another factor, as always, the economic sector. country in the world that can keep up with economic growth rates in china these days, and that is turkey. if the chinese are going to sell anything to anybody, they will look to the people that have the money. forget the europeans, they do not have the money. >> what more can you tell us about these protests by the ethnics and their political aspirations? >> turkey is always embarrassed by their own minority problem with the kurds and the abroad to western europe, where most of the kurdish refugees live. china has a problem when it comes to turkey, because the minority that china has a problem with, the leaders, the ethnic church. the area is known as eastern turkistan. it is natural for the uigher minority to come to turkey. is there a problem between turkey and china, but one that turkey is trying to stop behind the scene, trying to mediate and show it is more of an economic problem. some feel they're losing ground within their own homeland to the up and coming chinese middle class.

the 10 major sectors showing gains. but the leaders came from economically sensitive areas. the financial sector added almost 3%. the consumer discretionary and energy sectors were up about 2%. leading financial stocks higher was insurance firm genworth. shares shot up 14% to their highest price since july. company executives were upbeat as the company has been shoring up its capital cushion. that has led to talk about stock buybacks. genworth has been raising insurance premiums and selling assets to raise cash. bank of america was the leading gainer inside the dow index, up more than 5%. volume was heavy too. the stock is at its highest price since before labor day. homebuilding stocks led the consumer sector. with the hope of new jobs comes hope of homebuyers. lennar and pulte homes each jumped more than 7%. these stocks are at new 52-week highs, and appliance maker whirlpool added another 6.5%. shares began this week at $54, and tonight they're just below $69. quite a week for w-h-r. in the drug-making business, the pipeline of new medicines is vital for growth. gilead sciences has gotten some encouraging new

employers generated 243,000 jobs in the nonfarm sector which is sensitive to economic trends. greek government officials and private sector bondholders are pushing negotiatis for cutting greece's huge debt and the clock is ticking. if the talks break down, greece could fall into messy default. a greek government spokesperson said on thursday that the two sides need to reach an agreement at all costs by the end of this week. and the greek officials and representatives of private lenders prepare to get together again this weekend, some expect an accord within several days. the bondholders have agreed to write off half of the value of the government bonds they hold. both sides have been discussing specific measures that include switching the existing bonds with those with lower yields and the longer maturities. the two sides have not been able to agree on details. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings you insight and i

employers generated 243,000 in the nonfarm sector which is sensitive to economic trends. greek government officials and private sector bondholders are pushing negotiations for cutting greece's huge debt and the clock is ticking. if the talks breakdown, greece could fall into messy default. a greek government spokesperson said on thursday that the two sides need to reach an agreement at all costs by the end of this week. and its greek officials and representatives of private lenders prepare to get together again this weekend, some expect an accord within several days. the bondholders have agreed to write off about half of the value of the government bonds they hold. both sides have been discussing specific measures that include switching the existing bonds with those with lore yields and the longer maturities. the two sides have not been able to agree on details. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. nuclear watch brings you insight

the economy -- >> no, congressman. >> why not? >> loss of public sector jobs is, as i said earlier, part of the overall loss of jobs that we've seen in this very prolonged economic downturn. >> and we've been see that sector shrink. >> out of time. let's let him finish answering. >> correct? >> sorry. >> i said we've seen that sector of the job market shrink. >> thank you. yes, congressman. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for joining us today. start out with a caveat to begin with. economic growth is virtually the same as employment growth, right? i mean, if we talk about economic growth we could talk about more people working. >> move together obviously not perfectly. >> not perfectly but pretty good correlation. so my question starts with this and i would like to keep the answers fairly short. which economic activity provides it, option a is private investment, option b is federal spending. >> congressman, that depends on the nature of the federal spending you have in mind. >> i have a chart. i don't have it with me right now. private investment is the correct answer. private investment trumps federal spending almost every time. w

