this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. all eyes will be on ben bernanke tomorrow. that's when the federal reserve chief will give his first-ever press conference. and tom, this will be the start of regular briefings between bernanke and the media. >> tom: first one, susie, in an unprecedented move, bernanke will talk to reporters shortly after the fed releases its statement on monetary policy. he can expect questions about inflation and when the fed is going to pull the plug on its bond-buying program that has pumped billions of dollars into the economy. >> susie: and as darren gersh reports, bernanke is trying to improve the fed's communication at a crucial time for the economy and the central bank. >> reporter: its popularity sagging and under fierce attack by critics, the federal reserve has good reason to up its p.r. game. donald kohn says his former colleagues at the fed are probably feeling a bit misunderstood. kohn should know. he retired last fall after 40 years at the fed, leaving his job as vice chairman shortly before the central bank began its $600 billion bond-buying program known as quantitative easing. >> they must feel that they are not getting their story across, they are not answering the questions that people have about those asset purchases. so this is another opportunity to explain what they are doing and answer the questions more directly. >> reporter: in his first post- meeting news conference, fed chairman ben bernanke is expected to repeat arguments he's made before. buying assets in bulk is an effective way to boost the economy when traditional short- term interest rates are already near zero. and with unemployment high and inflation still relatively low, fed officials argue that policy makes sense. but critics see the public outreach differently. columbia professor charles calomiris argues the fed launched its bond-buying program in response to political pressure to do something about the economy. and now he says the fed chairman is stepping up public outreach to counter a public backlash. >> there is a lot of reason for the chairman to be reaching out to try to show people we're a transparent shop, we have a coherent philosophy and we are still operating as an independent central bank. i am not sure that will be believed, i am not sure that will be credible... >> reporter: kohn dismisses charges fed policy is driven by politics. still, he says it is important for the fed chairman to use tomorrow's news conference to clarify what the fed is doing and why. >> to the extent the fed can address the public's concerns about the effects of its actions, the rationale for its actions, what it expects to happen in the future, then they will be addressing the political concerns. >> reporter: in that sense, bernanke's news conference should really be called a confidence-building session. if more americans can be convinced the fed is on the right track, chairman bernanke argues it will be easier to steer the economy in the right direction. darren gersh, "nightly business report," washington. >> tom: here are the stories in tonight's n.b.r. newswheel: ahead of the fed decision on rates, strong earnings and consumer optimism boosted stocks to multiyear highs. the dow jumped 115 points, the nasdaq added nearly 22 and the s&p 500 up 12. big board volume cleared 900 million shares while nasdaq volume climbed firmly above two billion shares. concerns about jobs and inflation eased somewhat this month, sending consumer confidence higher. the conference board's index edged up to 65.4 from 63.8 in march. it's still far from the reading of 90 that shows a healthy economy. we haven't seen that level since the recession began in december of 2007. >> susie: ford's earnings accelerated 22% in the first three months of this year, the automaker's best quarter in 13 years. it earned 62 cents a share, much higher than the 50 cents analysts were expecting. revenues surged 16% to 33 billion dollars, $3 billion more than estimates. earlier today, i talked with ford's c.e.o. alan mulally and i asked him whether the company can stay in the fast lane for the rest of the year. >> well, one of the things we shared today on the earnings policy is that we're increasing production in the second quarter of this year. based on the strength of our products and consumer demand. and we also reiterated our guidance that for the full year 2011, that we will achieve our guidance of improving our profitability and our cash flow over 2010. so that serves us very well for delivering profitable growth going forward. poor mr. mulally, update us on the situation in japan and what impact that will have on your earnings going forward? >> clearly our si symphonys go out with everybody soart associated with the disaster. in ford's case, we do not have any direct ford operations in japan. but clearly many of our suppliers, down through tier two and tier three, get components from japan. we've been finding alternative sources. we've been using our production facilities, and moving down times around to make sure we didn't run out of parts. and so far, so