. >>> europe's way out of its credit whoas took a bleak turn with standard and poors downgrading the european bailout fund. s&p is the same company that cut the ratings of nine euro zone nations on friday. the rating was lowered by one notch from the highest to aa plus. the funds are intended to assist euro seven member countries that are unable to procure financing by themselves. france and austria are backing the funds. s&p last friday stripped these two countries of their prized aaa ratings and downgraded seven other nations including spain, italy and portugal. the one notch rating cuts for france and austria led to lowest reliability of the debts prompts rating agencies to downgrade the fund. meanwhile they released a statement on the s&p downgrade of the bailout fund. he stressed the downgrade will not reduce the lending capacity of 440 billion euros. the statement says the fund will continue to be backed by unconditional and irrevocable guarantees by member states. other ratings agencies and fits ratings maintain the topnotch rating. now here in japan finance minister says there will be no change in hi

and p. s. unclear as standard and poor's has played a rather blatant and aggressive role in this whole unraveling of the european euro crisis and its december little nine so people here are beginning to get used to it and if any one of those is in the end it's going to be the credibility of institutions like standard and poor's and moody's who will seem to politically what you think fitch and moody's didn't go along with has done great. well i think perhaps they thought it might be a little bit too obvious or too brazen i can't i can't say you have to ask them now the c.e.o. of investment bank j.p. morgan referred to europe as the biggest threat to the global economies called for an asian solution so the fact comment though considering the nations that the e.u. countries are already trying to take to deal with a big problem well i don't i think that's a political comment by jamie dimon but it's certainly not a accurate assessment of the european economy the german economy the powerhouse of europe is extremely strong despite the turbulence in the world economy if any economy is in danger i would p

ratings agency standard and poors downgrading the region's bailout fund. the european financial stability facility. s&p 500 is the same agency that cut the ratings of nine eurozone nations on friday. the rating for the efsf was up a notch from aaa to double a plus. the funds intended to assist eurozone countries that are unable to procure financing by themselves. france and austria are among six countries backing the bonds issued by the bailout fund. s and p stripped the countries of their prized aaa ratings and downgraded seven others, including spain, italy, portugal. one notch rating cuts for france and austria meant lower reliability of efsf debts, prompting the ratings agency to downgrade the fund. >>> the european union blasted s and p's decision to downgrade the nine eurozone countries. >> it is inconsistent on substance and very odd as far as timing is concerned. >> the spokesperson for the european commission also said the eu plans to toughen regulations on ratings agencies and called for disclosure of the data used to evaluate sovereign debts. the eu is worried down grades will hurt their a

all of that despite the fact that standard and poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine years of nations including france let's take a look at the numbers now u.k.'s foot seek gains over a quarter of a percent as media and publishing company pearson rose two point seven percent in germany the dax was supported by a two point five percent gain for a comic a diner and a two percent rise for wyvil b.m.w. u.s. markets are closed on monday for martin luther king jr day let's take a look at moscow now where markets seem to be north of agency decision to cut the outlook on russia's debt rating from positive to stable both the r.t.s. and markets close in the black although the my sixty just. the combined trading volume on the odd chance and my six exceeded ten trillion dollars last year that appear to be the best result not only among c.i.s. countries but in western europe as well analysts say was supported by the operational effect of the merger of russia's two main bourses now you're the main movers on them isaacs on monday and a g. major is mostly high supported by strong but world prices the largest private all company look oil and it just under a per

and the s&p 500 down just a fraction at 1,312 on the standard & poor's. amazon.c amazon.com, 18.25 is the expectations. we're getting the numbers here. 17 cents was the expectation. and the revenue coming in at $17.43 billion. that is below the expectations in terms of revenue. $17.43 billion for the quarter. earnings per share, as i mentioned, the expectation was 17 cents a share. the earnings, not comparable to estimates so far. so we are looking at the expectations of 17 cents. we do not have the actual eps to do apples to apples. we'll wait before we pass on the numbers on eps. the revenue does look short at $17.43 billion versus an estimate of $18.25 billion. let's talk about these numbers and get an inside look with jon fortt. he's joining us from our headquarters. and her man is here from susquehanna financial group. and aaron is joining me here. jon, let's kick off with what we know on the fourth quarter on amazon. looks short. what do you know? >> yeah, it does look a little short. the eps is the number we've got is correct, looks like it could be

