darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. here's tonight's "market focus." earnings, the economy and europe all conspired to push up stock prices. borrowing costs back on the rise for italy, american stocsk sank. >> with a 1% loss on its s&p 500. a little perspective stretching out to 30 sessions with that big sharp rally in october and the sell-off on halloween. we've been trading in a narrower and narrower range hitting lower highs and higher lows. all ten of the major stock sectored today sank. financials lead the way lower down 20%, energy and utility sectors falling 1.2% each. now leading financials lower, it was custody bank of new york melon, shares falling 4.5% way firm warning about its profit hit with the restructuring effort coming designed to save $700 million over the next three years. the bank also noted it faces higher regulatory and legal costs leading to the sell-off. big losers on the dow, both banking stocks as well, bank of america and jpmorgan each falling more than 2%. >> boeing, however, was the tailwind for the dow industrials rise --

but as darren gersh reports, congress is on the way to changing that. >> reporter: find a friend with extra bars of gold in the basement-- that's the traditional way entrepreneurs fund a new business. but for those who don't have a rich uncle, there is what's called crowd funding. crowd funding is a strategy to raise small sums of money from many people, even people all over the country. >> it really democratizes the ability to raise funds for your business. >> reporter: jason best is lobbying congress to pass legislation making it legal to crowd fund. the bill he backs allows entrepreneurs to raise up to $1 million; $2 million if companies provide audited financial statements. entrepreneurs would not have to go through the expensive process of registering their shares with the securities and exchange commission or state regulators. in a given year, investors can pitch in a total of up to $10,000 or 10% of adjusted gross income, whichever is smaller. >> this is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and small business people, whether they are in arnold, nebraska, detroit, michigan, or miami

darren gersh, dundalk, maryland. >> susie: it was another choppy day as investors stayed glued to headlinesrom europe. let's take a look in tonight's market focus. there was more red than green here at the big board. at the outset dow stocks fell below 12,000 as more uncertainty out of europe triggered another round of selling. the declines came in spite of today's employment numbers, even though they were encouraging, investors were on the defensive. groupon was the talk of the day. the daily deals website made its trading debut on the nasdaq at $20 a share and surged from there. shares closed at $26.11-- a 31% gain for the day. groupon is valued at almost $13 billion. the company is the largest i.p.o. by a u.s. internet firm since came public google in 2004. still, greencrest capital research analyst a.b. mendez says groupon is not for everyone. >> groupon has a lot of potential upside. it's also a risky investment in that it's a relatively new and unproven model from the standpoint of cash flow generation. we're positive, but investors should be cautious with risky names like social medi

darren gersh explains why physician medicare payments is a top issue lawmakers will try to work out in the next few weeks. >> reporter: 90% of the patients dr, arthur palomara treats are covered by medicare. and if congress doesn't act by the end of the year, his fees for all that work will be cut by almost 30%. >> it's going to be a disaster. we're going to try to make ends meet for a while, but i'm sure, at a certain point in time, we're not going to be able to continue to see medicare patients. >> reporter: dr. palomara has been here before. almost every year, congress passes what's come to be known as the "doc fix," a tweaking of the medicare formula that sets payments for physicians. often, the doc fix is done at the very last minute, leaving doctor's worrying about how they will pay their bills. >> i have to tell you, though, perhaps like somebody who has chronic pain, you kind of learn how to live with it and you just push it into the recesses of your memory. >> reporter: this problem began when congress changed the way doctors are paid for treating patients on medicare. a new f

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: here's what we're watching for next week: our friday market monitor guest is james paulsen, chief investment strategist at wells capital management. we'll also get an update on the housing market with data for new home sales and home prices. it's been ten years since enron's collapse. on monday, we begin a week-long look at the meteoric rise and dramatic fall of the energy company. there's a new wave of downsizing in the airline industry that will impact smaller airports. planes that connect smaller cities in america are being phased out. it's due to the lack of fuel efficiency and the high cost of fuel. many big airlines are expected to scrap or sell jets with 50 seats or less. propeller planes are also meeting the same fate. the loss of those planes will leave some cities with fewer flights or have service discontinued. give yourself extra travel time >> tom: the stock market has limped into this holiday season, weighed down by europe. but tonight's market monitor says the biggest risk is that despite the worries, there is

