Reports its first decline in annual revenue and profit since 2001. The dow component said revenue fell for the third consecutive quarter, as iphone sales dropped from a year ago. But remember, despite the falloff in numbers, apple is still the most profitable american company. And it did issue a rosie outlook. For the latest quarter, apple earned 1. 67 a share, one cent better than estimates. Revenue fell 9 to more than 46 billion, just about in line with expectations. The stock popped, then dropped, in initial after hours trading. Josh lipton has more now on apples results. Reporter 45. 5 million, the big number in apples latest earnings reporting and first to iphone units in the companys fourth quarter. That was a drop of about 5 year over year, but it did beat analysts expectations of 44. 8 million. Question for investors is where this iphone franchise heads from here. Bears will say the best days are behind it. Like a lot of hardware you will see dropping average prices and margins. Bulls say there is a growth left in the franchise, and specifically theyre looking to the new models, the iphone 7 and iphone 7 plus to return the iphone franchise to growth. I did have the chance to sit down and speak to apple ceo tim cook. He certainly is bullish about the iphone, pointing notification, the Record Number of android switchers and growth in emerging markets like india, where iphone growth was up 50 . For nightly Business Report, im josh lipton, kup tino, california. Today one of the biggest days in earnings season, what investors were focused on. Some results disappointing, others encouraging. That led to small declines in the major averages. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 53 points to 18,169, the s p 500 dropped 8. A bright spot in todays market was procter gamble. The dow component and the maker of tide, pampers and gillette razors reported better than expected quarterly profit. It also posted strong organic scales, which excludes things like currency moves and divestments, but could be spotty in the near term. Tougher comps ahead of us. Were managing through a lot of geopolitical and economic dynamics in places like egypt, nigeria, argentina and now the philippines. And, of course, our competition doesnt stand still. But 2 is a significant improvement versus last year, and we hope by the end of the year improving beyond that. P g the best performing stock on the dow, rising more than 3 . Dow component merck reported a Strong Quarter helped by higher sales of vaccines and a closely watched cancer extremity which works by harnessing patients immune systems. The drug maker reported an increase in both profit and revenue and narrowed and raised its full year earnings forecast. That was good for 2 gain on the trading session. The industrial sector as you may know was not expected to do well this quarter. As weak Global Growth and low Commodity Prices weighed on its business. And that was exactly what we heard from caterpillar and 3m but not United Technologies. Morgan brennan has more on this mixed picture. Reporter amid an on slaught of tough earnings, better than expected sales and profits and raised the lower end of its 2016 guidance. A start contrast to fellow dow components caterpillar and 3m, which also posted results this morning. On a Conference Call with analysts, United Technologies ceo graeg hayes, chalked it up to construction and aerospace. While addressing nearterm challenges with the gtf production ramp up, our military businesses continue to perform well. Weve also seen solid performance out of our Utc Aerospace systems business, and ccs. All of these guys picking up the slack. In the end, balance still works at utc. Reporter it suggests increasing confidence at the aerospace, elevator and controls company, which has struggled with delivery delays of its pratt and whitney jet engines. Analysts say this is a step in the right direction with Robert Mccarthy calling it one of the less messier quarters in recent periods and noting that short term risks do still exist. Indeed, the company, which soared in trading, did warn profits will be flat next year, thanks in part to the cost of building those new engines. But United Technologies is largely the exception. Caterpillar continues to struggle with the top manufacturer of mining and construction equipment, falling short of estimates, and revising its forecast lower again. In addition to ongoing weakness in the oil and gas market, the biggest drag on sales was actually transportation equipment, as locomotives in north america and mining trucks around the world sit idle in the commodity slump. 3m also trended its own outlook for 2016. The maker of postit notes, scotch tape and ace bandages believes sluggish Economic Growth curbs the demand. The results today come on the heels of muted forecasts by honeywell and General Electric last week. And the bad news is likely to continue. As weak Global Growth, a strong dollar and depth ressed Commodity Prices continue to pressure the broader industrial sector. For nightly Business Report, im morgan brennan. And as you probably expect, shares of caterpillar and 3m fell in trading today. But as morgan mentioned, United Technologies was higher. And while not a blue chip stock, under armour is struggling with growth just like dow component and rival, nike. Under armour reported its slowest Profit Growth in six years, as the Company Faces increased competition and the effects of several Sporting Good rail bankruptcies. The Athletic Apparel maker said it expects operating Income Growth to