1 . The nasdaq, the tech heavy sector is making gains as well, perhaps having it turning positive for the first day in five. It will be interesting to see what happens with the nasdaq. Take a look at what is happening with the utilities. Those are outperforming, up about 2. 3 . Those are usually positively correlated with rates falling today. You are seeing utilities also gain. Lets jump into utilities a little more here. We are focused mostly on pinnacle west, about 4. 4 . They reported earnings today, and midpoint earnings per share of you did beat analyst estimates. They see tax reform as positive and are looking for about 1. 2 42019 and cap ex 2020. Investors are happy about that. We want to look at some of the semiconductors, because the Semiconductor Index is also outperforming here. Up about 1. 4 . Amd, downs are on about 1. 5 , but an analyst came out today and said he likes amd accelerating trends and growth both in pc gaming and cryptocurrencies should benefit the stock. Secular, not cyclic cyclical. Those were his words. I want to end on a macro note, talk about the dollar. The dollar is up for its third week in for. The lefte white, on access and white, we have in white, we have the government yields. Higher yields draw in some capital inflows, that usually appreciates the currency. That is something we are seeing over the past few weeks or so, julia. Julia thank you very much, taylor. In a few moments time, President Trump of australia, malcolm turnbull, are scheduled to hold a press conference from the east room of the white house. We are showing new life pictures there. To our reporter, who is in the room and waiting that press conference. Great to have you with us. You can take your pick up the hot button topics these men have to discuss, whether it is the peninsula, their relationship with china, but lets start with the relationship between these two men, which started on a difficult foot. It started with an immigration dispute, the issue of refugees that had been worked out in the obama admin a stray should administration. That breach has been patched up. Officials from both countries have described the relationship between the president and the Prime Minister as perhaps as close as any of the u. S. Western allies. Good guidance and it have were allied countries to talk to President Trump about things you arent that are important to him. The president is on his way in now, and it does give them a good starting point, and issues have now been resolved. Both countries have said. Lisa margaret, what are you expecting to get out of this press conference . Is it going to be a dog and pony show for them, and they are coming out. We will bring you their comments as we get them, but is it for them to demonstrate the strength of their relationship and open up to questions that will be directed at President Trump regarding his speech earlier today at cpac, or do we expect something more meaningful out of this press conference . Show of i do expect a unity, military unity and talking about the economy and trade from both of these leaders. The domestic concerns over everything, from gun control to russia, is likely to overwhelm the conversation today. Julia we are seeing life pictures of Vice President mike pence sitting down, and Melania Trump entering the room now. The president will be arriving any second. What about the korean situation . The u. S. Eard from administration, announcing further sanctions on north korea. How does that play into the relationship between australia and the United States . Margaret we have the president now. President trump thank you very much, thank you. Today i am honored to welcome my friend, Prime Minister turnbull ,f australia, and mrs. Turnbull think you very much. It is a great honor. We are looking to send our newly ambassador there shortly. You will find he is a great man. We want to thank the Prime Minister for offering his condolences for the horrible tragedy in parkland, florida. Americans are grateful for the prayers and support of our australian friends, and friends they are. As our entire nation grieves the senseless loss of 17 precious lives and all of the horribly the United States and australia are currently honoring ship, a term mate you use very beautifully, mr. Prime minister. A century has passed since brave americans and australians first. Ought together in world war i over the last 100 years, our as aership has thrived work of freedom, security, and democracy. Last spring, the Prime Minister and i celebrated the remarkable 100 year milestone during an extraordinary evening on the uss gregpid, and my friend norman and Anthony Pratt and some of the others who are in folks today, hello stand up, greg, stand up, anthony. Where is anthony . That was a great evening, thank you. Thatpleased to announce the use United States will 30ombat ship 32 the as two the uss timbre. Our secretary of the navy has chosen australian minister of to bee Maurice Payne her sponsor. Will behe uss canberra a worthy successor to both her australian namesake and her american predecessor, the former Navy Baltimore class heavy cruiser uss canberra. As she sails the open sea, the new uss canberra will symbolize to all who cross her path the enduring friendship between the United States and australia. There is no closer friendship. By ourstrengthened common values and history, we are working together to promote our mutual interest. I want to thank Prime Minister for serving as a strong voice for peace and stability across the entire indopacific region. Australia is one of our closest partners in our campaign of mass among pressure maximum pressure to denuclearize the korean peninsula. Today, we put the strongest sanctions on korea that we have ever put on a country. We must continue to stand together to prevent the brutal dictatorship from threatening the world with nuclear devastation. Share a commitment to keeping our people safe from terrorism. Australian troops are currently serving alongside americans and our partners in afghanistan and the coalition to defeat isis. Together, we are denying terrorists safe haven, cutting off their funding, and discrediting their wicked ideology. Isis land has been largely recaptured, almost 100 . I am very honored to say. And they are on the run. Our Strong Partnership can also only beast can also be seen in our flourishing economic relationship. Australia remains a key market for u. S. Defense product. We make the greatest products in the world, so you have very good taste in choosing our products. , and oures, aircraft reciprocal trading relationship as a model for other countries as we seek bilateral agreements. News that america is open for business has also reached australian shores. In may, australian entrepreneur a 2ny pratt announced billion investment in box making factories across the United States, but he only did that if trump won the election, i think. Is that a correct statement, anthony . Thank you. Was a close one, anthony. These people would have had a field day if you gave the wrong