chunk of its most recent losses, thanksn part to today's nearly 400-point gain on the dow. concerns over rising interest rates he taken a backseat, as investors refocus on global growth and corporate profits. today the dow jones industrial average advanced 399 points to l 25,7 by financial and technology shares. the nasdaq added 84 and the s&p 500 was up 32. bob pisani has more on the day's rally on wall street. h the dow up over 200 points at the opening, closing up almost 400 points. last week, stocks started strong atery day, but faded late in the day. egan to reverse on friday, when stocks closed at their ed today. it conti this week was all about fed chairman's jay powell's testimony o congressue onay and thursday, but the markets are telegraphing they're not concerned he'll be skroefrly aggressive about raising rates. the markets are very different in the lastrewo weeks com to the first two weeks, when stocks dropped about 10% in earlyebruary on concerns about higher interest rates, partly. but since then, the s&p has recovered about 75% of its losses. it's a sign investors still seem to have confidence in the global economic recovery. indeed, the sectors with the strongest ecovery has been technology stocks, led by apple, intel, and cisco, and industrials led by 3m and boeing. bothe sectors that very sensitive to the global economic recovery. for ly busess report," i'm bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. one day ahead of fed chair powell's testimony, federal randall overnor, quarles today reaffirmed his for gradual interest rate increases. and offered an optimistic view of the economy. quarles suggested that the economer may be on the of a sustained period of faster growth. and goldman sachs is keeping its eye on interest rates. an economist at the firm said that i the yield on the ten-year treasury hits 4.5%, stocks could move sharply lower by as much as 20 to 25%. the economy it, says, wouldsu ao er a sharp slowdown, but that's the worst casescenario. the firm's best case calls for a yeld of 3.25% the end of the year. and of course, the ho aing market io rate sensitive. today we learned that sales of new single-family homes in january fell for a second straight mth and hit a five-month low. the number was way down by steep declines in the northeast and the south. as we've been reporting, af shortageomes is pushing up prices and sidelining some first-time general electric is making more disclosures. that company revealed a justice department investigation into its now-defunct subprime mortgage lender. ge also plans to re-state 2016 and 2017 rnings, after adopting a new accounting standard. the restatements were expected,s although som they could make it difficult for ge to ach its 2018 financial forecast. general electric also nominated three new directors to its slimmed down board. after trading lower for most of the day, the stock turned around 1%. it finished up more than berkshire hathaway's warren buffett said that he was staggered by ge's financial lapses and the sizef the charge that it took earlier this year. the billionaire investor has mostly sold his holdings in ge and said he hasn't purchased an. recent that was just one of the many comments that he made during a wide-ranging interview with becky quick. she filed this report from omaha. >> one of the big teaways from warren buffett and his letter to shareholders this year is that berkshire hathaway isng sit on $116 billion in cash. that is money that buffett would when heput to work, but looks around to buy businesses, he says prices are just too high. he's not finding anything that he likes at the right price. however, that does not mean that he thinks stocks, as a whole, are overpriced right now. >> the stock market, relative to the long-term bond marketpe le have three choices pretty much if they're going to be in marketable securities they can own reasonably long-term bonds, they can own equities, or they can keep it is short-term equivalents. and you had to choose between buying long-term bonds or equities, i would choose equities in a minute now.oe that't mean i think the stock market is going to go up or anything else, but if i were going to own a 30-year government bond or own equity for 30 years, i think equity is a little -- considerably outperform tha30-year bond, over the 30 years. >> it sounds confusing. the idea bhatfett can't find any prices he likes for businesses, but he thinks stos are not overvalued. there is a way to match all of this up. >> you c buy small pieces of businesses for less than you cae buy wholes of businesses. >> but the premium you would have to pay if you were buying the whole thing. >> yeah, so you would get a bargain at an investor compared to what i can get in terms of ying the whole business. people, the th -- if they just stocks as pieces of with they would be so much better off than thinking of them as things that move around as price. and we have so many people that look at berkshire as a savings account. they put money in 20, 30, 40 years ago, we retain it and invest for them. but we're they're savings account. that's the w i look at my own stock. >> of course, the question warren buffett mosttl frequ gets asked is what stock is hor most int favorite stock in the entire world. and when we asked him, he said berkshire hathaway, which is where he has 98 of his money. but we dug a little deeper. listen in. >> if you look at our holdings, you would assume we like them at by order t of valuey rank. but if you look at them in terms of recent purchases, over thear last we took more apple than anything else. >> so can we tak r that and with it as a headline? apple is your favorite? >> no, because i didn't tell you