the answer is create public-private sector partnership to generate billions in economic growth and create jobs. and that is the challenge we face. spurring the private sector to create jobs without spending state resources that would hurt the economic situation of the state. let's begin by building on our economic strength. we know that new york is a destination location. tourists spent $50 billion in new york in 2010 alone. new york is the place to be. new york is the place people want to come to. but new york just stay ahead of the competition. convention centers are important economic generators. right now when you look at the list of where new york is in terms of convention centers, sadly, new york's convention center, the jakub jab vitz convention center on the west side of manhattan is down at the bottom of the list, literally number 12 after places like anaheim, california, washington, d.c., los angeles, there's new york. right now the jakub javits convention center is not competitive. that hurts the new york economy. because we're just not getting the shows here. the largest conve

to the promised reforms in the social and economic sectors investors could only benefit however there is little russia can do when it comes to external shocks. for on the line. ok gentlemen we have a very interesting mix right here so i mean if i can go to you first in one week's time russians will be going to the polls you would have a look at what are investors looking for global investors like stability and one of the most important things is that they have that they don't operate in a situation where there is uncertainty over the last twelve years we've had significant and you've always had a millpond of political change and one of the things that we've seen with the recent protests is that people have been coming out and voicing anger not necessarily at any one particular thing other than corruption interestingly we've had a complete mix we've had the far right. protesting with the far left this is interesting times but for investors the most important thing is i think where i think we all understand that we will see putin in again until it is candidate putin saying the right thi

get the fiscal house in order by hiamg, reducing spending but trying to increase the economic activity in the private sectorat i said backbone of america is our small business people. what i proposed today is a 20% small business tax cut that goes right to the heart of the economic engine in this country which are the men and women who are the entrepreneurs willing to go and take a risk if they just get some signal out of washington that washington will get out of the way and make it so expensive and difficult. >> greta: i'm sure you have been following the frof over the contraception issue. president called it an acome days that he suggested? >> i don't think so. what we have here is by the president and this administration, a rule that goes really after our first amendment rights to the practice of our religion. as a member of minority faith in this country, obviously the ability to practice my religion is very important to me as it is for everyone in this country. it what makes america unique the freedom for individuals and religious establishments to do what it is that is consistent with their faith and

the private sector. the only reason we had a plus-one-million over eight years was because we grew in the public sector. we lost jobs in the private sector on that economic program. it didn't work in my opinion. paid for or not paid for it did not work. but it did put a hole in the deficit. i think it ought to be paid for. what i think it ought not to be paid for with is taking out of the hyde of average working -- hide of average working people in this country which is the way you want to pay for it. i don't think that's good policy because i think that will further depress the economy and take dollars out of the hands of hardworking people. yes, i think it ought to be paid for. and paying for things is tough. and we didn't pay for things in the last decade. and that's why we dug this deep, deep hole we're in. now, if we want to go on to the infrastructure bill i'd like to do that. unless the gentleman wants to make additional comment. on the infrastructure bill, you indicate that it may come to the floor. you can tell me under what kind of a rule that will come to the floor? will it be an open rule, as has been projected? i yield to my friend. mr. cant

the close. it was a mix of defensive and economically sensitive sectors leading the pack. utilities topped the sector gainers up seven tenths of a percent. energy and consumer discretionary stocks came in next. within consumer stocks, watch disney tomorrow. after the close tonight, walt disney reported better than expected earnings, beating the street estimates by nine cents per share. the company credits better attendance at its theme parks. but revenues were lighter than anticipated. shares closed at their highest price since july before the numbers' release, and with that revenue miss, the stock was down about 1% in after hours action. we have a closer look at disney's chart on our web site, nbr.com under the blogs tab. another big dow stock, coca- cola, saw heavier volume today on its fraction gain. the stock is at a one-month high. the soft drink giant reported earnings two cents ahead of estimates. the company announced a new plan to save money, earmarking the savings for marketing, hoping to head off higher commodity prices. competitor pepsi reports earnings thursda

