Dining room tables, people have got to be talking about, okay, we were very nervous about the market, but stocks have moved up, so, marge, should we get in or not . And coming up a little later on the program, a closer look at whats fueling the rally. We dig into where the money is coming from. Well, a lot of credit for the recent bull run is being given to Federal Reserve chairman bernanke. He gave stocks another boost today. The fed did, with its latest beige book survey of Economic Conditions around the nation, and Steve Liesman gives us a closer look at what the central bank found. Reporter the consumer is troubled, according to the Federal Reserves latest beige book. The beige book is a collection of economic anecdotes from the feds 12 districts around the country, and it helps policymakers figure out beyond the data whats really going on in the u. S. Economy. What they found was a mixed picture on consumers. They are still spending on autos and tourism and services, but retail is struggling. According to the beige book, retail sales were better in only five district and flat to weaker in seven. The districts said retailers complained of higher payroll taxes, which went up this year, high gasoline prices and Government Spending cutbacks. One positive piece of news, residential real estate. According to the beige book it was up in most districts with strengthening home prices and falling inventories. New Home Construction also increased. Labor markets were described as somewhat better, but hiring was restrained, and one fed district blamed the health care law. The richmond fed wrote in the beige book players across the district continue to cite the Affordable Care act and its unknown impact as reasons for planned layoffs and reluctance to hire more staff. Fed officialare likely to read this report and find good reasons to continue their policy of trying to stimulate the economy by keeping Interest Rates at zero and buying treasuries to try and push down longterm rates. For nightly Business Report, Steve Liesman. Meanwhile, the top Federal Reserve policymaker warned today theres risks associated with the Central Banks massive bondbuying program. Charles placor, chairman of the Philadelphia Fed bank, want the fed to slow down its monthly purchases of bonds. Hes not a Voting Member of the feds policy Committee Meeting says the big bond purchases are posing risks to the economy that could hurt financial and price stability. Lawmakers want to make sure washington doesnt collapse. The republicancontrolled house passed a resolution today that will keep the federal government up and running through the end of september. Now, that measure which extends the spending cuts that went into effect march 1 now goes to the senate. Senate leaders say they will tweak the bill but will probably pass t. Meantime, keeping the federal government up and running past march 27th is going to be a focus of a dinner that the president is host iing tonit with Top Senate Republicans at a washington hotel. So we told you yesterday that many individual investors are still skeptical about this market, but as jane wells tells us, they are jumping in, but in their 401 k s. Reporter a funny thing happened on the way to the new dow record. The American Government may be a fiscal mess, but the American People are optimistically pouring money into stocks. Most of my retirement money is in the stock market. I have a Retirement Fund, and they invest in all different things. I have microsoft. I have at t. I have i had hershey, but i took that out. Ive got about 90 of my retirement account in stocks right now. Reporter fidelity reports the average 401 k account hit a record 77,000 by the end of last year. For those over the age of 55, the average account topped 143,000, and it averaged 225,000 for 1 million investors using both the Company Savings plan and an i. R. A. Were seeing a renewed confidence in the housing market. People i think feel more confident are b putting money into their 401 k and not seeing it drop not proverbial black hole. Reporter thats especially true on the nations coast where housing cratered the most and is now recovering. William blair and company says as employment returns more workers are becoming eligible for 401 k plans, and that could be good for retirement date Retirement Fund but even trading outside of retirement accounts seems to be rising with increasing trade volumes. On the other hand, with those who stuck through the market with thick and thin are now back to thick, their emotional recovery may not be as robust as their 401 k recovery. Like people saying, youve got to be careful right now. I think you have to use common sense. What goes up, must come down. Its a bubble. Explain that. You know, money is worth nothing. Cant make any money in your account, savings account so everybody is trying to build up the stock market to get dividends and make some money out of the money. The concerns i think have been the same concerns that have been with us since 2008, you know. Is this real . Reporter is this real . It is for now. For nightly Business Report, jane wells, los angeles. All right. A lot of differing opinions. Lets get some more insight on the individual investor and what they should do next. Joining us now tom bradley, president of retail for td ameritrade. Tom, i bet you had a lot of questions today from individual investors. Should i get in . Is it safe . What were you telling them . We sure did. Well, the key here is to look at the longterm trends, and then you have to