. >> i'm sylvia hall. still ahead, state funding to colleges and universities is dropping nationwide. we take a look at one school system and how they're handling it. >> susie: stocks muddled along today as oil and gold prices fell and investors tried to make sense of those bank stress tests. the dow rose 16 points, the nasdaq added nearly a point, and the s&p slipped just over a point. commodities came under pressure. oil prices fell more than a dollar to $105 a barrel as the fed's decision to leave rates unchanged tempered any upswing in crude prices. as for gold, it continued a two- day sell-off, losing another $51 today to $1,642.90 an ounce. the yellow metal is now off 4% in the past three sessions. tim harvey manages a gold e.t.f. and he recommends buying gold on the dip. >> everybody is expecting the debt ceiling to be raised again this year. obviously, we have an election. we have very important elections in europe, as well. we have elections in greece in italy and in france, and this is going to l

. >> reporter: i'm sylvia hall. still ahead, with rent prices on the rise and interest rates low, do you rent or do you buy your home? we talk to some d.c. area residents about how they chose. >> susie: remember a.i.g., the bailed-out insurance giant that got a big bailout during the financial crisis because it was "too big to fail." it looks like american taxpayers are making a nice profit on the loan. c.e.o. robert benmosche believes taxpayers will make between $5 billion to $10 billion on a.i.g.'s rescue. the company still owes the u.s. treasury an estimated $45 billion. meanwhile, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke was teaching back in the classroom at george washington university today. his lecture today focused on the central bank's actions during the financial crisis. bernanke told students not to expect a repeat of the fed's response to a.i.g. >> what we had to do with bear stearns and a.i.g. is obviously not a recipe for future crisis management. >> susie: bernanke told the students a system that include

as sylvia hall reports, this settlement could turn out to be much more expensive than the headline price. >> reporter: if the latest settlement is approved, b.p. expects to pay out $7.8 billion to fishermen, restaurant owners, hoteliers and a host of other residents along the gulf coast. that's much le than the $20 billion the company set aside back in 2010. but with no cap on the deal, tulane law professor ed sherman says b.p. could pay out much more than forecast. this settlement is welcome news to a large number of plaintiffs who have waited for b.p. to compensate them, hoping a court- supervised payout will come faster. >> i think there's hope that they will get their compensation quicker and in larger amounts than previously. >> reporter: this deal isn't the end of b.p.'s gulf coast troubles. next up, a battle with federal, state and local governments over environmental damages and other costs. these could prove to be tough and wrought with uncertainty. >> there is concern about trying to determine exactly what the long term environmental impacts are of the oil spill. and that would

sylvia hall, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: still ahead, exxonmobil c.e.o. rex tillerson says oil demand will surge 30% over the next 20 years. he tells wall street what the oil giant is doing to prepare for that. tomorrow, we'll get the latest look at the u.s. job market. it's expected to show its getting a bit easier for the unemployed to find work. but exactly where are the jobs now, and where will they be in the future? suzanne pratt takes a closer look. >> reporter: this is the new york office of ad agency arnold worldwide. a quick look around suggests it might be a cool place to work. clients are household names in a variety of industries, from lee jeans to everyone's favorite candy. and guess what? c.e.o. andrew benett says arnold has been on a hiring spree, adding 300 new u.s. jobs in the last two years. that's a 40% increase in staff. more are coming this year. >> we anticipate to continue to hire at maybe a similar, maybe slightly slower pace than we've been hiring. but we expect it to continue. >> reporter: arnold worldwide is not alone in its hir

sylvia hall reports. >> reporter: president obama wants to change the way america powers up. >> we can't have an energy strategy for the last century that traps us in the past; we need an energy strategy for the future, an all-of-the above strategy for the 21st century that develops every source of american-made energy. >> reporter: as it turns out, between wind, solar, and other resources, the country has its pick of ways to generate energy. the department of energy says renewables make up around 10% of electricity production, and by 2035, their market share is expected to grow to 16%. but which ones are most promising? last year, solar panel installation doubled, and wind energy production increased by 27%. both depend heavily on government subsidies, and in a time of tight budgets, that support could dim. >> every energy source has enjoyed subsidies in its development period. that was true of oil, true of coal, true of nuclear, and its now true of renewable energy. the question is, how quickly can you phase out that subsidy? >> reporter: while the cost of solar and wind energy has bee