the case could affect more than $2 billion in solar panel imports and, as darren gersh reports, could become a key political flashpoint. >> lets be clear. china has a plan for our market- - to gut it and own it. >> reporter: with that blunt warning, u.s. solar manufacturers demanded relief under u.s. trade laws. >> the illegal subsidies that china is putting out into the solar industry is no different than giving an athlete a bucket full of steroids. >> reporter: the suit filed today also claims chinese companies are dumping solar panels and cells on the american market at below their cost of production. on top of that, chinese companies receive improper subsidies from the chinese government, and that could make this case a very interesting test, since the u.s. government is also pouring money into its own solar industry. >> the obama administration's lavish billions of dollars of subsidies on the u.s. solar industry, our central bank has been implicitly driving down the value of the dollar to promote u.s. exports. a lot of u.s. solar companies are losing money, which of course means

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: still ahead, the threat of government spending cuts to defense doesn't worry hilary kramer. she's coming up with a stock pick in "street critique." >> tom: chrysler has finally hammered out a deal with the united auto-workers union. it's the last of detroit's big automakers to do so. the four-year pact calls for the addition of 2,100 jobs in the u.s. over the next four years. chrysler also will invest $4.5 billion in its plants and lineup of cars. union workers will get a $3,500 signing bonus and $1,000 in annual bonuses. however, most yearly raises were replaced by profit sharing. >> susie: also from detroit today, general motors is supercharging its lineup of fuel-efficient vehicles with an all-electric subcompact. the chevy spark will go on sale in 2013. g.m. won't say yet how much the the tiny plug-in will cost or how far it will go on a single charge. it will first go on sale in california and washington to help meet the zero-emission requirements in those states. g.m. chief marketing officer joel ewanick says the sp

today, for the other side, washington bureau chief darren gersh talks to campaign officials and experts about the controversial proposal. >> reporter: herman cain's 9-9-9 plan would not only dramatically simplify taxation in the united states, it would also turn the burden of paying for the federal government on its head. in a new analysis, robertson williams of the tax policy center says the cain plan is a large tax increase on the middle class. >> unless you are giving a substantial amount to charity-- that's the one deduction that's left in the cain plan-- you'd be stuck with paying 25% of your income in taxes, and relative to today's 12%, that's twice as much. >> reporter: the tax policy center's analysis found the cain plan would give the very richest taxpayers an average tax cut of almost $1.7 million. a typical middle class taxpayer would pay about $3,000 more. low-income americans would be hit hard. instead of getting tax rebates, they would face a tax increase of almost $1,700. >> a very, very big increase for people who don't have very much to begin with. >> reporter: at the o

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: as we reported, october was a good month for stocks. our next guest says november could be another good one for investors. in tonight's "word on the street," david peltier joins us. he's portfolio manager at thestreet.com. >> susie: hi, david.thank you f, susie. >> susie: tell us why you're up? >> historically november is a pretty good month in the market. like looking for certain pockets of value. the energy sector and individual names that should do well wether the market goes up between now and the end of the year. >> susie: we heard from so muchg seasons so cautious on outlooks for the rest of the year. where is the catalyst for a growth in the stock market? >> there were some good and some bad about. two-thirds of companies in the smp 500 have exceeded earning spec stations. i want to look where earnings are growing the most. energy is very cheap right now. when you look at value investing any stock or sector has a price to be bought. i think there is good value out there now. >> susie: alright.let's talk abe possibilit

darren gersh looks at whether that idea could really boost the economy. >> reporter: kelly mears says his high school counselors and everyone else in the student loan system told him not to worry about the debt he was taking on. >> they told me to dig my grave, essentially, and you know, really. >> reporter: like many of the students in the occupy wall street movement, mears hasn't been able to find a job, and now he and many other protesters are pressing for relief on their student loans. >> i think interest should be forgiven, at the very least. i would like to see student loan debt forgiven, i think it would actually be a huge economic boost. and for our generation-- a whole generation of people it would re-empower them. >> reporter: but analysts say that empowerment would be expensive. >> i'm sure we all feel that we deserve forgiveness. >> reporter: justin wolfers is a visiting professor at princeton university he says forgiving loans-- a typical student takes out $23,000 in loans-- would boost consumer spending by a few hundred dollars a month. but wolfers says most college grad

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: the third quarter ended in a familiar way. let's get to tonight's market focus. the familiar finish means plenty of selling with the indices back to where they began the week. the dow industrials spent the entire session in the red, but as we have seen very often, the selling gathered steam into the afternoon. the index closed on its lowest level of the day down more than 2%. hewlett-packard led the dow losers, tumbling more than 5.5%. the firm will pay its former c.e.o. more than $7 million in severance. it was one year ago today when leo apotheker was named c.e.o. of hewlett packard. he was fired this month. during his tenure, the stock lost more than 40%. by the way, new c.e.o. meg whitman will work on $1 a year. semiconductor maker micron didn't help things in technology, reporting a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter. analyst had been expecting a penny per share profit. micron has been hurt by falling prices for memory chips used in personal computer. micron was the biggest loser among s&p 500 stocks, falling more than 14

