. >> reporter: i'm sylvia hall in washington- still ahead, u.s. borrowers owe more than $1 trillion in student loan debt. so could helping them pay it down be a $1 trillion industry? i'll introduce you to some entrepreneurs who think so. >> susie: besides the fiscal cliff, investors and traders on wall street were talking about some merger news today. leucadia national is buying jefferies group. it already owns 28% of the investment firm. the $3.6 billion deal, could help jeffees sh to the lucrative mergers advisory business. leucadia is a conglomerate with a wide range of businesses from beef processing to timber. also today, sherwin williams is buying consorcio comex, it's a mexican coatings business. the price: $2.3 billion. >> susie: the united states will be the top oil producer in the world by the year 2020, surpassing saudi arabia, and russia. that's the bold call today from the international energy agency. fueling that energy renaissance: a boost in oil and shale gas because of new technologies like fracking. the group also expects the u.s

sylvia hall takes a look at the exchanges, how they'll work, and how they will impact the way americans pay for care. >> reporter: the idea behind state health insurance exchanges is pretty simple-- the uninsured will have a central place to shop for health insurance. all plans will meet minimum coverage requirements and no one is turned down. in exchange, health insurance companies get more healthy customers, costing them less, because virtually everyone is required to buy health insurance. for those who can't afford it, the federal government provides subsidies. >> it's a little bit of a grand bargain that's been struck with the insurance industry-- you stop doing some of that cherry- picking behavior that's been so problematic, and in return, we'll guarantee you that there will be a steady stream of customers who will be buying their product. and they'll be able to afford to buy the good insurance because the subsidies will be available. >> reporter: it all goes into effect in 2014, with the goal of bringing down health insurance premiums by increasing competition among insurers. but

sylvia hall reports. >> reporter: chairman mary schapiro took over the s.e.c. in january 2009, at the height of the financial crisis. since then, she's overhauled the agency and beefed up its enforcement arm. she's also overseen a large number of changes to the financial industry, ironing out many of the regulations in dodd- frank financial reform. about a quarter of the law's new rules from s.e.c. remain incomplete. though critics say she wasn't forceful enough against wall street executives, president obama today praised her leadership. saying quote, "...the s.e.c. is stronger and our financial system is safer and better able to serve the american people-- thanks in large part to mary's hard work." >> reporter: the president's choice to replace shapiro, elisse walter would finish the 13 months left on the current term as chairman. walter served as interim chairman before shapiro took over. the administration has until next december to nominate a new chairman for a full term. sylvia hall, "n.b.r.," washington. >> susie: joining us now with more on the s.e.c.,

sylvia hall, "n.b.r.," washington. >> tom: half of new jersey remains in the dark tonight. but noose an improvement in the past 24 hours as utility crews work to restore electricity across 16 states. 6.2 million customers have no power according to the latest data from the u.s. department of energy. that's down from more than 8 million without electricity last night. in addition to new jersey, more than 1 in 10 customers in connecticut, new hampshire, pennsylvania, rhode island and west virginia have no power. ny nuclear power plants remain offline with two others operateding to produce capacity. >> we're joined from jupiter florida. what are your colleagues facing lewis? >> they're facing restoration process with a storm that covers so many states and has done so much damage as everybody is seeing on tv. they have many, many lines down, poles down, transformers damaged. substations that are under water, and have to get dried out. equipment vault that is are flooded. they lot of work ahead of them. >> tom: how does a ceo -- how do you begin to prioritize all of that work? >

sylvia hall, "n.b.r.," washington. >> tom: the continued slow improvement of the job market didn't help stock prices today with the major indices losing ground. the index saw a small pop at the opening bell, but couldn't maintain its positive momentum, even though factory orders had their biggest monthly increase in september in a year and a half. the s&p 500 sank into the close, ending down 0.9% trading volume on the big board totaled 791 million shares. it was 1.8 billion on the nasdaq. the pressure can from the materials sector, down two percent. energy falling 1.7%. and technology down 1.5% falling commodity prices weighed on some of their respective stock sectors. oil fell more than two dollars per barrel, settling at its lowest price since june. the u.s. dollar was higher on the back of the employment numbers and a more expensive dollar can put downward pressure on oil. oil giant chevron also hurt the energy sector and the dow. chevron had the biggest percentage loss among dow stocks. chevron did not make as much money has anticipated in the third quarter. earnings per share were

sylvia hall, "n.b.r.," whingn. >> susie: tomorrow on "n.b.r." a big day for retail earnings: walmart, target, dollar tree, and gap; all report results. and china's chooses its new diplomatic team, we look at that nation's historic once-in-a- decade leadership change. >> tom: the negotiations on avoiding the fiscal cliff will impact your paycheck, and possibly your portfolio, even if the only stocks you own are in mutual funds in a 401-k. john sweeney is executive vice president of planning and advisory services with fidelity investments. john, certainly this is a big threat for all investors, all income earners, how big is it for long-term investors? >> thanks, tom. a lot of our investors are asking us for help, trying to navigate the tacks tax landscape. and people are asking how they might adjust their portfolios. a couple of things to keep in perspective. when you think about constructing your portfolio, you want to be focused on your long-term goals. if retirement several years away, you want to make sure you have enough earnings power to ou