the financial sectors leading the gains, helping the market put in its best february in several years. interestingly, the month's worst sector was also today's biggest drag on the market: materials. even though the latest economic data has been encouraging, material stocks have not participated in all of the rally over the past few months. this sector exchange traded fund fell almost 2% today. it was a mix of material stocks weighing on the sector today. thanks to the big sell-off in gold, newmont mining dug itself a hole, down 4% on heavy volume. iron ore producer cliffs natural resources dropped 3%. this is cliff's lowest price of the year. and fertilizer maker c.f. industries cooled off by 3%. it was at a new high just yesterday. while energy has been in focus lately with rising gasoline prices, solar panel maker first solar dimmed considerably today. it was the biggest drop among s&p 500 companies, falling 11%. volume tripled with shares falling to their lows of the year. while quarterly earnings were better than expected, revenues were disappointing and it lowered its 2012 forecast. also on the selling side was staples-- volume was more than five times normal with the stock falling more than 8%. the office

the u.s. banking sector which we know is huge what are we looking at economically for the rest of two thousand and twelve and is this what the s. and p. do and if it doesn't look good. yeah i mean s. and p. is also trying to kind of rebuild its own reputation that was shattered by its constant habit of closing the barn door after the horses got out so they want to be ahead as opposed to behind the way they were with the housing crisis the way they were with the financial crisis the way they were with the european sovereign debt crisis now they're trying to be proactive of course when they are proactive they do tend to make the economy worse i think we're seeing asset markets which are notoriously bad at charting a middle course oscillate between a really pure form of fear and a fairly pure form of greed while i'm happy to see relatively better economic numbers coming in over the last few months and that is good news i would i would caution folks it looks like people got a little ahead of themselves what they think is happening here the united states is now forecasting relatively high economic

the private sector. the other thing is public-private partnerships. that's what i've been focusing on mayor partnering with the private sector to create economic opportunities. in our city i have four or five executives working for me for $1. that's all. so i've partnered with the private sector to tap into the best minds to move our city forward. i think that's what we have to do. but really focusing on those things that taxpayers can get a return on their investment. >> i can't let you go without asking you this, i was born in los angeles, they do not have a current football team. i did watch the l.a. rams unfortunately as a kid. can you keep the jaguars in jacksonville? or is it a done deal that they're gone? >> jaguars is here to stay, baby. the mayor is going to make sure that the jaguars is going to stay. i believe in our new owner. he's investing in our city, not just with the jaguars but doing other things. we just left the jax chamber luncheon together where i spoke, he spoke. i just introduced him to all the mayors from around the country. many of them are here. he just spoke at our national meeting. he's committed to jacksonville. it's going to b

the german engineering sector says it is feeling the global economic slowdown. orders in november and december were down 10% year-on-year, but german firms remain optimistic because confirmed orders for the year as a whole are up by an impressive 10%. it is one of germany's most vital sectors, employing nearly 1 million workers. stock exchanges are buzzing on news of a potential megamerger in the making. swiss mining companies are working on a deal that would create a commodities giant with around 60 billion euros. glencor is the world's largest trader in raw materials. after yearsussions, this is thet confirmation of a formal merger talks being under way. even so, the company says the proposal is only under consideration and is by no means a done deal. the company has until march 1 to make a firm offer. >> thanks for that, steve. it is called in europe and it is set to stay that way for a while -- it is cold in europe. temperatures have been reaching minus 9 degrees celsius at their highest. in parts of eastern europe, the situation is a lot worse. over 60 peop

order by aiming at number 1, reducing spending and number 2, trying to increase the economic activity in the private sector i said was the back bone of america is our small business people. and so what i propose today is a 20% small business tax cut that goes right to the heart of the economic engine in this country, which are the men and women who are the entrepreneurs willing to go and take a risk if they just get some signal out of washington that washington will get out of the way and stop making it so expensive and so difficult. >> speaking of washington, i'm sure you have been following the controversy right here over this contraception issue. the president is now creating what he called the accommodation. that will satisfy your constituents in virginia isn't accommodation he sked? >> i don't think so because what we have here is a role by this president and his administration that goes after really, our first amendment rights to the paragraph our religion. as a member of a minority faith in this country, obviously the ability to practice my religion's very important to me, as it is for everyone in t

