>> this is nbr. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: i'm susie gharib. september is historically the worst month for stocks. what can investors expect this time around? >> tom: i'm tom hudson. the democratic national convention is underway in north carolina. we talk with austan goolsbee. he's the chief economist on the president's economic recovery board. >> susie: and gas prices are up, but consumers were scrambling to buy new cars. we'll find out why auto sales were so revved up in august. >> tom: that and more tonight on nbr! >> susie: back to business, back to school, and back to another cautious day on wall street. stocks were mixed on this first trading day of september as investors sorted through a new batch of economic numbers. manufacturing activity in the u.s. dropped for the third straight month. the institute of supply management's gauge of manufacturing slipped in august to 49.6, the lowest reading in two years. american factories have been a critical source of new jobs. a separate report showed that spending on construction projects in july

that and more tonight on nbr! captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: some encouraging news tonight for the housing market and consumer confidence. first, housing-- a measurement of prices in 20 cities across the country rose four tenths of a percent in july. that's the sixth straight month of gains for the s&p case- shiller home price index. and consumer's are feeling more optimistic. the conference board's confidence index rose to 70.3 in september, marking its highest level since february. these two groups, consumers and housing, are significant because of their influence over the entire economy. >> with the improvement in consumer confidence, we think that consumer spending could pick up as we go into next year. especially since the housing market is showing signs of life and moem prices are starting to firm up. but the encouraging data didn't help stock prices today. instead, comments by central bankers in the u.s. and europe weighed on today's trading. the dow lost 101, the nasdaq shed 43, the s&p is down 15. t

that and more tonight on nbr! in less than 24 hours, we'll get our first peak at apple's new phone, dubbed iphone 5. expectations are high it will offer everything from a larger screen to a panoramic camera. nevertheless, shares of apple dipped slightly today in advance of the announcement. and, as suzanne pratt reports, all investors should be watching how the stock performs. >> reporter: it's known as the "apple effect." apple's stock is up; so is the broader market. apple shares fall; major averages drop, too. the world's most valuable company makes up nearly 5% of the s&p 500 index. thanks to apple's huge gain this year, the s&p is up 14%. on the other hand, the apple-less dow is up only 9%. and don't forget the tech-heavy nasdaq. apple accounts for 13% of the weighting in that index. thanks to the shine in apple shares, the nasdaq is up 19% this year. with apple's outsized influence on the market, a warm welcome for iphone 5 tomorrow might make more than apple shareholders happy. but some market pros say it's

>> this is nbr. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening. i'm susie gharib. the head of the european central bank makes good on his promise to save the euro. we'll tell you about his bold new measures to rescue europe's struggling economies. >> tom: i'm tom hudson. mario draghi's plan boosts stocks around the globe, and here at home, where the s&p 500 stock index jumps to pre-crisis levels. how are investors feeling today, compared to four years ago? >> susie: and amazon introduces a new kindle fire, and the new paperwhite e-reader. we look at how its new models stack up. >> tom: that and more tonight on nbr! >> susie: u.s. stocks rallied to their highest levels in four years after europe's central bank announced a sweeping plan to solve the region's debt crisis. five weeks after pledging to do "whatever it takes" to preserve the euro, e.c.b. president mario draghi delivered on his promise by launching a program to buy unlimited quantities of euro- zone bonds. investors around the globe reacted to the concrete move with broad-based buying of stocks. on wall s

>> this is nbr. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening. i'm tom hudson. susie's off tonight. can the newest blackberry device save research in motion? the smart phone maker is counting on it to ease its mounting losses. the u.s. economy shows more signs of slowing, and slowing down faster than expected. but silver has been red hot. where is the demand coming from and can it last? we talk with phil baker, the c.e.o. of hecla mining. that and more tonight on nbr! we begin with discouraging news about the sluggish economy. by the broadest measurement, economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter. the gross domestic product was revised considerably lower today. growth was 1.3% in the april through june period. just a month ago, the estimate was 1.7%. add that to a big drop in purchases of big ticket items, like washing machines and furniture. in august, durable goods orders fell 13.2%, and you've got an economy that's just muddling along. but one ray of encouragement-- fewer people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week. claims f

suzanne pratt, nbr, new york. >> tom: still ahead, as the debate over mitt romney's taxes shows, not all income is taxed the same. why how much you pay in taxes depends on how you make your money. four years ago this month, the economy was in a freefall. lehman brothers had collapsed and credit markets seized up. a.i.g. was rescued by the federal reserve. the tarp program spent billions bailing out banks, and the federal deposit insurance corporation helped save citigroup. sheila bair was among those making the decisions. she was the chairman of the fdic and has written about the financial crisis in a new book, "bull by the horns. " she join us tonight from the nasdaq. sheila, congratulations on the book. quite a read to relive those days and months four years ago. after all the billions of dollars spent and the millions of homes foreclosed on, you wrote, i wonder if we overreacted. you say the generosity of the response troubles you, why? >> the generosity of the banks. we clearly needed to do something. weeshtd have done more to get the homeowners restructured and clean up the bank

