we have reports from rebecca jarvis at the new york stock exchange and dean reynolds in chicago. first, rebecca. >> reporter: anthony, like you said, this was the best performance for stocks since march of 2009, spurred by the federal reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near these emergency levels, 0%, for at least two more years. standard & poor's had its say, the president had his. >> markets will rise and fall. >> reporter: today, wall street was waiting to hear from america's bank-- the federal reserve. >> there's no panic here. people are just doing what they have to do and i think they're giving it a lot of thought before they do it. >> reporter: in a statement, the fed promised to keep interest rates low through at least 2013. the market reacted wildly, dropping more than 200 points as the fed warned downside risks to the economic outlook have increased, but then the market rallied off the lows by more than 600 points. >> i would characterize markets as being hugely volatile. the bulls and the bears are in a battle-- not quite to the death, but they are in quite a subst

rebecca jarvis, cbs news, new york. there was also a milestone today. the most valuable company in the world. apple stock gained 6% today to bring the company's total value to just under $347 billion. exxon rallied. financial analysts believe apple will take over the top spot for good. >>> well all that cash that california was counting on may not materialize afterall. california's texas revenue fell $539 million or 10% below what was expected. that pushed the state automatic to budget cuts to school and social security. the sales tax numbers were down 12.5% and corporate taxes were down a whopping 19.3%. the price tag for california's high speed rail project is also skyrocketing. the initial section is anywhere between $10 billion to $13.9 billion. the original estimate was about $7 billion. california high speed rail authority says community driven design changes, including 30 miles of area viaducts. and it says there's even a bigger argument. california's exploding population, 50 million people expected by the year 2050. >> cost of building enough hi

we look at what's behind the wild swings-- rebecca jarvis is on the floor of the stock exchange. u.s. forces hunt down the men who attack the navy seals helicopter. david martin has the story of american payback. a new cancer treatment is being called astonishing-- saving a patient who was sure to die. dr. jon lapook has the details. and what happened to jim chasse after he fell into the hands of the police? armen keteyian reports federal agents are investigating police brutality across the country. >> these guys are supposed to be the peacekeepers but in fact they're raising all kinds of hell. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. we haven't seen this since the darkest days of the financial meltdown. three days in a row the dow jones industrial average has moved more than 400 points, and most of that has been on the down side. today the dow lost 519 points, or 4.6%, for its lowest close in nearly two years. so far this year, the dow is off nearly 7.5%. our business and economics correspondent rebecca jarvis is on t

rebecca jarvis is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. rebecca, what are investors supposed to make of this? >> reporter: well, scott, even veteran floor traders who have been here for years say this is making them seasick. these massive up-and-down moves which have gone on for almost two weeks now, even in the last week we've seen the direction here change every single day. now, wall street has a way of measuring this. it's called the fear index which measures volatility which is abnormally high right now. one thing that may even complicate things more is that four european countries moved late in the day today to ban short sales. and what that basically means in layman's terms is that they are keeping traders from selling companies that are in a free- fall. >> pelley: rebecca, what is driving these wild swings? why the big numbers? >> well, the market is very reactionary right now as a result of that fear. the other component of this is computerized trading. high-frequency trading accounts for about 70% of the market and it amplifies al

rebecca jarvis is at the new york stock exchange. >> reporter: rome and madrid are far from wall street the but traders tell me how concerns over europe will pay its bills has global markets around the world spooked. a stock sell-off that started in europe spread to the u.s. markets today. stocks had been under severe pressure for more than a week. dow and s&p 500 have both cropped more than 10% from their highs earlier this year, and that puts u.s. stocks solidly into market correction territory. veteran floor trader art cashin warns more trouble is brewing across the atlantic. skittish european banks and investors look to cash out of american companies. >> there's an old saying on wall street-- when you can't sell what you want to selling you sell whatever you can, including your grandmother's necklace. so i think some of the people in europe are having a very difficult time raising the kind of capitol they were hoping to get and looking at whatever assets they have here in the united states and selling here. >> reporter: fears that italy and spain cannot overcome their mounting debt

