just above junk bond status, the worst of any state in the nation fitch ratings is that boils down to a lack of coherent fiscal policymaking over many years. we haven t had politicians who are looking in the medium or long run of what we can afford. they are elected by making promises without any money in the bank essentially. a spokesperson says the transition team has to assemble an budget and innovation committee. it would allow the state to level out future of patients per to pay for the incoming of is talking about revenue streams casinos and sports betting recreational pot. he campaigned on the promise of switching alumni from a flat tax of 44.9% of graduated tax that puts a greater burden on the wealthy. the incoming administration is all democrats are the only thing they are talking about is raising taxes. even with a republican governor illinois saw sales and income tax increase.
s&p gaining four and the nasdaq falling 12 points. auto sales hit a new record thanks to lower gs prices and an improving economy. gm and ford saw sales rise 5%. while fiat and chrysler saw a 7% bump. and shoppers ordered a record number of items from amazon, and a 40% increase from last year. that s it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. akes to take care of your family. and when it s time to plan for your family s future, we re here for you. we re legalzoom, and for over 10 years we ve helped families just like yours with wills and living trusts. so when you re ready, start with us. doing the right thing has never been easier. legalzoom. legal help is here. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic, why pause to take a pill?
the nation s gun shops saw sales increase 61% this year. we sell a lot of girlier guns than we do to men. this time of year. i think it is people wanting their wives to be protected. women s guns are designed for smaller hands. brighter colored guns were the hottest selling. okay. some families opted out of holiday shopping completely this year. no presents exchanged or purchased. they re part of the buy nothing movement. 80,000 people are members. matt markovic of our seattle station has it all. reporter: stuff that lauren didn t buy for her kids. saddled with medical debt. we didn t have money for christmas this year. reporter: there are presents under the tree. nice, new handbag. reporter: molly hodges was short of cash. pretty amethyst earrings. reporter: no shortage of gifts for a teenage girl. all free. gifted by people in our community.
right now. asian markets closed mixed. the big focus for investors right now, it is the situation in russia and ukraine. just this morning, s&p, one of the rating agencies, downgraded russia to bbb minus, one rating above junk. russia s stock market has tumbled this year, down 14.5% this year, thanks largely to tensions with ukraine. here in the united states, though, investors seem torn between focusing on those tensions and focusing on stronger-than-expected earnings from corporate america. two stocks you re going to want to watch today, amazon and starbucks. both those companies reporting quarterly earnings yesterday. amazon seeing profits jump 32%. starbucks announcing bad weather this winter did not keep people from drinking those lattes. stores open for a year or more saw sales jump 6%. i want to take you now to seoul, south korea. we see the president and his team walking in there for this press conference. a key focus, we are expecting
well, jcpenney gets a shot in the arm as george soros buys a stake in the struggling department store chain. jcpenney has been exploring ways to raise more cash after firing its ceo last month following a disastrous year that saw sales slump 25%. disney settles a dispute with amc theaters allowing fans to buy advanced ticket for iron man 3 which comes out next week. disney has been fight with amc and other chains on how to divvy up the box office take. i ve never seen any of the iron mans. you have to catch up before the third one comes out. i know. i m already behind. thanks, courtney. have a great weekend. samsung weighed in with record first quarter profit one day before its latest galaxy smartphone makes its u.s. debut. some williams-sonoma stores have pulled pressure cookers off their shelves after similar pots were used to construct the deadly marathon bombs. the fda stopped imports of