Transcripts For KQED Nightly Business Report 20240622

Time in a decade and the markets seem to like the cluelessness. The dow rose to 17,751. The s p climbed 15. Steve has more on what the fed did and did not say. The Federal Reserve left Interest Rates unchanged as expected but whether it hinted at a rate hike to come in the next meeting. On the one hand it upgraded one part joblgs. But it left the second one, inflation, unchanged. The fed doesnt want to show its hand as did it in the 2013 paper tantrum. We dont want to see any volatility in the Financial Markets the fed. There were solid job gains, a step closer to its criteria of gains in the labor market. It also suggested a lower bar for hiking saying it will hike when it seem some further improvement. Not just improvement. I think the fed is acknowledging, it is improving. The economy is standing up on its own two feet more than it has in quite some time. This will cause the fed to raise rates. But the fed characterized inflation in virtually the same ways did it in june. As running below the 2 target and likely to gradually rise in the medium term to that target. So no progress there. That means it depends on strong job gains in the next two report before that september 17 meeting. And it depends on numbers that dont slide backwards even amid lower commodity prize and slumping international growth. Of course inflation will play a very big role. We continue to see when we look at core inflation numbers, those numbers are gradually increasing. In fact if we look at the three months average rate it shows an upward trend. Was there a hint would it raise rates in september . Yes. If you count that theyll look at the jobs date and the inflation data and make up their mine then. Thats not much of a behind at all. For nightly business report. Washington. As steve just reported, the recent route in Commodity Prices is on the raise radar. But today oil prices rebounded. West texas crude settled up nearly 2 on a possible surprise move by the Worlds Biggest Oil producer saudi arabia. But as explain, the move higher may be shortlived. Oil prices popping on the session. One. Contributing factors, some headlines coming out from saudi arabia that the country could cut its production at the end of the summer and throughout the rest of the year. The number that were looking at 10. 3 Million Barrels a day. Hovering around 10 million a day by the end of 2015. This is a bullish sign for prices with you said theyre kernel. It may not be enough of a cut. They want to see something along the lines of a Million Barrels a day to believe that this is a significant enough to impact the oil market. Still, of course there have been many factors pressuring crude prices down 15 in the last month. One of them iranian oil. The potential to come back online. Of course were still waiting for congress to potentially approve the deal that was passed by president obama and the other world powers. But the question will be when this oil, if and when it comes back online, what that will do to the market. If u. S. Production cuts and production cuts coming out of saudi arabia will be enough to still balance the supply, demand equation. The over theyll right now is that the bias is still to the down side. Although shorts are telling me theyre a little nervous. Reporting from nightly business report. Federal rerve watches the Housing Market very closely and today we plernl higher prices are beginning to take a toll on home buyers. It known aspening home sales fell 1. 8 in june from the prior months. That National Association of realtors said the drop comes after five straight months of gains. Despite the decline, israel still more than 8 higher than they were a year ago. The International Monetary fund has been calling on the Federal Reserve to delay an Interest Rate hike until ning the u. S. Economy. Today the head of the imf described the u. S. Economy as quote, the strong performer. But add that had the World Economy is fragile and still faces some downside risks. If i look at the Global Economy as it stands at the moment and the latest, the World Economy outlook, we have a situation where growth is a little bit tepid, i would say. 3. 3 2015. Hopefully 3. 8 in 2016 which is clearly better. So we have recovery as we have said. But it is fragile, unbalanced and it is there are some down side risks on the horizon. She also described chinas economy as resilient despite the recent drop in that countrys stock market. St the Global Company is entering what it call a new era. Microsoft, the Worlds Largest Software Maker is launching an updated product, windows 10. It rolls out today. This one is free to most existing windows users. Ininvestigators seem pleased. She sent shares 2 higher. As josh lipton reports, the company has a lot riding on its success. Do you want to make windows 10 the most loved release of windows. Microsoft ceo has earned praise for his decision to focus on mobile technology and cloud services. Now he faces his biggest test yet with the launch of windows 10. The companys new operating system. Especially after