you might think business is booming, but as tom hudson reports, station profits are being pinched by higher pump prices. >> tom: when you're in the gas station business, lots of traffic is a good thing. every car is a customer. but with the price of gasoline around $4 a gallon, not every customer is spending what they used to on other items. >> gas is a driver, gas is a driver to bring in people. but at the end of the day, it's not going to make anybody rich. >> tom: michael mendez owns mendez fuel holdings. he runs four stations, including this mobil in coral gables, florida. his biggest profit margins aren't at the pump. they're not in his convenience store, either. they're in his car wash. gas station owners hope for a profit of 12 cents per gallon. as prices rise, competition from other stations keeps a lid on price increases. as gas prices have shot up, it's common for stations like this one with a convenience store to see sales inside the store drop off. as gasoline prices have moved higher, clearly, that has led to a higher cost of goods. obviously, the gasoline in the ground i

before tom hudson left on assignment, he caught up with hilary kramer, getting her stock picks, and answering your questions. >> tom: investing always includes a certain amount of uncertainty. but with the spending debate in washington, questions about european government debt and efforts to slow down the red hot chinese economy, tonight's street critique guest is looking for the comfort in electricity and water, hillary kramer. always nice to see you. usually power and water don't mix like. this you like them both. first the swiss utility company abb, which does trade here in the united states under the same ticker symbol. a nice 50% rally over the past year. what do you think will power it from here? >> abb has contracts all over the world, and close to 20% of their sales come from china, india and some of the other south asian markets. tom, it's all about electricity transmission, efficient grid development, and you have countrys that need to build out their grid, and others like the united states where it's falling apart. that's where abb comes in. and plus they're also a clean tech play

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by:

i'm tom hudson, have a great night, susie. >> susan: thank you tom. thanks for watching everyone, hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" video "how wall street works". to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >> be more. pbs. 

i'm tom hudson. have a great weekend everyone you, too, susie. >> susie: good night, tom. i'm susie gharib. goodnight, everyone. we hope to see all of you again next week. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org 

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening, everyone and thanks for joining us. more americans got jobs in april as businesses stepped up hiring. susie, it was the best month for the labor market in more than five years. >> susie: tom, the jobs came from retail, leisure, healthcare, business services and even manufacturing. companies added 244,000 people to their payrolls last month. but the unemployment rate notched up to 9%. economists were expecting it to stay unchanged at 8.8%. >> tom: it's the third straight month more than 200,000 jobs were added. the big question now: will the hiring continue or better yet accelerate? suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: take a walk down manhattan's 42nd street and in just one block, there are three different help wanted signs-- one, two, three. a year ago, these simple words were a lot harder

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening everyone and thanks for tuning in. susie gharib is off tonight. i'm joined by suzanne pratt. google finally took the wraps off google wallet. >> tom, the google effort put software on smart phones, it allows subscribers to use the device to pay for things. mobile payment services are widely used in japan and already there are other u.s. companies testing similar applications. >> tom: erika miller explains there are some obstacles to the success of the google wallet. >> reporter: it's a familiar routine. you go into a store, pick out the items you need and pay with cash or credit card. but if google and mastercard have their way, the experience will soon be much different. shoppers will get personalized coupons on their cell phones, pay with the phone and have receipts immediately emailed. mastercard's ed mclaughlin promises nothing short of life- c

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. i'm joined by my colleague suzanne pratt. wall street welcomes a new chapter in barnes and noble's search for a buyer. since august the bookstore has been looking for a buyer and it found one in liberty media. suzanne, the buyout offer sent barnes and noble shares up 30%. >> suzanne: tom, now everyone wants to know what liberty's john malone sees in the many analysts think he's focuses e-book reader. a new version of the nook is due out next week. >> tom: liberty media has been known for seemingly unconventional deals in the past. it owns the atlanta braves, major league baseball team; a technology company that can locate mobile phone signals for security purposes, called true position but the billion-dollar offer to buy a book store has many wondering about this deal. >> is th

