Was a Company Almost everybody knows. Ups. And wasnt good. Shares tumbled nearly 10 making it the worst performing stock on the s p 500. After the parcel shipping company closely watched because its viewed as the barometer of the health of the economy warned investors to expect weak Fourth Quarter results. The reasons . Unfavorable currency rates, volume fluctuations because of the west coast port disputes and those low oil prices . Well they arent helping as much as many believed they would and thats not all. Morgan brennan reports. Reporter United Parcel service delivering bad news to investors slashing its Fourth Quarter earnings forecast. The problem . Ups spend a lot of money to successfully deliver holiday packages on time and avoid a repeat of christmas 2013 when millions of packages were delivered late. But it did so at a big hit to the bottom line. Analysts say the shipping jienlt overcompensated. Ups for some time has been using prices to try to maintain its market share versus fedex on the ground in the u. S. One, two, they overspent guaranteeing service. They certainly couldnt have a repeat of last Years Service disaster and so you combine those two events in which youre not really seeing any improvement in yield and youre spending ever more to deliver those packages and a big earnings miss. Reporter ups s added capacity was necessary to handle the extreme spike in volume on the two days but demand disappointing on others costly decline in productivity. And delay at west coast ports had an impact. Ups cut its guidance for the full 2015 year citing pension costs and currency head winds. All of this took shares of ups plunging 10 . But doesnt stop there. Shares of rival fedex fell in sympathy as well. Despite the fact that fedex reaffirmed its own fiscal 2015 forecast. The question now, the ups experienced slower than expected demand where did that market share go . We saw this happen before back in 2005 that ups had Service Issues and in 2006 you saw outsized gains and volume by fedex as a result. Thats the way it works. Reporter but dont hold out the u. S. Postal service either. It set a new Holiday Season record. For nightly Business Report, im morgan brennan. Well the strong dollar and Falling Oil Prices also impacted General Electrics Fourth Quarter results but in a much different way. The National Post hired profits and said it can handle currency moves and declining crude in the year ahead. Investors like that news and sent shares to the dow component up to 27. 48. Mary thompson has more. Reporter having bet big on the oil and gas industry General Electric krerks eo jeff emelt said can deliver as oil prices fall. To manage the company to volatility. We see the potential for risk based on current oil prices, we aggressively work offsets to cause actions and positive opportunities elsewhere at ge. Reporter those opportunities include what appear to be signs of growth in ges health care business. Strengthen its Aviation Unit which makes service jet engines and the upside of lower oil for a manufacturer like ge lower costs. Even the Dollar Strength and issue for a firm that gets 53 of its revenue outside of the United States is seen as manageable. Ge said it might cost a penny in profit this year if the u. S. Currency remains current levels against the euro. Crediting the diversity of its businesses ge survived an earlier outlook for 2015. The firm expecting to learn between 1. 70 and 1. 80 for the year. This comes as ge reported an increase in 2014 Fourth Quarter profits and revenue. Thanks to strengthening its aviation and power businesses which helped to offset an expected decline in its once rapidly growing oil and gas unit. Heres analyst dean dray. Has about 16 of revenue exposure from oil and gas. It has been one of the growth rivals as they nvve invested in this business but now in a position where other parts of ges portfolio that can be an offset. Reporter this to help offset investors fears, ge fail to keep recent promises. For nightly Business Report, im mary thompson. Fellow dow component mcdonalds closed out a difficult year. The Worlds Largest fast food chain missed wall streets earnings and revenue estimates and today, ceo don thompson warned business will continue to be weak in the first path of 2015 but also said the company is taking Decisive Action to regain Momentum Sales and market share. Shares of mcdonalds finished the day lower by about 1. 5 . Lets get to the markets now. Ups one of the biggest drags on the stock today but existing home sales rose nearly 2. 5 last month but that was a little shy of estimates. All in all today, the dow fell 141 points. The nasdaq was the standout. It gained 7. 5 . S p 500 down more than 11 points bu posted first weekly gain of the year. Whoohoo the nasdaq the big winner rising more than 2. 5 . As for oil, attention today was squarely on saudi arabia the Worlds Largest exporter of petroleum and what effect the death of sau de king ab dull la had. It was a volatile section for prices with west texas intermediate higher in the day only to turn around and erase the gains and close down 1. 5 . Brent crude rose slightly. Jackie deangelis has more on the death of the saudi king and what it might mean for the price of crude. Reporter the passing of King Abdullah was not a shock to the market. 