Out of congress. Europeanarkets stock markets under a little bit of pressure today, down 0. 5 . The senate bill regarding hong kong seems to have cast a little bit of a shadow over markets today. That is certainly keeping people awake at night as we approach december 15. The pound down earlier on, rallying a bit over the last hour or so, back to flat, 1. 29. Two basis points to the good on the german tenyear. We did see some quite disappointing ppi data out of germany, but i think betray narrative is generally more risk off i think the trade narrative is generally more risk off. Vonnie key testimony underway in the house impeachment inquiry , and major Market Energy a political reaction to a just atsed senate bill aimed supporting protesters in hong kong. We are joined by our chief correspondent on capitol hill. We saw life pictures a moment ago. Im curious as to what kind of reaction there is in washington today from the testimony so far. Surely whats been said doesnt help the republican case, and in fact bolsters the democrats case. President trumps handpicked ambassador to the European Union testifying, saying that there was quid pro quo for arranging a white house visit as it relates to president zelensky of ukraine looking into President Trumps political rival, former Vice President joe biden. He also says that the president instructed him to work closely with his personal attorney, former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, on these issues. Just moments ago, we were also hearing that he has released Text Messages with regards to him being on this exchange as it relates to the strategy with Energy Secretary rick perry, acting chief of staff mick mulvaney, secretary of state mike pompeo. All of this is working in the tive of how thea white house utilized their position with ukraine to look into that investigation. Republicans still sticking with the president. They say the president is not at risk as of now of losing key republican support. Theres a Common Thread being discussed over the past few days, and that is that the president might have acted inappropriately, but that that action does not warrant impeachment. Guy lets turn to what is happening with hong kong. The question the Financial Markets want answered today, how will the president react . Do you have any idea . Kevin i put that same question to a senior aide to senator sponsor on, the lead that hong kong bill, which passed unanimously within the last 24 hours in the senate. What they told me is that they fully anticipate the president to sign this bill once it gets reconciled with the legislation that is very similar to aid in the house of representatives. Now, they say that white house staffers were working with them on the language of the senate bill. Yesterday, Vice President mike pence gave an interview to a local indianapolis radio station, in which he reiterated u. S. Support for the hong kong protesters. That said, in terms of the calendar, it seemingly would be working against the president s objective as it relates to the u. S. China trade deal, particularly with that december 15 deadline coming up of a host of new tariffs to be applied. Theres the thanksgiving u. S. Holiday next week. That could pose some risk. Then they have to pass the government funding bill. All that said, it is unclear as of now whether this would be a short reconciliation period or if it will move quickly. Vonnie are things to bloombergs kevin cirilli, keep an eye on all things capital hill. Powerned to balance of later on. Thats coming up at 12 a clock p. M. Eastern. For more now on the Market Impact and mounting trade uncertainty, we are joined by anna han, wells fargo equity strategist. Obviously, we are waiting for the new scene to emerge on trade. The focus has now moved to hong kong. The senate vote last night, and what kind of reaction the president might have to china basically saying take action at your own peril. How much are markets waiting for in this tradem story . Anna i think the market is eager to see how this progresses because where we are today is very different than where we were in the u. S. China trade a couple of months ago. We havent seen retaliatory tariffs and forth. Weve seen a lot of uncertainty over what might happen overnight to put negative progress on a deal. That kind of fear has been quelled. Today we have seen material progress. We have a phase i deal. Is what the senate decides this morning, will that derail everything we dont think derail everything . We dont think that is the main case here. Weve already reached a 3088 price target a couple of weeks early, and we are not surprised. We think we see that continue, but we are also starting to turn a little sour. Vonnie what about the senate vote last night . Does it make any actual difference to the market today . Anna it is a little too early to tell. So far, the market is down small this morning, but you are not seeing a hard kneejerk reaction like we would a couple months back when we had escalating tariffs. We think right now, phase i one is still on the table come about at the same time, we are telling