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. stocks and commodity prices were down today, and susie, gold and silver also dropped sharply. >> susie: tom, the recent sell- off in precious metals accelerated today. silver prices plunged 7.5% to just under $40 an ounce. gold fell $25 to $1,515. one catalyst? word that george soros' big hedge fund is cutting back its position in precious metals. >> tom: and another factor in the selling? maybe new margin requirements for silver from the c.m.e. group. the commodities exchange has raised trading costs three times in the past week, making it more expensive for investors. and speculators. suzanne pratt reports on whether the outlook for precious metals is tarnished. >> reporter: listen closely and perhaps you can hear the silver bubble popping. having doubled its price in six months, the white metal is down 19% i

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. fresh worries about the housing market today. the spring selling season usually is real estate's busiest time of the year, but new data suggests it may not be off to a strong start. >> susie: tom, new-home construction data came in surprisingly weak. housing starts plunged in april by more than 10%, a sharp contrast to march, when they rose by double digits. >> tom: with this volatility, buyers and sellers want to know, is the market getting better or worse? erika miller reports. >> reporter: if you want to take the pulse of the real estate market, pamela liebman is a good person to ask. she's the c.e.o. of the corcoran group, one of the nation's largest real estate brokers. liebman says low prices are luring in buyers, especially at the high end. >> they feel like the market

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. big oil and big tax breaks made for a volatile combination on capitol hill today, susie. >> susie: tom, c.e.o.s from the five biggest oil companies were there, defending their big profits and tax rates. the top execs from exxon mobil, shell, b.p., chevron and conoco phillips all came before a congressional committee. >> tom: those oil companies went on the defensive, thanks to a democratic effort to repeal their tax rates. republican senators were quick to point out that changing the tax rates of big oil companies wouldn't help the country's debt problem. and as darren gersh reports, the hearing was contentious and, mostly, political theater. >> reporter: the oil executives took an aggressive stance, vigorously defending what they pay in taxes, saying the tax break

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening, everyone. general motors zoomed back to the top sales spot last month on strong sales of small cars like its chevy cruze. >> tom: susie, g-m and ford had a great month; they outsold many of their japanese rivals. that's the latest indication of the supply disruptions stemming from japan's earthquake and tsunami. sales at general motors rose 27% on its compact cars and crossovers, chrysler jumped 22%, while ford saw a 16% increase. toyota sales were only up a single percent as the auto maker experienced supply shortages. >> susie: as diane eastabrook reports, the shift to more fuel- efficient cars, combined with a recovering economy, is good news for u.s. auto makers. >> reporter: it's taken a few years, but u.s. consumers are finally in a car-buying mood again. guggenheim securities' joh

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. an important milestone for chrysler today. it repaid $7.5 billion in bailout loans from the u.s. and canadian governments. and tom, for chrysler this is an amazing story about its determination to survive. >> tom: and its ability susie, c.e.o. sergio marchionne marked the payback at a chrysler plant in michigan. he said the repayment closes an important chapter at chrysler, but added there is still "work to be done." >> we are changing both the image and the substance of our group and regaining the faith of the public. this impressive about-face prompted one commentator to say that we have gone from third world to world class. >> susie: chrysler survived financial collapse after the u.s. forced it into bankruptcy almost two years ago. the government committed more than $12 billi

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> suzanne: good evening everyone and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. tom, summer gets off to an unofficial start this memorial day weekend and many americans are likely to hit the road. still, higher gas prices may take a bite out of some of those travel plans. >> tom: suzanne, we're definitely seeing that in the latest data on the consumer. consumer spending rose less than expected last month gaining a modest four-tenths of 1%. economists say prices at the pump continue to put the squeeze on household budgets. >> suzanne: if you're not driving this weekend, perhaps you're taking to the skies. a new survey from a.a.a. predicts airline travel is likely to be up 11.5% during the holiday period, a healthy pick up from last year. the increase in demand comes as the airlines cope with a rather p

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made pole by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. i'm joined by my colleague suzanne pratt. suzanne, stocks moved higher today, putting a halt to a three-day selloff. >> suzanne: tom, one of those bumps could be the completion of the federal reserve's bond- buying program, scheduled for the end of june. the $600 billion strategy is known as qe2, or quantitative easing. its goal has been to keep bond prices high and interest rates low. >> tom: so, what will the end of qe2 mean for your portfolio? erika miller reports. >> reporter: ask anyone on the street about qe2, and here's what you'll get: >> qe2 means queen elizabeth the second. >> that's a cruise ship? >> qe2? >> reporter: but the end of the fed's second quantitative easing program could affect borrowing rates on everything from mortgages to stu