bergsten. >> good to talk. >> tom: stocks battled back from earlier losses to end the day higher. the dow rose 134 points, the nasdaq added 60 and the s&p 500 was up 17. trading volume was slightly lower ahead of the weekend, 1.1 billion shares on the big board, 1.8 billion on the nasdaq. the dow snapped a four-week losing streak, gaining 4.3% this week. the nasdaq saw a nice recovery too, rising almost 6%. the s&p 500 is almost 5% higher today compared to a week ago. still ahead, our focus on fixing the economy turns to you the consumer and how you're holding up in a slow economy. >> susie: "irene." that's what people up and down the east coast were talking about today. millions are bracing for hurricane irene and preparing for a weekend of violent weather, and even though it was a sunny day here on wall street, the new york stock exchange was busy getting ready for irene. >> reporter: the massive american flag that usually drapes the pillars outside the new york stock exchange has been removed so hurricane irene doesn't blow it away this weekend. sandbags were placed around the

bergsten, south of the river thames, is known as a friendly, multicultural area. it was considered an up-and- coming. rundown houses have been renovated. middle-class professionals have been moving in. >> to go back, it is terrible. i hope that this is not a beginning of something worse to come. >> a major shopping spree during the night. most of the rioters are young men. when we visited britain three years ago, we met david wilson. a social worker group on this estate. he paid visits to local residents, especially the younger ones. wilson wants to put an end to that. >> it is about the area that you live in. you go over to britain. that is not going to happen. >> strangers are unwelcome. >> why do you come here? >> are you coming to rob us? >> they say that they are only acting in self-defense. the government has invested millions of pounds to end conflicts like this. he runs a state-sponsored youth center. money has been put into improving security. three years on, and violence and looting have erupted again. left-wing politicians say that the causes are clear.

economic and political leadership, says economist fred bergsten. >> i think many of my foreign friends are a little naive in giving the u.s. the benefit of the doubt and giving us a pretty long leash. all of a sudden, they were shocked to see how dysfunctional the system is and how difficult it was to come up with anything concrete. >> reporter: and once lost, confidence is not easily regained. consumers won't be in a better mood until they see proof there will be more jobs. and investors around the world will need to see progress in washington before they are willing to once again give the united states the benefit of the doubt. darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: our guest tonight says there are no instant solutions to this financial crisis. he's mohamed el-erian, c.e.o. and co-c.i.o. of pimco, the world's largest bond fund. >> hi susie. >> still picking up with jared left off, talking about confidence. do you think that the fed today laid the foundation to restore confidence? >> the fed did three important things in a wild day and a wild week. it's hard to