellers are holding on. >> most homes are selling within three to five days. however, they're just waiting for as many offers as they can, and then taking their time reviewing it. >> reporter: some are taking drastic measures. bidding wars are common. >> it's a hot property. it will go quickly. >> reporter: so are personal letters, appealing to sellers. there are even lotteries, like this one. buyers line up, throw t

abc's rebecca jarvis is here to tell us more. >> reporter: it began like any other night on a holidayn atlantic city. the casinos crowded, bars busy, and hotels booked full. but early sunday, authorities responded to an emergency call at the revel hotel. >> when we got there, we realized we had 22 people trapped in the elevator. they were anxious. particularly uncomfortable when you feel like you're trapped. people get claustrophobic. >> reporter: the fire department cut power, pried open the elevator doors and dropped a 35-foot ladder down the shaft to the car below. four firefighters, wearing harnesses, then descended on to the car. attached ropes to the passengers and one by one, helped them up that ladder. it took 45 minutes to free everyone, but then a second emergency, 28 people stuck in another elevator at the same hotel. >> normally we get you know, six to ten of those type of calls in a year. never had one back to back like that. >> reporter: still these things can happen. for example, this guy trapped for 41 hours. and the cast of "modern family," begging for help. >> get us

abc's chief business correspondent, rebecca jarvis, shows us what this milestone means. >> reporter: the stampede on wall street reached a new milestone today. the dow is now up a staggering 130% since hitting rock-bottom in march 2009. in real terms, if you invested $10,000 during the worst of the great recession, today, you'd have more than doubled your money to almost $23,000. the winning streak on wall street is now over four years long. that means this bull market run is about six months longer than normal. but it's still five years shorter than the best run ever. so, the question, now, is where do stocks go from here? well, i spoke to traders here at the new york stock exchange. and they say they're using history as their guide. this is the strongest start to a year since 1991. and back in 1991, stocks rose an additional 10%, diane? >> all right, rebecca. thanks so much to do you. >>> now, to governor chris christie and the life-changing decision. joining the 200,000 americans who will get weight loss surgery this year. you see the difference. here he is two years ago. and here

abc's chief business correspondent rebecca jarvis tells us which vehicles are selling so fast and why. >> smiling from ear to ear. >> reporter: rich safeeno is smiling because its all american ford dealership is having its best year since he opened for business at the height of the great recession in 2008. >> you just feel the volcano about to erupt. we're doing very well. >> reporter: in dealerships across the country, all said the same thing, americans are buying. >> consumer confidence. chance of losing a job is less. they know they have that paycheck. they're a whole lot more willing to come in and purchase a big item like an automobile. >> reporter: today's bestsellers are the ford fusion and honda accord. but what's really driving all of this -- trucks. the ram pickup chevy silverado and the ford f series. that speaks to the construction and housing come back. and to small, owners like this, who have bought 12 trucks in the last year. >> our business is up, we're growing and replacing older vehicles that are less fuel efficient and less reliable. >> reporter: also helping, car l

abc's rebecca jarvis at the stock exchange right now. rebecca, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, josh. the market opens slightly lower this morning. traditionally when stocks move up a lot over a short span of time, they tend to pull back as wall street takes a breather. to put this record run into perspective, if you invested in 2009, at the lows, you would have more than doubled it. if you have a 401(k) and you had your money in stocks over the course of the financial crisis, their statements are looking better. in fact, they erased all of those losses suffered over the last hand full of years. >> still much to look for. rebecca jarvis, thank you. >>> meanwhile breaking news from east texas. police searching for a 14-year-old girl abducted at knifepoint from a church in texas, east of dallas. police believe the suspect, jesus ramires knew the victim. but they describe him as mentally ill and armed and dangerous. >>> meanwhile that massive fire burning across southern california's coastal mountains are roughly 55% contained

and abc's chief business and economics correspondent, rebecca jarvis, just back from omaha where she interviewed warren buffett. and he's not holding back on this. >> reporter: he isn't, david. this is what we've heard from a number of ceos lately. warren buffett told me favors immigration reform. and the people who come here for an education, especially when we could use their skills, should be allowed to stay. essentially, if they're going to create jobs, they should create them here. we taught them. we need them. >> we enhance their talents. and not let them stick around here. i'd like that changed. >> reporter: you're saying, take the people who come into this country for education and make them citizens? >> certainly offer them the chance to become citizens, sure. >> warren buffett making headlines with you this weekend. while we have you, rebecca, we saw on the dow on friday, surpassing 15,000 for the first time for a time, before coming back to 14,973. that's about where it will start tomorrow morning. and the big question tonight, will the rocket ride continue? >> no one can

