Could be easier than you think. In the heartland. Food prices are falling, farmers are not making money, and now one rancher says donald trump owes them. Those stories and more tonight on nightly Business Report for wednesday, december 21st. Good evening, everyone. And welcome. Thanks for joining us. Dow 20,000, uhuh. Remains elusive. The blue chip index started the session just about 25 points away from that landmark level. But today is not meant to be. Real estate stocks dragged the market lower as the post election rally took a bit of a timeout. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 32 points to 19,941. Nasdaq off a dozen and the s p 500 dropped 5. But despite todays drop, the dow has come a long way, and you might be surprised at whats driven the market from dow 10,000 to almost 20,000. Bob pisani takes a look. Reporter the dow is on the verge of passing 20,000. The dow crossed 10,000 but moved above that in mid 2010. What got us to 10,000 to 20,000 . The number one reason the dow doubled in price in the last six years is a federal reserve. By keeping rates low for so long, the fed forced investors into riskier assets like stocks and highyield bonds and helped create a new acronym, t. I. N. A. , there is no alternative. It did help Earnings Growth and allowed corporations to sell record amounts of debt, which they used largely to buy back stocks and pay for increased dividends. Another factor in the move to dow 20,000 was financial engineering, you could call it. Despite poor Revenue Growth from 2010 on, corporations became very adept at improving their bottom line by costcutting and investing in new technology. Finally, there is the trump victory. The dow has added roughly 1,600 points since the election on hopes for lower taxes, repatriation of cash from foreign countries, less regulations and fiscal stimulus. There are few other factors that also contributed to the rally. There was the slow improvement in the u. S. Economy. Thats for sure. There was stabilization in china after a very difficult 2015. There was stabilization in europe after the whole European Crisis in 2011 and oil finding a bottom earlier this year. You could be sure that the fed was the main driver of the rally. For nightly Business Report, im bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. Home buying activity is not slowing down. The sale of existing homes rose in november to a new post crisis high. Purchases have previously observed homes up. 7 from the prior month. And according to the National Association of realtors, thats the Third Straight monthly increase. And this is the time of year when home sales tend to slow. But selling a house in december may be a lot easier than during other times of the year. And this december the market could get an even bigger boost. Diana olick explains. Reporter this fivebedroom colonial in bethesda, maryland, sat on the market for three months but finally went under contract this month. The Housing Market isnt as cold as you might think at christmas thyme. If youre in the market in december, youre one of maybe in your price range and location seven or eight homes, which guarantees every time a buyer is out looking, theyre forced to see your house. Theres no other choices for them. Reporter sellers who sat for a while tend to take their homes off the market during the holidays, hoping to relaunch them into the spring market. That isnt always the best tactic. The winter buyer is a serious buyer. Because it is not fun to look at houses when its snowing, raining and freezing cold. So the buyer that comes across your threshold in december, while there may not be many of them, those people will buy a house within 30 days. Reporter and this december, there is an added bonus. The soaring stock market. Not only are there more highend homes on the market than entrylevel, but highend buyers now have more cash in their pockets. Its the perfect match. As the stock market goes, they feel more confident about making other purchases, including real estate, so as a result, we are seeing a Greater Movement on the upper end market. Half Million Dollars and over, Million Dollars and over. Reporter one note for holiday sellers. Buyers may be serious, but theyre not stupid. A wellpriced home will sell quickly, but if youre looking to test the waters on a higher price, you probably want to wait until spring when there are more buyers and more potentials for bidding wars. Im diana olick in washington. The percentage of Young Americans living with their parents is at a 75year high. Despite a strength in the economy and an improving job market, the number of people between the ages of 18 and 34 living with other family members has risen steadily over the past decade. It now stands at roughly 40 or two in five. Back a decade or so ago, about one in three were still living at home. And that means theres far less demand for housing from millennials. Now the largest generation in u. S. History. According to the Harvard Joint Center for housing studies, the number of adults under the age of 30 has increased by 5 million over the past ten years. But over the same time frame, that group has only created 200,000 households. Susan wapner joins us, professor of real estate and finance at the university of pennsylvanias Wharton School of business. Welcome, susan. Nice to have you back with us. Hi, susan. How problematic is this longerterm for the Housing Market . Well, this will persist if Current Conditions, and the Current Conditions look like they will, for some time going forward. This means demand across the board for durables