happy new year to you. >> and to you, susie. >> susie: you sound pretty upbeat. why are you so bullish. >> we think that the economic momentum in our economy has improved. that valuations are reasonable. that the deflation debt risks have lessened some what, and washington, d.c. has become a little more capital markets-friendly. you put all of that together, and we think stocks can be be okay again. perhaps the third year in a year of double-digit gain. >> susie: prediction number one, you say that the economy is going to exand with the g.d.p. het hitting an all time high. and you expect two to three million jobs being created. bringing the unemployment back down to 9%. that doesn't sound like much of an economic recovery. >> the economic recovery, susie is devil a tepid one. we still have issues of debt and paydown on all of the stuff we borrowed on. we think it is better in '11 than it was in '10, but will not make the history books for the best recovery. >> susie: moving along to prediction three and four. big gain in stocks, and you see a move out of bonds. i

and good night 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

susie. i appreciate it. >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's "n.b.r. newswheel." an easing of worries about european debt helped u.s. stocks higher-- the dow rose 34 points, the nasdaq added nine, and the s&p 500 was up four. trading volume-- about the same as yesterday on both the big board and the nasdaq. portugal's prime minister said his nation will not need a bailout and won't ask for one. that's despite being prodded to do so by other european nations. the trans-alaskan pipeline is still out of service. it's the fourth day the pipeline's been down. it normally carries half a million barrels of oil a day. oil prices topped $91 a barrel, closing up $1.86 at $91.11 in new york trading. and the presidential commission investigating the gulf oil spill disaster released its final recommendations today. it says the oil industry, congress and the white house all need to do more to prevent another disaster. the panel came up with 15 ideas to head off another spill, from bigger budgets and

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. pbs.

. >> susie: and this farm has over a $1 billion price tag. we look at verizon's late day move into server farm terremark. you're watching "nightly business report" for thursday, january 27. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "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 >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. the tech sector in focus tonight. from earnings at microsoft and amazon.com to verizon's big deal for computer server farm terremark worldwide, susie, tech was active in after-hours trading. >> susie: tom, lets start with microsoft. a double surprise from the software giant tonight-- better than expected quarterly earnings, and the numbers were released earlier than expected. the report was supposed to come out after the closing bell, but was accidentally released on the microsoft web site 15 minutes early. microsoft earned 77 cents a share in its fiscal second quarter

klaus, happy new year and welcome back. >> hello, happy new year, susie. >> susie: all right, so you had a very bullish forecast for the year. and for the decade. what's going to drive that growth and are you basically saying that the global economy has turned the corner? >> well, i don't know whether i call it bullish. if you just look at aluminum demand 2010 we actually started out with saying demand will increase by 10%. and it ended up increasing by 13%. what we project for next year is 12% increase. >> susie: all right. but and where is that growth goinging to come from? we see that a lot of your business is in the united states and europe where the economies have been pretty weak. you have a low profile in china. are you goinging to be stepping up your business in china especially since a lot of the china is closing a lot of its out of date aluminum plants? >> well, this is the worldwide market so it's not about just going present there. but it's also about importing selling to china. we sell about a billion, i would say, in china and to china. so part of it is what we manufact

>> susie: steady as she goes. the federal reserve said today the recovery continues, but it's still not strong enough to cut the unemployment rate. that's why policymakers are pledging to keep buying billions of dollars in government bonds to boost the economy. you're watching "nightly business report" for wednesday, january 26. this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. it's unanimous. federal reserve policymakers were united today in deciding to keep interest rates near 0%. tom, this was the first meeting of the year, and the fed's thinking though is the same: hold rates super low to stimulate the economy. >> tom: susie, the fed is also sticking with its "qe2" strategy-- that's the plan to buy billions of dollars of government bonds. >> susie: but you know if you scrutinize the fed's language

susie, the holiday season was pretty good, but not good enough. >> susie: tom, you can blame it on those nasty snowstorms in the northeast. december sales at the nation's retailers were mixed; many chain stores reported results below analyst estimates. the 28 chains tracked by thomson reuters rang up an average sales gains of 3%. that's much less than the 5.5% jump in november. >> tom: so what does a ho-hum december mean for retailer profit margins? erika miller reports. >> reporter: you've seen the signs, offering deep discounts of 70% off, sometimes more. but don't be fooled-- retail analyst rob samuels says most of those promotions were planned, preserving profit margins. >> the consumer has become accustomed to the markdowns. they're not going shop if they don't get some sort of deal. retailers know that's the game we're playing. >> reporter: although sales results were generally soft in december, november was strong. combine the two together, and mastercard's spending pulse says it adds up to the best holiday results in five years, up more than 5%. the biggest profit gains are expec

you, too, susie. >> susie: good night, tom. i'm susie gharib goodnight, everyone. we hope to see all of you again next week. 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

home prices continue their slump, susie. today's s&p case shiller index shows overall housing prices were down in november. >> susie: tom, housing is still one of the big trouble spots in the economy. here are a few key takeaways from today's report: home values dropped by 1.6% between november of 2009 and last year. home prices fell in 19 out of 20 cities tracked by the index. san diego was the only city to show a price increase. eight cities hit new post-bubble lows in november: atlanta, charlotte, detroit, las vegas, miami, portland, seattle, and tampa. >> tom: this is not just bad news for home owners. as erika miller explains, some fear it threatens the economic recovery. >> reporter: this is the place many unemployed new yorkers come to look for jobs. there are lots of reasons people here want to work close to home. >> my daughter has a baby and is expecting one saturday. so that's two little grandbabies. so, you know, i just want to be close. >> the buildings department or fire department might not accept your license

captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. my colleague tom hudson is off tonight. another business-friendly announcement from the white house today. president obama named general electric's c.e.o. to head up a new jobs council and also made him his chief outside economic advisor. speaking at a g.e. plant in schnectady new york, the president said he chose jeff immelt because he can find new ways to promote private sector hiring. >> the past two years were about pulling our economy back from the brink. the next two years, our job now, is putting our economy into overdrive. >> susie: immelt's appointment came just hours after g.e. reported better than expected quarterly numbers and a big jump in new orders. g.e. earned 36 cents a share, four cents more than analyst estimates. that's a gain of 33% compared to a year ago. looking ahead, immelt said he expects earnings growth will continue this year and next. so what does g.e.'s positive forecast mean for the u.s. economy. suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: g.e. has long been con