be providing less help for the economy than it previously thought. the market rallied when he suggested the fed would not change policy. >> the best way to achieve higher returns in the medium term and beyond is so the federal reserve consistent with its congressional mandate provide policy accommodation as needed to foster maximum unemployment and price stability. >> later in his congressional testimony, bernanke responded to a question saying, well, on second thought, the fed could change policy pretty soon. >> if we seek continued improvement and we have confidence that is going to be sustained, then we could -- in the next few meetings, we could take a step down in our pace of purchases. >> later in the day, the fed released the minutes of its may meeting saying its rate setting committee members should reduce the amount of bonds. there's no agreement whether that will happen. the fed is going to take igts foot off the accelerator of the economy sooner than markets believed, as long as enough jobs are being produced. for more on how the market reacted. >> there's an old floor say ago that goes, don't play on days when the fed speaks. that was true today as traders were treated to a head spinning session. with traders chasing both sides of the fed debate. stocks were up 150 points shortly after bernanke began his testimony as he said that any change in the full bond purchases will depend on the incoming data, and ending stimulus too soon would be a mistake, but stocks came off their highs as the testimony switched to the q & a. he may consider tapering bond purchases in the next few meetings. that was echoed midday as the fed minutes from the may meeting came out, indicating some participants favored tapering purchases of bonds if the economic data showed sufficient strong and sustained growth. stocks move down on that news as did bonds on concerns over higher rates. interest rate sensitive stocks were essentially weak. >> now, one part of the economy that bernanke said is doing well, housing, and we got more proof of that today. sales of existing homes rose in april to the highest level in three and a half years. the pace of sales would have been higher if there were more homes on the market to meet that strong demand. diana olick tells us, that could change soon. >> 230,000 new listings came on to the housing market in april, a much needed shot in the arm. but supplies are still well below where they should be, given all the new demands. >> it looks and smells like a really fast moving crazy market. and we should maybe be thinking about how to put the stop on it, but the truth is. it looks to me like a simple supply and demand issue. >> nationally, listings in april were up 12% month to month, still down 14% from a year ago. the picture is even more dramatic locally. for sale listings down over 20, 30, even 40% in some areas from a year ago. >> with growing buyer demand, homes are now selling like it's 2005 again. the height of the housing boom. it took just 46 days on average in april to sell a house, that's down from 62 days in march and the normal average of 3 to 4 months. >> i have sellers who are expecting to get multiple contracts the minute the house hits the market. just today i had a seller, i brought him a full price offer, and he choose not to take it because he wants multiple contracts. >> this is all about cheap credit, not easy credit. mortgage rates have been rising lately, pushing loan applications down nearly 10% last week. even the fed chairman says lending is too tight. >> i think over time, particularly as house prices go up a bit, mortgage lending will become a little more accessible to a broader range of people. right now it's still relatively tight. >> that's pushing much needed first time home buyers out of the market. apparently cash is still king. on top of that, foreclove ours are falling, which is a good thing, it's taking supply out of the low end of the market just as demand is coming back. for nightly business report, diana olick in washington. >> coming up on the program, toll brothers has been one of the big beneficiaries of the housing recove roy. in a few minutes you'll hear from the ceo and his outlook and his company's better than expected quarter. >> let's get more on what ben bernanke said today. bruce, thanks for coming on. is such a critical time whether you're an investor, borrower or saver, everybody's trying to gauge what's going to happen next for interest rates. let's start with mortgage rates, like the 30 year is now three and a quarter percent. once the fed starts withdrawing the stimulus, where are those rates going to go? >> i think they're going to goo up, i think, though, we need to be clear that the rates will go up, because the fed is responding to a stronger economy. so what ben bernanke is telling us is that if the economy continues to strengthen, sometime later this year, he could begin tapering purchases. our forecast is, that happens in the fourth quarter and the 10-year yield goes up. >> if you're in the market to buy a home, this is the time to get moving and to buy something before the end of the year and lock in the lower rates? >> i think we should look at the long picture here. this is an economy which has plenty of room to run, it's improving, it should continue to improve. certainly rates will go up, but i think it's also the case that the labor market is going to improve, people's financial conditions will improve, if this is a genuine recovery. sure, it's a good time to buy and lock in rates now, the picture should be one of sustained improvement, not of a fed that's cutting off growth, one of a fed that's responding to growth. >> what about for investors, we've seen the stock market go from record to record. once the fed starts pulling back that stimulus, is that going to kill this market rally? >> there's going to be volatility, we've seen it today. the market doesn't move in one direction. but again, i think a fed that is responding to growth, normalizing its policy stance as the economy improves is generally a good thing, it's only when the fed needs to raise rates to slow down growth to face inflation pressures that we have a problem. that's far out over the horizon in our opinion. >> talk to us about savers, they've been complaining over the last couple years with interest rates near zero%, really no place to put your money and get a good return on it. what's in for them. >> the fed does not begin raising interest rates for a long time, we're in a low rate environment, the