Uncertainty, and all of that made for a down day that saw losses accelerate into the close. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 173 points to 25,962. The nasdaq was down 54 and the s p 500 slipped 23. One of the bright wpots toda home depot. The Worlds Largest home improvteent retailer rep betterthanexpected earnings and that sent its shares up more than 4 , making it the Top Performing stock in the dow today. But the company did lower its Sales Outlook for the whole year amid concerns about the economy and the tradeco war. Tney reagan has more. Reporter recession fears loom and there are signs of owing economic growth. Home depot executives say the consumer remains healthy and the Housing Market is stable, though it wasnt a perfect quarter for the Home Improvement retailer. Lumber pricetieflation ces to weigh on sales. Prices are more than 50 lower than a year ago, and a big reason comparable sales disappointed. Unseasonable weather delayed some Home Improvement projects early in the quarter, though as the weather improved so did sales. Saleig of ticket items like floridaing ali aces were strong as were sales to professionals like contractors aseros contio work through a backlog of projects from poor weather yerli weather earl year ier in the ye. Chief Financial Officer carolto y told me she estimates total tariff exposure tos home depotround 2 billion or 2 u. S. Steals, which she calls, quote, manageable for our scale and size. Home depot is taking a threepronan approach toe tariffs. Negotiating with vendors, finding other ways to mitigate higher costs, moving products production and, lastly, making careful decisions about which items it can increase prices on. While she is comfortable h ce depot manage the tariffs, she added, quote, what happens tosu conrs more broadly with tariffs. If consumers start to slow down spending more broadly, could it have an impact on gdp, a concern echoed by wall street. The risk aroundfs tar think is very manageable. We estimate the average retailer will only have to raise prices 5 to 7 , and thats assuming thatt vendors d help them out. So it is really going to be a question of what happens in 2020, because if they dont go away it is another discussion. Reporter but even if it can manage riffs, not all analysts are convinced home depot will continue its strong run. When we look into at the fullyea 2019, you know, we are past home depots peak, samestore sales growth year which was 2017. We are past the peak growth years which was 2018. We are cycling through the ptks and point of deceleration. You know, the stock is up 25 th year. Have the fundamentals improved 25 yeartodate . I don think we aret that point. Reporter leaving a lot of uncertainty in the wake of a relatively stable quarter. For nightly im courtney reagan. Sales also missed the mark at kohls despite reporting better than expected earnings. The retailer forecasted a steeper than expected decline in Profit Margins due to a potential hit from new tariffs on imports fro china. That sent the stock down by more than 6 . Shares of Tjx Companies were also lower. The Parent Company of tj maxx and home goods warned that Third Quarter profits will come in below estimates on an increase in competition. And in washington the focus is very much on the economy n right now, e though the president has said were far from a recessi. He admitte today that he is examining a number of stimulus meases including more tax cuts. Ayman javers is at the white house for us tonight. Reporter some back and forth over the past 24 hours here at the white house over the idea o a payroll tax cut. Yesterday the white house denying the news report that suggested that the white house wanted to move forward on a payroll tax cut. Weay, t the president said hes considering it. Here is what the president said today talking to reporters in the oval office, and also mentioning the idea ofnding capital gains, another tax cut sroposal the white house considering. A lot of people have been talking about indexingy for m nkars, and it is something that i am certainly tg about. I can say that a majority of the people in the white house at the level that does this kind of thing, they like indexing. So it is something im thinking about. Payroll taxeee ive thinking about payroll taxes for a long time, whether or not we do it n or not is it is not being done because of recession. Reporter the president there obviously sensitive about the idea tt theres a recession looming. He insists there is not and it is not why theyre considering these ideas. Nonetheless, he is also pushing th Federal Reserve today for 100basis point cut in interest rate. So ah the president says he doesnt want that cut all at one time, we will see what the fed has to say about that too. For nightly business report, the white avers a house. Overseas the british economy shh rank for the first time in almo seven years. Economists cite a combination or brexit uinty and slowing global growth. The slowdown occurred across britains manufacturing, construction and agriculture sectors. According to officials statistics, only the Services Sector showed growth italy has its own economic challenges