s&p downgrade has put the u.s. ratings agency under fire. nine eurozone countries were affected. standard and poor's confirmed germany's top rating, but the decision to downgrade its eurozone neighbors as befuddled some economists. >> first, i do not think this ratings adjustment is convincing. persuasive 18, 20, or even 12 months ago. and i think the reference to economic reasons is least convincing. >> economists said politicians have already got the message and are on board with the austerity measures as a result. s&p's decision leaves few years on countries with top ratings. after the downgrade of france and austria, just four countries in the currency union still posed a aaa status. italy was also downgraded, despite passing tough reforms last month. the country's cost-cutting also convinced investors. italy auctioned off billions in government bonds last week at the lowest interest rates in six months. that has left eu officials shaking their heads at s&p's move. >> the timing is odd, just because it came at the end of -- after several positive developments, not only by the country's, and effo

s & p is down six. the drop comes amidst speculation that standard and poors plans to downgrade a number of eur os in thetry. >>> the gop presidential candidates are on the road again preparing for primaries in south carolina and florida. manuel gallegus confirm there's some candidate that is failed to get on the ballot. >> reporter: earlier the texas governor took aim at washington insiders. >> i again is the outsider who is willing to go to washington, to step on some toes, to pleatly overhaul how washington works. >> reporter: in miami supporters gave newt gingrich a warm welcome at a cuban restaurant. he's looking ahead to the florida primary and predicting a win in south carolina. >> if you look at the most recent polls, romney is sliding in south carolina every morning because as people realize he was not a conservative in massachusetts. >> reporter: gingrich is calling on a political action economy that sports him to remove inaccuracies in a film that attacks mitt romney. the front runner also has his own ad. he defends his work for the bane investments. rick santorum says romney has a bigger prob

and dishonesty built into our politics that has become standard. reporter: ironically the winner of last year's iowa straw poll, michelle bachmann, it s trailing the entire pack and a poor -- is trailing the entire pack and a poor showing. jonathan strong, reporter for role call, says the hallmark of this campaign has been the search for a true frontrunner. >> they've gone from candidate to candidate and been absolutely brutal when it turns out that person doesn't look like there high countriable or they find flaws they didn't -- they're electable or ha they find flaws they didn't see on -- that they find flaws they didn't see on the first glance. reporter: the only thing that appears clear is that the voting won't be clear until it's over. the new hampshire primary is scheduled for next tuesday with a more crowded field because candidate john huntsman focused clicks sievely on new hampshire and avoided iowa -- exclusively on new hampshire and avoided iowa altogether. >> for the latest updates from iowa go to www.myfoxdc.com and when the polls are closed you can get the results right here on fox 5 news at 10:00. >>> virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli says voters w

either there's lots of media reports the standard and poor's has notified european governments that it's about to downgrade france and other members of the eurozone if s and p. does go ahead with the great it will trouble the european bailout fund and hence make it hold for ireland and portugal to reduce project that sits. russia has ended the week on a down note been down for much of the week following the pessimism in europe after a strong start in the morning we did slip back into the red in the final hours both have a look at the share movers on the march sixth today gazprom finished oil after saying it won't negotiate its current gas supply contract with ukraine who called moved into the red in the last hours after revealing its oil output dropped over five percent last year telecom also slipped despite reports it will by armenian operated g n c l for over twenty two million dollars. that's what we've got time for now we'll have more next hour. when an uncomfortable question leads to a grave accusation the world who is more is enough obviously. the president who isn't supposed to hide anything. where it's someone asking him why do you make a secr

reported a rare earnings miss and standard & poor's has lowered france's credit rating down one notch to double a-plus, the same rating as the u.s., the dow down 70, nasdaq down 16, s is down 8. >>> home depo is adding thousands of employees to help customers this spring. the retailers busiest season, the chain says it plans to add 70,000 workers across the country, as many as 1000 here. home depo says last year about half the people it hired as seasonal workers ended up getting full time positions. >>> home depo's biggest rival is also gearing up, lowe's is looking for 40,000 seasonal workers, lowe's says the process could take weeks and stores in areas with warmer weather will complete their hiring before stores in colder states. >>> a financial analyst from san jose is 2 million dollars richer after winning the new york state lottery. actually a lot more money than that. daniel brusher bought the $208 million winning ticket at a long island supermarket. he says he was on a trip back east visiting relatives over the holidays. he says he will take a lump sum payment that comes to $101 million after taxes. >>> apple blames angry crowds outside a beijing store for d

