i'm susie gharib. goodnight everyone. "nightly business report" is made possible by: captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" video "how wall street works". to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org.

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for watching. the new c.e.o. of b.p. said today his first priority is to "clean up the beaches" and "restore the gulf." robert dudley was named c.e.o. of the british oil giant, replacing tony hayward. as we reported last night, susie, dudley is an american and longtime b.p. insider, and the change in leadership will happen october 1. >> susie: tom, that announcement came as the embattled company reported a second-quarter loss of $17.2 billion. the massive red ink was due to the more than $32 billion b.p. is setting aside to cover costs from oil disaster in the gulf of mexico. excluding the charge, b.p. earned $5 billion, compared to nearly $3 billion a year ago. >> tom: b.p. also announced plans to sell $30 billion of assets before 2012 to help pay bills from the spill. suzanne p

>> gharib: i'm susie gharib and thank you for watching. have a good night. >> hudson: i'm tom hudson, thanks for tuning in. we hope to see you tomorrow. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org.

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for watching. relief will soon be on the way for 2.5 million americans who've lost their unemployment benefits. susie, the senate today cleared a measure to extend those benefits. >> susie: tom, two republicans joined 56 democrats and two independents in voting for the measure, breaking the senate stalemate with a 60 to 40 vote. the house is expected to take up the measure tomorrow, and send it to president obama's desk next week. >> tom: democrats and republicans both agreed the benefit extension was needed, but they disagreed on how to pay for its $34 billion cost. as it stands, new borrowing will pay for the measure. >> what we do not support and we make no apologies for this is borrowing tens of billions of dollars to pass this bill when the national debt is spinning complete

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone. wall street wrapped up a tumultuous week in the red, with most of the major averages closing the day down over 2.5%. tom, investors sold stocks on worries about the economic recovery, and discouraging quarterly reports and outlooks from general electric, citi and bank of america. >> tom: susie, today's losses erased the week's gains and all of the dow's 30 stocks were down. the dow fell 261 points, the nasdaq tumbled 70 and the s&p 500 lost 31. big board volume swelled to 1.5 billion shares. nasdaq volume settled well above two billion shares. >> susie: what troubled investors about today's quarterly results were not the top line numbers, that's revenues, not the bottom line earnings. bank of america, citi and g.e. all reported second quarter earnings above analyst estimates, bu

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening and thanks for watching. the report card on european banks is out, and most of them passed the test. susie, 91 institutions went through the stress tests, and only seven failed. >> susie: that news boosted investor confidence, tom, and stocks on wall street rose across the board. investors were relieved that most european banks are in good financial shape. >> tom: but despite the passing grades, there are still questions tonight about the credibility and methodology of the tests. scott gurvey reports. >> reporter: the 91 banks tested by european regulators represent 65% of the total assets of the e.u. banking sector as a whole. the test required the banks to assume a severe economic downturn, and then measured to see if they could still meet capital requirements. regulators from 20 countrie

susie gharib is off tonight, suzanne pratt joins me. wall street continued its focus on earnings today, suzanne, with disappointing results from boeing, comcast and c.v.s. caremark. >> suzanne: tom, we're just over the halfway point for second quarter results, and despite today's numbers, corporate profits are a lot stronger than they were last year at this time. >> tom: but, remember where we were a year ago. the second quarter of 2009 was a disaster, making for easy comparisons this year. that has investors scrutinizing the quality of earnings. and, as scott gurvey reports, so far that quality leaves a lot to be desired. >> reporter: earnings up 52%. companies beating estimates. margins at record levels. what more could an investor want? but there's trouble beneath the topline numbers. economic growth depends on growth of sales. howard silverblatt of standard & poor's says that is still missing. >> sales are only growing at 3% to 4%, that's why the margins are so high. sales are key here, until companies get sales they are not going t

>> susie: that's "nightly business report" for friday, july 30. i'm susie gharib. good night everyone, and have a great weekend. you too, tom. >> tom: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. have a good weekend everyone, we'll see you again next week. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> more information about investing is available in "nightly business report's" video "how wall street works". to order this dvd, call 1-800- play-pbs or visit online at shoppbs.org. >>

. >> susie: that's "nightly business report" for thursday, july 15. i'm susie gharib. good night, everyone, and good night to you, too, tom. >> tom: good night, susie. i'm tom hudson. good night, everybody. we hope to see all of you again, right here tomorrow night. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program was made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

. >> announcer: this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: >> announcer: investing takes perspective. it comes from navigating up and down markets for 60 years, spotting opportunities at home and abroad. global investing from franklin templeton investments, gain from our perspective. >> announcer: and by exxon-mobil. this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> tom: good evening, and thanks for joining us. sues gasusie gharib is on assignment. i'm joined by my colleague, suzanne pratt. we have two big stories. ben bernanke's economic outlook, and the president signing financial regulatory bill into law. >> suzanne: stocks tumbled as he warned congress. the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain. >> tom: that does not mean that the fed is changing its forecast. darren gersh picks up the story. >> reporter: no, ben bernanke is not expecting the economy to drop back into recession, but economists euphemisti

this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt >> susie: good evening everyone, a big setback for small business tonight. senate republicans blocked a $30 billion plan to boost lending for the nation's small businesses. tom, president obama was counting on this bill to create jobs. >> tom: susie, the legislation also would have provided $12 billion dollars in tax breaks, but opponents argued it was just another expensive program packed with extra spending. >> susie: this impasse affects out-of-work americans, and small firms, which employ half of all american workers. many of those companies have not been hiring. erika miller introduces us to two business owners with different reasons for holding back. >> reporter: jewelry designer bonnie riconda say she's one of the fortunate small business owners. sales at her company, calico juno designs, have not gotten

. >> this is "nightly busines this is "nightly business report" with susie gharib and tom hudson. "nightly business report" is made possible by: this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt everyone. a plea today from president obama for congress to pass the unemployment bill. the president urged lawmakers, tom, to put aside politics and to approve an extension of benefits to millions of americans out of work. >> tom: susie, this unemployment insurance bill is expected back on the senate floor tomorrow. republicans say they'll only support an extension if the bill does not add to the national debt. >> susie: still the president said lawmakers need to help americans who have been laid off during this recession. >> we've got a responsibility to help them make ends meet and support their families, even as they're looking for another job. that's why it's so essential to pass the unemployment insurance extension that comes up for a vote tomorrow. >> susie: millions of americans will be watching that vo