. >> translator: the economic impact of western sanctions on the petroleum energy sector prevails across the country, and state finances are essentially collapsing. >> some analysts say the government is intensifying its military offensive in a short term effort to contain opposition forces. >>> china says it will send an envoy and seek a peaceful solution. he dismissed the criticism he visited damascus last week and had talks with president into heart al assad. the chinese spokesman told a news conference on thursday that the vice foreign minister in charge of the middle east will be in syria the next two days. china hopes for a peaceful resolution to the syrian situation, and will play a constructive role in median and promotion of dialogue. >>> russia and china have drawn criticism from the united states as well as european and arab countries for vetoing a draft u.n. resolution earlier this month. it called for an immediate halt for attacks on civilians and human rights abuses. sergei lavrov dismissed the criticism. he visited damascus last week >>> a former senior syrian >>> the isra

the country's financial sector. the london stock exchange, an international symbol of economic power. there were continuing the work of al qaeda. big ben and the london eye on a reconnaissance mission. all four are of bangladesh origin. he was described as the linchpin of the group. the other guilty men are brothers. at the flat, police found a cache of incriminating evidence. >> inside was a handwritten letter, and on that list were the names and addresses for the mayor of london and two rabbis. as well as the words american embassy and the initials lxc which stood for london stock exchange. this website, he had been researching how to make a pipe bomb. >> and introduce something, targeting iconic buildings. i dare say they were trying to frighten people and make them reluctant to go out. >> not involved in the stock exchange plot, they have admitted other terrorism charges. as the man moved around the country, they were constantly under surveillance. this came their first significant meeting. young men from cities his inspiration was said to lie thousands of miles away. >> now dead,

the answer would still be no. we do need a strong economic platform by which to help the private sector successfully compete and create the kind of jobs that are going to provide for families and grow this economy so we can create the prosperity that was -- this city was known for really for decades. i'm going to lay out very quickly my economic plan. you're going to hear this and say it's pretty similar to other economic plans that you heard from republicans. let me do that first and let me tell you how, well, we're just a little different than some of the others in this race and how we approach the issue of creating an opportunity where everyone in america can rise and we can create a healthier, not just economy, but a healthier country. first i do believe in pro growth economics. i'm a supply side economics person. i believe in lower rates. i believe in simplification. when it comes to the corporate tax, corporate taxes as of april will be the highest in the world. i cut that corporate tax in our plan to 17.5%, make it basically a net profits tax. simple, a flat tax with one exception, i still believe we need to en

the motive. in economic news, the housing sector showed new life in january. the national association of realtors reported contracts to buy homes reached the highest level in nearly two years. and on wall street, the dow jones industrial average came close to ending the day above 13,000, but fell short in the end. for the day, the dow gained just one point to close at 12,981. the nasdaq rose two points to close at 2966. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to gwen. >> ifill: and to the presidential campaign. tensions are running high as republican candidates prepare for voters to head to the polls in two more primaries tomorrow. kwame holman has our report. >> reporter: the republican candidates had packed scheduled one day ahead of the michigan and arizona primary. mitt romney's first of three ral res was in rockfordford michigan a state where his father once was governor. >> we're going to stop some of this excessive spending and finally cut federal programs so we can balance our budget. i'm also going to take programs and send a lot of them

