The Treasury Department today said the new tax bill will generate 1. 8 trillion in new revenue over ten years, thanks to increased economic growe tha from the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation. As the numbers get crunched, lawmakers are trying to get the final bill across that finish line by resolving differences between the. Those differences include the number of tax brackets, the limit on the mortgage interest deduction, and medical expense deductions, among other things. The negotiations come just weeks before the end of the year, a key time for tax planning, making it also a very confusing time for many americans, but there are some potentially moneysaving strategies you can employ. Sharon epperson joins us now with that tonight. Its always good to see you, sharon. Good to be here. Lets start, first of all, with yearend tax planning. Its always important, but more so this year, righ manager so t. The taxsaving strategies were going to talk about are some of the best gifts you can give yourself, but espe o key things youve been doing may change significantly. One is if you itemize your deductions. The standard deduction is likely in both versions to increase, nearly double to 12,000 for single filers and 24,000 for married couples filing jointly. Thats a big change. And so, if you itemize some of the deductions that you mentioned, thats going to be a change you want to take a look at now. I have a cheat sheet, so i know that shes got some really important tips here on what you can do. So, what should, as taxpayers get to the end of the year, what should they be looking at . What can they do to be protractive against whats going to be for some cases, anyway, an expensive change in their life . Yeah, one of the key things that people itemize when they do itemized deductions is take a look at their property taxes and state and local income taxes. There could be big changes there. So one of the things you may want to do is pay your property taxes now for next year, at let pay some of them, and you may also want to consider paying some of those state and local income taxes as well, if you can pay some of that. Get a head start in prepaying that. That could, if there are changes, if they do come down the pike, youve already paid some of that. And i see you say boost charitable deductions, because that bra again, because you have to itemize in order to get that charitable contribution deducted, so you want to be sure you boost those now, do more of those. Another thing people often forget about is miscellaneous expenses, job hunting expenses, unreimbursed work expenses. Those could go away, so if you can take more of those before december 31st, do that, document it, and use it to write it off on your 2017 taxes. And obviously, theyre going to try and reconcile those two bills, but regardless of that, you know, youve been with us in the past where youve had some really tried and true things that you can do, regardless of the tax changes, to really, you know, benefit yourself going into the year. Tell us about that. Exactly. Look at your investment portfolio. Lo accounts. There you can do tax loss harv weve talked about, where you sell your loser investments and replace them after a short time with another investment, so you maintain your asset allocation, but you can do that up to 3,000. And thats a really great way to kind of get, offset your Capital Gains by taking some of these losses. What you want to do with your taxdeferred accounts, and this is the greatest gift you could give yourself, max out your 401 k . So many people do not do that, but you can do 18,000, up to 18,000 or 24,000 if youre 50 or old. D if you are selfemployed, this is something i want to tell you, freelancers, look at the solo 401 k , 54,000 you can put into a solo 401 k as long as you set it up before december 31st. You dont even have to put all of that money in by december 31st. You just have to set it up. You have until the tax filing deadline in april to put in the full contribution. Thats a great tip. Yes. Im sure a lot of people dont know that. Sharon, as always, youre the best. Thank you. Sharon epperson. A new survey from the National Association of manufacturers says optimism is at a 20year high and that the recent pickup in confidence has to do with the legislative. It is the belief that government right now is focused on reducing the cost of doing business in the United States so that we can invest more, we can hire more, and we can provide better pay and benefits for our workers. Thats good news for manufacturers, and they are very excited about the possibilities ahead. Tax reform is right front and center of that o the Manufacturing Industry is also warning that failure to pass tax reform could jeopardize econ Energy Investors and executives in that industry are looking closely at the tax bill to see if there will be winners and losers within the sector. So Jackie Deangelis has that story for us. The tax bill isnt finished yet, but it looks like it will be mostly good news for the energy industry. First off, the drillers are going to see support. The bill keeps drilling cost deductions for corporations. That helps them recover investments. For big oil and gas will continue to be a t Nuclear Energy will see benefits, too. The 6 billion Nuclear Production tax credit would be extended, helping companies that are already Building Nuclear facilities. And the electric car provision . Industry insiders think when all is said and done, it will stay. Its been a vital part of getting those businesses off the ground and will continue to draw the impact on clean energy, however, is a little uncertain. The house version of the bill would partially or completely roll back credits for wind and solar projects. The Senate Version doesnt do that, but it does add a separate new tax that would discourage multinationals from moving profits and jobs offshore. Because of the way that