and as darren gersh reports, senators were also concerned about how much data was being shared with third party companies. >> reporter: your mobile phone can help you find your way, tell you where the best pizza is, and it can tell an advertiser exactly where you are, even if you would rather they didn't know. which is why minnesota senator al franken is so concerned about protecting mobile privacy. what today is about is trying to find a balance between all of those wonderful benefits and the public's right to privacy. >> reporter: senators homed in on apple software that researchers say collects location data and stores it for up to a year on an iphone or ipad. apple says the data helps iphones find locations faster than using gps. apple software executive bud tribble adds the location data is also anonymous. >> apple was never tracking an individual's location from the information residing in that cache. furthermore, the location data that was seen on the iphone was not the past or present location of the iphone, but rather the location of wifi hotspots and cell towers around the iphon

as darren gersh reports, it should. >> reporter: when gas prices topped $3.80 a gallon, president obama did what many other presidents have done-- he called for an investigation. >> the attorney general is putting together a team whose job is too root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices. and that includes the role of traders and speculators. we're going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of american consumers. >> reporter: six years earlier george w. bush did the same thing. >> here at home, we will protect consumers. there will be no price gouging at gas pumps in america. >> reporter: for almost 40 years, federal and state regulators have searched for fraud and price-gouging. but guy caruso, the former head of the federal energy information administration, says, the dozen or so investigations he can remember, all reached pretty much the same conclusion. >> they found basically that the market is responding to fundamentals of supply, demand or some external events. >> reporter: three years ago, the commodity futures trading co

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: overseas, portugal has reached a deal on a bail-out from the european union and international monetary fund. the country will get $115 billion in aid. in exchange, portugal will have to slash its budget deficit to 3% of its gross domestic product in the next two years, compared to over 9% last year. other details, like how much the country will have to pay in interest, are still under wraps. >> well, the blue chips here on the new york stock exchange inked out ever so small in the positive side. nasdaq and the s&p are both down, and it looks like pfizer was a big reason behind what happened on wall street. >> certainly a big reason behind the dow jones industrial average, but still able to hold on to the thinnest of gains. let go ahead and get everybody updated on tonight's mark focu "market another muted day for stocks, with investors moving into defensive-oriented sectors. telecom stocks were the strongest group of the broad market, thanks to pre-paid wireless service provider metro p.c.s. shares jumped more than 10% as vo

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: the title of today's hearing says what many lawmakers fear: the at&t/t-mobile merger: is humpty-dumpty being put back together again? consumer advocates like gigi sohn say yes. >> we will go back to the days when this phone was in use. only two companies ruled the cellular phone market, resulting in high prices for consumers and little innovation. at&t president and c.e.o. randall stephenson told senators the merger is the only way his company can get the wireless spectrum it needs to roll out faster mobile networks. >> history has demonstrated that these mergers have traditionally generated significant cost synergies and capacity benefits, which have translated into cost savings in the consumer's pocket. >> reporter: if the merger goes through, at&t and verizon will divide up close to 80% of industry revenues. sprint c.e.o. dan hesse argued that amounts to a new duopoly-- a situation where two companies have the power to set prices and dictate terms competitors must follow. sprint would be left behind. >> it does make us more of a takeover target ov

darren gersh takes a look. >> reporter: on the short end, a debt ceiling extension may last just until the cherry blossoms come out again in washington-- about six months or so. budget watcher stan collender is not looking for the talks now underway to reach a long-term agreement. >> i think they are going to need something at least symbolic, a fig leaf-- something a number of members of congress can hang their hats on that will say, "well, it's not as much as i would have liked, but it's all we're going to get." my guess is they will also do a relatively short-term increase. maybe just enough to get through next march, so they'll have to come back and do this again. >> reporter: the outline of the emerging budget agreement is pretty clear. roughly $1 trillion in discretionary spending cuts over ten years; cuts to entitlement like farm programs, federal retirement benefits and unemployment compensation; and some kind of budget enforcement rule. that could be a cap on spending or some kind of trigger for automatic cuts if debt or spending exceeds a target. that would be enough to reach

as darren gersh reports, the news will step up the pressure to make changes. >> reporter: medicare and social security did not have a good year. the cost of medical care rose faster than expected and payroll taxes fell further than forecast due to a weak economy. there was some good news-- life expectancy for older americans increased slightly. but that increases the benefits paid by social security and medicare. treasury secretary timothy geithner, a trustee of the programs, says the new forecasts show why changes must be made. >> while social security and medicare have sufficient resources to meet their obligations for at least the next decade, it is important that we put in place reforms to strengthen these programs. social security and medicare benefits are secure today, but reforms will be needed so they will be there for current and future retirees. >> reporter: medicare's condition worsened the most. costs were higher than expected last year, leading government forecasters to predict the hospital insurance trust fund will run out of money in 2024-- five years earlier than predic

