. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook. still ahead, chrysler is expanding in the wake of block buster truck sales. i'll have details coming up. ll >> tom: the world's second biggest economy made its once-a- decade change in leadership today. china's communist party central committee selected its new seven-member ruling team in beijing. the group rules over a chinese economy that has been slowing and showing signs of stress after years of expansion, built on global trade and helped by keeping its currency value locked with the u.s. dollar. but currency expert wolfgang >> the chinese currency that is going to be accelerating the un-pegging versus the u.s. dollar, which will create more uncertainty about the dollar versus china, and therefore the value of what business companies are doing in china. >> tom: we spoke with william nobrega, managing partner at the conrad group, an emerging markets investment advisor about what the new leaders need to do. one of the things that they need to do is taking the reform and building the

diane eastabrook, "n.b.r.," chicago. >> tom: tomorrow, we'll have more on the auto industry with the outlook on the u.s. from the world's most profitable automaker, volkswagen. >> susie: more pressure on s.a.c. capital today on word that the u.s. government might bring civil fraud charges against the firm, one of the biggest hedge funds in the world. during a conference call with investors, the company said it has received a so-called wells notice from the securities and exchange commission, often the first step to formal charges. the move comes a week after a former portfolio manager was charged with running the most lucrative insider trading schemes. s.a.c.'s billionaire founder, steve cohen, told clients he is confident that he "acted appropriately." well, another big company today authorizing a special dividend in anticipation of higher taxes next year. now it's costco jumping on the dividend bandwagon as a way to beat some of the impact of the fiscal cliff fallout. the wholesale club operator announced a special dividend of $7 a share to investors. it will cost the firm an estim

diane eastabrook, nbr, chicago. >> susie: european leaders agreed today on a deal to give greece more cash so it avoids a default, and investors around the world welcomed the agreement. here are the specifics: greece will get almost $60 billion in bailout money, loans were extended for 15 years, and interest payments deferred. in return, greece has to implement wide-ranging cuts and reforms. joining us now with analysis on the deal, joseph tanious, global market strategist at j.p. morgan funds. >> susie: so, joe, is this deal enough to get greece back on its feet? >> i think it certainly is a step in the right direction. and it was certainly more generous than i think many people had feared. however, if we're talking about getting greece back on its feet, it involves finding a way to help greece's economy actually return to growth. while some of the terms of the deals were a little more favorable than many had feared, at the end of the day, you have to find a way to help these economies grow. that probably means pausing some of that austerity. >> susie: you talk about it being a favor

diane eastabrook has details. >> introducing the beetle convertible special edition. >> reporter: for baby boomers, the iconic beetle is a blast from the past. for volkswagen, it's a crucial connection to the competitive u.s. market place. >> really, the beetle represents the heart and soul of the volkswagen brand, especially in the u.s. everybody's got a story about the beetle somewhere in their family. >> reporter: the introduction of the new beetle convertible comes a year after v.w. redesigned the bug. the german company made the car more masculine, hoping it would appeal to both men and women. and it seems to be working. selling more products in the u.s. is key if volkswagen hopes to reach its goal of becoming the world's largest auto maker. it's currently third, behind toyota and g.m. it's making inroads here, but still has a way to go. volkswagen reported its best october in america in 30 years, selling a little more than 34,000 vehicles. that was a 22% increase over the same month a year ago. still, those figures paled in comparison to what the big three domestics sold. and wh

diane eastabrook looks at the personal price of thanksgiving day store hours. >> reporter: this is the calm before the storm at a chicago toys r us. manager danny soro thinks up to 10,000 shoppers will descend on the store when it opens thanksgiving evening, forcing his 300 employees to cut short their holiday. >> we open at 8:00 and we're expecting lines to start from 5 pm to go pretty much throughout the plaza. >> reporter: walmart, kmart, and sears are also opening tomorrow at 8pm; target's opening at 9:00pm. and while opening on turkey day is expected to mean big business for retailers, it's ruffling the feathers of many employees who won't get paid overtime to work the holiday. >> i feel very frustrated about this situation. >> reporter: walmart associate charmaine givens is scheduled to work two eight hour shifts with a three hour break starting tomorrow at 7 pm. >> i'm not gonna do that, no. >> reporter: you're just not going to show up? >> i'm going to call in. i'm gonna call in. i'm not going to just abandon the job. i'm gonna call in and i'm gonna state how i feel. >> reporte

diane eastabrook, nbr, chicago. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for tuesday, november 20. have a great evening, everyone, and you too, tom. >> tom: good night, susie. we'll see you online at nbr.com, and back here tomorrow night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> join us anytime at nbr.com. there, you'll find full episodes of the program, complete show transcripts and all the market stats. also follow us on our facebook page at bizrpt. and on twitter @bizrpt. >> the following kqed production was produced in high definition. >> the day a young carlos baron met pablo neruda, his life changed. >> carlos baron: it's a live