trail Revenue Growth over the next two years. That sent shares tumbling 13 . In trading today. So, so far, more than half the companies in the Dow Jones Industrial average reported earnings and the results have been mixed. John kin aly is here to discuss what the results may be telling us about the health economy. John, welcome back. Nice to have you here. Good to be here. Wrap it up for me. So far, half the dow has reported. But it seems to be better, at least, the earnings, than they have been during the socalled earning recession. Yeah. So the earnings recession began in early part of 2015, first or second quarter. And since then in every quarter until now, we have seen earnings fall year over year. That was largely due to the big drop in Commodity Prices, especially oil prices and the big rise in the value of the dollar. Now here in the third quarter, those things have kind of stabilized a bit. And looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we are likely to see a year over year gain in earnings in the fourth quarter. But so far, those dow components, we had about 21 reports so far. Everyone beat expectations. The guidance, however, has been kind of mixed. Yeah. What does that tell us about the economy . Or can you draw a parallel between the earnings performance and Economic Performance . You know, you have to remember what these Dow Companies are . These are big, gigantic, multinational corporations that do a lot of exporting. Also very manufacturing heavy. Our economy is only about 10 , 15 manufacturing. The companies in the dow, theyre going to derive 30 or maybe even 40 of their revenues from manufacturing. Thats one big difference. The other big difference is exports. Our economy, maybe 10, 15 of our economy is exports. Some of the big dow components, its upwards of 50, sometimes even 60 , and as we know, overseas economies have struggled a lot. So i wouldnt draw too much inference. But we do want to see that earnings recession end so we can push those stock indexes back to alltime highs. Does it take the prospect of recession off the table . You know, the if you look out to the data we have in hand and some of the more data thats leading on the economy, it puts the odds of recession pretty low. Id say somewhere in the 10 to 15 chance of a recession over the next year or two. So from the data itself, pretty low odds recession. What were hearing from corporations, they expect slow growth. But not recession. If we do have recession, we can expect Earnings Growth to be down 20, 30, 40, 50 in some cases. But what companies are telling us is that they see modest Earnings Growth over the next 12 months. John, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Appreciate it. Thank you. John canalley with lpl financial. Still ahead, the big fix, but is there one for all of the issues plaguing the Affordable Care act. Home prices are still rising. According to the latest s p caseshiller index, prices gained more than 5 in august from a year ago. A lack of inventory and low Interest Rates helped push them to near record levels. The strongest year over year increases were in portland and seattle, both up more than 11 . And denver, it was up more than 8 . It is open enrollment season. The time of year when people can make changes to their benefits and health coverage. But as we reported last night, those who get their Health Insurance through the Affordable Care act, are in for some sticker shock. Average premiums are rising sharply. And as Bertha Coombs reports, thats raising a lot of questions about the program. Reporter Consumer Shopping for Affordable Care act will see premium increases that average about 25 for next year, according to the health and Human Services department. And nearly half a dozen states where consumers are now down to just one insurance choice, that increase could be even steeper. In arizona, where nearly all but one has just one insurer, rates will more than double for those who are buying without subsidies. Its the result of insurers scaling back on Exchange Participation because of steep losses. Some of the losses were subsidized by the government in order to get insurers to join. Those protections are rolling off, and, you know, without those protections, you saw insurers lose a lot of money in this program last year. Reporter the underlying problem has been the mix of people who have signed up for aca plans, mostly older, sicker members, who use an awful lot of medical services. While younger, healthier people have not signed up in droves. Insurers say part of the reason is that the aca forces them to offer plans that are richer and more costly than young people want. They say one of the solutions is to allow them to offer cheaper plans that offer more flexibility. Plans that really are markettargeted to different audiences and demographics to deliver for them what they need at that time, but to get them involved in buying insurance. Reporter after aetna, united and a number of other insurers have scaled back their participation in the aca, millions of americans will also have to change insurers next year, and in many cases, they may find that the plans they are offered are going to look very different. Probably the networks and the formularies are getting more narrow. So i would say most people are also going to see a decline in what they think of as their health plan access. Reporter the Obama Administration says the majority of people on aca plans, 85 of them, qualify for subsidies, which will go up right along with the premiums. But that wont help those in