as diane eastabrook reports, its >> reporter: for toyota dealer kurt schiele the new redesigned camry, which sports a high-tech in awhile.yglkp e auto dealers scrambling for inventory just as consumer demand for new vehicles started improving. schiele was down to one 2011 camry when the new models rolled omeone was very particular-- "i'm looking for a silver sedan with toyota"-- it was harder find. but we would find the cars and do the trades and find people seem to be back on track again after japan's disaster threw a supplies and sales last summer. pent-up demand are behind u.s. consumers have been delaying purchases, driving 11 years old. there's also a shortage of used cars and light trucks with low morningstar auto analyst david whiston says if you're lucky enough to find one, it might be too expensive. >> so that is going to get where more and more will say it's not worth it to buy used. so you're better off buying new. rongest he's seen in years but there are potential potholes. threatens supplies of some still, u.s. auto sales are expected to top 12.5 million that's a million

diane eastabrook, "nightly business report," chicago. >> tom: prices and shopping are on the calendaree the october reports on consumer prices and industrial production. retailers hot topic, limited brands and target report quarterly earnings. also tomorrow, hilary kramer is back as our "street critique" guest. email your questions to streetcritique@nbr.com. it may be a tough housing market, but one type of real estate is booming. farmland values in the midwest rose to a record high in the third quarter, according to a new federal reserve report. the price of farmland shot up 25% over the summer. that's the fastest year over year increase in more than three decades. they were boosted by crop prices near historic highs and interest rates at near record lows. caesar's entertainment is getting ready to gamble on selling stock to the public. the world's biggest casino company says in a regulatory filing it's looking to raise up to $50 million. but that's a big drop from a year ago when it hoped to raise ten times that amount. that initial stock offering was put on hold because of poor mar

in tonight's "all in the family" segment diane eastabrook shows us what started as a father's hobby has turned into a son's mission. >> reporter: it's crunch time for john brussock and mother nature is messing with him. >> the snow is kind of weighing some of the branches down at the top of the tree, so it's kind of difficult to see if there are problem spots or if it's just snow weighing it down. >> reporter: this is brussock's second season running sandhill christmas trees-- a 200 acre farm in central wisconsin his family started 30 years ago. the 25-year-old has his work cut out for him. he and childhood friends luke and mike gray are racing against the clock to chop, haul and bail 6,000 fraser and balsam firs for sale this holiday season. that's 20% more than last year. >> we've been just calling around to garden centers, hardware stores you know businesses that generally sells tress and asking them what their needs are and trying to beat other people on quality and price. >> reporter: becoming a christmas tree farmer really wasn't what brussock had in mind when he graduated from co

diane eastabrook, "nightly business report," elmhust, illinois. >> tom: starbucks is putting up $5 million, hoping to brew up more jobs in america. the coffee company has teamed up with the opportunity finance network. the venture is called "let's create jobs for u.s.a." here's how it works: donations are accepted online and at starbucks locations. for a $5 donation, customers get a red, white and blue wristband with the word "indivisible" on it. starbucks chairman howard schultz says, with unemployment in double digits, it was time to act. >> even though we're a corporation, and we're not a political organization with stublt and respect let's make a statement we can make a >> tom: 100% of donations go to the opportunity finance network. it consists of 180 community development financial institutions which lend to many organizations, including small businesses. the network says, for every $5 donated, it will be able to lend $35. the idea is that if small businesses have capital, they will hire. >> susie: for all of human history, energy has come in one basic form: fire. for engineers like

as diane eastabrook reports, g.m. says it is doing everything to preserve the reputation of the product it calls its "pride and joy." >> reporter: general motors sent letters to more than 5,300 volt owners nationwide assuring them the hybrid electric plug-in is safe, despite battery fires after government crash tests. mark reuss, president of g.m. north america, says if volt owners still aren't convinced, the company will loan them other vehicles until further testing is complete. >> make no mistake, i believe in the safety of the volt. chevrolet and g.m. believe in the safety of the volt, but our primary focus is and always will be on the confidence and the concerns of our paying customers. >> reporter: so far, no consumers have reported battery fires. reuss said the company began putting protocols in place last summer to de-power volt batteries after a crash to avoid fires. while volt sales have lagged the company's expectations, sales of other g.m. cars have been brisk in recent months. morningstar auto analyst dav

diane eastabrook, "nightly illinois. >> tom: starbucks is putting up $5 million, hoping to brew up the coffee company has teamed up with the opportunity finance create jobs for u.s.a." for a $5 donation, customers get a red, white and blue wristband starbucks chairman howard >> even though we're a organization with let's make a statement we can make a >> tom: 100% of donations go to the opportunity finance network. it consists of 180 community institutions which lend to many donated, it will be able to lend $35. the idea is that if small >> susie: for all of human history, energy has come in one basic form: fire. for engineers like amory lovins lovins was named as one of as we continue our series, "how to fix the economy," darren gersh talked with lovins about his thoughts on reinventing fire, and how energy innovation >> three quarters of the nation's electricity is used in entrepreneur amory lovins huge opportunity. he says more efficient buildings will save the country $2 billion. >> the savings are cost. internal rate is 33 percent. you get side heathier prochymal duck tiff people

a veteran of the futures industry tells diane eastabrook he thinks the scandal will result in more regulation for his industry. >> reporter: russel wasendorf is a 35-year veteran of the sometimes high stakes game of futures trading. pfg best, the futures trading firm that he founded, handles more than a half-billion dollars in customer accounts. wasendorf sat down in his chicago office to talk about the collapse of mf global. he says he was stunned the company invested so heavily in european sovereign debt, something he says pfg best doesn't do. wasendorf doesn't think the think current regulatory system failed mf global customers, and he's confident it will find the $600 million missing from the firm's customer accounts. >> every single day, an fcm must file a segregated report. friday prior to this event, everything is fine, and monday, the bells went off. so something happened during that interim time period. the futures regulations work just fine, but once the money was transferred-- at least this is my theory-- once the money was transferred, it went into another regulatory environment w