Not just here in the u. S. But around the globe. The dough jones industrial average suffered a 332 point loss to close at 17,662. Its second worst day of the year. The gains of the year so far, gone. The nasdaq off 82. The s p 500 dropping 35. Those declines amounted to 1. 7 or more. Big part of the problem today, the strengthening dollar. The greenback rising 1. 1 to a 12 year high against the euro and theres a powerful force driving the dollars dramatic move. Diverting Central Bank Policy as the u. S. Economy strengthens, the Federal Reserve is expected to hike rates as soon as june. That pulls investment slows into the u. S. Other way. Buying bonds, flooding the market with euros, thereby devaluing the currency with stimulating europes economy. Thats the mechanism. And the dollar isnt just rallying against the euro. Its seeing strong gains against a handful of other major currencies including the yen, the pound, the swiss frank and the russian ruble. More with bob pisani. Reporter the markets were a bet for the strong dollar today. The source of the concern is fairly obvious. The fed unwinding their Stimulus Program is the main catalyst for rally in the dollar. The fear is that stocks could be next. The obsession isnt surprising with the dollar. Roughly 46 of the sales of u. S. Corporations come from outside the united states. A strong dollar stifles overseas earnings growth. Now we dont have really good numbers on the impact of a strong dollar on ears because companies arent required to report bu enough had to indicate that the strong dollars definitely an issue. For example, abercrombie and fitch said foreign currency impacted earnings negatively by 3 in the last quarter. A slower sales growth by 1 and gas, currency effects took 6 off of earnings. All told 20 of the companies in the s p 500 said the stronger dollar negatively impacted products in q4. This isnt over. Most believe the dollars rally will continue. That its a disaster for u. S. Companies is wildly exaggerated. Lower in europe are great for u. S. Corporations and other ways u. S. Corporations could offset the higher dollar. For example, Many Companies are now issuing debt in euros instead of dollars which dramatically lowers their borrowing costs. For nightly Business Report, im bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. It wasnt just stocks that got knocked around today. So did oil. The price of west texas intermediate fell 1. 71 to 48. 29 and brent crude also dropped. Jackie deangelis takes a look at the connection between the dollar and oil and what it could mean for prices. Reporter oil prices have fallen more than 50 in the last 12 months down 20 in the last three. While analysts investors, and traders have all been talking t the supply demand as the main culprit, another could have a big impact. Thats the dollar. Si put, when the dollar strengthens, it pressures oil prices. Thats because crude is priced in dollars. So when the dollar goes up traders using other currency to buy crude find it more expensive. Many traders are buying in you guessed it euros. Euro falling to a fresh 12 year low against the dollar. Traders expecting to py fairly soon. When you look at the price action of crude oil and what the dollar did, crude oil, the loss in prices was accelerated towards the afternoon. Reporter and this isnt the first time the almighty dollar impacted crude prices. In 2009 when crude dropped from more than 140 a barrel to the low 30s, the dollar strengthened significantly at the same time. Back in 2009 we saw the u. S. Dollar move considerably against the euro and were seeing that today again as the dollar strengthens, crude oil comes off. But if there is a pause in that strength and you see actually the euro start to strengthen crude oil will rise again. Reporter and the expectation is that the dollar wont quit. Many of you have been calling for the dollar index to cross 100 earlier this year. At 98 and change were not far away. That means more pressure likely for oil. For nightly Business Report, joe durand joining us to talk about the dollars impact on the equity markets and what it means for your portfolio. Hes the ceo of United Capital advisors a Management Firm with over 3 billion in assets. It feels like the rising dollar is the excuse dejour like bad weather was last year. But heres the question for you. You say that the progress of u. S. Equities basically depends on two things. One is monetary policy. The other is corporate profit. How big an effect is the rising dollar really going to be on corporate profits and will it be so great that it could truly kneecap this bull market . No i dont think that it will. It can have an impact and as bob pisani said earlier, it really depends on how the Company Operates because they manufacture dollars or sell dollars, it has a very different impact. Most of these Global Companies are very accustomed to significant swings in currency. The Biggest Issue is the rate of change and how quickly its happening. Its very hard for a company to adapt if you have a very volatile environment. Its difficult to predict. As weve seen a decline in earnings expectations already qua and larger for p500 companies. It has an impact and noise. Washes out fairly quickly and im not sure how long. I think overboard on the dollar it goes further. But i think what youll see is just a general increase in volatility. Weve been incredibly spoiled, obviously, for now almost 3 years without a 10 decline and the market is looking for excuses to price some of the risk that weve seen. Generally speaking if you take the dollar and put it aside from the equation because we dont know how long this cycle is going to last with the strong dollar. Are you positive on equities at this point . There are some who say weve been having a decent run for the stock market and have