suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> a nasty sell-off. despite that, charles schwab says investors are pretty confident. a new june survey shows 38% of schwab investors are extremely confident. just 17% have aspects in cash. and 45% said it's a good time to invest in the market. schwab ceo walt bettinger joins us. walt, nice to have you on the program. today was obviously a positive day for investors. but step back and tell us a little bit about the mood of investors these days. >> i certainly will. thank you, susie, and thanks for the invitation. what we're hearing from investors, you can summarize in two themes. the first is a lack of confidence. even though there's a percentage of investors who feel great about the market, the majority of investors look at what the market has done in recent times and are nervous, uncomfortable, and not quite sure as to the steps they should take. the second theme we're hearing from investors is they are tremendously focused on risk management. they want to make sure that the investments that they make

. >> i'm suzanne pratt in new york. tonight, we kick off our special series on the fed with a look back at how it got its start. "nightly business report" is brought to you by: captioning sponsored by wpbt stocks were higher on continued hopes of more economic help as soon as next week from the federal reserve. the dow rallied 115. the nasdaq was up 36. the s&p 500 gained almost 14. for the week, the dow gained 1.7%. the nasdaq was up half a percent. and the s&p 500 rallied 1.3%. the rally came despite more evidence of a slowing economy today. consumer sentiment, industrial production and new york-area factory output all were down in the past month. >> susie: as we reported, greek voters head to the polls on sunday and all indications show this will be a close election. so close, the results may not be known until late sunday evening. as darren gersh reports, greeks know the stakes are high. >> reporter: unlike last month's loud, angry election, political analyst nick carahalios says the mood in greece now is thoughtful

suzanne pratt, nbr. >> tom: he's the founder of dean crutchfield with us at the nasdaq. you heard the disney ceo crawl it a smart business strategy. do you agree? >> it was a simple statement but a big move by disney i think will have huge ramifications for its business mostly i believe positive. i think this is a tremendous effort on their part and a very big surprise move whether they've leapfrogged an entire category and projected themselves to be the voice of health and wellness for children around the world. >> tom: how does that ad to the financials that disney may see post-2015 when it takes effect? >> what you'll find is other brands and corporations are going to look to create either new products, portfolios or look at what they have in their offers and look at what's better four and work with disney to look at what those criteria are. there will be a progression and potentially modification in products given the power and momentum that this move will make it will have i am publi im for others. >> tom: we're talked about nickelodean and viacom or cartoon network

suzanne pratt reports the dollar's gain could spell trouble for corporate america. >> reporter: unless you've traveled overseas, you might not have noticed what's happened to the dollar. it turns out it's getting mightier. in the last year, the u.s. dollar has gained about 15% against europe's common currency: the euro. in general, a country's currency strengthens as a result of an improving economy. currency experts say what's happening today, however, is more about the weakness of other countries. >> we're growing. we could be growing faster, of course. i'm sure president obama would like it a little faster rate of growth. the fact of the matter is we're growing while the eurozone is in recession. and, that really stands out. even though the u.s. has subpar growth, it's still better than what we have in europe. and, i'd rather be here than there at this point. >> reporter: the significance of a stronger dollar goes well beyond travel and what happens on currency trading floors like this one. for multinationals that do big business overseas, it can subtract millions of dollars from th

suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> reporter: i'm erika miller. still ahead, weak employment gains are spurring fears of another recession. "nightly business report" is brought to you by: captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: we saw more evidence today of a slowing u.s. economy. factory orders fell in april by .6%, to nearly $466 billion. that's there lowest level since october. this comes after last week's bad news about the job market. the nation is barely creating enough jobs to keep up with population growth. as erika miller reports, all this is raising fears about another recession. >> reporter: the likelihood of recession this year is still slim. but it's growing. according to in-trade, an online betting site, odds the u.s. economy will slip back into recession now stand above 18%, from the low-teens most of the spring. but even if the u.s. skirts recession, it probably won't feel like much of a recovery. >> "it hasn't felt like what we're used to, as far as economic recoveries go. we've seen job growth, it's improved but it's still pretty an

. >> reporter: i'm suzanne pratt. it may be known as operation twist, but there was little twisting or turning for stocks today after the fed's big announcement. investors expected the extension of the fed's program designed to lower long-term interest rates. and, that's what they got. and, although investors might've hoped for more economic stimulus from the fed, policymakers certainly didn't rule it out. >> inflation is no longer as problematic. and, with slower growth and lower inflation, it leaves the door open potentially to q-e3. we think it could happen later if growth continues to slow and inflation becomes a non-issue. >> reporter: stocks have rallied this month as investors tried to put a positive face on the weakening economy. the positive part: the potential for more help for the economy from the u.s. central bank. as for what equity investors are likely to focus on next? you guessed it, it's all eyes on europe and resolving the region's financial mess. >> i think the next big issue on the calendar is goin

suzanne pratt looks at how the u.s. and european central banks fueled today's buying. >> reporter: here's what u.s. interest rates look like today. incredibly, the stock market would like the federal reserve to push them lower. the atlanta fed president fueled those hopes today when he said: those actions include the fed's so called operation twist. >> this program which is scheduled to expire this month will probably be extended and or they might actually twist the twist to use the expression traders are using which would be we take operation twist and twist it away from treasuries and toward mortgages. >> reporter: across the pond, the european central bank opted not to lower rates, even though at 1% they're higher than the u.s. still, e.c.b. president mario draghi said some bank members had wanted a cut, leaving the door open for it to happen soon. the e.c.b. is under pressure to lower rates and add liquidity support for sick banks. but, draghi wants european governments to first do something substantial about greece