investors, turn that green light into a yellow light. Be careful. Dont put new money to work at these levels. A lot of trade optimism is already priced in, and that is when we need to be cautious. Guy if we get more sanctions going on on 15 december, as you said, your target is 3088. Where would the s p trade if those sanctions go on . Anna right now, the expectation for those sanctions to be turned off doesnt seem that high. As long as we see some progress, we think the market could run up a little higher. We are not in the camp, however, they melt up scenario. We are not asking investors to chase an upward rally. Guy in terms of what could predict the market in that kind of scenario, do you think the market would reprice the fed . We currently have very few cuts priced in for next year. You price and a few more of those, would that provide a reason for the market to stick where it is now . Anna it seems so. So far, from what chairman powell has said in his testimonies, he is very conscious about the trade situation and how it affects equities and the market. Were we to get some kind of escalation in tariffs, or perhaps President Trump uses the high, Strong Equity market to take a tempered stance with china, that could be a reason why you expect investors to see a higher chance of another rate cut. Our view is one rate cut early next year. We will see how that changes as the trade situation progresses. Vonnie what is the number one question youre getting from clients these days . Anna it is really what we are doing into yearend, but also how earnings expectations for next year look. So far we dont have a 2020 out just yet, but we do see that the economy has continued to move along. It is more that our bearish senses are starting to wake. You know ive been a strong bull most of this year. We held that 3088 through a lot of negative sentiment, negative yield curves, dropping yields. But now that all this good news is here, weve reached our target, we are starting to back up thing about the downside. Vonnie what did you make of the retail earnings this morning and what it says about the u. S. Economy . Really having to depend on idiosyncratic moves in order to move the needle on their margins, on their earnings . Or can they depend on just demand from the u. S. Consumer these days . Anna the consumer is still the driving point still, and weve confirmed that Consumer Spending remains strong because sentiment remains strong. However, it is a risk. When you see competition amongst companies retaining consumer interest as it gets harder and harder, its her becomes it suddenly becomes, where can they find that edge. Guy what you think the recent rally in stocks has been driven by . Do you think it is driven by buybacks . Fund flows still appear to be either negative or just positive, but not overwhelmingly positive. Im wondering where the money has come from to drive this recent rally in stocks. Anna it is interesting you bring buybacks up. Buybacks in 20 were historically high. This year in 2018 were historically high. This year we are not seeing that amount. Is that enough to put a pseudoput on the market . Really, optimizing around increasing growth expectations and a trade situation seems to be what is floating the market. And again, that is a reason for us to be concerned. Guy do you believe in this rotation into value . You talk about the fact that the optimism on the economy is improving. That would pull people back into the value trade. Do you think that is sustainable . Anna actually, our favorite pick has been banks, and we do think theres more to go. We are looking more and a couple months, but for 12 to 24 months, we are cautious. With banks in the value space, what is important is that they are not just a great value purchase. They are also a low risk sector. Multiples are starting to reward that low risk profile. Vonnie you keep saying now that we have reached the targets you youre the market, now getting more hesitant about opportunities. Does that mean you would pull out of some funds and maybe move into fixed income . Anna not quite yet. Right now, we are telling investors not to put any new money to work, but continue rotating into cyclicality. However, once we reach that point, get ready to get ready. There will come a time, probably soon, that we will ask investors to take money off the table to take profit, but it is not just yet. Guy do you think international outperforms the u. S. In 2020 . Anna there we are not quite sure yet. We still have to look at the numbers. It is possible, but i think it will still be more about certain pockets of the international rather than just a broad. It is a big question to answer. Vonnie thank you anna han, wells fargo equity strategist. Lets check in on the bloomberg first word news with ritika gupta. Ritika target is separating itself from rivals in the retail industry. Shares are surging after the discounter raised its fullyear outlook. Target also reported Quarterly Sales that beat estimates. The company avoided the fate of Department Stores such as kohls, who cut their forecast for the second time this