the disappointment of windows 8 that we saw, this really needs to be successful for investors to believe that microsoft can recreate the growthful . Have the windows franchise still accounts for some 25 of microsofts revenue and it impacts a lot of peel. More than 1 billion people rely on windows today. But expectations are muted. A financial bump in windows 10 would show up in the companys devices and consumer licensing group. Right now, wall street thinks sales in that division will fall 6 in 2016. Analysts have been disappointed with the most recent upgrades. I believe the expectations are so low here based on what they saw with windows 8. I think investors will probably be surprised at how well they do. And also the way theyre accounting for windows and being very conservative and whatve theyre telling people that says it wont have an impact until next year i think theyre playing it very safe. Analysts do think windows 10 will be pop lafrl theres an all new browser called edge. And cortana which responds to voice commands comes to the desk top. What is the traffic like going home . Traffic is light. The operating system starts up and resumes faster and boasts more builtin security features. There is also the hope that windows 10 could give a boost to weak pc sales. Research firm idc expects pc shipments to drop 6 this year. Microsoft has very ambitious goals. The Software Giant wants 1 billion 10 devices in the margaret within the next three years. Today is the start of that campaign. For nightly business report, im josh lipton in San Francisco. From old tech to new. Facebook reported better than expected earnings and revenue that was slightly better than expectations. The social Media Company earned 50 cents a share. 3 cents better than forecast. But profits fell from a year ago on heavy spending. Revenue jumped 39 as more advertisers flocked tots mobile app. Despite the beach, sale initially fell. Heres more on the numbers and what investors need to know about that report. Facebook hits nearly 1. 5 billion users. 65 use facebook every day. The key sign that its product is working for consumers and its ad for marketers, it grew to 2. 76. 6 cents better than expected and up from a year ago. Video ads were key to driving growth as is mobile which is down 73 of the total ad revenue, from 62 in the year ago quarter. Two companies caught up in the Health Care Consolidation wave. Both reported better than expected earnings today. Anthem gets 2015 forecast. And humana reported at 25 jump in profits. The stocks went in Different Directions with anthem rising and humana falling. With a third of americans enrolled in medicare and medicaid Bertha Coombs reports on how dependent these company are on Government Programs which against dental coincidencely turn 50 today. For americans, it is an entitlement. For politicians, it is the sacred cow. While the medicaid plan for the poor is sometime more partisan. We must not allow the promise of medicare and medicaid to be undermined or be betrayed. For insurers it is an important source of growth. In the last decade, the percentage seniors buying private insurance plans has more than doubled from 13 to 31 . Expansion under the Affordable Care act has seen medicaid add 14 million low income americans. People with Government Health care. That number is growing. While the number of people with private insurance through their employer is starting to shrink a little bit. So it is a matter of which direction the numbers are shifting. And that shift is they know bottom line of firm in the Government Health care sector. The nations second largest Insurer Anthem reported Second Quarter profits above estimates after adding more than a million new medicaid customers. Anthem hopes to grow the combined medicare business. Humana which has agreed to be acquired by etna post reports slightly higher though theyve been using more medical treatments pressuring the profits. Slim margins on government plans leave less room for error than employer coverage. And then theres the political risk. When the economy gets tight, and the politicians are looking to balance a budget, that is a natural pot of money. Big pots of money they look to squeeze down. But as George Washington University Professor points out, with insurers more involved medicare and medicaid patients now have a voice with big business to push back when funding cuts are threatened. Nightly business report, washington. Still ahead, the chinese farmer who lost more than just his money in the chinese stock market decline. He also lost hope. Department of defense award ad multibillion dollar contract. The defense contractor which teamed up. As reported earlier this week these company will be responsible for modernizing the militarys medical records for near lip 10 million military records. The contract is valued at around 9 billion over the next 18 years. They were also in the running for that contract. Boeing may make some big changes if congress doesnt move on the export import bank. The chairman says the company is considering moving some of its units to other