. >> tom: joining us now, washington bureau chief darren gersh. darren as we mentioned, all this week, we're looking at the fiscal cliff and what could happen come january, what's the biggest threat? >> that it will happen. but also i think the biggest threat is that it's kind of happening now. that people aren't sure what's going to happen to businesses. they're starting to look at the fourth quarter and first quarter and they're saying how much are my taxes go og to go up. you know, are consumers going to have any money left. what is going to happen to the economy. i think that uncertainty is bad right now. then there's the sense that its he going to hard to plan for a couple months. if it's hard to plan your tax for a couple months, why not put it off. >> with that in mind, congress clearly has put it off. a recess for the political conventions, the general campaign, general election campaign picking up steam after labor day. is there any movement on capitol hill toward avoiding the cliff? >> here's what i think. there's a decent chance that wi

. >> tom: joining us now, washington bureau chief darren gersh. darren as we mentioned, all this week, we're looking at the fiscal cliff and what could happen come january, what's the biggest threat? >> that it will ppen. but so i think the biggest threat is that it's kind of happening now. that people aren't sure what's going to happen to businesses. they're starting to look at the fourth quarter and first quarter and they're saying how much are my taxes go og to go up. you know, are consumers going to have any money left. what is going to happen to the economy. i think that uncertainty is bad right now. then there's the sense that its he going to hard to plan for a couple months. if it's hard to plan your tax for a couple months, why not put it off. >> with that in mind, congress clearly has put it off. a recess for the political conventions, the general campaign, general election campaign picking up steam after labor day. is there any movement on capitol hill toward avoiding the cliff? >> here's what i think. there's a decent chance that will h

darren gersh takes a closer look at the pros and cons of an m.b.a. as training for the world's top political job. >> reporter: americans love a success story. and striving for success in business, as governor romney often says, is part of the american dream. >> america has always been a place which celebrates people who work hard, who take risk, who champion a better future for themselves and for their families. >> reporter: but success meeting the bottom line has not always translated into success in the oval office. as a mining executive and consultant, herbert hoover earned a fortune worth more than $100 million in today's dollars. but his presidency could not solve the business collapse of the great depression. harry truman failed in business, but historians now see him as one of our nation's best presidents. >> being the c.e.o. of a large company is really not an awful lot like being the c.e.o. of the united states. >> reporter: stephen hess has worked for four presidents. his first job in the white house was writing speeches for president eisen

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington. >> susie: the former head of failed brokerage firm p.f.g. best pleaded not guilty to lying to regulators today. russell wasendorf senior is facing 31 fraud counts for allegedly cooking his firm's books and defrauding investors for two decades. the plea came despite the suicide note wasendorf left with a detailed confession when he attempted suicide on july 9. he's scheduled for trial in late october. if convicted, he could spend up to 150 years in prison. >> susie: liberty media is getting serious about taking over sirius xm radio. c.e.o. john malone is asking the federal communications commission for approval to take over the satellite radio company, by boosting its stake to more than 50%. earlier this week, liberty disclosed that it recently upped its stake in sirius to 48%. if the regulator approves, liberty could take over in less than 60-days and would have the power to replace management at sirius. on wall street, a small but positive finish on this slow summer friday. the dow, the nasdaq and s&p all rose. and for people keeping score,

darren gersh, nbr, washington. >> susie: let's take a closer look now at today's market action. that stronger-than-expected retail sales report rang up a positive tone for trading, even though the major market averages slipped at the close and ended mixed. despite the good news, the s&p 500 was unable to challenge its four-year high. it closed virtually unchanged, just off its lows of the day. we saw modest gains in the consumer staples sector, while the weakest group today and in the quarter so far was materials. leading the dow higher was home depot. as we told you, it reported better than expected quarterly results and gave new credibility to the housing recovery. shares of home depot surged over 3.5% to close at $54.71, and the stock is trading near a 12-year high. better than expected earnings from retailer michael kors also pushed that stock higher. a healthy pickup in sales, coupled with a rise in licensing revenues, helped to lift profits for the luxury chain. the stock surged more than 16%. kors is one of the few recent i.p.o.s to hold up well. for more analysis on mich