as diane eastabrook reports this trend is providing a financial boost to many cash-strapped neighborhoods. >> reporter: philanthropy is a way of life for university of chicago senior thomas george, guiding his career goals and investment choices. >> if my money isn't going to be working for something that i don't actually believe in then i'm not interested. >> reporter: last summer george bought a $500 community investment note from calvert foundation. his money is helping finance organizations like growing home. >> so these are good. >> reporter: growing home's an urban farm that puts the chronically unemployed to work producing fruits and vegetables in one of chicago's poorest neighborhoods. >> community investing is a growing trend both here and in europe. it allows investors to take a financial stake in their communities to improve housing, fight crime, and even add jobs. >> reporter: community investing works a couple of different ways. social impact bonds raise capital to achieve a social goal like keeping ex-offenders out of jail. if the program succeeds investors make money. commu

diane eastabrook, nbr, chicago. >> tom: u.s. stock indices continue sinking to fresh three month lows. after starting the day with a small rally, the s&p 500 turned lower mid-morning and sank into the closing bell, finishing at its lowest level of the day, down 1.2%. with today's drop, the losses over the past five sessions amount to 3.7%, with the index at its lowest level since early august. trading volume was 757 million shares on the big board; just under 1.9 billion on the nasdaq. the energy sector led the sell- off, down 1.7%. consumer stocks were weak, falling 1.6%. and the tech sector was down another 1.4%. technology has been particular weak in this recent market sell- off. new product launches from apple and microsoft have not been enough to erase worries about consumer and company spending on technology. the sector exchange traded tells the story-- it fell 1.4% today at a three and a half month low. internet networking gear maker cisco systems was among those leading the way lower. it fell 2.2%. cisco is due to report

as diane eastabrook reports the move follows months of financial problems and labor un-rest. >> reporter hostess brands says it decided to liquidate after a strike by members of the bakery, confectionery, tobacco workers, and grain millers international union crippled production at several plants. the workers walked off their jobs a week ago protesting pay cuts and benefit concessions the company demanded in order to exit bankruptcy reorganization. >> it's a shock for a lot of us. we are actually people who want to work, but we are tired of this company's way of constantly lying to us. >> reporter: hostess had already reached a deal with the teamsters union. the irving, texas company filed for chapter eleven in january-- the second time in less than three years. hostess operates nearly 1,200 bakeries, distribution centers, and outlet stores in the u.s. the 82-year old company employs about 18,000 people. many iconic hostess brands could continue to live on after the company's demise. it says it wants to sell as much of its infrastructure as possible. diane eastabrook, "n.b.r.," chicago.

diane eastabrook, "n.b.r. chicago. >> susie: tomorrow diane takes a closer look at how community investment notes are helping provide jobs in one of chicago's poorest neighborhoods. you'll find more on social impact investing, on our website: www.nbr.com. just look for the "nbr-u" tab. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for monday, november 19. and be sure to join us tomorrow, fed chairman bernanke speaks in new york, and tom, we'll be there covering what he says about the economy, and the fiscal cliff. >> tom: looking forward to it susie, good night everyone. we'll see you online at: www.nbr.com and back here tomorrow night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

and as diane eastabrook reports uncertainty over the weather could keep prices volatile for months. >> reporter: this morning chicago grain traders sent soybean futures prices tumbling and corn prices see-sawing on the latest news about this year's harvest. the department of agriculture forecast farmers will produce slightly more soybeans and corn than predicted a month ago. >> it did come in a little better than expected and that goes to the technology that we've been able to develop-- that our scientists have been able to put into seeds. >> reporter: still the summer drought was devastating. the government expects the u.s. corn crop will be about 13% smaller than last year's and the soybean crop could be about 4% smaller. scoville also worries the weather problems that plagued the u.s. will spread to other regions. >> there is still uncertainty as to how the south american situation will turn out. we have had a very delayed planting season down in argentina and southern brazil and there is a chance we could lose some acres there and have them go over to beans. >> the gernment won't

diane eastabrook has more on this. she's standing by in milwaukee. diane. >> reporter: susie, the latest polls show president obama winning by a couple of percentage points. but it could be a squeaker. in this working class neighborhood on milwaukee's northwest side, voters poured into a school administration building to cast ballots throughout the day. >> we had lines at 7:00. before the polls even opened, there were probably 20 to 30 people in line. >> reporter: while wisconsin native paul ryan tops the republican ticket with mitt romney, the economy was more important to the voters we spoke to than badger state pride. >> right now, i'm unemployed, so whoever is going to make it better, i'm all for that. >> reporter: in september, the unemployment rate in wisconsin was 7.3%; when president obama was elected in 2008, the state's unemployment rate was 5.9%. while the state has added only 4,100 jobs from january through september of this year, the improving national employment numbers appear to be working in the president's favor. >> in the beginning o