. >> i'm rebecca jarvis. we will hear from erica hill who is in east africa in a few moments. >>> it's a somber moment when fallen u.s. troops are brought home the last time and multipled many times this morning over dover air force base who is receiving 30 bodies of americans who were downed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan. live to dover in a few moments. >>> we begin with massive aftermath with sell-off on wall street. this morning things are starting off better and after yesterday a shaky day in the overseas market. jeff glor is at the new york stock exchange with the latest. jeff, already, we are seeing an up and down morning on wall street. >> reporter: it has been. but markets generally opened sharply higher here after overseas markets in europe and asia were both all tumultuous overnight and, generally speaking, down. it follows what happens on wall street yesterday which was a historic drop yesterday. every single stock on the s&p 500 was down. a weekend of uncertainty became a day of fear. and t

. >> i'm rebecca jarvis. erica hill is covering the familiar familiar inin africa and hear from her in a moment. >>> one week after dough ertedy siblings shot at police and robbed a bank in georgia now tracked to colorado and cbs news court barry petersen has the latest for us. >> the manhunt has been going on more than a week and now police say their car may have been spotted in downtown colorado springs yesterday. their trouble began in florida when officials say 29-year-old lee, 21 yered ryan, and 26-year-old dylan led police on a high-speed chase, then opened fire. they got away after shooting out the police car's tire. then a few hours late, they robbed a bank in georgia. the dougherty are no strangers to trouble. lee is a stripper and denver post says she has been arrested five times on hit and run charges. her brother dylan has been busted for drugs. >> these individuals are considered armed, dangerous. >> reporter: their mother is pleading for them to give up. >> please prove me right and everybody wr

rebecca jarvis, cbs news, new york. >> one conservative blogger called the grocery chain after it launchedst of its kind promotion. now a leaked e-mail regarding the campaign has changed the conversation. kit shows us it led to accusations that whole foods was caving to pressure. >> it is ramadon and for muslims, it's time for prayer and feasting at night. a week ago, they made history by launching an online marketing campaign. the country's first promotion by national chain. touting certified frozen foods. it didn't take long for conservative bloggers to accuse whole foods for supporting terrorism. they got a copy of an intertearal e-mail that said in part, that could be considered celebrating or promoting ramadon. the e-mail suggested the company was buckling under pressure, but later the company said whole foods market is not canceling our current promotion. we never sent a communication from our headquarters requesting stores take down signs at all. one region reacted by sending out directions and not specifically ramadon. local muslim leaders applauded whole foods for not backing down

i'm chris wragge long with rebecca jarvis.s the movie industry always finds a way to pack in the crowds at the theaters. how it's been able to do that and find an audience even in the tough economic times. by the way it usually does. people all this industry recession proof. >> i think it's one of the great elixirs for only $15, too. escape for two, three hours, just $15. that's a separate issue. >>> a major development involving sex education. chicago became the first city to incorporate sex ed into the public school curriculum. it's been a hot topic of debate. new york city schools officially announced middle and high school students will be required to take the controversial sex ed classes. >> then at puberty certain glands begin to work and our bodies begin to change. >> what's puberty? >> puberty is a lot of things. >> the birds and the bees. >> when does menstruation start? >> each girl's body sets up her own time and rhythm. >> it seemed like a harmless and innocent lesson given my coaches and teachers in the 1950s. >>

. >> i'm rebecca jarvis. erica hill is on assignment. >> a couple of high notes and low notes during the debate last night but the gloves were off. >> it got a little brutal. >> it got pretty good and what we begin with. the race for white house and the republican presidential debate in ames, iowa. this weekend the iowa straw poll will show how the voters feel about the candidates. the glove came off last night. >> in congress, her record of accomplishment and results is nonexistent. >> you said the era of small government was over. that sounds a lot more like barack obama if you ask me. >> she says she has titanium spine. not her spine we are worried about, her record of results. please stop because you're killing us. >> when deal was put together, governor pawlenty cut a deal with the special interest groups. >> if i were president what i would have done is cut federal spending and cap federal spending as a total of the economy and work for a balanced budget amendment. if we do that we can rein back the sca

rebecca jarvis, cbs news, new york. >>> amid all of the economic gloom there is good news for hundreds of construction workers here in the bay area. robert liles shows us, because congress got its act together on the faa, those workers will soon be getting a paycheck again. >> reporter: they. >> they can call me right now and i'll be there in two hours working with my tools. >> reporter: rich zim lock is an electrician, he said it took him 10 years to get the job at oakland international, now he is a step closer to financially desperate. >> then i've lost my pension benefits, i've lost my medical benefits, and i've lost my vacation benefits. >> reporter: and it seems that, with no hope, with both houses of congress taking vacation, and not broke erring a deal to save the faa, until senator harry reid announced a temporary deal late today. >> it's a short-term agreement but it should mean that bay area construction workers are back in the air, literally, 260 feet above oakland international, finishing construction on that brand new air traffic control tower. including construction jobs