abc's rebecca jarvis is here with the latest. s what these numbers mean, rebecca. >> they mean good things for your wallet. stocks surged to new all-time highs as the country's housing market showed its best gains in nearly seven years, the dow surged 106 points to finish the session at 15,409, a new all-time high and by the way, it's the 20th tuesday in a row the dow finished higher. that's a long winning streak, in fact, 83% of the gains in stocks since mid-january have happened on tuesdays, so if you invested $10,000 when the streak began on january 15th and only put your money in stocks on tuesdays, well, you'd have made over a thousand dollars in just 20 days. just released figures also on the housing market show that home prices nationally rose 11%. pretty big there, robin. >> oh, yes, so where are we seeing the strongest housing markets, rebecca? >> reporter: the places where we saw the hardest hit housing markets, phoenix up 20.5%, san francisco, 22.2%, las vegas, 20.6%. the weakest, new york and cleveland. >> but still ve

abc's rebecca jarvis asked the oracle of omaha, warren buffett, himself in an exclusive interview. >> i don't know what the market will do next week, next month, next year. the economy has generally gotten better over the last four years. the stock market got very depressed. i wrote about it in late 2008. i said stocks are very cheap. they're not as cheap now. they don't look overpriced. they certainly look more attractive than, than, fixed income investments to me. but i have no idea what it will do next week, next month, next year. >> what about in your businesses what are the most encouraging signs you see? >> we see a very gradual improvement. we have been seeing that for four years. on balance they're moving forward not at a rapid clip. >> what would it take to get a more rapid clip? >> to some extent it takes time. we have had a lot of fiscal stimulus, extraordinary amount of monetary stimulus, i think those were the right things to be doing considering the incredible situation that existed in 2008. i generally approve what the latter stages after it hit what the bush administra

here's abc's rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: the national average is $3.66 with prices climbing the lastit. midwest prices have jumped a whopping 66 cents this month. in minnesota, prices hit a record $4.28 a gallon this week, versus the rest of the country where prices are up between 2 cents and 12 cents. and that's because? >> that's because of the refinery work. the refinery work is ongoing in the middle of the country. it will end soon. >> reporter: in the meantime, it's adding up. for l examine, a month ago a family road trip from minneapolis to the grand canyon, would have cost $700. today almost $900. experts say drivers on the coast should buckle up. americans pay the most at the pump during summer months. tips for your trip. park in the shade. it will mean less gas evaporates, and a cooler car means less ac. plus fill the tank all the way up. filling up halfway only means you'll burn more gas to and from the station. rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> funny how gas goes up just before the holiday weekend. >> wonder what that's about. number of people driving is up but only a

as abc's rebecca jarvis reports buyers are flooding the market. >> right now it is a very competitiveeeks into the hunt for their first home in san diego and the robinsons can see it won't be easy. >> just the few homes we have looked at so far they have sold within a few days of us viewing them. >> reporter: home prices are up. especially in hot markets like phoenix, las vegas, los angeles, san francisco, atlanta, and dallas. the problem, a nationwide housing shortage. there are lots of buyers, 25% more this year than last. but the number of homes for sale is actually down. and sellers are holding on. >> most homes that come on the market are selling within three to five days. however they're just waiting for as many offers as they can. then taking their time reviewing it. >> reporter: some are taking drastic measures. bidding wars are common. >> a hot property. >> so are personal letters appealing to sellers. there are even lotteries like this one. buyers line up. throw their names in a hat and hope for the best. >> the sellers are being romanced. it is not a matter of negotiating i

our economist, rebecca jarvis, spoke with warren buffett. ng, rebecca. >> reporter: good morning, george. it may look like a dog and pony show here at the berkshire hathaway annual meeting. a 5k race, which is special to this meeting, just took off behind me. but the real reason 40,000 people flock to omaha every year, is to hear from warren buffett himself on stocks and the economy. and that's where we began when we spoke. >> well, i don't know what the answer is to what the market will run next week or next month or next year. but the economy has generally gotten better over the last four years. the stock market got very depressed. i wrote about it in 2008. they're not as cheap now. they don't look overpriced. they certainly look more attractive than fixed-income investments to me. but i have no idea what the stock market will do next week, next month or next year. >> reporter: what about your businesses? what are the most encouraging signs you see? >> we see a very gradual improvement. but we've been seeing that for about four years. on ba

