i'm susie gharib-- gharib. good night everyone, thanks for watching.you tomorrow this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: >> tom: good evening, everyone. vindication for toyota. a ten-month investigation by u.s. regulators cleared toyota's electronics as a cause for sudden acceleration in some of its cars. that problem led to the recall of over eight million vehicles. now today transportation secretary la hood said there's in connection between electronic defects and unintended acceleration in toyotas, period. lahood said that the problems were likely caused by floor mats pinning down the gas pedal, or driver error. >> tom: while toyota paid $50 million in fines over the recalls, it has insisted there were no problems with its electronics. lahood says that's something many people found hard to believe at first. >> just about every member of congress that questioned me said, "it's got to be the electronics." so, to try to prove the case it wasn't the electronics, we hired the experts. they said it wasn't the electronics. what this says to me is, we have some

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. a sharp stock market sell-off today on worries about skyrocketing oil prices. tom, the escalating crisis in libya pushed crude prices here in the u.s. close to the $100 a barrel level, and all the major stock averages tumbled. >> tom: susie, some oil traders are concerned a civil war in libya could stop oil flowing there. that country is responsible for 3% of the world's oil supply. in new york trading, expiring march crude futures surged $7.37 to $93.57. that's the highest close in two and a half years. the reaction on wall street-- the dow tumbled 178 points, the nasdaq lost 77.5, the s&p 500 was off 27.5 points. >> susie: and american consumers are already feeling pain at the pump. at this manhattan gas station, prices are closing in on $4 a gallon. while libya is thousands

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. the federal reserve is more optimistic about the economy. the central bank expects the u.s. economy to grow as much as 3.9% this year. just a few months ago fed policymakers were forecasting 3.6%. >> susie: tom, the new forecast was part of minutes released today from the fed's january policy meeting. but there were no significant changes to the fed's forecast on jobs or on inflation. >> tom: nevertheless, the government's measure of wholesale inflation rose in january. the so-called producer price index jumped 0.8%. that's the seventh straight monthly increase. so do we have an inflation problem? suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: ask most wall street economists if the u.s. has an inflation problem and the answer is pretty much no. ask that same question of americans filli

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. continuing turmoil in the middle east today pushed up prices on oil and gold. but tom that wasn't the case for stock prices. the major averages fell for the second straight day. >> tom: susie, oil was the big story. in new york trading, april crude futures briefly traded above the $100-a-barrel level on concerns about supply disruptions in libya. but by the close, oil settled at $98.10-- up almost $3. now those same concerns also gave a boost to gold-- up over $12 to $14.14 an ounce. that's $1,400-plus an ounce. on wall street, the dow lost 107 points, the nasdaq fell 33 and the s&p 500 was down eight. >> susie: also today, saudi arabia's king abdullah went on the offensive, promising his subjects $36 billion of benefits to deal with housing, education, and unemployment issues. our guest t

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. my colleague, tom hudson, is off tonight. egypt's president hosni mubarak said today he will step down from power, and he set a date. it's september of this year, right after egypt's elections. but that announcement did not quell protestors. they want the president to resign immediately. despite the continuing uncertainty in egypt, u.s. stock markets rallied today with the dow closing above 12,000. in the oil markets, prices dipped a bit, but they're still at the highest level in three years. erika miller looks at where crude prices are headed from here. >> reporter: anti-government protests continue to heat up in egypt, and that's heating up trading in the new york oil pits. light sweet crude has jumped about 6% in less than a week. traders worry strikes in egypt could shut do

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening. susie gharib is off tonight. i'm joined by my colleague suzanne pratt. suzanne, the nation's job market is still in crisis. there were, however, some conflicting signs as to just how bad things are in the latest employment report today. >> suzanne: tom, first and foremost, job creation in january was a huge disappointment. a scant 36,000 positions were added to company payrolls last month. that's a far cry from the roughly 150,000 expected. on the other hand, the unemployment rate fell to 9%. it's lowest level in two years. >> tom: that has some economists convinced things are actually getting better not worse. erika miller reports. >> reporter: if you are looking for the message in today's employment report, look no further than this manhattan intersection. >> it's a messy report. it's a

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. my colleague susie gharib is off violence in libya has pushed crude oil to its highest level in 2.5 years. u.s. oil futures rallied to over $97 per barrel. brent crude oil ended at over $112 per barrel. one fear is supply, even though libya pumps less than 2% of the world's oil. opec has promised to open the spigots to make up for any lost production. but as erika miller reports, it's fear of bigger disruptions and worries about the type of oil being pumped that has the markets so nervous. >> reporter: quick, what's the largest oil-producing nation in the world? if you answered saudi arabia, you are wrong. ( buzzer ) that country is actually number two after russia. the third-largest producer may be even more surprising-- it's the united states, followed by iran and china. l

