diane eastabrook has more. >> reporter: alfonso silva's biscuits and cookies have been making mouths water in chicago's pilsen neighborhood for three decades. but in recent years he's seen a drop off in customers. >> sometimes it's okay, but sometimes it's very bad because of the economy. >> reporter: boarded up storefronts throughout pilsen reflect the toll the sour economy has taken on hispanic businesses in chicago and across the nation. unemployment is part of the problem. in august the jobless rate among hispanics was 10.2%. almost 2% points higher than the overall rate. >> because of the level of unemployment people are not spending as they were in previous years and that certainly is going to hurt a business that deals directly with consumers. >> reporter: deportation is another problem. the u.s. has deported roughly 400,000 illegal aliens over the past four year and experts say thousands of others have left on their own. that means fewer customers for some latino-owned businesses. and a smaller pool of workers for others. giron books-- a distributor of hispanic texts-- employ

. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook in central illinois. still ahead, the harvest is under way, and farmers are figuring out just how much damage the drought did to their crops. >> tom: that free checking account may not be so free. new regulations are squeezing bank profits, sending banks, both big and small, looking for new ways to bring in revenue. one way is by doing away with the free checking account which was so popular in the late 90's. ruben ramirez reports. >> reporter: dick evans is the c.e.o. of cullen/frost bankers. frost has 115 branches around texas. he says checking account fees are going up because of increased government regulation that went into effect a year ago. frost started looking for ways to simplify fees five years ago. its basic account carries a $5 monthly fee. but like many banks, if the account balance is above a certain level, the fee is waived. >> we haveound that this account that i just described to you is excellence at a fair price. we give the quality service and it's a fair price and we have found that o

diane eastabrook, nbr, chicago. this just in the house of representatives passed a bill that would avoid a government shutdown at the end of this month t passed overwhelmingly and will go to a senate for a vote next week. the bill known as a continuing resolution or cr would fund the federal government at a slightly higher level for six months. that would get lawmakers past the election and give them time to come up with a more permanent agreement on federal spending. -- on wall street today, a red hot rally for the blue chips on that news of the fed's big bond buying program. the dow and the s&p 500 surged to their highest levels in nearly five years. the nasdaq hit its highest mark since 2000. all ten sectors in the s&p 500 rose, but the biggest gainers were financials and commodities. both jumped 2.5%%. energy climbed nearly 2%. financial stocks led today's rally. bank of america, j.p. morgan, citigroup, and wells fargo all rose more than 3.5%. financials are now the biggest sector gainer in the s&p 500 this year

. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook still ahead small businesses tell us if they're better off today than they were four years ago. >> tom: two smartphone makers looked to dial up the competition against apple's iphone today. nokia unveiled its fourth lumia phone, which runs microsoft's windows operating system. meanwhile, motorola showed off its latest smartphones using google's android software. suzanne pratt has more from new york. >> reporter: meet nokia's and microsoft's new smartphone, the lumia 920. >> he're we go. >> reporter: the finnish phone maker and the world's largest software maker unveiled it today in new york. >> we started with the ambition that nokia could build something beautifully different. this is lumia, the world's most innovative smartphone. this is a very important milestone. in a sense it is unbelievable how far we've come in just 18 months. >> reporter: the question now, is how far can they go in reclaiming market share lost to apple, samsung and google. >> i think the new nokia looks great, but that's not good enough because the iphone 5 is going to look

diane eastabrook, nbr, chicago. >> tom: on thursday, we'll show you g.m.'s latest entry to the sub-compact market when diane takes the chevy spark for a spin. >> susie: a corporate merger over office products could face big opposition from the justice department. according to bloomberg, the federal government may block 3m's buyout of avery dennison's office products business. this is just the latest potential deal to face such scrutiny. a tougher regulatory environment could also greet a possible deal between u.s. airways and american airlines' parent company, a.m.r. sylvia hall takes a look at how regulators view competition these days. >> reporter: as a.m.r. and u.s. airways lift off toward a merger, they could face a bumpy flight. in general, regulators are showing a stronger willingness to crack down on deals they think would hurt competition. >> i think this is a critical time for anti-trust enforcement. obviously, as the economy is growing out of the recession, we need markets as competitive as possible. >> reporter: as the economy crawls out of reces

