In are cisco systems, travellers and united health. A different dow for a different time. Be sure not every stock is up. Hewlettpackard alone in the dow components lost money off 22 . Lets say you had Perfect Timing and you put 1,000 into the following Dow Companies when the bull started run back in march of 09. In caterpillar which is up 286 you would be looking at 28,060 today. Home depot, 2910. And American Express up 513 you would have a stash worth more than 500. Might we all be so lucky. With the dow up 9 this year even after it gained all of last year when the dow surges so smartly investors naturally want to know where the heck are we. Near the beginning, middle or end of a bull market . Bob pisani now with a History Lesson on how the markets reacted following previous record high closings. Reporter so we finally made it, historic highs on the dow industrials. But now what . Stock bulls are saying that this could be the start of a sustainable bull market that could last for several years. Their main arguments first the fed is back stopping the economy through low rates. Second, the economy is slowly improving. Third earnings are at record highs. Fourth, theres record cash on the sidelines both from individuals and from Corporate America and finally with rates so low theres just no other place to put money right now. But there are plenty of headwinds that could prevent another bull market from developing. Bears point to sub 2 gdp growth. Anemic Revenue Growth for corporations and the threat that the fed may remove its Stimulus Program well before there is robust Economic Growth. The biggest threat to the markets advance is its biggest hope and thats washington, a bigger deal on tax reform and entitlement as well as an extension on the debt ceiling would go a long way towards boosting business confidence, spending and hiring would likely increase and conversely the failure to do anything in washington will also weigh on the markets. For nightly Business Report im bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. Here to give his take on whats next for stocks is ceo of global investors. Welcome. You know the last time the dow was as high as it is today, the multiple, the price earnings ratio on stocks was much higher than it is today. Does that give you any comfort that equities can move up from even these lofty levels . I feel the market, equities will move higher between now and the year end. I think its not just the multiples because, you know, multiples give you some comfort. Valuation doesnt drive markets. When you get modest valuation and improving sentiment and improving fundamentals that i think the market can do pretty well. And i would point to a number of real positives for the u. S. Right now. We have the cheapest and plentiful energy. We have a record of innovation in business. Lastly but not least the house market at last is recovering. And will be a positive contributor to Business Growth and Economic Growth in 2013. If you add this all up with the money on the sidelines, i think that all though it could be bumpy, the market will most likely end the year higher than it stands right now. You know, you cant really separate, i suppose, the monetary stimulus thats been injected into the system from the idea that corporate profits are moving higher. Do you worry at all about two things getting taken out of the srjs one would be some of the federal spending cuts that may come on stream here over the next few months and number two the idea that maybe at some point the Federal Reserve pulls back on the aggressive bondbuying program thats helped raise asset prices . No, theres no question those two are among the negatives. If theres a negative for the market and if theres a buying opportunity between now and year end it will come either from washington or from europe with the european debt crisis, the italian election was a negative for the market, very briefly last week. But if i look at washington and the specific points you mentioned the Federal Reserve is gearing up for a situation where they will reduce the bondbuying at the point where the Unemployment Rate is more normal. 6. 5 they talked about as being the main review point. I think theres a good chance they get there. And i think at that point the fed will be declaring victory. I dont think the fed will suddenly put the economy and market in reverse. I was speaking earlier to a market analyst who pointed out among the ten s p 500 only four are higher than they were back in 2007. He suggested theres plenty of value in some of the sectors that arent higher. Do you agree with that idea if youre selective about it do i. I point, for example to technology which is certainly not back to the highs. You could look at the winners there including google and ibm against some of the losers, notably hewlettpackard. Selectively in technology youre going to do quite well. I think, though, that banks are not back to the previous peaks. I think you got to be weary because the profitability of banks will be adversely impacted by dodd frank and the increased financial regulation. So valuations, yes they are modest and, you know, they are not back to the heady peaks of the previous peak, but i think you got to be selective and professional management is something every investor should be going after. All right. Be choosey is the basic bottom line. We appreciate it. A little bit later well take a look at the confidence of the individual investor and just how much they are fueling this rise. Venezuelan president hugo chavez lost a two year battle to cancer today. Michelle carusocabrera joins us with a look at what his death means. Michelle, you have actually sat down with mr. Chavez, his passing long expected given his poor health. Yeah. Absolutely. He was 58 years old when he died today and we have been watching for weeks to see when exactly this would happen and the reason were so interested is because we want to see what happens with the countrys oil production. They produce 2. 