Sell off, encouraged by solid Quarterly Earnings reports on wall street. And well be getting the inside track on Donald Trumps tax plans, plus what is happening in saudi arabia with our Business Editor, simonjack. And its being reported that scientists have sent a secret message to reach alien life elsewhere in the universe. Today we want to know what would you ask or say to any extra terrestrials out there . Just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. Du toit in and let us know youre out of the world responses. We start in california, where in the last few hours electric car maker tesla has unveiled its latest venture. Founder elon musk hopes to take on the road transport business as he has the car industry with an electric powered truck called the tesla semi. Dave lee was at the launch. This is the new tesla semi. It will travel 500 miles on a single charge and elon musk thinks it will make electric the new king of the road. The thing that looks like its not moving. Is a diesel truck. But he has been under a lot of pressure lately. His company isnt yet making cars quickly enough to meet demand and so this new truck could be another distraction for the man who also dabbles in space travel. Teslas definitely taking some serious issues on the manufacturing side. Model 3 delivery is measured in hundreds when theyre supposed to be producing thousands every week. That is a huge issue. But the truck wasnt to be the only new vehicle on show here tonight. So the tesla fans that came here certainly expected to see a lorry, what they werent expecting to see was a new roadster and that got this crowd excited. So it turns out there was some cargo in the truck. For fans an exciting one more thing, but for teslas investors it is just one more thing. Anna marie baisden, head of autos at bmi research, is with me. The first thing you think, as trucks 90, the first thing you think, as trucks go, that is pretty good looking. It is an odd description, but it is very aesthetically well designed. Absolutely, and this is what tesla has been doing all along, making elective products attractive in their own right, you are notjust buying them for the alternative fuel, you are buying them because they are attractive products. But do you think those who it is targeted at, big haulage companies, will be swayed by that, or will they focus on the cost . The reports are the battery alone will cost 100,000. Absolutely, you target business very differently to consumers. Consumers you can win over with design and aesthetics, but it is about the bottom line for haulage companies, and the cost is definitely a top priority. The other aspect is the range, how far these trucks can travel, and it was a surprise, wasnt it . Yes, 500 miles on a single charge, that was definitely a surprise, and a positive one, because that is Something Else you wa nt to ta ke because that is Something Else you want to take into account if you are running a haulage business. And the other thing tesla has to be very aware of is competition. It was once the only, or one of the big names in the only, or one of the big names in the field, it still is, but competition is snapping at its heels. You have volvo launching a d riverless heels. You have volvo launching a driverless truck in beijing, the market is so competitive now. They have just got to keep innovating, and quickly. Absolutely, and you have some of the real big names in the class 8 segment, like daimler, they have their models out there, and if anything it could be a little late to the electrification of commercial vehicles, which is quite unusualfor them. Commercial vehicles, which is quite unusual for them. What about the infrastructure in place to facilitate the launch of these sorts of vehicles . That is one of the biggest stumbling blocks. Again, and thatis biggest stumbling blocks. Again, and that is more of a concern to fleet drivers than commuters, because they need to travel long distances in a certain amount of time, so that is a big concern to them. Really good to talk to you, thank you very much for joining us. Lets take a look at some of the other stories making the news. There have been more takeover approaches for media giant 21st century fox. According to reports comcast, owner of Nbc Universal and the biggest cable tv operator in the us has expressed interest in buying assets, as has verizon communications. Last week it emerged that walt disney had held talks with fox. Media companies are looking at mergers as more people ditch cable in favour of streaming Services Like netflix. Gap shares jumped nearly 8 after hours. The us clothing retailer raised its outlook for 2017 profit and reported same store sales ahead of analysts expectations. The company has been investing to upgrade its offering for customers, and its paying off. And German Industrial Group Siemens has announced plans to cut around 6,900 jobs worldwide mostly in its fossil fuels division. It said Global Demand for large turbines produced by its power and gas division had fallen dramatically. Half of the jobs will be lost in germany, while 1,100 will go in the rest of europe and 1,800 in the us. Dont forget theres always plenty of Business News updated throughout the day on our website, on the business live page. 0n there right now, nissan executives are likely to return a part of their pay over the Quality Control scandal. Shares in nissan have risen on that news. You can read more about that as i say the website. Always lots on the website. Lets go to india now and Credit Ratings agency moodys has given Prime Minister modi a major boost. It has upgraded indias Sovereign Rating for the first time in 1a years citing the governments continued progress in economic reform. That has sent the rupee