the oil and gas sectors should be the lifeblood that drives economic regeneration not only within their borders after 70 years of oppression, but across the global economy. the industry as a whole is transforming rapidly and profoundly. technological innovation is creating new opportunities and unconventional hydrocarbon and other resources. the rejuvenation of the reduction in the u.s. for your investment in the technology has transformed the global energy output. similar developments and renewable by wind, solar and biofuel and the global energy mix traditional hydrocarbon will continue to be important but the supply will become more diffuse and demand will move away from historic hubs in europe and the u.s.. so the world is at a turning point. the political reform a sweeping the nation. the economic certainty of energy will four in flux. western countries need to recognize how their relationship with the middle east and north africa is changing and measuring. new energy sources develop and the demand for the east increases energy will be based less on the one side of oil and the econ

proposals include entitlements and the job increases are in the government sector rather than the private sector, of course, that's poor economicte jobs are those who are in the private sector. we need to encourage them. they don't feel encouraged yet. that's why i'm hopeful that something will come of perhaps this election that will encourage job creators to not hold back anymore, but to really get back into the thing that they do the best, which is create jobs. >> can you give me a single example of something that john boehner and eric cantor has proposed that has created a job? >> as i have always said, and when i was campaigning to defeat harry reid, the job of government is to create a good climate for those who do create jobs, and that's the private sector. so those good policies would be things like reducing taxation and government regulation. right now, we're under the heel of government -- >> but if i may just interrupt you for a moment. under this president, over three million private-sector jobs has been created. i'm asking you specifically. what has john boehner or eric cantor proposed that has created a job apart f

decision puts their economic livelihood kind of on shaky ground, though i am withdrawing item 31 later, and i will explain that in a moment, the issue is how we as a city can support all sectorsthe music industry in the tough economic times that remain. so i am calling today for a hearing with the support of our president, supervisor david chiu, and i hope i can get supervisors kim and wiener, but this is in the land use and economic development committee about the role they play as an economic driver in san francisco and what the city can do to support local artists, menus, and others. since i brought the issue of the upcoming resolution that we will hear in a moment, i just wanted to set that i have been working with a number of local musicians and arts commissioners, and i have been in discussions also with the national academy of arts and sciences, and the director of the recording academy, as well, but it has been a good process to understand our local artists and how they are struggling today. i just want to add that while i am supportive of other resolutions that we have before us, or, for cybill, on today's agenda, we have the obama summer jobs. resolution, or a resol

the country's infrastructure and agriculture sectors. north korea has become isolated and seen little economic progress. the country has been forced to rely on china, a long-time ally. >>> a ratings agency has downgraded countries under scoring the financial crisis. the business team has the latest. ai. >> s&p has done the same thing and now moody's has downgraded italy and spain. it dropped italy, portugal and slovakia and malta and slashed spain by two notches. countries with the highest were spared downgrades. it lowered for france and austria from stable to negative. these two nations could face a rating cut. it listed britain to negative. it is bringing continued issue over the economic reforms. it made the decision after standard & poor's 500 downgraded nine eurozone countries, including france last month. separately, the eu welcomed greece's approach of the austerity measures. >> yesterday, the greek parliament served a crucial step forward. >> eu monetary affairs commissioner said the decision reflects the resolve of the greek people to tackle their fiscal problems. greek parties must now make a

positive economic growth returned in the fourth quarter of 2009 and we have now had ten consecutive quarters of economic growth. we see a similar picture in the private sector jobs market. in january of 2009, the economy lost more than 800,000 private sector jobs. private sector job growth returned in march of 2010 and we now have had 23 consecutive months of growth with the last month over 250,000 jobs created in this economy. i think all of us would like to see stronger economic growth and more job creation, but although unemployment is still too high, it has certainly come down substantially. the pace of this recovery is somewhat predictable because the best scientific evidence we have now is after a financial crisis, it takes longer to recover and weak unemployment continues for a longer period of time. looking forward, i believe we need to remember that we really face two critical problems in this economy. one, short-term and one longer-term. short-term, we are still recovering from the worst recession since the great depression. that was not the result of the policies of president obama. he inherited that condition. although the economy is improving,