that may bring relief at the pump, but as darren gersh reports, it will come at a cost. >> reporter: this is one of those "be careful what you wish for stories." if you've been hoping oil prices would keep going down, you got your wish today, but oil market guru fadel gheit says the forces driving down crude oil prices are not all welcome. >> nobody is really sure where we are going from here. are we going to get back into recession or the economy will start to pick up steam? obviously the news from europe is not very encouraging. slow down in china, so there are so many signals, if you will-- some of them positive, some of them negative-- and there are more negative signals than there are positive. >> reporter: china is now almost literally driving world oil demand, and manufacturing there fell to its lowest level in 10 months. platts also reported chinese oil consumption grew less than expected. factoring all that in, traders sent the price of oil down almost 2.5% today. that move means americans could be getting what they asked for-- cheaper gas, perhaps as low as $3.50 a gallon b

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: hasn't had much of a chance to get up and running lately. let's get you updated with tonight's mar "market focus." after starting in positive territory, the major stock indices couldn't hold on to buyers, finishing lower again today. although energy stocks were the strongest group, as oil prices popped back over $99 per barrel. this is the past 90 sessions for the s&p energy select exchange- traded fund. it was up 1.4% today, but is down more than 7% of this high, corresponding to the sell-off we've seen this month in oil. leading the sector today, though, was a natural gas firm-- el paso. shares jumped 6.5%. volume exploded, increasing more than four-fold. this is a new 52-week high, a new post-recession high. investors are buying as the company raised its financial forecast, and ahead of el paso splitting into two companies. by the end of the year, el paso will separate its pipeline and storage business from its exploration and production work. other energy gainers today included occidental petroluem, up 3.6%. oil services

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: the president said today's jobs report shows the economy can take a hit from higher oil prices and still keep going. still he recognized what so many americans already feel: high gas prices are eating away at paychecks. which is why, after touring a factory making hybrid transmissions, mr. obama took aim at the $4 billion in tax breaks oil companies get every year. >> now, if you're already paying them at the pump, we don't need to pay them through the tax code. we do not need to do it. >> reporter: take away those tax breaks and smaller, independent drillers in the u.s. say big companies will simply shift their investment overseas. lee fuller represents domestic oil exploration companies, which he says will have to cut production if costs rise. >> so instead of developing more resources, you're going to be developing less and that certainly isn't going to get us more supply and it certainly isn't going to get us more american jobs. >> reporter: house republicans also targeted gas prices this week, passing legislation to promote offshore drilling. b

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> between the outlook on hewlett-packard that wejust talked about, the housing data that erika just told us about and other economic data. scrtd -- investors have a lot to think about. >> tom: yes, they remain as dark clouds over the investment markets. between earnings and the economy, lots in focus here tonight. so let's get right here here to it with tonight's "market focus." >> tom: a quiet close to the trading day thanks the weak housing data and sour outlook from hewlett packard. with so much focus on h.p. today, the dow jones industrial average saw triple-digit losses at one point. just after 11:30 eastern time the dow was down by 162 points. pretty big headline number. it cut that by more than half before the closing bell. here's h-p-q and that 7% loss today. volume jumped seven-fold, with shares breaking down to a new 52-week low. there it is, below $37. h.p. now trades below the sell- off last august, when former c.e.o. mark hurd was forced out in a scandal. let's go ahead and move on with dell earnings. while investors we

darren gersh, "nightly business >> tom: america and emerging markets are bellying up to the bar more often. alcohol sales in the u.s. and in developing economies have been picking up. names like jameson whiskey, absolut vodka and chivas scotch have fueled the profit growth at french liquor giant pernod ricard to the tune of about 7% this year. we spoke with the company's c.e.o. pierre pringuet, starting with how he sees the u.s. economy. >> well, it's definitely improving. and we can see that today. the spirit market is growing, back to growth. so what is good for us is tha that... >> tom: what do you think is driving that with unemployment still generally thought of as pretty high in the united states? >> yes indeed. but when we look at some consumer confidence index, it is improving. so i think that's the background situation, and for us it's relatively -- >> tom: you are based in france. western europe is the weakest spot for new terms of growth. is they a reflection of the european economy and some of the debt questions that are happening with governments? >> i would say that fra

