Tax reform in particular im not so sure about that. A lot of the analysis being done by various independent institutes have found that the impact on u. S. Gdp growth next year will be fairly minimal. Talking about maybe 0. 2 , 0. 3 whether the reduction in the Corporate Tax rate increases, helps to increase investment is a moot point certainly Many American corporates are cash rich we know over the last couple of years theyve been using that cash to buy back their shares, which helped to elevate u. S. Equities its helpful make no bones about it but whether it can help sustain sort of growth rates that President Trump is looking for, 3 , 4 , its interesting to note the 3 actual outturns surprised many market economists whether that can sustain momentum going into 2018 is questionable you think optimism not so much political posturing definitely yes i think equity markets like any tax reduction. Theyll hope that any Corporate Tax rate cut finds its way into dividend increases but were ending the year on a positive note for u. S. Financial markets. Though many commentators are warning about the risks of overvaluation, possibility of a tail risk pullback in 2018 so far so good this year well have the Federal Reserve under jay powells leadership. How many rate hikes do you expect and what do you think that will mean for the economy its interesting this year we absorbed three rate hikes from the fed. We absorbed the rollover of the feds balance sheet, 4. 5 trillion balance sheet, commenced october that will continue throughout 2018, as it gradually picks upto a 50 billion rate next october. But if we look at the fomcs own Interest Rate projections, under Janet Yellens stewardship, looking for three quarter point hikes in 2018. Theres some strategists, some economists out there in the marketplace talking about the possibility of four rate hikes thats predicated on the notion of firm Economic Growth next year maybe some pick up in the cpi inflation rate all of that assumes that we swim along merrily and theres no upsets in Financial Markets or financial crisis that would actually derail that expectation. Thats already priced into the markets. I think in the early part of 2018, markets will keep an eye on what happens to inflation the signs of that going up, there is no crisis, no market pullback, then three rate hikes is what the markets will start to look for. Neil, i will briefly turn to Klemens Fuest from ifo. Thanks for joining us. I wanted to ask you first of all, we saw last month these sentiment numbers hit 117. 5. That was a record high now they are where they are today. What does that mean for the German Economy in your view . It has etched down a bit, but situation is still very good the assessment of the Current Situation is very positive expectations for the next month have gone down a little bit. But the overall situation is still positive you talked to around 7,000 businesses in this monthly survey which sectors are most optimistic about businesses . What does that indicate to you we see a lot of optimism in retail a lot of optimism in construction, in manufacturing the reading last month was positive this month the companies are no longer quite as opted myseimist. They view the situation extremely positive and that means this is difficult to improve. Even in manufacturing it is positive the biggest boom is construction con sum thsumption is strong we see it in the retail business, which is strong. The overall situation is quite balanced between domestic demand and exports. Its all positive. Were looking at an annual growth rate in germany of 2. 5 based on these numbers out today, would you expect that to improve for 2018 i would expect this to i think the fed, the commentary, they are concerned about the risk to financial stability. I think they should be be more specific about that when you say threats to financial stability, are we talking about flash crashes . It could be we see more frequent flash crashes thats for sure. Worst Case Scenario is an outright market crash. I think this time around we wont have any risks in the Banking Sector the Banking Sector is well capitalized. The liquidity buffers, they meet all the regulatory requirements. The problem may come from underneath the radar screen. Many commentators have pointed out that the big short this time around is in vix volatility. The levels are vulnerable to an inflation shock, which brings about an unexpected Interest Rate shock it may be more obscure than obviou stability brings about instability. Thats what a famous economist taught us in our financial crashes. We need to be on guard with all that its going to be a challenge for policymakers in 2018, how they handle the appearance of some of these bubbletype conditions as they try to normalize monetary policy, normalize Interest Rates. One final question about Global Growth. What do you think the challenges are there for 2018 i think in 2017, its been a good year. We have seen synchronized global Economic Growth. German ifo index u. S. Economic numbers have all been consistent with that momentum carrying over to 2018 now there seems to be a goldilocks scenario. There was the consensus view where we get synchronized Global Growth continuing alongside. The risks are, i think, either a flash crash or a bigger crash as we get whats described as quantitative exuberance beginning to be undermined and create a snap back in market volatility other risks are with china, particularly if there was a hard landing. So far to good this year the debt in the chinese economy could be a potential challenge for the chinese authorities in trying to keep the economy on track. Well leave it there. Thank you very much. If you have any views yourself about volatility, about tightening, about trump, tax plans, lets get you to email the show the address is streetsignseurope cnbc. Com coming up sh, the