year. The ecbs warning of potential side effects from its own loose monetary policy. Any report highlighted how years of unprecedented stimulus could lead to financial instability. The ecb said low Interest Rates have encouraged excessive risktaking by Investment Funds and insurers. In the u. K. , labour leader Jeremy Corbyn drew level with Prime MinisterBoris Johnson in a crucial television debate, tying in a slap poll on which candidate won the debate last night. Candidate has battled over trustworthiness the candidates addled over trustworthiness, national health, and brexit. A bill has passed designed to curb teenage use of ecigarettes. The bill would ban certain flavored Tobacco Products and raise the age to buy products to 21. The house says backtracking by President Trump required them to take action on the issue. Global news 24 hours a day, on air and tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. Im ritika gupta. This is bloomberg. Guy thank you very much indeed. Coming up for you, more on the Global Economic slowdown and what is happening in the retail sector. A real difference today than what we saw yesterday. Of course, we continue monitoring what is happening on capitol hill, where Gordon Sondland, u. S. Abbasid or to the European Union, is testifying. He says that Rudy Giulianis quid pro quo was directed by the president. What ise, you can watch happening on capitol hill using the function live. This is bloomberg. Pompeo replied the next day, all good. You are doing great work. Live from new york, im vonnie quinn. Guy from london, im guy johnson. This is bloomberg markets. Lets take a look at what is happening with the markets. Here with the details, abigail doolittle. 0. 2 ,l the s p 500 down but so far we do not have any alltime record for the major averages, as was the case yesterday, despite the mixed close. The ftse 100 really underperforming, down 1 at the lows, on pace for its worst day since early october. Tech the worst sector for the 100. The hang seng breaking its multiday winning streak. The Senate Passing the support helping be hong kong protesters, so we do have some losses there, confirming the risk off picture. We have the 10 year yield in the u. S. Rallying. Over the last seven sessions, down six of those. We have a multiday winning streak for bonds, even as stocks have been drifting towards alltime highs. That really speaks to the uncertainty. On the day, we also have big influence relative to yield. We use the imap and the bloomberg, and i can tell you what im talking about. At this point, more of an even match between upanddown sectors. On bottom, some of the financials, energy and communications. Yields once again down. Investors worry that lending activity will not be helped by falling yields, at least over the last couple of days. We have some defensive sectors up top, including utilities, consumer staples, and real estate. Those have higher dividends, so when yields fall, those dividends look more attractive. Again, yields really influencing the sector composition. Investors going toward defense. Where some of the outside movers are, retail. What a difference a day makes. Target at an alltime high after they raise their outlook. Similar situation for lowes. To the downside, take a look at mesa rich take a look at nasa ch,h take a look at maceri the real estate company. Abigail doolittle, thank you. It is time now for the latest Bloomberg Business flash, a look at some of the biggest business stories in the news right now. Alibaba raised 11. 1 billion in its hong kong shares sale in spite of the unrest there over the past few weeks. Alibaba priced shares at a little over 22 a share, a 9 discount to its American Depository Shares in new york. It was hong kongs biggest share sale since 2010. Raised its earning outlook for the full year, despite reporting thirdquarter sales that missed estimates. The home and retailer also said would close 34 Underperforming Stores in canada, and that is cheering investors today. We are also monitoring capitol hill quite closely. Orden sandland, gordon to thed, u. S. Investor European Union, is testifying with a bit of a bombshell u. S. Ambassador to the European Union, is testifying with a bit of a bombshell. He also used specifically the words quid pro quo. He said Rudy Giulianis request was a quid pro quo for a white house meeting with ukraines president. We will monitor further testimony. This is bluebird. This is bloomberg. Guy from london, im guy johnson. Vonnie from new york, im vonnie quinn. This is bloomberg markets. Guy public Pension Funding continues to fall short as investment returns arent exactly matching consumption. Taylor riggs has more with this weeks muni moment. Taylor joining me to discuss is tom kozlik of hilltop investment. We have been talking so much about public pensions, and i wonder, its been more than a decade. Why arent they better funded during this recent expansion . Thank you for having me, taylor. I appreciate it. I am working on a larger project about pensions, but i thought it was important to go into detail about answering this question. The