12/20/04:
President Bush Lists His Priorites For Term Two
SUSIE GHARIB: President Bush said today the nation`s Social
Security system is in crisis. At his last news conference of 2004, the
president said he now plans to call on Congress to change the way the
system is administered. President Bush also laid out his economic agenda
for his second term in office. As Darren Gersh reports, one of the
president`s priorities is reducing the budget deficit.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: This Christmas
season, the president hinted his budget for the coming year will deliver
more than a few lumps of coal.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It`s going to be a
tough budget, no question about it and it`s a budget that I think will send
the right signal to the financial markets and to those concerned about our
short-term deficits.
GERSH: According to gallerywatch.com, a Web site that tracks the
budget, excluding spending for defense, Social Security and Medicare, the
president`s 2006 budget is expected to call for spending cuts in roughly
half of all Federal programs. But asked about what is considered his top
priority for the New Year, Social Security reform, the president seemed to
step back slightly, setting the issue in what he called "proper
perspective."
BUSH: It is a very important issue, but it is not the only issue, very
important issue, we`ll be dealing with. I expect the Congress to bring
forth meaningful tort reform. I want the legal system reformed in such a
way that we are competitive in the world.
GERSH: The president also includes on that list of issues the budget,
education and immigration reform. While Social Security remains the
centerpiece of the president`s agenda, the language Mr. Bush used today
subtly reflects the depth of opposition he faces from Democrats and even
some Republicans.
TOM MANN, CONGRESSIONAL ANALYST, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: So he`s
looking to broaden the agenda so as not to put the stakes too high on
Social Security reform because he may well fail.
GERSH: Which may explain why the president stresses the need to
educate members of Congress.
BUSH: Understand how this works. You know, many times legislative
bodies will not react unless the crisis is apparent, the crisis is upon
them. I believe the crisis is, and so for a period of time we are going to
have to explain to members of Congress the crisis is here.
GERSH: The president argues that it is a lot less painful to act now
on Social Security, rather than wait. That may be true in a fiscal sense,
but not a political one, especially for members of Congress who have to be
re-elected. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
Nightly
Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast.
The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may
be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators
are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of
Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly
Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly
Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment
advice. Copyright (c) 2003 Community Television Foundation
of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.
12/20/04:
Stephen O`Sullivan, chief strategist for United Financial Group On The Future of Yukos
PAUL KANGAS: The intrigue continues tonight over just who won this
weekend`s auction of the largest production unit of Russian oil giant
Yukos. Baikal Finance group had the highest bid, $9.4 billion, $700
million over the government`s starting price. The problem is, no one knows
much about Baikal or who runs it. Today, Yukos` chief executive said it
won`t turn over control of its production unit until the full identity of
the buyer is known.
Analysts suspect Baikal is probably a front for another Russian
company with ties to the Kremlin. Interestingly, Russian gas giant Gazprom
was widely expected to bid but did not, and says it is not linked to
Baikal. The government auctioned part of Yukos off to pay $27 billion in
back taxes. In Moscow, reporter Anya Ardayeva sat down with Stephen
O`Sullivan, chief strategist for United Financial Group, and began by
asking him about the implications of Yukos falling apart.
STEPHEN O`SULLIVAN, CHIEF STRATEGIST, UNITED FINANCIAL GROUP: Well, in
terms of the oil industry, the whole uncertainty at Yukos has led to prices
being higher than they otherwise would have been. It`s been a tough year
for oil, basically. Supply has been deficient. Demand has been growing.
Any uncertainty to supply, whether it`s in the middle east, whether it`s in
Russia, whether it`s anywhere is causing problems.
ANYA ARDAYEVA, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: If there`s
nothing left of Yukos, do you think Mikhail Khodorkovsky would still go to
jail?
O`SULLIVAN: If Mr. Khodorkovsky is found guilty and the trend would
suggest that he will be found guilty, then he will go to jail and spend
some time there. Now, he`s spent maybe a year and a quarter there already.
Maybe he won`t be sentenced to the full 10 years, but at the moment,
neither of the two sides seems to have been in the mood to compromise, so I
think it would be unwise to speculate on a very light jail term.
ARDAYEVA: Last week, Russia`s number two telecom was slapped with back
taxes again. Do you think, how widespread do you think that is going to be
and what kind of message does it send to foreign investors?
