thought about canceling an appearance today at the chicago auto show, but as diane eastabrook reports, the company used the event to calm consumers. >> reporter: at the chicago auto show, toyota's redesigned avalon took a backseat to the company's recent recalls. vice president robert carter said restoring consumer trust is the company's top priority. >> we are completely focused on fixing vehicles and working with our dealers 24/7 to handle it as quickly and as efficiently as possible. >> reporter: in the last two weeks, toyota has been hit with two highly publicized recalls: one involving sticky gas pedals on eight models, including the popular camry; and another recall involving a braking glitch on the prius hybrid. morningstar auto analyst david whiston says toyota needs to get its act together and quickly. >> this is just bringing them down to the rest of the pack level now, and they need to make their vehicles more exciting after this and after they fix the quality. >> reporter: recalls are not that unusual in the auto industry, so many of toyota's competitors hesitate to critic

we begin with diane eastabrook in chicago. >> reporter: for abt electronics and appliances, health care is the company's third highest cost, just behind labor and inventory. that's why owner mike abt watched today's health care summit with rapt attention in his store's home theater section. >> i care about my employees a lot, but i care about my customers. and if they don't have insurance, they're not going to be able to buy as much. >> reporter: abt offers health and dental insurance to all of his more than 1,000 workers. some employees opt out in favor of their spouse's plan, and only a small percentage decline his coverage. those workers concern abt. still, he's skeptical about mandatory health insurance for everyone. >> this is america-- we should have a choice. but the people who don't have health care, a lot of times, they cost us so much money. you know, everyone is allowed to go to an emergency room and get treatment, and that costs more than doctors' little clinic that you're going to visit. so i don't think we should force people to do anything, but it is a problem. >> reporte

diane eastabrook, "nightly business report", chicago. >> tom: late this afternoon, ford said it will do a software fix on the brakes of 18,000 2010 mercury milan and ford fusion gas-electric hybrids. the company says some customers think they're losing brake power when their cars switch between two braking systems. ford says dealers can repair the problem in about 45 minutes. the automaker says its action is not related to the prius problem. >> susie: it's almost time for the big game, super bowl sunday is this weekend and it's also one the biggest advertising events of the year. still ahead, we talk with a c.e.o. who's betting big on the big game. he's michael mendes of diamond foods. >> a brutal day at the exchange. it looks like nobody, or very few stocks were able to exchan the sell-off, right. >> yeah, very few ports in this storm, lots of red on the screen. let's take a look at tonight's market focus. it was the stiffest of selling was seen in the basic materials, energy and financial sectors. each off by around 4%. but there were much bigger losers inside the sectors. financia

diane eastabrook, "nightly business report," elmhurst, illinois. >> tom: still ahead, going bust, with many of the nation's retailers awash in red ink. some analysts think many stores may soon find themselves in bankruptcy court. >> susie: so another triple dim it day. what's going on on wall street. >> tom: certainly housing and big hopes for housing. let's take a look at that market focus, susie. hopes that housing has bottomed helped fuel the gains today, on the heels of an increase in pending home sales, as well as a surprise profit from homebuilder d.r. horton. this is the first quarterly profit from d.r. horton since housing collapsed. the company's c.e.o. still calls the market challenging, but thinks the first-time home buyers' tax credit will help the spring selling season. the stock did four times normal volume on a double-digit rise. it's now at almost five-month highs. the company controlled costs while expanding sales, and that equates to bigger profit margins. the news lifted the entire homebuilding sector. pulte homes' earnings are due out next tuesday. the remaining thr

the toyota dealer diane eastabrook spoke with in last night's program, kurt schiele, said he got many phone calls from panicked customers after lahood's mid-morning comments. the good news? schiele now has the replacement parts and his shop is installing them on customer's cars. >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's "n.b.r. newswheel". wall street's blue chips snapped a two-day winning streak as pfizer's disappointing guidance weighed on the market. the dow fell 26 points, the nasdaq rose nearly a point, and the s&p 500 down six points. cisco shares were moving higher in after hours trading. they popped over 3% on better than expected earnings and cisco's first year over year sales gain in more than a year. we'll have full details in tonight's "market focus". as ben bernanke was sworn in for a second term today, the federal reserve chairman said he was focused on protecting the agency's independence. bernanke said that independence is key to keeping monetary policy focused on the long-term interests of the american people, and not political whims. >> susie: you've probably noticed