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. my colleague tom hudson is off tonight. house republicans are trying to wrap up three days of work on a bill to cut $60 billion in federal spending. topping the target list: president obama's health care reform. businesses are watching the battle carefully to see if their contracts will be eliminated. investors are looking for signs uncle sam's red ink will finally come under control. darren gersh has more on the spending drama. >> reporter: as you would expect, democrats and republicans mixed it up pretty good today. one of the hottest fights: whether to prohibit the obama administration from spending money to implement health care reform. new jersey's scott garrett called it a question of freedom. >> this is the first time in the history that the price of being an american is

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible byontributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. ben bernanke said today the federal reserve won't change its plans to fix the economy, because unemployment is still too high and inflation too low. but tom, many economists and investors are puzzled. should they be happy about prospects for a stronger economy or worried about signals of higher inflation? >> tom: susie, lawmakers on capitol hill had some strong opinions on this and grilled the fed chief when he testified. some pointed to signs of rising prices around the world and questioned bernanke about being too slow to combat inflation. as darren gersh reports, bernanke was doing his best to reassure lawmakers, and everyone else, that the fed has the economy under control. >> reporter: it was the first time federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has testified before a house committee sin

susie gharib is off tonight. bernanke said that the central bank expects the economy to improve this year and inflation to remain low, despite the jump in commodity prices. >> as this report tonight shows, the fed chairman spent much of today's qan, session talking about the long list of challenges facing the economy. >> reporter: in a rare appearance before journalists at the national press club, the federal reserve chairman defended his government bond- buying program known as quantitative easing. bernanke said the unorthodox policy is working to boost the economy, even though unemployment and inflation both remain too low for comfort. the fed chairman also pushed back against critics who say the central bank is partly responsible for record-setting food prices around the world. those critics say the fed's low interest rate, easy money policies are weakening the dollar, which exports inflation. but bernanke said fast growth in emerging markets is causing prices to rise, and if those countries don't like that, t

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. sites and sounds of freedom in egypt tonight. celebrations in the streets have replaced protests, as tens of thousands of people rejoice the resignation of president hosni mubarak. mubarak has left cairo ending his 30-year one-man rule of egypt. tom, the country's military in now in control. >> tom: susie, even though egypt still faces many challenges and there are questions about what's next for the country. the reaction in financial markets around the world was positive. the major u.s. stock averages posted modest gains. oil prices fell to a ten week low: $85.58 a barrel. gold prices also slipped down $2 to $1,360.40 an ounce. and the dollar was strong rising against most major currencies. >> susie: from the white house, president obama said the people of egypt have spoken, t

susie gharib is on assignment. another massive winter storm is dumping snow and ice on much of the midwest and northeast, and affecting the bottom lines of businesses and local governments. airlines cancelled over 6,000 flights today, that's on top of 7,000 cancellations yesterday. the nation's big automakers canceled dozens of shifts at plants across the midwest as snow and ice closed interstate highways and stopped parts deliveries. from oklahoma city through the midwest and into new england, this storm brings with it high winds and now bone-chilling cold. but it's just the latest storm system to tax the budgets of local governments. joliet, illinois, city manager tom thanas says this storm has plowed through his snow removal budget for the year. >> we usually see an expense of about $60,000 to $80,000 for a typical snowfall of anywhere from two to four inches. this particular one will be well into the six-figure range as far as the cost and handling it, primarily because we've called in private contractors to su

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> susie: good evening, everyone. the big board itself was the big news on wall street today. the new york stock exchange is being bought by germany's giant exchange, the deutsche borse. and tom, this marks a new chapter for the 200-year-old american icon, and everyone here was talking about it. >> tom: susie, the combination creates the world's largest financial market, with a presence in more than a dozen european countries and the u.s. the all-stock deal is valued at roughly $10 billion. deutsche boerse will have a 60% stake in the new entity, the n.y.s.e.-euronext will hold 40%. the 17-seat board will have nine members from the german exchange and six from the big board. >> susie: but the two exchanges have yet to decide on a name for the new company. and that's just one of many unresolved issues for this historic partnership. suzanne

i'm susie gharib-- gharib. good night everyone, thanks for watching.you tomorrow this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> ignatiy: this week, the movies that made us critics. >> christy: each of us selected five movies that changed our liveve >> ignatiy: plus roger's number wunsch the movie that made him -- number one. the movie that made him a critic. this week on "ebert presents at the movies." ♪ >> ignatiy: welcome to "ebert presents at the movies." i'm ignatiy vishnevetsky of mubi.com. i'm christy lemire of the associated press. now this week we are doing something a little bit different. ignatiy and i picked five films that shaped us. our picks are pretty different. you might have heard of some of them and not some of the others. my first choice

