Articles from 11/11/07 to 11/17/07

Soundbites are quick, I'd say they average five to seven seconds for your typical politician. But sound policy takes longer to develop and takes more time to explain.

Higher prices at the pump are fueling the momentum behind the energy bill that's currently making the rounds on Capitol Hill. What the bill aims to do is shift the nation's fuel dependence from fossil fuels to more renewable forms of energy. While the rhetoric around the legislation is grandiose, as in "end our dependence on foreign oil," analysts say the proposal is really quite modest. People who support a national renewable energy standard for utilities and tougher fuel economy standards for cars and trucks want lawmakers to keep those provisions in the bill. But they worry that the crisis atmosphere created by higher oil prices may lead to legislation that keeps the status quo, just so politicians can say they passed an energy bill.

A similar criticism was leveled at the energy bill passed in 2005. But that was two years and thirty dollars a barrel ago.

It looks like Wall Street could end the week on an up note. Amid the recent volatility, the message from the bond market lately is that market turmoil and a slowing economy will likely push the Fed to cut rates again. But Fed governors are suggesting that's not the case. Tonight, Erika Miller takes a look at how investors should make sense of these mixed messages.

As Americans prepare to pay more to fill up their gas tanks before Thanksgiving, there's a lot of pressure on Capitol Hill to pass an energy bill. Stephanie Dhue reports on why lawmakers are having a difficult time coming up with a compromise. Then Kevin McCormally wraps up his tax taps with advice on how to avoid taxes when you withdraw funds from IRAs. And, our Friday Market Monitor guest is Carl Marker of the IMS Strategic Income Fund.

If you’re flying for Thanksgiving, you probably don’t want to read another scare story about how bad it will be. The CEO of JetBlue worries spooked passengers will show up to the airport four to six hours early and overcrowd airports. The CEO of Delta advises travelers wear slip on shoes. My strategy is to pray for good weather.

But seriously, the airlines say they have improved reservation and check-in services to move things along. That's what the CEOs of JetBlue and Delta told lawmakers today at a hearing looking into the issue of airport delays. The president plans to help the airlines out by opening up unused military airspace to create “Thanksgiving Express Lanes.” He also urged people to check www.fly.faa.gov for real time updates on whether flights at a particular airport are on time or delayed, and by how much.

With delays now a political issue, the heat is on the airlines to deliver a flawless performance. For all those flying this Thanksgiving, let’s hope they do.

Ooops. I forgot to wish the bull market a happy fifth birthday. I’m not sure how that happened. I’m usually pretty good with milestones. Nevertheless, the big day came and went on October 10th of this year, and I simply missed it. Incredibly, the Dow hit an all-time high of 14,164 the day before on October 9th…an extremely well-timed present. Since that celebration, the blue-chip index has headed sharply lower…losing about 1,000 points in the last month.

Does that mean the bull market is unlikely to see its sixth birthday? Most market professionals believe there will definitely be another party. They say even though this bull is aging, don’t put it out to pasture just yet. Not only are stocks still relatively inexpensive, but don’t forget the calendar. Stocks almost always do well in a presidential election year. There’s something about all that optimism and hopefulness regarding change that inspires investors to buy more stocks.

Do you think we’ll be saying happy birthday to the bull market come next October?

I have been covering Washington for almost two decades now, so I can tell you it is very unusual -- almost unprecedented -- to find someone here who is willing to diminish his own power. But that is just what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is now doing.

It is standard operating procedure in Washington to create the illusion that you are the only one responsible for events. Committee chairmen do it whenever a major piece of legislation passes through Congress. Never mind that the idea was tried out in half a dozen states first and only passed with the prodding of thousands of concerned citizens and an army of legislative assistants. It was the Chairman's vision that got it through! Power must be personalized or, the fear is, it will be lost.

Bernanke inherited an office that had been transformed by the out-sized influence of his predecessor. Alan Greenspan was the leading figure on a committee that set interest rates. But few people remember that. Greenspan personalized Fed policy and thus solidified his power. The path was set for Bernanke to do the same.

