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. egypt is bracing for a massive protest tomorrow. susie, one million people are expected to join together to demonstrate against president mobarak. >> susie: tom, investors here were watching the latest developments out of egypt, but the major market averages still managed to gain ground. investors were also keeping tabs on the oil markets. in new york, crude prices spiked about $3 to $92 a barrel in london. brent crude crossed the $100 mark. >> tom: so what does the crisis in egypt mean for american investors? suzanne pratt reports. >> reporter: for u.s. investors, the heap of geopolitical worries is growing. first it was sovereign debt problems in europe. and, now add a political crisis in egypt to the list. aladdin capital's scott macdonald says egypt might be one of the most important stories this year, with implications for markets around the world. >> it could be. if things really go off the rails in egypt it will dominate the political and economic landscape in the middle east and unfortunately the middle east still retains a high degree of importance. >> reporter: so far though the collateral damage to global markets has been modest. yes, u.s. stocks sold off on friday. and, today oil prices surged on concern that unrest in egypt will halt oil flows in the suez canal. market strategist nick colas say equity investors here are taking a wait and see attitude toward egypt. >> for the moment i think the fundamentals, particularly the liquidity situation in the u.s., trumps almost everything else. money is still very cheap, interest rates are still very low. there is still a lot of liquidity looking for places to be put to work. and, i think that is trumping geopolitical concerns. >> reporter: nevertheless, experts say stock prices are still vulnerable to the threat of higher oil prices. if energy gets too costly this year, it could damage the take a bite out of corporate profits. and, don't forget emerging markets, which recently have been a hot spot for investors. for some, egypt is a catalyst for re-evaluating their tolerance for risk. for others it means more homework, as to the remaining safe regions for investment. >> countries in africa have many of the same issues, especially in terms of food prices. so, i think people have to be more cautious, but it doesn't mean you can't venture into emerging markets. >> reporter: experts say u.s. stocks are likely to be the beneficiary of increased caution toward emerging markets. investors are likely to view american companies as a safe harbor for their cash if other parts of world are in crisis. suzanne pratt, "nightly business report," new york. >> susie: here are the stories in tonight's n.b.r. newswheel: as we mentioned, stocks climbed higher despite the unrest in egypt. the dow gained 68 points, the nasdaq added 13 and the s&p 500 was up nearly 10. big board volume tapered off to just over a billion shares. nasdaq volume fell below two billion. a federal judge in florida has ruled the obama administration's health care overhaul is unconstitutional. he says congress can't force americans to buy medical insurance. the administration will appeal the decision. next stop for this case is likely the u.s. supreme court. consumers were spending again last month, giving the economy a big year-end boost. spending picked up by 0.7%, faster than expected. and incomes also grew in december, up by a more modest 0.4% from november. so when you spend more than you make, it's no surprise the savings rate edged lower, dipping in december to 5.3%. that's down a bit from the month before. >> tom: still ahead, how nascar may change its business to stop losing business. >> susie: our guest tonight says the worst is over for housing. he predicts more people will buy homes this year and construction of new homes will also pick up. mark zandi, chief economist of moody's analytics, joins us with details of his outlook for this year. hi, mark. >> hi, susie. >> susie: so that is a pretty optimistic forecast, especially considering that we've seen home prices are still falling. so tell us why you see a turn around in the housing market. >> well, i do think that we will see more house price kleins. we stwil have a up could el million loans in the foreclosure process, another couple million that are delinquent that will go through foreclosure to a distressed sale so we will see more price declines this year. but i think with a better job market, continued low-interest rate, ample mortgage cede nature home sales, housing construction and even yes, house prices by this time next year will stabilize and continue to improve. this five, six year long housing market crash is finally, i think, coming to an end. >> susie: so you are saying you are seeing a pickup in construction. but isn't there a whole glut of houses that are out there. i mean who is going to be buying to see this pickup? >> well, actually, inventories of new homes for sale are at a record low. we've got data back now 25, 30 years and they've never been lower. so as soon as new-home sales begin to rise and i think they will this spring and summer, that will translate into new pickup in construction. i'm not arguing that construction is going to come roaring back, i'm just arguing that it will come off these very, very exceptionally low levels by the end of the year. >> susie: mark, we've seen the views about home buying have changed after this big housing crash. what are your thoughts about, you know, people just don't look at buying a home as a good investment. how could that constrain construction spending? >> well, you know, i