answer. Anthony said if you win the said we will spend billions of dollars in the United States. Thank you, anthony. I will never do that again. [laughter] President Trump this investment alongsidenue to build 100,000 american jobs that are taking place and supported by australian companies. I am glad to share that the united date is also, by far, the largest investor in australia. In the room today are a dozen american and Australian Business whoers and great athletes are working together to identify further opportunities for bilateral investment and cooperation in. Deaf operation. Mr. Prime minister, i want to take the opportunity to congratulate you on your Immigration Reforms operation cooperation. Mr. Prime minister, i want to take the opportunity to youratulate you on Immigration Reforms. Meritbased, we want to do meritbased immigration also. We will. That protects the interests of australia and its people. It is the way to go, and you have been very successful with it. Here, we are working hard to do the same. In that sense, we will hopefully follow in your footprints. Prime minister turnbull, it has been a pleasure to host you today, and we had a great lunch with your representatives. A lot of deals were made, a lot for the sale of military equipment and other things. For a century now, the people of United States and australia have inspired the world with their determination, bravery, and generosity. I know that our close friendship and enduring alliance, and our personal friendship will grow Even Stronger in the century to come. Our relationship with australia will always be a very powerful and very successful relationship. It is incredible and it is only getting better. Thank you very much. [applause] thankminister turnbull you, mr. President , thank you so much. Lucy and i want to thank you and first lady Melania Trump for your warm welcome, generous hospitality, and friendship. Our meeting today was a great opportunity to strengthen and deepen our engagement with the United States. You are our most important strategic and economic partner, and to lay the groundwork for a new phase of intensified cooperation, the next 100 years of mateship. Here, as you noted, with the most substantial australian delegation ever to travel to washington, d. C. In addition to the ceos, several of whom you have identified here today, who are busy creating jobs. We spent much of our time today talking about jobs. They are creating jobs in australia and in the United States, demonstrating that our to great nations committed competition, freedom, Economic Immigration economic innovation, science, and together, working complementing each other, and that is why we are seeing strong jobs growth in both countries. We have 4003000 jobs created year 4003000 jobs 403,000 jobs created last year. And i am pleased to see your success in securing the tax reforms in congress. We have secured some tax reforms in terms of reducing company tax, but not as much as we need to do. Do. Ave more work to the stimulus, the economic stimulus that your reforms have delivered here in the united date United States is one of the most powerful arguments we are deploying to persuade our legislature to support reducing business tax, because, as you were demonstrating and as we all know, when you cut company tax, most of the benefit goes to workers. It produces more investment and when you get more investment, you get more jobs. I am also joined on this visit with six of the leaders of our states and territories. The only two that are not here are those that are fighting elections. So that is always a top priority. We are meeting at the National Governors association again, broadening and deepening our relationship. Huge amount to work with. Our relationship, as you said, has been forged over a century through times of war and peace. Securing both our nations freedom and security securing dom andr nations Free Security in the world. We have the same values. We share a deep well of trust and spirit based on those enduring values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, enterprise, and genuity and uity. Nuity ingen work out, pick yourself up and dust yourself off. That is a core american and australian value. The spirit of enterprises what leads us on enterprise is what leads us on. The people to people and family links, and the extensive Economic Cooperation we have spoken about. Is ascurity Alliance Close as it possibly could be, yet it keeps getting closer. The cooperation is more intense than it has ever been, whether we are standing up for freedoms call in the middle east and our region, around the world combating terrorism. The cooperation in a connected world we need to have is greater than ever, and that trust between australia and the United States, between the thousands of brave servicemen and women who are working together right now, that trust underpins our security. You mentioned, mr. President , our economic relationship and trade. Since the australiau. S. Free trade agreement came into force in 2005, twoway trade has grown by over 50 . The United States does have a trade surplus with australia of 25 billion. It is your thirdlargest trade surplus with us. We know it works for both of us. The twoway investment has more than doubled in the past decade. It was worth around 1. 1 trillion in 2016. Again, boosting jobs and growth both of ournations, economies. Today, we have agreed on some new initiatives that will deepen this relationship further. We are seeking to expand transparent and competitive Global Energy markets, cooperating on highquality Infrastructure Investment in the United States and in the region. We have spent a lot of time talking about infrastructure, including urban infrastructure a subject mr. President , of course, you have lifetimes of experience in. The leadership you are showing on infrastructure in the united being admired around the world and an australian and in australian companies. The australian experience is here to help, and a number of our infrastructure players are active in the u. S. We are looking to intensify our andational digital trade, our trade ministers have made terrific progress in that regard. To security. Yesterday, lucy and i were with general dunford at the Arlington National cemetery. Dead,ored americas war we honored in Australian Airmen an Australian Air man who had died in new guinea in the Second World War and was buried in arlington also. And we were reminded that all the freedoms we enjoy, whether it is in our parliament in canberra or here in the white house, or in congress, all of those freedoms have had to be secured generation after generation by courageous men and women to rating freedoms course by courageous men and women defending freedoms course. As americans and australians know, each of us have no better ally. We are mates, 100 years of mateship. Toare working together address the greatest threat to our region right now, north koreas Illegal Nuclear weapons program. I want to welcome and, of course, support mr. President