morgan brennan takes us inside a meeting of the nation's oldest student-run investing club. >> reporter: early this morning, the lafayette college investment club sat in a classroom while students presented powerpoint presentations about netflix and amazon, deliberating a bet on big cap tech, which has sold off since the election. >> what we want to stress is amazon's presence in its space. >> reporter: the club chose to buy $10,000 worth of amazon. in the latest sign that the trump rally isn't just playing out on wall street, but also among retail investors, including the next generation. >> as this group of students, it's for a lot of us the first time voting, it was neat that we got to research the candidates and their policies. we had presentations about looking at what this election means for the economy in the short term, in the long term, and foreign investment portfolios. >> reporter: lafayette college is home to the oldest student-run investment club in the country, one that manages nearly $600,000 worth of stocks, exchange traded funds, and cash. and it's part of the school's

for "nightly business report" i'm morgan brennan in new york city. >>> coming up, why our next guest thinks betting on the consumer might be a win for you in 2017. >>> several of president-elect trump pick's for cabinet post may have a problem getting through the election process. john harwood joins us from washington. john, welcome. if republicans control the senate and democrats can't really filibuster cabinet nominees, what's the big hangup? >> well, that's a good question, tyler, because it used to be with -- it would require 60 votes to stop another president from the other party from nominating someone. now it only takes 51 votes to cap somebody which with the vice president tending to break the tie, republicans could do it with 50. now the challenge is because donald trump is an unconventional candidate, because he's relatively unpopular, if democrats hold together they only need to pick off a couple of republicans, three, in fact, to sink a cabinet nominee. so the challenge for democrats is going to be who is the weakest among "the herd" of nominees and pick off one or two an

i'm morgan brennan. >> don't call them clunkers. americans are driving their cars longer.he reason more older cars than ever are still on the road, and later the holidays are a time to help others in need. how to make sure your charitable donation isn't wasted, and now a look at how the stock market ended the week. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ how else do you think he gets around so fast? take the reins this holiday and get the mercedes-benz you've always wanted during the winter event. now lease the 2017 gla250 for $329 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. >>> now here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week "on the money." the federal reserve did what it hasn't done in a year. the janet yellen-led fed quarter point which was widely expect the. rates are still extraordinarily low but the fed signaled at least three more hikes are likely next year and said the u.s. labor market is strengthening. the increase means higher rates on credit cards, home equity loans and adjustable rate mortgages. the market couldn't figure out if it liked the move or not. the dow tumbled on

our morgan brennan gives us a look at the high-tech complex and how it handles the surge this time of year. >> reporter: after dark, this is the busiest airport in the world. and during the peak holiday season, it gets even busier. 160 fedex planes land here at the global hub each night, carrying 2 million express pack annuals destined for door steps. >> the planning process started literally as soon as we were done. now we are headed into our superbowl. that's what this is. >> reporter: between thanksgiving and christmas eve, fedex expects to handle more than 355 million packages. many will pass through here, along 42 miles of conveyor belts in what could be known as the matrix. leading up to christmas, they will operate around the clock with longer store times and even more planes coming through, as last minute online shopping spike and with it demand for express service. will it be enough to get pack annuals delivered on time and without company costs climbing? that's a challenge that has plagued both fedex and larger rival ups in recent years, hoping fuel a fierce competition for

as morgan brennan reports, for investors, nukes carry a lot of not so obvious risks. >> reporter: what's the best defense against twitter? that's what investors are trying to sort out, when it comes to defense. take lockheed martin, which has fallen 2% since president-elect trump tweeted about the f-35 joint strike fighter program's, quote, out of control costs. on the heels of meeting with trump yesterday, the ceo said the two discussed lockheed's progress to already bring the price tag down with, quote, continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft for u.s. military and allies. it's a similar story for boeing, which also met with trump about the costs of replacing air force one after it was the subject of a tweet. boeing's stock has fared better than lockheed's. but experts say these events could signal a shift in how the new administration plans to do business. >> lockheed and boeing have many, many, many defense contracts. some of them are coming in the future. and that gives a president or someone of his ability the ability to negotiate things. you want some changes here