O`SULLIVAN: When it was limited to Yukos, you could say it`s Yukos
only, nothing else. Once it spreads to one other oligarch group, then we
really don`t know where it`s going to end. The hope is that it doesn`t go
any further. The hope is that it`s not escalated to Vimpelcom, because if
it does, the whole basis of private ownership in the country, the basis for
investment, the basis for doubling GDP, which is President Putin`s medium
term aim, is really called into question.
ARDAYEVA: How much of Russia`s slowing economic growth is at play
here?
O`SULLIVAN: Investment is the key to growth. Any uncertainty about
property ownership and that was one of the great legacies of the first
Putin term, basically enshrining property ownership from the middle of
2000. That was a very positive development. If that`s called into
question, it will make entrepreneurs, whether they are American, European,
British or Russia be nervous.
ARDAYEVA: Putin`s relations with the west seem to be cooling as the
president is now choosing more strategic ties with the east. How
significant is this shift for Russia you think?
O`SULLIVAN: It has very logical commercial interests with China in
terms of selling oil and selling gas there. It has very large trade
relations with India in terms of arms trade, in terms of energy trade,
energy investment, et cetera.
ARDAYEVA: How important is it to China and other countries in the
east?
O`SULLIVAN: There`s this long-running and yet to be settled debate on
which way the pipeline to the Asian markets is going. Is it going to
Japan? Is it going to China? My sense is that it will go to Japan. There`s
the issue about the TNKBP (ph) led project to take (INAUDIBLE) from east
Siberia down to China and Korea. That`s moving ahead slowly, not as fast, I
think as everybody involved would like. The Chinese are very keen to
diversify their sources of gas imports. They are very keen to diversify
their sources of oil imports. They know they are going to be energy
dependent in the future. They want as many supply options available to
them as possible.
ARDAYEVA: How do you think these recent changes in Putin`s strategy
will be interpreted by foreign investors?
O`SULLIVAN: We have also got the Ukraine situation which seemed to be
beginning to look like it might destabilize Ukraine. Russia has its own
interests. It`s important to realize that. They don`t have to agree with
the EU and the U.S. But the mere fact that they chose to disagree and back
a different candidate sends a signal to western investors that this is an
interesting market, but it is not a market that is going to develop in
exactly the mirror image of western markets. It is led by politicians who
have their own agenda for how they want to see Russia develop both
politically and economically.
Nightly
Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast.
The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may
be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators
are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of
Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly
Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly
Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment
advice. Copyright (c) 2003 Community Television Foundation
of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.
12/20/04:
Corporate Giving-Part 1: Who Really Benefits?
SUSIE GHARIB: `Tis the season to give. But for most American
companies, the season for giving isn`t just the holidays, it`s all year
round. Businesses give billions to charity every year and many view
philanthropy as an integral part of their corporate image. Tonight we
begin a three-part series looking at corporate giving. As Diane Eastabrook
reports companies are giving more, but they`re being more selective about
just who gets their money and their time.
DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: WW Grainger
employees recently played Santa and his elves at a Christmas breakfast for
80 local soldiers and their families. Ronald McDonald house charities
rolled out a new mobile dental lab for underprivileged kids on Chicago`s
south side. And area businesses, including Lasalle Bank recently donated
money to help build a new state of the art business school at the
University of Chicago. These are examples of corporate philanthropy at
work. Bradford Ballast directs charitable giving at Lasalle Bank. He says
the bank`s quarter of a million dollar donation to the U. of C. is simply
good business.
BRADFORD BALLAST, CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS DIR., LASALLE BANK: We have
a lot of graduates and members of our executive management who are a part
of the University of Chicago and it`s also a major university in a city
that a good corporate citizen would support.
EASTABROOK: Corporate generosity funds everything from head start
programs for kids to art exhibits and it`s rising along with corporate
profits. Last year, American businesses donated about $13.5 billion to
charity, a more than 4 percent increase over 2002. Jimmie Alford, an
advisor to nonprofit organizations, expects this to be an even better year
for charities.
JIMMIE ALFORD, CHAIRMAN, THE ALFORD GROUP: If we estimate corporate
profits to be up some 20 percent this year and accelerating, it would stand
to reason that philanthropy will increase in a commensurate way. So, we
are very optimistic that corporate giving will increase significantly over
the next two or three years.
EASTABROOK: Increasingly these days, corporate giving is as much about
marketing as it is philanthropy. More and more companies are donating
money to charities whose missions are tied directly with their businesses.
