new device. but today, there was no new device. the dow component did not chart a bold, new course or show off major innovation and the company might dispute that. it did, however, make some changes to its flagship product. the iphone. but those arguably incremental changes come at a time when the company faces challenges. its smartphone sales are slowing. big institutional shareholders are selling and the company is in the middle of a huge tax fight with the european union. its stock once a rocket ship is a slow-moving barge. shares are off about 3% this year. while the broader dow index of which it's a component up 6%. we start tonight with apple's latest announcement and josh lipton has it for us from san francisco. >> less a revolutionary new product than an evolution, apple's ceo tim cook unveiled the iphone 7 and 7 plus today in front of a crowd of apple die-hards in san francisco. the new phones have come definite upgrades and one noticeably absent feature. apple is eliminating the headphone jack that began with the first ipod and replacing it with a lightning jack currently used to charge the phone but in an attempt to limit backlash of consumers forced to get new headphones, apple will have an adapter for earbuds with new models. or c will t option to buy wireless air buds called ear pods. one that is address common complaints of users in the past, the first better battery life. apple claiming up to two hours more juice on the 7 plus. and may have received the most applause of the day, the long-awaited arrival of a water resistant phone. both new phones will also feature a better camera and processor. apple's event today amid concerns with some investors over the company's pace of innovation and somewhat stagnant sales growth. sales for the fiscal expected to drop for and while the iphone introduction was the today, apple introdu apple watch series 2 sales of the original watch down 57% in the last quarter, according to new estimates by the international data corporation. the new watch like the iphone 7 will be water resistant with new features geared especially towards runners and swimmers. despite the upgrades, investor reaction was somewhat muted today with the stock basically flat in the stock and increased about 10% in the past three months. for "nightly business report," i'm josh lipton, san francisco. now to apple's other challenge. some of the biggest global funds selling the shares. new data of research firm e-ve shows that institutional investors sold the stock in the second quarter. the drop in ownership bigger than any other stock. they tell cnbc that some asset managers may be believing that the apple big growth days is behind it. >> apple is watching what's happening in ireland after the european union ruled that ireland granted apple undue tax benefits. the parliament of ireland appealing the decision. the outcome of the appeal is expected sometime tonight. .ulia chatterly reports from >> reporter: an important vote, but also, just a symbolic one from the irish parliament tonight. voting on whether or not to back the government in their decision to appeal the european commission's decision to hit apple with that $14.5 billion tax bill. what the government has been saying all along is this appeal will succeed. why? because we never gave apple any kind of sweetheart deal or preferential treatment which is fine. but there's a bigger question here. what does this mean for other big tech companies here in ireland, the likes of microsoft, facebook? could they get the same deal as apple and is there a huge risk now that these companies get hit with the similar kind of tax bill as apple at some point in the future? that's the question i put to the irish prime minister. listen to what he had to say. >> the other cases on appeal to the european court to which ireland is a party but the amount mentioned here is a staggering amount in comparison to the other countries so from that perspective it's a number of years to conclude. but it sends us a wrong signal from the commission, particularly when ireland is one of the foremost players on the oecd program to deal with this problem of a broken corporate tax system internationally with an international response. we have changed our registration here. we have gotten rid of the status concept. we have gotten rid of the so-called double irish concept. >> reporte what he was saying i think that it's a tax legacy and the loopholes are closed and didn't answer the question of whether or not the likes of microsoft and facebook are still at risk from a similar issue. now, i did ask him another question, very potent in light of today's events, whether or not he'll show solidarity with apple and buy the iphone 7 and he got excited and said he owns the iphone 6 and having issues understanding the tips and tricks. he said he asked tim cook last week if he could help him. he said he would but for my sense that help could take a while to understand. i think he better stick with the iphone 6 here and delay on the old upgrade. for "nightly business report," i'm julia chatterly in dublin. >> now to a stagging stock and no major overhaul, some wonder if apple reached a plateau. timothy lsaco at granite investment advisers thinks the company has plenty of room to grow while ross gerber of gerber kawasaki said it's reached the end of the innovation curve. th both for joining us. we put forth the plateau argument. tim, you're still bullish on the stock. you think they're still innovating. tell us