suzanne pratt has the story. >> i like to re-purpose things. >> reporter: brian lewis knows a lot about new york city apartments. after all, he sells them for a living. and, when it came to his family's home, lewis chose to renovate. he's ambitiously combining two apartments, rather than buying something already done. >> you break through the wall. i'm creating a three bed, three bath, with central air in a beautiful antique 1891 building and creating a very contemporary space. i'm thrilled. >> reporter: lewis's contractor paul barnla specializes in gut renovations like this one, and expects he'll soon be even busier. >> we gauge it by how many bids we're putting out each month. and, the phones are ringing and architects and homeowners are calling, and we're bidding a lot more than we were six to 12 months ago. >> reporter: across the country, even as the real estate market remains in the basement, homeowners are doing more renovations than they have in the last few years. is it because they're finding themselves stuck in their homes, or are they feeling better about the future? it was

suzanne pratt takes a look at what's troubling investors. >> reporter: talking with traders here at the new york stock exchange today about what's bugging investors, you guessed it. it starts with an "e" and ends with an "e": europe. specifically, spain's official request for a bailout was a downer, suggesting to some there will soon be a third european country that needs help. on top of that, there's little confidence the e.u. two-day summit, beginning thursday, will produce any credible solutions. still, among traders, there's always the hope for a silver bullet. >> the consensus would be that if they could have one thing happen, it would be some sort of centralized, financial body that would come out of this meeting that would oversee all of them. >> reporter: others see that as an unlikely outcome, especially as german leaders continue to dig their heals in on sharing their neighbor's debt. >> the latest comments out of german chancellor angela merkel today signal continued lack of room of compromise between germany and some of the weaker peripheral countries. >> reporter: beginning

suzanne pratt, nbr, new york. >> susie: still ahead, with a sour economy fueling the rise of home cooking, we get the dish on the multi-billion dollar housewares industry. it's part of our look at the "foodie craze". "nightly business report" is brought to you by: captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: home prices may have been pointed higher in april, but consumers soured on the economy this month, susie. the conference board's latest reading on confidence fell for the fourth month in a row as americans focused on the still shaky job market. seemed relieved to be focused on >> susie: still, tom, investors seemed relieved to be focused on the u.s. economy and not europe today. the dow rose 32 points, the nasdaq added 17, and the s&p was up six. >> tom: more mixed messages from european leaders today. german chancellor angela merkel poured cold water on any hope soon for a european-wide bond as a tool to spread government debt problems across the continent. she reportedly told a closed door meeting of leaders that kind of shared liability would not happen in her lifetime. at the same time, e

suzanne pratt takes a look at blackberry's fragile future. >> reporter: not long ago, the blackberry was king of the smartphones. it was a wall street status symbol, a cool workplace necessity. more recently, however, blackberries having been fighting a losing war for survival, battling apple's iphone as well as android- supported phones. some experts say the berry is on the verge of extinction, with rim missing the change from smartphone as a business tool to fun accessory. >> i think blackberry has only about a 20% chance of survival past the end of the year. i don't think it's absolutely sure that it's going to go out of business, but the vultures are circling. >> reporter: the one thing that might save blackberry is the release of it's new operating system, blackberry 10. today we learned it won't be out until next year. experts say it needs to be spectacular to save the company. >> consumers have to get a great media experience, great games, great apps and businesses will have to get the type of security and manageability they expect from blackberry. >> reporter: of course, ther

suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: this is the european central bank in frankfurt, germany. this is the federal reserve in washington. beyond architectural styles, there are significant differences between the two banks. the fed is about to celebrate its 100th birthday. it also sets monetary policy for one country. established in 1998 the e.c.b. is younger than justin bieber. it sets policy for 17 nations. still, perhaps the most significant difference is the fed has a so-called dual mandate, meaning it must strive for both maximum employment and stable prices when it sets policy. the e.c.b. has a single mandate: focusing only on curbing inflation. that stems from germany's inflation phobia, but some experts believe it's changing. >> the dirty little secret of central banking is that even central banks that have single mandates, and the e.c.b. isn't the only one with just a single inflation mandate, they often act as if they had a dual mandate. >> reporter: lately, however, the e.c.b., led by mario draghi, has been criticized for failing to step up and doing more to solve eu

but, it's really yummy. >> reporter: suzanne pratt, "n.b.r.," new york. >> reporter: i'm sylvia hall. tired of the nine-to-five? tomorrow we'll talk to some people who dropped their office jobs in favor a fresh start. >> tom: also tomorrow: what to expect from the markets after this weekend's key election in greece. and our friday "market monitor," john dorfman of thunderstorm capital is shopping for auto stocks. >> susie: it's no secret that new media, the internet and digital devices, has taken a large bite out of print, newspapers, and magazines. but there are some notable exceptions. we profile a company that proves we might not be seeing the "sun- set" on old media. mike hegedus has this week's "made in america". it is sunset magazine. >> reporter: they have been putting together sunset magazine since 1898. it started as a means of drawing tourists west by the southern pacific railroad, it is the largest lifestyle publication this side of the rockies. >> we have 1.25 million subscribers, and our total audience is about 4.7 million. >> reporter: based in menlo park, it's seven acr