8 Million Barrels of oil per day in venezuela. It used to be higher. But he hasnt invested very much in the countrys oil company which used to be one of the best in the world. And as consumers of oil in the United States we would like to see them invest more in order to increase production. The infrastructure internally in venezuela has not been supported by investment, to keep it where it needed to be he pushed out a lot of the Foreign Oil Companies or taxed them so heavily that they decided to leave. What happens next . He has named an heir apparent. He may try to take over. Opposition will say they want snap elections. They will say the constitution says there should be an election within 30 days. We dont know what will happen. It could be really messy. Thank you very much for that report. Coming up the market may be at new highs. The individual investor is not going along for the ride at least not so much. Well tell you why. But first a big day here but lets take a look at how the markets overseas fared today. With the dow hitting record highs today heres some viewer reaction. On the record setting day so many big movers on the big board lets take a quick look at some of the stocks that hit multiyear or all time highs. There are some of them. Walt disney, johnson johnson, 3 millimeter and travellers. Sometimes a cent can go a long way. Retail gas prices fell overnight. Its down three cents from a year ago and Energy Analysts say the slide in prices could continue over the next month. Talk about drug prices. Overall spending on drugs to treat common diseases like high cholesterol and diabetes declined in 2012 for the first time in 20 years. The reason . Cheaper generic drug which help bring down costs to insurers according to the prescription processor. Lets take a look at how the largest generic drug makers performed in the stock market today. Teva is higher. Martha stewart took the stand today in the case of j. C. Penney over macys. Stewart said she did nothing wrong when she agreed to open shops inside j. C. Penney stores despite having a long standing contract with macys. Stewart said she did it because macys failed to maximize sales of her items. Lets take a look at how shares of both of those big retailers did today. One year ago j. C. Penney sold for 42 a pop. Now a little under 15. Two weeks after yahoo s ceo and new mom told any employee who works at home to come back to the office. Best buy has put an end to flexible hours as well. Employees at its hours outside of minneapolis no longer allowed to set their own Work Schedules or decide how often they show up at the companys richfield, minnesota headquarters. This is the rising tide lifts all boats of market focus. First up lets tell you about google which set another all time high for the second day in a row today. 838. 60 a share. 17. 10 higher. Widely held stocks in different parts of the economy, apple, caterpillar, ge, kraft foods, exxonmobil all advanced. Qualcomm is raising their dividend by 40 and beginning a new stock repurchase plan. Investors responded to that dividend news. The stock up 2 on the day. Qualcomm benefiting, of course from Strong Demand from consumers for those cell phones whose chips they power. Sears holding chief bought 1. 2 million shares in his company according to a filing. He paid 44. 36 a share. Sears reported higher than expected earnings last week helped by cost cuts and the stock was up sharply today better than by 5 . Legg mason fighting back from a Holiday Quarter loss. It will trim the number of funds it offers and reduce office space. Investors responded favorably. The stock up almost 3 . Citigroup ceo told investors at a conference in boston that the bank has identified at least 21 markets where its got to make improvements or just get out. He also set profit targets 3015 of 10 on tangible common equity with 7. 9 earned last year. Investors reacted very positively to the goals. Shares gaining about 1. 5 to 43. 60 a piece. Todays record close for the dow made a lot of Institutional Investors happy but what about individual stock buyers . Are investors like you still putting money into equities . Sue herrera takes a look. Obviously people are out there that believe things are in good shape. Reporter a new high for the dow. Its sign much confidence. Im not sure whether its a sign that everything is going up. Reporter Stock Mutual Fund and etf hit a two month record more than 55 billion. But that money is not coming from the every day investor. Main street has not been going along for the ride. We havent seen the Retail Investor play in this market despite this long move higher. Reporter market highs in the past have been a warning shot to investors that the party may be ready to end. What do you do now . Thats the question thats been hovering over this market since it began climbing in 2009. Shrinking incomes are suspect. By 2011 real income adjusted for inflation was down 8 since the 2007 stock market highs. Another factor. Home prices still 25 less than they were in 2007. But the good news is values have been climbing for four years. Were seeing a return in house. Were seeing housing prices go up. Mortgage issues going down. Those are all very encourage. Reporter Investment Advisors recommend their clients wait before putting more money network. So while the market climbs ultimately its still confidence and cash that will determine what the individual investor does. For nightly Business Report, sue herrera, new york. Housing is considered one of the pillars of the economy course and lately that pillar seems to be getting stronger. Tonights