All that and more for this november 29th edition of nightly Business Report. Good evening, everyone, and i hope your thanksgiving was a great one. Susie is off tonight. Shell rejoin us on monday. Well, it may have been black friday at the malls, but on wall street you could have called it flat friday, markets closing at 1 00 p. M. Eastern time and the major stock indexes ending the day mixed, but wall street wraps up an historic month of november with 12 record high closings for the dow. And the dow and the s p finished this month with their eighth straight week of gains. Today stocks faded just before the early closing time, but earlier in the day, the dow and the s p, and the dow transports and the russell 2000 all hit record highs. Heres a look at todays closing numbers, the dow, 11 points lower, the nasdaq up 15, now solidly above that 4,000 mark, and the s p basically flat about 1 1 2. Look at this, blue chip dow soaring 3. 5 . The nasdaq was up 3. 6 , and the s p 500 up 2. 8 . A good month all around. While shoppers flocked to stores on this black friday and many more headed out on the thanksgiving holiday, the early word is that the season has started out quite strongly. Shares of many of the major retailers started strongly today, but then they faded like the rest of the market. The one stand out, best buy, adding more than 2 on the day. Courtney reagan is in dayton, ohio, where she had a front row seat for all the black friday goings on. Courtney, lets start with how strong overall the traffic has been where you are. Reporter yeah, i have to say, tyler, that the traffic has been pretty strong. Im pleasantly surprised by what i saw. Seems as if we saw a lot of traffic flow at the big box retailers on thursday afternoon and early evening, and by big box, im talking about walmart, target, best buy, the ones who had those door buster specials. A lot of focus on electronics there. Then we did see a lull, ill admit it, overnight and the predawn hours. Because of the thanksgiving hours, folks opted not to get up at 5 00 a. M. , but as the days worn on, traffic has really picked up here in dayton, ohio at the mall. I think retailers will be quite pleased. How are the centers so far . If we think about the winners so far, at least what im hearing from analysts around the country, as well as whats really matching here today anecdotally, seems macys is by far and away one of the winners. They have some really nice door buster deals on strong brand names. There were 15,000 folks, the krae of macys said lined up outside the flagship store. A lot of bags coming out with the macys logo. Walmart also a winner, they are having their best black friday in history. So far we dont know the exact numbers, but sounding very promising there. Losers, sears and kmart. Kmart opened at 6 00 a. M. On thanksgiving day. Doesnt seem it attracted many shoppers, though. Quick thought on online shopping. What are you hearing there . Ibm says that thanksgiving sales online up 20 . Department stores, very strong online. They are a standout of 60 sale numberwise from what we saw last year, apparel one of the strongest categories online. So far, decent traffic on the computer, as well as here in the stores. Bring me back one of those wonderful killer brownies from out there in dayton, will you . I will do it. I will do it, for sure. Have a great weekend, courtney, Courtney Reagan reporting. It was not all smooth sailing. A fight broke out in a walmart in elken, north carolina, apparently over discounted flat screen televisions. Look at that. Similar incidents have also been reported elsewhere around the country. And at 1500, Walmart Stores across the nation protesters were planned demanding higher wages, more fulltime positions, and better working conditions. At this chicago walmart, ten protesters were arrested after scuffling with police. Only two of them were actual walmart workers. With sales off to a strong start this holiday weekend, experts are predicting a very merry Holiday Shopping season for stores. The National Retail federation predicts 602 billion in total Consumer Spending in the final two months of the year. Thats a nearly 4 increase from last year. Predicting 3. 9 growth, so we think its going to be a very strong season. Historically for the last ten years, the average has been about 3. 5 . So were going to do better than that, but were not back to the prerecession number of high single digits, and a lot of that is due to the fact youve got these somewhat hollow indexes, so we look at the stock market, we look at interest rates, we look at housing prices, and that would seem to indicate a robust and growing and healthy economy, but for many consumers, they dont feel that way. Joining us to talk more about the Holiday Retail season and Small Business saturday, which is tomorrow, is ed gilligan, the president at American Express. Mr. Gilligan, welcome, good to have you with us. Are you seeing what the indivials from the National RetailFederation Just reported, that is receipts are going to be up by about 4 . Well, you know, we did a lot of research leading into this Holiday Shopping season, and it was clear to us that consumers are planning to spend more this Holiday Season than last year. 3 , 4 , 5 gains certainly seem possible, so were cautiously optimistic for retailers of all sizes. I saw one figure, i believe it was one of your studies or one that you had commissioned, indicating that people on average may spend as much as 400 more. Where are they going to get that money . Well, you know, theres lots of green chutes in the economy. Certainly, growth has been sluggish and