In u. S. Stocks. All three major averages touching closing records. The nasdaq the only other three to also trade at an intraday record as we see strength on this day when we have a smattering of earnings reports to keep an eye on. That is one of the things helping boost the stock market. Also in the case of the stock market, technology is outperforming. Word aboutsay a volume. One of our chart masters cooked up this chart. Here is the average volume if you go back over the duration of the bull market. Here is this year in white. And the low of the bull market is here in red. 2017, volume has been running well above average. It started to arise a little bit, but again, still below the average line. Something to keep in mind as we enter this latest stage of the bull market. Back to earnings, i mentioned a smattering of them today. Tocks are rising, helping support overall gains in the s p 500. The packaged meat make a harm ormel, theiret h averages up 2. 5 . Medtronic coming out with earnings that beat estimates. Also comingeering out with a forecast that left room for it to be estimates. I want to mention currencies. Thes the dollar versus mexican, having a sharp downward move. Similar move in the canadian versus the u. S. Dollar. I am watching the nafta headlines. The latest is that a nafta deal is near on telecom, energy, and ecommerce. That according to a mexican business representative. However, earlier in the day, it seems as though the nafta talks where sputtering. It is the latest headline that shows we are perhaps nearer to an agreement on certain areas that appears to have triggered this movement downward in the u. S. Dollar as a result, the bloomberg dollar index is also down. Particularly of note are these moves versus the mexican peso and the canadian dollar. Mark last wednesday, the stock 600 fell to the lowest in a couple of months. Since then, it has risen three days out of four. Of 1 . Ges up by 6 10 germany, of course, has been in the news the last four hours after Coalition Talks collapsed. 6509 shows how the dax has outperformed its benchmark peers since trump was elected. This is normalized in zero on of it last year. The dax in blue, up 25 . , theecond best performer s p 500, roughly 20 higher. The fifth is the ftse 100, barely up by eight percent since then. Germany is powering ahead, despite the fact today, it is rising as well despite the fact there is not yet and you government. A new government. Another great chart centering in on that theme of the instability within the german political system right now peripheral bonds are outperforming thanks to two different sources. Thursday, the kneejerk strength. Gth bund commerzbankng reminds that the free democrats not ls party were could shore up sentiment he says on periphery debt and will continue the spread narrowing. This is a ingermany, blue line. Articlegermany, white line. Italygermany, yellow line. The spread have been narrowing on the street. And nestle among the companies a ering a purchase of others, including u. S. Food makers and buyout firms are said to be interested. Shares of nestle up by three quarters of 1 today. Vonnie thank you. Sticking with the markets and stocks us to talk about ahead is ben laidler. Has 2650 as a target for the s p 500. That is roughly 2. 5 above where the s p is today. 2. 5 in all of 2018 it almost seems not worth bothering. Lets take this one at a time. Doubledigit earnings early next year. The elephant in the room is what are you prepared to pay for that double evaluations, u. S. Valuations. 20 to 25 above historical levels. At a time when Monetary Policy is becoming less accommodative. Nearly 10g down Percentage Points a year. We clearly have not seen that this year. I do think you need to write some of that evaluation compression in for next year. Vonnie with the 10 year u. S. Yield at 2. 3 now, why bother . Why not stick with safety bonds and do away with equity risk . Ben that is a good question. I think the multiasset cases it is clearly not obligated. Some there are clearly numbers and other regions. We have doubledigit returns and emerging markets, for example. Mark talk about tax reform impact on companies that have or have not moved ahead of potential tax reform. Who is positioned and where . Ben taxa form is one reason we are over u. S. Equities. We like u. S. Equities in general. The icing on the cake could be tax reform. That 10 Earnings Growth could end up being 16 or 17 , if you get tax reform next year. So if you like that sort of upside optionality. Mark a couple of other big calls. Underweight japan. In the last week or two, we have guessed after guest saying by japanese stocks. You are underweight and contrarian underweight europe. Talk us through those. Ben japan is simple. The double headwind of the yen, which we think will incrementally strengthen. That will put pressure on very high japanese earnings expectations. We have one of the biggest gdp slowdowns globally coming out of japan next year. To growth essentially having 0. 