and indian stocks sharply higher lets cross live now for more on this. Watmore have you got . Well, moody is has cited the structural and Economic Reforms that have been initiated by Prime Minister modis government in the last few years, the new National Goods and services stacks, and they have also announced recently that they will be in jet to fresh capital in public owned banks which have been struggling due to bad debts, and that has been having a severe impact on the economy. Last year they had also cracked down on the black economy, black money, rather, by banning the illegal currency that was in circulation. So moody is has appreciated the steps and say it will benefit the economy in the long run, so they are calling this an early Christmas Gift from Prime Minister modi, considering the economy had slowed down due to these measures in the last few months. Thank you. So indias stock market and currency getting an early Christmas Gift. Lets stay in the region now. Other asian shares clawed back most of their weekly loss after rising firmly on friday on some strong wall street earnings and a step also the dollar fell after the wall streetjournal reported so injapan, the nikkei gained 0. 2 extending its recovery from a near three week intraday low hit on thursday. But its still down 1. 3 for the week, snapping its nine week gaining streak. Here in europe, stocks are mixed at the open. The largest influence on markets all around the globe today is president trumps plans for a shake up of the us tax system taking a step forward on thursday. He says they will boost the us economy but critics on the democrat side call them a give away to big business and the wealthy. Samira hussain has the details. Taxes americans dont like paying them and most agree that the tax system is broken, but fixing it, well, that aint easy. The president says he wants a tax system thats so easy you could file it on a postcard. Now the Republican Party has control of the us congress and that means they could pass a new tax plan with just a simple majority. If theres anything that unifies republicans, it is tax reform. We have been looking for the opportunity to do this literally for years. The problem . Republicans cant even agree on a tax plan amongst themselves. Law makers want to cut the number of tax brackets to four and cut backjust how much people can write off for having a mortgage. The senate plan removes the tax americans pay if they dont buy health insurance, but that means some 13 million americans could end up without any coverage and that plan also makes cuts to the Corporate Tax rate permanent. But tax relief for individuals, well, thats just temporary. So what do they do now . Well, republicans in the house and senate willjust have to combine their two plans, but if the last few months are any indication, well, that wont be easy. That was Samir Hussein in new york. Joining us is lucy macdonald, chief investment officer, global equities, allianz global investors. A big week the us earnings, in particular what we could call the dinosaurs of the stock indices. There were two yesterday which we knew would classify as dinosaurs, cisco and walmart, and they both came through with numbers better than expected. Cisco has not really grown its top line for a couple of years, and showed some movement in the top line, we are only talking low single digit is, but even so. And that was greeted well. And then walmart as well, and the rest of the Retail Sector has been under pressure from amazon. So it has been a bit of an electric kettle to get some of the other retailers to move their businesses online more. That seems to be providing some progress. And moving away from dinosaurs, some other big news this week coming out of norway, trying to move their alliance away from oil and gas. They have said that they will divest from the 6 of their portfolio, their wealth portfolio, probably next year. And it is significant. For them, it is partly because their whole economy is very reliant on oil and gas, but i think also underlying it, it is that hole bogey of stranded assets, and the value of these assets, which had been put really on the back burnerfor had been put really on the back burner for the last few months. So i think it will probably put a little bit of a stop to that. We will come back and talk to you about the business papers later in the show. See you later. Still to come will the us senate agree to Donald Trumps tax plans . Plus, what is happening in saudi arabia . Thats all with our Business Editor, simonjack. Youre with business live from bbc news. The Building Society nationwide has posted its latest results and profits are down for the Second Period in a row. Our Business Correspondent theo leggett joins us from the Business Newsroom with the details. What do these figures look like tu . At first glance, they dont look great. The second six months in a iow great. The second six months in a row in which profits have fallen, underlying pre tax profits dropping to £508 million from £615 million a year ago. But you have to bear a couple of things in mind. The figures for a year ago were flattered by a 100 year pounds bonus from selling off a stake in visa europe. Take that out, and in fact the company made a profit this time round. Also, nationwide which is a mutual Building Society, it started paying extra money into its employees pension fund, and it also had to set aside a little bit of money for bad loans. So overall it is not that bad, these are Pretty Healthy figures. So could there be trouble ahead for nationwide . That is what nationwide is warning, yes. It says that there is a great deal of competition in the mortgage market, which there is, and nationwide is the countrys second largest mortgage