polls are neck and neck well bring you ahead of thursdays regional elections. Welcome back to street signs. Catalans will head to the poll on thursday that many view as a de facto vote on independence. The contest is too close to call in a tight race, so its uncertain who could form a Ruling Coalition im joined by the director and head of the Madrid Office on the European Council of foreign relations. We hear this idea that this could lead to a fresh vote, movement for independence, will they try that those three parties if they cant form a coalition or find an agreement with each other . Yeah. Its crucial to look at who will have a majority. It seems no one will have a proper majority. Until now, in the last 2015 elections, they had a parliamentary majority but not a popular vote majority. Thats just to do with the constituencies in that part of spain. Yeah. The real things are heavy waiteighted towards th who may support secession. Yeah. In the metropolitan parts of barcelona, theres more votes for the leftist, socialists or liberals who may win elections, or unionists do you think that if the catalan Pro Independence parties were to stitch together a Majority Coalition after this vote, they would once again pursue the same policy we saw under Carlos Puigdemont . At this moment theyre jockeying for power. We have puigdemont in belgium, and they lost their way, they were spinning this posttruth th but they never had a majority. So they are at odds. They never had international recognition, and also they managed to mobilize those catalans who are for true independence so perhaps the leftist coalition, theyre not for independence or neither so youre worried that theyre going to have an Important Role im not worried about that. But they may be the kingmaker because they are not constitutionalists per se, they want a strong constitutional reform they struggled to really clarify what their position was on succession and independence so they sat on the fence do you think that theyve been losing support across spain, particularly on this issue, because they have not taken a side but you still think that would allow them to be kingmakers after thursdays vote . Exactly were seeing that the socalled hard core independent and unionist might have a similar number of votes, which is staggering in catalonia. Youll have the ocean in between, that could be a 10 vote for puigdemont which will deal 8 to 10 seats but still people dont rule out elections in the future. So things are still very much unclear what will be the future for catalonia. One suggestion from the socialists is constitutional discussions down the road. Something that he forced Mariano Rajoy to agree to. When will they happen . Will they have impact . This is an excellent question at this point the governor of Mariano Rajoy are keen on making concessions, final transfncial transfers, but theyre putting the brakes on traditional reform which will need new constitutional reforms in spain. I see this happening in the midterm, but its not this panacea for whats happening in catalonia, where you see a divided society with extremely competing narratives so constitutional reform i see it happening in midterm, not short term, but you see signs that way, but catalonia will remain fractured rajoy has repeatedly said he wants to restore normalcy in catalonia. If the Pro Independence parties together get a majority, how will he do that . I think he might come out reinforced as a statesman even though his party may be trounced and losing votes so his argument is that provided you dont violate the catalan statute of autonomy and the spanish constitution and you do things within broadly defined rule of law, theres no need to reinforce. But if they do, hes been sending signs they will resort to article 155 again at this point, yes, they will maintain their way for a thin majority or they will lose it. If they lose it, its a gigantic exchange in the political landscape. Thank you very much for joining us switching track, we will talk about the trade spat between boeing and bombardier. It entered a critical phase as the two companies squared off yesterday. The boeing accused bombard area of selling planes in the u. S. Below cost the hearing said the uneven Playing Field harmed its ability to sell its 737s in the u. S. Market come bombardier says otherwise im happy to be joined by our guest. Im a fan of this story. Is this just representation of the american first policy being brought to life by the trump administration, do you think so a large degree it is good morning the situation is that the itc, the Industrial Commission is operating on behalf of the government, and it is boeing who have appealed to them against this sale. We had the preliminary ruling on this delta purchase of 75 c series jets. There were discussions yesterday with the commission, and the findings should be today. I was there for that maiden test flight of the c series, that was back in 2013. And already it was over budget, behind schedule if that program had been run more efficiently, more effectively, we wouldnt be having this conversation, would we we wouldnt but discounting an airline for sale is not unusual. This is probably more aggressive than you would normally see. Up to 50 for a large order is not unusual. This is probably a bit less than that perhaps near 60 , 70 . Theyre heavily discounted its not unusual im sure boeing, airbus and others play the same game. Its said a deal with airbus, where bombardier would take 50 controlling stake, had nothing to do with this complaint. I think the aircraft had a long time in gestation, but a gap that airbus sees in the market so the likes of delta and other big operators want that regional ability with a very efficient, modern airplane. If they inject fresh cash in the business, they develop a new plant in mobile, alabama, does that allow