it is always a pleasure to hear your thoughts. >> thank you, susie. >> susie: by guest tonight mohamed el-erian! >> tom: the major indices resumed their march higher this week with the dow industrials back over the 11,000 mark. let's get you updated in tonight's "market focus." in five of the past six weeks, we've see stocks climb higher. the gains were more modest this week. the dow industrials added 1.6% this week, up three of the five sessions. the nasdaq is up 1.3% compared to a week ago. several big tech bellwethers have earnings reports next week. and the s&p 500 added one-point- 7% thanks to two days of gains this week. while stocks resumed their climb this week, today the big moves were in the grain markets. corn, soybeans and wheat all rallied as much as they're allowed to in one day called limit up. here's the past six months for corn. this is close to a two year high. the government cut its harvest forecast today. in august, the u.s. a.g. department predicted a record haul, but no longer. bad weather gets the blame. adding to the anxieties, corn leftover from last year's har

david, welcome back to "nightly business report." >> thank you, susie. >> susie: let me begin by asking you, were you satisfied with the findings of the report? >> i think the report was extremely well done, very detailed, and gave a good, solid picture of what happened on may 6th. >> susie: now, it didn't give any recommendations or any solutions, and that's going be the job of your commission. i know you haven't had a chance to really study the report. but if there were any key element, key solution, that you would recommend, what would it be? >> well, one has to look at what went on there. and the real problem is the liquidity disappeared in the markets. so steps have to be taken to encourage liquidity providers to stay in the market. >> susie: and how could that be done? >> well, you could -- there are lots of ways. one could deal with the market makers and give them responsibilities. one could ask the high frequency traders to stay in the market for a short period of time. but none of these solutions are anywhere near the recommendationÑstage. >> susie: you mentioned high frequency

i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. good night, everybody. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "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 captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in: to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >> be m

i'm tom hudson. >> susie: good night tom. i'm susie gharib. good night everyone, we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" video. >> be more. >> be more. pbs.

susie, the aluminum giant is the first dow component to report. >> susie: tom, investors approved-- the stock rose 3% in after-hours trading. alcoa posted a quarterly profit of $61 million, or nine cents a share. that's four cents more than analyst estimates. revenue also came in higher than expected, up 15% to more than $5 billion. c.e.o. klaus kleinfeld will join us in a moment to talk about those results. but first, tom, last month, consumers showed they're ready, willing and able to spend. the result was better-than- expected september sales for many retailers. the big winners-- teen retailers like abercrombie and fitch; department stores, including macy's; and luxury chains like saks. on the flip side, discounters like target, bj's and t.j.x. missed estimates. >> tom: while people were spending, they weren't using plastic. new data show consumer borrowing fell in august as credit card use slid for the 24th consecutive month. looking at the numbers, you'd think america is adopting a new thrifty mentality. but dig a little deeper, and it's not clear there's a new mindset. erika mille

i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> reporter: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. good night, everybody. we'll see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible 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 >> more information about investing is available in: to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >> be more. pbs. hurdy-gurdies, antler chairs, skull humidors-- these are only some of the unique antiques we've seen on roadshow over the years. well, it's a... we're not really sure what to call it. i don't think i'd want to meet him in a dark alley, but as a weller piece, he's quite a rarity.

good night everyone, and goodnight to you too, susie. >> susie: good night tom. i'm susie gharib. good night everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" video "how wall street works". to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >> be more. >> be more. pbs. narrator: august 18, 1960. 100 miles above earth, a secret race in space has started. corona, america's first photographic spy satellite, has just been deployed.

you too, susie. >> susie: good night, tom. i'm susie gharib goodnight, everyone. we hope to see all of you again next week. "nightly business report" is made possible 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

susie, this earnings season has been marked by strong results across a number of industries. >> susie: tom, it looks like the third quarter is turning out to be a good one for corporate america. so far, a third of big name companies have reported results, and 83% of them have beat estimates. >> tom: investors are hoping that trend will continue through the end of the year. suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: 21 days, or three weeks-- that's all we've lived through, so far, of this year's fourth quarter. but already, optimism about the last earnings period of 2010 is helping to lift stocks. sure, the approach of mid-term elections and hopes for more fed action have also been big factors for the market. but ubs strategist mike ryan says solid third-quarter results is making analysts feel more upbeat about the fourth quarter profits. >> even though this is not specifically about much higher guidance for the fourth quarter, i think what you're seeing is that analysts are going through the resetting of expectations based on what they're seeing in the most recent earnings reports. >> report

susie, the group includes pimco, blackrock, and the federal reserve bank of new york. >> susie: tom, investors didn't like what that could mean and dumped stocks, pushing the dow back below the 11,000 level. the dow fell 165 points, the nasdaq lost 43, and the s&p 500 was off 18. shares of bank of america dropped more than 4%, even though, this morning, it reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. >> tom: at issue, b-of-a may be forced to buy back part of a $47 billion pool of mortgages that was bundled and sold by its countrywide financial unit. kathy patrick represents the institutional investors and says her clients will fight to recoup their losses. >> the integrity of the capital markets depends on contracts being enforced, and they will be. it takes a long time, it's sometimes cumbersome, but it happens, and this is proof that it happens, because people had doubted, publicly, that bondholders could organize themselves to exercise their rights. we've demonstrated that they can and they will. >> tom: bank of america says it will vigorously defend itself from those investo