what i might be buying in e st week or month. >> if you look at the top holdings for berkshire, filings will tl you theumber one stock they hold is wells fargo at $29.2 billion.pl number two is it comes at $28.2 billion. for "nightly business report," i'm becky quick in omaha, nebraska. >> lots to talk ab mt. let's tale about warren buffett with a familiar face to all of us. susie garab is with us from fortune m"fortune" magazine. so becky was talking about all of this cash that mr. has on hand. you've been talking to money managers today to find out what their reaction is. what are you hearing on that? >> it's so fasnating that all of these money managers that know the company so well and know warren buffett were shocked at the size of how much cost. $116 billion. at's a huge amount of money. and the company keeps throwing up another $30 billion every year. but as becky just said, they can't find companies that don't have such high price tags. so a ied them, where would you tell warren to put their msaey. and they, buy more apple. >> following on that. >> or, you know, buy more berkshire hathaway stock with all of that money. but in termsf actual businesses, you've got to look at, what goes well shth the bee portfolio? it's steady-eddy companies. they're not necesrily companies. they said industrials, like the one company they mentioned was cummings engines, they make engine parts and engines. but on the consumer product side, they said global brands, maybe estee lauder is an amazing cany, maybe staumples. we'll see. warren buffett will come up with something to do with that money. but all the money managers i talked to, don't put the money in a dividend. sit on the cash. >> that's interesting. he also addressed the health care alliance that he and jeff bezos of amazon and jamie dimon of jpmorgan chase have put together. and he said it's about much me than just lowering health care costs, which is what the street assumed i beginning.in the what did you make of those comments? >> i think everybody has been wondering what this venture from three powerful men from three werful companies are really going to do. and until today, we really didn't know -- have any details. a couple ofhings we learned from warren buffett is, one, they do want to get the costs down. you know, they want to do j mor tht shave off a little bit. but also, their job number one is to find world-class ceo. and he said, we've really got to get the right person in there, he or she. and he didn't let on, you know, whether it be somody from an established health care company or somebody outside of health care that might be more disruptive, because you know, sue, for all the disruption we see around us, like the ubers and the air b&bs, you don't see it in health care. >> you don't. you really don't. very quickly, he'srs7 y old. what about succession? >> the only thing new on it, they've tapped two people to be vice chairman. the guy who's in charge of ns zm insurance and the guy in charge of all of the energy operations. greg abel, pr ably. but 8today, i thought he looked great. >> absolutely. >> but he got up early to do that interview. old.y good for 87 years >> he probably had a coca-cola, too, before he did. >> you're absolutely right about that. >> thanks, susie, always great to see you. >> thank you for having me. in that interview today, warren buffett, who once publicly shunned the airline industry, also said he wodot rule out owning an entire airline. and that comment sent the shares of the big carriers higher in today's trading session. it is time te taka look at some of today's upgrades a downgrades. target's rating was initiated at outperform by credit suisse. the firm cites the retailer's aggressive strategic cha aes strengthening consumer and potential market share gains. the analyst has an $86 price target. the stock rose nearly 2% today, to 76.90. and the rating on guess was upgraded from buy to neutral at b.lly fbr. that firm sees significant earnings upside over the next several years,s the new ceo executes his strategy. the analyst price target on th retailer $20 a share. aness was up more than 5% to $15.87. another retail upgrade. this one for finish line. its rating was raised from positive to neutral at susquehanna. the analyst there cites better than expected sales and promotional trends and the firm also raised its earnings estimates on the athletic apparel retailer. the price target is now $14 and the stock rose 5% to $11.04. companiesahead, which could lead the coming wave of a new, more advanced era in technology? across the atlantic, global technology companies are showing off what they think will be the next big thing. john forth -- jon fortt reports tonight from the mobile technology conference. >> a scramble to rewrite the new wavef business ahead of a new tech wave. that's the story of this year's mobile world congress. let's start with the phones. the surprisesth were in software when samsung took the wraps off of its htely antici and heavily leaked galaxy s9. this has ar features, it's got a fresh new camera that's used for onrsonalized futures and for new filters. he outside,d the s9 an s9 plus don't look much different from last area's model.he inside, boast new camera features like super slo-mo and dual aperture.he that'satest trick to take better pictures in low light and sharper action fightand take the fight to apple's iphone x. they're available march 16th at $720 for the s9nd $840 for the plus. the backdrop to this is a sobering reality in the mobile rld. the smartphone business isn't growing anymore. meanwhile, there's a lot of around so-called 5g wireless networks, which should arrive in the real world at thend of this year and