Good evening, everyone and welcome. November, it is a month most investors embrace because its famous for starting what historically has been the most bullish sixmonth period for stocks dating back to 1950. But fresh off fridays record high closes for the dow and the s p 500, the markets began this november with a whimper. Early in the day, stocks did rise on favorable data about u. S. Manufacturing. At one. In fact, both the dow and the dow and the s p set fresh intraday highs then came the sharp selloff on oil and that sent Energy Stocks down. The Broader Market followed suit. Heres how things looked at the closing bell. The dow down 25, the nasdaq added 8 just enough to close at a fresh 14 1 2year high and the s p was fractionally lower. So despite todays uninspiring start, will this be a november to remember in the markets . Dominic chu takes a look. Theres a reason why so many investors are optimistic when it comes to the Holiday Season. The end of the year typically comes with a nice rally for the stock market. According to analysts thats been the case over the course of the last century. They looked at the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial average and found that november delivers an average gain of close to threequarters of 1 and is positive 60 of the time. December is even better. Up and average of almost 1 1 2 with positive returns 75 of the time. This time around, there are a number of positive drivers for markets and thats leading some experts to forecast a happy Holiday Season. I do believe that youre going to get a santa claus rally this year. Accident gdp numbers, pretty good confidence in the market, pretty good confidence in manufacturing and i think that consumers will spend this year. Of course, just because things in the past have generally been bullish for the stock market during the final two months of the year doesnt mean they are necessarily going to be the same this time around. There are those who believe that investors still have to be aware of the many risks that still linger. The real risk is that growth doesnt materialize, you get europe or you get a geopolitical event or even japan that ends up to create a real concern and begins to create a true growth concern for the market and, if that happens, and growth doesnt materialize, thats certainly a risk to our prospects of a very good close to the year. Those are just a few of the market and economic variables to contend with. Were just a day away from midterm elections which could be another market catalyst. As youre getting ready to carve up your turk es and your hams, make sure you know what could carve up your portfolio returns. For nightly Business Report dominic chu. As dominic just said theres one day to go before the midterm elections and the results could affect the political balance of the u. S. Senate. And potentially the Business Environment and the market. John harwood joins us now with more on tomorrows big races. So nice to have you here on set with us, john, a day before the elections. So as you look over these races that youve been covering, to what extent has the economy been the theme . Well, not as much as youd think and certainly not as much as democrats would have hoped. Because remember, weve had an Unemployment Rate thats come down two full Percentage Points since the president s second term began. Stock markets up more than 25 we just completed the fastest sixmonth period of growth since 2003. And yet president obamas ratings are down and democrats are poised to lose in the election. Thats partly, susie, because the nature of the modern economy is such that when its going well, the benefits tend to afford a relatively small number of people and not to the vast majority of voters. Democrats poised to lose, which means you think that the republicans will take control of the u. S. Senate giving them full control of both houses of congress. Why should business care about a result like that . Well, a few reasons. First of all, there are several elements of the legislative agenda that are important to business. Trade deals somewhat more likely with a Republican Senate than a democratic senate. Youve got the prospect of tax reform not likely to be completed in the next two years but certainly that discussion is going to continue. Republicans have different visions of how they would do that, somewhat more business friendly than democrats. And youve also got the question of energy policy. Remember, this president has proposed very far reaching changes in the amount of Carbon Emissions that many in the oil and gas industry are hostile to, and thats one of the reasons why theyre such a big contributor in these elections. You said just a moment ago you were talking about how the stock market has done so far in the obama administration, but what about if the republicans take the senate . Will that move the markets . Will that make a big difference . Well, youre going into a natural period where, as you all were just discussing, the market tends to do well, but interestingly, if you look back at the history of American Government in recent decades, you find that the strongest s p performance has been when you had a democratic president and an allrepublican congress, not very many cases there. So its kind of a small sample. But certainly nothing for business to worry about in particular the prospect of gridlock between the two chambers. John, thank you so much. I know youre going to be covering gavel to gavel of all these elections tomorrow. You bet. As we told you earlier oil prices initially edged higher today then they reversed course and fell hard. Domestic crude was down almost 2 a barrel. Closed at 78. 