and tonight it is without a prime minister. He abruptly tendered h resignation after days of politica infighting, adding a new levelta of uncty to a country with an enormous pile of debt. Willem marx reports for us tonight from rome. Reporter italys pfessor turned premier faced down rows of unruly opposition tuesday afternoon. The countrys political cass wab forck early from summer recess and the schools new rebels came out in fce. When conde lectured they hectored. En antagonist in chief remained as in recent weeks his deputy and interior mistry. Dear matteo, by starting this government crisis you take great responsibility towards the country. You announce this crisis asking full powerso rule the country, and again recently i have heard you calling the people in the squares to support y. This idea allow me to say is preoccupying me. Reporter seatingt his righthand side, his sown jude as smirked and pointed out t government that he helped form last may. Im sorry you had to put up badl i didnt understand that. Im sorry for that. Reporter he staye in Campaign Mode much of the summer, but it is a mistimed attempt to hize power. Sold only he was the wise guy to make the moves and the others would stay there wting for him to to have h final blow. But they did what he did. Reporter salvinis former partners of the five Star Movement could join unexpectedly with the Opposition Democratic Party to form an alternative coalition, but it is a ctieup thld prove just as tortuous. Contes decision to resign leaves a large vacancy in the building behind me, the powerful center of italys executive branch. As executives and businesses followshe negotiati that now will be spearheaded by italys president as he tries to craft a new political majority, the Political Uncertainty and risk that could accpany it could remain high. Italys Financial Ministry must submit a draft proposal for the annual budget to european commdsion by tober. Last falls italys budgetary battles in parliament spooked global markets. Despite record low yields elsewhere in europe, italy remains an economic outli with its massive debt pile and little political will to trend spending. The jeers and jokes in parliament suggest far too few politicians here are prepared to take those challenges as seriously as markets might like. For nightly business report, im willem marx in rom i t is time to take a look at some of todays upgrades and downgrades. Advi was upgraded to overweight from neutral. The analyst says the worst mayf lly be over for the drugmakers stock which is down more than 25 hio far year. The price target is 80, despite thepgrade the stock fell a fraction to 66. 41. Beyond meat was uraded to overweight from neutral at jp morgan. The anast cites the potential for the plantbased murger market to acquire new customers. The price tget is 188. The stock rose 6. 5 to 153. 97. Hp was downgraded to neutral from buyt citi. The analyst cites limited catalysts that would move the stock. The price target i 21. The stock slipped 1. 5 to. 9 still ahead, investors first, ceos say maybe not. Yesterday we brought youf one sidehe debate. Tonight the other. A top antitrust official at the department of justice said today a couple of dozen states ve expressed interest in investigating big tech. The comment was made at the Technology Policy institute. I think it is that were all in the same place, having had conversations with general. Te attorneys at the federal level and the state ags, i dont think you know, theyre at different stages of investigation. The investigation isd expec to be bipartisan, and as we reported last night the state attorneys general want to examine whether some dominant power es are using their to limit competition. Apple is reportedly spending a lot of money to compete with amazon and netflix. The Financial Times says that the company has committed more than 6 billion for original programs as it preparesun to its streaming Service Called tv plus sometime this fall. Sterday apple released a trailer for a new original series called the morning show starring Reese Witherspoon and jennifer aniston, which reportedly cost more per episode than game of thrones cost in its final season. Andt is not jus apple spending more. Coumers as well when iomes to electronic devices. Like other areas of retail, how and where tho purchases are being made is changing. Josh lipton has the next installment in our look at the american consumer. R orter it used to be that shoppers wanted toch t and feel cool, new electronics before buying them, but not anymore. Moneyre okay spending sight unseen, which is why ses of devices in store are falling and purchases online are rising. Theyre willing to pay up for what they want. The math here tells youehat averelling prices are going to be going up as consumers make th choices to spend a little bit more than they might have in the past. Reporter the industry is entering a new phase. Many consumers already have the gadgets they want and need, so when they buy new electronics they oft trade up fore expensive items. Im looking to buy a new phone actually. Im using the iphone 6 right now, but it is it is pretty old. I really like air pod