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. egypt is bracing for a massive protest tomorrow. susie, one million people are expected to join together to demonstrate against president mobarak. >> susie: tom, investors here were watching the latest developments out of egypt, but the major market averages still managed to gain ground. investors were also keeping tabs on the oil markets. in new york, crude prices spiked about $3 to $92 a barrel in london. brent crude crossed the $100 mark. >> tom: so what does the crisis in egypt mean for american investors? suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: for u.s. investors, the heap of geopolitical worries is growing. first it was sovereign debt problems in europe. and, now add a political crisis in egypt to the list. aladdin capital's scott macdonald says egypt might be one of the m

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. president obama said today he's confident about u.s. oil supplies, despite the upheavals in libya. susie, some lawmakers called on the president to tap into america's emergency oil supply to offset potential shortages. but president obama said he believes we'll be able "to ride out the situation." >> susie: tom, those comments late this afternoon reassured oil traders and then the price of oil dropped dramatically in the last hour of trading. april crude futures fell $0.82, closing at $97.28. they had been trading as high as $103 earlier in the day. >> tom: but despite that pullback, economists still worry high oil prices are a threat to the u.s. economy, forcing consumers to cut back on spending. erika miller reports. >> reporter: a penny or two might not seem like a lot, b

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. my colleague tom hudson is off tonight. what kind of shape is the u.s. financial system in these days, and do you feel financially safe? that was the question lawmakers on capitol hill were trying to get answered today. it's been six months since congress passed the biggest overhaul of the nation's financial rules, the dodd-frank reforms. the senate banking committee called in regulators for an update. as darren gersh reports, one key concern-- the fallout from the mortgage crisis. >> reporter: after digging through the records of the nation's 14 largest mortgage servicers, federal regulators found servicers did, indeed, break state and local foreclosures laws. but acting comptroller of the currency john walsh told the senate banking committee there was no wave of illegal forec

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. the stock-buying spree continued on wall street today. tom, the major averages are back to levels not seen in three years, but there are some concerns weighing on investors. >> tom: susie, food prices are one of them. dairy, sugar and cooking oil are just a few commodities that have surged to new highs. and those high prices and shortages are creating fears of unrest in some emerging markets. >> susie: that's part of the reason behind the protests in egypt. so are the fears overblown, or is food inflation a serious concern for american investors? erika miller reports. >> reporter: you may be feeling the pinch of higher food prices at the grocery store, but it's nothing to compared to the crisis that is developing in some emerging market countries. floor trader art cashin warned a year ago

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson.ghtly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. my colleague susie gharib is off violence in libya has pushed crude oil to its highest level in 2.5 years. u.s. oil futures rallied to over $97 per barrel. brent crude oil ended at over $112 per barrel. one fear is supply, even though libya pumps less than 2% of the world's oil.

i'm susie gharib. thanks for watching. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org be more. pbs.

i'm susie gharib. thanks for watching. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org be more. pbs. [ bells tolling ] ♪ >> there were nine of us who escaped. number one was killed in malaysia. before they come for the others, they'll come for me.

i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> welcome to the 2011 local hero awards in celebration of black history month presented by union bank and kttv. >> good evening. i'm john bolen, president of kqed and on behalf of kqed and our partners at union bank i would like to welcome everyone to tonight's celebration for 2011 of black history month. this is our 16th year partnering with union bank on this event, and we've honored more than 100, often unsung heros in our community. tonight we're going to be honoring four individuals for outstanding contributions to the community and to get things started

i'm susie gharib. good night everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >>> tonight on "quest" -- nature lovers know how valuable it is to get outside. find out why some researchers are suggesting it may actually be necessary for humans to spend time in nature. >>> and it's one thing to think outside the box. but one look at ugo conti's proteus and you'll realize this is an inventor who's never even seen the box. >>> major funding for "quest" is provided by the national science foundation, the gordon and betty moore foundation -- investing in partnerships for environmental conservation, science and the san francisco bay area, the richard and rhoda goldman foundation -- celebrating more than 50 years of innovative grantmaking and the amgen foundation. >>> additional support provided by -- the william k. bowes, jr. foundation, anne s. bow