78. Thats the lowest since june of 2012. Benchmark brent crude was down another buck a barrel. What caused oil prices to suddenly change course and head lower . Jackie deangelis has the details. Reporter the story in the commodities pits today was crude oil. A very volatile day of trade with prices hovering around the 80 a barrel mark, moving back and forth between positive and negative territory. Traders telling me the most Significant Impact today was the dollar index strength that we saw and 85 handle very significant. And most traders think well go higher from there. That could put more pressure on crude. But the key factor was in the afternoon when reports came out that saudi arabia was cutting its price of oil to the u. S. By 45 cents. Instead of driving prices higher, it actually drove prices lower because its indicating that saudi arabias conceding there may be a supply issue on the table. And, of course, thats when we took out some key technical levels. Traders looking at 79. 44 which was the intraday low last week, then 79. 05 which was the intraday low the week before. Once they broke through both of those all bets were off. Crude oil to finish at 78. 78. That was a 2 1 2year low. By all accounts traders were saying that they do expect these prices to go lower from here. Technically the area you should be watching 77. 95. If we do break through that level, 75 bucks is the next stop. For nightly Business Report im jackie deangelis. And were joined to talk more about oil, the markets, chief u. S. Market strategist at rbc capital market. Jonathan, before we get into how novembers going to be and the rest of the year, i want to talk to you about oil prices that jackie was just reporting on. How does that change maybe your Investment StrategyGoing Forward . How might low aer prices impact the market . What most people think is that Lower Oil Prices are good because it means gasoline prices are down and thats good for consumers and Industrial Companies get to produce at lower prices for manufactured products. The problem is, though, is that the Energy Sector is a huge part of the s p 500, so in fact it really is a drag on the markets returns when you thing abok aboe size of energy. But when investors see oil down as severely as its been in the last few months, they really start asking are we seeing economic weakness and that makes them somewhat concerned. So this is probably not a healthy thing for markets Going Forward. There are a lot of good things but right now lower oil is probably not one of them. So you think Falling Oil Prices, the market has more to lose from Falling Oil Prices than it has than the economy has to gain from them . Tyler, thats probably, you know, the case. Its obviously theres different parts of the market that are winners and losers on this. But also it matters how precipitously it is falling. Its been somewhat disruptive including today when oil was down, you know, quite a bit. So what id love to see is stability even if its at lower levels. Id really like to see this Falling Oil Price stop, you know, stop the slide. So we have two months left to the year. How you think that stocks are going to be up between now and the end of the year. Whats your Investment Strategy . Right, so first, we think that the s p 500 will probably be up Something Like 2 to 4 over the next couple of months, probably even a little bit stronger than what dominic chu was talking about earlier. We think were in a 10 to 15 return for the year ahead but probably for the next several years. We think things will be pretty healthy. First we really like the u. S. Stock market compared to other markets around the world. The u. S. Economy is actually quite healthy. In the near term and now im talking about the next several months, we think that small cap companies, those that are a bit riskier will probably do quite well and outperform the broad markets. Explain why you feel that way. Small caps over big blue chips. First of all, the earnings expectations for Smaller Companies are substantially higher. Theyre expected to grow at Something Like 20 as opposed to large caps which are expected to grow less than 10. These are companies that very often are in faster growing parts of the market whether it be biotech or internet or other areas so they have a lot more juice there. Yet the pricing on these companies are reasonably similar to what youd have on large cap stocks. So on a growth versus value opportunity, they really look quite attractive. Also in the last several months, Small Companies have really gotten beaten up. And in a lot of cases theyre great opportunities. And this friday, as you know, the Monthly Employment report comes out. Thats always something that investors are watching very carefully. Do you think that the news is going to be such that it will lead to stock market gains or just the opposite. Well, no, i think were probably going to see something similar to what weve seen for the last six or eight months which is modest, steady job growth. Weve had about 200,000 jobs added each month for the last eight months or so. Thats good. Its not its the sign of a fantastic economy, but very solid and supportive. Probably to me, as a strategist, the most Important News for this week and maybe for the month was the ism report which really showed how strong the domestic economy is and really highlights a lot of good news on a variety of fronts. Were going to have to leave it there. Jonathan, thank you so much for coming on the program. A couple of big acquisitions on this merger monday. The worlds Third Largest advertising advertising, frances publicis is snapping up sapient for 3. 