suzanne pratt takes a closer look at the fed's decision and how it's being viewed on wall street. >> reporter: the federal reserve is not in the business of disappointing this place, but here at the new york stock exchange today, investors weren't happy with the latest gifts from the central bank. that's because the expected twist came with a twist. traders like alan valdes say the problem was that ben bernanke and company were particularly negative in their latest assessment of the u.s. economy. the statement that came along with the decision read, "there are significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets." >> "significantly" wasn't in the last three meetings. he put that in this time, and that, i think, had a little trepidation to traders' minds when they saw that. we knew the economy was weak, but now it's getting significantly weaker going forward. that was a key word. >> reporter: some experts also noted that investors were upset about the division among fed members. and, traders also said the extra bit of stimulus from the fed,

i'm joined by my colleague suzanne pratt. suzanne, bank of america confirmed today it's planning a massive cost-cutting effort, including big layoffs. >> susie: tom, b. of a. c.e.o. brian moynihan said today that he's trying to reshape the nation's largest bank after a series of missteps. the restructuring plan is called "project new b.a.c." it will slash 30,000 jobs from its consumer banking businesses. the goal is save $5 billion a year by the end of 2013. >> tom: is this the right medicine for ailing b. of a.? and what will it mean for the bank's competitors? erika miller reports >> reporter: whether it's the number of kids in a classroom or the amount of calories in a meal, bigger is not always better. bank of america believes the same rule applies to banking. the firm plans to trim operations in order to become more focused and more efficient. it's a smart strategy, says analyst moshe orenbuch, whose firm does business with bank of america. >> absolutely! it is! what they are trying to do is get out of things that aren't

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," hoboken, new jersey. >> susie: for another take on the outlook for housing, we turned today to the c.e.o. of homebuilder toll brothers, doug yearley. as we continue our look at "how to fix the economy," i asked yearley when he thinks the housing market will turn around. >> i wish i had that crystal ball. we're six years into this worst housing depression in decades. right now we're stable. wore at low levels, but stable, ask that's somewhat encouraging considering what's going on on wall street and around the world this summer. but i think until there's a change in administration or at least some clarity as to what's going on in washington. until we see decisions, and confidence with buyers, it could certainly be a little bit more time. >> we know the connection between the unemployment rate and the housing market, and both president obama and speaker boehner have jobs proposals out there. are there -- does either one of them sit well with you in terms of helping your industry if >> i'm not going to comment-which side had the better plan. i think

but, as suzanne pratt reports, there are reasons the u.s. can still avoid one. >> reporter: from wall street to main street, talk of another recession is heating up. many economists now put the risk of a double dip in the coming months at about 50%. while that's bad news, it's still a 50% chance of not having one. so let's cheer ourselves up and consider why recessionland may not be our next stop. economist julia coronado says if we skipped a recession, it would be because consumers still go shopping even though sentiment data shows they're blue. >> sometimes consumers just say they don't feel very positive but they spend anyway. and that's possible that we could see that this time around. >> reporter: likewise, businesses may surprise us and finally start to hire. economist joe davis says that would be because corporate balance sheets are strong and inventories are too lean. >> companies, by and large, have the ability to spend and invest. the question, quite frankly, is the willingness. this is not to lay blame or judgment-- there's a grea

as suzanne pratt reports, investors are looking for ways to scotchguard their portfolios. >> reporter: miami couple janet altman and tim schmand are disciplined savers with well- defined investment goals. first and foremost, they hope to be able to retire as early as in 10 years. still, they're not worried about what a recession might do to their portfolio. they have a financial planner to do the worrying for them. >> it's not our profession to track the trends and where to go next. the advisors are helping us manage our expectations for the future. >> in the last 12 months, she's reviewed my 401k plan 17 times. she hasn't had me change my investment 17 times-- it's been more like five or six. they are definitely actively looking at where we should be and giving us good advice. >> reporter: financial planner ellen siegel is their professional worrier. she says janet and tim are in good shape to weather a recession. what does she tell other clients? >> absolutely have a plan and a strategy for what monies have to be available for what reason and when. and, two, diversify. diversificati

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: this was target in mount vernon new york at 7:45 this morning. everyone there wanted one thing, a piece of sky-high fashion at low prices. customers buzzed through the aisles making a beeline for anything with missoni's signature zigzag pattern. >> oh, my god, it's a fashion steal. are you kidding me? who wouldn't want these at these prices? >> a regular sweater costs about $1,000. >> reporter: there were coveted rain boots, pillows and other bedding, super cute kids' clothes, and yes, that's right, even a missoni neck roll. and i'm still trying to figure out what this is. it's 10:00 a.m., two hours after the store opened, and already most of the women's missoni collection is gone. target managers say they will be replenishing, but they don't know how much or when. target team leader kyle wilhelmy says he wasn't surprised by the missoni madness. >> we've had a lot of designers do well here in the past. so, we anticipated it. we staffed for it and were ready for it. >> reporter: those who chose to shop online were disappointed-- the site crashed e