why and what they're doing that you like. >> well, i think they're innoing creating the digital lifestyle they have been talking about for ten years. they have products that are wearable, the phone, on television. they were products in the home from thermostats to, you know, the software on the basis of home automation devices and moving into the car, as well. so if you look two, three years out, i think apple controls the digital lifestyle regardless of the o you buy it as a value stock? >> it is not a growth stock with revenues and growth going down and 12 pe. it is a value stock but the issue we have isn't whether the products are great. they have evolved them as far as they can. the issue we have is, you have to sell more products and more profits every year for the stock to go up. and they're not able to do that anymore. when's the next product to really grow apple's pie? >> is it a question then of scarcity of innovation or of market satch wags? in other words, there's just so many people who can pay $695 or $649 for a phone? >> yes, both. not only have they got given us any compelling reason to buy a new phone, but they have another completely -- the market for a high-end phone is full now. not addressed the fast-growing emerging markets in any way. they need $150 or $200 phone and if it's about the ecosystem, build the ecosystem. but you can't have a phone for rich people around the world. >> tim, i wod argue that tim cook has spent a lot of time recently in india and in china and he pointed out india in a big way as growth. so to counter what ross was just saying, is it one of their biggest opportunities in these emerging markets which are much more populous than other parts of the world? >> well, certainly. and i think, you know, to ross's point, they need to be playing toward the growing middle class and upper class in those countries so i actually disagree with ross. i don't think they need $150 or $200 phone. they've never played in low-end products and i don't expect them to here but working in those countries is a lot of politics and there's a lot of in-country work to do and i think tim coo . may be a while until we see the fruits of that. >> how do you get the growth if the market for the high-end phone in the mature markets is a little bit saturated? >> it's a little bit saturated but the phones wear out, batteries wear out and the upgrade cycle continues so apple's one of the few company that is has a cash cow in the form of the iphone business domestically and using that cash cow to build out the business in other countries. and in other services. so where ross is right, it is not currently a growth company. it is building a strong platform to be a player in whatever the next revolution is in communication. but we know what that revolution is. it's virtual reality and they're the only major tech company that has nothing, they're missing the boat. look at facebook. at all-time highs growing like crazy and oculus will be a key part of that growth. >> that's not really fair because facebook's revenue t account to apple's -- >> it's a 10-year-old company. who's using oculus and making money on it? >> i am and they're making money. >> they're not making money. they're making money on ad revenue. >> we are talking about the future and the future of virtual reality and that's a fact. >> very quickly, what are each one of you -- >> well, we own the stock and, you know, for clients that come into us now, we would be buying the stock. >> ross? >> i don't think people sit in the sofa and use virtual reality to do what they do on a daily basis. >> you are just incorrect. we are owners and been sellers of the stock and we have lowered our position. >> gentlem timot ross, really appreciate it. >> that's what makes a market there. >> slight rise on the broader market and nasdaq continued the win streak with four straight days of gains. notching yet another all-time closing high. industrials, dow, fell nearly 12 points to 18,526. nasdaq added 8. only one in the green today. s&p 500 was off fractionally. employers in the u.s. advertised a record number of job openings in july. the labor department says there are more than 5.8 million openings in the country. that's above the peak reached in april and it is a sign that hiring is healthy despite that disappointing august employment report. a report today from the federal reserve showed a tight labor market is not generating substantial inflation pressure, the beige book of the fed which is a region by region look at the economy across the country characterized economic growth as modest or maybe even moderate. eamon javers has the details. >> reporter: the fed's beige book is out offering a picture of the economic health of the nation at the end of summer 2016. the fed reports that economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace. the fed's contacts across the country generally expect moderate economic growth in the coming months. now, several key economic sectors to watch and consumer spending and tourism, retail sales volumes appeared little changed since the prior reporting period and the boston, cleveland and san francisco districts suggested modest gains on balance. in manufacturing, activity was flat to slightly up in general with chicago in particular reporting a moderate pace of growth. in real estate and construction, activity expanded further in most districts. residential growth moderate and robust in san francisco. and in employment and wages, employment