Boston CollegeRetirement Center has some good data on this. The majority of the reason is because of optimistic actuarial assumptions, mostly because discount rates are too high. I would add to that, and our analysis, we found that there is a problem with asymmetric information where this topic is concerned. I expand on that by saying all of the parties involved, all of the stakeholders, everyone from retirees to taxpayers, and even investors, really have a lack of allr understanding about the components driving this topic. The issue is that actuarial assumption, if you lower that, how quickly to the present values balloon . Big the discount value is a issue. That is one reason the discount rates are still high. If you would lower the discount reserve usefederal of the discount rate closer to a moodys, just in the pension liability, uses a rate closer to a aa Corporate Bond rate, and that gets you to about 3 . So if you go from 6 or 7 down to 3 , that is going to pretty much double the amount of money that state governments are going to have to put in their pensions, and that is one reason they keep their rates high. Taylor where do it from here . It seems like there is no incentive to lower, even that of even if that is more realistic. Tom as a look back over the last 20 years, my expectation for where funded ratios are going, i am not real optimistic on what they are going to look like in another five or 10 years. If i would have expected any kind of progress, it would have been now, in the 11th year of an economic expansion. Overall, funded levels are still lower than what they were 10 years ago. There has been some reporting seeingthe periphery, but all the things ive seen over the last couple of years leads me to believe that there really isnt going to be all that much improvement going forward. Taylor i think the market certainly a little bit agrees with that. , Hilltop Securities head of municipal credit, think you for joining me. Vonnie taylor riggs in San Francisco with our muni moment. Dont forget to tune in later. Taylor will be hosting bloomberg technology. Lets have a look at u. S. Markets now, just about an hour into the open. We are lower on the dow by 0. 4 , the s p down 0. 2 5 in spite of some retailers best efforts to keep it higher. L brands, nordstrom, cap are taking the other side of the trade. This is bloomberg. Vonnie live from new york, im vonnie quinn. Guy from london, im guy johnson. This is bloomberg markets. Vonnie lets have a look at oil prices because we are awaiting oil inventories. Economists and those surveyed are looking for a build of 1. 1 5 million barrels. We have been trading lower over the past several sessions, but now up about 0. 8 in advance of these numbers, 55. 65 a barrel. Once again, the market looking for 1. 15 barrels in the numbers. ,e are getting just shy of that 1. 38. The actual numbers coming in really very close together. Refinery utilization was strong, 1. 7 . Distillate inventories down almost one million barrels. The market was looking for them to be down about 880,000 barrels. So really, on numbers. Crude inventory build of 1. 3 8 million barrels. Once again, oil prices are rising above 56 a barrel now. Lets check in on the first word news. Heres ritika gupta. Ritika a key witness is impairing at the is appearing at the impeachment hearings today. E. U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland said rudy giuliani, working at the direction of President Trump, ordered a quid pro quo from ukraine. Sondland said ukraines leader would be invited to the white house. Tensions between the u. S. And china have gone up another notch. The senate has passed a bill aimed at supporting protesters in hong kong. China has threatened to retaliate, and says to stop meddling in hong kong affairs. The senate and the house have to resolve some differences in legislation before they can send the bill to President Trump. It is unclear if he will sign it. Federal reserve releases minutes of its march policy meeting at 2 00 new york time, and they are likely to reinforce the message that Interest Rates are on a prolonged hold. Fed chairman Jerome Powell told Congress Last week the rates are in a good place following last months third cut. Tot changed for that change, powell said the outlook would have to suffer a material reassessment. Saudi arabia and russia are drifting a pallet before next month are drifting apart before next months opec plus meeting. Russia hasnt complied with output levels for three months in a row, and it is making them more money. Meanwhile, the saudis have bore the brunt of the cutbacks. Global news 24 hours a day, on air and tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. Im ritika gupta. This is bloomberg. Vonnie thank you. Ritika gupta there. Shares at target today hitting a record after it raised its fullyear outlook again on strong sales and profit ability. A mixed bag and retail these days. Carl icahn has even decided it is time to place bets that some will default. Lets get into it with bloombergs dave wilson. Is it best in class, or what is happening with retail and Home