For example, the home improvement chain Home Depot builds playgrounds with
the nonprofit group Kaboom. This year the retailer donated $5 million in
cash and supplies for 100 parks. Motorola is pledging $3 million to a
national law enforcement museum because many police departments use its
radios. And W.W. Grainger, the nation`s largest supplier of maintenance
products, donates millions of dollars in cash and goods annually to the
victims of natural disasters. Chairman and CEO Richard Keyser says
Grainger`s approach enhances its brand while supporting the communities it
serves.
RICHARD KEYSER, CHAIRMAN & CEO, W.W. GRAINGER: What we generally try
to do is to donate enough of the product that we`re not profiting from the
emergency, but in that process, we build strong relationships with people
that go on for life in some cases.
EASTABROOK: Keyser thinks giving also helps companies strengthen their
relationships with their workers. He says donating money and time to
worthy causes builds morale and makes employees feel good about their jobs
and themselves. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Lake Forest,
Illinois.
To Learn More about this topic, click
here.
Nightly Business Report
transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program
is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at
a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community
Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business
Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business
Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.
Copyright (c) 2003 Community Television Foundation of South
Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.
12/20/04:
Commentary: How To Finance The Privatization of Social Security?
SUSIE GHARIB: Tonight`s commentator suggests it`s time we take a closer look at
President Bush`s plans to partially privatize Social Security. Here`s Alan
Blinder, partner in the Promontory Financial Group and former vice chair of
the Federal Reserve.
ALAN BLINDER, FORMER VICE CHAIR, FEDERAL RESERVE: Have you heard the
one about the government bonds that weren`t? It`s the latest bad joke
coming out of Washington. And if you haven`t heard it yet, you should or
else America might fall prey to the biggest accounting scam in history.
As you may know, the president wants to partially privatize Social
Security. Privatization may or may not be a good idea. That`s a subject
for another day. But regardless of how you feel about it, privatization
will cost money up front, lots of it. Where will the money come from?
The choices are the usual ones: less spending, more taxes or more
borrowing. That means adding the bill to the already-bloated budget
deficit. And guess what? Many Republicans seem to favor the borrowing
option. I don`t think that`s very good policy. But let it pass, because
now comes the punch line.
While the government is borrowing all this money and I mean trillions
of dollars over decades, one idea is to pretend that the borrowing is not
borrowing. Yes, you heard that right. Here`s their argument. The
government already has an obligation to pick up the Social Security tab
eventually. So turning this implicit debt into explicit debt and then
selling it on the bond market is a non-event. So let`s not count the new
debt as debt, even as we sell massive amounts of it. If that sounds like a
scam to you, it should. Let your congressman know or else the joke may be
on us. I`m Alan Blinder.
Nightly Business Report
transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program
is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at
a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community
Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business
Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business
Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.
Copyright (c) 2003 Community Television Foundation of South
Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.
12/20/04:
"Gifts & Gadgets"-High Tech Fun & Games
SUSIE GHARIB: And finally tonight, if you`re like millions of other
Americans, you still haven`t finished your Christmas shopping. Maybe we
can help, although you`re going to have to hit the stores yourself. In the
final part of our annual "gifts and gadgets" series, our technology maven
Scott Gurvey has some last minute ideas for fun and games.
SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: There are video
games for children of all ages this holiday season. The action games are
still best sellers, games like Electronic Arts Medal of Honor and Microsoft
has a runaway hit with the Shooter Halo 2, where you defend the earth from
alien attack.
Personally I prefer simulations to shoot `em ups and the best seller
again is the Sims, now in its second edition. You really create the
players and the environment in Sims 2 and through the Internet you can
interact with other Sim worlds. The personal relationships can get, well,
personal, so this is a game for teenagers and older. All ages are
appropriate for sports simulations and Madden 2005 is the best by far. You
can feel the pain with every hit.
Faced with new competition, Electronic Arts has lowered the price of
Madden 2005. You`ll find it for about $30. Most of these games cost $30
or $50. This is the year of the digital camera, in part because of the
tremendous improvements in printers, which can put those digital images on
paper. Cameras come in a huge range of prices and features. If you are
just going to display the pictures on screen or post them to the web, two
or three mega-pixels will do. For printing you want at least four. The
more pixels, the bigger the prints you can make.
Ulead`s (ph) Picture Show 3 is both a photo album, which helps you
store and organize your images, and a CD and DVD burner that let`s you make
slide shows to play on your television. It sells for about $50. The Wacom
Intuos (ph) tablet is a great addition to the tools of any serious
photographer or artist. The tablet has a pressure sensitive pen. It also
has a five button mouse. Wacom`s bundled software package is a terrific
value with Adobe`s Photoshop elements for photo retouching and Corel
painter essentials for drawing and illustrating. It is priced beginning at
$250 depending on the size of the tablet you buy.
