gold prices have never been this high, suzanne, topping $1,277 an ounce in today's trading. >> suzanne: tom, gold's not the only metal shining on wall street. silver is at a 30-year high, closing at $20.82 an ounce. >> tom: been quite some rally, but the high prices metals are getting aren't scaring off buyers. as scott gurvey reports, the big rally in metals is expected to continue. >> reporter: five records in six weeks. it seems all that glitters on the futures exchanges are contracts in gold. analysts at goldman sachs, the royal bank of scotland and deutsche bank all published research notes making the case for the yellow metal today. analyst jim steel at h.s.b.c. says there are many reasons to expect the trend to continue. >> we still have a lot of financial market fragility, a lot of uncertainty about the economy going forward. we've had the reintroduction of quantitative easing, and we've also had a lot of volatility in the currency markets. when you combine all those things, i think it's really tailor-made to continue the gold rally. >> reporter: several of the reports tied the

i'm joined by suzanne pratt. japan moved today to weaken its currency as the dollar hit a 15- year low against the yen. suzanne, it's an effort to help the lagging japanese economy. >> suzanne: tom, this is japan's first intervention in the currency market in six years. it comes just ahead of a meeting between president obama and japan's prime minister in new york city next week. so exactly what did japan do? the country's treasury sold its own currency, the yen, and bought u.s. dollars. the idea is to drive down the value of the yen versus the dollar, making japan's currency cheaper. >> wolfgang koester is the c.i.a. at a firm that. welcome back to "nightly business report." what companies do you think get hurt by this japanese yen intervention? >> the people that are going to get hurt are the people that are looking to -- that have costs in japan, more than the people that are looking at the revenues. what is really important is for corporations and their investors to understand where the corporations have the

i'm suzanne malveaux. and you're in "the situation room." >>> some are calling her the new poster for the tea party phenomenon. she appeared front and center at a traditional show case for hard core conservatives. she's making her first appearance here in washington since winning the gop senate nomination in delaware and upsetting the party establishment. she preached a new kind of gospel at the values voter summit. the tea party's anti-government mantra. we want you to take a listen. >> this is america. and the ruling class elites may try, but they will never have the last word on liberty. there's something about our national dna that insists on shouting at those who would be our masters, you're not the boss of me. the small elite don't get us. they call us wacky, they call us wing nuts. we call us we, the people. >> i want to bring in our senior political analyst, gloria borger. you were watching this, you were listening to this, give us a sense of the response? how did the crowd respond to her message?

suzanne kennedy is live from arlington, with one family's story to find out the truth. suzanne? >> cynne, leon, it prompted an ohio family to ask for their son -- their son's remains to be exhumed, and today, they watched as that somber process took place. for the second time in nearly four years, the remains of the five it. private first class -- the remains of private first class heath warner were buried again. >> we are deeply sorry for the pain that they have endured. >> they say the paperwork was always incomplete or missing, so when they found 211 discrepancies in burials in three sections of the cemetery, they ask for an investigation. >> they lost confidence in our process at arlington cemetery. >> today, tags matched. his parents were satisfied with the methodology, and heath warner was once again buried. that took less than one hour and took place at the same site where he was buried in november 2006. arlington national cemetery has set up a toll-free hotline for anyone with concerns about their loved ones buried here. reporting live at arlington national cemetery, suz

. >> susie: now that the deal is done, suzanne pratt reports banks can try to get back to business. >> reporter: the collective sigh of relief was almost audible on wall street today, and in the offices of many u.s. banks. not only are the new capital standards looser than expected, but there's nearly a ten-year phase-in-- considered an eternity in the marketplace. experts say the so-called basel 3 requirements eliminate some uncertainty for financial stock investors, who were worried the rules would be tougher. k.b.w.'s fred cannon says, more importantly, they should help banks do business more cautiously. >> it means that there is risk retention for the banks. if they make a loan or do a mortgage securitization or subprime loan, they are going to have to take some risk and hold it on their balance sheet. and, that's a good thing because that's clearly one of the issues that got us into trouble a couple of years ago. >> reporter: some experts also believe the new capital standards will result in the return of juicy dividends, something that's been missing since the financial crisis u