7 billion in cash. Shares of sapient shot up 42 today on that news. In another merger announced today labcorp, a major provider of health care diagnostic services, is buying covance which conducts clinical drug trials. Its a cash and stock deal valued at more than 6 billion. Labcorp shares fell but covance shot up 26 . The u. S. Says automakers fudged gas mileage numbers after a twoyear probe by the u. S. Justice department and the epa. South korean carmakers hyundai and kia agreed to pay a combined 300 million in penalties, a record amount, for overstating the fuel efficiency for more than a million vehicles. Honda might be in trouble. The automaker is being investigated by u. S. Federal safety officials about whether its fail to report deaths and injuries related to faulty air bags made by japans takata corporation. Million of defective takata air bags have been recalled by several top automakers and now including honda. Falling gas prices and Rising Consumer confidence are the key reasons sales of cars and trucks revved higher in october. Chrysler was the big winner. Sales up 22 in the same month a year ago. At ford sales fell slight. And gm sales basically flat. As for the stocks, fooe yacht chrysler off 2 . Gm and chrysler off slightly. Phil lebeau has more. Reporter another strong month for automakers with Industry Sales coming in for october at a pace of 16. 46 million vehicles roughly in line with wall street expectations. Taking a look at the big four automakers in the u. S. , chrysler had the best month with an increase of more than 21 but toyota and gm were up. Ford a slight decline although that was a little better than expectations. The Pickup Battle is getting a lot of attention. Ram had a sensational summer, that continued in october with gains in sales of greater than 30 . Chevy also taking advantage of the f series being phased out by ford. Thats why ford reported a slight decrease in sales last month. A huge month for jeep. Sales jumped more than 50 , all suvs are hot right now. Heavy demand continues in part because gas prices are plunging. Thats why when you look at hybrids right now, theyre struggling. The toyota prius saw a decline, the volt was down almost 30 . The one exception was the nissan leaf, thanks to 0 financing a new 2015 model and some leases going for 199 a month, it had a strong month of october. With ten months now in the books for the auto industry, it looks like u. S. Auto sales for the year 2014 will finish at about 16. 4 million vehicles. That compares with 15. 6 for last year and sets the industry up for the possibility of annual sales topping 17 million in 2015. Phil lebeau, nightly Business Report chicago. Still ahead, did intense price competition eat into prints bottom line . Details on its after the bell quarterlies and the investor reaction. Heres a first. Just today Federal Reserve chair janet yellen had her first one on one meeting with president obama since she took over the nations central bank back in february. The white house says the two discussed the state of the u. S. And global economies, financial reform and the ongoing implementation of the dodd frank rule. It was a big day in the big apple. 13 years after the terrorist attack that took down the twin towers, the newly rebuilt World Trade Center opened for business welcoming its newest tenants. Hundreds of employees of publishing giant began moving into their new offices today at the 104story, 3. 9 billion skyscraper. The economy is improving, employment is gaining and home prices are still rising, albeit a little more slowly, but the firsttime home buyer is not coming back to the market. That share is now down to its lowest level in nearly three decades. Diana olick explains why. Reporter in the Housing Market, having a baby is one of the top reasons renters become buyers. But new mom jade rabino is still waiting. A lot of money around here. Reporter sticker shock is sidelining firsttime buyers like jade. The share of first timers dropped to 33 this year, down from 38 a year ago according to the realtors annual profile of home buyers. Thats the lowest in nearly three decades. The longterm average is around 40 . Around here the Square Footage that you get for the amount of money that you put down is not great. Reporter while renting is a necessity for some, it is a choice for more and more young americans. Like 30yearold marcus magwood who is getting married next year but wont buy a home right away. Im still undecided wheth ed want to live. Reporter renting has not just lost its stigma, its gained significant prestige. You can see that in the high end rentals in upscale neighborhoods. In a neighborhood like this youll pay a premium for what youre getting but the reality is what we see here in d. C. Is that the renters can afford to do that. Reporter we spoke with Stephanie Williams last winter when this project was in its early stages. Today she says theyve been surprised at how many Young Millennials are looking to lease here. Theyre opting for a location that looks like they could purchase a home where theres walkability. Reporter but theres still flexibility. No mortgage, no maintenance and no fears should the Housing Market take yet another turn for the worse. For nightly Business Report diana olick in washington. To read more about whats holding back firsttime home buyer, head to our website, nbr. Com. Aig reported a rise in profits. Thats where we begin tonights market focus. The insurance giants results were helped by strength in its Life Insurance business. The company will also up its Share Repurchase program by 1. 5 billion. After hours shares were initially higher during the regular trading day the stock was slightly higher closing at 53. 