yet to have a significant corruption. Yeah. Look it really depends on time perspective for most people. Theres really no Good Alternative and when you look at equities europe is just starting their cycle of easing and what youre going to see, i think, is reduced volatility in europe and higher equity prices in europe. And that will increase the economy. I just happen to come back from london and madrid just now. Last week i got back saturday night. Here are the two things i saw. London very affected by the complete disappearance of the russian tourists who used to be a very big spender in that economy and spain, very much suffering with dependency on euros with local spaniards can barely afford to eat in their own restaurants because they have a currency thats just unsupportable see typically in most of these places europe is so far behind they look like the u. S. Did three or four years ago and its going to be i think, a long ride of economic stimulus in the european zone. And thats going to create a lot more money flowing around which will make equities an attractive alternative. I still think because the u. S. Is far ahead, were going to have higher volatility but you should expect a lot of very strange noise in the currency markets. Were tight on time. Joe, very quickly. Of the major risks you think u. S. Equities face the rising dollar, Rising Interest Rates or pick a third. Which is the one that worries you the most . Very quickly. I think im most worried about what happens with the emerging markets because they are so dependent on the dollar and with a lot of the basic materials falling as well were going to see some ugly surprises in south america or asia that could bubble up in many strange places. Thats an area very few people have been talking about. Very interesting. Well delve in on that a future time. Joe durand with Capital Financial advisors. Now to the job market where the number of openings rose to a 14 year high. Employers across the country advertised 5 million jobs at the end of january and according to the Labor Department the number of people who quit also increased and thats generally a sign of confidence in the economy. Youve no doubt heard drug prices rising today. Express scripts confirming that. Up 13 last year most since 2003. Meg tirrell now with whats behind the rise in drug prices and whats being done about it. Reporter how fast are drug prices rising . Pharmacy benefits manager express grid said the increases are setting records. Express scripts negotiates drug prices on behalf of insurers. It said gains driven by 81 increase in socalled specialty drugs like rheumatoid arthritis, cancer multiple sclerosis and especially hepatitis c. Its just not sustainable pricing, so and we have to do something to both bring the products to the marketplace, but also make it affordable for patients. Reporter the drug price wars came to a head last year over Gilead Sciences revolutionary new pills for hepatitis c. Upwards of 80,000 for 12 weeks of treatment. Resistance from insurers and Patient Advocacy groups. When a new regimen was approved in december, they struck an exclusive deal and then gilead reached a similar agreement with cvs, leading to forecast a 46 discount on hepatitis c medicines this year. Its stocks sank on the news. A new class of drugs for cholesterol expected to be approved later this year from annjen. Cbs estimated cost the Health Care System as much as 50 billion a year the number the drug industry said sun realistic. Its wrong. Its knot going to be 150 billion a year and thats a bit of gamsesman ship. Its going to overwhelm the system. Its not true. Well come out with a fair price. Reporter both regeneron and scripts with pfck 9 inhibitors come out and could lead to lower prices at the offset. Weve got to get the best price for our clients. Weve had great conversations with amgen. We would like the right price at the market. Reporter express script highlighted cancer as an area of focus where multiple drugs working in similar ways on or near the market. Some have called the tighter pricing environment a paradigm shift for the drug industry and its likely only to continue. For nightly Business Report, im me still ahead, the snowden effect and why the fallout from the leaks classified document is still being felt from washington, d. C. To si. The nonprofit behind wikipedia plans to file a lawsuit against the National Security agency and the justice. The suit challenges the Mass Surveillance Program that first came to light when Edward Snowden revealed the reach of u. S. Surveillance back in 2013. Eamon javers has been very busy. Following this story and others. He joins us now from washington. Good evening, eamon. Reporter good evening, sue. This suit was announced this morning by jimmy wales. Hes the founder of wikipedia and alleging in the piece and the lawsuit that nsa mass surveillance violates wikipedia readers fourth and First Amendment rights and wants the nsa to knock it off in Effect People have a right to be able to talk and discuss and research controversial topics. Countries around the world where those controversial political and ideological beliefs might not be as well protected as they are here in the united states. I talked to a Senior Administration official about this issue today, sue. And i can tell you what they told us which is they say we will not comment on any specific matter before the court but weve been v about what constitutes a very target of electronic surveillance. The act of innocuously reading an online article would not someone to be subjected to electronic sur vanls. The senior official suggesting just by participating in wikipedia and also by reading articles on wikipedia, youre not necessarily going to be subject to nsa surveillance. Jimmy wales, the founder of wikipedia, disagrees with