tonight, morgan brennan explains why. >> reporter: transports keep on trucking, driving the prospects for stronger economic growth. infrastructure spending and corporate tax reform, which investors seem to believe outweigh the risk of for protectionist trade policies. it didn't just about the election. the dow jones industrial average has rebounded off january lows when economists were warning of recession. for the year it's poised to gain 25%. the biggest winners, trucking names including landstar rider and jb hunt and rail stocks like csx and union pacific. many of them are companies with big exposure to industrial production, mining, and manufacturing, which has shown signs of stabilization in recent months. >> i think some of the gains have been pulled up. they benefit from tax reform. that has the power to drive earnings. we are coming off a bit of a bottom from a freight perspective. we have seen a rally in the late summer through fall. volumes are up a bit. there's a fundamental underpinning of this as well. >> reporter: after a year and a half long freight recession, volumes a

for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan. >>> still ahead, where the jobs are. we'll take you inside the industry that's expected to hire a lot of workers in the coming years. >>> new developments today on the president-elect's cabinet picks. former rival, ben carson, tapped to be the next secretary of the department of housing and urban development and a meeting scheduled tomorrow with exxonmobil ceo, rex tillerson. we're outside trump tower. we know dr. carson is a neurosurgeon. why did mr. trump pick him to head the housing agency? >> reporter: well, he adds diversity to the cabinet, tilyt, as an african-american and the constituency of the department of housing and urban development has a significant african-american element to it. however, he does not have experience in housing policy. this is an objection that democrats and even some republicans have raised about this pick. he may have a challenge getting confirmed. >> and what about rex tillerson and the meeting tomorrow with the exxon ceo, john? >> reporter: well, i think, sue, that that represents the f

morgan brennan has more on what has the potential to be a big fight over fighter jets. >> reporter: callt a fighter jet face-off. donald trump is pitting the two biggest u.s. defense contractors against each other, taking to twitter to do it. the president-elect lobbing his latest 140-character social media missile at lockheed martin, again, writing, "based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the lockheed martin f-35, i have asked boeing to price out a comparable f-18 superhornet." but can the fourth-generation superhornet compete with a fifth-generation f-35 joint strike fighter? no. it's not designed to be stealthy and doesn't have the advanced electronics, who major factors that would take years and billions of dollars to become reality. and even then, say analysts, not likely. but it is a highly unusual move for a commander in chief, signaling a new era of competition. >> those companies doing the work will be very attuned to performance, and they will probably understand that they're not going to get a very sympathetic ear in the pentagon, or certainly from the oval office,

for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan in memphis, tennessee. >> how do they get all of thoseges in the overhead bins? >> i don't know, ty. >> i can't get my bag in there. >> 15 meteorologists onset, wow. that does it for "nightly business report" tonight, i'm sue herera, thanks for joining us. >> and i'm tyler mathisen. thanks from me, as well. we'll see you back here tomorrow night. music) ♪ (male #1) oi, fat boy! on a romantic date with your missus? (male #2) like always on a friday night! ♪ (female #1) phone the council in the morning. (male #1) muppets! (laughter) (male #2) write to the council! (female #2) look at ya. ain't you nothing better to do? (male #1) i can give you some more rubbish, if you want. (male #2) should stick your chewing gum on the floor so you can tread in it, keep it on your shoes! (jeering and laughing) ♪ (male #1) see you later, mate, bye! ♪

for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan in memphis, tennessee. >> how do they get all of thoseges in the overhead bins? >> i don't know, ty. >> i can't get my bag in there. >> 15 meteorologists onset, wow. that does it for "nightly business report" tonight, i'm sue herera, thanks for joining us. >> and i'm tyler mathisen. thanks from me, as well. we'll see you back here tomorrow night. discover how an innovative engineering solution"... is improving the lives of refugee women in darfur. explore the environmental and cultural impacts of a new ban on shark fins. fong: 73 million sharks every year. narrator: and go behind the scenes with the first woman to travel in space as a working scientist. hughes-fulford: it was a dream, and not everyone gets a dream. narrator: next on "quest." announcer: support for "quest" is provided by...