support, mr. President , the new sanctions announced today. We also do that with our own sanctions, and enforcing the un security councilmandated sanctions. We are working to combat terrorism around the world, helping the iraqis and the afghans build up the resilience to hold their country secure in the face of terrorists, and we both recognize that the prosperity of our region, and indeed the world, has been underpinned and built on a foundation of a rulesbased order, which has been secured by the leadership of the United States ever since the Second World War. That leadership has been critical, and the commitment you show, mr. President , when you came out to the region, to the stage a summit, to aipac the east asia summit, to aipac last year, that commitment was important. It spoke volumes for americas continued commitment to our region, our part of the world, to the indopacific. So vital. The engine room, if you like, of the fastest Economic Growth, the most rapid Economic Growth that we have seen in our times. Now, mr. President , i want to thank you, as i have earlier in our meetings. I want to thank you for the very rare honor you have shown to australia by naming one of your future combat ships, the uss canberra. What a great symbol of our alliance and our shared security endeavors. What an extraordinary statement of commitment. And it is worth observing that int ship will be built mobile, alabama, so you have an Australian Company with american workers, working, operating in the United States, building ships for the u. S. Navy. What a great example of 100 years of mateship. And when you grieve, as you said, you noted at the outset, so do we. We send our love, our prayers, and our condolences to all of the victims and their families of the shocking shooting in the school in florida. We are mates, we stand by each other, and when we are hurt, we are hurt as well. Mr. President , thank you for your warm welcome. 100 years of mateship, we celebrate 100 years ago on july 4. A general let american under australian troops into battle for the first time. We have been sidebyside ever sense american and australian troops into battle for the first time. We have been sidebyside ever sense, and have 100 more years to look forward to closer than ever. Thank you very much. [applause] President Trump thank you very much, malcolm. Were very beautiful words, and we appreciate it. On behalf of the first lady, who is right here, and our great Vice President , mike, it is an honor to have you. We will answer a couple of questions, is that ok . Trey, go ahead. Thank you, mr. President. I have a couple of questions for you. President trump how about one . Go ahead. We will compromise that too. Compromise at two. With many Mass Shootings, there is much talk and little action. So what legislative framework will you propose to lawmakers after the parkland shooting . President trump we will be strong on background checks. With manyken senators, congressmen and congresswoman, and there is a movement to get something done. We want to be powerful on background checks. When we are dealing with the mentally ill, as we were this last case, he was a very sick person, and somebody that should have been nabbed. 39 different occasions where they could have potentially seen him. We want to be strong on background checks, especially as pertains to the mentally ill. We are going to get rid of the bump stocks, and do certain other things. Have,e of the feelings i and you heard me in a speech this morning, a very, very important that we have offensive capabilities as well as defensive capability in the school. When you have a gun free zone, you are inviting people to come in and do whatever you have to do and oftentimes, get out. I was the one that brought up the fact that these shootings, on average, last three minutes, and it takes anywhere from 610 minutes for the police to get there, to the site. I want to have people in the building. In many cases, you have x marines, ex army and navy and coast guard, you have them in the building, and they can have concealed weapons and still be teachers, or they can be in the building in a different capacity. We have to have offensive capability to take these people out rapidly before we can do they can do this kind of damage. We will be putting in Strong Language having to do with the background checks. That will take place very quickly. I spoke with paul ryan this morning, mitch mcconnell, and people are looking to really energy is energized. This has been going on for a long time, many, many years. You have people in my position, and they would mention things but not a lot of things got done, obviously. We take it very seriously. We want to put an end to it. And, by the way, the bad guy thinks that somebody in this room with a weapon is going to be pointed at him with live bullets, he is not going into the school. That is the one way you are going to solve it. You are not going to solve it with gun free spaces, because they will get in there and be the only one with a gun. We need offensive capability, and we will be doing something about it. We are dealing with congress right now, thank you. Amid talks of Arming Teachers and mental health, what specific commitments to American Students that can you make that these policies will make them safer . President trump they are going to make them safer, and the problem over the past 20 years is that people have talked you said it, it is all talk and no action, and we are going to take action. The fact that you have some capability within a school they are not going to go into that school, they are not going to do it. Lets see what happens with airplanes, when you put marshals on plays with guns and pilots have guns. Nothing has happened for a long period of time, when it was getting to the point of being routine. When you have somebody with a gun staring you down, it is going to be a lot different for them to walk into those schools. Ign, look out at the s this is a gun free environment. They are the only one with a gun. The damage this lunatic did in that school for such a long period of time, and frankly, you had a gun. He was outside as a guard and he decided not to go in. That was not his finest moment, as i can tell you. He waited and did not want to go into the school. I heard this senate is a terrible situation. And it is as terrible situation. It is not going to happen again, because they are basically cowards. In italy, they are cowards. If know that things happen to them once they given that school , by people that love the children. See, a Security Guard does not know or love the children. Outside thending school he other day does not love the children, does not know the children. The teachers love their children, they love their pupils. They love their students. They are doing it from love. They have to be very adept. I am not talking about every teacher, but a small percentage. People who have great ability with weaponry, with guns. Those are the only people i am talking about. They will protect the