eyre pretty convenient. My roommates and i own a tv. Reporter thats where deman is strongest, for things like highend Wireless Headphones as well as health and fitness devices. That benefits apple with its wah and air pods. Another hot area, Smart Home Products like amazon and googles smart speakers, thermostats and doorbells. When consumers watch sports and movies, the want large screen televisions like the 65inch ones sold bysamsung, lg and sony, which are about 35 more expensive than the average tv. As for pcts, tha market sure isnt growing like it used to, but certain segments within that market like gaming pcs made by dell and hp remain demand. What categories are under pressure . Basic headphones, small screent and thanks in part to smartphones, traditional poinandshoot cameras. Speaking of smartphones, the u. S. Smartphone market this year is expected to decline nearly 9 . For nightly business report, im josh lipton in san francisco. U. S. Steel is and that is where we begin tonights market focus with the company sayin it plans to layoff nearly 200 workers at a michigan plant because of low prices and softd dem for steel. The steelmaker says that the layoffs will affect employees in nearly every area of the facility and it could lastix beyond months. Shares were down a fraction today to 12. 31. Medtronics saw an increase in demand for its surgical instrument d andbetes devices, which helped the company top wall street estimates. The medical device maker also raised itsfu year outlook. Stock rose more than 2 today to 106. 91. Madison square garden posted a wider than expected loss and it fell short of expectations. The entertainment and sports operator was ht by increased personnel costs and expenses connected to a proposed spinoff of the companys spos business. Shares dropped nearly 9 oday to 267. 33. Cigna is reportedly seeking a sale of its Group Benefits insurance business, which could be worth nearly b 6lion. Reuters says the Health Insurer is working with an Investment Bank to sell the unit which includes Life Insurance and disability coverage for groups of company employees. The stock was down more than 1 to 161. 15. End pharmaceutical is reportedly close to making a deal over opioidrelat charges. The wall street journal says the drugmaker is looking to finalize a 10 million settlement with two ohio counties that named the companye endos s rose more than 18 to. 0 just about boeing plans to hire a few hundred temporary employees to work on its grounded 737 max fleet. The workers will be providing Aircraft Maintenance customer delivery preparations. Boeing was off a fraction to 331. 75. And after the bell, ther homebuiloll brothers posted better than expected results. The company cited lowra mortgag s, a limited supply of new and existing homes and strong employment. Shares were volatile in the after hours trading. They closed the regular session up more than1 to 36. 91. Last night we told you that the business round table is redefining its statement of the purpos of a corporation. To better reflect decisions based onke slder values and not solely on shareholder lues. Last nights guest thought that move was a bad idea. Joining us to show an opposing view of that is martin whitaker, the ceo of the Nonprofit Research firm just capital. Welcome. Nice to have you here, marti thank you, sue. Thanks for having me on. Our guest last night made thg point he t it was a bad decision. He he is he said it had been put in place before and it didnt work, and because shareholders a giving money to the corporation they should be put first. What is wrong with that argument . Well, for one thing it not really the case that looking after your workers or treating your cusmers wellr making great products or investing in the communities where you operate is antithetical to treating your shareholders wes. Itot an either or game. What we found is the businesses that look after stakeholders do better in the market. So weathink it is a g move. We applaud what business round table has done. You know, this is an historic think. We it also aligns with how the American PeopleWant Companies to behave. We have surveyed thousands of people over the last five years all across america, all different backgrounds, and this is exactly what they tell us. This guest from last night that were t referri was charles elson, runs the weinberr ceor Corporate Governance at the university of delaware. His point was, look, when you areerying to ple everybody you end up pleasing nobody. Here is whae said. Listen. The watch stops, it still gets the time right twice you have multiple constituencies you answer to, you will get it right for somebod but it doesnt mean a healthy business. For shareholders being deep sixed like this, particularly given the fact that today everyone is a shareholder through the retirement plan, state Pension Plans and what not, it really will harm ihink accountability of management to the shareholder and t public. Essentially maybe the Company Loses focus when they get away from the idea that it is all about profitability. What dhi you . I think hes completely wrong. You only have to talko leading ceos today to understand that