you heard our reporting from erika miller. what is your thoughts on this investors have been so worried about this domino effect, are we in the domino phase now? >> irthink investors have to decide whether they think the world financial system is going to be allowed to crumble around their feet. i doubt that very seriously. but of course we're going to be in a sort of back and forth environment, some days we'll feel better, some days such as today we'll feel a whole lot worse. i think in the end the europeans have to decide whether they can afford to have the kind of crisis affect their banking system and their economy that has the potential to unfold. i doubt very seriously that they will allow that to happen. >> susie: you know, today we heard from the head of germany, talking about a new europe. france's sarkozy talking about a two-speed europe. seems like they are beginning to reexamine the euro zone and how it all works and what countries should be in or not. reading between the lines, if there is some kind of new makeup

erika miller reports. >> reporter: if you want to know if the economy is registering growth, it pays to watch the registers. after all, consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of the economy. unfortunately, tomorrow's retail sales data for october is expected to be fairly soft, rising just 0.3%. that would be a sharp pullback from september's 1.1% gain, but economist anthony chan isn't worried about holiday spending. >> net-net, we probably will see a little softer retail sales number in october. but the hope is it's temporary and we will see a little bit of a boost to that trend as we go into the calendar quarter. >> reporter: also tomorrow, the labor department reports wholesale inflation data. producer prices are expected to be lower for october after a sharp rise the month before. economists say that expected reversal is thanks to a drop in commodity prices, especially oil. the other big inflation news this week comes out wednesday and tracks prices at the retail level. economists are looking for prices to be flat after a 0.3% rise in september. excluding food and energy,

erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: more fallout tonight from the collapse of mf global. federal regulators have ordered a review of all u.s. futures trading firms after hundreds of millions of dollars in client funds went missing from mf global. the commodity futures trading commission wants to make sure firms are keeping their money separate from customers' money. in the aftermath of mf global's bankruptcy filing, roughly $600 million in customer funds are still missing. 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 regul

erika miller, "nightly business report." >> tom: six weeks to go before the end of the year and tonight's market monitor thinks the stock market will end the year in the green. he's eric ristuben, chief investment strategist at russell investments and he joins us tonight from seattle. eric, welcome back. nice to see you again. >> good to see you, tom. >> tom: you think we're going to ends the year in the green? how much? >> the beginning of the year when we last talked in late january, our price target for the s & p was 1370. in the summer, in august, we adjusted that down to 1300. it's still the number we're can keeping. we wanted to adjust it down because even though we believe that stocks are good value, we're seeing the kind of volatility created around europe and wemented to reflect that in our price target for the s & p. >> tom: it's still above where we're trading at here on this friday. what's your anticipation for 2012? more of the same with that kind of single-digit returns? >> yes. in terms of equities. we believe we'll see economic growth better than a lot of people feel and w

erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: j.c. penney isn't alone hoping friday kick-starts a big selling season. even before the season officially began, video game retailer game-stop cut its sales outlook thanks to what it calls the uncertain consumer. we spoke with paul raines, c.e.o. of gamestop, about what's contributing to the softness and where it might see growth. >> you look at the fourth quarter, we see the consumer in a position where there's economic uncertainty, there's a lot of titles out there. tights like battlefield three, blockbuster titles, and people struggle how do i pay for all of this. so that's put a little caution into the holidays. >> tom: so it the supply of new video games that's damp epping your outlook? >> we think there's an uncertain consumer because of the macro environment. we track employment, we see a consumer that i under a lot of pressure. that's why you see you truce try to put currency into consumers hand. >> tom: you've lunched your i device business, looking for trade-ins, an old iphone 3