edition in focus we look at house. But first we look at treasury and currency of the day. Shares of Home Builders have been on a tear lately. Today we learn home prices jumped nearly 10 in january from year ago levels. Thats the biggest annual leap in nearly seven years. Home Builder Sentiment is sitting year multiyear highs, encouraging signs. Tonight in our series on the american recovery, diana olec on how far housing has come and the road blocks. Reporter rogers wanted to move to a bigger house. With las vegas homes costing half of what they did during the housing boom they figured it was the perfect time except there was nothing to buy. We looked at some of the existing homes but they were in bad shape. Reporter so they turned to new construction which is sprouting up. National and local builders coming back to what was until recently a ghost town. As for their old home rather than sell it at a loss they rented it out. With the rental income i want reduces it by 40 . Reporter they are a big part of why supplies of homes across the nation are so low. Few want to sell at the bottom while millions of others are under water. The overall economy has gotten better. Buyers understand now these low Interest Rates are a real dramatic opportunity for them. And most of all, the resale inventories dried up. Reporter not just in las vegas. Nationally the number of homes for sale today is down 25 from a year ago, according to the National Association of realtors. Even as the Spring Market begins potential move up buyers are not putting their homes on the market. Whats Holding People back from buying a property is the fear of selling their property and not being able to find out. Thats what the problem is. Reporter lack of homes for sale coupled with huge demand from all cash investors for Distressed Properties are a boom to the builders. They are Still Producing about half the homes they would normally but are seeing big jumps in new orders. Housing is finally helping not hurting the economy. The only thing that concerns me is we have been here before, and the market itself is not whats driving the price increase. Reporter appraiser saw the very worst of the vegas housing boom when speculators and builders pushed prices beyond ration enamel levels until it came crumbling down, something he says is missing from this recovery. Its not that we have new employers coming in and creating tens of thousands of new jobs that are leading to people buying new house. Its las vegas is on sale and investors are buying up everything they can in the used market. Reporter those he argues are not healthy fundamentals. Houses and prices are going up again but the recovery is still not on solid ground. For nightly Business Report im diana olec in las vegas. Here to weigh in on the jump on home prices and what it means for the housing market, mark zandi. Welcome. Good to have you with us. Your surprised that house prices are jumping as high as they are . Yeah, i am. I wouldnt have thought this a year ago. Things were turning around a year ago. I expected price times prove but not near double digits, not the kind of price gains were gets. Part of it is related to the decline of short sales, disstress sales. Theres fewer of those. Thats part of it. Ive been surprised by the strength of the markets coming back faster. Internals of the market particularitily explain that. Its also isnt relatively tight inventory. You point out we actually probably should problem ducing or adding new homes on the order of more than nearly 2 million and were only adding a million and i guess some people are holding back putting their house on the market. To be precise, i wont dwell on the statistics. Were producing about 900,000 homes, single family, multifamily, manufactured housing on a per annum basis. In a normal economy not a very good one just a normal one we should problem ducing 1. 8 million homes. Housing construction is going to double over the next couple three years and because builders are having a hard time ramping it up its hard to get it back up and running. We have this tight inventory and allowing builders and sellers to push up prices. Theres tight inventory. Theres also a very low cost of money and i guess creditors are loosening their standards a little over where they were in 08 and 09. A little bit. Mortgage rates are at record loss. You can get a 30 year fixed at 3. 5 to 4 . Credit, mortgage credit is not easy to get but much easier. And things continue a year from now they will be even easier. Obviously that goes well for future housing demand. Give us a quick forecast. We wont hold you to it. What do you think for the rest the year . How much are they going to gain . The house prices . Midsingle digits. Another goodyear. More construction. Heres the positive thing. This means a lot more jobs and thats really what we need for a better economy. Mark zandi, thank you very much. Tomorrow on nightly Business Report the american recovery will focus on Energy Despite the surge in u. S. Oil and gas development. We will examine the forces that are pushing Oil Prices Higher and well be joined by bp ceos. Finally tonight the stock market may be the greatest story ever sold, but the greatest story ever told the bible remains number one. On sunday night the History Channel scripted mini series the bible from reality show producer mark burnett drew 1. 3 million viewers. That made at any time Top Entertainment show on Cable Television this year. For the week it was the fourth highest rated show. Now theres go to be a joke about false idols in there. The bible did well. Last years hatfield and mccoys did better for the History Channel. Before we go we want to point out nbr. Com has a new field. When you type it in youll see our Facebook Page where you can view full programs