1 , which is trying growth. It will be a they headwind, especially as you point out sentiment in japan has gotten quite bullish recently. I think that is a mistake. Anope, similarly, i think is earnings disappointment story. You get maybe 9 growth out of europe this year. Given the macro recovery, given how depressed earnings are, i think that is massively disappointing. Next year, i think Earnings Growth will be even lower. Disappointment just builds from here. Mark why has europe given the macro backdrop why have earnings remained at low multiples . Seenyou really have not much of a recovery. The latent Political Uncertainty is part of that. Has notnger euro helped. European corporate are the most globalized that there are. Those are the two main reasons. From here, we are looking for slightly less macro events. And we are looking for slightly higher bund yields. Vonnie so what is everybody else missing . It is true in the last few days, saying, the exact opposite. Bullish japan and u. S. , more so than a 2. 5 gain for u. S. Equities. Ben of japan, hope springs eternal. This has in a market that has underperformed for literally decades. Corporate profitability is still the lowers lowest in the world. The narrative can be attractive that all of these things will gradually recover. We do not think they really are. It is a relative value track did in europe, i think earnings are the past. I think there is recovery, somewhat. There are just better ways to play that. In the u. S. , there are sectors we like. Are. 5 above historic average doubles. We think there will be compression. Vonnie one what are the sectors you are pressure active on and what are the gains they might give . Ben we like cyclical sectors. The u. S. Economy is growing right now. Very healthy. The dollar depreciating, which is helping. Sectors,these cyclical pmi globally, is very high right now. Global anything in that cyclical space very depressed and recovering. Materials, energy, the supply side is a lot tighter than people think. Quite a lot of these cyclical stories. We have this globally synchronized strong recovery coming through right now. Mark you say that is supportive of m a. Which industry, from here, could benefit from that . Ben m a in the u. S. Has been very depressed. M a in europe has been very strong. We are looking Forward Industries that are very fragmented and could benefit from more consolidation. For us, european banks, machinery, chemicals. These are the sectors where activity could be ripe. Vonnie our thanks to a ben laidler, Global Equity strategist at hsbc securities. Time for the first word news. Emma in germany, chancellor Angela Merkel says she is open to having new elections to break an impasse to forming a new government. Merkel made it clear she still plans to serve her fourth term, but after Coalition Talks broke down, she said she would rather face voters again then governing without a majority. Trumpays to the administration, we will see you in court. He is vowing not to sell cnn to appease the administration. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is ending a temporary program that allows nearly 60,000 haitians to live and work in the u. S. Many arrived after a devastating. Er earthquake haitians will be allowed to stay in the u. S. Until july, 2019. Ae Washington Post reports woman have accused Television Host charlie rose of making inappropriate advances towards them. Pbs is halting distribution of the charlie rose program. Bloomberg, which has a distribution agreement, has ended Aaron Charlie rose. Global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. Thank you. Coming up, a bloomberg exclusive with the chief executive of syngenta. Is bloomberg. Vonnie live from new york and london, i am vonnie quinn. Mark i am mark barton. Futures in focus. Oil rising. Above 57. U. S. Crude stockpiles expected to resume their drop. Gold climbing. Joining us is the president of blue line futures, bill baruch. What will it take to push it above 60 . Bill i do not think it will break through 60 quite yet. I am targeting 58,97 ahead of the opec meeting. One of the reasons i do not believe crude can push through 60 is because of positioning. Are going to have to see a little bit of a cleansing, which can, after the opec meeting. Once we work our way up to 58. 97, then we can see the market retreat and then make a second attempt in the First Quarter of next year. Mark still concerns russia may not tell the line when it comes to extending production cuts. Do you expect everyone to fall into line and for those cuts to be extended in a week or so . Bill i believe russia is flexing their muscles right now. They want to show they are in control of what they want to do. But they are ultimately going to join forces with opec. There is no doubt this production deal will happen. However, this production deal will be completely priced in. I do not think we get bullish surprises. That is why you will start to see a waterfall effect back down. The market has just moved a very well and constructively off of 55. We want to watch that level after this meeting at the 55 mark. Again, i am very bullish, heading into the opec meeting. Mark how do you feel about gold . 