students. For the Prime Minister . Thank you mr. Prime minister for joining us in washington. Australia is known for helping the Syrian People and syrian refugees, so i ask you today as the world watches, what steps can australia take with the help of President Trump and the United States to ensure that civilians are protected in the city . N part of the the Australian Forces have been working together in a quilish and to defeat in a coalition to defeat daesh in syria. The majority of our efforts are concentrated in your rock iraq as opposed to syria. We are training their elite special forces unit and counterterrorism service, and their regular army and police. We have trained over 30,000 personnel at our task force base, at the time the airfield at the airfield near baghdad. In terms of refugees, australia has a very substantial humanitarian program. We are currently taking about 80,000 refugees a year. From inen 12,000 addition to that, from the syrian conflict zone. But we determine we are very security, of course, in terms of our humanitarian program, but i thek it is fair to say that most insight into this area here the president has the most insight into this area here, but the resolution in syria has to be a political settlement. Im sure that is what secretary tillerson is working towards. In syria, as two of the most powerful men in the entire world, is there anything you can do to stop the bloodshed . Prime minister turnbull ultimately, there has to be a political settlement. The campaign to destroy daesh or isil has been largely completed. Reduced to a few pockets. Thats been smashed, and has been americans and australians have worked bravely, effectively with our allies, partners in the region to do that. It is very important, by the way, to keep australians and americans safe at home, because sweeping of isil across syria, iraq, and all across europe, that was a big refuting tool recruiting tool. But ultimately, the settlement in that region has to come from a political settlement among the people who live there. President trump i will say, what russia and iran and what syria have done recently is a humanitarian disgrace. I will tell you that. We are therefore one reason, to get isis and get rid of isis and go home. We are not therefore any other reason, and we have largely, shower bowl largely accomplished our goal. But what those forces have done to those people over the last period of time is a disgrace. Thank you, gentlemen. Region mr. Trump, on the and china and associated issues, the United States navy has conducted frequently freedom of navigation sale through through the disputed areas. Lthroughs through the disputed areas. Would you like to see cooperation from australia, and im also asking what your latest thinking is on the Transpacific Partnership. And orr position stop are you as a softened, or are you as opposed as ever . President Trump Transpacific Partnership was not a good deal with for us, but i like bilateral deals. I like to negotiate with one country. During the termination notice, they call you and say please, lets make a deal. You fix the deal. When you get into multi, you cannot do that. But the tpp was a very bad deal for the United States. It would have caused us jobs,dous amounts of would have been bad. There is a possibility that we will go in, but they will be offering us a better deal. We would love to have australia involved, and australia wants us to stay involved. I have to say, we have developed a great relationship with china, other than the fact they have been killing us in trade over time. St long period of absolutely killing us in trade. But we have developed a great relationship with china, closer than we have ever had. My personal relationship, as malcolm can tell you, with president xi is quite short area. He is someone i like and i think he likes me. But that being said, he likes china and i like the united ace. A lot of things are happening. It will be a very interesting period of time. As much as i like and really respect president xi, we have to straighten out the trade imbalance. Its no good. General matters has called china a revisionist power, and that they are a growing threat from china. Yet you are very positive with your relationship with xi. Is it a friend or a foe . And on north korea, the sanctions if they do not work, our options still on the table . Your answer and the Prime Ministers of course. President trump i think we will have to see. I do not necessarily want to play that card. If the sanctions do not work, we will have to go phase two. It might be a very rough thing, very, very unfortunate for the world. But hopefully the sanctions will work. We have tremendous support around the world for what we are doing. It really is a rogue nation. If we can make a deal, it will be a great thing, but if we cant, something will have to happen. As far as general mattis is concerned, he has that view, and a lot of people have that view. China is tough, they are getting stronger. They are getting stronger, to a large extent, with a lot of the money they have made from having or leadership in the united dates. The united poor leadership in the United States, because the united dates leadership has a lot United States leadership has allowed them to get away with murder. But i think we can have a great trading relationship with china. Hopefully the relationship i have with president xi will make that happen. Thank you. Prime minister turnbull i can confirm that President Trump and see t xi ci tie in eye to eye and every aspect. It is quite clear in the meetings we have attended, the east asia summit, aipac. The respect they have for each other, i think it is the single most important relationship between china and the United States. It is very respectful, very frank, very clear eyed. For our own part, we see chinas ase as being overwhelmingly positive for the region and for the world. The critical thing, of course, is that the rule of law is maintained. There are people that want to try to paint the United States and its allies like australia as being against china in some sort of rerun of the cold war. That is not appropriate, it is not accurate. Thatwe need to ensure is the rules of the road, the ruse of the rules of law, the rulesbased system, where these countries cannot push around where you doies, not have a world where the big fish in the little fish and the tle fish in the shrimps eat the little fish and the little fish eat the shrimps. Enablesbeen what millions of people in our region, including china, to be lifted out of poverty. Maintaining the rulesbased order is what we are committed to, and we all have a vested interest in doing so. I want to say again, to the presence, his own personal presence in our region at the end of last year has sent such a powerful message. The regular visits by secretary tillerson, matches, and the presence of the United States navy and so many other manifestations of american commitment to the region has been so important to maintaining that rulesbased order. Believe me, that