prospects are that there's going to be a better economy. and over time, we'll see returns on the savings go up, right now, it's a world where equity markets, riskier investments are being favored, it's a way to get the economy going. interest rates are going to stay low here and not quite as low as they've been in the last year. >> how long will ben bernanke be calling the shots. the last question he got today during the hearing was that if he were offered another term, would you accept? he said, i'm not prepared to answer that right now. is there any reason for investors and savers to be concerned of somebody else running the fed over the next couple years? >> i think we most likely will see a new fed chairman at the end of chairman bernanke's term, i think it's quite reasonable to expect continuity, however, i think the appointments that president obama have made have been very solid ones and i would expect the same to happen when chairman bernanke leaves. he's done an excellent job, but someone else can continue his work. >> thanks a lot, bruce. chief economist at jpmorgan. >> ben bernanke's senate testimony wasn't the only closely watched session on capitol hill today. the irs official at the center of the controversy over the targeting of conservative political groups says she did nothing wrong and broke no laws. at a house hearing investigating the extra scrutiny the agency investigated, lois lerner thought she invoked her constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. but she effectively waived her fifth amendment privilege. here's what happened. >> i will not answer any questions or testify about the subject matter of the committee's meeting. >> we will take your refusal as a refusal to testify. the witness and counsel are dismissed. >> mr. cummings just said we should run this like a courtroom. she just testified, she just waived her fifth amendment right to privilege, you don't get to tell your side of the story and not be subjected to cross-examination, that's not the way it works. she waived her right to fifth amendment privilege by issuing an opening statement. she ought to answer our questions. a far reaching bill to overhaul the nation's immigration system is now headed to the full senate in early june. the senate judiciary committee easily passed the measure late tuesday, paving the way for 11 million illegal immigrants to receive permanent u.s. citiz citizensh citizenship. passage in the house and senate may be more likely. earnings after the bell tonight from hewlett-packard. results better than analysts expected. jackie deangelis joins us now with the last quarter numbers and what's ahead for the biggest pc maker of them all. >> that's the question. hewlett-packard made 87 cents a share last quarter, 6 cents more than wall street was expecting. remember, this is a company in the midst of a turnaround. meg whitman has said it could take years for the turnaround to take place. wall street seemed happy with the report, the stock was up higher than 10% after the announcement, the company has challenges ahead. hp's flagship personal computer line is don 20%, as consumers continue to switch to their tablet computers. the company saw strength in its printing segment and also in its enterprise services business. >> the road ahead uncertain for hp. thank you very much. still ahead, just how hot is the housing recovery? the ceo of toll brothers ranks the market on a scale of 1 to 10. first, though, some stocks hit all time highs today. we begin market focus tonight after a mixed bag of retail retailer profits. they improved revenue and raised guidance as well. it jumped after the close. shares of staples rose sharply, despite a lousy earnings report, profits were down more than 9%, the company's ceo told analysts he's confident in the earnings outlook for the year. investors bought into that view, staples shares jumped. quarterly earnings at target plunged almost 30%, and the retailer lowered its earnings guidance for the year. shares tumbled 4%, closing at 68.40. at the top of the s&p 500 gayners today, bristol-myers calling attention to the company's cancer therapy. the drug now in phase three testing could lead to approval sooner than anticipated. general electric on comments from their ceo, the financial business is a possibility. he also reiterated full year growth targets for the company. investors pushed shares before the stock fell back a bit to close at 23.86. up almost 1%. the stronger housing market helped toll brothers post quarterly profits today, 40% higher than a year ago. the company cleared nearly 25 million in earnings on sales of 516 million. and those sales up 38% from last year. earlier today, i spoke to toll brothers ceo douglas yearly and began by asking him how he'd rate the housing market right now on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very high. >> i think i'd give it an 8. we've certainly had better times, but boy -- and remember that eight is relative, we've been through six really bad years. there's no great inflation right now for me. i think it -- it feels really good based on where we've been, we have room to go. it's relatively early stage of recovery. we're a'sing prices again, we're seeing big demand come back out. as we raise price, it seems like there's more demand as people feel the urgency to get in before prices go higher. so i think a solid eight. >> since you raised the question of prices, how are your prices tracking, and what kinds of -- what are the average selling prices and are you having power here. >> we announced today we raised price $26,000 on average per home. and our houses sell for about $600,000 many and that was for the three months from february through april. when you analyze that it's a pretty big number. we're raising prices in 60% of our communities. we have about 225 communities open for sale in 50 markets around the country. thos60% of the community account for 70% of the sales, because where we raise prices tend to be the hotter communities. it's very community specific, so, you know, northern california virtually everything sees a price increase. southern cal, virtually everything sees a price increase. there's many markets where some communities are seeing price increases and others are not. overall, we're thrilled to be in that position now, buyers are coming back out, after being on the sidelines for six years to take advantage of these interest rates. and business is very good. >> you mentioned a couple markets i assume were among the hottest