And now for something completely different. How would you like a hand
held device that for $20 plays the game of 20 questions? This remarkable
game is called 20 Q and if it doesn`t guess perfectly at least it usually
comes close. From a company called Radica (ph), this gadget is truly
addictive. Scott Gurvey, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.
GHARIB: So addictive, Paul, that in the bureau today, everybody was
passing that around and playing with that toy. So for $20 that looks like
a good stocking stuffer.
KANGAS: I haven`t seen it yet, but I doubt I can answer many of those
questions.
Nightly Business Report
transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program
is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at
a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community
Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business
Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business
Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.
Copyright (c) 2003 Community Television Foundation of South
Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.
12/20/04:
Paul Kangas' "Stocks In The News"
PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street opened moderately higher on lower oil prices and
news that November`s leading economic indicators rose 0.2 percent, breaking
a five-month losing streak. Shortly after 10:00 a.m., the Dow was up 70
points, NASDAQ up 14. Then weakness in the drug group chipped away at the
blue chips throughout the afternoon while profit taking in the tech sector
undermined the NASDAQ market. The Dow industrial average came in with a
gain of only 11 2/3 points at 10,661.60. The NASDAQ Composite slid (ph) 7
1/3 points to 2127.85. Standard & Poor`s 500 gained just a fraction at
1194.65. In the bond market, the 10-year note was up 4/32 at par and 16/32,
putting the yield at 4.19 percent.
Pfizer`s stock hit the skids again today. The volume leader on 90.6 million shares Pfizer (PFE)
down another $1.46. A number of analysts at brokerages cut earnings
estimates on Pfizer rather sharply.
News Corp. (NWS) down $0.19. It was extremely active last Friday when
it was added to the Standard & Poor`s 500 index, apparently a little more
index fund buying today.
Lucent Technologies (LU) moved up a nickel.
General Electric (GE) $0.36 gain.
ExxonMobil (XOM) gained $1.26, fifth in volume.
Sprint FON Group (FON) $0.17 gain there.
Merck & Company (MRK) down $0.08.
Time Warner (TWX) edged up a penny.
And then Exelon (EXC) up $1.19. The company`s stock buy out bid for
public service enterprise is worth about 52 3/4 and public service stock
today was $3.29, at $50.56.
Nokia (NOK) tenth in volume, moved up $0.09.
Monsanto (MON) did well today, up $1.05. The company sees that first
quarter loss of $0.16 a share but then it said it`s going to come back with
earnings next year in the range of $1.77 to $1.90 per share.
Constellation Brands (STZ) down $1.89. UBS Financial downgraded it
from "buy" to "neutral" because the stock is getting very close to its $50
a share target price.
Commercial Metals (CMC) up $4.32, big earnings, first quarter $2.42
versus only $0.44 last year and sales shot up 84 percent.
Kramont Realty Trust (KRT) up $3.47. The company will be acquired by
Central Wat (ph) America, another REIT. The price, $23.50 a share cash.
Hypercom (HYC) down $0.63, but it traded as low as $4.70 after the
company today cut its 2004 income forecast from the $21 to $22 million
range all the way down to 13.4 to 16 1/2 million shares.
And then Cott Corporation (COT), the beverage company, down $2.69. The
company sees 2004 results at the low end of its guidance. It cites higher
raw material costs.
McAfee (MFE) down $1.97. Microsoft is going to switch to Trend Micro
Corporation`s anti-virus technology for its MSN hot mail service and Trend
Micro stock jumped $4.30 to $54.78 on that news.
OfficeMax (OMX) off $1.37. The company began a probe of vendor
allegations regarding improper requests for promotional payments. Until all
this is resolved, the company`s postponed any stock buyback. That chart is
very short because this is the spin off from Boise Cascade.
And then Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) down $1.90. Last week,
Martha Stewart herself sold 300,000 shares of her own stock.
Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) topped the active list again, down $0.28.
Followed by Microsoft (MSFT) a penny loss.
Google (GOOG) up $4.94.
Symantec (SYMC) down $1.33.
And Apple (AAPL) down $2.27 on some profit taking.
Intel (INTC) $0.07 loss.
$0.06 gain in Cisco Systems (CSCO).
eBay (EBAY) down a dime.
Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) moving up $0.29.
And Veritas Software (VRTS) down $1.30, tenth in volume.