determine your time horizon. The longterm trends in the stock market are up, and as long as youre five to ten years or more out, then the stock market is in your favor. Its an incredible way to build wealth. You know, tom, the last two times the markets hit multiyear highs back in the year 2000 it was at the end of a bubble. It was a tech bubble. In 2007 it was a housing bubble. What do you say to the person in the tape piece who says its a bubble again and im going to get hurt again . Again, you have to go back and look at the longterm trends. Its very different, a retired person versus a younger person that still has many years of earnings left ahead of them, and it depends on how much risk you want to take, so thats the key. If you are closer to retirement, you may want perhaps 25 of your portfolio in equities. If youre much younger, still earning a living and saving money, then youll want a much greater percentage of your portfolio in equities. You know, all that makes so much sense, but when youre talking sotosomebody about their retirement savings, about College Savings plans, they are still worried about putting money into stocks, even though they see the markets going up. How do you reassure them so they get comfortable and can sleep at night that they are doing the right things . Stocks are just an amazing way to build wealth. They have been over the long term. They have beaten all other asset classes. I strongly encourage individuals that arent as familiar with the stock market or arent as comfortable with the stock market to seek out some help, get some guidance from a professional. Not from your neighbor but a professional. Id love for you to come to us, go to an independent registered investment adviser, professional that has their best interest at heart, and get some professional advice. Are you finding that still too many people are too heavily concentrated in bonds, and how do you urge them to leave that safety behind and move into something riskier in. Yeah. A lot of people are asking that question. We dont have a significant number of investor in bonds on our platform at td ameritrade. Its a very small percentage. The ones in bonds we do a lot to educate them on what will happen if they are in longerterm bonds. When Interest Rates rise, its very important. Theres a significant amount of Principal Risk there, but what we do have, its very interesting, at td ameritrade, is over 20 of the 500 billion that are on our that is on our platform is in cash. Over 20 . Thats amazing. So a lot of folks on the sidelines, a lot of folks stiller in vows. That could be a bullish sign. Thanks a lot, tom. Thanks for coming on the program. Really appreciate t. Tom bradley, president of the retail at td ameritrade. Well, coming up a little later on the program, we go in focus tonight on americas increasing fuel independence. So why are prices still going up . But first, a look at how the overseas markets finished out the day. Three dow Component Companies are at the top of tonights market focus. Microsoft, the European Union fining microsoft 331 million for breaking an agreement to offer european consumers a choice of rival browsers in the windows operating system it sells over there in the eu. Microsoft blamed a technical error and has apologized but hasnt said whether it will appeal that fine. The stock down less than 1 on the day. Speaking of another big, big company, exxon mobil told financial analysts that it expects production to decline about 1 this year because of weaker natural gas output and then rise over the next four years as 22 Major Projects come online. The company says it expects to spend 190 billion, yes, billion, over the next five years on exploration alone. Exxon shares flat today. Disney ceo bob iger in the hot seat today at the companys annual meeting. Activist shareholder groups questioned his dual roles as ceo and chairman and carped about his compensation. Iger took home more than 40 million last year, but most shareholders gave him the thumbs up for boosting disney stock by 138 during his tenure. The activists lost on every issue. Disney shares lost 12 cents, down from yesterdays alltime high. Shares of staples tumbled today, even though it reported better than expected quarterly earnings. It beat by a penny, but revenues came in lower than expected, and the Office Supply retailer also warned that fouryear earnings will come in lower than expectations. The stock got slammed, down 7 to 12 and change. An icon to dell, not so fast, financier carl icahn reportedly taking a 6 stake in the computermaker dell. Reports are that he doesnt really love Founder Michael dells plan to team with a private equity firm and take the company private. Icahn favors a different tact and has a different company, Southeastern Company management, another big dell shareholder so dell may be in play. Dell posted gains for the day. Now, despite concerns about what the death of venezuelan president hugo chavez would mean to the energy market, crude oil closed lower, well off the session lows, rising after the Federal Reserve reported modest Economic Growth across the country. And that brings us to the third installment of nbrs week long series called in focus, the american recovery and tonight we look at energy. Heres Sharon Epperson. Reporter it was unthinkable a few years ago, but now u. S. Energy independence appears to be within reach. The United States is virtually selfsufficient in natural gas supply and currently has the highest rate of growth in Oil Production in the world, producing more oil than it has in two decades. By the end of the decade, this nation is expected to become the worlds top oil superpower, outpacing saudi arabia in terms of production. With a combination of hydraulic fracturing otherwise known as fracing and horizontal drilling, the u. S. Gas position has been turned around and today the United States is the largest producer of natural gas in the world, and by the end of the decade we may exceed saudi arabia tonight worlds Number One Oil producer. Well certainly give saudi arabia a very good race for its money. Reporter here in texas Unconventional Oil and gas drilling is helping to fuel the ates economy, directly and indirectly, creating nearly 580,000 jobs last year and expected to account for 930,000 jobs by 2020. According to research from ihs sierra, over 1. 