It's a wild day for breaking business news... from John Thain leaving the the New York Stock for the top spot at Merrill Lynch to word Delta and United Airlines are in talks about a possible combination. A formal announcement on Thain's departure from the Big Board is expected after the close of trading... but so far the NYSE and Merrill are staying mum on any management changes. NBR's Susie Gharib will interview noted banking analyst Dick Bove of Punk Ziegel in tonight's program.

And from Washington to Chicago our reporters are working the phones on the airline story. So far analysts tell Nightly Business Report the airlines have been in talks for over a month, a merger would be the right move for Delta and that the key issue in the talks is that both companies want to be the buyer. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is making a push for more transparency in the central bank's communications on the economy. Darren Gersh is following that story. We also continue our series "The Business of College Football" with a look at the big business of logo licensing. And out year end Tax Tips continues with a look at maximizing your charitable contributions.

The bulls ran today, first and foremost because they had been so badly beaten down that today even the financials looked attractive. But another big push came when Wal-Mart posted better than expected earnings and, better still, raised its outlook for the remainder of the year. Maybe, just maybe, Wall Street thought, the Grinch won’t steal the holiday this year.

We must still see, of course, if Wal-Mart’s good fortune holds for the rest of the retail sector or is limited to the giant where volume makes for low cost which makes for low prices which gives it a competitive edge. But then again, as retail analyst Mark Hudson of HSBC told me when I asked if Wal-Mart was bucking the trend, “Wal-Mart is so big these days that it is the trend.”

We've all seen or heard about actors and singers who have "agents." But, have you heard that universities have agents? Well, many schools do hire agents to help them handle their huge logo and licensing businesses. That was one of the more interesting facts I turned up while reporting the third installment of our series "The Business of College Football."

The Collegiate Licensing Company, or CLC, isn’t a generally well known company, but if you're a university president or a college athletic director, you certainly know the name. CLC acts as an agent for universities and their "brands" -- the logos and mascot images that define that school. Think of Notre Dame's gold-and-green or the University of Florida's orange-and-blue and "gator" mascot and logo. CLC makes sure all the elements of the brand are used properly, helps combat piracy efforts (whether the pirates are Chinese factories or a bunch of frat boys trying to make a buck selling T-shirts after the big game), and counsels schools on how to can best manage their "brand."

I can't help but remember the comments Seton Hill University's head football coach made when I visited the campus in early October. I was there to gather material for “The Business of College Football” series that’s airing this week. I asked Chris Snyder, named as head coach in 2004, how hard it was to start a football program from scratch. He recounted, with humor, some of the difficulties that you can't imagine a school like… say the University of Florida or Penn State... having to deal with.

He put a request for an ice machine in his budget. (Football players go through a lot of ice, using it to pack bruises and strained joints and to cool down water and energy drinks.) School officials asked Snyder, in all innocence, if football team couldn’t just use the ice machine in the cafeteria.

On any given day, 2.1 million people fly somewhere in this country. But, as we all know, the Thanksgiving holiday is not a normal time. On average, 2.3 million people are expected to travel each day from this Friday through the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

That doesn't sound like a big difference, just 10% more. But consider this: airlines are operating at 80 to 85% load factors. That means a plane with 150 seats may have just 22 empty seats. If the flight before it runs into trouble and is canceled, it will take six or seven flights to clear out the stranded passengers. If you fill those flights to 95% of capacity, you have only seven empty seats. You need 20 flights to get everyone home.

The selling continued on Wall Street today, with the Dow falling below the 13,000 level for the first time since mid-August. Pessimism dominated trading, but now fears the slowdown in the U.S. economy may be spreading are also weighing on investors. Suzanne Pratt gets some analysis on the prospects for global economic weakness.

Thanksgiving is almost here and that means delays at the nation's airports. As Darren Gersh reports, the airlines expect heavy traffic over the Thanksgiving holiday, with planes running at least 90 percent full. ETrade was the big casualty on Wall Street today, it's shares fell almost 60 percent. We'll tell you why. Then... Are you ready for some football? Tonight we kick off a 4-part series of special reports, looking at the "Business of College Football." As Jeff Yastine reports it's a multi-billion dollar industry that extends far beyond the gridiron.