countries that offer export credits. And that is just one of thele things that congress has on its to do list with not much time to do it. Joining us from washington so there isnt a lot of time here. What does congress have to get done . Thats right. There are at a least five big ticket items on the gentle in washington as Congress Goes out for a summer break. When they come back this fall take look at this to do list that theyll to have get through somehow all the partisan bickering in washington. Theyll have to work on a highway bill just tonight. The house passed a short term extension. Theyll have to deal with the export import bank. The senate tried to get that through this week and the house said no. Theyll to have figure how to improve the iran nuclear deal. And the debt ceiling and a continuing resolution to fund the government will all be on the agendas. A lot of work coming up this fall. Which of those will get done . Thats a great question. The thing that get done are the absolute must passes. I think the continuing resolution you can bet that will get done. I think raising the debt ceiling as tough as that is as a vote for republicans, that will probably get done too. Some other things might be more discretionary. Which ones might . If you have to go through that discretionary list, which do you think are either so contentious that they wont be able to get to agreements or they might put it aside or they wont be able to get it done . I wouldnt have said this earlier this year. I think the export ill port bank could be in the cross hairs. The congress has allowed the authority to expire. It is operating with a broken wing. There are conservatives on capitol hill who really hate the idea of a bank that financials loans for u. S. Exporters. That one sort of splits the party between the claim better of commerce wing. That one could die. So do his comments about maybe moving some of the boeing units to other countries, will that resonate with those on the fence . If boeing moves those units, it may mean theyll lose the jobs. It may back fire. Conservatives on capitol hill may look at that as bullying and they might dig in their heels. It is just very, very unpopular. In group. Thanks so much. As always. And sue, we begin the market focus with mixed results from mastercard. Wrerngs basically flat. Revenue growth was weaker than expected. This is the stronger dollar. On top of that, the firm offered more rebates and incentives for deals. Still, shares were up today. To 96. 73. The defense contractor Northrup Grum only. It was higher because of tax credits. The firm hiked its full year guidance. Shares rose 6 . Glaxosmithkline on both the top and bottom lines, cost cuts help the drug maker overcome. Shares were 2 higher at 42. 62. And reported earnings and revenue in line with expectations. The ceo of the company which is behind brands like i love this. Crock pot. And Yankee Candle says despite concerns about performance overseas he still sees opportunity. Brazil we have a pretty big base of operation. And the economy has slowed down quite a bit. We see theres a lot of white space for growth. While the economy may have its issues we have market share opportunities across the board. In europe asia or latin america or brazil specifically. Shares were up 2 to 55. 32. Love my crock pot. All earnings came in better than analysts were expecting. On that they announced a 1 million buy back program. Shares were off 1. 5 . A disappointing late report from whole foods. The grocery chain missed on all fronts and sales came in below estimates. The top it off, they cut the sales forecast. Sale were way down in initial after hours trading. Before the close it was off slightly to 40. 82. Profits plunged more thanly the on slumping revenue from macao. It has cracked down on corruption. It was a choppy trading right after the close. They ended off 2 . Marriott on the other hand beat on the bottom. The revenue came in a little below forecast. The Third Quarter earnings estimates were below census. Shares were unchanged initially after the close. Before the bell, the stock was 3 higher to close at 77. Volkswagen is warning about the most important market china. They said it fell 16 because of weakness in the worlds second largest economy. Bmw cut the World Outlook for deliveries. The stock market in china rebounded putting a stop to the threeday slide that wiped 3 off. It is still down about 25 from its peak in mid june. And it is the 90 million reterrell investors in that country that are the real casualties including a rural farm he who spoke about his financial ask emotional pain with. Reporter he saw his dream of getting rich disappear in the stock market. Began investing in 2008 from the remote town in southwest china. He lost everything. I feel so hopeless he says. Traditionally chinese stay away from the sto market. That changed in 2015 when the government started promoting stocks as part of a grand slam to open the economy and expand the role of markets here. He put his savings of 164,000 in the market and invested his relatives money, too. He bet