them to sidestep this issue . To a degree, yes. Airbus will be largely silent on the ongoing issues but they do have a plant where they build their 320s down in alabama. So its clear that they would like to expand that. Do you think theres a chance that the itc in a ruling could reject that preliminary ruling of a tariff . They could. Has that happened before . Weve not really been in this position before. Its slightly unusual. Suffice to say that they could do because the evidence is not actually very strong that boeings order book has been affected adversely they dont really have an aircraft in that same class. Thats one of the arguments from airbus and bombardier. You guys are complaining about something you dont offer. If this decision does go against bombardier, how are they likely to react or the canadian government likely to react, or how is airbus likely to react . Lets start with the canadian government. You will have seen with the f. A. T. Order, thats been canceled, theyre buying australian f 18s, they now have a competition for 88 fighters. Thats a big contract. They said boeing you wont have a look in they put words to the effect that any company bidding who is is harming the interest of canada is likely to be thats because the canadian government put a huge amount of money in this program. Indeed. What about delta . Daelt saelta said we signed it takes two to party, but they will be siding with come barredier and canada in this case ahead, ramaphosa has been chosen as the new leader we will look at how this changes politics in the region news anchor downtown traffic is still bad. Expect massive delays. news anchor 2 all lanes on highway 50 remain closed at this hour. news anchor 3 the stats are in and this city leads with some of the worst traffic, with the average driver sitting in gridlock the equivalent of three days a year. For every hour that youre idling in your car, youre sending about half a gallon of gasoline up in the air. That amounts, over the course of the week, to about 10 pounds of carbon dioxide. Growth is good, but when it starts impacting our quality of air and quality of life, thats a problem. So forwardthinking cities like sacramento are investing in streets that are smarter and greener. The solution was right under our feet. Asphalt. Or to be more precise, intelligent asphalt. By embedding sensors into the pavement, as well as installing cameras on traffic lights, we will be able to study and analyze the flow of traffic. Then, we will take all of that data and we use it to optimize the timing of lights, so that traffic flows easier and travel times are shorter. And sacramento is just the beginning. With advances in cameras, sensors, and network speeds, we have the ability to make cities smarter, and happier. What excites me about this technology is that were using some of the most cuttingedge machinelearning, and ai, to help solve the most fundamental challenges that cities face around the world. Who knew asphalt could help save the environment . lani and the possibilities are endless. Welcome back to street signs. Im willem marx. These are your headlines the republican tax cut plan gains support from more senators as President Trump turns his sights to the outside world saying china and russia pose the biggest threat to his America First strategy for the first time american strategy recognizes that Economic Security is National SecurityEconomic Vitality growth and prosperity at home is absolutely necessary for American Power and influence abroad Dialog Semiconductor powers to the top and Cyril Ramaphosas campaign against corruption helps him win in a historic moment for south african politics sending the rand higher. And an isolated america lashes out at the u. N. Security council after it was forced to use its veto power with every other nation voting to reverse u. S. Policy on jerusalem what we witnessed today in the Security Council is an insult. It wont be forgotten. Well, it looks like a pretty positive start for stocks ahead of us in the u. S we can see the s p 500 with an implied open up 5 points, the dow jones up 70 points the nasdaq looking to open positively as well as we look at european markets, the ftse is up 0. 3 . The xetra dax slightly into positive territory the cac slightly into negative territory. Ftse mib up 0. 15 . Currency markets, the euro is strengthening against the dollar the dlaollar strengthening agais the yen. The pound trading weaker against the dollar down in south africa, the rand hit a ninemonth high after Cyril Ramaphosa was elected to succeed zuma as anc leader chris bishop joins us no south africa for many, mr. Ram foaphosa is t new leader and how are many dealing with his new rule . Many people wanted to make a cut between the zuma name, his rival in the race. Shes the exwife of the president jacob zuma i have to apologize. Helicopters are going over theres intense security here at the conference a lot of people want to see a cut with the sooum thzuma name,w theyre looking to clean up the party. Banish the talk of corruption and also banish some links that there are, the controversy with the gupta family who have a lot of influence over government here, government appointments and contracts. A lot to of people will look to cyril and look for a clean break. Over my shoulder, the green and yellow livery is worn, and its all important for what kind of power ramaphosa may have maybe an early exit for president jacob zuma he could be recalled essentially, thats what will go on thats what everybody is watching today we hear mr. Wamapramaphosa is running on an anticorruption reform in terms of his proposals to combat corruption, what are they he will be looking to bring back proper regulation into the system whereby theres monitoring he has to also one big thing he has to do in the post days when he takes power is to launch a