provider. Funding costs are low because of low interest rates, but margins are low as well, what nationwide is saying is that with the competition that is coming up ahead, it could feel some pain. Declining Consumer Confidence may hit lending later in the year. That is according to the chief executive, nationwide remains financially secure and in very good shape. Ceo, for now, thank you very much. Is plenty more on the web page. The british Prime Minister is in sweden meeting donald tusk. She will try to provide more clarity about how the uk intends to settle any outstanding payments are due before they begin making progress on negotiations about a post brexit trade deal. We will be following developments there. For the latest log on to the web site. Youre watching business live. Our top story tesla has launched its First Electric truck that can accelerate to 60 Miles Per Hour in just five seconds. A quick look at how markets are faring. A mixed picture here in europe. That is after a strong session in asia on the back of some good Quarterly Earnings out from wall street. And now lets get the inside track on the weeks top business stories, simonjack our Business Editor is here to talk about changes to us tax policy and why the saudi government is demanding up to 70 of rich detainees wealth in return for theirfreedom. Donald trump could have a rocky road ahead in the senate. This is a major plank of Donald Trumps election campaign, everyone agrees the tax system is too complicated and we havent had a tax overhaul since 1986 under reagan. You have two different plans, one in the house of representatives and one in the senate. 0n the corporate side they say we will cut Corporate Tax from 35 to 20 . You would think big business would think this is fantastic, but the system is so come my kated that complicated that there are all sorts of exemptions and you can deduct interest payments, or other deductions for individuals and state taxes. It is a big mess. A lot of people say the simplification is great, but i dont know where i stand. What i would say is is that the costing of this, tax cuts cost money and this will cost about one and a half trillion dollars. Us debt is already 20 trillion plus. You remember back in the 80s when reagan did a tax cut, it ballooned the deficit. The idea if people make more money, you increase the tax take. Are you surprised by the reaction from business, perhaps less surprising is the reaction from the democrats calling it a giveaway to the wealthy. Lobbying groups for big business spend millions trying to get concessions. All their plans and road map of how to pay less tax will go road map of how to pay less tax will 9 up road map of how to pay less tax will go up in the air. The over all picture probably looks good for multinationals. That is one of the problems the democrats say it is a tax cut for the rich. There are some tax cut for the rich. There are some tax cuts for individuals and the middle class. But some are temporary and some say within ten years middle class family will pay more and rich people will be paying less. |j class family will pay more and rich people will be paying less. I want to turn to what is has beening in saudi arabia and a crackdown on corruption and consolidation of the monarchys power, demanding 70 of these rich detainees wealth in return for freedom. That is an unconfirmed number. Ispoke return for freedom. That is an unconfirmed number. I spoke a business person who described it as a good old faked shake down Old Fashioned shake down, in case you need a reminder of who the boss it. The saudi arabia budget is running a deficit and that never happens and over the years many people have done well, particularly in the good old days when oil was over 100 a barrel. The oil price has been low and they have a generous state sponsored welfare scheme and a growing population. There is a panic there. Theyre trying to move like a whirlwind to reform the economy and they need money fast and these people have plenty of it and some of biggest figures in international business, a big shareholder in city group. Some are sleeping on the floor of ritz. They cant send them to prison. That would be too disruptive, but you have got money, we need money, im the boss and perhaps when the new king takes over, the new reveal needs money and they will knock on the richest people in the country to get it. A gold Old Fashioned shake down. People in the country to get it. A gold Old Fashioned shake downm the uk, we have had reports out this week on the state of inflation and the growth, what did you make of it all . Well, on the inflation, it was 396. All . Well, on the inflation, it was 3 . Which is above target. The bank of england would like to see it at 296. It is of england would like to see it at 2 . It is above how much wages are going up which is 2. 2 . Although we have economic and wage growth, in real terms people are getting poorer. That isnt a happy place for government to be in and we have the budget next week. It is an important pa rt budget next week. It is an important part of where the budget will land next week. The growth figures, there is some growth, but not spectacular. People are saying it looks softer. I think we are near the peak of inflation, because after the referendum, sterling fell and all imports are more expensive and we imports are more expensive and we import more than we export. Some of the effects are filtering out. That was over a year ago and that big increase is working its way through the system. We could be at or near the system. We could be at or near the peak of the inflation cycle here. Thank you. All highs on Philip Hammond next week. Have a good weekend. In a moment well take a look through the business