it all on one stock. A local mining company. When the market climbed to 4,000 points i realized the risks were pretty high. However, Public Opinion on Government Policies affected my judgment. What doomed him was margin trading. His brokerage convinced him to try the. He borrowed 1 million. More than five times his portfolio. When the market hit a low point in early july his brokerage forced him to liquid ate. In an ironic twist, he now owes roughly the same amount he originally invested. He isnt alone. At brokerages across the country, hundreds of thousands of ordinary investors have been caught off guard by the volatility. Many have suffered catastrophic losses. Young bought a train ticket to beijing. Like many investors, he traveled to the offices of the leadership and the stocks regulator but was turned away. I dont know what to do. I trusted the government too much he said. I wont touch stocks again. Returning home empty handed. The full weight of the family crisis. I have ruined everyone in my family. For nightly business report. Pain is universal. Coming up hitting the road. Why americans are keeping their old cars longer than ever. Heres what to watch tomorrow. Earning from the dow component proctor and gamble. A read on Gross Domestic Product closely watched since it is the broadest measure of activity. And on the data front, the weekly jobless claims report and thats what to watch thursday. Some positive news for herbal life today. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit as being a pyramid scheme. The judge said the lawsuit failed to show that herbal life and its ceo defraud shareholders by concealing the inability to track retail sales. Shares rose more than 2. 5 . A nice report from marathon petroleum. The if i recall announcing nearly 30 hike in its quarterly did i have denied. The payout of 32 cents a share will be paid in september to shareholders of record. As of august 19. The yield now on that did i have denied is around 2 . More layoffs in the energy sector. Chevron says it will cut 2 of its work force. The move is an effort to trim its cost to offset the tumbling crude prices. Nearly all the layoffs will be in texas. So you drive an old car . If not, you are not alone. A new study shows the average age for a vehicle in the United States on the roads is now at an all time high of 11 1 2 years. It is the latest sign that Many Americans are sticking with their old cars or maybe that the old cars are better than old cars. Were even as others push new car sales to near record levels. Reporter behold the old one. Cars built before navigation systems, features we took for grand. A new study finds the average age of vehicles in america which was once you understand nine years, has now climbed to 11 1 2 years. There are people driving these older vehicles and they continue to hang on to them longer. Check factors that keep people from purchasing a new vehicle, all the way to simply better quality vehicles. And they dont need to scrap them out if you will at the rate we did in the past. Reporter in fact, almost one out of every four vehicles out on the road was built before the year 2000. Why are these old cars still so popular . One reason is theyre paid for. The owner is no longer having a monthly loan payment. Another factor is the quality and reliability of vehicles has dramatically improved over the last 25 years. So they last longer. It is not uncommon to see cars with well over 100,000 miles on the odometer. Still, as new models become more advanced offering buyers the latest in connectivity entertainment and safety, analysts admit that days for old vehicles may be limited. One of the big things will be forcing consumers to make a choice before the life of the vehicle is over is the new technology thats available on new vehicles today. And that could drive consumers to perhaps turn cars over faster than were seeing now. Reporter experts believe the average age for cars is unlikely to climb much higher. Primarily because new models are selling at close the a record level and increasingly even the people driving old vehicles are convinced, it is time to buy a new one. Nightly business report, chicago. Driving three kids around in a while. Time buy a new one. Puts some age on a car in a hurry sfwhfl the juice boxes, the cheerios. That does it for nightly business report. Im sue herera. Thanks for joining us. And have a great evening. We hope youll join us tomorrow night. All across america, exotic plants and animals are invading aquatic ecosystems, displacing native species and altering the countrys lakes, rivers and estuaries forever. Some dont become that common. Others have enormous impact on the bay. A single species in some cases has altered the way the ecosystem functions. Quest travels from San Francisco bay to the great lakes to learn how these aquatic invaders are arriving and what scientists are doing to cope with the influx of uninvited guests. That fishery is really a potential serious venue for the asian carp to show up and really disrupt the ecosystem, the economy and the culture of the great lakes