1270 range. L in the what will break us out . Bill that was a big move yesterday. Than 20. More i think it failed at 1300. It got above 92, but when they reopened, the sellers retook control of the market. The 200 Day Moving Average yesterdays price average moved off of that. I like gold long time. I think we will see a perform very well next year. However, we do not really have a catalyst that will push and breakout gold. Downplayedsomething was yellens resignation. Everyone knew she was going to step out. However, the impact the fact that she assured everyone will the fact that she assured everyone she will not be there next year meant there was not the dovish voice in the fed. Vonnie time for the latest Bloomberg Business flash. Eryer is looking bay is trying to win approval of its 66 billiondollar acquisition of monsanto. Bayer is trying to figure out how much of its units could speed up the antitrust investigation. The Company Already agreed to sell its seed aggregation. Nestle is exploring a company that sells nestle has made talks to buy hain celestial deal. Citigroup fell in the latest ranking by global regulators. Authorities, they are recommending that citis capital surcharge be cut. Also the bear upon bnp fell in that ranking. Mark still ahead, we are live in istanbul for more on what is driving the latest rounds of market turmoil in turkey. Also, syngenta was taken over by chemchina, the largest foreign takeover by the chinese. How has life changed for the swiss Agriculture Company . This is bloomberg. Vonnie this is bloomberg markets. I am vonnie quinn in new york. London am mark arden in i am mark barton in london. Lets get to turkey. We are joined by cosan cyclical us constantine. What exactly did the central bank do, and why have investors given the central bank the thumbs down . The central bank reacted to the nearest lira slide. Bond yields spiked. The central bank step in by cutting off some of the cheap funding banks had access to, pushing up and funding costs by 25 basis points, affective as of tomorrow. The move helped trim some of the losses for the currency. What a lot of investors remain unconvinced, unimpressed. They think the central bank some believe the central bank needs to push Interest Rates up higher to combat accelerating acceleration. They believe policy remains to loose. Vonnie what is the level that terrifies the central bank and makes it want to step in . Question. E good it is unclear what level of the central bank would become very uncomfortable. Thatbearers are looking at level. It is hard to say what the central bank is winking exactly. There will be a point. Vonnie how did we get here . Constantine a couple of factors. Inflation has been accelerating over the past couple of months. Relations with turkeys western allies have deteriorated. Both of these factors have led to investors demanding higher rates to hold onto lira assets. So market rates have been creeping higher steadily. The central bank is has pushed through measures in the past month and have not really convinced investors. They started auctioning some nondurables. All of these measures do not really seem they are not as effective as a straight up rate hike. So there is concern the central bank was going to drag its feet or not act is how we got here. Mark how does this feed into this whole independence of the Central Bank Narrative . Clearly is pushing the central bank not to raise rates. He does not believe it controls inflation. Where is that argument progressing . Constantine friday, erdogan criticized the central bank quite publicly. I think that was one of the shortterm triggers for this latest move higher in the dollarlira. Investors seem to think of this criticism is assigned that political pressure on the central bank is growing and that the central bank may succumb to this. That is the backdrop. Mark cosan cyclical us Constantine Courcoulas reporting from in simple. Vonnie coming up, a bloomberg exclusive with the ceo of syngenta. This is bloomberg. Live from bloomberg World Headquarters in new york and london, i am vonnie quinn. Mark i am mark barton. Lets check in on bloombergs first word news. Emma the Trump Administration additionalnounce sanctions on north korea, a day after her trump added kim jonguns regime to a list of countries sponsoring terror. Russian president Vladimir Putin plans to call donald trump today regarding the situation in syria. Putin had a surprise meeting with syrias president yesterday. Rewrite the north American Free trade agreement is said to be sputtering. The fifth round wraps up today in mexico city. Co and canada the u. S. Is frustrated the two countries will not, with counterproposals on issues such as regional content rules. Taxes tos expecting rise after the u. K. Leaves the european union. See a tax hike after brexit. There is pressure to increase spending. Global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. This is bloomberg. Vonnie thank you. The agriculture industry has seen several such african deals of this year, the chemchinas 43 billion takeover of syngenta. That negative is just one reshaping the