good. we were able to meet our production commitments in the first quarter, and we're also increasing production in the second quarter. >> a lot of people are already talking about $5 a gallon gasoline. what impact will that have on your sales? >> i think the impact will really be be in the balance of the portfolio. we'll end up selling more small and medium-sized vehicles. susie, as we've talked in the past, we took this point of view nearly five years ago, that we all were going to pay more for energy going forward because of the demand being let out of the asian pacific economic growth. that's why we committed to a full family of vehicles, small, medium and large, and our commitment that every ford vehicle would be beflt best in class and fuel-efficiency and in design. >> when are we going to see the ford electric car in shows? >> you're going to start to see the electric vehicles from ford this year, starting with the transit connect commercial van. and we have now committed into pro production, a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid, and then an all electric vehicle. >> looking at u.s. market share, ford is now number two to g.m. i know you're really focusing on getting your numbers up. general motors is offering incentives to get their numbers up. do you see that as an option? >> we clearly are not participating, because there is nothing that destroys the industry than by discountering the vehicles, and ruining the residual values. >> before you go, i want to ask you one question about your stock. ford up today, but it is off for the year. if ford is doing so well, what needs to be done to get investors to buy into the growth story? >> an important thing we communicated today is that we believe that our performance for 2011 will be even much improved over 2010. and that's what everybody is focused on because when you start doing that in a regular way, you are now creating an exciting profitably growing condition. >> thank you so much for coming and telling us all about ford. we really appreciate your time. >> thank you, susie. as susie just mentioned, there's talk about $5-a-gallon gasoline, but we're not there yet. $3.87 a gallon is the average price for regular unleaded gasoline, according to a.a.a. the rise in pump prices is fueling new efforts to develop alternative energy sources like algae. tonight, we continue our series "planet forward," a partnership with the george washington university social media project using your ideas to power our future. frank sesno discovered high hopes for the green gunk as part of "planet forward's" pbs special, "the energy of innovation." >> reporter: who knew algae was hot? "planet forward" received a surprising number of algae-based biofuel ideas for our recent pbs special. one of the most notable, from george washington university students lauren hoenmeyer and kimberly kroll, reported on algae to power a navy river boat. but that was just an experiment, and didn't answer the question: can algae get to scale and start to fill the world's gas tanks? "planet forward" member mike mendez answered, "yes, it has to." >> it's overwhelming, the energy situation. you know, we use 18 million barrels a day. our whole economy-- everything in life, is based upon this liquid fuel. i have three boys. what's their future going to be like? >> reporter: mendez and his company, sapphire energy, brought us an algae-to-fuel idea they say can have real world impact soon. they'll plan to begin commercial production in 2012. >> so algae-- using photosynthesis to make a fuel that can be directly put into your automobile-- really is the solution. >> reporter: keep in mind, every algae contains about one-quarter oil, and natural crude is ancient fossilized algae. but can sapphire grow algae on an industrial scale in real time? >> you can't think like an industry where you're making a high-end product. this is not a high-end product. this is a commodity. think like a farmer. that's the way that we needed to approach the problem. think like a farmer. >> reporter: to launch a commercial algae crop, mike's team ships algae species to a test farm. but it's not a location you'd expect for a crop that grows in water. >> new mexico has two of the things we need most. the amount of sunlight we get here is probably the best in the world, certainly the united states. underground, there's a huge reservoir of salt water. it can't grow crops with it, you can't farm with it, so it's not really used for anything. so, these are two resources that are unlimited, really, in this state. for us, this is the perfect place to grow algae. >> reporter: for two years, sapphire has been nurturing algae year-round at 20 acres of ponds in las cruces. once the algae matures in ponds, it's separated from water by a centrifuge, creating a thick algae paste. and that paste gets fed into this test plant extractor that uses green solvents to crack open the algae cells and release oil. the result is green crude, but is it cost-effective? right now, algae oil costs roughly $7 per gallon, or $300 per barrel. but sapphire will open a