morgan brennan takes a look at the controversial fighter jets. >> reporter: defense stocks beaten downoday as the future leader of the free world again took to twitter. this time, president-elect donald trump targeted lockheed martin, lambasting the f-35 program for, quote, out of control costs and warning that, quote, billions of dollars can and will be saved on military purchases once he takes office. lockheed martin responded with a lengthy reply saying the company understands concerns about affordability and welcomes the opportunity to address any questions the president-elect has about the program. the defense contractor says it has invested millions of dollars to reduce the price of the next generation stealth fighter jet by 60%, projecting it will cost $35 million in the next three years. this unfolding as israel welcomes two f-35 planes today, making israel the first of a handful of u.s. allies that will have the american-made fighter jets in operation. the f-35 is the most expensive weapon system in history. with an estimated $400 billion price tag. nearly double the original

morgan brennan is joining us with more. morgan, what can we expect? >> reporter: hey, sara. so far the early reading on holiday shopping is solid so far, so mastercard spending pulse says total holiday retail extending ex-autos and gas is up 4%. that is the high end of many forecasts. for the same period total holiday e-commerce spending is up 19%. the big winner's, men's apparel, furniture and furnishings. jewelry turning in negative growth. it isn't over with just five shopping days left for 2016. retailers are trying to capitalize on consumers' leftover appetite to spend. so after christmas sales began yesterday both online and in store. macy's and other department stores are offering big discounts. the big push is to get people into stores to redeem gift cards and/or bring in returns, since consumers tend to like to spend more once they are there. now, the national retail federation's annual holiday survey indicated consumers would spend about $27.5 billion on gift cards this holiday. that's down from the 2014 peak, but still roughly about a third of the annual gift card

cnbc morgan brennan is at herald square, morgan. >> reporter: melissa, that's right.ail efc closed higher on light trading volume. and part of the reason for that or the reason i should say for that is that getting early reads on holiday spending and so far they have been solid. mastercard says total hold day retail spending 4% from november 1st through christmas eve. the high end of forecast total holiday e commerce. men's apparel, furniture and furnishings and electronics with sales falling compared to last year. so that said, amazon saying it shipped more than a billion items worldwide this holiday season with electronics among the top sellers, especially echo, echo dot and fire tv stick but this isn't over yet. so with just four full shopping days left in 2016 and consumer confidence at 15-year highs, retailers including jcpenney, nordstrom and macy's to name a few are ramping up big promotions to get the post holiday shoppers into the stores and spending. but there is a wild card in all this. that's big fights that erupted in malls in a dozen states yesterday. th

morgan brennan, cnbc business news, new york city. >>> let's look at the broader retail sector.ou have different performance across this sector by stocks up huge double digit amounts, others barely ahead. others in negative territory. the retail basket in europe is trending lower for the year. you see this huge gyration in the middle of the year, that was the brexit impact. it's telling you how political events can move the needle on the overall sector, which is curious. every time you have a retail conversation we talk specifically about disruption to the sector. >> also the point they can't just blame the macro factors. you can't say sales were bad because of brexit or the weather because it's down to the individual efforts when it comes to cutting costs and moving online. you have to wonder how much further retailers can go. >> we had solid employment. that's been one of the things holding up the consumer relatively solid employment. we krecovered a lot since the consumer crisis. time and time again analysts talk about how consumer spending is holding up these retailers. >> t

morgan brennan joins us now with a look inside how the company gets it done. >> reporter: hey, jon. that's right. i'm standing inside the control tower which oversees all of the operations behind me on the grounds here at this 880-acre world hub complex. so, we were here overnight on one of the four busiest days expected by fedex this holiday season. and let me tell you, it was absolutely humming. this looks like a small city that sprung to life after dark. 160 planes coming through, an estimated 2 million packages sorted along 42 miles of high-tech conveyor belts in what has come to be known as the matrix. this world hub which handles express packages is one key piece of a broader network that includes 30 new additional planes this year, $2 billion in ground segment investments and an extra 55,000 seasonal workers. so that as the company expects to deliver more than 355 million packages between thanksgiving and christmas eve, or based on their official forecast, 10% more than last year, and leading up to christmas, this facility will be running 24/7 with longe