darren gersh talked to some of them. >> when people's rights are under attack, what do you do? >> stand up, fight back! >> reporter: they come from all over the country. 22-year-old harriet rowan joined protesters from wisconsin. she's here for the same reason as many other young people-- they can't find a job. >> to get a job where i will be paid enough, where i'll be able to live and pay back my student loan. and it's something that i'm struggling with. i haven't figured out how to deal with it. >> reporter: it's hard to find anyone under 30 here whose biggest concern isn't the high level of unemployment for young people. madison-area community college teacher ben manski says he sees it in his classroom every day. >> i think there is a sense of hopelessness that is very widespread. and the inability to find a career, to find a job that pays a livable wage, that provides a livable income for people to start a family and to have a future, to be able to plan ahead, is a big part of that hopelessness. >> reporter: the protesters don't expect this to be a one- day event. many of t

darren gersh recently visited a high school to find out if students really know what they're signing when they take out student loans. >> reporter: baltimore county's dundalk high school sits in a blue-collar neighborhood where many parents never went to college. cynthia vetri's job is to make sure her students get that chance, which means teaching them everything from how to take the s.a.t.s to how to get a student loan. >> i don't think that they realize that that's another debt in addition to a mortgage or a car payment. >> reporter: vetri talks openly with her students about the loans she is now taking on to get her masters degree, but it's not easy to explain to teenagers who have never had to make a monthly payment. >> i think they understand that it's a lot of money, but i don't think they understand how it will impact their lives at the time. >> reporter: a senior in vetri's class, chelsie bynaker, wants to be a third-grade teacher. but to get there, she'll have to take out loans-- thousands of dollars. >> as my life goes on i'm going to have a job, i'm going to be educated,

as nbr's darren gersh reports, the new piecemeal approach could lessen the bill's economic impact. >> reporter: the president started his bus tour with a political challenge to republicans. if you don't like all of my plan, are you willing to vote against keeping cops and teachers on the job? >> maybe they just didn't understand the whole thing, so we're breaking it up into pieces. if they vote against taking steps that we know will put americans back to work right now, then they're not going to have to answer to me. they're going to have to answer to you. >> reporter: but political analysts warn breaking up the obama plan means only the smallest pieces are likely to pass. the big tax cuts and spending plans all require offsetting tax increases or spending cuts that are hard to pass piece by piece. >> so, take the very substantial infrastructure investments that the president called for in his plan. i think they'd be great near- term fiscal support for the economy. i don't think, on their own, they have any chance at all of passing a republican house. >> reporter: republicans and some

darren gersh, "nightly business report", washington. >> tom: president obama is trying to reduce debt for college graduates with student loans. if you don't owe money for education loans, you likely know someone who does. americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, with total outstanding loans exceeding $1 trillion for the first time. today, president obama announced steps to help graduates to repay those loans. the plan pushes up the start date for more favorable terms on a special loan repayment program based on income. another measure encourages graduates with two or more kinds of federal loans to consolidate them and get a break on interest rates. speaking of taking on debt, christmas is less than two months away. as you prepare to make your shopping list, more and more are going online to save money. 51% of consumers plan to shop on the internet to find better prices-- that's a 10% jump from last year. almost half plan to buy more items that qualify for free shipping. this data comes from deloitte's 26th annual survey of holiday spending intentions and trends. b

washington bureau chief darren gersh has reaction from analysts and consumers about this about- face. >> reporter: netflix proved today it is far better to sell entertainment than to become entertainment. the twitterverse was clearly enjoying netflix's embarrassing reversal. one tweet compared the abandoned netflix dvd service qwikster to new coke. some customers were more generous, thanking the company for listening and abandoning plans to split off the dvd by mail business from the streaming video business. >> so i think netflix kind of wised up here and made the right decision. >> reporter: analysts like michael corty credit the company for recognizing a clear mistake. >> the decision to split the businesses really made no economic sense and just seemed to upset customers, so i thought the decision would eventually be reversed, but i'm surprised at how soon they eventually changed their mind. >> reporter: in a statement, c.e.o. reed hastings said: >> there is a difference between moving quickly-- which netflix has done very well for years-- and moving too fast, which is what we did

but as darren gersh reports, while leaders iron out the details of the plan, they still have many questions left to answer. >> reporter: a "haircut" is what bankers call it when they take a small loss on a bad debt. douglas elliott, a former investment banker, says a 50% loss on greek debt is not a haircut; it's a huge hole in european bank balance sheets. >> that means that many banks which own greek debt have problems, and other banks which have, say, portuguese or italian or spanish debt-- where there is a concern the same thing could eventually happen-- they are dicier than they otherwise would be. >> reporter: the solution to that problem is more money. as a first step, the e.u. plans to pump $70 billion into greek banks to keep them afloat. the agreement also requires many of europe's other big banks to raise capital quickly. >> so they are given some time to come up with the money on their own. otherwise, it will be forced down their throat in some way not yet specified. >> reporter: hoping to end fears of a meltdown all at once, european leaders are also raising a huge pot of money.