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: even before an elite team of navy seals attacked this fortress-like compound in pakistan, the u.s. defense establishment was preparing to tighten its budget belt. military analyst loren thompson says the wars in iraq and afghanistan now cost $100 billion a year. he says the strike that killed bin laden will eventually accelerate the winding down of those conflicts. >> there is not going to be a peace dividend associated with osama bin laden's death any time soon. but of course, the reason we are in afghanistan, the reason we went to iraq was all linked to 9/11 attacks. so with the chief author of those attacks now dead, there is a high likelihood that we are headed into a period of contraction in defense demand and maybe more money available for other things. >> reporter: since osama bin laden launched attacks on the united states, the armed forces have added 92,000 soldiers and marines. with al qaeda's leader gone, analysts expect the military to return to it's pre-9/11 size. gordon adams headed up national security budgeting for the clinton white ho

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: progress, but no deal. that's the bottom line on vice- president joe biden's meeting with republican and democratic lawmakers. it was the first of a series of get-togethers aimed at reducing the deficit and government spending. republican leaders and the white house reportedly are discussing a deal to set up deficit targets and spending cuts. in exchange, republicans would try to lift the $14 trillion debt ceiling. changes to medicare, medicaid and taxes would be put off until after next year's elections, according to "the wall street journal." >> tom: at its worst point today, the dow industrials fell more than 200 points. in the course of 20 minutes last may 6, the dow plunged more than 700 points. it was the biggest and fastest fall in the history of the dow. it was the "flash crash." >> for several minutes one year ago tomorrow it appeared the dow and dozens of stocks were in a freefall, prices plummeted. in the case-of-philip morris its share price fell from 49 dollars to 17 dollars, accenture to a pen

as darren gersh reports, topping the agenda will be finding some way to enforce budget discipline. >> reporter: with less than three months to go before the nation hits the debt ceiling and faces default, policy makers say an agreement may hinge on finding some kind of budgetary trigger mechanism. that trigger would force automatic cuts in the federal budget if deficit reduction goals aren't met. finance committee chairman max baucus says a mechanism like that will be on the agenda for tomorrow's meeting with the vice president. >> whether there will be one, i don't know. what its composition will be, i don't know. there are a wide range of ideas on what it should be, but i suspect that's going to be very high on the list of subjects that we are going to talk about. >> reporter: the president is calling for limits on how fast the national debt can grow. if it tops his goal, automatic spending cuts and tax increases would kick in. those tax increases are a problem for republicans like utah's orrin hatch. >> if it's a trigger that amounts to automatic taxation, then i'm against that, be

and as darren gersh reports, the hearing was contentious and, mostly, political theater. >> reporter: the oil executives took an aggressive stance, vigorously defending what they pay in taxes, saying the tax breaks they get are the same ones given to other manufacturers. >> singling our five companies because of their size is more troubling. such measures are anti- competitive and discriminatory. don't punish our industry for doing it's job well. >> reporter: in the first quarter, the major oil companies did very well, earning $35 billion in profits! when these companies testified together before congress in 2005, oregon's ron wyden asked if the industry needed incentives to drill and the companies answered no. today, he repeated the question. >> if your company didn't need incentives to drill for oil at $55 a barrel, how in the world can you possibly need incentives when oil is at $100 a barrel? >> reporter: conoco-phillips' c.e.o. james mulva said the world has changed. >> we look at the past, and the easy-to-find oil has been found. our costs go up, our taxes have gone up. oil is m

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: after adjusting for inflation, china's currency is up 10% against the dollar since last summer. that has taken some of the pressure off the trade issue, but today treasury secretary timothy giethner still urged his chinese counterparts to do more. >> in china, building on the remarkable reforms of the last 30 years, the challenge is to lay the foundation for a new growth model driven more by domestic demand with a more flexible exchange rate. >> reporter: u.s. and chinese economic officials are meeting under somewhat unusual economic circumstances. the two biggest economies in the world both have currencies that are falling in value. the chinese yuan has fallen 2% against most trading partners since last summer. >> it's reducing the export competitiveness of other countries. >> reporter: cornell professor eswar prasad says that's a relief to u.s. officials, who have waged a sometimes lonely battle with beijing to force the yuan higher. >> so in principle, the u.s. should have a lot more friends on its side when it comes to countering chinese currenc

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: the arab spring was not just a political revolution; the president says the protests across the region were also driven by people concerned about putting food on their tables. that economic concern will have to be addressed, the president says, if the transition to democracy in the middle east is to succeed. >> we think it's important to focus on trade, not just aid; on investment, not just assistance. the goal must be a model in which protectionism gives way to openness, the reins of commerce pass from the few to the many, and the economy generates jobs for the young. >> reporter: the president wants world leaders to consider a plan at next week's g8 summit to modernize the economies of tunisia and egypt. he hopes to forgive $1 billion of egyptian debt, and guarantee a $1 billion loan to finance infrastructure and job creation, create enterprise funds to invest in tunisia and egypt, and support that with $2 billion in trade finance. and the president is proposing a comprehensive trade and investment partnership in the region. it is an ambitious agen