the way to build Healthy Company is to look after all of your stakeholders. Shareholders will win in the end. Our own research and our own data and our own funds show that. Unfortunately, i think thi is a view that i think, you know, reflects history, not the future. You know, also there are those making the point that incomenequality has partly been a product of companies puttinghe bottom line before other things. I would assume you would agree with that. Absolutely. When you look at the income inequality in this untry, when you look at how we need businesses working for more americans, youknow, we need to get the American Dream back. We need life breathed into it. Jamie diamond, chairman of the business round table, said thea amerream is fraying, but it is alive. Our own work shows that people just want a fair shake, and i think if they think the business is working for them, not against them, and they think that people are going to be, you know, sharing fairly in a companys profits, thats going to make them better employees. Theyre going to serve their customers better. Guess what . Management, shareholders, theyre going to win. Ot now, it is easy to do, but we see companies doing that all the time. Thats wt we do for a living at just capital. We timck that. The has come we think to really put that center stag and n the next stage is, okay, lets track companies and see how theyre actually doing on implementing this new stakeholder model. Mr. Whitaker, thanks so much for spending time with us. My pleasure. Martin whitaker with just capital. Coming up, why a fast food companys secret sauce has nothing to do with food. Here is a look at what to watch for tomorrow. Retailers report earnings including target, nordstrom and lowes. We will find out ifrt lower ge rates helped lift sales of existing homes in july and the Federal Reserve releases its minutes of the last meeting where it lowered bench mark interest rates. Thats what to watch for on wednesday. Whe o you think innovation you likely think of silicon valley, not fast food. But dominos is very much into innovation, and it is one example of a company not rest until it figures out how to improve not pizza but pizza delivery. Kate rogers is in michigan for us. Dominos may be a established global pizza powerhouse, but in its Innovation Garage it is looking moree a startup. It is here where teams from across the country come to collaborate and brainstorm new ideas not related to the menu. Really t this in place to help us continue to accelerate innovation in all things deliver so were able to stand up or break down a store in a matter of hou l. We canook at how we interface with things like this neuro robot, how team members utilize the technology in the stores to make sure were as efficient and Cost Effective as we can possibly be. Reporter delivery has become a focal point for the industry, so theres a dedicated space for testing new offerings including gps tracking for orders, which is expected to roll out by the end of the year. E bes are being looked at as a way to delivery food in certain geographic areas. Theres this. The neuro rob bot is bei deployed in houston later this year. It is an unmanned vehicle that could show up at your door. To use it the customer enters a code right here. Enter your four digit access de. Great. Opening door. Reporter the doors open on up. You grab your pizza andth go. Es always no tipping necessary. Reporter dominos is not the only major restaurant letting investors and shareholders behind the scene as it innovates. Starbucks has a hub called the trier center where it is testing new menu ims and the store in seattle. Unlike many of dominos competitors who teamed up with Companies Like door dash and grubhub, alison maintainsin keepg delivery in house as dominos continues to expand and put stores clor to o another will be the right strategy for the brand long term. The first reason is were not going to out source the Customer Experience to someone else. If we want our customers interfacing with us through any one of 20 odd ways they can order pizza from w, butn the delivery happens the only Human Interaction is when that expert. We want that to be a dominos trained delivery expert so we own that process from start to finish. Reporter as the battle heats up in tce fast food spa with the delivery now available for nearly any type of food customers are craving, companies are working overtime to stay ahead and innfoate. R nightly business report, im kate rogers in ann arbor,an mich before we go, here is another look at the days final numbers on wall street. The dow fell 173 points to 25,962. Th nasdaq was down 54, and the s p 500 flipped 23. Thats nightly busi tss report foight. Im sue herera. Thanks for joining us, and we would like to remind you that this is the time of year your Public Television station seeks your support. Im bill griffeth. Thank you very much for that support. Have a great evening. See you tomorrow. Woman this is bbc world news america. Is made possible by. Eeman foundation; by judy and peter blumkovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs; and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you