has been the foundation of the success, the prosperity, and the security. For the past 40 or more years. President trump i do not think we have ever had a better relationship with china than we do right now. The only thing that can get in his way is trade. Lopsided,nesided, so and the people that have stood here for many years in this position, right where i am right now, should never have allowed that to happen. It is very unfair to the United States and very unfair to the workers of the United States. Very, very unfair. Even today, it is extremely hard on companies that want to do business in china, because the barriers are incredible. The barriers coming into our ,ountry are foolishly not foolishly. I believe in reciprocal trade. If they do something to us, we do something to them. That never happened. It has gotten worse and worse over the years, but we will correct it. Get is the leading that can in the way of a truly longterm, great relationship. Because we have all the ingredients for our friendship. From the washington examiner, gabby . Thank you, mr. President. Your chief of staff general kelly has recommended ending the practice of granting interim security parents is to members of the Trump Administration. If that proceeds, would you be willing to grant a waiver to Jared Kushner, one of your senior advisers . President trump gerrit has done an outstanding job. He has been treated very unfairly. He is an outstanding person. 0 he does not get a salary, nor does it on the, a, who is innk south korea representing her country. We cannot get a better representative. In fact, the first lady, melania, with telling me what a great First Impression she made when she landed in south korea. Jarrett has been truly outstanding. He was very successful when he was in the private sector. He is working on peace in the middle east and some other small and very easy deals. The middle east, between the palestinians and israel is the toughest deal of any deal there is. Have heard this all my life as a former dealmaker, and although now i am more than a deal more of a dealmaker than ever before, you have no choice but to do this right. The hardest deal to make of any kind is between the israelis and the palestinians. We are actually making great headway. Jerusalem was the right thing to do. We took that off the table. But Jared Kushner is right in the middle of that, and he is an extraordinary dealmaker. Be andoes that, that will incredible compliment and a very important thing for our country. General kelly is doing a terrific job, by the way. He is right in the middle of that. We inherited a system that is broken, a system where many people have taken months and months and months to get many people that do not have a , complicatedcial financials. They do not have that, and it has taken months. It is a broken system, and it should not take this long. Do you know how many people are on that list . People with not a problem in the world. That will be up to general kelly. He respects jerod a lot, and i will not make that call. I will let the general, who is right here, make that call. Gerrit is doing some very important things for our country. He gets paid zero. Ivanka gets paid zero. She gave up a strong, solid big business to come to washington, because she wanted to help families and to help women. She said dad, i want to go to washington and help women. I said you know, washington is a mean place. She said i dont care. I want to help women and help families, and she was very much involved in the child tax credit. Now she is working on family leave, things that i do not think would have been in the agreement if it were not for great, and some of our senators, etc. , but she was at the forefront of that. I will let general kelly make that decision, and he will do what is right for the country. I have no doubt he will make the right decision. Thank you very much. Prime minister, your country conducted a Buyback Program of semi automatic weapons back in the mid90s mid1990s, and has not had a mass shooting ever since. Is this something you discussed with President Trump, and did you urge him to reconsider his current recommendations to combat Mass Shootings and the united dates . In the United States . Our history with gun control and regulation is very different to the united dates. You are right United States. You are right. There was a mass shooting and has mania in 1996, and my indecessor in tasmania 1996, and my predecessor undertook some very big reforms. Basically, semi automatic and let alone automatic weapons are essentially not available. Indeed, there are many classes. The range of firearms that are available to people that do not have a specific professional need, like people who are involved in pest control and so forth, are very, very limited. It is a completely different context, historically, legally, and so forth. We are very satisfied with our laws. We maintain them, they are there, they are well known, you have referred to them, but we do not presume to provide policy or political advice on that matter here. You have an amendment to your constitution which deals with gun ownership, you have a very, very different history. I will focus on our own political arguments and debates, and wish you wise deliberation in your own. President trump i have to add to that, they are very Different Countries with very different that the problems sets of problems. But i think we are well on the way to solving that horrible problem that happens far too often in the United States. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Mr. Prime minister, thank you very much. [applause] that was President Trump, speaking alongside the us trillion Prime Minister the australian Prime Minister malcolm turnbull. We can give you a quick rundown of what was a wideranging conversation, the statements and the press conference. The Security Alliance between the two countries has never been stronger, the most strategic and economically important partner, according to Prime Minister turnbull, talking about the united date. They stand by the United States as far as sanctions on north korea is concerned. A definite rapport between these starteders from what off as an awkward phone call, by all reports. The ties in terms of the economics are importance here, and this mutual confidence we are given. The immigration, the meritbased thatration system as well the president mentioned as far as australia was concerned. We are trying to get our own reporter ready. Is she there . Margaret, your thoughts on what i mentioned was a wideranging press conference there. Rapport being built between the two leaders . Margaret it was certainly wideranging. I think you could see how close the ties were between the Prime Minister, moved on behalf of his tontry, the u. S. Decision name that ship after canberra, and the partnership in two countries between the countries in building them. But the president still said the tpp is a bad deal for the u. S. , not under the current terms. Youo the conversation also saw the