bring trillions of of new growth from world of connected cars and cameras and medicine. but it's still not how 5g will become a reality. the iphone and its offspring brought us this far, but what's going to be the iphonef 5g? >> ultimately, the deployment might be driven by a need for proving out the technology, proving out the, market dema but ultimately, it won't scale without a real needrom enterprises or from consumers. and i think thatce tras any sort of political influence. and ultimately, i think, like i just said, there will be market demand for it. it's just going to take a period of time. >> the move to 5g i g abal race. independent analyst sharma points out the u.s. has some the natural advantages because of the way the smartphoneti revo was born, in silicon valley. but with china determinearto make its and europe eager to catch up, it's not over yet. for "nightly business rert," jon fortt in barcelona. dean foods gives a disappointing full-yea outlook, and that's where we begin tonight's market focus. incrsed competition and a glut of milk caused quarterly results of dairy producer to misses mates. the company, which gave a weak profit forecast, also said it consolidate its manufacturing operations, which it expects will result in savingcant cost but shares of dean foods fell 13% to $8.81. the consumer products company spectrum brands is merging with majority shareholder hhrg group. spectrum says its current management will maintain their positions at the combined comp cy. and as y see right there, they finished modestly to the upside in spectrum and sharply higher in hrg roup. af the bell, tenant health care said the new tax law caused it toor r a wider loss. quarterly revenue at the hospital operator improved and the company raised its earnings altlook for 2018. shares ini popped in after-hours, but finished the regular day down 1% t $19.07. and fitbit said that fewer les of its fitness devices during the holiday period caused that company to report a surprise loss and weaker revenue. the company said it expects overall sales to fall as much ah 20% i current period. it plans to combat that weakness with cost cuts and a focus on smart watches, a category fitbit said is gaining popularity with its customers and consumers. shares initially fell in after-hours, but ended the regular day up nearly 5% to $54. as growing number of companies cut business ties with the national rifle association, billionaire investor warren buffett says he will not boycott gun makers. his company, berkshire hatwnway, does nothares in gun manufacturers, but says there's no rule that it couldn't do business with one. i think you should be pretty carefulefore a company takes -- takes a b political opinion and something society has decided that they say, well, we're going to have a different view. now, i also think people individually should very much express their views. i think what the kids are doing there is very admirable. but i don't think berkshire should say, we're not going to do atbusiness. think would be ridiculous. >> so let's talk more about this. when it comes to social issues should companies take a public stance? joining us to talk about that and more is kelly mackelhaney with the university of california berkeley haas school of business. lcome, nice to ha you with us this evening. >> thank you. >> let's staer with the bro issue of, should companies be taking a stand or putting out an opinion on social issues? >> my belief is that, yes, they should, but as mr. buffett said, it's not for the faint of heart. teey need to do it very carefully, stcally, and well thought out. but you know, companies are a collection of humans and i think we forget that. it's not a disconnected entity ceos are a humans. and, you know,hey have the entire and responsibility to really satisfy demd and employees are demanding that ceo, company, that their that their leader speak up and speak out. >> and it is important that it comes, whatever the messageis, from the ceo herself or himself, ther than putting o o inting ou release or a statement? >> i absolutely believe, thsue, it is. we need to hear this, nod from a black ite press release, that is so long that most of us won't read past the first two sentences,ut from a human, where they can tell a better story, they have passion, they have, you know, inspiration and opinions. >> we set this segment up with a sound bite frombu warren ett, and he obviously was referring to the debate that is ragrog the country right now on gun control. it is a highly charged debate. is it a higher risk for a company to take a o stance a social issue that is so politically and emotionally charged? and how do they navigate that? >> it is certainly a risk, so i think they navigate this by calculating that r up-front. by engaging with stakeholders evth around what those stakeholders be i think it's pretty difficult for most people in this country to not have some sort of heart-based reactn to 17 kids being killed >> no the other issue is, if you don't take a stand, if you play it, quote/unquote, safe. and other companies, especially other companies in your niche do take a stake, is that a risk that you are not making a statement on a social issue? >> that is a real risk. and while i know for ceos it's awkward to take a social stand, i think it's incumbehe on now, if for no other reason, than other companies are doing it, so that itmpecomes a itive advantage. >> very quickly, before we wrap up, a public company versus a privately held company, but one that perhaps is used by a lot of consumers. is it a higher risk for a public ceo? >> it is. it's much higherrisk. it's less risk for consumer-facing brandsan it's less risk. the really important