90 years old, frail and poor in health for some time named his half brother salman his successor to ensure continuity. Still, markets reacted on perceived uncertainty. The kings passing raises questions regarding saudi arabias oil, politics Foreign Relations with the United States. King salman was a deputy of King Abdullah for the last few years. Prince was the second deputy also. But the element of continuation and the element of stability will be preventing no doubt about that in the foreseeable future. I think the next generation is going to be very much about looking out for their own selfinterest, which, you know, you cant blame them for but wont necessarily be the kind of happy u. S. Interest we come to enjoy. Reporter thus prices pop. We spike the dollar on the news almost to pay homage to the king and move to the reality on the ground in the near term future for lower prices. Thats why i continue to target towards 33 if not lower for a time. Reporter even saudi arabias prince alawid said while prices see volatility not likely to move back to historic levels. Its inevitable the price may go up more but i think well never see the price for oil again at 100. Reporter where do prices go immediately . The fundamentals suggest lower. The department of Energy Reporting a weekly bills in inventories more than 10 million barrels, that was the largest weekly increase since 2001. Analysts saying this shows that supply demand economics will drive this market. And those dynamics show that supply continues to rise even in the face of price decline. And demand from places like china, japan, and europe continues to fall. For nightly Business Report, im jackie deangelis. Greece where the country prepares to vote in a general election sunday voters wont just choose a new government. They could chart a new and very un indebted country. Michelle carusocabrera reports now from athens greece. Reporter this man, selfdescribed radical leftist, said to be the next president of greece. Polls for the sundays election show him in the lead by ever widening margin. Promised to undo many of the painful austerity measures put in place many greece in the last five years, things like govern job cuts lower wages and higher taxes. All enacted in exchange for billions of dollars of bailout loans. He and his party refer to it as financial water boarding. Ya niece is one of the economic advisors. Our plan is to renegotiate, to deliberate with our partners. In order to render our relationship with europe and with acp to reconstruct the logic of the bailout agreement. Reporter if he wins as promises an International Showdown between greece and lenders. The european union, the imf and European Central bank. The showdown potentially so contentious, it might lead greece to exit the euro what is now being called a grid sit. Dr. John emileos, selfinscribed marxist, said thats not going to happen. Means devaluation of the purchasing power of the greek people. Reporter still, its clear investors are worried. For most european countries, Interest Rates are extremely low due to the promise of help from the european bank. Greeces Interest Rates are much higher hovering around 10 . Today, ceeprus told me he represents stability. For the United States the message for greece the next day will be optimist, of hope. I think thats the victory of the people on sunday will be a strong message of vitalization progress. Reporter should investors be fright sentenced. No no. Reporter theres no fear . Theres no fear. Only hope. Reporter ie polls are right and he does win, the world is set to find out. Nightly Business Report, Michelle Carusocabrera athens. The talks in havana continue today as u. S. And cuba work to restore diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries but as eamon javers reports now from havana the indifferences remain. Reporter as cuban talks wind down here in havana both sides make positive noises about what they accomplished here but not citing any tangible results of the day of talks. Earlier today, Andrea Mitchell at nbc sat down with the cuban diplomat sitting down with her throughout the week. She said both sides look for Common Ground. We believe that countries which have differences, they can find a Common Ground to discuss about these differences with respect and at the same time to look for opportunities for common interests. Reporter in the United States diplomats here say americans should be patient and not necessarily expect major change here on the island of cuba. We have had only a month since the president s made their announcement and we have only had the first conversation about how that policy will be implemented. So its very hard to say exactly how this will work. Reporter and one of the most highly watched areas for u. S. Businesses, Roberta Jacobson said its not yet clear how much telecommunications and Technology Equipment the cubans will allow to be imported to the island. On the u. S. Side the new regulation side last week will allow American Companies to add technology to cuba but Roberta Jacobson said the cubans havent given any indication of how much of the imports theyll allow here. In havana im eamon javers for nightly Business Report. Still ahead, millions of families use 529 plans to save for college but the president has a proposal to change them. Could end up costing you. Millions of families use 529 plans to save for college. One of the reasons theyre so popular . Tax savings. Currently, earnings are not taxed as long as the funds are used to pay for College Expenses but the president is proposing to eliminate that tax benefit. Today, White House Press secretary josh earnest said the plan is part of bigger reforms. The reforms the president proposed for the 529 program are reforms that he would consider only in the context of