Now. We have that on nightly Business Report for monday, october 13th. Good evening. Welcome. Columbus day was no holiday for stock investors. They sold off again and hard again. The usual stew of recent worries gets the blame slowing Global Growth, isis, ebola and now corporate earnings. They start flooding out in earnest beginning tomorrow. Todays selloff accelerated in the final hour with no discernible trigger, but as the major averages broke through some technical levels, investors pushed the indexes even lower. At the close the dow had tumbled another 223 points most of the slide coming in the last 45 minute. Nasdaq down 62, the s p 500 down by 31. Blue chip dow stocks now at a sixmonth low. Nasdaq and the s p 500 at fivemonth lows. Besides earnings season kicking into high gear, what else is causing all that turmoil in the markets . Bob pisani takes a look at three things investors are watching closely this week. We are entering the heart of earnings season. About 75 of the companies in the s p 500 will be reporting between now and the end of october. Several banks report this week. For big nationwide Banks Like Bank of america and citigroup traders will be looking to see if trading volumes for bonds and stocks have bounced back, but for the average bank, the key to this quarter is loan growth. Theres been some concerns that loan growth is slowing down particularly commercial and industrial loans, the positive comments from bank manager last quarter. Interest rates still are not moving up. Higher rates would help banks because theyd be able to charge more for their loans but that isnt happening yet. The second thing to watch is signs of weakness or stability in europe where the Economic Data has been poor recently. Well get Industrial Production numbers in the eurozone tomorrow. If europe continues to get weaker theres little doubt the European Central bank will step in with an aggressive stimulus program. Finally, and this is the biggest wildcard of all, further outbreaks of ebola could affect trading. The cdc says theyre concerned about other infections potentially in the coming days following the infection of a Health Care Worker who treated the man who died from ebola in dallas. Even though there are only two diagnosed cases in the u. S. , theres a High Sensitivity to this. For nightly Business Report bob pisani at the New York Stock Exchange. With so many firms posting earnings over the next few weeks which ones have historically gotten the biggest bump up or the biggest slide down after reporting . Dominic chu takes a look. It often drives rolltity for the companies reporting. Among the best performing on earnings day is Beverage Company keurig dream moucur green mount. It has risen an average of 12 in the trading session immediately following its earnings report. It was helped along by a huge gain earlier in the year after announcing a big investment by cocacola alongside its earnings report. Among the worst performing stocks is Office Supply retailer staples, which has fallen an average of 6 after each of the last eight earnings reports theyve had. While those two companies are the most volatile its the biggest sectors and stocks that will get a lot of attention this week. If you look at the way the s p 500 is kind of constructed its financial, info tech and consumer discretionary, every one of those is expected to have very powerful double digit Earnings Growth in the next quarter, which will be kind of a really perfect situation for a broadbased strong market. Tech and financials are especially important because they are the two biggest sectors in the city s p 500. Large Tech Companies like intel and google as well as banks like jpmorgan and bank of america could help set the tone for the rest of earnings season. Each reports earnings this week. Earnings do matter. They matter greatly. So i think it is something very important to watch not just the earnings as they were for the Third Quarter but what the Companies Propose for outlooks year end and 2015. Many experts believe Earnings Growth will be there but whether its enough to carry the entire market higher remains to be seen. Bank and tech earnings could go a long way in shaping things over the next few weeks. For nightly Business Report im dominic chu. How much of an effect will earnings have on this already volatile stock market . Lets get thoughts from joe duran, ceo of United Capital financial advisers. Joe, between the actual numbers and as between as opposed to what ceos may say about the future, which has the greater potential to shake the markets over the next three weeks, the numbers or the words . By far the words. I think what youll find is people really dont care about whats been because its been and care a lot about what will be. And the stock market is a gauge of the future. So absolutely what they say about the future is going to drive what happens for the next month or so. Joe, tell us a little bit about these two big sectors well hear from this week, the financials, citigroup and jpmorgan, technology, intel is just one of them. What are they going to tell us about the health of the sectors and the health of the u. S. Economy . I think what theyre going to tell you, two things. One, are they going to use all of the new macro things that have been happening from ebola to prices and the collapsing dollar as an excuse to prepare people for bad news. Thats the one big concern that everyone has. And second, are they going to sell through it . So the banks, theyve had a very interesting Interest Rate