new 300-acre test plant in 2012-- the largest in the nation. by producing one million gallons per year, they expect the price to drop. >> and our target, really, is about $80 a barrel. that's what we believe is a good entry point in the market. >> frank sesno joins us from our washington bureau. nice to see you. welcome back. >> thank you, tom. >> $80 a barrel, what is it going to take on an industrial scale to drive that price down from $300 a barrel to 80? >> what sapphire says is they have to get a lot of production growing. they're going to be growing their capacity to do that. according to the folks at sapphire, fe they give themselves 75% chance of getting there in five years. >> tom: how does algae compare to ethanol? >> a algae is quite better. something like 10 times more than energy. you don't grow it. you are not crowding out food crops. you don't have to worry about erosion. if you can get the algae to work, it has a lot more benefits. some down sides. some people worry because it is an oxygen generator, and messing around with the oxygen on the planet. >> tom: this green crude company is among the innovators nominated on planet forward, and the awards are coming up in a few weeks? >> that's right. and we're going to announce it on this show. if you go to planet forward, cast your vote on line, and we'll announce the winner. the planet forward innovator on this program with you, tom, in a few weeks. >> tom: looking forward to it, frank. that's frank sesno with planet forward. >> susie: tom, a lot of buying on the street today. good movement on the dow. and a lot of action after hours, too. >> tom: yeah. a lot of earnings action clearly. we're in a peak week of earnings, susie, and some broad-buster buying coming heerhere in this stock market. let's go ahead and roll with >> tom: industrial stocks led the gains with consumer stocks providing the drag. we'' start with engine maker cummins, it was the strongest industrial stock, jumping 7.5%, breaking out on three times its usual volume. how high? the breakout takes the stock to an all-time high. profits jumped thanks to its global markets and a pick-up in the north american truck market. it also raised its outlook. helping with today's rally. the best s&p 500 stock today though was waters. it makes scientific measurement instruments. how about this nice move? today shares popped more than 8%, with volume doubling as it closed at a new high. earnings topped expectations. a tale of two steelmakers, meantime. while a.k. steel gained 6.4% thanks to higher selling prices and higher profits, u.s. steel fell 4% even though it, too, saw higher selling prices. but it lost more money than anticipated in the last quarter. dow stock 3m helped boost the index with its almost 2% rally. nice move here. this lifts 3m to a new all-time high. earnings were a nickel better than estimates. it raised its outlook despite warning the japan disaster will hurt income this year. now, it was a disappointing quarter for coca-cola. earnings came in a penny less than estimates. while sales were up, profit growth though was hurt by rising commodity prices, not sugar, but instead the higher cost of plastic used in bottles. coke was one of those consumer stocks that held market gains in check. it was the second-worst dow industrial performer, down 1.2%. this is the past 90 sessions. clearly some choppiness. it remains just above its most recent low two weeks ago. also weighing on the consumer sector? auto dealers. auto nation fell more than 4% despite strong profits. group 1 auto fell more than 8%. both dealers warned of the possibility of vehicle shortages this summer due to the japanese disaster. but a different mode of transportation was taking off. delta airlines rose 11%. it lost less money than feared. that's good news. both it and u.s. airways saw stronger revenue, but also higher fuel costs. after the close, southwest air received the justice department okay for its merger with airtran. shares up 1.5% after that news. after the close, amazon.com turned in disappointing results. expenses surged and its outlook was below estimates. shares were down ahead of the news, and were very choppy in after hours-- down 3% to up about 1%. expect some volatility today. finally, the dollar dropped to a fresh two-and-a-half-year low, falling below its low of late 2009. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> tom: housing prices fell for the eighth consecutive month in february, nearing lows reached in the 2009 recession. the s&p case shiller housing index was down more than 3% from a year ago. of the 20 cities tracked by the index, 19 saw lower prices compared to a year earlier. the one exception was washington d.c. that brings us to tonight's "word on the street," "construction." scott eden is a reporter at thestreet.com. he's with us at the nasdaq. scott, with the u.s. housing market of usly still slow, what is the state of construction? >> well, it has become way more of a global industry, and, of course the key thing for construction equipment-makers is non-residential construction. and china is, by far, the biggest in the world these days, making up about 40% of all spending on construction equipment. according to one consultant i just talked to. >> tom: one of those heavy equipment manufacturers is catepillar. the stock chart has been taking off. nice rallies. earnings are due out late this week. what is the outlook? >> outlook is bullish. but analysts are going to be paying attention to what is call the incremental margins, which is an example of how the company is executing. which they fumbled in the last upcycle. so st.s and investors are paying real close attention to that. >> tom: what about higher prices for steel and rubber and all of those things that go into the heavy equipment manufacturing that catepillar does? >> analysts will be asking that on the conference call. but catepillar has such a pricing call, a lot of people think it is not too much of a concern for them. >> tom: if you think catepillar, you have to think john deere and company. very similar stock chart. a similar outlook for deere? >> they're way more leveraged in agriculture, and the farmers are rich, and the crop prices are high, and the demand for big farm equipment is really tight right now. it's strong. >> tom: scott, we mentioned raw material costs in terms of building this heavy equipment. what about higher energy costs for the user? does it help or hurt the sales? >> as far as the end markets of the equipment? >> tom: in terms of the construction companies buying them or the farmers buy them? >> energy costs do hurt farmers, but their crop prices are so high, most in the industry think it will more than make up for the demand for equipment. >> tom: do you own catepillar or deere? >> nope. we're not allowed to take positions in the stocks we cover. >> tom: you can read all of the analysts on thestreet.com. scott eden with thestreet.com. >> susie: here's what we're watching for tomorrow: as we mentioned earlier, fed chairman ben bernanke holds his first news conference. we'll also see quarterly results from boeing, b.p., conoco phillips, ebay, hess and starbucks. and hilary kramer is our "street critique" guest. email your questions to streetcritique@nbr.com. when it comes to smart, educated americans, apparently women rule. new census numbers show more women than men are now finishing college, and more women than men hold advanced degrees. the gains are part of a trend that's decades long. but there are areas where the census figures show women still lag, like science, engineering and business. >> tom: the u.s. supreme court today heard arguments in a case over whether pharmacies can give drug companies details on what medicines doctors prescribe. it centers on a law in vermont. the state has banned the practice, called "data mining," because it says drug companies use the information as a covert marketing tool. drug companies say the law restricts commercial free speech. the high court is expected to decide the matter by late june. >> susie: when it comes to keeping audiences engaged online, the word on the web is "content is king." that content can come in the form of blogs, tweets, social networks or just plain old websites. for tonight's commentator, it's deja vu all over again. he's internet consultant harry lin. >> amazing what a little thing like aol buying the huffington post blog for $315 million will do to an industry. i've worked in the internet industry long enough to remember when the catchphrase "content is king" ruled, and then when everyone in the industry proclaimed that king to be dead. too expensive, too easily pirated and copied, too hard to monetize. now guess what? the king is dead. long live the king! see, the thing about content and internet businesses is this: sure, many businesses generate admirable revenue from services, off of data, on top of platforms. but an enormous amount of the internet is still content. it may be low-fi, it may be re- purposed, it may be inaccurate, it may be malicious. but it's still content. it's writing, it's photos, it's graphs and charts, it's videos and music, it's conversations and dialogue. so despite all the pessimism about content as the foundation for an internet business, well, aol bought a blog for $315 million. so the industry has come around again, again, and content isn't a dirty word anymore. look for i.p.o.s this year from a few internet content companies as well as some intriguing m&a activity between editorial entities and e-commerce outfits. now that's an unholy alliance-- or the holy grail, depending on your point of view. the melding of editorial with shopping. content plus commerce. ahh, the internet! i'm harry lin. >> susie: just a reminder, tomorrow is administrative professional's day. make sure you celebrate and give kudos to the professionals in your office. we can't get much done without them. and that's "nightly business report" for tuesday, april 26. i'm susie gharib. good night everyone and good night to you too, tom. good night susie. i'm tom hudson. good night everyone. we hope to see all of you again tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> be more.