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington. "nightly business report" >> continuing to reshape the investment market. >> join the discussion online at facebook and twitter. how confident are you in the technology that powers the market? will it change how you trade and invest because of the technology. join us online. >> on wall street, investors. helped the major averages to fresh three-month highs, despite selling in knight capital shares. the dow rose 21 points, the nasdaq added 22 and the s&p 500 gained three points. one other note about policing the markets, a major british bank was accused today of hiding over 60,000 illegal transactions with iran over the past decade. those transactions made by standard chartered p.l.c. were valued at over $250 billion. new york state's department of finacial services threatened to revoke the bank's license today and called it a quote, "rogue institution." so far, standard chartered is not commenting. ifrmentd a billion dollar bet may be play paying off sooner than comcast hoped. and it

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington. >> susie: the former head of failed brokerage firm p.f.g. best pleaded not guilty to lying to regulators today. russell wasendorf senior is facing 31 fraud counts for allegedly cooking his firm's books and defrauding investors for two decades. the plea came despite the suicide note wasendorf left with a detailed confession when he attempted suicide on july 9. he's scheduled for trial in late october. if convicted, he could spend up to 150 years in prison. >> susie: liberty media is getting serious about taking over sirius xm radio. c.e.o. john malone is asking the federal communications commission for approval to take over the satellite radio company, by boosting its stake b to more than 50%. earlier this week, liberty disclosed that it recently upped its stake in sirius to 48%. if the regulator approves, liberty could take over in less than 60-days and would have the power to replace management at sirius. on wall street, a small but positive finish on this slow summer friday. the dow, the nasdaq and s&p all rose. and for people keeping scor

darren gersh, nbr, washington. >> susie: let's take a closer look now at today's market action. that stronger-than-expected retail sales report rang up a positive tone for trading, even though the major market averages slipped at the close and ended mixed. despite the good news, the s&p 500 was unable to challenge its four-year high. it closed virtually unchanged, just off its lows of the day. we s mgaodest ins in the consumer staples sector, while the weakest group today and in the quarter so far was materials. leading the dow higher was home depot. as we told you, it reported better than expected quarterly results and gave new credibility to the housing recovery. shares of home depot surged over 3.5% to close at $54.71, and the stock is trading near a 12-year high. better than expected earnings from retailer michael kors also pushed that stock higher. a healthy pickup in sales, coupled with a rise in licensing revenues, helped to lift profits for the luxury chain. the stock surged more than 16%. kors is one of the few recentes i.p.o.s to hold up well. for more analysis on mich

darren gersh, nbr, washington. >> susie: let's take a closer look now at today's market action. that stronger-than-expected retail sales report rang up a positive tone for trading, even though the major market averages slipped at the close and ended mixed. despite the good news, the s&p 500 was unable to challenge its four-year high. it closed virtually unchanged, just off its lows of the day. we saw modest gains in the consumer staples sector, while the weakest group today and in the quarter so far was materials. leading the dow higher was home depot. as we told you, it repord betterhan expected quarterly results and gave new credibility to the housing recovery. shares of home depot surged over 3.5% to close at $54.71, and the stock is trading near a 12-year high. better than expected earnings from retailer michael kors also pushed that stock higher. a healthy pickup in sales, coupled with a rise in licensing revenues, helped to lift profits for the luxury chain. the stock surged more than 16%. kors is one of the few recent i.p.o.s to hold up well. for more analysis on michael

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington. >> susie: the former head of failed brokerage firm p.f.g. best pleaded not guilty to lying to regulators today. russell wasendorf senior is facing 31 fraud counts for allegedly cooking his firm's books and defrauding investors for two decades. the plea came despite the suicide te wendo lefwith a detailed confession when he attempted suicide on july 9. he's scheduled for trial in late october. if convicted, he could spend up to 150 years in prison. >> susie: liberty media is getting serious about taking over sirius xm radio. c.e.o. john malone is asking the federal communications commission for approval to take over the satellite radio company, by boosting its stake to more than 50%. earlier this week, liberty disclosed that it recently upped its stake in sirius to 48%. if the regulator approves, liberty could take over in less than 60-days and would have the power to replace management at sirius. on wall street, a small but positive finish on this slow summer friday. the dow, the nasdaq and s&p all rose. and for people keeping score, the s&p