Global Chemical industries. The other is dow chemical and dupont. Joining us is erik fyrwald, ceo of syngenta. How are you taking advantage of this sweet spot for you, given that dupont and dow, bayer and monsanto, are caught up in trying to emerge successfully . Erik ours is an acquisition. Chemchina acquired us a couple months ago. Because it is an acquisition, we are still syngenta, with chinese owners. We can stay focused on their customers. We can stay focused on what we need to do to win in the marketplace, and not be distracted by other issues. Vonnie so how exactly do you plan to take market share from others while they are a little distracted . Erik first of all, we have to drive our base business. We are number one in the world and our Crop Protection products business. And we are number two in the seeds business. We want to further strengthen our crop protecting business and turn around our number three seeds business, closing the gap on the others. We are investing in our base ,usiness, focusing on customers and doing both on acquisitions. Vonnie to the point on seeds, bayer literally announced it is the vesting more seed units to help the antitrust process move faster. Much longer are they getting thanks to whether shocks . Will the development be faster than the ability to ramp up demand to meet them . Erik there are new technologies that are fantastically helping us. Advanced seed breeding. We know more about the genetics of plants that we have ever before. We are able to use genome editing to more rapidly increase the yield of plants and make them more resistant to disease and insects. Vonnie what about the demand fight of that equation . Tok demand continues increase with food around the world with population increase and with people coming out of poverty in places like china, southeast asia, and africa. Going from rice only or carbohydrate only diets to wanting to eat protein. We are wanting to breed into the seeds the ability to increase the protein content, when needed. Mark the seeds and spray model farmersone stop shop to is it still valid . Is stillhink it absolutely very valid, where you can provide the farmer the seeds and also the Crop Protection products. And these Digital Tools we have now are incredible. Now, every form in the world is really a plot, a test plot, to evaluate products and technologies. We are able to work with farmers around the world to better position our seeds and Crop Protection products to help them improve yields, so they improve profitability, but also reduce their environmental impact. Significant ability to reduce co2 emissions and water use. Emissionsenhouse gas in the world are from agriculture. 70 of the worlds fresh water is used in agriculture. Our Technology Allows farmers to be more profitable and also deal with environmental issues. I. , we have big data and a bringing machines that will hit laser technology, and in the process, they are using 90 less chemicals. How are you dealing with that threat . Ofk we are on the forefront this opportunity. We do not view it as a threat. We see the technologies that are able to more precisely identify where the weeds and diseases are , and the insects are, and target them as a big advantage to help the profitability of farmers and also the environmental impact. We have something called the good growth plan that we want with farmers around the world. We trained 20 million farmers a year. Reducectices help them Greenhouse Gas emissions by an average of 20 , reduce water consumption by significant amounts, and reduce Pesticide Use by using better pesticides and more targeted approaches. It is good for the farmer, good for the environment, and good for syngenta. Mark what do you make of the political focus right now on the likes of pesticides, on the likes of herbicides . E. U. Looking the e. U. Looking to extend a license on weed killer. How is that impacting the likes of syngenta and agriculture . Erik we are not a glyphosate company. We think it is very important to have open conversation with government regulators about what Sustainable Agriculture is. If you look at the need to feed the world and take care of the planet, environmental sustainability, it requires the right pesticide and seed technologies to do that. You have to have the yields and protect the plants against weeds, insects, and diseases. We believe our approach with a good growth plan is the right way to go. By the just awarded, alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, a very Large Organization with lots of food companies, retailers involved, just awarded as the nature and mercy does just awarded us the Collaboration Award for working together for sustainable agricultural. Vonnie congratulations. I want to ask about your china model. Is lesser things transparency, which could be good for syngenta. Do you plan on trying to save your Credit Rating . What is the outlook for debt markets financing . Erik we have very strong free cash flow. We have working capital, best practices, we are deploying. To improve our capital. We have noncore assets that we can use. We will work with that. We