susie gharib is on assignment. italy's new government comes under pressure as investors around the globe question whether new leader mario monti can make the cuts needed to bolster italy's struggling economy. already, we're hearing plans for 300,000 public sector job cuts by 2014 and spending reviews for all government agencies. european markets finished broadly lower and u.s. stocks followed suit. the dow fell almost 75 points, the nasdaq fell 21 and the s&p 500 lost 12 points. trading volume started the week light, with just 709 million shares moving on the big board and less than 1.5 billion on the nasdaq. where stocks head this week will depend in large part on a slew of europe and of u.s. economic reports. from retail sales to inflation, investors are hoping for signs the recovery is finally picking up steam. 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. unfo

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 will be along later in the program. big news from italy tonight-- the country's embattled prime minister indicated he will resign. silvio berlusconi is expected to step down after losing his parliamentary majority during a routine vote. his resignation ends a 20-year political career, but it could pave the way for italy to push through crucial financial reforms. we have a unique perspective on the situation in italy and the european crisis from former treasury secretary robert rubin. he served in the clinton administration, and was a key negotiator during the mexican and asian financial crises. we'll bring you my exclusive interview in a few minutes. but first, suzanne pratt reports on what that news about italy means for u.s. investors. >> move over gre

susie gharib is on assignment. a legal showdown between occupy wall street protestors and new york city police has ended with victory for the city. a judge has ruled that demonstrators right to free speech does not entitle them to camp out indefinitely in a public park. 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

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. >> tom: good evening and thank you for joining us. u.s. markets rebounded today after greece named a new prime minister, lucas papademos. susie, he is an m.i.t.-educated economist who has promised to keep greece in the eurozone, >> susie: tom, meanwhile in italy, prime minister silvio berlusconi is expected to step down on monday. his resignation is contingent on the country's parliament approving austerity measures demanded by the european union. berlusconi's likely replacement- - mario monti, a respected economist and european commissioner. now, u.s. investors welcomed news of that leadership change, as well as good news that yields on italian bonds fell below 7%, easing concerns that the country would need an emergency bail out. >> tom: here in the u.s., federal reserve chairman ben bernanke was talking about europe again, urging leader

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 and thanks for joining us. american airlines is bankrupt. susie, the company wound up declaring bankruptcy today after years of trying to avoid the same path as many of its competitors. >> susie: tom, the nation's third largest carrier filed for chapter 11 protection in an effort to cut labor costs and debt. american and its parent, a.m.r., also replaced its chief executive in the move, naming thomas horton as the new c.e.o. >> tom: shares of american's parent company, a.m.r., got slammed today, down 84%. here's a chart of the stock over the past 90-trading sessions. you can see a big drop in early october when bankruptcy rumors first scared investors. as suzanne pratt reports, the airline has high hopes for what it will achieve from going bankrupt. >> reporter: american airlines has finall

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. less than a week left for washington's 12-member super committee to find more than a trillion dollars in budget savings. and tom, the six democrats and six republicans appear locked in a philosophical battle over tax increases. >> tom: with no agreement today susie, it really turns up the heat on the panel to find common ground and make some compromises this weekend. here's why: the supercommittee has until monday to alert the public about any agreement and until wednesday to vote on it. >> susie: the sticking points sound very similar to the summer showdown over the debt ceiling. darren gersh has an update on where negotiations stand. >> reporter: rather than coming together, democrats and republicans on the super committee were taking an even harder stand today. the key issue

susie gharib is off tonight. it's black friday, the day many retailers hope to move out of the red and into the black. shoppers in huge numbers hit the stores early in search of bargains. consumers are expected to shell out nearly half a trillion dollars this shopping season. overall, the crowds are larger and younger, as a new generation of consumers got in on one of the biggest sales days of the year. >> reporter: the sound of early morning shoppers at a best buy in charleston, north carolina. more than 150 million americans are expected to shop at least one day this holiday weekend, spending almost $500 billion. the shopping started earlier than ever before, with some stores such as wal-mart, target and toys "r" us opening their doors even before thanksgiving day had ended. we're expecting a 2.4% growth on top of last year's 2% same store sales. which shows that consumers are still spending out there despite all the negative macro economic news. >> reporter: deep discount items helped bring in the crowds. even

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. americans see only a modest pickup in hiring in october, that's according to the government's latest snapshot of the job market. employers added 80,000 new jobs last month, less than economists expected. and the unemployment rate slipped to 9% from 9.1%. this is the first drop in the jobless rate since july and it's now at the lowest level since april. still, economists are hardly upbeat about the latest look at the labor picture. suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: with so many people out of work, any new jobs should be encouraging. the problem is employers aren't creating enough new jobs to make much progress putting the 14 million unemployed americans back to work. yes, payrolls rose by 80,000 in october. that sounds good, but, it's re

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 good evening and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. stocks sold off for the sixth straight session. today's culprit? a disastrous bond auction in germany. normally, we wouldn't pay much attention to a european government selling i.o.u.s, but it is new evidence that europe still is very much in charge of u.s. financial markets and how people feel about the economy and investing. the dow tumbled 236 points, the nasdaq fell 61 and the s&p 500 off 26 points. big board volume was light at 874 million shares, while nasdaq volume slipped to 1.7 billion shares. suzanne pratt begins our reporting tonight, taking a closer look at that disappointing auction in germany and its impact on u.s. markets. we can add german bonds to the heat. germany is supposed to be europe's save haven, in a region plagued by financial c

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 and thanks for joining us. it's test time again for the nation's biggest banks. late today, the federal reserve revealed plans to conduct another round of stress tests. it will be the fourth since the credit crisis. the central bank wants to make sure banks can hold up during a "deep recession". the fed says a recession is unlikely, but it's checking the financial strength of big banks. this comes at a time when many investors and consumers have been concerned about how exposed american banks are to the european debt crisis. the tests will be conducted in 2012 and will be done every year. they will apply to 19 firms that participated in similar tests earlier this year. 12 other banks with assets of at least $50 billion will be included in the tests for the first time. the new tests come as

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. my colleague tom hudson is on assignment. a bad end to a good month. stocks fell sharply today, but october was a stellar month-- the best gains since 1987. here's a look at the numbers. by the closing bell today, the dow was down 276 points, the nasdaq tumbled 52 and the s&p 500 was off 31. but looking at the month, the dow was up 9.5% in october and the nasdaq and s&p each added 11%. 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 p

i'm susie gharib. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. ossible 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