darren gersh takes a look. >> reporter: here's what the turnaround in the housing market means for the u.s. treasury: last year, taxpayers gave almost $8 billion to shore up freddie mac; this year, the mortgage giant asked for just $20 million. >> better is better than bad. is better good? not yet. >> reporter: a turn in home prices is helping freddie mac. with delinquency rates falling, the company reduced its provision for bad loans by $1.7 billion. karen petrou estimates loan loss reserves are now less than 1% of freddie mac's mortgage portfolio. >> that might be enough, but it's a very risky proposition. >> reporter: and while freddie mac now owns fewer bad loans made during the housing bubble, it is taking on some new risk. 8% of its loans are now to people who have negative equity in their homes. >> so when they refinance, the loan has a very high loan-to- value ratio, 125% or even higher. those are by definition risky loans. they may be new, but they're risky. >> reporter: another risk: mortgage rates are hovering near record lows. >> they have a tremendous amount of interest ra

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington. "nightly business report" >> continuing to reshape the investment market. >> join the discussion online atacebook a twier. how confident are you in the technology that powers the market? will it change how you trade and invest because of the technology. join us online. >> on wall street, investors. helped the major averages to fresh three-month highs, despite selling in knight capital shares. the dow rose 21 points, the nasdaq added 22 and the s&p 500 gained three points. one other note about policing the markets, a major british bank was accused today of hiding over 60,000 illegal transactions with iran over the past decade. those transactions made by stdard chartered p.l.c. were valued at over $250 billion. new york state's department of finacial services threatened to revoke the bank's license today and called it a quote, "rogue institution." so far, standard chartered is not commenting. ifrmentd a billion dollar bet may be play paying off sooner than comcast hoped. and it may actu

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington. >> susie: the former head of failed brokerage firm p.f.g. best pleaded not guilty to lying to regulators today. russell wasendorf senior is facing 31 fraud counts for allegedly cooking his firm's books and defrauding investors for two decades. the plea came despite the suicide note wasendorf left with a detailed confession when he attempted suicide on july 9. he's scheduled for trial in late october. if convicted, he could spend up to 150 years in prison. si >> susie: liberty media is getting serious about taking over sirius xm radio. c.e.o. john malone is asking the federal communications commission for approval to take over the satellite radio company, by boosting its stake to more than 50%. earlier this week, liberty disclosed that it recently upped its stake in sirius to 48%. if the regulator approves, liberty could take over in less than 60-days and would have the power to replace management at sirius. on wall street, a small but positive finish on this slow summer friday. the dow, the nasdaq and s&p all rose. and for people keeping sco

we begin in washington with darren gersh. the federal reserve has concluded the economy is slowing, which raises an obvious question. >> well, okay, now what are you going to do about it. well, they didn't do anything about it. they said they are there for us and they will move when needed. but, when is "needed" since we all agree the numbers got weak? >> reporter: we're still not sure when "needed" is. many fed-watchers thought bernanke and crew would end today's meeting with a pledge to keep interest rates low through 2015; that would be a six month extension from current policy. >> and surprisingly their earlier statement and their individual projections in june, suggested as such. >> reporter: but that didn't happen. instead, the fed said it is "closely monitoring" the economy. of course, that's what a central bank is paid to do, but fed watchers pointed out the last time the fed used a phrase like "closely monitoring" was 2008, just before bernanke launched an aggressive effort to bring down long-terinterest res. though

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington. >> tom: we continue our coverage of the fiscal cliff tomorrow. we talk with the men who led president obama's deficit reduction commission, former senator alan simpson and erskine bowles, about the threat of the cliff. and we'll see the latest new home sales data, and talk housing with analyst megan mcgrath. >> susie: in this back to school season, some advice, and warnings, for kids heading off to college. here's neale godfrey, founder of the children's financial network, with tonight's kids & cash. >> i cringe when i think of kids going off to college with credit cards, but they will. >> reporter: almost 85% of undergrads have cards, and they hold almost five credit cards a piece. they will graduate with an average of $4,000 in credit card debt, not counting student loan debt. instead of a credit card, encourage your college student to get a debit card, which should be connected to a joint checking account that you will oversee. teach your child to budget and make them accountable, to you, to keep track of spending. review this with them on a m