the other education reforms he put forward and when you consider that entire package of reforms, the tax cut that were looking at middle class families is 50 billion. John harwood is in washington with more on this proposal and why is the president pushing this . This is a very popular instrument for people of all different economic brackets john . Reporter well the president is trying to target federal resources to the people he thinks are most in need. So while curbing the tax benefits of these 529 plans which thE Administration said 70 of the assets in those plans are held by people with incomes over 200,000 a year hes dramatically increasing the tax credit up to 2500 per student for families making less than 180,000 a year. Its a matter of priorities and its redistribution and to give money to a group that he thinks is more deserving hes taking some from people who make more money. Lets talk a little bit, if we can, it gets real murky real fast really into the weeds but if i have an existing 529 plan that portion would be segregated and not subject to tax on withdrawal for use in educational expenses but any deposits i added to the existing account or any new accounts i would open would be . Yes, new deposits. The earnings on deposits already in those accounts and 7 million families have them would continue to be taxexempt. Its the new deposits subject to taxes. And would those new deposits or those new accounts and withdrawals from them i should say, would that be taxable to every single taxpayer or only above a certain income level . Reporter to E Administration looks at this vehicle one thats inefficient towards targeting federal resources, tax expenditures to the people that thE Administration thinks are most need of those benefits. So theyre not distinguishing a means testing 529 plans themselves theyre simply shifting resources towards different vehicles tax benefit vehicles. John what are the odds this will get through congress . R low. Like the rest of the president s plan. Remember the president proposed 320 billion in tax increases mostly on Capital Gains income through higher rate through taxing the appreciated value of inherited assets as well as the financial fee the president is imposing on large banks, this 529 proposal would raise 1 billion. Its a small fraction of their overall plan which means two things. First of all, if any part of this plan goes through, its very easy for the 529 part to fall away because it doesnt raise much money and the people who hold those plans are politically influential. John harwood in washington. John, thanks as always. Reporter you bet. Box makes a big splash in its trading debut. Called a big box. Thats where we begin tonights market focus. Cloud Storage Company priced initial Public Offering 14 a share above the expected range. A market value of 1. 5 billion raised 175 million from the stock sale. Explained what makes box different from the competition. We help manage corporate information, secure it and make it accessible different devices, collaborate around it and thats not the focus of google much more consumer oriented but the most important point is were kind of participating in a once in a lifetime transition from onpremise computing to cloud computing. Stock goes up 66 in a day, thats good day. 23. 23 the close there, higher by 9. State street topped wall Street Investments today. Powered by the recent surge in volume and foreign currency markets but investors focused on the outlooks since a falling euro is cutting revenue from that region. Shares down 6 to 72. 40. Shares of gopro lot a lift after the nhl announced a partnership with the camera maker. Fans can now watch hockey live from the players perspective, which sounds totally cool. The first with a major pro league. Stock rose to 52. 51. Valero hiked by 41 . The payout 40 cents a share made to shareholders in march. The yield on that dividend is now 3. 2 . The stock popped 4. 5 to 50. 16. The farming equipment maker deere is laying off more than 900 employees in iowa and illinois the latest round of job cuts by grain prices hurting demand for machinery. Shares fell more than 1 to 88. 35. Our market monitor tonight is cautious on stocks but said investors should be focused on yields and opportunities that will be coming in the Energy Sector. Channing smith joins us now, corporate director with capital advisor. What makes you cautious . I dont know if were cautious. We dont see a bear market we dont see a recession. Until investors start to feel central bankers or lose confidence we dont, but were trying to be realistic. If we look at valuation, thats concerning us. The shiller p. E. An adjusted p. E. That takes the average earnings of S P Companies the last ten years divided by market prices its at 27. And weve only in the 134 year history been above this marker and so were just not seeing a good valuation opportunity, tyler. So how are you finding opportunity . What are the metrics that you are using in a market either fully valued or slightly overvalued in some stocks in order to invest cash . Were really looking for dividend yield. Thats what we want to see. We expect to see 4 to 6 in the next couple of years. If we find dividend stocks paying 4 to 6 well take that but theyre hard to find. Lets look at a couple then shall we channing . Starting with wynn resorts. Wynn were looking hard to find opportunities. Wynn is a casino operator. 30 in las vegas and 70 in wynn. Theyve struggled really the last couple quarters. Down 40 in the stock. An Anticorruption Campaign in china that h