that. There was also another big Edward Snowden story in the news related but this involves apple. Thats right. The intercept, a News Organization founded by glen greenewald who first broke the story, the cia has been trying to hack into apple devices including iphones and ipads. Including anna edward yuleannual gathering here where they trade notes among u. S. Intention officials how to get into the source code behind the app in other ways to crack into apple devices. All of this allegedly about trying to figure out what targets are carrying around in their mobile devices. I can tell you on this one, i asked a u. S. Intelligence official for a reaction to this piece and the u. S. Intelligence official told me look this is what we do. It is what it is. The cia exists to get information on adversaries overseas. Eamon javers in washington. Eamon, thank you. Reporter you bet. Sales in slumps. Barnes and noble, thats where we begin the market focus. The retail saw earnings rise thanks to cost cuts but revenue fell as company dealt with weakness in nook and retail segments coming ahead of the spinoff of College Books business and nooks and ebooks business. Shares slipped 10 to 22. 36. Target out with more details about recently announced layoffs. The retailer said it will cut 1700 jobs to close out to 1400 open positions. According to a file. This is part of a restructuring aimed at saving 2 billion in costs over the next couple of years. Shares off 1 . They close at 77. 67. Investors cheered news today that credit chief executive stepping down at the end of june. The companys ceo led the swiss bank since before the financial crises crisis. Be succeeded by the british insurance company. Shares popped to 25. 11. The food and Drug Administration approved united they are putics drugs. Its for neuroblas toe ma that often occurs in young children. Coming up shaking up an industry. Could hbos new service with apple change the way we watch television and transform an apples tim cook took the stage for the annual Shareholder Meeting after the big apple watch announcement. One of the questions shareholders asked, if they would buy the electric car maker tesla tesla. Jessie jackson asked to improve diversity in apples leadership. Hbo introducing a new service and it doesnt involve a Traditional Cable Television subscription. Hbo now will offer all of hbos original programming as well as movies and be available exclusively on apple devices but the move away could be the start of big changes for the industr reporter hbo now, a new 15 Monthly Service making hbo available for the very first time without cable subscription. It will be available exclusively through apple tv for three months starting in april. This is a transformative moment for hbo and we are so excited to introduce hbo now to all of you today. Reporter with this exclusive deal hbo gets access to the massive apple ecosystem. Says hbos parent time warner. Theyre so good and energetic at markets. A strong position as you all know with global users. Reporter this is also a win for apple to get a cut of Monthly Subscription fees and benefit from hbos big promotional push. We love hbo. Over the years, they have created Ground Breaking shows that really become a part of our culture and help shape our culture. Reporter this deal could help sell more apple tvs. The streaming content box as apple slashed the price to 69. Hbos first direct consumer offering momentous not just for time warner but a key test for the entire cable industry. Whether it will create new revenue from internet only customers or approve an alternative to the traditional tv bundle and drive cord cutting. Morgan stanleys bel a win for time warner generating incremental business but if other channels follow suit that could drive cord cutting. For time warner and apple, now they see huge opportunity. We dont worry about change and distribution ande salvation and change and distribution. Reporter when apples exclusive expires in three months we should expect amazon and roku to start selling hbo now. Exclusive does not cover tv providers, in talks with them to sell the service. For nightly Business Report, im ju what will this mean for the cable industry and how we watch television . Lets ask jason bazanet, at citi. Thank you for being with us. Thank you so much. If more and more content providers like espn and hbo decide to go over the top of the Cable Companies, direct to viewers in this kind of way to a broadband hookup, what does that do to the Business Model that the Cable Companies have thrived on for decades, which is basically the triple play . Well i would really say that the bigger risk is actually for the Cable Network companies themselves. The pay tv operators youre alluding to could raise broadband prices over time to recoup the loss. But its changing rapidly. A few statistics to illustrate. 33 of all internet traffic is now netflix. Live tv ratings down 10 year over year and paid tv penetration rates peaked in 2011 at 84 and fallen 2 over the last three years. Consumer wants to go over the top and change their behaviors. How big do you think hbo now announcement is and is it as transformative as certainly hbo thinks it is . Well i think it is. Netflix has around 30 million to 35 million customers and charge retail about 9. And alluded to the cable bundle but retail price for hbo is 15 and also have 30 million to 35 million subs. And if they subscribe twice as much utility to hbo than netflix and netflix is quite big so i think hbo is reasonable to assume is going to be big. As you look at the Business Model of the large Cable Companies from whom we buy television service, you would say that the revenue stream is going to change over lets say, the next decade. Theyre going to charge more more broadband instead of 49 a month, its going to be 89 a month