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: as suzanne mentioned, some economists think unemployment could stay stubbornly high for another two years or so. to get a better picture on the labor market and what can be done to fix it, i spoke with economics professor ken rogoff of harvard university and anthony chan, chief economist at j.p. morgan's private banking. i began by asking anthony chan, how long will it take for the job market to recover? >> i think it's going to take quite a while. the real secret to bring the employment rate down is to grow the economy faster than the speed limit, and the speed limit is to find the potential growth. and if you believe potential growth is in the neighborhood of 2.5 to 3%, and the economy is growing below that, we won't make much progress until next year when we see the economy growing in the neighborhood of 2.5 to 3%. even that is questionable when we're just coming off a calendar quarter of 1 .6. >> when do you think the economy will recover, and the reaction to what anthony is saying about potential growth? >> i think he's sp

we have our suzanne malveaux traveling with the president this morning. she'll join us live with the latest on his departure. >>> seven former members of the u.s. air force claiming aliens in ufos have visited earth to deliver a warning. and they want the government to come clean. could it be that we have been visited by e.t.? >> hope so. >>> meantime, the a.m. fix blog is up and running. go to cnn.com/amfix. >>> we begin with a developing story out of iraq. an american service member now in custody suspected of fatally shooting two u.s. soldiers and wounding a third. >> military officials say they died in a "noncombat incident" in fallujah. barbara starr is live at the pentagon. this is a very, very tragic story. what are your sources telling you about what may have happened? >> well, john and kiran, this is the most terrible news for two military families, of course. the military announcing it does have a soldier in custody regarding this case. the man in custody is identified by the military as specialist neftali platero. suspected in shooting deaths o

as suzanne collins reports the new law may be just in time. >> reporter: good morning. a lot of people are out this weekend buying hands free technology for their cell phones. they know that by next friday that is the only legal way that you can talk and drive. the car has become an office for many people who need to stay in touch, talking, tweeting or texting. we've seen it on the glowed people with one hand on the wheel and the phone about this level, you know pushing things about. you don't know whether they're texting, if they're dialing. >> texting while driving is already illegal in maryland. starting next friday it will also be against the law to talk and drive unless it's hands free. >> the new law doesn't prevent you from touching your phone to send a call, end a call or turn your phone off. aaa is advocating you don't talk on the cell phone at all while driving. they say it's the conversation that's distracting. >> it's not the act of holding the cell phone. it's the act of holding the conversation that is the distraction. >> reporter: a new aaa study shows 70

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: the major indices have put in two straight weeks of higher closes, but this week, the move was more modest. let's get to tonight's "market focus." the markets close at their highest levels in almost a month. the dow industrials eked out a 0.1% gain. the nasdaq was higher for 0.4%, remember the market was closed for labor day on monday. and the s&p added about a 0.5% since last friday. september's reputation as the worst month for stock investors isn't holding true so far. all 10 of the major stock sectors are higher this month. industrial stocks have led the way, as some economic concerns have moderated. financial stocks also have jumped, and the market has confidence in the consumer, with discretionary stocks up almost 7% since the start of the month. pg&e continues investigating the deadly nat gas pipeline explosion near san francisco. as regulators join the investigation, the stock saw more than ten times normal volume. on this 30-day chart, you can see today's fall of 8%, down to a one-month low. on a bigger three-year cha

if history is any guide, suzanne pratt reports, the downbeat days could continue. >> reporter: for so many americans, september is associated with happy images, like the start of school and perhaps new friendships. for wall street, however, september is just plain spooky. that's because, historically, september is the cruelest of all 12 months for the stock market. n.y.s.e. trader art cashin says, for equity investors, this year is likely to be no different. >> i think there's a great deal of uncertainty out there. there's political uncertainty, there's economic uncertainty. i think some of those problems in europe may begin to resurface again. so there's a lot of risk factors. >> reporter: others say september's fate rests mostly on the health of the economy, and in particular, corporate profits. right now, third quarter earnings are expected to be strong, up 25% over the same period last year. but strategist jim awad says he'll be watching pre-announcements from corporate america, often released in mid- to late-september. >> more importantly than the macro numbers, which tend to be

suzanne malveaux is live in philadelphia suzann? my blackberry from the white house. from the president himself talking about the release of sarah shourd. want to read quickly. about two paragraphs or so but he says, i am very pleased that sarah shourd has been released by the iranian government and will soon be united with her family. all americans join with her courageous mother and family in celebrating her long awaited return home. we are grateful to the swiss. imam and other friends and allies around the world who worked tirelessly and avidly over the past several months to bring about this joyous reunion and goes on to say while sarah is released, shane and josh remain prisoners in iran, committed no crime. we remain hopeful iran will demonstrate renewed compassion by ensuring the return of shane, josh and the other missing or detained americans in iran. he goes on to say, we salute the courage and strength of shourd, bauer and the fattal families who endured the unimaginable loss of their loved ones and gained strength and re