unemployment is too high, but this year the stock market is up, real estate prices are back up again, so theres plenty of reasons to be cautiously optimistic, and we know that consumers do like to shop and spend in the Holiday Season. What were calling out, though, is to ask consumers to think about allocating some of their shopping holiday budget for Small Businesses, and, in fact, tomorrow is Small Business saturday, but the fourth time in a row, American Express is pleased to be the founding sponsor of a movement to get shoppers to think about shopping small, particularly tomorrow. Thats an interesting and Laudable Initiative you have gotten behind. What is the traction youre seeing as a result of that . I live in a nice small town in new jersey, i love to go into my local shops and shop local. You know, its undeniable how important Small Businesses are to the u. S. Economy. 28 million Small Businesses exist in the u. S. Today. Half of private Sector Employment is contributed to by Small Businesses, and if you go back 20 years, two thirds of all job creation has been done by Small Businesses. But sometimes they can get lost in the holiday shuffle, so, you know, theres always been black friday for the, you know, big retailers and cyber monday for the dot comes, but starting in 2010, we created this event called Small Business saturday thats now far bigger than American Express. We have a coalition of 100 companies, 1,500 communities around the u. S. , where people are committed to shopping small. Last year over a million americans shopped small and spent about 5. 5 billion at small, locally owned merchants around the u. S. And were thinking tomorrows going to be even bigger. Well, let me broaden out the conversation if i might and get you to talk about American Expresss business more broadly. What segments of the business are performing particularly well this year, and which would you like to see perform even better, where do you need to do some work . Well, were really pleased with the progress and momentum that we have. In the third quarter, spending on American Express cards around the world was growing at 8 , and in the third quarter, we saw every region of the world, from u. S. To asia, to latin america, to europe, all tick upwards a bit, so we feel like were doing a good job of executing our Growth Strategy and outgrowing our competition. And it comes from having strong value propositions and our card products for consumers, Small Businesses, corporations, from signing more merchants to accept the card, by having new partners around the world that help us grow our business, and through a lot of Digital Innovation that were doing. Mr. Gilligan, thank you very much. And i have to say that every time i spend something on my American Express card, miraculously, you guys get it right, i get billed for it. Way to go. Thank you very much, tyler. Mr. Gilligan, thank you very much, president at American Express. I wish theyd screw up every now and then, but they dont. Weve seen how strong sales have been at some popular retailers, but how have some of those companies performed for their investors . It turns out the results have been pretty good. Dominic choo has more. Reporter Retail Stocks become a focus because everyone is out shopping. Between black friday and the end of the year over the last three years, the s p 500 Consumer Discretionary stocks have returned an average of nearly 4 each season. One area in particular has produced outsized returns, and its all about the bling. Stocks tied to the world of jewelry have been sparkling and shining. Take a look at online jeweler blue neal. Over the past three years between black friday and year end, the stock has been up around 16 each time. Then theres the bricks and mortar side of the jewelry business. Zales is up nearly 19 and movato is up an average of 19 each of the last three seasons. Some market optimists think Consumer Spending will help power Retail Stocks into the year end. Early indications are were going to have a very good Holiday Season. The stocks moved up, along with a lot of other stocks, very reasonably valued. I think the surprise for the consumer and the stocks will be to the outside. Many Retail Stocks do well dulng the Holiday Shopping season, there are no sure things. As with each Holiday Season, the heavy discounting could have an adverse effect on profit margins, and while that is a concern, some experts believe Retail Companies are well prepared. I think the different tranches of deals that companies are going towards in order to protect their margins. So now that black friday is just about over, sit back, relax, and take a look at your investment portfolio. You might find some great deals out there. For nightly Business Report, im dominic choo. And coming up, our market monitor says dividend plays will be back in play next year, and hell tell us why. First, the best and worst this month on the dow and s p 500. Archer daniel proposed 3 million bid to take over the grain corp. Was blocked by australia, and thats where we begin. The American Food giant already owns a 20 stake, but it offered to buy out the whole company last year. Australias treasurer, though, blocked the proposal over concerns the merger would reduce competition and hurt growers. That sent shares of adm tumbling down nearly 3 to 40. 30. Exxonmobil has agreed to sell a quarter of its stake in an iraqi oil project. The project is expected to rival some of the biggest sources of oil. Agreed to help iraq develop in 2010. A lot of Chinese Oil Companies like petro china have been shopping overseas to expand their production. Shares of exxon off just a fraction, though, 93. 