expanded at a moderate pace since the previous report and st. louis in particular reporting that pressure on wages remains strong. but in general, expectations of wage growth for the coming months were modest. election showed up as a concern for some businesses including real estate decisions and retail auto sales in some districts and the atlanta district which is south florida contacts observed fewer international arrivals and monitoring impact of zika on international report. i'm eamon javers at the federal reserve in washington. still ahead, why a massive bankruptcy in the shipping industry may be just what the global economy doe congress has failed to move forward a bill that would help battle the zika virus. the same bill failed twice before because of bipartisan infighting. florida healt officials say they they have found seven more home grown cases of zika. the state documented 56 locally transmitted cases. candidate donald trump today said increased military spending is a national security priority. and he called for an end to automatic budget cuts for military spending as part of what's known as sequestration. >> as soon as i take office, i will ask congress to fully eliminate the defense sequester and submit a new budget to rebuild our military. it is so depleted. we will rebuild our military. >> john harwood following the story tonight from washington. what specifically did mr. trump call for? >> reporter: well, he proposed some specifics in terms of targets for the spending. for example, he said he wanted to take the army up to 540,000 active duty soldiers from the current roughly 480,000. he wanted to go from 1,100 fighter jets to 1,200. 31 marine battalions to 36. that type of thing. he didn't spell out how much it was cost or how to pay for it. >> and compared to ms. clinton's positions, how do they differ? >> reporter: well, he certainly seems to be proposing more than hillary clinton and she's ducked on this question. last year, while she was fighting a democratic primary campaign that was centered on domestic issues and ways to raise wages she said we should have a national commission on military spending, way of deferring decisions. we may get a greater hint tonight of her views on defense spending in a forum on commander in chief issues that nbc is sponsoring. >> how important is defense spending as a campaign issue this fall? this is a first time i have heard it come up, john. >> reporter: well, and that's no accident. the economy is the top issue that voters say they want to hear about. terrorism rose to the top of the list after some of the high-profile attacks but that since has receded. so this is an issue that is important for the country and important for the next commander in chief. not front and center with voters right now. >> harwood, thanks. hewlett-packard enterprise will spin off some of the non-core assets. according to sources who spoke to cnbc, the computer maker plans to spin off and combine its non-core software assets with uk-based microfocus in a deal worth nearly $9 billion. separately, hewlett-packard posted higher than expected profit and sales came in a little light. shares fell nearly 2% in after hours but finished the regular day up 1% to 2208. apache said they uncovered a texas oil field that could be a profitable resource. the energy company said the new discovery has a potential to produce at least 2 billion barrels of oil valuing the area at more than $8 billion. they have begun drilling and said it would raise the capital budget to accelerate production. shares rose 6%. shares of chipotle continued to surge after a regulatory filing late yesterday revealed that per shing square with a 9% stake in the chain. the hedge fund said it reflects the view that the stock undervalued. and also added to plan to enter into talks with the management of chipotle. shares popped. sprouts farmer's market said it expects sales to stall in the current quarter and lower the full-year outlook. the organic food retailer blamed a competitive environment and deflation. punished, fell more than 13% to $19.68. retro fin said the drug for a rare kidney condition performed well in a mid-stage trial and as a result the company said it will speak with u.s. regulators of expediting the process for the approval. shares surged 27% today to $20.81. intel reportedly in final talks with the private equity firm tpg to sell its majority stake in the computer security division mcafee more than $4 billion. this according to multiple reports. under the deal, both intel and tpg will own mcafee. shares fell today, 11 cents to $36.46. >>d as we reported last night, the potential deal between liberty media and formula 1 is now official. the tv distributor said it will acquire the car racing series nearly 4.5 billion. once the transaction is finalized, liberty media expects to take on the name formula 1 group. sharyls fell 1% to $17.38. the economy could be thrown a bit of a curveball. the bankruptcy of a massive cargo company created confusion in parts of the global shipping business. and that could ripple through a number of key economic sectors. morgan brenn >> reporter: the bankruptcy is the shipping industry's biggest ever. financial collapse that's de and threatening holiday goods. the company filed for bankruptcy in south korea last week seeking similar protections in the u.s. and dozens of other countries since then. hohn chin was losing money for years and stunned ports, retailers and carriers around the globe. stranding