but, as suzanne pratt reports the surrounding neighborhood is also evolving in some surprising ways. >> reporter: on september 11 2001, lucy preston was living on a different continent. today, she resides just a few blocks from the former world trade center having bought an apartment in lower manhattan in 2008. not only does it come with a stunning rooftop deck, but it's in what she calls an ideal community. >> we've been living here for last six years and there's a real feel of neighborhood redeveloping. there's a lot more shops and bar and restaurants opening here. we've got a whole foods in tribeca, which is fantastic. >> reporter: preston is one of thousands of people who moved to lower manhattan post 9-11. in fact the residential population of the area, also known as the financial district, has more than doubled in the last ten years. in the weeks and months following that tragic day, few might have predicted the neighborhood would come back so strongly, so quickly and be so transformed. sure new buildings are still under construction at what still sometimes called ground zero,

suzanne pratt talked with investors and traders to gauge the mood on wall street as a nasty week came to an end. >> reporter: this is what the new york stock exchange looks like on a day that's not dominated by a massive rout. still, traders say don't let the calm and quiet fool you. even though investors took a break from dumping stocks, there's no doubt they're still running scared. broker doreen mogavero says she wanted to see some real buying today. >> people would've naturally thought that it was an oversold condition yesterday, and wanted to get in and buy and look for good prices and buy stocks today. and, that didn't really happen. so, i think i'm going to consider it a winning day if we just sort of end where we started. >> reporter: others say the fact that the selling didn't continue today was good enough for them. consider that in this week, investors are now sensing the u.s. economy and many parts of the global economy are headed for recession. that is not a friendly climate for equities, and experts say then there's also the problem of the calendar. >> september historic

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: our next guest has some strong opinions on how to get the u.s. economy growing again. he's george shultz. most people remember him as the secretary of state who helped end the cold war, but he's also a well-respected economist. he got a ph.d. from m.i.t. and was dean of the university of chicago business school. he was budget director, secretary of labor and treasury under president nixon, and secretary of state for president reagan. when i talked with him earlier today, i asked him what needs to be done to fix the economy. >> susie: . >> focus on things that are permanent. people respond to changes that they regard as long-lasting. so have a plan that puts in place what's needed for long-term growth without inflation. and keep it there. >> mr. secretary, what do you think of president obama's deficit cutting plan that he announced today? >> i do think this ten-year projection business winds up with a lot of the spending cuts, as i say, back-end loaded, coming in the latter part of the ten years. when this congress has noth

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: goldman sachs is getting out of the mortgage servicing business. regulators in new york have signed off on the sale of goldman's servicing unit to florida-based ocwen loan servicing, but there are conditions attached to that sale. as darren gersh reports, the standards regulators are putting in place could pave the way for a national agreement overhauling mortgage servicers. >> reporter: even now, four years into the housing crisis, there are few rules actually in place that require the companies processing mortgage payments and pushing through foreclosures to treat homeowners right. the settlement between goldman sachs and new york regulators as a condition for selling off its mortgage servicing business helps change that. >> finally, i mean, it's someone stepping up to say, "you know, if you're not going to follow the law, you're going to have to pay for it." and hopefully the fine will be enough so that it isn't looked at by the industry as simply a cost of doing business. >> reporter: the agreement requires goldman sachs to

but suzanne pratt reports earnings expectations have cooled in recent weeks. >> reporter: get ready for the stampede on wall street in the next few weeks. of course, we're talking about third-quarter corporate earnings, not cattle. the question is whether the news will be positive enough to make these animals happy and spark a rally in the stock market. investment strategist jim awad is worried about the increasingly negative tone from some of america's largest companies. >> i think the risks are on the downside. if the consensus conclusion from corporate america is that things are starting to get worse, that means that earnings estimates for next year are no good, and estimates will come down and stocks will go down. >> reporter: despite the economy's recent slowdown, wall street analysts still expect q3 results to be solid. the problem is those same experts are getting more pessimistic the closer we get to reporting season. s&p 500 firms are now expected to show a 13.6% increase in profits. on july 1, the number was 17%. earnings expert jharonne martis believes nine of the ten s&p sec

and, as suzanne pratt explains, americans should not expect the job market to improve much this fall. >> reporter: for new york's mckissack construction company, there is work for the dozen employees on this battery park project, but new jobs are likely to be scarce. v.p. mike kaleeda says he hasn't hired anyone since july. >> it hasn't been this slow on the hiring side since 2006. >> reporter: unfortunately experts say job prospects for the construction industry and many other types of work is not expected to perk up this fall-- that's as the economy is likely to remain stuck in slow motion. business cycle expert laksman achuthan says the string of good months for hiring that came in the spring was probably this year's best stretch. >> that is as good as it was going to get. we're not going back to that kind of jobs growth any time soon. we're going to continue to see weaker and softer jobs growth through the end of this year. we don't see any sustained upturn in sight. >> reporter: just how weak are we talking about? many experts say we'll be lucky to see 100,000 new jobs a month in