thing is for ceos to speak up en masse, because it's much better to have a collection of voices, rather than just one sort of loan s person out theaking up on controversial issues like this. gun control. >> kelly, thank you so much. appreciait. >> thank you, sue. >> kelly mcelhaney with the university of berkeley haas school of business. well, students at the marjory stoneman douglas high school in florida return to class this week. d across the country, school administrators, teachers, parents, a students are reassessing their school's security systems. but hardening a schcol doesn't cheap. scott cohn reports from newark, california. >> reporter: this high school with 1,900 students and100 staff members is in newark, california, but it could just as easily be in newark, new jersey, or newark, ohio. every school district in the country is facing the same issue. >> school safety is always our biggest concern. if i had to pick one question that w get from anyone is really, how safe are schools? nthat's kind of the quest that people ask before we even get to academic questions. >> reporter: security is already robust here. fencing, signs, guards. superintendent patrick sanchez says they not only have caras, but also a sound system that can detect and locate gunshots anywhere on campus. but they still cld use more. >> in a district this size of about 6,000 udts, personnel alone increase would probably be $3 million. ter: plenty of compani are happy to help. indiana-based allegiance speshtispesht i -- specializes in systems that can lock classrooms s at the fit hint of trouble. >> allegiance is willing to partner with every schoolhouse in the region to help drive awareness and planning for high school security.>> reporter: the industry helps fund a nonprofit, t partner alliance for safer schools, th which says at very least, schools should consider upgrading their lighting, windows, and doors and cameras. the group says that basic security would cost around $100,000 for a typical grade school, $170,000or a typical high school. >> of course, the organization is ready wh more expensive ideas for any district that asks. even though some other experts say physical surity only goes so far. >> it's not just an issue ofyi fort your front entranceway and throwing up some s what's l cameras, i behind that fortified entranceway in terms of the school climate, the culture, t training, the peopol-side of scafety that really makes school safety different and more -- and more important and meaningful. >> reporter: no argument here in newark, where the superintendent says the best deterrent to violence is making sure students are better educated in the first place. for "nightly business report," i'm scott cohn in newark, california p caliinrnia. cup, businesses are jumping on china's push to create a winter sports industry ahead of the next winter olympic games. the winestein company isr moving cloo bankruptcy. the studio's board of directors said a $500 millioneal to sell the company fell apart. er, movie studio's co-fou harvey weinstein, was fired late last year after being accused of sexual assault and harassment by dozens of women. weinstein has denied any non-consensual encounters. the winter olympics in pyeongchang may have just ended, but already some business owners are looking ahead to the next winter games in china. and they see opportunity. eunice yuan has our story. >> reporter: the beijings olympics four years away, but austrian businessman gehard flats is preparing for one of china's newest sfan esest fasci. his company bought a swiss brand called mountain rce which he hopes will one day attract the company's up and comin i skiers. >>s a massive opportunity, especially for the chinese market. >> reporter: traditionally, chinese people haven't taken a whole lot of interest in winter sports. but with the beijing olympic t coming up government is making a big push to promote sports like skiing. thousands of children are being taught h to ski a snowboard at this resort in chong lee, the town hosting most of the olympic events. i watched some videosf snowboarders doing flips in the air, she says. it looks exciting. other students in china are being requiredet to excited, as part of beijing's ambitious plan to put 300 millionhinese on the slopes by2025. the government is even subsidizing skior trips nearby schools. >> translator: in this city, every primary a school has certain allotment for students that comehere, this instructor sahe. ever since government created the sloga $300 million people on snow, kids have been loving this. >> the china like a little bit th glamour and theglitter. >> reporter: businessman flats believes the grand effort will mean increasingly affluent chinese demanding increasingly stylish ski wear. >> we see very much that the fluent chinese consumers are skiers and they take pictures with this brand and that will denitely help us boost the awareness on the chinese market. >> a lot of innation and materials. >> do you think chinese people will like this?ab >> lutely. they will love it. >> why? >> because it keeps them war and they' looking good. >> for "nightly business report," i'm eunice yuans in china. and before we go,er look at how stocks fared today. the dow advanced 390 points and the s&p 500 was up 32. and that is "nightly business report" for tonight. i'm sue herrera. thanks for joining us. have a great evening and we will see you here tomorrow. >> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americd's negleceds. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and theue crystal blaribbean sea. nonstop flights are available from most major airports.

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