nearly 80 ships of half a million containers filled with clothes, toys, computers and appliances. >> in this case, i think it's a concern in the we can see good deal of cargo, about 5% of the asia to u.s. trade, that cargo could be frozen for a period of time. >> reporter: it's the world's seventh largest container shipping line. since filing for bankruptcy, the ships in limbo. stalled from china to california, as ports refuse to handle containers for fear costs not recouped and workers won't be paid. on tuesday, bankruptcy judge in newark, new jersey, granted a temporary order so vessels dock at u.s. ports without fear of seizing asets. something that's happened in r countries. they will be back in court on friday. but that doesn't guarantee cargo will actually make it on shore. let alone be transported by truckers and railways to the final destination. according to court filings, hp has computers on ships and samsung said they may be chartering planes to move the products. there's the gridlock of west coast ports last year. >> we will have disruptions here i think over a course of a few weeks. it should not stretch over a matter of a few months and most likely contained from a volume standpoint than the west coast ports 18 months ago. >> reporter: it's all happening in the middle of the busy peak season. as retailers and other consumer focused shippers stock up ahead of the holidays. with many fleets suffering from rock bottom rates and weak economic growth, the could be a sign of more pain to come. more "nightly business report," i'm morgan brennan. coming up, upping his game. what underarmour is doing to catch up with nike and what's fast becoming one of the most import volkswagen is in talks to make electric cars in china. the automaker is exploring a possible joint venture with a state-run company. vw targeting s.e.a.l.s of a million electric vehicles a year worldwide by 2025. china is also investing heavily in alterna energy vehicles looking to cut the oil imports and reduce air pollution. china and southeast asia quickly becoming the most important region for sneaker makers. nike and adidas seen success in the fast growing market and underarmour to catch up with the rivals and it has something that other companies don't. sports star stefan curry. here's a report from taipei. >> reporter: here in southeast asia, it is the new front line for the global sneaker wars and that's why curry backed by underarmour toured china, hong w generation of sneaker vate a it's why the battle won't be played out at a nba court back in the u.s., but in small gyms across asia, like here in taipei where curry spent hours coaching, meeting, greeting, signing autographs and taking selfies with eager fans. but like it did in the u.s., underarmour here in greater china is playing catch up to nike who's been in the market for decades. kevin, the ceo, is trying to do what he did in the u.s. in this market. >> it takes time. you know? since 2010, we have gone from a first million dollars in business to $3 billion in $12 to over $150 million in revenue this year and so we have really just hit that trajectory of xwroet and it doesn't happen overnight. thinking about china, you know, can't think about it in terms of this year and next three years even. it's a five-year, ten-year, 20-year approach plan and again it's a gift and leaving china with more than you're walking in and thinking you pull revenue out of the market. >> reporter: espn tallied a list of most famous global athletes. in top ten, nike stars of james, bryant, number 11 curly at number 34. but curry says he's just getting started and in fact looks up to the other players not just on the court but what they have managed to do with the brands globally. >> always a great examples across from players that are coming before me and so, you know, kobe's obviously done a great job of keeping it consistent presence in asia and once again trying to create an authentic story that's true to him. as a fan of basketball growing up, i took note of that. everybody does it different way and i want to have something that's unique to me and to the story of underarmour and curry. >> reporter: fans across asia came out in crowds and enthusiastically applauding their hero, missing school, lining up at 5:00 a.m. outside the store to get a glimpse of the nba all-star. it's clear underarmour has a rising star in curry, globally, at a time when investors have questioned whether growth is going to come from. the stock has slid this year after multiplying 24 fold since going public. international could hold the key. for "nightly business report," i'm sara eisen from taipei. >> good for him. >> he's a nice guy it seems. >> that's what i heard. we wish him the best of luck. welcom thank you. good to be back. >> you were missed. that does it for "nightly business report." i'm sue herera. thank you for joining us. >> i'm tyler mathisen. vacation is pretty good. good night, everybody. we'll . announcer: the following program contains mature content which may not be suitable for all audiences. viewer discretion is advised. i must say, i find mr. hereward very agreeable. there's a new baby here, another due soon, and an elderly lady who is dying. i wish i could mince my words, but your life will be in danger, too. it's not fair. no. when somebody thinks the worst of a person, such a lot can be lost. chin chin! evangelina: you mark my words. the joy of midwifery never dims. is provided by contributions to your pbs stations from...