Standard Microsystems (SMSC) plunging $4.03 or 18 percent. The company
in with third quarter results way down, only $0.03 versus $0.77 a year ago.
The Street was looking not for $0.03, but for $0.12. On top of that, the
company says its fourth quarter earnings will come in around $0.03 to
$0.07. That`s well below the Wall Street estimate of $0.08 a share. The
company cites part of the problem is receivables, accounts receivables.
Those are the stocks in the news tonight.
Nightly Business Report
transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program
is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. Updates may be posted at
a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community
Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business
Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business
Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.
Copyright (c) 2003 Community Television Foundation of South
Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.
12/20/04:
Market Stats
NET PERCENT
CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
DOW CLOSE 10661.60 +11.68 + .1
HIGH 10735.27
LOW 10652.07
NASDAQ COMP. 2127.85 -7.35 -.3
HIGH 2154.48
LOW 2124.22
VOLUME 1,423.0
PREVIOUS 2,484.1
UP VOLUME 670.7
DOWN VOLUME 723.6
DOW TRANSPORTS 3730.88 -20.19 - .5
DOW UTILITIES 333.21 +4.12 + 1.3
CLOSING TICK +582
S&P 500 1194.65 +.43 + .0
S&P 100 567.80 +.43 + .1
MIDCAP 400 648.72 -2.94 - .5
REUTERS/CRB 287.23 +.04 + .0
NYSE COMPOSITE 7116.98 +18.83 + .3
VALUE LINE 394.85 -1.54 - .4
RUSSELL 2000 638.05 -4.03 - .6
DJW 5000 11772.61 -10.62 - .1
U.S. TREASURIES
5-YEAR NOTE 3.50%
Dec. 15,2009 99 21/32 unch. + 3.58
10-YEAR NOTE 4.25%
Nov. 15,2014 100 16/32 +4/32 + 4.19
30-YEAR NOTE 5.375%
Feb. 15, 2031 108 9/32 +8/32 + 4.82
LEHMAN BROS.
LONG BOND INDEX 1763.28 +1.83
DOW CLOSE 10661.60 +11.68 + .1
ADVANCES 1642
DECLINES 1675
NEW HIGHS 244
NEW LOWS 12
NET PERCENT
NYSE MOST ACTIVES 4PM CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE
PFE Pfizer 24.29 -1.46 -5.7
NWSa News Corp A 18.46 -.19 -1.0
LU Lucent Tech 3.82 +.05 +1.3
GE GE 37.11 +.36 +1.0
XOM Exxon Mobil 51.06 +1.26 +2.5
FON Sprint Fon Grp 24.84 +.17 +.7
MRK Merck & Co 31.51 -.08 -.3
TWX Time Warner 19.40 +.01 +.1
EXC Exelon Corp 43.05 +1.19 +2.8
NOK Nokia 15.24 +.09 +.6
NASDAQ CLOSE 2127.85 - 7.35 - .3
VOLUME 2,008.0
PREVIOUS 2,382.9
ADVANCES 1168
DECLINES 2002
NASDAQ ACTIVES
QQQQ Nasdaq 100 39.20 -.28 -.7
MSFT Microsoft 26.95 -.01 -.0
GOOG Google 185.02 +4.94 +2.7
SYMC Symantec 24.04 -1.33 -5.2
AAPL Apple Computer 62.72 -2.27 -3.5
INTC Intel 22.70 -.07 -.3
CSCO Cisco Systems 19.05 +.06 +.3
EBAY eBay 114.65 -.10 -.1
SIRI Sirius Sat Radi 7.97 +.29 +3.8
VRTS Veritas Software 26.45 -1.30 -4.7
AMEX CLOSE 1414.57 + 5.36 + .4
INDEX SHARES
DIA DIAMONDS TRUST 106.62 +.09 +.1
QQQ NASDAQ 100 39.20 -.28 -.7
SPY S&P DEP.RECEIPTS 119.47 +.03 +.0
STOCKS IN THE NEWS
Display Name
MON Monsanto 52.49 +1.05 +2.0
STZ Constellation A 45.93 -1.89 -4.0
CMC Commercial Metal 47.42 +4.32 +10.0
KRT Kramont Realty 23.55 +3.47 +17.3
HYC Hypercom 5.39 -.63 -10.5
COT Cott Corp 24.41 -2.69 -9.9
MFE McAfee 26.98 -1.97 -6.8
OMX Officemax 31.13 -1.37 -4.2
MSO Martha Stewart 25.70 -1.90 -6.9
SMSC Standard Micro 18.35 -4.03 -18.0
|
