darren gersh has the story. >> reporter: is better good enough? when it comes to jobs, president obama's re-election hopes ride on the answer, one reason he was talking up today's report. >> it is important for the american people to recognize that we have now added 3.2 million new private sector over the last 22 months. nearly two million new jobs last year alone. so we're making progress. we're moving in the right direction. >> reporter: but there is a long way to go. an analysis by the hamilton project shows more than half of the unemployed in nevada, illinois, new jersey and florida -- states key to the president's re-election-- have been out of work for more than six months. and republicans are quick to point out the jobs recovery is still weak. >> working with ronald reagan in the early 80's, we had a very simple formula. sound money, lower taxes, less red tape, more american energy, and actually praise people who create jobs. that formula, led by august of 1983, to a million three hundred thousand jobs being created in one month. >> reporte

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: good economic and earnings news today gave a boost to stocks here on wall street. wholesales prices fell slightly last month, a sign that inflation remains tame. investors were also encouraged by better-than-expected quarterly earnings from goldman sachs. tom will have more on goldman's numbers in tonight's "market focus." the dow rose 96 points, the nasdaq added 41 and the s&p added 14, closing above the 1300 level for the first time since july. >> tom: still ahead, "street critique" guest bryan perry isn't afraid of the volatility earnings season can bring. he joins us with two new stock picks. >> tom: speaking of earnings season, let's call it "super thursday." that's for the large number of bellwether technology companies due to report earnings tomorrow. google, i.b.m., intel and microsoft all plan to turn in their fourth quarter corporate scorecards, but expectations are for only so-so results for the tech sector. suzanne pratt explains why. >> reporter: it's hard to imagine there could ever be a period when tech com

as darren gersh reports, the strategy also reflects another business and political reality, tight budgets> reporter: the transition from war to peace has proven difficult for the pentagon. it's a time when skills and focus are often lost. this time, the president vowed, would be different. >> we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes that have been made in the past, after world war ii, after vietnam, when our military was left ill-prepared for the future. as commander in chief, i will not let that happen again. not on my watch. >> reporter: the president plans to shift america's military resources, cutting back on europe and the middle east, and beefing up in asia to counter china's growing clout. to save money, more than 100,000 troops could be cut, and purchases of new weapons systems will be delayed. defense analyst tom donnelly says the strategy reflects a bipartisan consensus. >> defense spending is less important to the republicans than keeping tax rates down and less important to the democrats than defending domestic entitlement programs. so, at best, it is everyone's second priority

but this year, as darren gersh reports, the shift from the new hampshire to south carolina primaries is crossing a large economic divide. >> reporter: as the candidates shake the last hands in new hampshire, the presidential contest is already in full swing in south carolina, a state that is almost economically the opposite of chilly new hampshire. the biggest difference between new hampshire and south carolina comes down to two numbers: 5.3% and 9.9%. new hampshire's unemployment rate is 5.3%, one of the lowest in the nation. in south carolina, the figure is almost twice as high. new hampshire voters are also much better off, enjoying a median income of almost $66,000, compared to south carolina's median income of less than $42,000. but the trend in south carolina is improving. researchers at the university of south carolina expect employment in the state will grow by 2% this year, although they still call the economy in the palmetto state "very delicate." there is, however, one number where new hampshire and south carolina are fairly close, and that's the percentage of voters who s

darren gersh reports on the fed's efforts to forecast its own actions. >> reporter: last august, the federal reserve made a promise, telling investors it would keep its key interest rate near zero until the middle of 2013. on wednesday, the federal reserve is going to tell investors how many of the people who gather around this table to make decisions want to keep interest rates near zero through 2014, or even longer. >> so, if the fed says that we're not gonna raise rates anytime soon, then people will be more willing to lend you money at a lower rate, because they know there won't be any alternative, better use later. >> reporter: the fed plans to release the interest rate forecasts for the top 17 policy makers who serve on the interest rate-setting federal open market committee. the forecasts won't have names attached to them, but investors will be able to see how many policy makers want to raise interest rates, when they want to raise interest rates and to what level. analysts expect most will want to keep interest rates near zero well into 2014, which is about as long as anyone

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: early gains for stocks evaporated as the day wore on, with the weaker new home sales data overshadowing some strong blue chip earnings. the dow industrials saw a solid pop in the first half hour of trading, thanks to the strong earnings from caterpillar and 3m. but the gains didn't stick and the dow finished down a fraction, but the high during the session for the dow was the index's highest level since may 2008. two global industrial giants led the dow gainers. there's caterpillar's 2% rally, and 3m added more than 1%. this is 3m's highest price since july. meantime, these results from at&t dragged down the dow. at&t's earnings were a penny shy of estimates, and that was before recording a $4 billion charge for its failed buyout of t-mobile u.s.a. similar to verizon, at&t's wireless business saw margins pinched due to its iphone and smartphone business. the carriers subsidize the cost of the phones, in hopes of making it up with subscriber data plans. at&t was the worst stock among the dow industrials, falling 2.5% on stron