Improvement these days . Dave it is about how you compete in a world where amazon. Com is so dominant. Target, and walmart as well, are figuring out better how to do that. Curbside producing pickup, sameday deliveries, trying to compete better with amazon in the online world. Youve got come at the same time, the homeimprovement chains stepping up investments in their websites to try and build up that business as well. It really comes down to, in large measure, how well are these companies, these retailers , adjusting to a world where increasingly, people would rather sit in front of their computers and buy as opposed to going to the malls for Standalone Stores or anywhere else. Guy it does slightly seem that you are dammed if you do, dammed if you dont. It has to invest, and it has to invest very heavily. That hit the margins story at some point. Do they have any option to go down that road . Dave they really dont because thats the way the consumer is moving. They have to try and appeal to the consumer where they are, in terms of their shopping habits. We can talk about that jargon, the omnichannel approach to retail, the idea that you buy in the store, you buy online, you can pick up what you buy online at the store. That is the advantage to some extent that the retailers have that are competing with amazon because theyve got these locations. They can make it easier for consumers to pick up what they are buying online if they choose to, and they are trying their best to take advantage of that. Vonnie why are we not hearing more about tariffs from retailers . I put the caveat in that Urban Outfitters did talk a lot about how tariffs hit them because they built up inventory in case something hit down the line. Dave it may be just a matter of how theyve been apple to manage so far how theyve been able to manage so far. Some of those tariffs have been put off until mid december, so not quite the same issue it would have been a few much earlier a few months earlier. Beyond that, think about where the consumer is at this point. Unemployment around 3. 5 , being sustained. People are willing to spend. We see that in the monthly surveys. When you put it all together, it is like retailers are in a position to take advantage of consumers willingness to spend here. Big carl icahn put a pretty bet on earlier in the summer the the see nbs that cnbs would be coming under fire. The wall street journal reporting it is him that put the trade on. To predictlt is it the demise of the mall . Dave mall owners are trying to figure out how to deal with the way that retail has shifted. You think about the american that isll in new jersey opening gradually over the next few months. It is going to be more focused on entertainment than it would have been previously, and less so on shopping. So it is a matter of providing experiences, and that is the sort of thing that retailers increasingly have to think about. Certainly, the malls do. To that extent, consumers are willing to spend if they want the experience that might come and going to the mall seeing santa claus or whatever. They are in a position to benefit from that. Vonnie that is almost always why i go to the mall. I want to ask you about macys and others reporting today and tomorrow. Clearly the market is not and is fading much. L brands is the worst performer today. Dave we seen the issues with kohls for the part and store chains. You talk about an area that is suffering as a result of amazon, and we seen it with the Department Stores time and again. The challenge for them is, in an online world where you can check prices and you dont have to go to the store, how do these Department Stores bring people in . What do they have to offer that will make shoppers want to visit them, whether it is online or in a brickandmortar location . That is certainly true for the specialty chains as well. Using about gap and l brands, they certainly have issues to deal with going forward. We will get a sense of just how well they are dealing with them once they come out with their result. We already know things arent good at the gap. Their ceo is leaving. Vonnie exactly. Dave, thank you. Check out his chart of the day daily on your bloomberg. Guy lets stay with the retail space. Construction of the Broadway Building in times square has kicked off this week. The project is led by Real Estate Developer ll Holding Company. Will stream the 5g content at record speeds. There are active discussions about 5g going on right now for times square. I cant get into the details of it, but this will be one of the most robust areas of 5g, and this platform that we have here, some of our neighbors are going to be per dissipating in that 5g experience. When all of that really happens, it is going to be happening here at the grandest scale in the world. Is going to be ready around 2021, 2022 . Oh yeah, it will be ready. One thing i was reading around 5g in new york city, it is not just a technology question, and there has been a really robust global conversation about the competitiveness of the u. S. ,isavis china, for example but that it is a realistic problem