pages, but first heres a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us. We have the latest details from the bbcs team around the world. And we wa nt to bbcs team around the world. And we want to hear from you too. Get involved on the bbc business live web page. 0n involved on the bbc business live web page. On twitter we are at bbc business and we are on facebook. Were going to talk about other stories. The report that scientists have been sending out a secret message to try and reach life in other parts of universe. They dont expect a reply for at least 25 yea rs. We have expect a reply for at least 25 years. We have been asking for your tweets, what message would you send and what question would you ask. Quite a range of responses. We have had a lot of responses. Bob says call in for a cup of tea and biscuit. Another say, just the one word help. Biscuit. Another say, just the one word help. Jane said, what is the a nswer to word help. Jane said, what is the answer to everything. Karen get me out of here. And hey mr spaceman would you take me along for a ride . I think that is a song lyric. Lucy, what would you say to extra terrestrial. I ask if wanted any of our debt. Enough of that. Lets talk about Business News back here on earth. The ft if i can find it, reporting that come cast and high horizon have approached 21st century fox to buy its assets. They have consolidation and integration in the Entertainment Industry as a result of the disruption from netflix. That is ongoing and will continue. It is a valid response when you get this sort of disruptive activity and you have consolidation of murdoch assets and the thoughts they may be thinking about going private. So those are the two things which have happening. It is following on from disney, the approach we have had. So this is going to run and run. This isa sign this is going to run and run. This is a sign of the times, this shift in our viewing habits and people wanting to end their cable contracts and preferring to stream online. Yes it isa and preferring to stream online. Yes it is a change driven by technology and the response is to strengthen their position either vertically or in this case horizontal of getting them all together. We saw discussions with disney expressing an interest, if a giant like disney is looking at it, these are big moves . Is looking at it, these are big moves . Yes and theyre very large companies, because theyre very Old Companies, because theyre very Old Companies and also theyre led by in many cases. Companies and also theyre led by in many cases. Men in their 70s and 80s and there is an end of era feel. End of a programme feel, end of a week feel. Lucy macdonald thank you, have a lovely weekend. We have so many tweets, we will look through them. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend. See you again soon. It has been a frosty start. Temperatures down to minus 3 and 4 in the south of england. But there will be lots of sunshine. Particularly for england and wales, despite that cold start. Further north showers affecting scotland and some wintry on the higher ground. As we go through the afternoon there is not going to be a great deal of change. We will see showers in northern and western scotland. It will feel chilly here, with a strong westerly wind. Temperatures about six or seven, but feeling colder. Some showers into Northern Ireland and perhaps the odd shower towards cumbria. But for most of england and wales, it is sunshine continuing. A bit of cloud developing this afternoon. Just fair weather cloud. But colder in southern areas compared to yesterday. Many of us feeling chilly with temperatures about five to eight degrees celsius. Tonight showers and a brisk wind continuing in scotland. And more showers and rain feeding into wales and Northern England. These are the temperatures in our towns and cities. In the countryside, it will turn chilly again and a frost in the midlands and eastern and southern areas of england. Frosty too across scotla nd areas of england. Frosty too across scotland with temperatures down to minus two. It wont be as cold as it was this morning. A lot more cloud around during saturday morning and rain here and there across england and wales. Later on some brighter skies in Northern England and scotland. And any showers affecting the far north. Temperatures seven to nine. But not as cold in the south west. Because we have mild air which is trying to move into the south west. In that south west corner we will continue with the milder weather into sunday. It is associated with a system that will push in. Eastern areas holding on to the higher pressure and sunday should be dry and settled. Some sunshine here as well. In the west we have the cloudy skies and there will be showers moving in. In the north and east chilly, despite the sunshine. Temperatures of six or seven. That is it for me. Hello, its friday, its 9 oclock, im tina daheley, welcome to the programme. Theresa may meets fellow eu leaders in sweden today where shes expected to come under pressure over the brexit negotiations. Well be live in gothenburg. Also this morning well have the latest from zimbabwe we speculation is intense over the long term future of Robert Mcgarr bay, and the military is still in control. The Zimbabwe Defence forces, the zdf, say significant progress has been made in their operation, adding that they have accounted for some of the criminals around president Robert Mugabe in order to bring them to justice since they were committing crimes that are causing social and economic suffering in the country while others are still at large. Well hear from zimbabweans who were forced to flee from the country. And well meet the British Military dog whos receiving the animal