darren gersh reports. >> reporter: debbie bosanek is about to become berkshire hathaway's second-most famous employee. the reason? she is the new face of the "buffett rule," which holds a billionaire like warren buffett should not pay a lower tax rate than his secretary, debbie bosanek. to drive the point home, bosanek will be sitting in a place of honor with the first lady at tonight's state of the union speech. >> the president believes it is not fair, inherently not fair that those who are millionaires and billionaires pay at a lower rate than average americans who are struggling to get by. >> reporter: the issue took on new urgency as mitt romney released his tax returns. showing he earned more than $42 million over the last two years- - almost all of it from investments-- and paid more than $6 million in taxes, for an effective tax rate of 14%. romney did not mention his tax rate or the buffett rule today, but he vowed to lower taxes on the middle class, and attacked the president for using what he called "divisive" language. >> we don't demonize prosperity. we celebrate success.

darren gersh takes a look. >> reporter: in the 2010 election, campaign spending hit a record $4 billion. but for all the concerns about the impact of the supreme court's "citizen's united" decision unleashing corporate money, opensecrets.org says only two fortune 500 companies were active donors-- ohio-based american financial group and mgm resorts. >> companies are typically cautious animals; they want to avoid the limelight. >> reporter: target is the exception that proves the rule. in 2010, the retailer donated $150,000 to support a republican running for governor of minnesota. >> and when it was discovered that target had made this big contribution, there was a consumer backlash-- a consumer boycott by gay rights activists and moveon.org activists. and nobody wants to be the next target. >> reporter: supporters of campaign finance reform want to make sure investors know what publicly traded companies are doing with their cash. u.s. public interest research group is asking the s.e.c. to require more timely disclosure of corporate contributions to super-pacs. >> i save up money becaus

darren gersh explains why this battle has drawn in some of the biggest names on the web. >> reporter: "flatland: the movie" is a drama about geometry set in two dimensions. when director/animator dano johnson tried to find out what people were saying about his educational film, he received an array of emails offering him a free download of his own movie. >> it was a bit alarming. we worked hard on this film and we wanted to pay everyone who was involved in the creation of it. i really hate online piracy. it definitely affects my income. >> reporter: to make it easier to block foreign web sites that pirate movies and music and software, many content creators are now pushing congress to pass legislation called the "stop online piracy act," or "sopa," and the related "protect i.p." or "pipa" act. network security analyst daniel castro says tougher anti-piracy rules would benefit artists and software engineers working in the united states. >> if you have however million chinese that are simply downloading pirated dvds, pirated movies, they're buying pirated dvds in the street, they're not

and as darren gersh reports, the deficit dilemma is an increasingly tight fit. >> reporter: if we cut the deficit right away-- eliminating the bush tax cuts and slashing defense and other spending-- the deficit will drop dramatically, but the economy will stall out. >> taken together, these policies will generate a sharp fiscal contraction. >> reporter: if we wait to cut the deficit, that will boost the economy in the next few years, but as more baby boomers retire, the cost of social security, medicare, and other health care spending will almost double over the next ten years as a share of our economy. and that could send the national debt skyrocketing to more than $23 trillion. >> the longer that we wait, as a country, to make the sort of choices that we have to make, the harder it will be to make them because more debt will have accumulated. >> reporter: most budget wonks agree we should keep growing the economy now, but make cuts in the medium to long run, a policy that sounds good on paper, but has been hard to put into action politically. darren gersh, "nightly business report,"

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: still ahead, a big supply chain lender pulls support to sears' suppliers. we look at the state of short- term business lending. >> in a poor economy, we have always been able to step in and provide financing when other financial sources don't. >> tom: the european economy may be teetering on the edge of recession-- if not in a recession already-- but the european central bank is not making cash any cheaper for banks. at least not today. it kept its key lending rate unchanged at 1%. still, the bank's president issued this warning: "substantial downside risks to economic outlook for the euro area continue to exist." instead of lowering interest rates, the european bank wants to see the impact of lending billions to banks in december-- money banks don't have to pay back for three years. for more on the situation in europe and what threat it may pose for the u.s. economy, we turn to mike moran, the senior economist at international bank standard chartered. nice to see you tonight. >> it's great to be with you. >> tom: let me ask you

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: the auto industry is all revved up as it kicks off the annual north american international autoshow in detroit. hyundai in the spotlight, with its elantra winning top honors as the north american car of the year. the land rover evoque won truck of the year. but the big three u.s. automakers are the big stars at this year's show. as diane eastabrook reports, their comeback is capturing the attention of competitors from around the globe. >> reporter: putting a new twist on an old name, chrysler rolled out the 2013 dodge dart this morning at the north american international auto show. built on an alfa romeo chassis, this iteration of the dart will be available with three different engines and transmissions. it also features a multimedia center inside with ipod connectivity and a navigation system-- all for less than $16,000. >> it's beautiful, it's powerful, but it's also very smart. >> reporter: at the motor city's big auto show, excitement is back in a big way. forget about the bankruptcies that rocked chrysler and g.m.--