she's not the only one and abc's rebecca jarvis has the story. r: we've been hearing from social media and now kirstie alley had harsh words for them overnight. now a movement is under way to give the brand's clothing to the homeless. the backlash for the trendy clothing store, abercrombie & fitch, is reaching a fever pitch. kirstie alley now slamming the store and its controversial ceo, in an exclusive interview with "entertainment tonight." >> he says apper courtroom by clothes are for people who are cool, look a certain way and are beautiful and are thin and blah, blah, blah, blah. that would make me never buy anything from apper courtroom by. >> reporter: she is the latest to weigh in on a growing controversy over the fact the apparelmaker doesn't sell women's clothes above a size 10. >> all: don't support >> reporter: on monday protesters gathered outside of an a & f store in chicago. the backlash also escalating on twitter, facebook even on youtube where one popular poster started a fitch the homeless campaign asking customers to rebrand the

eight members of the alleged cyber ring now facing charges and abc's rebecca jarvis has the story. >> reporter: flashing cash, posing with their stolen loot, these guys hardly look like the criminal masterminds we're used to seeing in movies like "the town." but prosecutors say these are just two members of a worldwide plot involving a network of criminals who hacked into international banks stealing debit card numbers then using that information to create fake atm cards. they distributed to bands of small-time crooks who awaited a signal then targeted atms in 26 countries at roughly the same time. >> this scheme was organized for months and planned down to the minute. >> find out how much money we have. >> reporter: sounds like a cyber sequel to "ocean's eleven." but authorities say these two are part of a ring of men in their 20s responsible for bringing this plot to new york. accused of sweeping through manhattan on february 19th, hitting 140 atms collecting more than $2 million in cash like trick-or-treaters. >> this investigation is ongoing. our efforts both as to the recovery of

rebecca jarvis with the story. >> reporter: this is a company making almost $5 billion a year in salesion and the ceo says it's all by design. ♪ at your nearest abercrombie & fitch you can find shirtless salesmen in the latest distressed denim but if you're looking for a women's extra large blouse you're out of luck. the trendy retailer ceo doesn't want your business. >> it's been very, very successful. he doesn't want anybody in the store that doesn't fit that cool, young and sexy definition. >> reporter: robin lewis is co-author of "the new rules of retail" all part of mike jeffrey's master plan to cultivate what he considers cool. we visited the abercrombie flagship store to see if we could find something for the average woman, a size 14 in the u.s. but after scanning multiple shelves and racks, we found mostly double zeros and extra smalls and a couple of large p tops and size 10 pants. salespeople there confirmed abercrombie doesn't carry xl or xxl for women. a spokesperson for abercrombie & fitch declined to comment but in a 2006 interview ceo jefferys said we go after the all-am

rebecca jarvis has the story. >> reporter: employees at yahoo! may have just hit the mother lode. has announced it will now give new mothers up to 16 weeks paid maternity leave and new dads, they can take 8 paid weeks. the parental perks don't end there. they're providing new parents with $500 in cash for things like child care and groceries. >> the whole world is going to drop everything they're doing and they're all going to go run and apply to work at yahoo!. it doesn't matter. you could be a train conductor. you're going to want to learn to program. >> reporter: but is mayer making up for some of her other policies including her edict just two months ago prohibiting employees from working from home. >> marissa mayer probably found that intentionally or not, her policies had created terrible morale. she has learned from it and, wow, she's like the parent who says, no, you can't have ice cream but i'm buying you a pony! >> reporter: then there's mayer's own maternity experience. she took only two weeks off when her son was born in september. igniting a firestorm of criticism tha

. >> reporter: rebecca jarvis, abc news, new york. >> ceo mike jefferies posted on facebook and saiding, derogatory characterizations, or other antisocial behavior. >> the l.a. times reporting their sales have fallen 17% in the first quarter of this year. in a conference call he said the root of the problem is inventory shortages, and they're assuming, and hopefully projecting, it really isn't his comments. really this is not the way you run a company if you want everybody to spend money at your stores. >> this thing took on a life of its own, and the comments really helped it. >> that was a firestorm. good way to put it. we'll be right back. >> announcer: "world news ♪ ♪ >> all right. >>> so the days of kodachrome are long gone. these days the cool way to share pictures is definitely instagram. >> so we here at abc world news now created an instagram account. you can find by going to instagram.com/abcwnn. >> this is our first picture, you and i with a mug. there's john and his little escapades underneath -- in the subway system, there you go. >> i did notice something. a picture of