let's check in with morgan brennan who has a behind the scenes look at one of the biggest shipping daysthe year. morgan? >> reporter: hey, john, that's right. both, you could probably say both. so anyway, this is for ups, fedex, and the u.s. postal service, all three are scrambling to get an avalanche of packages delivered over the next couple of days. this is likely to be the busiest day for ups. it's going to be one of the busiest for fedex, both of those companies anticipating to be handling about double their average daily volume. it will also be the busiest mailing day for the u.s. postal service with the most package deliveries expected on thursday. so how are they doing so far? ups and fedex are about on par with their on time delivery performances from last year for the deliveries that are day definite or guaranteed by a certain date. it has been the case largely for the past two weeks and best news all three carriers anticipate double digit growth in holiday volumes versus 2015, so so far ups and the postal service telling me they are on track to meet those growth forecasts, wh

>> all right, morgan brennan, thank you.nk all the men and women behind you. >>> deliveries may be heating up. but the transports trade may be cooling off. that's what one top technician familiar to all of you is saying as one of the year's hottest trades starting to show cracks after hitting all-time highs. bring in carter worth. >> well, brian, this is one of the hot yet trades of the year. the best-performing important index in the market. in the past two weeks, two major milestone, an index lagging all over indices. and one week later has its worst week of twoix. and rebuffed at the high. we had a bear market. 32% decline from late '14 to early '15. 32%. straight down, and we just get back and we stop dead cold. it has its worst week relative to the s&p in 12 months. meaning it gets to the top and is turned back. so the question is, is this going to be an important double top? or is it just the pause that refreshes? what we do know is, it is finally at least caught up to the general equity market in the sense that it's m

morgan brennan joins us now to compare those planes. >> that's right. happy holidays. we are going to call this a fighter jet face-off on the heels of the latest from the president-elect. can boeing's fa-18 compete with lockheed's f-35 joint strike fighter? the short answer to this, no. i'll tell you what i mean. the f-35 is a fifth generation stealth fighter plane. lockheed says it plans to lower the cost by 2020. its f-35 can take off and land vertically. the fa 18 -- it does take off from aircraft carriers. the price tag $82 million. analysts say it would take years even then this is not likely. that was a reason you take a look at shares of boeing. they are not trading higher on this news today. the two jets do face off for defense dollars and has limited the f-35 c-5s while boosting the budget for super hornets. last month we had canada announcing a deal after dropping plans to buy the f-35s for their military. you take a look at shares of boeing they are up slightly today. lockheed martin is trading lower down about 1%. >> helping answer a lot of questions that i

morgan brennan. >>> let's bring in robin schweitzer at kalyn washington research group., in your note, you said it is lockheed martin's time in the barrel, which would imply if you go back to the old adage that it is a fish in the barrel, it will only be a matter of time before it gets shot. what exactly would that mean for lockheed? >> i think the important thing to consider is that, you know, president-elect trump is taking a very unusual tact to inject some competition into what is really a pretty uncompetitive industrial base. in many cases you have one or two or three large cap defense primes that are able to compete in these areas. and really the government can't afford to let coke or pepsi go out of business. they have to figure out a way to sustain that industrial base long-term to preserve some element of competition. i think what president-elect is doing is by picking out boeing and lockheed martin, he's picking up -- picking on the two biggest kids on the block. if he can get them to change the behavior, it will flow down through the other dmcompanies i the gr