conversation turning quickly to domestic issues, one on gun control. The president saying he supports of increasing background checks, and that is what he will push for, talk to the house and Senate Republican leaders. At the same time, saying there needs to be an offensive capability as well, still promoting this idea of Arming Teachers in public schools. Right now, we are waiting to see what emerges. Together,ng the two if he tying the two together, one must go with the other, or is he throwing them both out there . And then asked about Jared Kushner, his soninlaw, and the issues of the interim security clearance. Asked woody step in to get his soninlaw clearance asks would he step in to get his soninlaw clearance if general john kelly did not . After a lot of praise about his soninlaw, he drew a line and said that would be up to general kelly. If you call that some rhetorical interference, so be it. He seems to be saying he will defer to general kelly on this. Julia and that jared and ivanka work for free. Lisa i want to turn to that point when turnbull was asked about the gun Buyback Program, because he was trying to thread a needle. What do you make of that . Margaret australia did, in recent years, have this gun Buyback Program. As he knowledge, it has been tremendous as he acknowledged, this has been tremendously successful in taking assault style weapons off the street and making them unavailable. But he was quick to say the circumstances, both culturally and situationally in the two countries are very different, because so we will stick to our issues and let the u. S. Stick to theirs. President trump quickly jumped in and said yes, they are very Different Countries. He is not writing their treading there, and he is not doing it in a way that would embarrass President Trump or go against with what he go against what he is pursuing. It seems they do not want to get involved in american gun politics at this time. Julia delicately handled is the takeaway there. Margaret, thank you for that. Up next, we will break you want breaking we will update you rick gates news as changes his plea to guilty. From new york, this is bloomberg. Julia back to that breaking news on Robert Muellers investigation, President Trumps Campaign Aide rick eight has changed his way to guilty rick gates has changed his plea to guilty. Clearly a tough decision for rick gates here. Why plead guilty at this moment . With the charges yesterday and really serious charges of tok fraud that are difficult defend against, because they have documents. He was facing pretty much the rest of his life in jail. I think the charges yesterday just increased the pressure on the guy, and it looks like he got a good deal. Much better. Good deal, which means he is cooperating with mueller and a lot of people are this as mueller trying to ramp up the pressure on Paul Manafort, who pleaded not guilty to his charges. What are they trying to get out of manafort they do not have yet . Reg lets not overlook gates. Manaforts righthand man for over a decade and knows a lot. Manafort is a more important target formal are, but gates knows more. Target for mueller, but gates knows more. Lisa but why is he crucial to the investigation . His dealings in the ukraine and with ukrainian and russian oligarchs, he is considered the main pipeline that would have connected people in moscow to people over here, what have most likely that would have most likely come through manafort. Julia gates remained on the campaign after Paul Manafort left as well. There was a period of time when he was alone without Paul Manafort. Greg and he was in the white house on and off until his the quarter last year. He has a different type of window into the Trump Administration that manafort stopped having. Lisa but at this level in the investigation, mueller is trying to get some pressure on manafort. S that imply that do not that they do not have anything on the pipeline in respect to collusion at this point . I would not assume that. What we have seen since october in the last few actions, whatever they see, they act on. They were able to move quickly on the original indictment in october, they were able to build up Different Cases in different areas. This was an ongoing enterprise. Events,he sequencing of does this make sense if you are building a case, strengthening your case, leveraging up pressure to get to a final point, which is a decision, ultimately, whether or not there was collusion over the u. S. Election with the russians . Clearly, muellers first actions in october against these two guys was criticized because it had nothing to do with that. However, now it seems clear that they believe there was more there and it is being hidden. If you notice, in todays pleadsg, what gates guilty to is a small conversation with a congressman when the subject of ukrainian sanctions came up. Clearly, this all builds to that narrative of their connected of a being connected politically to what the kremlin wants. Lisa coming up, the sbience present avaiance president and cio discusses testimony next week to congress. We will have that from new york. This is bloomberg. Retail. Under pressure like never before. And its connected technology thats moving companies forward fast. Ecommerce. Real time inventory. Virtual changing rooms. Thats why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent Network Speed across multiple locations. Every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. Leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. Comcast business outmaneuver. Show me the olympic winter games leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. Like ive never seen before. Xfinity x1, yeah, i always know the scor. Triple corks in 4k. Lookin so sick. Stream live on every screen, every win, every trick. 2000 hours of coverage, get your mind blown. 50 olympic channels, yup, youre in the zone. And if theres something that you want to see, pick up that voice remote and just say show me. Experience nbcuniversals coverage of the olympic winter games like never before with xfinity. Proud partner of team usa. Julia is 3 p. M. In new york and 8 00 in london. Lisa welcome to bloomberg markets. Julia we are live in bloomberg World Headquarters in new york over the next hour. Here are the top stories were covering on the bloomberg and around the world. Rick gates pleads guilty. We are live in washington dc as Robert Mueller has another victory. Trump takes aim and north korea, in his press tpp, conference with australias Prime Minister. Another hour from the close, lets get a check on markets. Are we in the green . We certainly are, rally mode for the averages, higher by 1 or more. The nasdaq leading the way up 1. 4 . The buyers in control, and what makes this interesting, over the last four days we have seen days where the markets have been strong in the morning into the afternoon, and then seeded into the last number last hour. , fade, strength, fade. Right now, just strength. Lets see if it holds on. Many are saying this has to do s. Th out goes algo this is been a source of the volatility. Down one point five basis points 1. 