that and more tonight on nbr! the federal reserve announced today a bold plan to spend billions of dollars to buy bonds to rev up the u.s. economy and create more jobs. on wall street, investors applauded the move and stocks surged. as policymakers wrapped up a two-day meeting, they said they took this action because, without it, economic growth might not be strong enough to create jobs. but the fed's latest round of quantitative easing, what everyone calls q.e.-3, is different this time. the fed will buy mortgage backed securities rather than u.s. treasuries. it will buy $40 billion per month. more importantly, the d said the buying is open-ended-- it promised to keep buying until the job market "improves substantially." and the fed pledged to keep interest rates "exceptionally low" through 2015. stocks rallied right after the fed announcethnt. the dow jumped 206 points, the nasadaq rose 41.5, and the s&p added 23 points. fed chairman ben bernanke described today's move as "a main street policy." darren gersh rep

darren gersh, nbr, washington. >> reporter: i'm erika miller in new york. coming up, we'll hear from italian prime minister mario monti on the future of the euro. is italy better off with the euro or without? there was a time not so long ago the blackberry device was a korpts status sim bon then came itsix phone and android system. after the closing bell research in motion reported it lost money for the third quarter in a row. but it lost a lot less money than feared. losses were 27 cents per share, that's about 20 cents less than analysts estimate. and perhaps most encouraging after months of delays the company said its newest blackberry device is still on track now to launch in the first quarter of the year. colin gill sis with us, senior technology analyst at bgc financial, he joins us from that firmment dow agree, results not as bad as feared? >> absolutely. its company lives to fight another day. when you look at the results, there were several glimmers of positive notes you could take away including an increase in the cash position and an increase in

tomorrow on nbr, home prices aren't the only things going up in housing-- the cost of land also is onhe rise. and the latest efforts for parents and students to make better financial decisions when it comes to paying for college. could this hail mary pass force a breakthrough in one of the country's highest profile labor disputes? a blown call by the replacement referees in the final play of monday night's nfl game gave the win to seattle over green bay. the regular refs have been off the field over a contract fight, rick horrow points out one key group with millions of dollars at risk has been silent. >> the nfl's referee lockout reached its tipping point last night with one of the most controversial game endings in league history. the green bay packers lost the game, but the biggest loser might be the nfl brand. however, one group of stakeholders that has remained quiet in the replacement ref debate is the sponsors. the real issue for fans, and the reason sponsors haven't weighed in on the controversy, is that the nfl is an inelastic product. neither the league nor sponsors have los

for more financial news, tune in to nbr weeknights on this public television station. was fascinar relationship. the president believed politics could be a vehicle for change and the political life could be livable. the first lady did not believe that politics was a valid viable way of creating social change, that political life was livable. all these years it's almost like their marriage is an extended debate where they're trying to figure out the answer to those questions. she, i think, has been converted. michelle obama who hesitated about moving to the white house, who felt unease with politics had a rough first year behind-the-scenes as first lady. has found she is fact kind of a master of the forum. >> charlie:and kind of popular. >> what i would say about michelle not in terms of their internal dynamics of the relationship but what she represents for barack obama and the country, he came out of a ip probable and exotic life and michelle is normality. she's the conventionali he wanted in his life. it's important she projects that tonight, that he's not this stran

for more financial news, tune in to nbr weeknights on this public television station. votes you would have a hard time with 800 bill i don't know. when senate republicans have signed on board to 400 bill i don't know more than we were agreeing to say how were -- we have to take a look at whrrnts this deal we have been talking about private can get the votes. this was all about trying to get the votes and it was our opinion at that time that we ought to look at trying to get a little more revenue to get more votes but it was not either or. >> charlie:that's the first i heard that explanation. i don't know if you talked about that before or not. that's the first time i heard that. you're basically say yes indeed you did say we needed revenue but it's because we have a commitment in the senate from republicans in the senate that they need this in order to get their votes. >> obviously democrats would have said, wait a minute how bad of negotiators are you people? you have republicans saying they would sign on board 1.2-trillion and you settle for 800-billion. what is wron

see you online at nbr monday night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> join us anytime at nbr.com. there, you'll find full episodes of the program, complete show transcripts and all the market stats. also follows us on our facebook page at bizrpt. and on twitter @bizrpt.

see you online at nbr monday night. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ow >> join us anytime at nbr.com. there, you'll find full episodes of the program, complete show transcripts and all the market stats. also follows us on our facebook page at bizrpt. and on twitter @bizrpt. vo:geico, committed to providing service to its auto insurance customers for over 70 years. more information on auto insurance at geico.com or 1-800-947-auto any time of the day or night.

. >> tom: i'm tom hudson with an nbr news brief.a measurement of prices in 20 cities across the country rose four tenths of a percent in july. that's the sixth straight month of gains for the s&p case- shiller home price index. and consumer's are feeling more optimistic. the conference board's confidence index rose to 70.3 in september, marking its highest level since february. but the encouraging data didn't help stock prices today. instead, comments by central bankers in the u.s. and europe weighted on today's trading. the dow lost 101, the nasdaq shed 43, the s&p is down 15. tomorrow, home prices aren't the only things going up in housing. the cost of land also is on the rise. for more financial news, tune in to nbr weeknights on this public television station.