because you need cell towers. Talk to us about what thats like when you get into the zoning aspect of it in the local politics of getting Something Like that accomplished and done so that 5g can be here and allow tsx to be what you envision it to be. Without preempting a lot of the per dispense in this discussion, i want to be very careful the participants in this discussion, i want to be careful about that, but the Times Square Alliance, our neighbors are all preparing for that. This building is essentially an antenna to broadcast and receive information. Wifi capability throughout times square will be unmatched. So i think that it is all in the andning and discussions, with us in our neighbors in the Times Square Alliance as well. Viviana Lesson Learned about the failure of amazon hq to over amazon hq2 over in long island. David that is a very complex issue because it is not just a real estate deal. That is politics. Viviana exactly. What kind of insight do you have for people, being that you are a staple here in new york city, as far as coming in and partnering with stakeholders . David when we do these kind of big projects, we do get the Community Involved. We get the Community Involved early. We talked to the local people. If it is a landmark, we go to the landmark conservators. We go to people and share our ideas. We listen to them, we make adjustments. When it comes time for people to approve things or vote for things, we are generally very successful. Guy bloombergs Viviana Hurtado with ella dell Holding Company companysl holding ceo david levinsohn. This is bloomberg. Live from new york, im vonnie quinn. Guy in london, im guy johnson. This is bloomberg markets. Robin hood markets announcing plans to offer its Stock Trading Service outside the United States for the first time. The company is launching in the United Kingdom and First Quarter of 2020. Robin hood cofounder and ceo, is sitting next to me. Thank you for coming to see us here on bloomberg. What can we expect here in the United Kingdom . Starting today, customers can sign up for early access to robin hood indic Commission Free investing once we start rolling out in early 2020. We will offer over 3500 u. S. Listed stocks, as well as over 1000 global names, Commission Free with no account minimums to u. K. Customers. We are very excited about it. It is our first Live International market outside the u. S. , and an important market as we continue to execute on our mission to democratize our financial system. Guy it kinda feel like robin hood is coming home, but nevertheless, you are not that wellknown known over here. Talk to us about why the u. K. Why come here first in your International Drive . Vlad a couple of reasons. One, the market has discerning consumers that are sophisticated and have a long history of having access to financial tools. I think despite that, we can add a lot of value here because it is a culture more of saving then investing. I think we could add a lot of value making investing more accessible, making the barriers younger lower to a audience and less wealthy audience as well, similarly to the u. S. Secondly, weve done a lot of customer research, talking directly to customers on the ground in the u. K. , along with many other places. We have a sense that theres actually a ton of demand for the somewhatand that is proved out today with our sort of launch, the impression and initial acceptance and excitement has exceeded our expectations. Vonnie there was a bit of a bombshell through the system when Charles Schwab went c3. It feels like it is only a matter of time went fee free. It seems like it is only a matter of time before others go thievery go fee free. Vlad our mission is to democratize the financial system, and for us to execute on that, it is not enough for us to offer Commission Free investing or the lowest cost, highest Value Services to only our customers. It is actually imperative that we force the industry to change to adopt our pricing and model so that every customer of any service has the best possible pricing. So i think it is a welcome change. It is great for customers, and i think theres a lot to be done. Vonnie what is next in the democratization of the industry, then . How do you stay afloat, keeping the customers you have and gaining new customers . Vlad we really look at our mission is expanding our footprint in two dimensions. One is obviously more products for our existing customers, so expanding from investing into multiple assets, multiple platforms, and then going into any Financial Service that customers might need. In the u. S. , for instance, we recently launched our cash service program, allowing customers access to really highquality spending tools and paying them interest on unvested cash. On unvested then expanding into the u. K. And that being part of our overall Global Expansion to make highquality awesome tools, delightful tools, available to customers worldwide. Guy the question i am going to ask now is, i am sitting here in the u. K. I want to use your platform. I am just wondering what leverage i get. You are offering unlimited