5 basis points. Bonds have been lower and yields traded higher pressuring stocks. The repricing of risk. Trading lower now on the 10 year yield giving us this late day yield up in stocks. , if we hop back into the bloomberg and look at btv 6805, we see small weekly moves for the s p 500, and then this year big gains in january, big selloff at the beginning of february. Very small move. We see the nasdaq is higher him s p 500 just order to trade higher. We have less than 2000 and the dow down ever so slightly. Lets take a look at the shares of nordstrom on the day. Nordstrom trading higher by 6. 5 . This on the news that the Nordstrom Family is said to be finalizing a plan to submit an offer to take the Company Private, but we have heard this many times in the past. It will be interesting to see when it happens, if it happens, but investors taking it seriously with shares of nordstrom spiking higher. Bloombergs get the first word news with Mark Crumpton. I boomer trump Campaign Aide tok gates plug guilty federal conspiracy and false statement charges. Gates said he was not guilty in october when he was first indicted by Robert Mueller. Mueller continues to probe the Trump Administration russian longerence and gates time business associate, Paul Manafort. Rick scott proposed a tightening s gun lawste following the killings of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman douglas high school. We will require all individuals to be 21 years old or older. Let me repeat. We will require all individuals purchasing firearms to be 21 years old or older. There will be exceptions for active duty, reserve military, and spouses. National guard members come and lawenforcement. Mark he also called for a trained lawenforcement officer at every school for every 1000 2018nts by the time the school year begins. Chuck schumer issued a statement warning adverts to curb gun violence will fizzle in the same way bipartisan Immigration Reform has. Schumer statement says in part President Trumps refusal to take yes for an answer on daca led to his partisan plan that only got 39 votes. Now he is headed in the same direction on gun safety. If he continues down this path is calls for bipartisanship will ring hollow. Wouldent trump said he consider rejoining the Transpacific Partnership if the u. S. Could negotiate more favorable terms. President rate his comments at the white house during a joint News Conference with the president. He pointed to a packed with australia as an example. It as a model for other countries. Withl news 24 hours a day 2700 journalists and analysts in 120 countries. I Mark Crumpton. This is bloomberg. Julia . To lets get back great to have you with us. I want to talk to you about the conversations you are having with clients. This crossover trade you are talking about, through yield on 10 year treasuries them of the relative trade here between common stock. Yes. The surprises i think you will see that individuals, particularly between 55 and 85, are uncomfortable with equities. Once you get yields up high enough the surprise will be not that it will continue on, but they will cross back over to fixed income. I think that is a little way off , 3. 25 , three and a half percent, but when it does that is a big surprise and it will make it higher for equities to show the performance they did in 2017. Was a story out of jpmorgan that was fascinating. Saying the short interest, which has climbed to record levels on u. S. Government bonds has gotten so high investors at this point are risking a short squeeze. What is your take on that command what is the likelihood we will see treasury yields decline from here . Are a the Interest Rates three it it three sided story. The other side of it which will reward the shorts is internationally. It is a global market. Japan at five basis points. Know, that trade is going on left and right. Insurance companies are trying to asset liability match. Much higher yield, the spread is huge. I think this there will be an insatiable demand until we see quantitative easing gone in europe. Rates will gohat well. In the meantime i agree, the shorts could be right on this one. Lisa are you advising clients to buy longerterm treasuries or even mediumterm treasuries . Chris not yet. We are taking the tactic, play this inflation. Start buying commodities. Everyone has hated them were 10 years, and you get paid while you wait. Julia what kind of things are you talking about . Hairy on. Chris indeed. 5 plus yield, rio tinto, 6 yield, these are stocks where surpluses are gone, and you seaworld growth and demand starting to come back and a big way. Those are great. Freeport mcnamara and come all of those Companies Make sense, even the energy area, which got whacked a bit yesterday recently. Realnk there is opportunity to go into that. Everybody has disliked them for 10 years. That is the right time to have longerterm play in those. Lisa what about emerging markets . Chris emerging markets, still it is harder about emerging markets are showing real growth, and you need to know own a little bit of emergingmarket debt. Instead of having trouble they are beginning to service in the correct way. That is one area of debt that looks good. Julia what we have seen is volatility and a more volatile environment. Do you think we continue to see that in 2018, to go back to where we started, how do you make sure you have the benefit of appreciation go forward if we see a . Chris the way to play it is to rotate into those areas that are cheaper. It is wonderful to have the google and netflix and facebook, but it is time to take some of that off of the table. That is the most all agility. Those stocks get hurt the most. It is best to rotate in the areas where you are getting great dividend yields. Verizon, at t, those are areas i think will reward you as you see the year go on. Lisa one big question that many have is when are investors going to start going to ultrashort term u. S. Government debt, looking at the one year Treasury Bill . Yields almost at 2 . Is this attractive to you . Chris very soon. At 1 , as thatot inches up it has become attractive. Coming julia e is. What do you see is the most significant risk . To see more pullback as far as risk is concerned. We are going to see greater volatility. What is the risk here for investors . The big risk . Chris the biggest risk is ,aving High Expectations tampering those expectations to understand equity markets may yeardo seven or 8 this and you are better off with a yield orientation in the fixed income. Areas where you have active management. That assures you to have less well attila the. Less volatility. Lisa thank you, chris bertelsen. We are going to go into the latest on the Robert Mueller investigation. This is bloomberg. Julia this is bloomberg markets. Lisa lets get back to the breaking news. Julia President Trumps Campaign Aide just changed his plea to guilty. Now on the phone, great to have you with us, rumors have swirled