washington bureau chief darren gersh reports. >> reporter: the volcker rule is supposed to keep banks from using taxpayer-insured deposits to place risky bets to boost profits. and in some ways, it has already accomplished its goal. >> many banks have already sold off their prop desk, have sold off their private equity desk. it's changed behavior-- before, it was even issued, it changed behavior. and banks are pouring over the proposals right now to see where are the lines-- what can we do for our clients, what risk management and asset management services can we still provide for our clients, and what can we no longer provide? >> reporter: one thing banks will have to do-- keep much better data on how they trade and why, so regulators can enforce the new rule. >> the metrics would provide a valuable source of information on trading activities in large banking organizations, andenfo e regators enforce the volcker rule in a consistent manner. >> reporter: but the rule also grants exemptions for some trading banks say they do for their clients. some worry that could create a loophole. >

darren gersh takes a closer look. >> reporter: here's the deal from groupon-- for $16 to $18 a share, you get a business that is growing fast and cracking open the huge local retail market. before you buy, consider that analysts at morningstar peg groupon's value at $8 a share. >> this is a hugely expensive business. i mean, you really look at what they are doing, they are sticking themselves in the middle of a transaction and grabbing a huge toll for that. >> reporter: morningstar gives groupon credit for strong execution and rapid growth, but says the barriers to entry are low and the competition could be fierce. >> we still think overall, this is a business that runs in single digit operating margins and really can't climb out of that range unless they do something extremely dramatic and really curtail their growth. >> reporter: in a video roadshow, executives say the company earns back the cost of attracting a new customer in a few months, allowing it to quickly grow its subscriber base. but those marketing costs are a huge concern. earlier this year, the company was spending $6 o

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: the senate bill doesn't label china a currency manipulator, instead it settles for a broader standard that the bill's authors say china will have a harder time wriggling out of. >> we believe misalignment is the appropriate standard, that is not subjective. it's not saying why the currency is misaligned or how or who did it... it's simply saying that it is. its a narrower standard. >> reporter: since lawmakers began pressuring china on the value of the yuan, beijing has allowed it to increase by more than 25%-- and much higher if inflation is taken into account. u.s. exports since 2006 have more than doubled, which is why critics oppose the bill. >> and so the united states senate... wants to put in place tariffs on a major growing country that we have growing exports to and create a trade war? >> reporter: some business groups and conservatives argue the bill could increase costs to consumers and could even cost jobs. >> for every import that we bring in, whether from china or someplace else, there's somebody that's on a ship, somebody that's on a tr

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: stocks mount a late- day turnaround on fresh hopes europe can shore up its banks. the dow rose 153 points, rebounding from a loss of 200 points earlier in the session. the nasdaq added 69 points, or 3%, and the s&p 500 gained 24, despite dipping into bear market territory earlier in the day. >> tom: still ahead-- we go "beyond the scoreboard" with the owner of the miami dolphins. we ask steve ross about the business of football and repairing the economy. >> susie: kraft foods is going on a diet. the company is cutting the fat in its mac and cheese and putting more fiber in wheat thins. chairman and c.e.o. irene rosenfeld is trying to whip kraft into shape before its grocery and snack businesses separate next year. she talked to diane eastabrook about the challenges of building a healthier business in an unhealthy economy. >> taking a recess from the executive suite, kraft chairman and c.e.o. irene rosenfeld plays with students at a chicago charter school. rosenfeld came to this charter school to see how the public school i

and as darren gersh reports, consumers are spending faster than they save and faster than they earn. >> reporter: if americans have learned anything in the last few years, saving less and spending more is not a recipe for long run economic health, but that's what consumers were doing last month. >> wages are stagnant. people are not getting raises, people are not getting bonuses. so what's happening is that the average consumer is having to dip into her or his savings in order to keep food on the table, in order to pay mortgages, in order to pay their bills, in order to buy gasoline et cetera, and that is not sustainable. >> reporter: overall, savings dropped from an annual rate of $479 billion in august to $419.8 billion in september. incomes rose just zero point one percent last month after falling point 4% in august. >> this means we are in a very fragile spot. we are very vulnerable. any additional shock can really push back consumption and that would be a big problem for the whole economy. >> reporter: for now, the economy does not now appear to be falling back into recession, t

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: the key part of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke's message today came when he was asked about the impact of operation twist, the fed's program to bring down long-term interest rates. >> i think it'll help somewhat on job creation and growth. it'll be particularly important now that the economy is close... the recovery is close to faltering. we want to make sure that the recovery continues and doesn't drop back. >> reporter: "close to faltering" is not something you want to hear a fed chairman say about the economy. macroeconomic advisers' antulio bomfim says the best word to describe the market's reading of bernanke's testimony-- "sobering." >> it reinforces, to a degree, the sense of worry about the economy. so, not a whole lot of... if you are a market participant, you don't come out of this with a very strong feeling. >> reporter: bomfim says bernanke's testimony was filled with reason after reason for worry about the economy. topping the list was sluggish job growth. then, there's the possibility of financial contagion following a collapse in e