suzanne pratt, nbr, new york. >> tom: we continue our look at veterans in hiring tomorrow here on nbr, be sure to join us, we'll introduce you to former soldier josh, he escaped a road side bomb in

. >> reporter: coming up, i'm suzanne pratt. we'll tell you if it's possible to greece-proof your portfolio. "nightly business report" is brought to you by: >> susie: stocks finished in the red today on continued worries about europe, despite some better news on the american consumer. it was spain where investors were fixated today and word, tom, that country is preparing to inject billions of euro's into rescuing one of its biggest banks. >> tom: susie, stocks were weak most of the day and today's trading capped a volatile week. the dow closed down fell almost 75 points, the nasdaq lost nearly two points. the s&p off almost three. for the week the indices notched some gains. the dow was up 0.7% the nasdaq gained 2.1%. and the s&p is 1.7% higher compared to a week ago tonight. >> susie: as we mentioned, some optimistic news today about american consumers. they're feeling upbeat about the economy. the thomson reuters university of michigan consumer sentiment index hit 79.3 in may, that's its highest level since the beginning of t

suzanne pratt nbr, new york. >> susie: still ahead oraclewint google. we look at what it means for tech companies and their investors. announcer: nightly business report is brought to you by ... >> smart global investing requires expertise from the ground up. we have a unique perspective on global investing. gain from our perspective. >> susie: a changing governments have little impact on wallstreet tom. -- on wallstreet the dow fell almost 30 points. the nasdaq road 1.5 and s & m up half a point. >> not much reaction here in the united states. european leaders talked up the need for more economic growth today. darren gersh reports the likely forecast is more uncertainty. >> for only the second time in 50 years a socialist has been elected president of france. francoise hollande's victory this weekend is a clear rejection of the measures put in place to jolt the euro. >> this is an a cute phase of the silver and debt crisis. >> two main parties that had managed the party through the debt crisis emerged from parliamentary elections with less than a third

suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> tom: still ahead, oil prices keep heading lower. it's good news at the pump, but for how long? "nightly business report" is brought to you by: captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: european regulators tried to calm fears around spain today by offering to give the spanish government more time to reduce its budget deficit, and use a rescue fund to loan money directly to banks. but the moves did not ease global concerns surrounding europe's financial system. the dow lost almost 161. the nasdaq fell more than 33.5. the s&p 500 closed down 19. the drop in global stock prices pushed money into u.s. government bonds, sending the interest rate on the benchmark ten yield note to historic lows, 1.62%. richard helps run the income fund as portfolio manager, he joins us tonight from boston. richard, you've been in the bond market a long time, you saw the highs in material 80s. how low could these rates go? >> the flight the capital, the concerns globally, tom, i think investors are looking for a return of principal versus return on their investm

as suzanne pratt reports, the selling may be more than one-day indigestion. >> reporter: wall street's big reaction to europe's elections came a day later than expected. perhaps it's the time change, or more likely worries heating up about greece. in particular, u.s. investors wondered today exactly who's in charge in greece. europe's instability is a serious threat to america's fragile economy and corporate profits. some market pros say today's sell-off could be the start of a small correction. >> i don't think there's a tremendous risk in the market. we actually know all the potential negatives. we know what can go wrong. but i think the quicker it happens, the less far it has to fall. >> reporter: the upside of europe's troubles for investors is a renewed flight to quality, straight into u.s. bonds. it continued today as treasury prices rose, pushing yields to three-month lows. the appetite f u.sgovement debt is nothing new, but there are doubts about how long the rally will last. >> it's hard to see how exactly the bid ends. we do suspect at some point in the not to distant future

suzanne pratt looks at whether a wall street saying about may will prove true this year. >> reporter: today was a great start to what could be a rough stretch for u.s. stocks. still, nervousness about may persisted among professional investors on wall street. >> there is a certain amount of trepidation. first of all, everyone knows this is a weaker time seasonality-wise. there's the old saying, "sell in may and go away." >> reporter: investors may be particularly worried about this summer because you may remember may and june in the last two years was downright awful for the stock market. and there's plenty of historic data backing up that wall street adage-- sell in may and go away. since world war ii, may has returned an average of only a third of 1%. that compares to average gain of 0.67% for all months. sure, there are years when stocks shine in may. but some market pros say 2012 won't be one of them. >> this time around, i think that there still are an awful lot of headwinds that investors have to contend with, from the european sovereign debt crisis to leadership changes in euro

suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> tom: scott macdonald is with us tonight from the nasdaq. scott, the news flow out of greece seems to pick up with no stability here. we had the g-8 over the weekend then eu in formal meeting last night. has the situation now tipped toward a path of default and failure ultimately? >> i think there's a very good chance greece does leave the euro. we look at it probably about 60%. i think the issues that face greece, one is you've got an insurmountable debt burden and depression for four years and unemployment at 25% and elections which you're exercising democracy in greece but the anti-bail out party's been strong. if you take all those things together it doesn't bode well for what's coming down the turnpike in greece. >> tom: the idea that seems to get traction with the leaders of france and italy these euro-wide bonds trying to barrow the good credit of germany for instance to lower the barrowing cost and here the yields on three government pond bonds. greece is barrowing cost for the next decade 30%. is this a solution a euro-wide bond? >>

suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> tom: summer travelers may not recognize the name choice hotels. that's the company behind ten hotel brands, such as comfort inn and econo-lodge. we spoke with it's c.e.o., stephen joyce, and began by asking him about summer reservations. >> actually, it's very encouraging. we had a great first quarter, and that seems to be carrying forward. we've talked to customers and looked at industry surveys. the summer seems to be shaping up extraordniarily strong. nine out of 10 customers in the industry told us they were either going to travel the same or more than they did last year. that's a very encouraging cipe, and the consumers are feeling better about their jobs and better about the economy. that bodes well for a strong summer season. >> tom: and how about travel in terms of how they're expected to get there. we know airfares increased. is it that impacting how we're travel something >> yeah. 90% of our folks are saying they're driving. and so the drips are going to be about 500 miles. we've got about almost half the folks saitding they're going to

but, as suzanne pratt reports, a full recovery in housing is still a long way off. >> reporter: for all those optimists out there, the latest snapshot of the housing market is something to get jazzed about. sales of pre-owned homes rose to an annual rate of 4.62 million units last month. that's the highest level in nearly two years and up 10% from last april. >> some people are starting to come back into the market that were sitting on the sidelines. it's also the spring buying season, so it's typically the time that we start to see numbers rise. >> reporter: speaking of rising numbers, the median sales price for homes sold in april jumped to $177,400, up more than 10% from last year. and that's the biggest price gain in more than six years. but that tidbit comes with an asterick; it turns out fewer foreclosures are responsible for the big jump in prices. and two million foreclosures are still expected to hit the market this year, which does not bode well for the housing recovery. >> we're muddling along. it's touch and go right now. there are some areas that are doing well, but, overal

suzanne pratt, n.b.r., new york. >> tom: distractions-- that's what chesapeake energy c.e.o. aubrey mcclendon today called the controversy surrounding his personal stakes in energy wells. he apologized to investors. the latest issue is a report from reuters that mcclendon ran a $200 million hedge fund trading the same energy commodities produced by chesapeake, while he also was running the company. this adds to worries about conflicts of interest inside the chief executive's office at cheasapeake. mcclendon has come under fire for financial arrangements giving him ownership stakes in cheasapeake energy projects. he used those stakes to borrow more than $1 billion from banks and private equity firms doing business with chesapeake. questions about mcclendon's financial dealings have fueled big swings in chesapeake's share price. the stock sank more than 14% today. fadel gheit has followed chesapeake for several years as an analyst with oppenheimer. you have known mr. mcclendon for a long time r. you surprised by his reaction to these concerns about his financial dealings? >> i

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: jorge vasquez has been bartending for six years, and is an expert on beer, wine, and cocktails. lately though, customers are bellying up to t bar and ordering tequila. and we're not talking frozen margaritas; we're talking super- premium brands, with super- premium taste. >> some people even ask for a wine glass because they want to smell it and they want to let it breathe. >> reporter: they like it so much they're willing to pay, in some cases, $100 a shot. and surprisingly, the big bar tab hasn't stopped tequila sales from skyrocketing. so while we've had very good growth in the tequila category across the decade, 6, 70% of tequila growth is in the premium >> reporter: bottoms up. suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: when it comes to business, how's your endurance level? tonight, lou's been thinking about keeping up in the long run. >> reporter: my favorite sport has always been basketball. i played all four years in high school, and... well, wait a minute. i actually played two years and then stopped growing, so i spent m

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: at apple mortgage, business has been getting juicier. it's no wonder, with mortgage rates at an appetizing all-time lows. the 30-year fixed currently averages 3.83%. last year, that same loan was 4.63%. broker gary leib says 75% of his calls are for refinancings. >> i get a lot of joy out of helping people refinance. honestly, it's a beautiful thing helping people save so much money. >> reporter: super low mortgage rates haven't done much to lift home sales out of the cellar. since december, rates have been below 4%. still, sales of new and old homes fell in march. the problem is it's gotten much harder for would-be homebuyers to qualify, and for mortgages to get done. >> each loan require five times the amount of work. the banks are very difficult. every "i" has to be dotted and every "t" crossed. >> reporter: and thanks to europe's financial mess, mortgage rates, which are tied to our ten-year bond, are expected to remain attractive. >> americans can expect a very low interest rate environment through 2012, into 2013 and perhaps even b