diane eastabrook, "n.b.r.," chicago. >> tom: another three years, that's how long the federal reserve expects to keep its target interest rate close to zero. chairman of the federal reserve ben bernanke has acknowledged the hurt such a strategy puts on savers. >> my colleagues and i are aware that holders of interest bearing assets such as certificates of deposit are receiving very low returns. but low interest rates also support the value of many other assets that americans own such as homes and businesses large and small. >> tom: but low payouts from interest rate investments like bonds hasn't hurt the appetite for them. investors have been pulling money out of stock funds this year including 22 billion gone bondnd fununds cokekeue nd fe attractingoney, , big money, $33 billion poured into bond fund last month. but there is an up side to low interest rates, higher bob places, one measure is up 6.3% this year. though that's less than half the gains of the stock income fund index, that's made up of dividend paying stocks. tonight's street critique guest is kathleen gaffney, portfolio

diane eastabrook has details. >> reporter: american airlines pilots say they aren't disrupting flights over a beef with the bankrupt carrier about a new contract. the allied pilots association said in a prepared statement that "we have verified that pilot sick rates have not deviated from normal historical rates. crew cancellations remain at normal rates." earlier this month, a bankruptcy judge struck down the pilots' current contract with american after they voted down a new one. while american has seen an increase in cancellations in recent weeks, prompting complaints from passengers, analysts think the two sides can resolve their differences. >> it's something that i believe is temporary, and i believe the pilots are frustrated with lack of negotiations. and i think once negotiations begin again, you'll see service get back to normal. >> reporter: american filed for chapter 11 last november. the carrier has ironed out agreements with other labor unions and hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in a few months. neidl thinks the flight cancellations, coupled with the normal fall slowdown in

diane eastabrook has more. >> reporter: oakley home builders didn't have a buyer when construction started last spring on this three story spec house in tony hinsdale, illinois. >> this is the great room, this is the family room. >> reporter: but builder steve subkowiak says a buyer snatched up the $1.5 million home long before workers painted the walls and began installing fixtures. the new owners move in next month. >> i think a lot of people are looking at interest rates and land costs and saying hey if i want to buy a new house this is a great time. >> reporter: with historically low mortgage rates, business is beginning to boom for many home builders. the government says in august americans purchased new homes at a seasonally adjusted rate of 373,000. that was down slightly from july, but up nearly 28% from august of last year. subkowiak thinks many buyers were hoarding cash during the recession and are now eager to spend it on new homes on signs the overall economy is improving. but that increased demand has brought more competition for lots. >> now you have end users who are buying

diane eastabrook, "n.b.r.," hinsdale, illinois. >> tom: we saw two discouraging reports today from the c-suite, from top corporate executives. in separate surveys, both chief executive officers and chief financial officers are losing optimism. and both have dialed back hiring expectations. this stands in contrast to a report just yesterday from the conference board indicating consumers are more hopeful about the "deloitte c.f.o. signals survey," which tracks companies with revenues of at least $5 billion, found somber expectations for growth in sales, earnings, capital expenditures and hiring, all falling to a ten-quarter low. and roughly a quarter of the c.f.o.'s polled say their biggest worry is the upcoming fiscal cliff: >> some thrding about where things really are going, so they can set strategy and execute that strategy. we're going to be stuck in this for a while. as for the c.e.o. survey from the business roundtable, the chief executives point to the coming fiscal cliff and the potential impact from higher taxes and government spending cuts. chairman of the business roundtable,

