i'm suzanne pratt. goodnight everyone and have a great weekend. you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. i'm tom hudson. have a great weekend, everybody. 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 stocks fell on worries that china might... announcer: the new pbs for ipad app. you'll never know what you'll find. [dog barks] announcer: available now in the app store.

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: 103,000 new jobs in one month is an okay number. but, it falls way short for the millions of unemployed. sure several industries hired people in september, including retail, construction and health care. the problem is the economy needs to add more like a quarter million new jobs a month for many months, before the unemployment rate can fall sharply. economist bruce kasman says there's little to celebrate in the latest jobs data. >> the basic problem that we have a weak labor market. that we're generating some jobs but not enough. that there are risk here with labor income not growing that rapidly, that all remains in this report even though the number was somewhat stronger than expected. >> reporter: in cities and towns across the u.s., what unemployed americans want to know is if their job prospects will get better or worse this fall. that depends on whether the economy is able to avoid another recession. business cycle expert lakshman achuthan says we're tipping into a recession. and, those september jobs don't alter his forecast

i'm suzanne pratt. goodnight everyone and have a great weekend. you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. i'm tom hudson. have a great weekend, everybody. 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  [radio chatter] there's always a 50:50 chance that the man who found the body di >> the gulf, lewis. the gulf. >> two murders and a very nasty case of bribery and corruption.

i'm suzanne pratt. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, suzanne. 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 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.

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: still ahead, when the housing boom went bust many half-finished housing developments were left for dead. now some are seeing a new and unexpected rebirth. more talking and more negotiating on how to solve europe's debt crisis. european leaders spent another weekend trying to work out a deal on a bailout fund for troubled countries. german lawmakers said the fund-- the "european financial stability fund"-- will be increased to $1.4 trillion. that means more firepower to protect countries like italy and spain from being engulfed in the debt crisis. the region's banks will also be asked to boost capital levels by a collective $139 billion. full details are expected wednesday, when european leaders gather for a second summit. on wall street, hopes europe can fix its financial mess combined with powerful earnings from heavy equipment maker caterpillar and a host of deals to give stocks a boost. the dow rose 104 points, the nasdaq added almost 62 and the s&p 500 was up 16. trading volume starting the week lighter, with 925 millio

as suzanne pratt reports, today's volatility is a pattern of trading that will be with us for a while. >> reporter: one day we're up. one day we're down. with the u.s. stock market experiencing such wild movements, it's no wonder investors are scratching their heads. take a quick look at the dow since the beginning of august. it's traded in nearly a 2,000 point range. experts like trader teddy weisberg point fingers directly across the pond, saying u.s. stocks pivot on every tidbit of eurozone news. >> the markets at the moment, in my opinion, are simply hostage to the politicians, whether it's in the eurozone or whether it's in washington, and that's not a good place for the markets to be and that's not a good a place for investors to be. >> reporter: when european leaders are close to a debt deal, we rally. the deal falls through? we tumble. and, so much for corporate profits having the muscle to distract investors from europe. of the handful of companies reporting earnings so far, 68% have beat wall street expectations. that performance gets a big "so what" on wall street. still, e

suzanne pratt was in the courtroom today and has the story. >> reporter: the government called him the modern face of insider trading. and so it was that raj rajaratnam received the longest sentence ever for such a crime. a stone-faced rajaratnam stood before a packed courtroom as judge richard holwell read the sentence. the 54-year-old sri lankan native declined to make a statement, and did not testify during his two-month trial. at 11 years, the sentence fell far short of the two decades the government wanted. prosecutors argued rajaratnam deserved a hefty penalty because it will impact the behavior of others in the future. defense attorneys asked the judge to consider rajaratnam's charitable deeds and poor health. the judge said those things were a factor in the lighter sentence, but added that insider trading is a virus in our culture that needs to be eradicated. legal expert david rosenfield said today's sentence will certainly help. >> 11 years has a great deterrent effect on future activities like this, insider trading. when people see a sentence like that, they're going to thin

suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> tom: u.s. investors seem to be more confident european leaders can stabilize their banks suffering due to the greece debt crisis. that brings us to tonight's "word on the street," default. debra borchardt is a markets analyst at thestreet.com. debra, greece has not defaulted on any of at ious. do you think the plan being talked about to shore up european bank capital is in advance of maybe a planned default? >> well, that's exactly it. that is what most of the people on wall street feel that they are doing. that they are taking the steps right now to shore up the banks so that when this event happens and most people feel that the event will happen, whether it's a default or a restructuring of their debt, something is going to happen. but when that event does take place, then the leaders can say well the banks are okayment we shored them up. don't panic. everything is going to be all right. >> plan for the worst, hope for the best. you've got ideas that if greece does in fact default on its debt

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: point and click. point and click. this is power shopping in the 21st century. and, during the coming holiday season, many consumers are expected to let their fingers do the buying, making e-commerce one of this year's few retail bright spots. >> we think that a slowing macroeconomic picture, but balanced with increased ecommerce adoption from consumers, sets the stage for a pretty strong year of ecommerce growth. >> reporter: several firms predict a 13% to 15% increase in u.s. web sales in november and december over last year. in the bricks and mortar world, retailers will be lucky to see a 3% gain in holiday sales. stores recognize the power of the web, and as a result, many are upping their efforts to harness it. most ecommerce sites say they'll offer free shipping at some point before christmas. also, consumers should expect to see online promotions in their mailboxes even earlier this year. analyst jharonne martis says people have come to expect big savings when venturing into cyberspace. >> retailers are very awa

but as suzanne pratt reports, there's concern about a new breed of recession. a month of zero job growth and two months of stagnant consumer spending economist tom porcelli is calling it a "flash recession." the idea? the u.s. experiences short patches of recessionary conditions. the term "mini recession" also fits. it doesn't meet the traditional definition of a recession, which is two straight quarters of a contracting economy. but, those short periods of economic trouble do make headlines. and, porcelli says therein lies the danger. >> particularly now in a sentiment-driven backdrop, if people think economic prospects are so dour-- which most, actually, people do-- then all of the sudden it can become self-feeding, and i think that's part of what we're seeing right now. >> reporter: just look at the wall street protestors for proof that at least some americans think their economic prospects are dour. the risk is other americans will start to feel the same way, and if that sentiment translates into less spending, we could see more flash recessions. >> the bac

as suzanne pratt reports, investors have good reason to be worried. >> reporter: it was not a good start to a month known for stock market crashes and halloween. and, after the carnage to stocks in september, it's no wonder investors are really spooked. so, will this october be a scary one? big board trader jonathan corpina says the change in calendar pages has not improved the outlook for the market.. >> the same mentality that was there last week is now here this week. so, yes, there continues to be pressure on our markets. the markets are very fragile. investors are still very confused as to what the outlook is going to be moving forward. >> reporter: market pros say companies are likely to report reasssuring third-quarter earnings, and those results could give stocks a boost on any day later this month, but there's serious concern those same companies will make negative comments about business in the fourth quarter and next year as recession worries grow. corporate confessions, a worrisome job market and ongoing problems in europe could spell big trouble for stocks in october and in

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: meet the iphone 4s. yes, it's faster. and yes, it's got a better camera. but it doesn't appear much different than the iphone 4. so, will people buy it? >> unless it's such a drastic change, i'm not going to be getting the new iphone. i can wait. i'll wait a bit. absolutely. >> the generation that i'm on is a little older. so always looking for new products out there to help with the information. >> reporter: it's attitudes like that that have helped apple sell 55 million iphones in the last nine months. no matter what the new phone looks like, there will probably be long lines at stores like this one when the iphone 4s goes on sale october 14. that's good news for shareholders, because iphones are apple's most profitable product, and they generate nearly half of company sales. iphone's success has helped apple stock shine in an a down market. the shares are up 15% this year. still, the stock fell today as investors were upset there wasn't an iphone 5. but analyst scott kessler says shareholders should be jumping for joy