many Energy Companies are set up, its believed that could cancel out the benefit of the renewal credit. It certainly hurts the renewal sector versus natural gas. I think we had the house bill, which effectively cut back the wind production tax credit, even though the phasedown was already agreed to, but then we have the senate bill which preserves the tax credits but actually doesnt allow tax equity to receive the same benefits, and its not as attractive for tax equity. So in both cases, we have wind and solar behurt. Its still too early to tell exactly how the finished bill will look and if it will pass, but tax reform wont be the only thing that will influence the Energy Sector in 2018. Volatility in oil prices already have the s p Energy Sector down more than 7 this year, nightly busineth. A rise in Energy Shares helped lift. Washington, a talk of tax reform and a fed policy meeting lar week were also on investors radar. The Dow Jones Industrial ave added 56 points to 24,386. The nasdaq was up 35 and the s p 500 rose 8. So, lets turn now to michael farr to talk more about what potential tax reform and rising rates might mean for the stock market. He is the president of the Management Firm farr, miller, and washington. Go. Thank you, sue. Good to be here with you. All right, were starting a new week. It looks like tax reform is getting closer, but we also have the fed meeting this week. What are you. Well, i think that we will certainly see this quarter of a point hike out of the fed this week. Theyve been broadcasting and i think theyre going to be very consistent with that. You know, i think one thing, sue, that people seem to be missing in the broader view of things is that the fed really has reversed course. I mean, nobody really seems to be too bothered by it because everybody is very optimistic, you know. So, the fed is on a tightening course. I think its a big deal. What about the market itself . You say this is a week or month where were starting to see growth move to value. Weve seen that, right at the beginning, past couple of weeks. Weve seen the f. A weve seen the russell 1000 and the Growth Stocks and the nasdaq kind of come lower and the dow surge much higher as a lot of the consumer staple stocks and more defensive stocks sort of started to advance, particularly the banking stocks did so, there seems to be a riskoff kind of a trade. The past couple of days risk has been back on. It certainly was today. But i think that probably this trend, as things get a little dicier here, a little more uncertain as we see whether the government gets past its second shutdown date here towards the end of the month, i think you could continue to see that trade continue to be established as people look for more solid balance sheets, rather than just the momentum. And you mentioned the fed. How much of this rotation is due to the expectation of higher . That is a great question, and were going to have to see if the fed really delivers on it. But there seems to be i get worried when i see the spread between the twoyear and the tenyear treasury now at 56 basis points. This yield curve is very flat, and a flat yield curve, or even when short rates go higher than long rates, that always is connected with recessions, so im nervous that the fed might repeat what it did in the 1930s, go a little bit too stronghanded and put us back in recession. I dont i worry a lot about these things, particularly when you report in the previous segment that optimism is at an alltime high. Exactly. Which tells me investors arent worried enough for me, sue. Well, you do the worrying for us, michael, then you can come back and tell us how youre feeling. Well talk to you id love to be wrong. I know, right . Michael, thank you, as always. Thank you, sue. Michael farr with farr, miller, and washington. Well, it may be a new era for investors who could now easily speculate on whether bitcoins price will go up or down. Bitcoin futures contracts began trading on the cboe, marking the first traditional Trading Platform serving the currency. Bob pisani has mor after much anticipation, Bitcoin Futures finally began trading and the price went up, Bitcoin Futures on the Cboe Exchange were north of 18,000, up about 20 . Now, volume was on the light side, only about 4,000 contracts had traded by the end of the first full day of trading. Thats a value of maybe 60, 70 million. Pret sma potatoes, but it was orderly, and that will certainly increase. Whats next . More participation, more volume in the futures contract will go a long way toward making bitcoin a little more respectable. Volumes are light because many brokers either dont allow trading of Bitcoin Futures or greatly restrict trading. Thats because a lot of brokers and investors want to see how this thing trades for a while before jumping in. But if trading remains relatively orderly, im sure more will soon. Now, thats good news. More participation will likely tamp down some of this volatility, and will also introduce an element we havent seen yet, short sellers. There are a lot of people who think bitcoin is an outright fraud or wildly overvalued, but its been hard for them to best against it, but these Bitcoin Futures are priced and settled in dollars, so its relatively easy to short. You dont red bitcoin, you just need cash. With prices rising fast, shorts will be cautious, but i anticipate they will appear in the near future. Also helping, the cme will also begi week, nasdaq early next year. The bottom line, its still early yet, and while bitcoin itself is still unregulated, the appearance of a futures market may go a long way toward at least making this cryptocurrency a little more transparent. For nightly business repor im bob pisani at t still ahead, new breakthrough for blood diseases and new hope for those who need a number of biotech stocks made big moves today on new breakthrough in Blood Disorders and blood cancers. Executives and researchers