environment, if theyve been hedging in their own way, thats a problem. Intel derives half its income overseas. The rising dollar could have an impact on its future sales. What they say about those two things in the future are going to have a big impact on how the market reacts. Those big bellwethers will be telling about whether we should worry about the next earnings report. So is the market vulnerable let me pose it this way. Do you think the ceos will be very cautious in their Forward Guidance because of all the things you just mentioned . I absolutely think they have reasons and ability remember, ceoss looic to outperform. Sure. If they have a good reason and good set of excuse, for example, intel could very well say the weakness in china and everywhere else allowed us to hit the numbers and we expect to hit them in the future but open the possibility that there might be surprises that are not that tone, i think what youre going to see is a wider range of possible outcomes. As you become less confident in the outcome, you become less certain and you get higher volatility. Thats what were seeing now in the market. Do you think investors are really going to be paying attention to what the ceos are saying in the sense that they already know that europe is a problem, they already know china is weak. The details from each individual company, does it really matter that much . Or is that already priced into the market . I think a lot of its priced in. Thats what weve been seeing. But you have to remember weve had this very big stock correction, the russell 2000, the Smaller Companies down 13, 14 . The big caps have held up well. What well see is how big is the impact going to be across and are we going to have the time of 4 correction. The earnings matter a lot, the words of the ceos matter more, what the fed is doing and what happens with the economy is even more important. So all of its intertwined and were at an Inflection Point clearly with the fed stepping away where earnings have to be able to keep up even with the fed stepping away. You pose the question are we going to have a 10 correction . Is that the next big headline for us . I think its going to be very odd if we dont get to 1800 on the s p. I think its a natural progression point. Theres a lot of support there. My suspicion is well be probably flat by year end which is not anything anyone wants to hear. Basically slightly up, single digits. But the volatility will be higher. We take care of our clients entire network. Weve had an incredible goldilocks environment where the stocks have done okay, the feds been there to protect us. The fed is stepping away. Well go back to a normal environment. 10 declines every couple of years. Its been four years since we had one. It just means you should be prepared for it in your portfolio. Joe, very clear. We appreciate it, as always, youre being with us. Joe duran. One of the sectors responsible for the sharp losses in the nasdaq lately Semiconductor Stocks. The S P Semiconductor index has tumbled more than 16 in the past month alone putting the sector in correction territory. Morgan brennan joins us from the nasdaq with a closer look at this key sector. Morgan, just start off by telling us that, theyve fallen. Why have the Semiconductor Stocks fallen so much since their height in september . Its a great question. Semiconductors has dropped dramatically over the last month but weve seen the lions share of those losses in the past week alone. This is on the back of micro clip technologies, one of the smaller Semiconductor Stocks in this space relatively speaking. A 9 billion market capitalization. The Company Coming out last thursday and warning on revenue for the Third Quarter citing weaker demand in china and the ceo saying the overall industry is on track for a correction, on track for a pullback, that has sent all the chipmakers down in response to that including intel thats down another 1 today, down 8 in the past week. Investors will be watching that very closely because of those comments last week. Morgan, why should investors watch semiconductors as opposed to any other industry. Were talking about the chips that get sent out and put into other items, other industries, appliances, smartphones, pcs, autos, so september is the peak season for the chips and for the semiconductors. When you have a, quote, unquote, bellwether like microchip technologies warning on revenue at this time of the year, it becomes very worrisome that we could be seeing slowing Global Economic growth. Thats something weve been talking about, with the larger stock selloff. You see these Companies Come out and report weaker than expected earnings, the effect there could be that were seeing going to see similar impact on other Technology Companies on other industries as well. And so i guess youre saying that this is going to have an impact on the Broader Market as a result . Thats the worry. Web bush analyst came out and say that whenever microchip comes out and reports any kind of guidance that theyre correct 70 or more of the time. Thats definitely something to watch in technology and in these other industries, the smartphones, the autos, appliances, so we could see seeing a canary in the coalmine, but it remains to be seen with earnings. Morgan brennan at the nasdaq. It wasnt a very big decline but the price of oil did edge lower again today. Domestic crude closed 8 cents a barrel down. Thats its lowest level since december of 2012. Those Lower Oil Prices driving gasoline prices down again. Going to the lundberg survey, prices at the pump fell 12 cents per gallon over the past three weeks to a nationwide average of 3. 