tom, investors turned positive on stocks and the economy after seeing better than expected earnings today from big companies like u.p.s., caterpillar, at&t, and 3m. >> tom: susie, it was a dramatic u-turn from yesterday's sell- off. the dow gained 201 points, the nasdaq added 58.5, and the s&p 500 was up 24 points. volume cut both ways, with big board volume slipping a bit, while the pace of trading picked up on the nasdaq. >> susie: after the closing bell, microsoft and american express reported quarterly results higher than estimates, but amazon's numbers fell way below expectations. but stock analyst scott wren of wells fargo advisors says economic data, not earnings, are what investors need to watch from here on. >> earnings have certainly been a bright spot and i think they have helped, but is that really going to carry us significantly higher? i don't think so because there are still plenty of issues out there-- traders are uncertain as far as how slow the economy is going to recover in the second half of the year. >> susie: investors even found a silver lining in today's gloomy report on existing home sales. ev

recovery. >> these improving profits you see at companies like u.p.s. and federal express is a very positive sign. it's a signal that there is economic activity around the world, the global economy remains healthy. the us economy is not likely to head into a double-dip recession. >> reporter: august and september are typically strong months for fedex and u.p.s., as retailers stock up on fall merchandise. economists hope shipments will be strong, a sign consumers are starting to spend again. erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: one of the most successful vehicles in ford motor's history had a second coming out party today: the explorer. the new version is more fuel efficient and has more safety features than the sport utility that took the country by storm two decades ago. but, as diane eastabrook reports, this explorer faces a lot more competition than its predecessor. >> reporter: ford's 2011 explorer got a multi-city rollout in places like chicago, where it will be built, and in miami's fashionable south beach, where its beefier de

and a busy day, including 3m, at&t, catepillar, microsoft, and u.p.s., to name a few. and will this charging station be a way to fill up in the future? it is one way the government is urging consumers to buy electric cars. we'll explain. >> suzanne: conrad black is now a free man. he walked out of a florida prison, released a day after the judge set bond at $2 million. $are, however, some restrictions: he can't leave the u.s., and must return to chicago for a bail hearing on friday. in 2007, black and three other former executives of hollinger international were convicted of defrauding shareholders of $6 million. he has been behind bars for two years while he appeals that conviction. >> tom: a lawsuit against capitol one is charging forward. a lower court dismissed the case, but today an appeals court reinstated it, saying that capital one could not prove it made the required rate hikes to that consumer. neither side has commented about today's decision. >> suzanne: long-term employment is a growing problem. especially for older workers, for people looking for a job, 55

general electric buying back, and u.p.s. as a guidance drives more from the u.s. >> tom: the last time you were on "nightly business report" was in june 2009. nike up 25%, and lockheed martin done by 23%, and goldman sachs, only down by 1% since you first chose it. do you like this trio still? >> right now or manages are at about neutral on lockheelockheed and goldman sacks. >> tom: broadcom, best known for making some of the guts of the ipad for apple. a new 52-week high. are you willing to put money to work at these levels? >> it is tough, but if you look at the rate of the earnings over the last 24 months, even when apple has done. you see the multiple they're commanding is relatively modest. if the earnings come in next week, monday they announce, they could be looking at a p.e. of 24. that seems like a great deal. >> tom: what is going on with energy, with the b.p. oxi, o.x.y., is a domestic way to play oil. >> that's exactly right. tom, recognizing that globaoilis a global economy. certainly what is going on in china ma

and u.p.s. are wasting investor confidence and here in moscow the r.t.s. has opened just a touch higher than my six will start trading in a few minutes finished tie it to point by two percent on thursday managing to shrug off the pessimistic testimony from the chairman of the us federal reserve is hydro . into the black. rushes are in and so producers have come in for fierce criticism from the government for the pricing policies metal consumers such as car makers have been struggling to establish long term contracts with supplies of what they consider to be except to rights prime minister vladimir putin is going to the city of china up and to help mediate the dispute and to open a brand new pipeline production facility our correspondent. reports. the crisis has pulled the ground. with most of the construction side frozen in oil and gas companies the state winning their new pipeline project their government has brought the battle to the sector with metals prices growing demand consumer and metals among which carmakers up to us losses will ways in. which man

and u.p.s. are definitely seeing investor confidence here in moscow but the russian actually markets finished high on thursday with my six gaining nearly two percent they managed to shrug off the pessimistic testimony from the chairman of the us federal reserve recovered in losses to edge into the black. rush is on and so producers have come in for criticism from the government for the pricing policies that will consumers such as car makers have been struggling to a long term contracts with supplies they consider to be acceptable rates promise of ultimate putin is going to the city of sc to help mediate the dispute to open a brand new pipeline production facility our correspondent. reports. the prices just pulled the ground. with most of the construction side frozen in oil and gas companies the spilling their new pipeline project their government has vital to the sector with prices growing demand consumer of metals among which carmakers up to us losses where we and. which manufactures green than