suzanne collins explains why there is this sudden invasion of stink bugs in maryland. i have them in my house. i don't know what to do. they stink. >>> you're not alone, mary. they are a delicacy in mexico and they do not bite. but people have had enough of stink bugs. >> they look like a little tank. if you disturb them or crush them, they really do stink. atat the cross household, they are taking the sign to heart. but taping around the window air conditioner did not stop these critters from coming inside. >> i had like 40 in my bedroom. and the kids are like, get the bugs out. we don't want the bugs. >>> a windsor mills woman had the same problem. >> every time i went, it got worse and worse and worse. >> what are you going to do? >> i have the exterminator coming. and i'm over it. these bugs have to go these bugs are not native. but leaping onto cars, they are now spring and now in maryland. a towson bug expert says they are growing and growing and growing. >> you're going to increase exponentially. there's nothing to keep these eggs from growing and thriving. >> n

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's n.b.r. newswheel: demand for durable goods fell 1.3% in august, but if you look deeper into the commerce department's report. you'd see a big jump in companies buying equipment up over 4%. china's biggest credit rating firm was hoping to set up shop here in the u.s. but today the securities and exchange commission denied dagong global credit rating company's bid to become a nationally recognized ratings firm. the department of justice today reached a deal with some of the biggest names in tech land to end certain non-compete hiring agreements. justice says the agreements eliminated competition in the market for highly skilled workers. now adobe systems, apple, google, intel, intuit and pixar will drop their no-poaching agreements. >> tom: still ahead, market monitor mark leibovit is shedding his bear suit with the recent stock rally. but he still likes precious metals too. he's chief market strategist at vrtrader.com >> susie: norway's central bank is suing citigroup. the reason: citi allege

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: two more meetings. one two-day event in early november, the other in mid december. that's the window the fed has left this year to boost the economy. but, whether the central bank eases monetary policy in the next few months depends on what happens with the economy. and, fed watcher dana saporta says it's clear now that policymakers have linked their next move to inflation, or more specifically, the lack of it. >> i think the fed is loath to use the d-word, deflation. but, that's what they're talking about. if fears of deflation start building in the economy, the fed will feel forced to move. and, they should. >> reporter: most economists agree the fed's next move will be asset purchases. u.s. treasuries are the most likely contender. in march, the fed completed a shopping spree for nearly $2 trillion in government bonds and mortgage securities. some economists speculate as much as another $0.5 trillion in treasuries will be needed this time. the goal is to push interest rates even lower, and spur growt

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom a lot of buzz about oracle after the market closed today. the stock was up sharply. it looked like that could be the talk tomorrow as well. >> tom: yeah, there is a lot going on in technology. seems like we are kind of outside of earning season but a couple of biggies did report after the closing including oracle. let's get you updated in tonight's market focus. stocks marked time today with none of the ten biggest sectors making more than a 1% move up or down. information technology led the gainers. the nasdaq exchange traded fund eked out a small gain, but enough to push it to its highest close since may. oracle turned in its latest quarter after the close, easily beating estimates with strong software and hardware sales. profits were a nickel better than expectations, even beating the company's own guidance from june. software sales were up across the globe, and its hardware business benefited from the purchase of sun-microsystems. oracle's newly hired co- president, mark hurd-- the former c.e.o. of hewlett packard-- touted

suzanne pratt takes a look at what it will take to get small investors back into the game. >> reporter: it's lunch time at this midtown manhattan ameritrade office, and surprisingly, there are some small investors inside. surprising, because small investors have been absent from the stock market for nearly two years. ameritrade's peter sidebottom says small investors are getting ready to tiptoe back into stocks. >> we think they are starting to gain confidence. there are starting to be good earnings reports. we see some momentum in the indexes and also in the market. we think they're starting to look at and figure out how they want to be back into equities. >> reporter: the dow has rallied nearly 8% in september, and many small investors have missed it. the blue chip index is up 60% since stocks bottomed in the march of last year. and guess what-- the little guy missed that, too. first, it was the financial crisis that seriously spooked individual investors. and just as they started to return to equities early this year, they got burned again by the "flash crash" in may. a huge drop in