are presenting their findings at a key conference in atlanta, and meg tirrell is t. Reporter the newest treatments for certain cancers and blood diseases change the way we think about medicine. Instead of being taken every day, week or month, many of these therapies are designed to be administered just once. That new research was on display today and over the weekend at the American Society of hemotology conference. It sent some biotech stocks flying. One was bluebird bio with results on treatments for blood diseases and myeloma, a onetime treatment that uses the patients own immune cells to fight cancer and the results so far offer hope to those who have exhausted all other options. Its exciting in the sense that in myeloma, were seeing something that hasnt been seen before, transformality for patients that are really considering hospe and sort of how to get their affairs in order. Then they get a onetime treatment that fundamentally is changing the potential of their lives. R bluebird and sell gene are starting a larger trial that they hope will support Regulatory Approval of the therapy. It also brought treatments in hemophilia, gene thera that looks to fix the underlying di treatment. Biotech company biomarin soared at the conference while Spark Therapeutics sans update disapp investors, though the results were in just four patients. Keep in mind, these are patients that today have to take infusions on a regular basis chronicall life, and i think gene therapy has tremendous potential for a single dose to not only eliminate the excessive bleeds they suffer from, but also eliminate the need for chronic infusions. Industry leaders also addressed political issues like drug pricing, a key question for these treatments that are administered just one time. They may carry higher price tags but offer the potential to avoid longerterm treatm also on Business Leaders minds, tax reform, providing a boost to their business. Were happy to pay taxes in the United States, but were paying a high rate relative to other rate come down to 20 or 22 , thats meaningful for us because we can then put even more money into r d. I hope it gets done. I think it does get done. Us in a position to use a lot of our offshore cash that right now, like a lot of multinational companies, is a little parked overseas and we dont have the flexibility we otherwise might. So its good for america and celgene. Repor 2018 will bring more updates on these new approaches to how we think about tr disease. For nightly business repor meg tirrell in atlanta. Two Major Hospital systems are reportedly in merger talks. According to the n and providence st. Joseph health are discussing the possibility of combining to c the u. S. s largest owner of hospitals with 191 hospitals in 27 states and more than 44 billion in a this report follows cvs agreement to buy aetna and United Health rece to its group of urgent care clinics and outpatient centers. Is it likely well see more consolidation in the healt Care Industry . Brian kantilit from jefferies is here to discuss that. Nice to have you here. Good evening, sue. Thank you. Why are we seeing this type of consolidation and these deals being inked right now . Yeah, i think whats happening is that the Health Care System in the u. S. Is evolving. Weve seen some mergers, for example, in the nonprofit hospital space prior to todays speculation on the ascension deal. And i think players are getting bigger as the landscape changes, and frankly, as we start seeing a slowing down of utilization trends for health care services. You also make the point that a number of these hospitals are highly levered. They have a lot of debt. Thats right. So if you look in the Public Company space, and youve got Community Health care, youve got tenants health, these are fairly levered companies. So what weve seen is theyve been selling hospitals, and weve seen companies that are also public, such as hca and universal health look for deals and take advantage of these emerging opportunities. So yeah, these companies have to pay down debt, and theyre doing that by selling some hospitals. But is it strategic . I mean, i would assume that they would take a look at different markets and make a strategic deal, rather than perhaps go outsid established markets. Yeah, thats a really interesting point, sue. I still believe that health care is a local business, you know. So hospitals try to gain leverage and market power by being deep and wide in specific cities. And so, as we look at hca, for example, theyre big in cities like nashville, denver, houston. Thats how you gain leverage with insurance companies. So, a lot of these publicly traded hospitals, the way they look at strategy is theyre trying to broaden their scope and services in specific cities, so thats how deals are getting done nowadays. Do you r scrutiny of these deals as you get Major Players . I mean, we just mentioned this is going to be one of the largest owners of hospitals in the country. Its a very good question. So in the past, weve seen the fcc get really strict when it comes to local hospital mergers. So, perfect example, in louisville, kentucky, a few years back, we saw them block a deal where three hospitals were trying to merge. And i think that going back to my point earlier, deals are going to get scrutinized on a local basis, so you know, obviously, they dont want one hospital having 30 or 40 or 50 share of beds, right . So, i think that these deals will get through. Now, in the ascension st. Josephs deal, if this happens, you know, this is a national deal. I dont think that theres much geographic overlap between ascension and st. Joes. I think this is a deal that probably will get approved by the ftc. All right, brian. So interesting to talk with you. Thanks for joining us tonight. Thank you, sue. Boeing launches an 18 billion share buyback, and thats where we begin tonights market focus. After the bell, the Aerospace Giant said it would launch a new 18 billion program that will replace its existing one. The company also raised its Quarterly Dividend by 20 to 1. 