police believe scott led a double life, student and u.p.s.r by day, but secretly involved in an escalating crime rampage ranging from burglary to home invasion, assault and, they claim, murder. they say that scott was selling stolen guns in this u.p.s. parks lot when he was arrested. sources say that case is what eventually led to this hideaway where evidence of the murders pointed to scott. u.p.s. officials say they only learned of the murder charges yesterday. and they have yet to be questioned about scott's access to those computers. robin? >> more to come. all right, pierre. thank you. >>> now juju chang has the rest of the morning's news headlines for us. good morning. >> good morning, robin and george. we're going to begin in washington where congress has just approved a $59 billion measure to pay for the war in afghanistan, but the vote in the house revealed a deepening divide among democrats, who are deserting the president and his war strategy in droves. our jonathan karl has more from capitol hill. good morning, jon. >> reporter: go

. >> my granddaughters 6 years old were riding their bikes and the dogs were barking. the u.p.s. guy came and wanted to deliver a package and said i'm not going to because they have a pit bull tied one a rope. we brought our granddaughters in for no more bike riding. >> reporter: police combed the home for evidence. at one point investigators confiscated several weapons for safe keeping. people who live here say they are stunned. >> my gosh. that's terrible. >> we're just flabbergasted. devastated. you know? why would anybody have five pit bulls in a garage in the first place? >> reporter: and that is exactly what police are also wondering tonight. in fact, they are still inside the home at this hour collecting more evidence. we have seen several bags of evidence come out all day. police say they are not ruling out the possibility of adding even more charges. >>> we want to go to chopper 5 now. they are over the union square area in san francisco where hotel workers are holding a rally. the union employees say the hyatt chain is slashing jobs and reducing hours for the staff membe

and her 16-year-old daughter. it's believed the accused, a u.p.s. loyee, used his access to find his victims' addresses. >> this investigation has become critical. and laying out how the victims and everyone was identified. the mansion he used as a hideout, to clues to how many lives he may have taken. authorities have discovered that jason scott was doing research on police forensics. information they believe he used, such as washing down crime scenes with bleach. t.j. winick, abc news, washington. >>> just weeks after that extraordinary spy swap, there's been an arrest for trying to smuggle weapons to russia. anna fermanova is accused of having three rifle sites in her luggage, on her plane to moscow. her attorney says she was taking them to her husband, who works in russia. and that she has not been charged with espionage. >>> also, a new york woman is facing drunk driving charges after her own daughter called 911 from the car. jamie hicks was pulled over on the highway with her 12-year-old and 10-year-old inside the car. the older girl told the 9

. >> my granddaughters 6 years old were riding their bikes and the dogs were barking. the u.p.s. guy came and wanted to deliver a package and said i'm not going to because they have a pit bull tied up with a rope. we brought our garaged daughters in. no more bike riding. >> reporter: police combed the home for evidence. at one point investigators confiscated several weapons for safe keeping. people who live here say they are stunned. >> my gosh. that's terrible. >> we're just flabbergasted. devastated. you know? why would anybody have five pit bulls in a garage in the first place? >> reporter: it makes them nervous they let their children play outside and no one knew about the pit bulls. >> we were always with them, but that won't stop the pit bull. >> it's a great risk and i don't think there's anyplace for them in a home with young children. >> reporter: tonight, police say they still have a lot of questions concerning these dogs, why there were so many in here, what were they really there for. in the meantime, they are still inside that house behind me collecting evidence and j

he's a college graduate and is pursuing a master's degree in computer science. he also worked at the u.p.sy he may have used the company's database to help select victims. >> again, he utilizes employment to methodically identify his victims. so again, he had inside information. he knew a lot about his victims. he studied our response, the way we investigated crimes. so he managed to actually throw us off and disguise the crime scene based on his knowledge of police investigations. >> reporter: scott allegedly used bleach to clean his crime scenes. arson to destroy evidence. and changed the location of bodies to confuse police. he also studied other serial killers. he also studied other serial killers. neighbors who have known scott for years say there were hints early on that he might be a predator. >> most of the problem started when he was around 10. started him being a peeping tom, leading to videotaping people, breaking and entering. you'd never have known he was going to commit murder. >> reporter: police worry scott might be responsible for other unsolved homicides in d.c., texas an

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: good corporate earnings reports helped fuel today's rally on wall street. caterpillar, 3m, u.p.s. and a.t&t all did better than expected. that helped push the dow jones industrial average up by 201 points to close at 10,322. the nasdaq rose 58 points to close near 2246. those broad-based gains more than made up for losses on wednesday. the stock market's surge came as other parts of the economy were headed in the opposite direction. the economy's leading indicators fell in june, the second decline in three months. at the same time, sales of existing homes slid more than 5%. and the inventory of vacant homes was the largest in a year. on the jobs front, new claims for unemployment insurance were well above expectations last week. with that in mind, the house of representatives today gave final approval to extending benefits for the long-term unemployed through the end of the year at a cost of $34 billion. house speaker nancy pelosi said it shouldn't have taken so long. >> imagine that today we're finally taking up unemployment insurance. republicans in the senate have stood in the

up significantly, mainly because of another batch of strong earnings, specifically caterpillar, u.p.s. and at&t, all beating analysts' expectations, encouraging signs of europe that's offsetting disappointing news on home sales and a weak jobless report. so right now, the dow is currently up 205. the nasdaq is up 57. s&p, up 25. >>> it's 7:44. shirley sherrod said she is considering whether or not to accept a new job at the department of agriculture after being forced to resign earlier this week. sandra endo is in washington, d.c. request the latest on -- with the latest on this developing story. good morning, sandra. >> reporter: good morning. all of this could have been prevented if someone just listened to shirley sherrod, her story, her explanation, and listened to the videotape where her comments were recorded. well, now that everybody has heard exactly what's on the tape and her story, the tables have turned. the ball is now in sherrod's court. her former boss, tom vilsack, apologized to her wednesday for forcing her to resign earlier this week. then he offered her another job back a

and insurance. the california employment development department tells us tonight the checks could start going out within the next few days. >>> there was a roaring rally on wall street over upbeat earnings news today. caterpillar, u.p.s., microsoft, all beat expectations and that helped the dow jones pick up 201 points to close at 10, 322. the nasdaq surged 58 to close at 2245. but after the bell, investors quickly dumped stock in amazon.com. earnings well below estimates. amazon is down more than 12% in after hours trading. >>> well, there is more trouble for the housing martin baccardax ket. sales of previously occupied homes fell more than 5% in june. they're expected to keep sliding. a federal tax credit had booed sales earlier this year and the number of people buying homes has dropped now along with its expiration. although it was not as big a drop as many analysts had expected. at the same time, mortgage rates are near record lows. 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaging 4.56%. that's down from a year ago's level of 5.2%. 15 year mortgages are also down from a year ago, both at their lowest points since freddie mac began tracking those rates in 1971. >>> verizon wireless may be rolling out its network sooner th

u.p.s. the world's biggest ground shipmenter and caterpillar the world's largest construction equipment makerly did they beat expectations but they have bulgish forecasts for the rest of the year. a very good sign, that's helping prop up the market now. the dow up by 136. nasdaq up 37. s&p up by 16. also another slew of local earning reports. safeway came out hit their target for their earnings and revenue was a little better showing what the grocery industry has gone through. safeway's earnings are 40% than a year ago. they have had to do with heavy discounting to keep up with companies like wal-mart and costco and they probably won't be seeing any rebound in price until the 4th quarter. that's good news for consumers but it's tough for businesses and threat of deflation. that's the word out there that continues to cause fear in the market if that does continue further. safeway shares are down a little on that news. >> you know, i was at target the other day, they have the same type of deal, too. i never thought of that, the grocery stores having to compete. i always thought trader joe's --

u.p.s. tied up annoying to percent increase in quarter two profits its shares have gained almost seven percent today. european shares are also rising after manufacturing and services. rose injury lawyer all in june when analysts expected a full court to profit fell forty percent to two hundred ninety million dollars experts say it's like getting behind in small in a version of almost five percent of reports it's looking for a new chief executive. most go continue to grow and often in trade one in the nickel is more than two percent higher on news. most twenty five million dollars last year a thirty percent pay rise owner of the plan the suffered a terrorist yesterday has recovered its losses today to edge into the black. now investors a sweating on the stress test results of european banks out tomorrow to discuss this i'm joined by paul michael senior foreign exchange just a just at h.s.b.c. bank in london paul thanks for joining us could you briefly take us through what is a stress test what you're looking out for tomorrow. well i think this is the the ongoing story which is filtered out over the press over the past couple of months that a number of the

what i do and more than eight years now is i courier my bags. >> ship them? >> i ship them. there's fedex, u.p.s door to door courier service. >> how much planning involved? the hotel has to accept the bags. >> first of all, i'm going to presume you know where you're going. >> not always. >> not always. >> but siming you doshgs you do four day advance on fedex on ground and for $19 more than what the airline wants to charge you to lose your bag tshg goes door to door. let's do the actual math when it comes to time. >> 45 bucks, on average. >> on average. let's do the math in terms of time. i don't have to schlep my bags to the airport. don't have to stand in line. i don't have to go to the tsa and check them in there. i'm not in baggage claim trying to get pie bags and hoping they're on the same plane as i am. i'm stuck in traffic. i save 2 1/2 hours by not checking a bag. >> fedex ever lost your bag? >> twice. once when there was a snowstorm in memphis. the second time when there was a snowstorm in member memphis. i do this, this. get a wrapper they give you, put it in like this, wrap it around