80. The opposite story for sprint. It lost more money than analysts expected and revenue missed estimates. The Company Also Announced that it will slash 2,000 jobs as part of an effort to cut spending. That sent shares lower right after the report. Before the close shares popped 4 1 2 to 6. 20. Herbalife followed suit with disappointing after the hours results. They posted sales and earnings that came in below expectations. It offered a Sales Outlook that was well below wall street forecasts. Shares were sharply lower initially after hours. During the regular session shares rose 6 1 2 to1 65. 90. The maker of arm hammer baking soda and other products said new product introductions helped boost results but its outlook for the Current Quarter disappointed investors. Shares down 72. 11. Amerisource bergen has increased the payout by 23 to 29 cents a share. Last week the Company Reported better than expected Fourth Quarter numbers. That all sent shares nearly 2 higher to 86. 90. Allergen said it had been approached by another party concerning the traction. The Company Involved there was activist. This comes as allergen, the maker of botox has been trying to fend off a hostile takeover. Allergen and activist rose more than 1 1 2 , valiant off just slightly. And apple is looking to put up some Corporate Bonds for sale but not where you think. The wall street journal says the worlds most valuable company spoke with investors today about issuing new corporate debt in euros. Apparently an effort to diversify its funding sources. The bonds could be issued as early as tomorrow and Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are reported to be arranging the debt sale. And coming up on the program, activisions big gamble. How big of a risk is the video gamemaker taking . Jpmorgan has disclosed a criminal investigation by the department of justice into its Foreign Exchange trading business. The bank says losses from Legal Proceedings could total about 6 billion. Jpmorgan says it is cooperating with the investigation. Virgin america is going poub lick. On the same day that privately owned airline reported Third Quarter profits rose 24 , it also announced that its planning on an initial public Stock Offering selling more than 13 million shares for upwards of 24 apiece. That would value the carrier at about a billion dollars. And switching now to video games and the latest installment in activisions call of duty franchise called advanced warfare. It is now hitting stores, but can it reverse the big brand sales slump . Julia boorstin has more. Reporter diehard fans turned out at walmart for exclusive early access to call of duty advanced warfare. Day zero edition. Thats before its available everywhere else Tuesday Morning at 12 01. Advanced warfare has been called the most ambitious game in the franchise yet. Set in the scifi future with kevin spacey playing a role. The journalist ought to be able to disagree with the president. Wipe that off your face. Working to build buzz for the game with a Global Ad Campaign including a live action trailer that debuted on thursday night football. Like we see with movie sequels, this is a new story, its a threeyear development cycle. First time its been on the threeyear development cycle. A lot of interesting new tweaks to it. Particularly this is the first game thats specifically made for the nextgen systems, the xbox 1 and the ps4. Sales have topped 1 billion for the game. But the pressure is on to reverse call of dutys sales slump declining to 27 million two years ago and 24 million copies last year. Analysts project sales to be flat or down from last year with a total of about 1. 25 billion worth in sales. But its not just about sales of the game, which retails for 60. The title is also huge for driving activisions higher margin digital revenues which can compensate for physical game sales decline. The online element is a very big part of call of duty. It by far gets the most the largest number of people playing online. And thats one of the biggest perks of the game. Some users have reported problems downloading preordered copies. Microsoft saying its fixed a glitch for its xbox live system. Well see if sales this Holiday Season lays the groundwork for call of dutys next generation or if they mark a decline. Julia boorstin in los angeles. And activision is scheduled to report its Quarterly Earnings tomorrow after the closing bell. And finally tonight, you could be a Lottery Winner and not even know it. The creator of a new Smartphone App that alerts lottery players if they won says that state lottery officials around the country confirmed to him that since last year there are more than 2 billion in unclaimed lottery winnings in the u. S. Most are only worth a few dollar, but many more Winning Tickets are worth thousands and theres one worth more than a Million Dollars that has never been turned in, tyler. So check your wallet. There really should be an app for this that tells you whether you have won or not. Okay. Well try to get it for you. Thank you. Thats nightly Business Report for tonight. Thank you for watching. Im susie gharib. And thanks for me as well. Im tyler mathisen. Bundle up. Well see everybody back here tomo nightly Business Report has been brought to you in part by thestreet. Com. Featuring stephanie link who shares her investment strategies, stock picks and Market Insights with action alerts plus, the multimillion dollar portfolio she manages with jim cramer. You can learn more at thestreet. Com nbr. Experi welcome to Film School Shorts a showcase of the most exciting new talent from across the country. Experience the future of film, next on Film School Shorts. Film School Shorts is made possible by a grant from maurice kanbar, celebrating the vitality and power of the moving image, and by the members of kqed