71 a share. Shares were initially higher in afterhours trading but finished the regular day down almost 1 to 283. 16. Carl icahn is nominating four directors to xeroxs board. A regulatory filing revealed a current i canappointed director resigned, a move allowing icahn to submit new nominations. Icahn said major changes need to be made at that company to stay competitive. Xerox said it would consider the recommendations. Closed unchanged at 29. 59 Morgan StanleysInvestment Management arm reported an 11 stake in overstock. Com. Shares of overstock have soared this year on its investment in businesses focused on Bitcoins Blockchain technology. The stock soared again, up 22 , 55 even. And comcast is dropping its bid for 21st century foxs entertainment assets. Disney is still said to be negotiating an offer with fox. Comcast, the Parent Company of cnbc, which produces this program, saw its shares initially rise in after hours. They also ended the regular day up 1 to 38. 44. Meanwhile, shares of 21st century fox were little changed in after hours and ended the regular day up a percent to 33. 66. The Southern California wildfires are relentless, causing billions of dollars in damages. Firefighters are struggling to contain them, and new evacuati jane wells reports tonight from [ sirens ] reporter just when you thought it was safe to breathe again, the santa anas kicked up ferociously on sunday, injecting new life into what is now the fifth largest fire in modern california history. Over 230 acres across ventura and Santa Barbara counties have burned in whats called the thomas fire. Thats more than 350 square miles, larger than all of new york city. One death has been attributed to the fire, and its the first time in recent memory that a wildfire is still destroying homes and forcing new evacuations one we] Mario Cardona was forced to leave his home in the beach town of carpinteria. The fire has so far destroyed around 800 structures and 18,000 homes remain threatened. We started to kind of pack the china a little bit, a little bit of some of our waterford and favorite coffee mugs. So, you know, its interesting to see the different layers of frustration you go through or panic, that type of thing. Reporter the fire moved into the wealthy onclav of montecito, home to multimilliondollar estates. Celebrity residents like oprah winfrey, ellen degeneres, and rob lowe tweeted out concerns or updates. 6,400 personnel from 12 states have come out to fight this fire. Many of them have staged here at carpinteria high school, underneath the h slowly making their way down. Also, there are 27 helicopters up today. On sunday, there were 29 helicopters. Ea helicopters only allowed to fly seven hours. All 29 flew seven hours. Kelsey bleaker watched the fire trucks line up in front of her house this morning. Its been pretty scary, the ash and the flame is threatening al night. Reporte there has been no significant rain here for 250 days, but at some point, the rain will come, the winds will end, the rebuilding will begin, and perhaps investigators will learn the cause of one of the biggest fires california has ever seen. For nightly business repor jane wells, ca coming up, ratings may be in decline, but the value of the sporting industry verizon is paying billions of dollars to stream professional Football Games on mobile devices. The largest u. S. Wireless carrier gains premium content, but its also giving something up, making this deal look a lot different from the last one. Julia boorstin story. The value of sports continues to grow, despite ratings declines. Verizon is doubling down on football, paying over 2 billion to the nfl over the next five years. Thats about double what it paid in its last deal. This deal expands streaming from phones to any mobile device, but perhaps most notably, now subscribers to any mobile carrier, not just verizon, can access games on verizons platforms, including yahoo sports and aol. Verizon giving up the exclusive mobile access it had in its last deal to chase mobile ad dollars. Weve been moving very heavily into digital through our oath properties, yahoo and aol, tuned go to yahoo sports now via your mobile device and to be able to watch any game, preseaso season, playoffs, super bowl, its something nobody else offers. And for the nfl, which has been struggling with declining Television Ratings for the second straight season, this deal with verizon helps the league reach a broader audience. We want to make sure that whatever we do is complementary with our network partners. We think this is reaching consumers that arent actually watching on television. Theyre looking to watch on other devices, and we want to. Thats part of the changing Television Landscape and the media landscape that we need to be in those places. The nfls growing value to verizon is part of a larger trend as traditional media platforms and internet giants, including amazon and facebook, look to secure rare content tt fa want to watch in realtime. A new pwc report projects the north American Sports industry will grow over 3 annually to nearly 79 billion by 2021. Media rights are the Fastest Growing part of the business by far, far surpassing ticket sales and merchandise. And a number of sports deals are coming up for negotiation. 25 Regional Sports deals are expiring in the next five years, and in 2021, espns contract with the nfl expires. For nightly business report, im Julia Boorstin in and that is nightly business for tonight. Im sue herrera. Thanks for joining us. Have a great eveni. This is bbc world news america. Funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for americas neglected needs. Planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. You can find it here in aruba. Families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea