Market monitor says wells fargo is a stock to own, despite its run of stumbles and scandals. Strike taking big. How one entrepreneur turned rundown Bowling Alleys into a modern powerhouse brand. Find out how he made his millions tonight on nightly Business Report. Its friday, december 23rd. Good evening, everybody. Im Bill Griffeth in tonight for tyler mathisen. And im sue herera. Thanks for joining us, everybody. The Defense Sector is being shaken up. The president elect is pitting Lockheed Martin against boeing, two of the worlds biggest defense contractors. And today lockheed stock felt the pressure. As we reported last night, donald trump tweeted that he could use a boeing plane as a substitute for Lockheed Martins f35 combat jet. The f35 is the most expensive weapons system in history with an estimated 400 billion price tag, nearly double the original budget. Morgan brennan has more on what has the potential to be a big fight over fighter jets. Reporter call it a fighter jet faceoff. Donald trump is pitting the two biggest u. S. Defense contractors against each other, taking to twitter to do it. The president elect lobbing his latest 140character social media missile at Lockheed Martin, again, writing, based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin f35, i have asked boeing to price out a comparable f18 superhornet. But can the fourthgeneration superhornet compete with a fifthgeneration f35 joint Strike Fighter . No. Its not designed to be stealthy and doesnt have the advanced electronics, who major factors that would take years and billions of dollars to become reality. And even then, say analysts, not likely. But it is a highly unusual move for a commander in chief, signaling a new era of competition. Those companies doing the work will be very attuned to performance, and they will probably understand that theyre not going to get a very sympathetic ear in the pentagon, or certainly from the oval office, if there are frontpage headlines about delays or cost overruns or things like that. The president elect has shown a willingness to reach out 140 characters at a time and rattle Company Managements if theyre doing something that he doesnt like. Reporter the f35 variance cost upwards of 135 million, so lockheed says theyre working to get that down to 85 million by 2020. It can get closer to targets been its actually in danger. But the less expensive f a18s have already snagged defense dollars that otherwise may have gone to its newer rival for the navy as well as canada, which announced a superhornet deal last month. Of course, this could all be the president elects art of the deal, something he shed light on nearly a decade ago. I say it ad nauseam. Ill tell people during the negotiation, you think youre the only one . I have ten people who want this deal. And sometimes its so and sometimes its a little bit less than so, but i always create competition, because it makes the other side a little bit nervous. And even if ive had my own people come up to me and say, oh, mr. Trump, you shouldnt keep telling them there are other people. I say do me a favor, let me negotiate. I want to brainwash them. I want them to think there is so much competition. Reporter and creating competition is the goal, especially as lockheed negotiates more f35 contracts and does so on the heels of an unprecedented contract in which the pentagon unilaterally decided the price it was willing to pay. For nightly Business Report, im morgan brennan. Well, meanwhile, the president of russia is rattling his own saber on Missile Defense systems and Nuclear Weapons during his annual endofyear news conference. Vladimir putin boasted about the strength of russias Nuclear Arsenal but did say he would not be drawn into an arms race with the u. S. His comments came after donald trump said the u. S. Should expand its own nuclear capabilities. Eamon javers is in washington for us tonight. And eamon, russia spent about 50 billion on defense last year, so what else did he say on this very expensive topic . Reporter well, Vladimir Putin wasnt shy about talking about that, and particularly about talking about all of the modernization that they have done in russia of their Nuclear Forces. And he also said that if there is a new arms race, which everyones been talking about here over the past 24 hours or so he said if that is so, its certainly not russias fault. He pointed to the fact that the United States has been modernizing its Nuclear Forces and repositioning some of them as well, said russia is fully aware of that. And interestingly, given the history of the fall of the soerv soviet union and the huge spending in russia in the 1980s on weapons systems, he said to his domestic audience, we are going to be careful. If we are in a new arms race, we are not going to overspend here. Were not going to spend more than we can afford, so hes reassuring the domestic audience that history wont repeat itself like we saw in the 1980s. Did he talk at all about the sanctions and their impact that they might be having on the russian people and the russian economy . Reporter well, clearly, what Vladimir Putin doesnt want to say is that the sanctions are having a very harsh effect on the russian economy. Its very tough on some of the oligarchs there who are close to Vladimir Putin. They were designed by the Obama Administration to be that way and to be sort of an economic pincer there. Thats a problem for Vladimir Putin. And i think that as we pivot to 2017, what youre going to see is that Vladimir Putin really, really, really wants to get those sanctions repealed. Well see whether donald trump agrees with that or has Something Else in mind. Eamon javers in washington, as always, thanks. Reporter you bet. We have been reporting on chinas reaction to the president elects choice of Peter Navarro to head a new White House National trade council. Navarro is a vocal critic of the worlds second largest economy. Today, Chinese State media expressed alarm and warned of a slowdown with the u. S. , that individuals such as navarro, who have a bias against china, are being picked to work in leading positions in the next administration is no laughing matter. So, with tensions rising with china and the chatter of an arms race, new uncertainties are being introduced right now, something that the market typically doesnt like. So, what should investors make of all of this . Joining us tonight is paul christopher, head of Global Market strategist at wells fargo investment institute. Paul, good to see you. Thank you very much. Here we sit with the u. S. Markets near alltime highs. So, clearly, theyre not too bothered right now, but i guess we do have to take a waitandsee attitude to see how this plays out during the new administration, dont we . Thats right. With the tweeterinchief in the wings, there are just so many different possibilities for Foreign Policy and trade policy. We think investors are best off right now sticking with their investment plans. What are you most worried about . I mean, we see the relationship between mr. Trump and mr. Putin, but now we see china kind of coming on the offensive, saying, you know, kind of a shot across the u. S. Bow. What are you watching the most closely . Thats right. I think your reporter hit the nail on the head a few minutes ago in the segment where you mentioned the art of the deal. Mr. Trump, president elect trump has his own art of the deal, so i think does Vladimir Putin. And so does the president or the chinese leadership. They have their own art of the deal. And the stakes are very great, theyre very large. We dont really know how things will play out if each side starts taking on a different style of negotiation. So, yeah, were worried about how china reacts or negotiates with the u. S. Were worried about the u. S. In the middle east and how the new Foreign Policy may change the balance of power there. Right. And of course, in eastern europe. You know, wilbur ross, who of course is the Commerce Department headelect, has said that for him, tariffs are a last resort. Yet, mr. Trump continues to mention them in the first sentence when hes talking about trade relations with other countries. What do you think tariffs would do to our economy, to the companies that have to export overseas and import goods here, and what would that do to the stock market . Yeah, the first thing to realize is that its not really just a multinationals problem anymore. All sorts of u. S. Domestic companies, small cap, mid cap companies, have globalized supply chains now. Even cutting off trade or reducing trade with mexico by threatening to renegotiate nafta. That could be difficult for a lot of u. S. Companies. A broad swath of u. S. Companies. And so, we think that would be negative for equities. We think it would boost inflation, push up bond yaeliel and it would be a source of frustration and uncertainty for earnings going forward. But again, we have to all wait and see how it all plays out in 2017. Paul christopher with wells fargo investment institute. Thanks again tonight. Thanks. On wall street, a rise in new home sales and an increase in Consumer Sentiment were not enough to give stocks a big lift. Equities meandering all session ahead of the christmas holiday. The dow finished up about 15 points to 19,933. The nasdaq added 15, and the s p 500 gained two. For the week there was a bit of Holiday Cheer for the three major indexes. The Obama Administration has struck deals with both Deutsche Bank and with Credit Suisse over toxic securities. Deutsche bank has agreed to pay more than 7 billion to settle with the Justice Department over its sales of risky mortgagebacked securities, which contributed to the financial crisis. Separately, Credit Suisse has agreed to pay more than 5 billion to settle the probe into its sales of subprime mortgage bonds. The Justice Department took the unusual step of suing barclays over its toxic mortgagebacked securities instead of settling. The government alleges that the bank fraudulently sold more than 30 billion of risky bonds. The lawsuit comes after talks to reach a settlement broke down. Certainly, retailers are hoping that the grinch doesnt steal christmas this year, with most making a lastminute push, very lastminute, to lure shoppers in. Its an important time of year for this sector because many of the stores earned the bulk of their revenue right now in the fourth quarter. Courtney reagan reports for us tonight from a Queens Center mall in elmhurst, new york. Reporter if you havent finished your Holiday Shopping yet, youre not alone. Todays my first day. Its going to be lastminute shopping. Reporter during the season, millions of americans turn to the internet to check off their shopping lists, pushing online sales up nearly 11 , according to adobe. Ive done it online. When you go to specific sales and then you look online, you can find a difference. Reporter but the clock has run out on standard shipping in time for christmas. With christmas less than two days away, many stores are very busy today, at least compared to other days so far this holiday season. With Christmas Eve and hanukkah tomorrow, its pretty much traditional retailers last chance to scoop up those sales. Shoppertrak, which tracks instore foot traffic, expects today will turn out to be the third biggest day of the year for shopper visits. Retailers Christmas Wish is for that forecast to translate into strong sales in the final hours. Im getting stuff for my mother. Im getting something pink for my girlfriend. A little trinket for a secret santa at the office. Something for the kids and the lady. Reporter sales tracking data from npd through december 10th shows the shopping lull between black friday and christmas, a dropoff thats become an unwelcome tradition, has been deeper this year than usual. The trend this year has been one of hopeful expectation that has not materialized for most retailers. So there was a real hope that last weekend and into this week there would be a surge of shoppers in the brickandmortar stores, and we simply havent seen that. Reporter instore shopping hasnt been great so far, partly due to the strength of online shopping, but also because retailers have trained shoppers, the longer they wait, the deeper the discounts get. He joins the chorus of others expecting holiday sales to still grow the forecasted 3 to 4 this season, though bynes points out, that means only an average season. But theres always a chance for a christmas miracle. For nightly Business Report, im Courtney Reagan in elmhurst, new york. Still ahead, why hollywood is not celebrating what has been a record year at the box office. Hollywood is on pace for another record year, but the Entertainment Industry is not celebrating the milestone. Julia boorstin explains why. Reporter the north American Box Office will hit a new record this year, topping 11. 3 billion, according to comp score, but hidden in that record are some concerning trends. Higher ticket prices are driving the Record Box Office haul, not bigger audiences. Attendance is expected to be flat from 2015 but down about 6 from a decade ago. When you look at the percentage increased over the years in box office revenues, often that comes a little bit at the expense of attendance because of those higher ticket prices. Reporter thanks to declining Home Entertainment revenue, higher marketing costs and fewer big hits, average profits at the seven biggest studios fell 17 through september, according to cowen. I remember my family reporter and disney dominated, earning more than half of industry profits in that period with five of the ten biggest films of the year, including the top two, finding dorrcto dori and captain america civil war. All of the studios suffered from flops, from ben her to bfg to the divergent series, allegiant. Only 3 of 14 summer sequels outperformed their predecessors, with zoolander 2 and Bridget Jones falling flat. And while chinas box office grew by almost half last year, boosting hollywood revenue, this year, chinese growth basically flatlined. Comp score says expecting chinas Box Office Growth to continue would be misguided. It has gone from a noveltydriven factor where audiences there havent really had those kind of intheater experiences with the great amenities and these brandnew, beautiful theaters. Now that will shift from a novelty factor for the moviegoing experience and shift to the quality of the movies. With so many entertainment alternatives both in the u. S. And abroad and the cost of going to theaters on the rise, the bar for Quality Content is higher than ever. For nightly Business Report, im juhl boar citizen in san francisco. China hits General Motors with a 29 million fine, and thats where we begin tonights marcus focus. Chinese officials allege that the automakers joint venture engaged in monopolistic pricing for buick, cadillac and chevrolet models. Gm says it will ensure all appropriate actions are taken in regards to this matter. It doesnt happen often, but gm shares managed to finish the day right where they began, unchanged at 35. 69. Discount store operator freds saw its shares rise today after a regulatory filing revealed Alden Global Capital took a nearly 25 stake in the company. The activist investor says the shares are undervalued and represent an attractive investment opportunity. Shares finished the day up 4 to 20. 20. And calmain foods swung to a quarterly loss. The egg producer said it was negatively impacted by an oversupply of eggs but that prices have started to rise recently. Shares rose. Shares of gnc holdings hit a record low today after Piper Jaffray cut its rating on the stock to underrate and slashed its price target. The analyst said the companys decision to discontinue its paid Membership Program adds to the risk of an earnings miss. And as a result, the stock was down 10 today to 10. 84. Medical supply Distributor Cardinal Health will pay 10 million to the u. S. Government. Regulators allege they failed to report suspiciously large orders of addictive painkillers. Cardinal Health Shares rose, though, to 72. 88. And now to our market monitor, who has names of largecap stocks he says could benefit from the trump presidency. This is his first time joining us on the program. He is Damon Barglow at Rockland Trust management group.