diane eastabrook, "n.b.r.," chicago. >> tom: still ahead, it's fashion week in new york city; from suits to ties to casual wear, we look at one group that's dressing up retailer profits: men. >> tom: after five weeks at home and on the campaign trail, congress was back to work today on capitol hill. members of the house and senate are back for a short september session, and they have a long to-do list. but with elections looming, some big decisions will almost certainly be postponed. sylvia hall reports. >> reporter: a lot has to happen inside these walls between now and january. first up, congress has until the end of this month to avoid a government shutdown. to do it, they'll probably pass a continuing resolution known as a c.r. c.r.'s have caused major battles between the parties in the past, but this one will likely pass soon. lawmakers could also pass a bill to normalize trade with russia. but beyond that, nobody expects congress to accomplish much during this month's session. that leaves big issues, like the spending cuts and tax increases known as the fiscal cliff, on the table u

diane eastabrook has more. >> reporter: on a chicago street teaming with big trucks, the chevy spark looks like an ant between two elephants. g.m. is rolling out the sporty spark in 18 urban markets across the u.s. it's the company's first foray into the mini segment. the base model spark is priced at just under $13,000, making it about two grand cheaper than the fiat 500 and scion iq. but marketing manager michael weidman says chevy's mini car packs more bang for the buck. >> at $12,995, you get standard air conditioning, you get standard power windows, you get standard alloy wheels, which is unusual at that level. >> reporter: for a couple thousand dollars more, the spark comes equipped with my-link, an entertainment system that ties into smart phones for music, movies, and navigation. g.m. rolled out the spark a couple of years ago in south korea. that's where the small car is built. since then, the spark has been sold around the world, making the u.s. its final stop. g.m. is marketing the spark specifically to young adults between the ages of 18 and 31. those are consumers who ty

tonight, diane eastabrook takes us to the corn options pit in chicago for a conversation with one veteran trader. >> reporter: grain trader scott shellady is more concerned about how much corn drought-stricken midwest farmers will harvest this fall than which presidential candidate is leading in the polls. still, shellady admits issues like trade, the fiscal cliff, and the government's ethanol mandate could impact these markets. >> are you getting an indication from either candidate that they are going to have a change in policy regarding ethanol? >> absolutely not. not in the short term, no. and it's really due to the fact that i think the government got in bed with the ethanol producers and helped them build plants, and it's been such a large mandate that i don't think they can pull the rug out from under them just because we have one dry year. so, i don't think they're going to change anything in the short term for sure, and i think we'd have to have a problem or a drought for two or three years for them to really sit down and take another look at it. >> reporter: a lot of investors ar

here's diane eastabrook. >> reporter: the summer drought has unleashed a bear market for livestock. cattle and hog prices have tanked as farmers slaughter herds to avoid high feed prices. >> we certainly need a rally. >> reporter: livestock trader tres knippa has been keeping a closer eye on cattle prices than on the presidential election. knippa doesn't see huge policy changes coming out of washington from either candidate and he's not sure that's such a bad thing. >> often times the economy and the market doesn't want a big change-- just everybody leave things where they are, figure out what the rules are and move forward. farm policy and agriculture policy may fall into just that. we're not going to see any big changes in the next two, four years so we have a framework to operate from there. >> reporter: as a livestock trader do you have any concern about bush tax cuts not being extended or the debt not being addressed? >> well from just a clear procedural standpoint if romney gets elected he takes over in january the bush tax cuts they're dead. so, now we jushave to build that i

diane eastabrook reports. >> with stoke neither $700 a share, it's no apple is the apple of the investment world's eye. according to "morning star" the maker of iphones and ipads is held in more than 5,000 mutual funds, closed end funds, and exchange traded funds. among the largest holders, fidelity contrafund, vanguard total stock market index, and power shares qqq. that means if you don't own apple outright, your 401(k) probably does. so how much of apple can be too much of a good thing? shannon zimmerman, "morning star's" associate director of fund analysis says that depends on your risk tolerance. >> it's a different way of thinking about it, certainly in the world of mutual funds, compare your exposure to a company-- apple in this case-- to the exposure that is a relevant benchmark since as the s & p 500 has. >> apple stock comprises 5% of the s & p 500, about 13% of the nasdaq, and about 9% of the russell 1,000 growth index. still, with apple stock on a tear, some investors might be getting jittery are a correction. zimmerman doesn't think the current price is out of line with the co