are working with chemchina. We will solve Balance Sheet issues that they raise and preserve our Investment Grade rating. China, iteaking of said it wanted to get 10 ethanol in all cars by 2020. How doable is that . Erik very doable. I think it is important. Syngenta has a special product this will be cornbased ethanol. This product has an enzyme that enhances the ability of corn to produce ethanol. Ofay, we are at nearly 20 ethanol produced in the United States. We plan to bring this technology to china to help china and has their ability to produce ethanol effectively. Mark it is an amazing time. Bayermonsanto, dowdupont, and syngentachemchina all at once. Is there more m a . Erik i think it is a lot at once. I think everyone will look towards building based business but also adding on to acquisitions to fill gaps. That is that is what we are doing in seeds. We announced an important acquisition for us in brazil and argentina. We are looking for Technology Companies to enhance our digital capabilities. Lots of new stuff is happening in the digital world. We are venturing and partnering with companies. And we are looking for acquisitions. It will be more targeted at gaps we havelling geographically or technology wise, to continue to strengthen our number one position in Crop Protection and strengthen our number three position in seeds. Vonnie the relationships between free trade countries the world over is changing radically. I wonder how that will affect syngenta, particularly when you look at the u. S. And tbp, for example. Agriculturalrs of products from the United States is very important. The farmer in the United States is the most productive in the world. First were. New technologies. Has a lot of benefits with the United States farming capability. Today, we export around the world. That needs to continue. Secretary perdue, the Trump Administration, are cognizant of that and see as having significant advantages in the United States. We need to keep channels open. Vonnie do you have specific conversations with the president . Erik with his administration. We support open, fair trade around the world. Vonnie our thanks. That is erik fyrwald, ceo of syngenta. We willming right up, see you in court. The u. S. Justice department sues to block at ts plan megadeal with time warner. This is bloomberg. Live from london, i am mark barton. Vonnie in new york, i am vonnie quinn. This is bloomberg markets. Filed aice department lawsuit to block at ts takeover of time warner. Sparked decision that accusations of meddling. At t ceo sharply criticized the decision. There has been a lot of reporting and speculation whether this is all about cnn. Frankly, i do not know. But nobody should be surprised that the question keeps coming up. Because we witnessed such an abrupt change in the application of antitrust law here. The bottom line is we cannot, and we will not, be party to any agreement that would even give the perception of compromise in the First Amendment protections of the press. Any agreement that result in is forfeiting control of cnn, whether directly or indirectly, is a nonstarter. Vonnie he seems to know what it is all about. Joining us now is it all the, antitrust lawyer is david , antitrust lawyer. He has represented several groups that objected to the comcastnbc merger. First of all, we now have the name of the judge that will preside over this time warnerat t case. District court judge christopher cooper, appointed in 2014 by president obama. Ask you, you have worked on deals with time warner, but you also represent consumer groups. Who is to say that Randall Stephenson is right here and this is something that is politically motivated . That thise the case is just not right for the u. S. Consumer . David the Justice Department demonstrate in the court of law that consumers will be harmed. The question is will consumers at the end of the day be harmed. The doj has a very daunting battle ahead of them. The law they are relying on is over a halfcentury old. It reminds you of the movie back to the future. You will need a time machine to go back to that law. Most courts will be very skeptical about relying on lost that old and the factual predicates for this case. Vonnie what is a vertical merger something we should not be terrified of when it comes to district readers and makers of content . After all, the Program Access rules that would have allowed consumers a voice here, they sunsetted back in 2009. David that is the point. What evidence is there that there has been the kind of exclusionary conduct the Justice Department is raising concerns about . Merger case is really tough judges do not like to predict the future. The Justice Department is trying to a judge to predict this merger will be anticompetitive, when there is paltry at best evidence that firms have engaged in this kind of conduct in the past. That will make the department of justices case released half thats really tough. Really tough. Vonnie how does Randall Stephenson defend the fact that comcast objected that the comcast universalnbc merger, that they objected at the time . On the factsbased