leverage in the states. Vlad you are referring to an issue we had a long time ago now, where a certain number of customers abused our platform. Of course, we found out about it right away and restricted those accounts, dropped to that behavior, and for the following days, instituted a permanent fix. Sorted. Ts completely vlad yes, thats correct. Guy thanks for stopping by. Vlad thanks for having me. Its a pleasure. Guy maybe we will see you again soon. Robin hood back in the u. K. Founderev, robin hood and ceo. Vonnie in the u. K. , shares of kingfisher, the u. K. Based homeimprovement chain, are the worst performer in the ftse 100 and the stoxx 600. To talk about the fall, abigail doolittle. What happened . Abigail pretty ugly day for kingfisher. It has to do with earnings. They missed thirdquarter earnings relative to sales and guidance, but it is part of a bigger story. Kingfisher, the Home Improvement store in europe and asia, they have 1300 stores, and a number of brands. All of these segments did poorly. One they did ok in the u. K. Served contractors, but it looks like weakness in the Third Quarter is going to bleed into the fourth quarter. To thend macro, relative macro, a new management chief coming in march inherited the strategy that does not seem to be working. From a macro point of view, the brexit, Political Uncertainty come of they are really underperforming their peers in europe, but even underperforming the likes of Home Improvement stores here such as home depot. Home depot just had a rough day, but on the year, a very strong year. Look at the difference between home depot and kingfisher on the year. Lots of analysts saying it is likely the new Management Team will get rid of that fiveyear strategy, so perhaps a new strategy will help this company in the future. Right now they are in a world of hurt, as you can see. Vonnie and brexit to contend with as well, not knowing how the economy is going to be performing. Abigail doolittle, thank you. Kingfisher our stock of the hour. This is bloomberg. Guy time now for futures in focus. Financial, kkr joining us from the cme. You are waiting for the fed minutes, i assume. Is somewhatket focused on the impeachment proceedings as well, but the driver will be the fed minutes. The weakness overnight is very interesting. You see weakness overnight in the commodity markets, as well as index futures, and yet we still see buying pressure as we move through the trading day. We will have to see if that theme continues, but certainly it seems like the market is waiting for fomc minutes. Guy you bring up impeachment, so lets talk about it. At the moment, the market seems to be putting impeachment to one side, some plea for the reason that they expect impeachment, but no conviction. If there was impeachment and conviction in the senate come would that be good or would that be bad for risk assets . Volatile,uld be thats for sure. Would bem, i think it bad. Depending on how the narrative evolves within the power structure in washington, i think that will be the longerterm impact. When you look at short aspects of it, i believe that certainly, it would be a negative if that narrative started to pick up steam. Even though the impeachment in and of itself might not be impacting the market, think china is certainly taking a bit of a back set. As they wait to see how this unfolds. It is having an impact, does not may be the impact that many marketers bins initially thought it was going to have. Market isade, the quite sanguine today. Is there still an assumption that phase i gets done by december 15 . The price action, you would have to assume that that is the higher probability. Youre seeing a bit of a rotation here today out of some of the higher names and into more defensive names. Youre seeing the long end of the bond curve being bid up as well, the tens in the 30s. Guy as ever, thanks for your time. Dan deming of k km joining us from the cme. Vonnie lets quebec to capitol hill, where theres impeachment hearings continue. Ordinance on blend testifying today Gordon Sondland testifying today. Earlier on with the release of his prepared, remarks, he bit of a bombshell when he said att rudy giuliani, working the direction of the president , presented a quid pro quo to the ukrainian president. This is bluebird. Guy stocks drop as China Threatens retaliation after u. S. Senators pass a bill supporting protesters in hong kong. What will President Trump do next, and is phase i at risk . Last nights tv debate between theyn and johnson sees labour leader outperforming low expectations. The pound taking a little hit today. And quid pro quo. Americas Eu AmbassadorGordon Sondland draws the line between a trip to the white house for the ukrainian president and an investigation into the bidens. Live from london, im guy johnson come with vonnie quinn in new york. We are counting you down to the european close right here on bloomberg markets. Vonnie retailers are pulling the s p 500 higher and lower, moving in opposite directions. Target performing extraordinarily well on earnings today. Some idiosyncratic strategic moves, but the s p