7 million jobs are tied to Unconventional Oil and Gas Development today, extending to every one of the lower 48 states and rising to 3 million jobs by the end of the decade. Building more pipeline capacity, including the keystone xl pipeline stretching from the canadian tarsands through the middle of the country to the refineryrich texas coast is also expected to drive employment growth. Keystone is going to support, according to the state department, 42,000 jobs in the u. S. , just in terms of the construction alone in the states that were going through. Well put 9,000 americans to work. Reporter despite the surge in u. S. Oil and Gas Development, challenges remain as Global Forces continue to Push Oil Prices higher. There are various factors that contribute to the cost of crude oil. Unrest in the middle east, the demand coming out of asia, particularly china and india and elsewhere around the world, the value of the dollar. A lot of things contribute to that prize. Reporter and drive up gasoline prices, too. With the National Average for regular gasoline near the highest its ever been for this time of year, some consumers may wonder when their wallets will see the economic benefit of the energy boom, but without the surge in u. S. Oil and gas supplies, fuel prices in this country would be much higher. For nightly Business Report, im Sharon Epperson in houston. Freedom from foreign oil, American Energy independence has been a kind of political and economic holy grail since the 1970s, but now as sharon pointed out it may actually be within reach. I spoke earlier today with bob dudley. Hes the chief executive of bp, and i began by asking him whether he thought the u. S. Could ever attain the longstanding goal of energy independence. We think that by 2030 its very likely to be practically energy independent, and thats not just oil and gas. Thats coal and Renewable Energy as well. I dont think any countries should think about it being completely independent because i think all of the Energy Complex around the world connects itself, but, yes, it will fundamentally change the economics of the u. S. How about l that happen . Well, it will happen because of the massive unlocking of natural gas from shale which has occurred. Five years ago, even two years ago, people were wondering if this is real. It is real, and thats been a great boost for the u. S. Economy, and then this new shale oil such as whats happening in the state of north dakota which now produces more oil than ecuador which is an opec nation and the renaissance of whats happening in northeast ohio, for example, and in texas, so oil and gas from new sources definitely happening, as well as the deep waters of the gulf of mexico. I think a lot of people might be concerned that the unlocking of those assets in natural gas and oil shale will pose very serious environmental threats. What do you have to say about that . Well, i think it has to be done this year talking about hydraulic fracturing, nickname of fracing, but its a technique that actually has been around and used since the 1940s so its not something new. Its just how its being used today, and i think, you know, something unknown thats happening way under the ground, so its easy to paint sort of a sensational picture about it, but its an unbelievable tool for moving rocks slightly apart and putting sand in between it so that you unlock these natural gases and done responsibly i think this will be something done all over the world now in the coming decade you know, not so long ago people around the world were worried that we might run out, peak oil period, that we might run out eventually of oil. What is your working supposition about the growth in demand for both oil and Energy Overall over the next 15 to 20 years, and how do you see that the mix of energy constituents changing . Yeah. Its a great question. I mean, weve never subscribed to the Peak Oil Theory because we just know theres more and more oil out there, more efficiency for our water flooding and wringing it out of existing reservoirs, and you go into deeper waters and the new threedimensional seismic techniques that allow you to unlock the imaging below the ground, theres a lot of oil and gas still in the world, but by 2030 we expect more than Additional Oil consumption of 16 Million Barrels a day, and the world itself will need a third more energy. That 16 Million Barrels a day is the equivalent of combining all the Oil Production today from russia and canada and the United Arab Emirates together, thats how much more oil we think the world will be producing and use, along with other forms of energy. You know, its an enormous challenge of the industry and governments to allow it to happe