commission of inquiry into socalled state capture, which is what i was eluding to with the gupta family, powerful people outside the country influencing the performing of the state. Thats something thats been a huge problem here. When i started covering politics here 20 years ago, they used to say nobody tellsus what to do in our country. All of a sudden the last few years you have people who have nothing to do with government or anything calling the shots and pulling the strings here in government thats something that ramaphosa will stamp out he with look for governance within departments, governance within the country as well some regulations for business here if he comes down hard on these things, he has every chance of success. Some of those Business Leaders may not be quite so happy. Chris bishop, thank you very much for joining us. Talking about issues of rule of law, saudi arabias 2018 budget will be released later today. It will focus on expansion, development and investment speaking to al arabia, it will not include new reforms or taxes. Shares in cement firms increased over thoughts of increased infrastructure spending. I wonder, you know, in terms of what youll likely hear from the saudi government this morning or this afternoon, it seems like the focus will be on finding a way to balance between some of these austerity measures and the move away from reliance on oil its something we heard for the last couple of years do you think theyll be able to do that while keeping ord snain saudis happy this is the difficulty they had so much hydrocarbon reliance, everything is going swimmingly until the oil price drops, budget spending develops 20 , then you need to absorb 600,000 new workers into the economy. You need to diversify. So far theyve done that by cutting back on the austerity measures, now theyre in the expansionary phase amid the confusing news the past couple of months, there is the hope that the countrys budget deficit, have the austerity measures ultimately worked without too much reaction co are ordinary saudi people happy with the way things are going . Its been difficult thats why weve seen measures against electricity hikes. They were increased and then reversed and decreased the saudi government is trying to figure out methods for dealing with the average saudi making sure life is not too difficult. The way theyve donet 1200ix iin reform, no saudi observer in the world would imagine we would be where we are now a small group of people who make all the decisions, an n pushing through investor friendly measures saudi arabia stocks are atw international numbers. They will to reduce some things because theyre above International Things like settlements. X so they are Good Companies they are very stable the banks hw6c doubledo the capital of any other Banking Sector in the world. The key question is is theepaud government with you or against you. In countries where theyre against you like incorussia, y trade at a massive discount. Z aligned with you, things trade at a premium the government gave so much stimulus and helpxdcoming out qe the banking sect hear done well lets talk about thatt desi to attract Foreign Investors 1 of the saudi stock market is foreign ownership. Do you havee1 skin in the game if youi dont, why not . We have exposure. Weve been waiting until we got this sorted. Now we are increasing saudii] it nias thank you very much the cochief Investment Officer at capq from corn fund zhapri jeers. On monday, the u. N. T vetsti favor of thex egyptiannidraft of the text. Col members fort backing the motion what we witnessed here today in the Security Council is ane1 insult itn wont be forgotten. Its one more example of united nationsfa doing more harm than good in addressing the Israeli Palestinian conflict today for the simple actqzez deciding where to put our embassy, the United States was forced to defend its sovereignty. Here in the uk, Prime Minister theresa may says she has theu backing of seniorq cabinete. Cministers to seek a ambitious trade deal with the European Union ahead of brexit talks. U c michel fmil barnier5said britain could not the United Kingdom can have the European Union for trade in the future that wase1 a point me by the Prime Minister of italy in an article he wrote in the ft last week. If anybody cares to think about it, every trade agreement is that between the parties concerned. They have similar elements to them but specific to the various countries concerned. That will be what we will be looking for in our negotiations with the eu. As4qPrime Minister talks up hopes ofnithat agreement, uk employers plan to accelerate hiring and raise wages next year but flag concerns that the uk may be a less attractive place to do7l nbusiness according to the survey, 51 of uk employers expect to hire more workers next year, up 41 from last years esurvey half will raise above the rate the bank of england forecast banking is shiftingnijobs out the uk because of brexit, but big Financial Firms are not relocating quite as many roles as you may think for more, gotolon cnbc. Com to bitcoin f[resok rebounded the regulated, but we should the cryptocurrency according to a lot of people. Well discuss that after the break. My name is jeff sheldon, and im the founder of ugmonk. Before shipstation it was crazy, like. Its great when you see a hundred orders come in, but then you realize ive got a hundred orders i have to ship out. Shipstation streamlined that whole process. The order data, the weights of the items, everything is seamlessly put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping label everythings pretty much done. Its so much easier so now were ready, bring on the orders. Shipstation. The number one choice of online sellers. Go to shipstation. Com tv and get two months free. Back dialog shares are rising sharply after a top china chipmaker increased its stake in the stock. Tumble in shares after saying they may lose apple as a client. And regulated Bitcoin Futures are rebounding the futures settled at q119,100n monday, down 2 from the opening price. Trading volume was modest with 1 100 million of contracts talking about that and more bitcoin issues,lp im joined by ryan e1radloff theyre settled in regular money, cash. None of that is flowing inl or out of the cryptocurrencies. What impact can these futures markets havef on the price . The holy grail oft futures is bitcoin deliverable [econtract t bitcoin hittingta bigger stage, coming on,e havi main Street Market participants have exposure. A cash settled futures contract does not attract individual miners, but we look at it asx a do youlpe1 anticipate more investors jumping into the market i think everybody is feeling out thisc new vehicle, specifically given that its not a bitcoin deliverable contract investors starting to come into bitcoin. I had a guest on earlier who described bitcoin as the biggest bubblex since the dutch tulip bulb mania of the 17th century why is it not . If you look at the bitcoin chart and you flip it over, it looks like the purchasing power of the u. S. Dollar over the last 80 years it happened in a shorter period of time im not sure thats a fair . analysis but lets look at a few fundamentals taare averaging 500,000 new users a day. The strongest correlation in price. Why is the growth oft thee1q market key to Intrinsic Value or growth lets talk about networkt effect e1 i dontq think thats relevt to Intrinsic Value, is it . With bitcoin, the more people that are using bitcoin, the mor valuable bitcoin gets because its money. Its moneyt equity backed, not debt backed. The world is flood with dead you have sovereign debt levels what if people are dying bitcoins withe1 credit e cards . Theyre turning that debt into equitybased value they can share on the market. Thisc is equitybased money, n q based money this is very important. You are talking about the start of 353 ng important. E what happens if theres an end of bitcoin you have over 850 million coins. This is a positive thing you wantf darwinism and you wa theseok competitive coins competing with each other and ultimately this industry will be stronger in the longterm. Thats what were excitedlpxda. If youre an investor, start looking at bitcoin, ethereum and others this story is much bigger than bitcoin. You seem to be implying that bitcoin itself could not be the big winner when you talk about darwinism. Transactions could take hours. That could be a death nail problems is that so many people want to use the currency, that from time toe time the network gets bogged down yes, what you have in that situation, you have other currencies that step up, dont have as much demand to use the protocols and wi asettle quicker. Improvement coming up called the lightning network, a[, technological implication that willxo solve this. What kind of entities do you think would start settling transactions in cryptocurrencies currencies f i can use that phrase the obviouse examples. First, we think its thet reta crowd. And theyre waiting for regulation to catch up bitcoin is still volatile were only talking about m old. Soon you will see corporates looking at Cash Management strategy and realizing it,ys to have bitcoin to get in and outt of some of these other exotic currencies quickly. Thats something to watch. Ac large part of your job is cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. E1sure. Can you hand on hearttez[ , which can be recorded andw3plad back in tent 1 years time and y your products will beqm,wroundn a decade ande investors will he succeeded in investing in them our products in a decade, sure, if bitcoin is around in a deca decade is bitcoin around in a decade i dont have axd1 crystal bl bitcoin is solving some problems inqothe maribapce that lega cannot. R its an index for the dissatisfaction of the market in the Legacy Financial system. When you look at the purchasing power of pounds ande1 dollars decaying year over year, its no cryptocurrencies are getting more and more miaasu59 i do think that will be here in ten xyears. I think its only getting vdenwe will hold you to that decades time. Go to cnbc. Com for the analysis of understanding different cryptocurrencies. W and espn president john skipper unexpectedly stepped downco3to seek treatment for substance addiction. In a statement he said i struggled for many years with a substance addiction. Ixddecided the most important thing i can do right now is take care of my problem critical time for disney following the purchasecj foxs entertainme entertainment sector. And the amtrak train that derailed in Washington State was traveling 80 Miles Per Hour in a 30 Miles Per Hour zone at least three people were raal when carriages spilled off of trackson to a3 c major highway. In the United States, futures there, a positive start to the day. c we have the s p 500 lookingi] to trade open slightly up, 5 points the dow jones looking to open slightly up 73, nearly 74 points the nasdaq looking to have quite a positive open for todays trading. That is it for todays show. Im willem marx. Worldwide exchange is coming up next. Some air fresheners are so overwhelming, they can. Send you and your family running. Introducing febreze one for fabric and air. No aerosols. No dyes. No heavy perfumes. It cleans away odors for a pure light freshness. So you can spray and stay. Febreze one, breathe happy. A rally triple play. The qdo . anasdaq and s p 500 s to open at record highs as a sweeping tax reform bill nears the finish line. Were getting new details into what may have caused yesterdaysnrd derailment in Washington State. And sounding the alarm, why the ceo of one surginga4 cryptocurrency stockw says its market cap is not justified. Worldwide exchange begins right now. Good morning