associated with home buying are not part of the expansion. And, in fact, our economic expansion has been slower than otherwise, because of the lack of demand for household formation and for housing on the part of millennials. So i have see this persisting in the next years to come. There are a lot of factors in here. Its delayed marrying, later. Delayed household formation. Incomerelated. Incomes arent what they were. Credit standards very much tougher since the great recession. On what do you lay most of the responsibility for this delayed embracing of housing . Well, its certainly the economics. And the economics most important is rents and housing prices have increased substantially since 2009. But at the same time, constraints to lending have strengthened, as well. Theyre far higher than they have been historically. So getting that loan for the first time home is for pristine credit which most households dont have. And in addition, their wages have not kept up with rents or with housing prices. Hard to say for the first time home when rents take such a high share of your income. Do you see all of those factors changing any time soon . No, i do not. Although Interest Rates are higher, that, of course, cuts the other way. That makes it even more difficult to afford that first time home. And housing prices and rents are likely to continue to increase, all be it at a slower pace this coming year. And still, wages, while theyre increasing, theyre not increasing enough. And most markets to afford that initial home. Who is going to buy my house, susan, when im ready to downsize . Youre painting this picture. Im worried. Im worried here. Tell me yeah, well go ahead, finish. Its not the millennials. I mean, you heard there certainly is Housing Demand out there at the top end. So, susan, under a new administration that is promising deregulation taking aim at the banks and the higher credit standards that they have demanded, do you see that perhaps moving the needle, either psychologically with the millennial or otherwise . The key question is not just a psychology. Most millennials do aspire to become homeowners at some point. But its actually the reality of lending standards, and lending constraints. I dont see that easing. Regulation is part of it, but not just regulation. Its the experience of having gone through this lending cycle and losing so much that its caused a pullback among major lenders. Susan, thank you so much. Goldman sachs will pay 120 million to resolve charges of market manipulation. Regulators allege that the bank deliberately moved a Global Benchmark for Interest Rate products to its advantage. The case is the latest in a series of broad investigations into manipulation by some of the worlds biggest banks. North carolina legislators have been meeting today, trying to reach a deal to repeal the states socalled bathroom bill. The controversial law requires trage transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate. The law is deeply divisive and critics say costly. We report from raleigh. Reporter the law not only drove a wedge into the state, it likely drove Republican Governor Pat Mccrory from office, defeated by democrat, roy cooper. The house will come to order. Reporter but the state is still so divided that the mere idea of repealing house bill 2 would be tricky at best. Thank you for gathering this morning for our emergency meeting. Reporter first, the city council in charlotte, North Carolinas largest city had to repeal its local anti discrimination ordinance, which republican state legislators say triggered hb2 in the first place. It is necessary for the North Carolina assembly to convene in an extra session. Reporter then and only then would the Legislature Consider repealing its law with no guarantees. I would like to protest this is an unconstitutional session of this assembly. Reporter since the law passed in march, sporting events pulled out. Concerts cancelled. Businesses like paypal halted expansion plans. All of which made its way to pam blondens craft market. 15 hourly employees who i would either have to lay off some or i would have to cut back on their hours. Reporter but proponents of the law, many of whom came to the capitol to make their case, say some things are more important than business. The Economic Issues are important, but not the only issues. I think when the legislators make decisions, it should be taking everything into consideration. Whats best for our state. Reporter opponents claim the law has already cost the state 650 million, and without a repeal, they say, thats just the start. If you cant recruit, attract and retain the best talent, if young people dont want to move to your state moving forward, if performers and nba allstar games are losing your state, you cant move forward as a state until those problems are fixed. Reporter but even without the law, North Carolina still has some of the weakest anti discrimination protections in the country. And will have a democratic governor, the incoming length tour is more republican and less apt to change than the current one, making this state a battleground long after the election. For nightly Business Report, im scott cohn in raleigh, North Carolina. Still ahead, tech talk. You probably own a lot of Technology Stocks in your portfolio. Should you buy even more as we head into the new year . The president elect met today with the heads of boeing and lockheed martin, the two defense contractors he questioned over project costs. A few weeks ago, donald trump threatened to cancel the order with boeing for the new air force