for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan in new york city. >> look at that.a package waiting for me at home. >> excellent. >> okay. >> i'm going to go home and wrap. i'm behind. >> hurry up. >> that does it for "nightly business report." i'm sue herera. thanks for joining us. >> i'm bill griffith. have a great evening. we'll see you tomorrow name "nightly business report" has been funded in part by: hss. >>> our value principles are patient first, and we want do deliver the highest quality care. >> the goal of creating and sustaining value is all about putting the patient at the center of the equation. >> the purpose of this organization is to help people get back to what they need and love to do. >>> a kqed television production. >> i was like sort of old fisherman's wharf. maybe a little like -- with a -- >> the calories, the cholesterol and the heart attack you might have. >> like an adventure. put it out of your mind. >> oatmeal with a touch of dog. >> i did

for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan. >>> but if you do decide to shop the old fashionednd go to a mall, there are some precautions you should take. because as andrea day reports, hackers are lurking. >> reporter: call it the holiday hustle. hackers working overtime to get a piece of the billions spent this season. >> this is a great time for hackers to do busisiness. >> reporter: and especially vulnerable are transactions made right from your smartphone. according to the experts at sky cure, if you download certain apps on your device or connect to wi-fi at the mall, you could be opening up more than just your wallet. >> you have pictures, you have credit card information. all of this information is at risk. >> reporter: the mobile security firm ran tests at the nationiest busiest malls and found that just like some stores offer wi-fi, so do the criminals, creating fake wi-fi hot spots, waiting for you to connect. >> every transaction that you are doing on your cell phone is actually going through the bad guys. >> reporter: on the list of the top ten riskiest malls, each

morgan, thank you, morgan brennan on the defense stocks.o rick santelli in chicago with "the santelli exchange." good morning, rick. >> good morning, thank you, sara. i'd like to welcome my special guest, driving all over the country it seems this week, mark, thanks for stopping and taking the time. >> yeah, i'm headed to utah for the holidays and then california to teach at chapman university. but i'm here in denver to talk to you about the markets. >> excellent. listen, we had last revision, last look at third quarter gdp at 3.5. it wasn't a bad quarter, but problem with the quarters last handful of years is that when you average all four of them, you don't end up with much over 2, sometimes a little less than 2. atlanta fed now at 2.6, but everybody else is under 2. they'll make a revision. give me your thoughts on the current state of gdp and how president-elect can ramp it up. >> well, i certainly think he has a good chance of doing it since under obama we had eight years of less than 3% growth. i don't think we've ever had that before

for "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan. >>> disney is making box office history.he dow component is the first studio to grow $7 billion worldwide in a single year. the release of its latest "star wars" movie, "rogue one," helped propel past that number. the studio is home to some of hollywood's most powerful grants, including marvel studios and pixar. the previous record set last year by universal records. >>> still ahead, digital ad crooks? today russian cyber gang conduct a large and very profitable front operation on one of the fastest-growing industries. ♪ ♪ >>> the white house has permanently banned new oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the atlantic and the arctic oceans. president obama used a 1950s law that allows the president to limit areas from drilling. the ban affects waters off alaska, including the entire chooch key sea and most of the balance fort sea. the ban is also in effect in the atlantic from new england to chesapeake bay. president-elect donald trump has pledged to make the country energy-independent, but the ban may be difficult for

morgan brennan is here with more details. >> so shares of lockheed martin, look at those, those are down today. the broader defense sector is falling as well. ita down 2% today. all of this on the heem heels trump tweet. the contractor giving a lengthy response saying the company understands concerns about affordability. and -- but that lockheed has invested millions of dollars to reduce the airplane price by 60%, projecting that the price will be $85 million in the 2019 to 2020 time frame, which would make this the least expensive of the fourth generation fighter jets in the world. so those comments coming from israel, where two f-35 planes are just arriving now, making israel the first of a handful of u.s. allies that will have the american made fighter jets in operation. the f-35 is the most expensive weapons system in history. it has an estimated $400 billion price tag that is nearly double the original estimate, and that has drawn criticism for years. so perhaps not surprising that trump would focus on this. the second tweet, taking aim at a defense company, following that boeing ai