erika miller looks at what investors can expect for the rest of the year. >> reporter: there were plenty of reasons to feel scared on wall street today. even stock investors got frightened, sending market averages down sharply. but relax, strategist andrew burkley says. today's decline is natural after thrilling gains last week. >> the market is just generally digesting things. and, i think as we've gotten past the european solution-- or summit-- last week, i think people are still groping for a little bit more in terms of implementation, and exactly the details of the plan that are yet to be worked out. >> reporter: october has a reputation as one of the worst months for stocks, and the s&p 500 hit its lowest level of the year on october 3. but, surprisingly, the month as a whole turned out to be one of the sweetest in decades with a gain of about 11% for the s&p 500. market strategist jonathan golub says the other big factor helping stocks was improving third quarter economic data. >> you have an economy which grew at 2.5%-- not stellar, but almost double what you had the first half of

erika miller takes a closer look at what this change means to the movement. >> reporter: occupy wall street protestors will no longer occupy the spiritual heart of their movement at night. a judge has upheld mayor michael bloomberg's ban on bringing sleeping bags or tents to zuccotti park and camping there overnight. legal analysts expect occupy wall street to appeal the decision. the verdict comes 15 hours after police evicted demonstrators from the plaza due to concerns about public health and safety. mayor michael bloomberg says it's also an issue of fairness. >> there is no ambiguity in the law here. the first amendment protects speech; it does not protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over a public space. >> reporter: although many protestors left quietly, some refused to leave and were arrested. >> disobey your order! disobey your order! >> reporter: it's not just new york police cracking down on demonstrations and enforcing public park rules. there have been similar moves in oakland, california, and elsewhere. now, the question is whether the movement will start t

erika miller takes a closer look at the outlook for the season, and retailer profits. >> reporter: best buy's bricks and mortar stores do far more business than its website. 95% of the company's u.s. sales are done at a register. but like many retailers, best buy offered deep online-only discounts today. michael vitelli is president of the americas for best buy. >> our plan is to double our online business in the next three to five years, and we are on track to do that because the shopping experience, and shopping on your phone, or shopping online, is clearly what consumers are doing more and more. >> reporter: which explains why nearly eight out of 10 retailers offered a special deal for cyber monday. promotions are plentiful both online and at the mall this holiday season, but analyst jeff klinefelter still thinks profit margins will be strong. >> we're expecting stronger pricing, and that's really going help drive comp store sales, which ultimately are going to drive profitability for the retailer. >> reporter: like last year, it's expected to be the tale of two consumers. analyst da

erika miller, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: groupon hopes it will be tomorrow's big deal. the closely watched initial u.s. stocks continued the repair job of building on yesterday's gains, even with the uncertain fate of greece's bailout plan. the s&p 500 jumped almost 2%, back to where it closed out the month of october. leading the market was energy, followed by industrial stocks, then the tech sector. each up more than 2%. the leading energy stock was coal producer alpha natural resources. profits were up strong, thanks to higher coal prices and demand from steel makers and power utilities. shares popped 13% up to their highest price since the september sell-off. the company also raised its 2012 shipment forecast. broker jefferies group was whip- sawed on huge volume. the firm has been hit by worries about its exposure to european debt and, today, one credit rating agency cut the debt rating of jefferies itself. here's what the trade in jefferies stock looked like today. shares fell below $10 per share, down almost 20%, at one point, before recovering into the clo

erika miller explains. >> reporter: many european banks are starving for cash, so central banks around the globe are riding to the rescue. in an important show of unity, the federal reserve joined central banks in europe, canada, and japan to make it cheaper for european banks to borrow dollars. bank of new york's michael woolfolk says that speaks to the magnitude of the problems in europe. >> it does provide a backstop. it ensures the e.c.b. has the tools and liquidity necessary to endure a worst case scenario. >> reporter: the details of the program are fairly technical. from december 5 through february 1 of 2013, central banks will lower the cost of dollar swap lines by a half a percentage point. the important thing is that more dollars will be available to european banks at a lower price. >> the u.s. is unique in the global financial system. it's at the center of the financial system. in the current environment, the u.s. dollar is the first and the last currency for safe havens. >> reporter: the goal of the coordinated intervention is to try to prevent another global credit crisis.