they're generally give it to you. >> okay, rebecca jarvis, thanks.it can be a little tricky when you're committed to another person, but not quite ready to get married gist yet. or even live together. many couples in their 20s are trying something called stayover relationships. living together, and on their own. cbs news correspondent bill whitaker explains. >> reporter: spencer and sarni are both in their 20s and they've been dating seriously for the past eight months. >> well, she's beautiful, for one. and just has a way with people. myself. >> reporter: yet despite their love -- >> that's the nicest thing you ever said to me. >> reporter: -- they haven't committed to riching to the. at least not all the time. a few nights a week, sarni will spend the night at spencer's, but she also looks forward to the time she spends alone, at her own apartment. >> i like to have my own, personal space. to come home after work, be gross, watch my soaps, watch my reality television. >> reporter: a new study calls this a stayover relationship. couples living toget

. >> rebecca jarvis will answer your personal finance questions and everyone can profit from that for "healthwatch" sponsored by truvia natural sweetener. honestly sweet. ♪ my skinny jeans zipped in relief ♪ [ announcer ] truvia. honestly sweet. there's another way litter box dust:e purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder on dust. and our improved formulas neutralize odors better than ever in multiple-cat homes. so it's easier to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. ♪ mm-mmm-mmm-mm-mm-mmm ♪ mm-mmm-mmm-mm-mm-mmm ♪ ♪ mm-mmm-mmm-mm-mm-mmm ♪ mm-mmm-mmm-mm-mm-mmm ♪ [ female announcer ] kraft cheese has more full length shreds in every bag. you'll see the difference. ♪ mm-mmm-mmm-mm >>> this morning we "ask it early" with cbs news business and economic correspondent rebecca jarvis here to answer some of your personal finance questions which you sent in to us. we love having your viewers. first question comes to us from matt, and this one is on camera. matt? >> hi my name is matt neeley from seatt

business and economic news correspondent rebecca jarvis joins me now. good morning. >> good morning. >> responded favorably on the news last night. what does that mean here at home? >> global market as well as futures, exactly what trades outside the open markets, those are called futures. they started trending up on news of that deal and really on hope that is the deal would take place. things are pointing higher. there is still great uncertainty out there. >> 500 points lost in the market here in the states last week alone. >> yeah. >> assuming this deal does go through, does that mean stocks are in the clear? >> it doesn't, chris. the reality is that when we came to this debt swaying, we were already dealing with a problem in the u.s. economy. that problem is that, overall, things have not been looking good. we talked about it from the jobs market, housing market. the cost of borrowing looks like it's rising. gdp, gross domestic product, is still not where it should be. we have very sluggish growth, up 1.3% in the beginning of the year. consumers, we

cbs news business correspondent rebecca jarvis is at the new york stock exchange this morning. why exactly did wall street not embrace this bill? >> wall street, like i said on monday, is concerned about both that debt limit being passed as it was and also the overall problems that the economy here in the united states faces. first of all, you have weak job grouchlkt in fact, you don't really have weak job growth. you have a weak housing market and a consumer that's been restrained by the jobs market and housing market and the uncertainty on the economy that that consumer is not going out and spending. so here on wall street the idea is we approach the debt limit debate with a question mark. but the overall question mark that we got to this debate with is the economy. now people are questioning whether we face a double dip recession and that's what really drove stocks lower yesterday. >> one of the issues is we are a consumer driven economy. consumers are really cautious, not spending as much at this point. and that's obviously also weighing. >> yeah, that's absolutely weighing

rebecca jarvis is at the new york stock exchange this morning. >> reporter: things opened lower by more than a hundred points. the stock market has cut some of the losses in the united states and things in the united states, as far as stocks are concerned, are looking better than their counterparts in europe and asia and overnight traded significantly lower. >> what is this volatility about? is it just that people are scared to see what is happening overseas or is there more to it? >> reporter: first of all, you have fear in the market. an emotion of confidence taking place and actually an index that looks at just how much volatility and fear exists out there and we see the fear index right now is near record highs. it's not quite as high as the panic of 2008 but abnormally high because of a fear of a global recession. they are slowing in-the-news and elsewhere. two, europe. europe has bad debt problems. italy, spain, countries like that are dealing with significant debt problems and, as a result of their debt problems, banks in europe are facing issues because they hold, they own those