sylvia hall reports. >> reporter: it's one of the busiest days of the year for airlines, as people jet across the country to and from their holiday destinations. the airlines expect to fill a total of 24 million seats between today and sunday, according to airlines for america. that's an average of 2.5 million seats filled each day, up by a quarter of a million from last year. >> this year so far, the average profit point for every passenger is about $.50, which is awfully small. last year it was $.77. >> reporter: the holiday season is a welcome event in the industry's fourth quarter. >> historically, the fourth quarter was at best a break even quarter, but due to the airlines better management of their seat inventory, they can actually produce a profit during the fourth quarter, which i'm expecting. >> reporter: in recent years, industry representatives say airlines have struggled to survive, as their ticket sales failed to cover the volatile cost of fuel and their increased regulatory and tax burdens. to combat the problem, they have started selling fewer tickets to keep capacity do

as sylvia hall reports, isrizon's warning is a sign of the damage felt by the tele-th communications industry. >> reporter: just like with other telecom companies, verizon employees are working hard to restore service to the northeast. but it's not easy when they're also pumping water out of the basements of their flooded new york facilities, which are running on generator power. the company announced today that sandy's aftermath will likely extend to fourth quart earnings.ar analysts say the entire industry could feel it too. >> you can't hang an exact dollar amount on it, but when they come out this quickly and this early in the response, it's going to make a dent. i think people looking at the telecom space this quarter definite need to realize that. >> reporter: in all, the storm knocked out a quarter of the cell towers in its path, n according to the federal government. but crews are working to restore power. yesterday, only a fifth were out of service by this aernoon, only 15% of cell towers were down. crews from all companies have gotten creative in their efforts to restore se

sylvia hall, "n.b.r.," washington. >> susie: next week on "n.b.r.," we'll have more on health care andlook at which stocks will be the winners and losers as companies gear up for president obama's health care insurance mandate. how much do retailers benefit by opening early for those black friday sales? we'll find out if longer hours add up to bigger profits. and we look at ways investors are putting their money to work to better their communities. >> tom: with 45 days before the end of the year, lawmakers say they will speed up their negotiations over avoiding the fiscal cliff. is the time now for fast action by investors? jack ablin is the chief investment office at b.m.o. harris private bank. he joins us from chicago. how about it here, jack? what is the strategy over the next six weeks as these negotiation continue? >> you know, it's a pretty emotional strategy, tom, just because i think the downdraft, the 5% slide that we've endured since the election is, i would say, arguably pretty emotional. it's one of these things if you want to speculate and think the news will turn out fine

sylvia hall reports. >> reporter: tuesday was a tough night to be a republican. the party had campaigned on the promise of a better economy, the top issue for most voters, but still lost. the results suggest the grand old party isn't keeping up with a country whose make-up is changing fast. >> the economy should have put the republicans in control. the irony in this election is that the groups that were hit the hardest in this economy with the highest unemployment rate voted overwhelmingly for the incumbent president. >> reporter: the majority of women, young people, african americans, asians and latinos favored president obama at the ballot box. the latino vote is particularly important, this year making up about 10% of the electorate, up from 9% in 2008. and it's expected to grow from here. >> by 2050, 29% of the nation's population is expected to be hispanic. today, that number is about 17%. >> reporter: unemployment among hispanics is still very high at 10%, but that's down from 12.7% at the end of the great recession. the poverty rate for hispanics is also h

but as sylvia hall reports, it could be difficult for consumers to get paid. >> reporter: if you have flood insurance, it comes from a government fund called the federal flood insurance program that's backed by the treasury. most people who don't need it, don't buy it, making it hard for the program to pay for itself in the wake of a major disaster. so it's probably no surprise that back in 2005, hurricanes katrina and rita drained the fund and plunged the program $18 billion into debt. it's debt congress planned to forgive, but hasn't yet. that leaves the program on poor financial footing with only about $4 billion worth of funds available for claims related to sandy. >> from what i've seen, this could be a $5 billion to $10 billion flooding event, so more than likely, the program will have to go to congress to get additional borrowing authority. >> reporter: former program administrator david maurstad says the program will probably have to turn to congress for help paying claims. >> it's still an obligation that our government said we're going to have this program-- "you buy a polic

sylvia hall reports. >> reporter: in this baltimore lab, dr. curt civin researches leukemia in search of a cure. it's hardly a political job, but these days he's keeping a close eye on the federal budget. you see, the sequester-- the severe spending cuts headed our way in january-- could affect him. if it takes affect, it will cut an estimated $2.5 billion from the national institutes of health. dr. civin and researchers like him depend on grants from the institutes for funding. >> it's tough enough to cure cancer. tough battle. going to take a long time. to cut the funding, to have unevenness, to take a project all the way, and then say, "well, we can't scale this up the way we should, or even maintain it the way we should?" how can we do that. and it's not good for us. >> reporter: dr. civin says labs across the country may have to lay people off if their grants are defunded or reduced. eventually, that could lead to less research and fewer cures. he's especially worried about young scientists. some of them have new- potentially breakthrough-

sylvia hall, "n.b.r.," washington. >> tom: we've seen the estimates on going over the cliff, recession, some even calling it debt-mageddon. but from tax rates, to entitlement spending, what are the real policy implications here? to answer that question, our washington bureau chief darren gersh recently spoke with economists from both sides of the aisle. dean baker and douglas holtz- eakin joined us and after a coin toss, darren started with dean asking him whether it's good policy for the president to insist tax rates should go up for high income americans. >> well, we are going to need higher tax revenue at some point. i think this is, you know, a good way to get it. i mean, this is the politics not the policy. we will need higher tax revenue. where are you going to get it from? the people who have the money. can you get it other ways? sure. but it seems to me you can get the money. when you have an opportunity to raise a good chunk of revenue by not doing something, i think i take tha you could negotiate. if they decide they want comprehensive tax reform like they did in '86, you can