presented. If you look at how competition has changed dramatically since comcastnbc, how programmers have so many more avenues to the market than they did five years ago, it strongly suggest that doj has taken a snap shot at competition. They are looking at one moment and not looking out what will happen in the future. That future shows that there are numerous alternatives for programmers, for distributors, to be able to offer their products and serve consumers, regardless of this merger. Vonnie at t could potentially use this to strike exclusive deals or prohibitive deals for the u. S. Consumer. Cant the doj lawyer or team of lawyers argue that . Will. They certainly but a judge, who will ultimately make a decision the judge will look at the economics and the past history. And whether that clearly suggests, clearly demonstrates, that at t can engage in this kind of conduct. On both those grounds, the doj case is weak. Vonnie the dojs executive council says he had to go back to the nixon Prime Minister should to show the last time blocking a vertical merger was excess well. I want to go to the fcc david generally, antitrust law looks at vertical arrangements dramatically differently than 50 years ago. Even if the judge can find that law deep in the basement, the judge will not rely on that much. As technet neutrality, the fcc chairman has some strong getments about as to neutrality, the fcc chairman has strong arguments, and they deserve consideration. Vonnie thank you, david balto. Mark breaking news out of zimbabwe. Mugabemicawber robert resigning as president. Nationalg zimbabwe african Patriotic Front said it would work with the opposition to ensure it has the votes in parliament to oust mugabe. Today, lawmakers were expected to improve this impeachment and appoint an eye number committee to determine whether he violated the constitution. Impeachment proceedings were set to be underway today. It seems to have come to a head. Themove against mugabe climax of the power struggle in the ruling party in the latest days and weeks. Robert mugabe resigning as zimbabwes president. This is bloomberg. Vonnie breaking news. Zimbabwe president robert moog out of it has resigned, according to the speaker of Parliament Robert mugabe has according to the speaker of the parliament. We go now to johannesburg. It was a few days coming. We thought he would resign over the weekend. He did not. Suddenly, now, it has happened. Proceedings did not follow the script. Sunday, we expect him to announce his complete the office ofom the president , but it was only a matter of time. A lot of people said it was only a matter of time before that happened. The next in line seems to be his Vice President , before he was sacked. Steamed over into what happened now, as we saw in the case of the military apparently taking some hold of government and enforcing what it coup. Be a clue it is official now. Robert mugabe stepping down as president. Mark what does this mean for the economy, does this represent hope for the future of zimbabwe s economy . Arabile it would seem so, but thes remember that replacement was at the side of Robert Mugabe for at least 50 years. Emerson is actually called the crocodile and rules in such a manner. He was responsible for quite a lot of infighting and wars within zimbabwe and a lot of the deaths in killing the happened as well. The question is whether he is not the same thing as his predecessor. Hopes are, right now, that they have gotten one battle won, and now, it is time to have a fresh start. Only time will tell. Vonnie impeachment proceedings could last only three or four days, according to certain experts. So what happens to the market . Since this all kicked off. Arabile the news will fit some sort of confidence and self. Of Emmerson Mnangagwa could move the market. But just the news that nyga mugabe has stepped down itself could create confidence. What happens from there on will be a big question. It will all rely on the succession plan. Mark arabile gumede, our african reporter for bloomberg in johannesburg. Coming up, we are following stocks. S than four minutes away 34 minutes away until the end of the session. Lets have a quick peek at the stoxx europe 600. Up for a third day in four. It was on a losing run yesterday of just two days and 10. The stoxx 600 rising, as is the ftse 100 and the dax. This is bloomberg. Mark it is 11 00 a. M. In new york, 4 00 p. M. In london, and midnight in hong kong. In london, i am mark barton. Quinn. I am vonnie this is the european close. Mark here are the top stories we are covering from the bloomberg and around the world. Angela merkel has a message for her rivals, telling them to back up or face new elections. We are live as merkel faces one of her biggest hurdles after 12 years in power. Stocks are shrugging off on 13 germany as the stoxx 600 hours higher today. The ecb is set to stand down on any major changes in Monetary Policy next year. There are new concerns about the safety of cryptocurrencies. The company that supports that , we will look into how save these Virtual Currencies really are. Have a look at