markets. which are the hottest and which remain dormant. >> the hottest markets are new york city urban for us, we call it our city living brand, we're building in brooklyn, manhattan and hoboken. that market is on fire. we have new buildings that opened three, four months ago, where pricing is up 150, $250,000. right behind new york would be northern california, both the south bay and the east bay, are very hot, significant pricing power there. southern coastal southern california, principally orange county is very strong. softer markets, the midwest is a little bit soft. it's a little slower to recover, although there is strength in michigan of all places. and, you know, that's really about it in terms of the soft markets. if you asked me that question six months ago, i would have a handful that i would say are soft. right now that list is dwindling. how does the rest of the year look, and do you worry at all on this day, where the ten-year bond closed above 2%. what rising interest rates might bring. >> if the rates go up slowly, which they may, we're fine. it's going to create more urgency if people want to get in, if the rates were to skyrocket up, go up a couple points, that would be a different issue, but i don't think anybody thinks that's going to happen. so i think we're fine. if the rates went to four, four and a quarter, four and a half. even the high 4s, that happened 3r0 guessively over time. i don't think there's any problem at all, still a list torically low rate when you consider where they've been and many good times in the past. >> here's a toll brothers rose to a 7-year high today before pulling back. the stock is up about 37, 38% over the past year, bettering both the dow and the s&p 500. and coming up on the program. there's a powerful new tool in the hands of doctors, it's not only helping physicians improve care for patients. it's helping to bring down costs. let's get a check on how some of the most widely held stocks closed out the day. realtime data technology has opened a new frontier by better managing their treatments and help ago void costly hospital stays. a look at how realtime data could be a real world game changer. >> i have two kids, i'm always scared every time i go to the hospital. >> rachel has been in and out of hospitals for years. >> i kept asking them, can you find out what's wrong with me. >> suffering from osteoarthritis, high blood sugar and liver disease, no one seemed to be able to help her get a handle on it all. >> six months ago that changed. >> i know i'm not just another number in there. they actually do care about me. >> they do. they're a designated accountable care organization. under the obama health reform act, medicare now faced aco's for improving patient's health and avoiding costly hospital stays. >> to be able to reach out and care for patients in a timely manner, in realtime, prompted us to realize we were going to be able to meet data more quickly. >> using data from a privately held explorer. mercy's been reaching out to its high risk patients. >> i see we're almost up to the 30 pound mark since november. >> more actively working with them on preventative care. >> everyone thinks they're doing a great job, but there is a great deal of variability when we look at the data. >> that variability by some estimates cost the nation's health system hundreds of billions. >> rachel is one of nine million disabled and older americans eligible for both medicare and medicare. the sickest 20% of these patients account for two thirds of health spending in those plans. big data can help sort out unnecessary care, it requires a big shift. >> it's not just technology that's going to solve the problem, but it's going to be change management. meaning that who should we have involved, what kinds of care coordinators should we have involved. >> the shift in reimbursement models and the push toward greater evidence based medical care will drive strong demand for big data in health care over the next five years. the challenge will be finding enough fieldworkers to use it. >> and to really make a difference. >> you know, you're more like yourself now. you're back to our rachel. >> bertha coombs, nightly business report. forbes magazine is out with the world's most powerful women. german chancellor angela merkel tops the list. third is melinda gates, the wife of bill gates and the co chair of their philanthropic foundation. other top business figures on the list include facebook's chief operating officer cheryl sandberg, followed by christine la guard and pepsico's ceo. youngest on the list was the singer, lady gaga, just 27 years old and coming in at number 45. powerful people take home powerful paychecks it may be no surprise that american ceo's took home more money last year with the median pay up more than 6% to an average of nearly $10 million a year. even though a new associated press report on executive pay says there were fewer female ceo's at the nation's largest publicly held countries last year, those women made more than their male counterparts, over 11 million a year. >> and you're smiling? >> yes. >> the number of female ceo's seems to have ticked down just a little bit. >> these women are not in fashion, they're in technology and heads of state. >> that's nightly business report for tonight. thanks for joining us. >> we hope to see you right back here tomorrow night. and this is motorweek ! grab your shades and a little sunscreen, we're ready for a convertible summer with this season's must-have drop tops. brian robinson soaks up even more sun on a pair of bmw scooters. pat goss does his part to keep things cool. and even our first driving impressions speak to a trio of sun worshipers' dreams! so come drive with us, next! closed captioning provided by maryland public television announcer: motorweek , television's original automotive magazine. brought to you by... this is beautiful. jessica, there's something i want to ask you... yes? when i'm switching to winter tires do i have to change all four or can i just put two on the front axle? i don't know. announcer: there's a better place to ask questions about your tires. get some wings? announcer: tirerack.com can help you get the answers you need and help you find which tires are best for you. more information is available at tirerack.com. and by... rockauto has auto parts from hundreds of manufacturers. no matter what customers drive, they can purchase online from a comprehensive selection
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