think that is a long-term wait. i do think that people are looking at homes differently, particularly younger households thinking about whether they should buy a first home. and so their expectations about future house price growth as much different than mine or maybe yours because our experiences are very different so it will weigh on housing demand, on home sales over the long run. but in the very near term it's going to be driven more by are their more jobs, are interest rates low, can i get a mortgage loan. how confident i do feel about my job prospects. all those things argue for better home sales. they will just not go to the boom times because people's attitudes have changed. >> susie: tell us your forecast for mortgage rates. we swee is on the 30 year they are just around 5%, what is your outlook. >> well, i think they will remain at or below 5% for 30-year fixed-rate loan through the spring. the federal reserve is engaged in, you know, quantitative easing in an interest to keep from thes down and i think they will succeed by the spring about by the summer, mortgage rates are moving higher. the very low rates are about as good as they will be for a long time to come. >> susie: mark i want to switch gears and talk to you a little bit about egypt. we have about a minute left. and i wanted to know what are your thoughts about this turmoil in egypt and the impact on the u.s. economy? >> well, obviously makes me very nervous. just one more thing to worry about in this fragile economic environment. the key link is oil price. if oil prices rise that acts very much like a tax increase. and goodness knows we don't need that at this point in time. so hopefully and mi hopeful, that the situation in egypt and throughout the middle east resolves itself in a reasonably graceful way and energy prices, oil prices don't rise too high. if they do, then we've got a problem. >> we will leave it there. marks, thanks so much for your thoughts. very interesting. >> susie: we've been talking with mark zandi, chief economist of moody's an letics. -- analytics. >> tom: stocks saw another strong month in january, thanks to the continued rally in energy stocks. let's get to tonight's "market focus." the first month of the year put the first month of the year put up some pretty impressive numbers for the big stock indices. here's the big trio. the dow put in the best month among the big three, up almost 3%. the nasdaq added over 2% and the s&p 500 gained almost 2% this month. the second best performer among dow stocks this month, and today, was the biggie, exxon- mobil. the oil giant saw a big pop in profits to end the year. exxon easily beat street estimates thanks to higher oil prices. similar to other integrated oil companies, a profitable refinery business also helped its bottom line. how about the shares? shares caught a bid, jumping 2% and hitting a new 52-week high. over $80 per share. the stock has been trending higher since the spring after the gulf oil spill hurt the energy sector. speaking of the gulf disaster, anadarko petroleum, part owner of that blown-out well, reported better-than-forecast fourth quarter earnings. production was also up. anadarko shares came into the report strong, up 4%, but some after-hours profit taking as shares fell 1% from this close. one to watch tomorrow. shares remain above where they were just before the gulf oil blowout. the biggest energy gainer today was coal miner massey energy. over the weekend we learned it agreed to be bought by alpha natural resources. massey here has been in play for months, in terms of alternative strategies, and the buyout pushed shares up to a two-and-a- half-year high. it's a $7.1 billion deal, valuing massey at just over $65 per share based on tonight's closing prices. it is a cash and stock deal. the buyer, alpha natural resources, fell as expected, shedding 7%. volume was very heavy as it dropped to a six-week low. speaking of deals, the possible deal between french drug maker sanofi and genzyme appears to be progressing. the two have now a confidentiality agreement now, allowing sanofi to look genzyme's books. sanofi's last hostile offer was $18.5 billion. genzyme shares got a nice boost. on words talks continue. with today's 3% rally, though, genzyme's market value is above sanofi's last offer. now this jump in july was when public word of talks began. a couple of big jumps for two mid-cap pharmaceutical makers. depo-med rallied 34%. the f.d.a. okayed its treatment for a complication of shingles. and n.p.s. was up 31%. it saw successful results from a bowel treatment medicine. finally, ending with intel. volume doubled even though shares were unchanged at the bell. it discovered a design flaw in a support chip. fixing it will cost $1 billion. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> tom: the green bay packers today packed up and left for super bowl 45, getting ready for sunday's game. but before leaving, the packers released its financial report, showing just how big the business of the nfl is. tonight's "beyond the scoreboard," our look at the business of sports, starts with a look at the finances of professional football. rick horrow is a sports business analyst and c.e.o. of horrow sports ventures. nice no see you. let's talk about packer finances. because over half of the revenue last year which was the year that it reported came from national revenue sharing from the television contracts, specifically but also merchandising, this really speaks to how big that tv contract is. >> first this is a window not entire nfl and the other 31 teams because they are a public company and can share these