26 a gallon for regular. The Falling Energy prices and the potential for deflation that is grabbing the attention of central bankers from around the globe. But what exactly is deflation and why are so many experts so worried right now . Steve liesman explains. Global central bankers are starting to worry about inflation coming in lower than the target. Right now a problem of disinflation or slowing at the rate of inflation but the real concern is deflation, outright declines in prices. In a rare interview, bank of england governor said low global inflation would play a role in Monetary Policy and that would make for a more dovish reaction. That means producing a very benign Global Inflationary environment, and thats something certainly we do take into account. First, its tough for central bankers to fight. They know how to battle inflation by raising Interest Rates but getting out of deflation is harder because they dont like to cut Interest Rates below zero. Second, in deflation, people hold off purchases because they think goods will be cheaper tomorrow. That reduces overall growth. Finally asset prices and wages can fall in a deflationary world, along with consumer prices. If wages fall faster than prices, that means standards of living decline. U. S. Federal reserve vice chairman stan fisher added his concerns over the weekend about the negative impacts of too low inflation and economic troubles overseas. Foreign growth is weaker than anticipated, the consequences to the u. S. Economy could lead the fed to remove the commendation more slowly than otherwise. Right now the source of lower prices is the decline in oil and other commodities but the worry is its not from too little supply but too many demand from weak growth around the globe. Not just central bankers who are concerned about Falling Oil Prices but also oil producers. Thats creating a divide among opec, the global cartel. Jackie deangelis has more. Oil prices continue to slide on concerns about Global Growth at a market thats well supplied. But in recent weeks many have been questioning how low oil can go before producers are squeezed. The thought was that opec might make a move to reduce its supply to the market to bolster prices when it meets next month, but the chatter out of conversations this weekend, after venezuela called for an emergency meeting indicates that the cartel isnt making any rash decisions. Middle eastern opec members have a higher cost to produce. And with the price below 90 a barrel some are feeling the pinch. But according to reports saudi arabia one of opecs most outspoken members is courting investors in europe is a comfortable with the drop in prices. What it signifies to me is saudi arabia is taking an every member for himself mentality. In other words, we dont really care about what were producing, what we do care is our market share and we want to keep it. It signifies they have very little control or no control over the nonopec oil thats being produced around the world. Traders tell me theres no need to panic at the moment. They recall when prices dropped in 2008 because of market uncertainty and dollar fluctuations. Breakeven prices were equally as high then. But some look to crude as an indicator of the overall economy. It could mean worse things to come for the stock market which has already been jittery. Jackie deangelis. Still ahead, the big change coming to the Department Store jcpenney and investors react. Jcpenneys long search for a new chief exec fiv is over. The retailer has named Marvin Ellison home depot executive as its new ceo. Hell take over in august of 2016 from the interim chief mike ullman who came out of retirement to help the company rebuild itself after ron johnson was ousted from the top spot after he was recruited from apple. Shares were off by 3 cents. They close at 7. 09. Canadian Pacific Railway approached cfx about a possible merger. But cfx rebuffed that attempt that would have united two of the Worlds Largest railroads. Shares of cfx popped, Canadian Pacific fell 2 to 184. 97. Another deal to report. General electric will by about 1. 8 billion for the helicopter Leasing Company milestone aviation. The dublinbased outfit will expand ge capitals Aviation Services unit which rents planes and offers loans for buying aircraft. Shares of ge were off 1 today to 23. 95. And boeing announced a massive order, Indonesian Airline bought 50 jets from the Company Worth about 5 billion. Despite that boeing shares down about a dollar at 120. 45. Fiat chrysler began trading on the New York Stock Exchange part of the effort by sergio marchionne. He said this day is a Long Time Coming and he wants to prove the naysayers wrong. Most people believe that the thing will not be resurrected and recovered. We look at reality today. Ten years after the fiat recovery store. Theyre both vibrant. Not much vibrance in the stock on its first trading day. Lost 1 to 8. 92. Shares of lithium motors the company said a drop in used car prices hurt its Third Quarter profit and also cut its Fourth Quarter earnings forecast. The stock was down about 21 closing at 64 a share. The maker of rayban and oakley sunglasses saw its shares drop in todays session. The companys chief resigned just after six weeks on the job following the abrupt departure of the companys longtime ceo last month. Shares fell 9 to 47 and change. Not your typical Technology Conference but dreamforce billed as the largest Sof