and then after the u.s. markets closed, ratings firm standard & poors announced that it is stripping france of its aaa credit rating. it is now at aa-plus with a negative outlook. s&p is also cutting ratings on eight other eurozone countries, including italy, spain and portugal. but tom, there was no rating change on germany, europe's top economy. >> tom: on top of that, susie, crucial debt negotiations in >> today investors were nervous in information so ahead of that news the dow industrials lost 49 points after an earlier loss of 150 points, the nasdaq was down 14, the somebody 500 closing off by 6.5. >> and as erica miller reports financial crisis may be something that affects the u.s. and around t >> reporter: the s&p downgrade of european debt has been well flagged. the ratings agency put 15 of the 17 eurozone nations on review for a mass downgrade over a month ago. but the sharp sell-off in global markets today illustrates just how nervous investors are about the region. >> the entire situation is one big issue of confidence and whether the europeans can act decisively and swiftly enough to restore investor confidence. otherwise, this issue that's been dra

standard & poor's. lex harris is the managing editor of cnnmoney.com and he has our look at the week ahead's business. >> s it. it downgraded france. we're not going to know until tuesday what the fallout is going to be. we can probably get past the downgrade, but we shouldn't ignore what s&p had to say. it said the european debt crisis is alive and well, and the political leaders there don't have the will to do what it takes to fix the problem once and for all. now, the second big thing happening next week that i can tell you everyone in this newsroom is going to be watching is the aerchings results from all the big banks. you have goldman sachs, bank of america, citigroup. now, you can hate these guys, but there's no question they're an important part of the economy, and we have to watch what happens with their finances. and what we're probably going it find out is that business is weak across the board, but you might hear some encouraging signs about loan demand. >> lex harris, thank you very much. next up, it's all about the fashions and mostly the women's fashions. live pictures now. look at that, the

s&p 500 dropped 6. nasdaq fell 14. late this afternoon, the standard & poor's rating agency downgraded the government debt of france, austria, italy andin by one notch. fox business news senior washington correspondent peter barnes is here to tell us what this means. >> good evening. a sweeping downgrade of the debt of nine of the 16 countries that share the euro as a currency. s&p blasted them for not doing enough to attack their debt problems. the action could increase their borrowing costs making it harder for the euro zone to fix the debt crisis and prevent it from spreading over here. france lost its prize triple-a rating just as the u.s. did last year. they are not both double-a plus. austria suffered the same fate. and s&p lowered the ratings on italy, portugal, spain and cyprus by two notches. they cut the rating because the policy initiatives taken by the european policy-makers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the euro zone. germany was the only major economy, bret, to keep the triple-a rating. >> bret: we will continue to follow that as well. thank you. still ahead is criticiz

standard and poor's is expected to announce a round of downgrades to several european nations france's foreign minister confirms that france is going to be downgraded a notch losing its aaa credit rating while the e.c. b.'s solution for its part does not appear to be going as planned meanwhile here in the u.s. a shake up at the fed the normal rotation of voting members this year on the federal open market committee means it could tip the scales towards another round of quantitative easing but is the fed out of bullets and what would the consequences of more action be and u.s. president barack obama for his part today said he wants to shrink the federal government combine some agencies save some money but he needs permission from congress so is this going to be at another episode of political dysfunction getting in the way of getting anything done for the u.s. economy these are all examples of the unpredictable world we're living with one in which pimco the largest bond fund in the world is calling paranormal absa firms outlook for two thousand and twelve a world of fat tailed by model outcomes were inflation and deflation loom on the margins but what exactly does this mean for the global economy not to m