washington bureau chief darren gersh reports. >> reporter: for investment pros, analyzing what paul ryan could mean for markets is two- step process: first, will he help romney win? he has clearly energized conservative voters and may help put wisconsin into romney's column, but his plan to transform medicare is an awfully big target. >> there are so many senior citizens who might be unnerved by his proposals. if romney doesn't win florida, it's awfully hard seeing him winning the white house. >> reporter: step two. if ryan does put romney over the top, who benefits from his focus on deficit reduction and spending cuts? at first glance, that looks friendly to bond investors worried about deficits. >> romney has certainly thrown down the gauntlet with his pick and if he does win, in all likelihood the senate will go republican and we will see some real changes-- some fiscal austerity, some tax changes, and the beginnings of reform of entitlements. >> reporter: ryan's budget plan cuts spending deeply, but also cuts taxes too. so if romney follows his lead, markets may find the immediate im

washington bureau chief darren gersh reports. >> reporter: for investment pros, analyzing what paul ryan could mean for markets is two- step process: first, will he help romney win? he has clearly energized conservative voters and may help put wisconsin into romney's column, but his plan to transform medicare is an awfully big target. >> there are so many senior citizens who might be unnerved by his proposals. if romney doesn't win florida, it's awfully hard seeing him winning the white house. >> reporter: step two. if ryan does put romney over the top, who benefits from his focus on deficit reduction and spending cuts? at first glance, that looks friendly to bond investors worried about deficits. >> romney has certainly thrown do theauntt with his pick anif hdoes win, in all likelihood the senate will go republican and we will see some real changes-- some fiscal austerity, some tax changes, and the beginnings of reform of entitlements. >> reporter: ryan's budget plan cuts spending deeply, but also cuts taxes too. so if romney follows his lead, markets may find the immediate impact is no

we begin in washington with darren gersh. the federal reserve has concluded the economy is slowing, which raises an obvious question. >> well, okay, now what are you going to do about it. well, they didn't do anything about it. they said they are there for us and they will move when needed. but, when is "needed" since we all agree the numbers got weak? >> reporter: we're still not sure when "needed" is. many fed-watchers thought bernanke and crew would end today's meeting with a pledge to keep interest rates low through 2015; that would be a six month extension from current policy. >> and surprisingly their earlier statement and their individual projections in june, suggested as such. >> reporter: but that didn't happen. instead, the fed said it is "closely monitoring" the economy. of course, that's what a central bank is paid to do, but fed watchers pointed out the last time the fed used a phrase like "closely monitoring" was 2008, just before bernanke launched an aggressive effort to bring down long-term interest rates. tho

darren gersh, "n.b.r.," washington.'l >> susie: that standard charter money laundering scandal keeps getting bigger. now the white house says the u.s. treasury is closely monitoring the investigation of the u.k. bank. standard charter is accused of scheming with the iranian government to launder $250 billion. the bank's stock plunged 23% in london trading today. so what happens next? here to answer that: annemarie mcavoy, a former federal prosecutor specializing in money laundering. she is now a professor at fordham law school. ann marie what do you think is going to happen next, how much bigger is this going to get? >> this is only the beginning, this is going to get much bigger. there are going to be numerous investigations, not only the state but the federal regulators will get involved, the treasury department is getting involved, from will be criminal investigations, the f.b.i. is investigating. there will probably be an investigation an delight -- deloitt's involvement. it's going to get big and fines will be huge.

as darren gersh reports, the reasons behind this merger have a lot to do with the unusual economics of banking in a time of low interest rates. >> reporter: for saver's who are essentially getting 0% interest on their deposits, it may be small comfort to know banks have pretty much the same problem. hudson city and other banks are painfully aware the interest rates they can charge for loans are only going in one direction. >> loan yields have steadily come down. they are actually going down every single day here and the same with security yields. so if your funding cost is low, but stable and your yield on your assets are going down, your net interest margin or the earnings power that you produce on your balance sheet is shrinking. >> reporter: for banks like m&t, the solution to falling yields on loans is to get bigger. which explains why m&t has merged its way up to the ranks of super-regional banks. not only do bigger banks have more assets and therefore more earnings power, they also are better equipped to deal with a new regulatory landscape. >> dodd-frank was a factor in that it