numbers but the real key is tv, tv and more tv. it's up 17 billion dollar four-year package and it's distributed equally. and that's why there is no more than a 20% variation from the lower value low-market teams like green bay and new york. it's that standardization based on the tv contract. >> and it shows you really what is at stake with the labor negotiations not only for the owners and players and all of the companies involved in the nfl business as we go into the labor negotiations after the super bowl. look at the player costs for green bay. the smallest market team in the nfl player costs rising 16% hast year is that sustainable with labor negotiations? >> no, that is why they are having these labor negotiations. the bottom line is to try to define the pot in a different way, to also not include stadium costs, debt service, there are a lot of complicated issues here. but the whole issue is how do you control the costs in the future. >> tom: while the nfl is big and trying to grow, nascar is trying to kick-start its growth enginement a couple of ideas have been floated to kick-start that nascar business because of lower tv ratings last year. one is shorter races. the other one is change the point system. tackle shorter races first. what is in it for the broadcasters and the endorsers if there is less of a race to watch? >> what's in it is reverse the trend. tv ratings have been down 6%, up to 25% this last year and a lot of it because of hemorrhaging back end. you don't know if a race going to be 7 hours or not with all the delays. david hill, fox has proposed a four hour start to finish. nascar has got to change its deeply held conviction, don't tell us how to run our races. >> tom: we're looking at the super bowl on sunday but nascar is still one of the most watched sporting events certainly throughout the year. changing the point system, is the worry you alienate the purist who helped fuel the growth throughout the years. >> absolutely. tickets down 18%, merchandise down 7 percent. sponsors are renewing because they look for loyal, value an headed customers and if you change the point system, you might change a little bit of that. >> tom: finally you rank the most powerful athletes on the field and off the field with power ranking with bloomberg business week recently. i want to look at the biggest discrepancy. the biggest onfield performer but not offfield was james harrison. of the steelers. the biggest off field lance armstrong but very weak on the field why do you explain the discrepancy. >> the difference is the 50/50 rank, off, on, secretary contrary in a row but the first time we have done that template. james harrison great on the field, no endorsements. lance armstrong, a lot of endorsement, didn't do so well in cycling this last year. we'll have to see how it shakes out. >> tom: rick hor owe are us, with horrow sports ventures. >> susie: here's what we're watching for tomorrow: quarterly earnings from b.p., pfizer and u.p.s., january auto sales and construction spending for december. also tomorrow, higher food prices. we look at how falling supplies of commodities and rising food prices are adding up to real concerns for cash-strapped consumers and grocery stores. here's a news flash: americans are too fat. that's the bottom line of a new government report on what we should eat. new guildelines released today say americans need to cut out salt and eat less overall. the exceptions? eating more fruits and vegetables. because two out of three adults in the u.s. are overweight or obese, the recommendations include avoiding supersized portions and cutting back on foods high in salt and fat. >> tom: boeing got billions of dollars in illegal subsidies for its 787 dreamliner and other jet models. that's the ruling today from a world trade organization panel. european officials say that money gave boeing an unfair advantage against rival airbus. but boeing rejects most of the panel's findings, saying those so-called illegal subsidies were actually research and development grants. boeing and airbus have been fighting for years over aircraft subsidies. >> susie: with the u.s. budget deficit expected to hit $1.5 trillion this year, tonight's commentator believes now's the time for a shift in thinking when it comes to spending cuts. he's doug holtz-eakin, president of the american action forum and former director of the congressional budget office. >> you're hearing a really confusing debate about cutting federal spending. republicans intend to chop $40 billion from the current budget year-- its about one-half over-- and continue cutting thereafter. democrats fight draconian cuts and argue that they will undercut economic recovery. meanwhile the president talks about getting our fiscal house in order, but also making strategic investments. what's a person to think? start with the easy one. over the next decade, the federal government must spend less than currently planned. not less then now; just less than the over-promises. long-term spending is dominated by the entitlements-- the new health care law, medicare, and medicaid-- where to change the future of those programs you have to act now. no action is in sight. instead, the fight is over the smaller change congress decides each year. this should be decided on the value of programs. cutting these accounts would move the u.s. closer to pre- crisis business as usual, but that doesn't mean democrats agree its the right amount. but don't decide on fears about jobs. i doubt it would have much real impact on growth-- the republicans' plans are trivial in a nearly $15 trillion economy. but get ready for the