poor can see them as their s servants. to talk about what his daughter did, she was never a janitor in her school, and that to me is a double standard and i understand what he is, saying and most african americans understand what he is saying, and we will not stand for it. >> thanks congressman. >> thank you. >> and up next, your first look at the democrats 2012 hit list. the 36 races they think they can win to take back the house. steve israel coming up. >>> this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. it's this... the etrade pro platform. fast. beautiful. totally customizable. finds top performing stocks -- in three clicks. quickly scans the market for new trading ideas. it can even match options strategies to your goals and lets you see the potential risk and reward. and, it also comes with a dedicated elite service team. got it? get it. good. introducing new etrade pro elite. ♪ diarrhea,

the latest standard and poor released the case-schiller report, and we will take a closer look. and meanwhile, looking at the futures and dow looking out about 43 points and the s at fi five. and on europe, a fiscal accord, but no greek deal. and we are seeing the dax higher than 1%. >>> here is the road map for this tuesday, and u.p.s., and lift as the market gets a best start to the year since '97, but pfizer could be a damper as it ratchets down the 2012 expectations. >>> and the florida polls show mitt romney in the lead. can newt gingrich still survive as his momentum from south carolina seems to be evaporating? >>> and a fresh low after taking down forecasts citing weakness from sprint. meantime, the antithesis of the stock, amazon is set to report earnings after the close. >>> and unusual move by apple and names an outsider the new head of retail from dixons, but who is john browette and does he have the same touch of a ron johnson who heads jcpenney and that is the question as apple approaches the fresh record high even in today's session. jim, a lot of earnings to parse through, and you said it could be benign environment to set aside europe and look a

standard and poor's corp. the credit rating of nine of european countries. could downgrade were based on the concern of europe's ability to handle the debt crisis. meantime on friday, three the dow shot 49.. she swhile the nasdaq was down 14. and more on the payroll tax and kitchen lawmakers are returned from holiday break to year consider extending it for a full year will be are under a 2 month extension right now. >> darya: 3 to 18 people are dan fallen this collapse. this was an five story building built around the '60s it was how often can families. the sudden collapse led to a gas leaks forcing the police octuple evacuate nearby o neighborhoods. >> mark: thousand american and israeli soldiers were to take part in this exercise that was designed to test multiple u.s. and is really cautious tone struck involving incoming missiles and rockets. >> darya: we will be back with more in just a couple of minutes we will continue to look at the butcher because the is going to be far different >>james: look at fairfield and 22 degrees and tonight it will be even colder. and a freeze morning will be in effect for that band. we will talk 49ers weather and more about iran. more details coming up in just

standard & poor's downgrade of nine european nations. that also puts our 401(k)s on the line. we'll talk about what could happen to us this morning. >>> and

standard & poor's downgrade of nine european nations. that also puts our 401(k)s on the line. we'll talk about what could happen to us this morning. >>> and a mother claims that a prominent children's hospital is refusing her daughter a life-saving kidney transplant because the little girl who is 3 years old is developmentally disabled. the doctors called her mentally retarded. those stories and much more ahead this morning as "starting point" gets under way right now. welcome, everybody. we're happy to have you was this morning as we get under way. we're talking about these new developments in this cruise ship disaster. it happened obviously in itly. got some new video from the italian navy that shows rescuers blasting a whole along the side of the ship. i want you to watch the left side of your screen. may have to drop that graphic there because people see the flashes that go. they're trying to blow a hole in the hull so rescuers can start getting in there is going to make the search and rescue team have better access and make it easier for them to get out. still looking for 29 people who remain unaccounted for if death toll right now i

standard & poors has downgraded the credit ratings for several eurozone countries. france and austria no longer have their top triple-a status, and italy is now at triple b+. the downgrade denounced yesterday after s&p down gridded the u.s. credit rating to ww last summer. >>> has taken on too many obligations relative to taxes, too many countries cut taxes while increasing spending. it's been a nightmare and it's going to get worse rather than better. >> you're not seeing a lot of panic or explosive volume some the market was very prepared for it. >> the credit downgrades now mean it will be more expensive for those affected countries to borrow money. >>> in his video address, president obama is focusing on american companies keeping manufacturing within our borders. >> as you can see i brought a few things with me for this week's video. a padlock, pair of boots, a candle, and a pair of socks. we are not having a yard sale, and these products may not appear to have much in common. but they're united by free works. made in america. >> president obama calls american companies keeping jobs here at home in sourcing. this past week he hosted a forum and mr. obama says he is getting ready to introduce