one, and boeings ceo said todays meeting went well. I was able to give the president elect my personal commitment on behalf the boeing company. We work on air force one, because its important to our country. And were going to make sure that he gets the bet capability and that its done affordably. Trump also recently tweeted that the costs of lockheeds f35 program are, quote, out of control. A Bipartisan Senate report calls on congress to take action to prevent big price increases in decadesold prescription medicines that have no competition. The report wraps up a yearlong investigation. Republican senator Susan Collins said the solution is not having the government set drug prices, but instead the report laid out several steps that can be taken, which include incentivizing generic competition, allowing for the importation of drugs in some cases, and preventing copay coupons from being misused and increasing transparency on drug prices overall. The white house said today nearly of 6. 5 Million People signed up for Health Insurance on the exchanges so far this year. Enrollment running ahead of last years pace, even as premiums rise and fewer insurers offer plans through the Affordable Care act. This total number is for 39 states, served by the federal Online Health exchanges. From activist investor to president ial adviser, there are reports tonight that carl icahn, a billionaire investor, will be named an adviser on regulatory overhaul to the Incoming Administration. Eamon javers is following the story for us tonight from washington. Do we know anything more about mr. Eye cans potential role in the white house . I do know that he has been a staunch critic of the epa, among other things. Yeah, thats right, tyler. And we know that the Trump Administration or the trump transition, i should say, is confirming that report from earlier today. Tonight they are saying that carl icahn will have a role in advising the president elect once he becomes president. On eye a whole host of regulatory. Including the epa and has been advising the president on his pick for the s. E. C. Position. So carl icahn, a billionaire activist investor. But in many ways, this is sort of putting the official trappings on a role we already knew he was playing with donald trump. O one of the earliest supporters, very vocal about his support for the president elect. Clearly somebody the president elect leans on for advice and council. And now will have an official capacity in which to do that. We also learned today that a harsh critic of china will lead the newly create the National Trade council. China being a key trade partner. What do we know about this nominee, peter know varro. Peter is a china hawk, somebody who also was an early supporter of donald trump. And this is creating an entirely new perch from which he can exert some influence around the white house with this trade council. Navarro argued against trade deficits and a staunch critic of beijing. You can imagine this will not be taken well in beijing. And clearly trump is signalling here that trade is going to be so important to his administration as it was one of the key issues if not the key issue in his president ial campaign. Now he is setting up a team of advisers who can help him figure out how to deal with the u. S. Trade position around the world. Eamon, thanks very much. Eamon javers reporting from washington. Finish line cuts its outlook for the year. And thats where we begin tonights market focus. The Athletic Shoe retailer lowered its fullyear Earnings Guidance after saying weak demand for apparel and accessories caused the company to post a bigger than expected loss. The company also saw revenue come in below estimates. Shares fell more than 8 to 21 even. Winnebago saw its profit rise above expectations, thanks to Strong Demand for products in the companys toables division. But despite the upbeat results, winnebago fell 4 to 35. 55. Japan device maker tdk says it plans to establish a strong presence in the sensor business to take over the u. S. Smartphone chip maker. Tdk will buy the apple parts supplier for about 1 billion. Shares surged 17 on the news. To 12. 75. And Stanley Black decker said it has entered into an agreement with door mccabba group to sell the majority of its lock and door businesses to the Security Firm for 75 million. The Company Plans to keep its commercial Electronic Security business. Shares fell to 116. 78. And bed, bath and beyond. There is one i can pro announce, posted lower than expected profit and also forecast earnings for the year. To come in at the low end of its previously issued guidance. For the quarter, the company did report higher sales, but those too missed expectations. Shares initially fell in after hours, but ended the day in the regular trading session to 45. 56. The white house warning of a future where robots and Artificial Intelligence play a bigger role in the workplace. The Administration Says the wave will have to be met with aggressive policy action. The report recommends some things focusing on three key areas. Invest in and increase s. T. E. M. Education for youth and job retraining for adults in technologyrelated fields. Modernize and strengthen the social safety net, including Public Health care, Unemployment Insurance and food stamps. The report also recommends investing in Artificial Intelligence, because that field has many benefits. Since the election, investors have been pouring money into everything, except Technology Stocks. Not in a big way, at least. The sector is up, but only about about 3 since the november 8th election. It is up