49. Shares of ebay and amazon popped after a show of cyber monday being promising this time around. A poll found 85 of participants plan to skip black friday and nearly half will shop online during the internets discount offer day, cyber monday. That is a 30 boost from just last year. Ebay rose to 50. 66, while amazon rose almost 2 to 393. 73. And investors bought up shares of pharmaceuticals today after positive research on the drug maker. A report from analysts corner noted the recent sale of the rights to a hepatitis c drug to jansen pharmaceuticals, the stock up a dollar to 69. 38. Our market monitor this week says the market will continue its record run higher, adding another 5 to 7 on both the dow and the s p 500 from here. Hes jim lowell, chief Investment Officer at adviser investments. Mr. Lowell, welcome. Make your case for why you see stocks going higher, even after such a big runup in 2013. Well, before i make that case, let me just say that after heapings of gains this year, i wouldnt be surprised to see the market take an immediate diet of 5 or so, but the reality is theres no negative news, no negative data, either in terms of earnings or economic reports that were seeing, especially here in our consumerdriven economy, that has us thinking somehow this market is going to be significantly derailed over the next month, quarter, really throughout next year. We see the possibility of gaining ground, albeit with some slips along the way. There are still some washington issues out there, jim. Obviously, a new fed chief. Theres another debt ceiling debate, another continuing resolution. Could those things cause the market to stumble or anything more than a temporary way . I doubt it could be anything more than a temporary way. We do have the yellin safety net, which means stimulus remains the rule, not the exception. Thats good news for the marketplace overall. That said, we know washington, d. C. Has a nasty habit of throwing a Monkey Wrench into the financial engine, but several object lessons why it shouldnt price the missteps into itself. You know, its been a great year for nasdaq, for the smaller stocks, but your picks are all large cap sort of baseline kinds of companies, beginning with ford. Why do you think these kinds of companies will outperform and take us through your argument for ford. Well, i think overall were a little bit nervous about the small and midcap names that have clearly led the charge this year in particular, and certainly momentum oriented stocks were a little bit leery of. When you look at ford, its certainly reasonably valued. Its got a good dividend yield, 2. 35 , but it is up 30 year to date. Its a play on the u. S. Consumer and the housing recovery, only an architect drives on to a construction site in a prius, so we know they are selling their trucks at fairly good clips. But theres also a nice play for ford globally, and in particularly, inside the eurozone, which everyone has written off. Youve begun to see a turn towards the better there. They can clearly capitalize down the road. Lightning round time, two more picks, one is amazon, explain why. Well, im not going to bet against the u. S. Consumer, nor the global one. I get everything from a fireplace, fiji water, to my rare books from amazon, so i think that trend continues. They also are continuing to innovate. Theyve done a beta test with sunday sales, i expect well see amazon being a net benefit, not just a big box store, but also for Small Businesses that can put their products in their pipeline. Speaking of box stores, home depot is your third and final choice. Cant swing a hammer without looking at home depot, or lowes. Seems to be a grower, not just now, but throughout next year. The reality is, if you bought a new home, if you are looking to maybe upgrade your home to sell it in the spring selling season next year, or just moved into an apartment, chances are youre going to be going to home depot. Any disclosers about these three stocks that you mentioned . Well, they are certainly some of the mutual funds we own for our clients and adviser investments, and so far im thankful that they are. Jim lowell, thank you very much, chief Investment Officer at adviser investments. Well, like retailers for shopping, tiz the make or break season and campaigns are moving online to win support. A look at how charities are using crowdfunding to raise money. Reporter the nonprofit warrior canine connection had an idea, breed and Train Service dogs to be paired with veterans, but like any startup, not a lot of money, then the cofounder had a brainstorm. Why not a puppy cam on the internet . I launched my own little puppy cam, and shortly after that, a Large Foundation picked us up and started broadcasting it. They got a 150,000 grant and Primetime Exposure for their puppy cam on explore. Org and its dog bless you website, a nirvana for dog owners with 24 7 streaming video and snapshots. For the warrior canine connection, it was a lifeline. Having found their target audience online, it was a natural next step to focus on fundraising, and their introduction to crowdfunding. First of all, charity is like the warrior canine connection, crowdfunding levels the Playing Field in pursuit of the biggest crowd of donors of all, people on the internet. In less than a year, the group raised more than 168,000 from 1,559 donors through campaigns using the crowdrise platform. Twice what was raised through traditional efforts. Our organization is now pretty much nationally known, whereas, you know, prior to starting this, we were lucky to be known in our own tow