debate. and remember it's now the private sector's job to lead growth. government spending should be decided on other merits. i'm doug holtz-eakin. >> tom: you may not be familiar with the name w.s. darley and company, but for more than a century it's helped first responders around the world put out fires and tackle disasters. the company's fire-fighting equipment has been used in a world war and in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. in tonight's "all in the family" series, diane eastabrook introduces us to the darleys, a family that says being successful means thinking ahead. ( siren ) >> we are not the ones going into the burning building. but we are the ones that support them. >> reporter: w.s. darley and company outfits firefighters around the world with everything from trucks, to pumps, to coats and boots. it's a 100-year-old business run by more than a dozen family members in two states. >> this is jim darley, who heads up sales for our fire pump division. >> reporter: president and c.e.o. paul darley heads the corporate office in itasca, illinois. >> this is going to nanching, china. >> reporter: cousin jeff darley runs the factory in chippewa falls, wisconsin. the family got into the fighting business in 1908, when william s. darley began supplying communities with water, sewer and fire-fighting equipment. in the 1920s, darley built the company's first fire truck on a model t ford frame. he later rolled out a centrifugal fire pump used widely by the military during world war two. in the 1950s, son bill joined the company. he expanded sales overseas, but thinks his greatest achievement was putting a succession plan in place. >> the cemetery is filled with the gravestones of people who couldn't be replaced, and they have been replaced. so, that started me thinking i should start thinking about a succession plan for the company. >> reporter: forward thinking has become part of the darley d.n.a. the family says if it wants darleys to continue running this company 100 years from now, then it has to keep planning and growing the business. paul likens the strategy to the one used by hockey great wayne gretsky. >> he said "i never went to where the puck was, i went to where the puck was going to be." and so, in all of our strategic thinking, we always think "where is this market going to be five, 10, 20 years down the road?" >> reporter: that thinking has helped darley prosper during the recession. while sales of pumps and fire equipment have slumped here, they've been booming in developing countries like china. co-c.o.o. peter darley says building relationships in that country more than a decade ago is paying dividends today. >> the economy there is pretty strong, and they need a lot of infrastructure improvements. so a lot of the cities are fully developed yet, and they need basic fire protection. >> reporter: new ventures are also paying off. a few years ago, darley began distributing equipment to the military. that unit now accounts for more than a third of overall sales. it's headed by darley cousin james long. >> even though things have kind of phased off a little bit in iraq and afghanistan to a certain degree, we think our soldiers, our troops, and our war fighters are going to be busy for an extended period of time and they'll need to have supplies. >> reporter: ingenuity is also important at darley. >> the uniqueness here is this body is built with a composite of plastic material. jeff shows off a fire truck made with a durable, non-corrosive skin the company patented. >> reporter: he thinks the material could be expanded to other vehicles. >> there's u.p.s., there's ryder rental trucks, there's your own mail trucks that come to your home. >> reporter: the darleys have also been proactive in promoting the fourth generation. they've drawn up a family participation plan that's a blueprint of sorts for family members interested in joining the family business. 27-year-old jason was among the first to sign on. >> it's been tweaked a little bit, and it will probably continue to be tweaked as we have more come in, so i am the one that they are testing it out on. >> reporter: with more than 30 darleys in the fourth generation, the darleys say it's a pretty good bet the family will be working together and helping first responders around the world for another century. >> our plan is to simply pass it on to the fourth generation so they can love it and grow it as we've had as a family and a generation. >> reporter: diane eastabrook, "nightly business report," >> susie: finally, the white house launched its "start up america" initiative today to help entrepreneurs. aol co-founder steve case will lead the way and several tech companies have pledged support. intel promised $200 million. i.b.m. pledged $150 million. h.p. will give $4 million. and facebook will host 12 start- up days for would-be business owners who want to work on web sites and social applications. tom, the white house plans to contribute money to encourage entrepreneurs when uncle sam's budget is rolled out next month. this is a good cause. >> tom: it is a good cause, and we heard from diane how entrepreneurial last century howed success in this century for generations to come. >> susie: we have to get moving on that, that's for sure. that's nightly business report for this monday, january 3 1st. i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone. good night to you, tom. >> tom: have a great night, susy. i'm tom hudson. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow night. this program was made possible by contributions to 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