the middle class, who are not subsidized, who will have to absorb the price hikes out of their own pockets. Bertha coombs, nightly Business Report, new york. From the big hike in premiums to insurers leaving the health exchanges, what, if anything, can be done to fix the Affordable Care act . Lets turn now to the leader of the Pwc Health Research institute to get his thoughts on that. Nice to have you here, benjamin, welcome. Thanks for having me. I dont want to have a political discussion. I questions i want to have a structural discussion. How do you restructure this particular program to make it work . Well, i think, you know, first we need to start with the aca c is a big law n place for over six years, things working well. All eyes on the exchanges right now and some of the challenges around them. And as we heard, weve seen anything from premium increases for those plans to also fewer insurers in some of those states. Well, the answer is really going to be cooperation from a few different entities. The federal government has a role to play in terms of providing more subsidies for the Insurance Companies for those that are taking on a sicker population. The states have a role to play. Theyre the ones that have a lot of people on the ground that can reach out to some of these communities who are not signing up for insurance. And bringing them in to the insurance pool to make it more balanced. You know, something that the gentleman bertha interviewed mentioned, he said, you need to restructure in order to make it attractive for the younger participant. And it kind of reminded me of a target date maturity fund, where you change the investment as you get older. Would it be possible to structure it Something Like that, when youre younger, you need less services so provide less services in that particular policy . As you get older, you can add on other services . Is that feasible . Well, you know, right now the way the law is written, the plans are very standardized. And theyre trying to give people a feeling of really understanding whats going to be covered and really be ready for kind of any situation. I think the key to the younger population is, you know, twofold. One, its going to require a lot of outreach and education in terms of the benefit thats there for them to go ahead and buy in, because, you know, for any of us, were just one car wreck away from maybe a very large bill. And the other thing is educating people around the subsidies that are available to them, and it was mentioned earlier, 75 to 80 or more of the population are subsidized in these exchanges. And they may actually be paying a very small amount for their insurance, even with some of these increases. You know, one other thing i would say, our research has shown the states that have expanded medicaid seem to have healthier Health Insurance exchanges. They have more plans operating in those states. And the price increases seem to be less. All right. On that note, benjamin, thank you very much for joining us. Benjamin isgur with pwc research institute. Medicaid expansion sees team profits rise and thats where we begin tonights market focus. The company said its revenue nearly doubled with a rise in the number of participants enrolled in some of its medicaid plans. But despite the upbeat results, missed analysts expectations. Nonetheless, shares ended up more than 3. 5 , to 65. 36. Cost cuts helped dupont post better than expected earnings, leading that company to raise its profit outlook for the year. Dupont also said its merger with dow chemical likely will not close until early next year. As the deal remains under the mike scope of antitrust regular larts around the globe. Shares down to 69. 62. Automaker General Motors said solid demand for trucks and suvs in the north American Market lifted property and revenue. Those results easily topped expectations. The companys chief Financial Officer says he likes what he sees. Weve grown our Retail Market share account yeartodate by about a half percentage point. Our transaction prices continue to improve on the strength of our products. And actually, were quite excited about our launch cadence when you think over the next 12 to 18 months and fundamentally refreshing our entire crossover portfolio. Were very, very optimistic about continuing to drive Strong Performance tenplus percent margins in north america, even a plateaued environment. Gm shares were off 4 to 31. 60. Currency headwinds and lower demand for products caused whirlpool to post lower than expected earnings. Slashed its profit guidance. Shares plunged almost 11 to 152. 09. And data and Analytics Firm nielson said costs tied to restructuring charges and disappointing results in the u. S. Caused profit to fall more than expected. The company did see overall revenue grow, but that also came up short of expectations. The shares were punished. They fell nearly 17 to 45. 65. You might call this a moneymakeover. Technology is quickly changing the way we borrow, manage our cash and buy just about everything. Kayla tausche gives us a glimpse from the worlds biggest event dedicated to Financial Services innovation. She is in las vegas. Reporter one week a year, the conversation on this strip turns to this strip. At money 2020, companies from major credit cards to brandnew startups trying to change the way we pay for good. Take erica, a new Virtual Assistant from bank of america. Her goal is to simplify your bills and help you save money. Though how much money is still undetermined. Its going to be different by customer, because we