for many weeks there was an expectation rick gates would ultimately help in the role mueller investigation. What do you make of the decision to plead guilty . Guilty assorbing the the breaking news happened. His sentence will depend on his cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller. He is cooperating, even though lasts unclear even as of night whether that was happening. Lisa Paul Manafort has reiterated his innocence and said he does not plan on pleading guilty. Why do you think that he is so reluctant to plead given the increasing amount of evidence mueller seems to be gathering against him . It is hard to say. I am not inside Paul Manaforts head. Mountingpoint out the indictments against Paul Manafort and rick gates at this point have to do with their unregistered representation of the former ukrainian strongman, and the amount of money they were paid in that process. It is a fairly important thing. I wrote a column this week about how a lot of what mueller has gone after thus far, he probably has more indictments coming, it enforcementon the as the foreign agents registration act. That is an important thing. If we were to say we are in a new era on this, lots of people, democrats and republicans are going to have to change the way they do business. Julia very interesting. Great to have you with us. Apologize for any sound issues. Lisa time for the Bloomberg Business flash, the biggest stories in the news now. Nordstroms family group finalizing plans to take the Company Private according to reuters. The group met with investment banks last week and is hoping to week withthis investment banks last week. Itserus is ready to give up investment in remington. Will from maine until the end of the year. Bankruptcy. Les for cerberus giving up a company that it had previously planned to sell. A chinese automaker will be the for mercedesparent than 9lued at more billion. It is a little less than 10 of the company. Of billstial repeal targeting Sports Betting in the u. K. , 100 sports books and casinos in nevada. If the Supreme Court ends the ban on bedding william tell would be the best place to capitalize and could be valued dollars. Llion that is your business flash updates. Julia lets give you a look at the u. S. Equities. The nasdaq higher by one and a half percent after a pretty choppy week overall. Session by session we have seen weakness filtering in on a number of occasions, not the case for this, a slight flattening. [laughter] [inaudible] that has been a relief for those Interest Rate sensitive areas. The real outperformance, underperforming despite the financials. Plenty more to come from us. This is bloomberg. This is bloomberg. Julia welcome back to bloomberg markets. Breaking news, dropbox filing for an ipo, it will be listed code. The dbx this is been one of the rumors, that we would see dropbox come to market. Lisa this is a filesharing network, one of the many Tech Startups that has blossomed over the past few years with ample venture capital. There has been a question as to why, why havent they filed for ipos as quickly as other types of companies have in the past . This has been a new focus of the sec chair. We have dropbox filing for an ipo. Should be interesting. And what that means Going Forward for other Tech Companies that might be considering raising capital. Ulia 2017 was lackluster by go public when you can get private money elsewhere, based on the last round of financing, dropbox was valued at 20 billion. It will be interesting to see this. Lisa especially seeing snapped and the volatility in other tech shares. Julia should we get some options insight . Joining us for options insight is jim krueger jim strugger. Happy weekend to you. We have some choppy trading where we see buying early on and selling in the last hour. We are not seeing that now. It is down over the last five days. Seems to be perhaps a driver. Are at a critical point in terms of volatility. There has been some interesting landng, but in equity ball , there is a curve that is going inverted, vix,g futures, that is inverted. We are just making the shift ,ack to being in contango sloping, where spot vix continues to decline that would be rare across the street to have a shock of the magnitude that we have experienced. You move back into contango and shift quickly out of that. That is positive for stocks if what were looking at continues into next week. So we have a good chart of the vix curve to show what you are talking about, in terms of ,ositive for stocks, not always perhaps there has been times were that has not happened, has that happened or would there, if we had a massive selloff, would that be isolated . If spot vix continues to decline and you move into an environment next week where vix futures curve is upward sloping has itudy stake, happened in the past, yes, it is a pretty rare event. 2011. Not 2011. Shocks are usually over, that is good for stocks. What about sector leadership . What are your thoughts there . We want to focus on energy. 12 , if you down look at the major etf, significantly more than that oh high teens, the that looks particularly attractive over this. Energy is a sector we definitely like. There is a lot of negative sentiment when the other strategists and experts have joined various segments i have been a part of, negative sentiment. I know your trade is on the oi8. I8, the most beatendown of those etfs toy point you made reference to to a point you made reference to. Oil has moved up, inventories ane come down, this sets up important structure to think about where you want to be directionally long, risk reversals, where you sell what is put inside volatility. That is what we like in oih. You sell the 21, you buy the 26 for, you do that package . 32. We would not just do it arbitrarily. This, veryctor like nice structure to get directionally long. Thank you so much. Julia a quick check on the markets. Someone was listening to lisa. We are rallying with 30 minutes until the end of the session. ,e are trading at session highs 287, the level the art trading, and some flattening for the individual markets. Plenty more to come on bloomberg. From new york, this is bloomberg. Mark im Mark Crumpton with first word news. Paul manafort is maintaining his innocence after rick gates pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and false statement charges today. Manafort says in a statement not change hises commitment to defend himself over what he calls trumped up charges. Would have the strength to continue to trial. Estimate has regained control of congress, some American Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights could be in jeopardy. The president made his comments in maryland at the annual conservative Political Action conference. They will take away those massive tax cuts and your second amendment. If you had a choice of one, what would you rather have . Second amendment or the tax cuts . Second amendment . S. X cut im going to leave it at the second amendment
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.