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: the stronger retail sales we reported onk of bad news out of europe helped fuel a mild rally for u.s. stocks. let's get to the action in tonight's "market focus." instead of focusing on europe, investors could focus on a batch of mostly positive economic data today regarding the u.s. economy. let's put the s&p 500 on the floor, showing we are back at the top of this narrower and narrower range the index has been in. since the october high, we've seen a series of lower highs and higher lowers, creating a wedge on the chart. weighing against the positive retail figures were results from walmart showing a drop in its profit margin. earnings were a penny less than estimates, but the company reported its first year-over- year increase for u.s. same- store sales over the past two years. still, it's c.e.o. said it was "investing in low prices for the holidays." that led some to worry about profit margins. walmart shares weighed on the dow industrials, falling almost 2.5%. volume was a little stronger than usual. just last week, sha

darren gersh takes a look. >> reporter: the first u.s. policy option for a european meltdown is to know what is coming. that means regulators will keep a close eye on u.s. banks and their exposure to banks in europe that might be hurt by the crisis there. regulators could also roll out some of the same tools used in our financial crisis to keep cash flowing to banks and other important financial players hit by a temporary lack of funds. another concern is the exposure of u.s. money market funds that invest in short-term securities issued by european banks. but the brookings institution's barry bosworth says investors shouldn't face the same kind of risk they did after the lehman bankruptcy sparked a run on some money market funds. >> i think both the money market funds and the regulators are very aware of those sorts of risks. and i think they are very busy trying to make sure they don't have excessive exposure to europe. i cannot believe that our regulators are that bad, given such a recent experience with these kinds of problems. >> rep

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: markets ended the day mostly unchanged as investors stayed on the sidelines waiting for politicians in this country and in europe to tackle debt problems. the dow added 25 points, the nasdaq lost nearly 15-1/2 and the s&p 500 lost a fraction. big board volume settled back below a billion shares. while nasdaq volume dropped to one and three quarter billion shares. with the big losses on wednesday and thursday, the down ended the week down nearly 3%. the nasdaq saw four down days, ending the week off 4%. it was a rocky week for the s&p as well. it was down 3.8% overall. despite the turbulent trading still ahead, our market monitor the conference board's index of leading economic indicators rose more than forecast last month, signaling that the economy is growing slowly. still ahead, our market monitor says once the e.u. debt situation is resolved, the market will again be driven by fundamentals. >> susie: now's the time of year when many americans give thanks. it's also a time when many wall street workers get pink slips. bank

darren gersh tells us what's behind the historic divide. >> reporter: in markets and in life, it helps to have good timing. bad timing explains a great deal of the growing wealth gap between young people and their parents, says the pew research center's paul taylor. >> think about most younger homeowners, those who are under the age of 35 and own a home. most of them have purchased their homes the last 10 years or so. many of them purchased their homes at prices inflated by the bubble, and when the bubble burst-- and they find themselves behind, they have less equity in their homes, and some of them are so far behind that they find themselves underwater-- that they face foreclosure. >> reporter: taylor says older homeowners who bought earlier and rode the housing boom are doing much better than 30- somethings. a new pew research center study finds median net wealth for those 65 and older has jumped 42% since 1984, but for those younger than 35, it has fallen almost 70%. while housing accounts for much of the wealth change, it is not all of it. younger workers have been hit hard in the

darren gersh has the details. >> reporter: the next big deadline for congress falls smack in the middle of the busiest shopping week of the year. now that the supercommittee has failed to deliver a super deal, much unfinished business will have to be worked out before a short-term extension of government funding runs out on december 16. >> i can't imagine that we won't go to the very last minute and it will be a perils of pauline, cliff-hanger ending there's just too much at stake. >> reporter: those stakes include increasing medicare payments to doctors, and extending unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut into next year. all are top priorities for democrats and the white house. >> if congress fails to act to extend the current payroll tax, a typical family making $50,000 a year would see their taxes rise by $1,000 at the beginning of next year at a time when families are struggling to make ends meet. >> reporter: but republicans aren't keen to increase spending. the outcome could be a year of short-term patches and non-stop political warfare. >> we're probably looking at least

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: another word you'll hear a lot over the next couple of days? sale! it's now make-or-break time for retailers. the day after thanksgiving traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season, when stores hope sales pour in, pumping up profits. erika miller tagged along with analyst john long of kurt salmon associates on a trip new york city's flagship j.c. penney store to get an early read on the season. >> reporter: what are your initial impressions as we enter the store? >> initial impressions are traffic is light, but we are expecting traffic to be lighter this year because consumers are using the internet to do research before they come in to buy, and obviously also using the internet to purchase. so that should reduce the net number of times they are coming in the store this year. >> reporter: but don't be fooled. even if foot traffic is down friday, long thinks holiday sales will still be strong overall. >> reporter: so how are department stores expected to do relative to other retailers this holiday season? >> they are

darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> susie: as we reported, october was a good month for stocks. our next guest says november could be another good one for investors. in tonight's "word on the street," david peltier joins us. he's portfolio manager at thestreet.com. >> susie: hi, david.thank you f, susie. >> susie: tell us why you're up? >> historically november is a pretty good month in the market. like looking for certain pockets of value. the energy sector and individual names that should do well wether the market goes up between now and the end of the year. >> susie: we heard from so muchg seasons so cautious on outlooks for the rest of the year. where is the catalyst for a growth in the stock market? >> there were some good and some bad about. two-thirds of companies in the smp 500 have exceeded earning spec stations. i want to look where earnings are growing the most. energy is very cheap right now. when you look at value investing any stock or sector has a price to be bought. i think there is good value out there now. >> susie: alright.let's talk abe possibilit