morgan brennan is at a new jersey truck stop -- morgan -- you're freezing. you are at a new jersey truck stop. do tell. >> reporter: i get the best assignments and all the best weather. i have to say. if you have been out driving over the last couple of days you have probably noticed many more trucks on the road, many are goods destined for door steps and destined under the tree. in terms of ups and fed ex we are in full blown crunch mode at both companies as next week is the busiest and toughest in terms of operations for both of those companies for the entire year. today is the last day for guaranteed ground shipping which is service most retailers use for free shipping. monday likely the busiest day for ups and one of four that is expected for fed ex with both carriers handling double average daily package volumes. this past week we had several reports indicating both companies had been scrambling to deliver on slot of packages. ups having the hardest time with on time performances. fed ex mainly flat. ups down 3%. ups telling me the vast majority of cust

massive post holiday shopping rush where morgan brennan is out in the middle of one of the busiest. herald square in mid town. >> i'm sure you can see around me it is extremely busy and i'm sure the warm weather we are getting throughout the northeast is only helping matters. so far the early read on holiday shopping has been pretty solid. mastercard spending shows up four percent year on year. that is the high end of many forecasts. total holiday e commerce spending surged 19%. the big winners men's apparel and furniture and furnishings. jewelry sales and electronics falling versus last year. it isn't over yet with just four full shopping days left in 2016 and consumer confidence at 15-year high retailers are really ramping up the promotions to get consumers back into their stores and spending. macy's is offering up to 60% off some items, up to 80% off jewelry. nordstrom is having its sale and j.c. penney promoting up to 70% off. key part of the strategy as well is going to be returns. many of the retailers as well as offering free return shipping. what they are looking to do is lo

morgan brennan. >>> it was utter mall madness at several malls this weekend. look at these fights that broke out in malls in new jersey, ohio and tennessee. it is nuts. some resulted in minor injuries and evacuations. here to speak about this is john niffen. i look at the video like that and never -- it makes me never want to step foot in a mall. is this a black i'll feye for t retail industry? >> it is a terrible, tragic incident. we have seen isolated incident like these over the past few ye years. we spoke with mall developers about this. you have retail, omni channel, e-commerce. there is all different ways that consumers deal with it, that retailers deal with it. but the physical activity goof going to a mall is still important to consumers today. >> the idea of returning to the store, you can buy online and return to the store and that may make you return something and then buy something that is on sale now. how important is that to these retailers and who has the most at stake? >> you have to be an omni channel retailer. if you sell online, you get 23 c

morgan brennan joins us live. hey, morgan. good holiday weekend. the early read on holiday shopping so far it's pretty solid. now, master card spending pulses total holiday retail spending ex-autos and gas was up 4% year-over-year. that's when never first -- the high of many end forecasts. toegs holiday e-commerce. big winners, according to master card, men's apparel, furniture, and furnishings. on the flip side, jewelry. turning in negative growth. this isn't over yet. so with just five shopping days to go in 2016 we have retailers looking to capitalize on leftover spending appetite from consumers and do so as consumer confidence hits a 15 -year high. now, after christmas sales began yesterday both on-line and in stores. macy's and other department stores are still offering big discounts and free or low spending thresholds for shipping. now, returns will be especially important. that's because retailers can get consumers to do that in person. that will drive foot traffic and set the stage for more profitable exchange or an additional sales since p

morgan brennan is back at hq watching that. >> on the heels of the two tweets targeting defense programs took a look at other platforms that could potentially be focused on the trump twit pulpit. lockheed martin, northrop and raytheon. seeing a number of vessels break down and unit cost morse than double since the program's inception, general dynamics and lockheed is involved in making that ship. the b-2 bomber program, produced by northrop grumman and ohio class submarine program, getting start but could potentially represent a large sum of money. defense spending is expected to increase. cyclically it's poised to trend. as those dollars are spent the key question is, the possibility of that defense contractors do more risk sharing on costs as the government buys, quote, smarter, which trump has vowed? also worth noting, 30% of every modernization dollar is consumed by compliance. so some of the restructuring we could see may likely take place inside the pentagon itself. guys, back to you. >> as boeing hits a 52-week high. morgan, thank you. >> rick santelli and the santelli exchange. g