diane eastabrook reports. >> reporter: better world books is an orphanage of sorts for used books. they come into the company's mishaiwaka indiana warehouse by the hundreds where they get sorted, recycled, re-sold or donated to charity. better world's shelves are crammed with some four million hard covers and paperbacks with nearly 2.5 million unique titles. >> right here we're looking at a book understanding nutrition that could have come in from the university of nebraska or who knows where. and it's right next to a book about donald rumsfeld, yep it's a completely random put away. >> reporter: kreece fuchs is one of better world's three co- founders. the trio of former university of notre dame students hatched the idea for the company in their dorm. they found they co md kemaore llnekesey inusseinexeir edt books over the internet than back to the school bookstore. >> over the course of that summer after i graduated, i would get an email saying your book sold and i would run to the post office and ship the book and you know a few days later i sold another book. >> reporter: last

. >> i'm diane eastabrook in chicago. the biggest generation since the baby boomers are getting a full court press from corporate america. >> tom: it's "nightly business report" for friday, february 10. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. one word dominated trading here today at the new york stock exchange: greece. there were new doubts today about greece's austerity plan and new concerns that it could default. tom, european finance ministers said greece needs to make more spending cuts to qualify for bailout loans. >> tom: late today, susie, greece's cabinet okayed a bill that included those cuts. it's set for a vote in parliament sunday. this development came after u.s. stock indices had their worst day of 2012. the s&p 500 and nasdaq broke their five-week winning streaks. the dow tumbled by 89 points, the nasdaq fell 23, and the s&p fell nine. >> susie: more and more americans ar

. >> i'm diane eastabrook in chicago. i'll tell you how food manufacturers are getting more while consumers are getting less. >> tom: we put that question to the c.e.o. of general mills, and hear how he's fighting inflation with innovation. its our exclusive interview with ken powell. it's "nightly business report" for tuesday, february 21. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: od evening and thanks for joining us. a reprieve in greece, but the risk has not been removed. european policymakers signed off on a $171 billion aid package for greece early this morning. now, private investors have to approve the deal, susie. >> susie: tom, there are some doubts about getting that approval, but investors here on wall street were relieved that greece will not default on its debt. the news powered u.s. stocks, helping the dow break through the 13,000 level, briefly. but by the clong bell, the ray fizzled-- the dow waup

. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook. still ahead, sticker shock in the grocery aisle. >> susie: and we talk food inflation with the c.e.o. of cereal maker general mills. retail stocks were in the spotlight today. walmart shares dropped 4% after its fourth-quarter results missed analyst expectations for both earnings and revenues. meanwhile, macy's shares rose about 1%, nearing a 4.5 year high, after it's quarterly results beat analyst forecasts. revenues at the company's macy's and bloomingdales stores jumped 5.5% to $8.7 billion, thanks to strong holiday sales. the department store chain earned $1.70 a share, five cents more than estimates. joining us now to talk more about may see' macy's ceo terry. >> how is the outlook. >> we have a consistent run forn place and my talented team is in place and we'll feel good about what we are looking at heading into 2012. >> you heard that there are a lot of oil experts forecasting that gasoline prices will be up to $5 a gallon. will this deter shoppers from coming into your stores

diane eastabrook found a chicaco-based firm that's going as far as to train potential coders itself. >> okay, 806.3 is fracture of the cervical vertical column from c1 through c4. >> reporter: what looks like a college anatomy class is actually a medical coding class at accretive health in chicago. accretive is training hundreds of coders and billers who can translate diagnostic information from medical providers for insurance claims. they're high-demand jobs and ones hospitals are increasingly outsourcing to companies like accretive because of coming changes in government regulation. >> it's gonna be close to our "encyclopedia britannica." >> reporter: the change says accretive's duane lisowksi will expand the number of diagnostic codes in this book from 13,000 to nearly 70,000. >> for example, the initial code here is accident. an accident may be animal ridden, it could bfrom a balloon... roller coaster, so you have all of these codes, but then if you think about taking each one of these and then building it out, being even more specific, a roller coaster with an animal... ( laughs

diane eastabrook takes us to a program in chicago that is arming women with the skills to complete in what has been a field for men only. >> it's going to be $9.20. >> reporter: on tuesday and thursday nights, jasmine lopez works the cash register and makes sandwiches at a subway restaurant on chicago's south side. but on monday and wednesday nights, she lets the sparks fly. the 21-year-old is in training to become a welder. >> my grandfather was a welder, and so it's in my blood. >> reporter: lopez is among a half dozen women learning the welding trade for free at the non-profit jane addams resource corporation. the eight-month program provides training on a shop floor and in the classroom >> this will be an intermittent weld. >> reporter: it's work that requires good math skills, precision and patience. >> at the moment the students are all at different learning levels, and so we all have to go at our own pace and make sure that we fully understand. >> reporter: while welding is a trade traditionally dominated by men, many women are naturals at it, says training director regan brewe

group in chicago, our midwest bureau chief and auto expert, diane eastabrook. when looking at these two big regions europe and the u.s., let's tackle the u.s. first with general motors, what is tell-- selling, consumer demachined and profit margin, how much of that is under gm's control. >> not a lot unless they can control oil prices. we've seen this phenomenon, tom, over the past faw years when we see prices at the pump go up. people migrate into small cars and hybrids. we see pump price goes down. they start buying suvs and pickups again. and income analysts are talking about the possibility of $5 gasoline this summer, so that really doesn't bode too well for those pickup and sport utilities. >> tom: close to $4 here in south florida and i am sure are you over that in someplaces in chicago already. in europe, meantime, how realistic are these ideas of actually closing plants are laying off european autoworkers? >> well, it sounds like it's a really tough sell but there are some things that gm can do in europe, talking about cutting costs. it's talking about

. >> i'm diane eastabrook in chicago. i'll tell you how food manufacturers are getting more

. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook in chicago. tomorrow, i'll tell you how trucking companies are shifting into high gear, thanks to an improving economy. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for thursday, february 23. i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org susie: join us online at nbr.com. there, you'll find full episodes of the program. you'll find complete show transcripts and all the market stats on our facebook page at bizrpt. and don't forget to follow us on twitter @bizrpt.