Talk about sky high. We havent seen prices like this since the 90s. How to get more for your airline buck. This is ali velshi, and this is real money. Tell me whats on your mind by tweeting me at ali velshi or facebook. Com ali velshi. Iraq turmoil is building. Sunni insurgents are keeping up the fight against shiite dominated government of al maliki. Today, centered around baqubah, 35 miles north of the capital. But recently, they have stalled the advance of isis, the militant group. And even show so, they continue to hold cities like mosul. They are trying to push back the isis push. Tir ac cant be divorced from the crisis in the rest of the middle east where the u. S. And iran work at cross purposes to each other. The u. S. Backs rebel groups, and it could be a civil war, iran backs syrian president , alassad. Also bat lick isis rebels in syria, as well as next door in iraq. So any corporation with iran or any hint of change in syria, backs the Syrian Rebels like the u. S. Does, and sees iran as a threat to the gulf. Any it can create strange bed fellows. The u. S. Has opposed irans government for more than three decades. The u. S. Justifies the invasion of iraq in 2003 in part to counter the iranian influence for a stable and solid pro american regime in baghdad. The u. S. Installed a system that has built alliances with iranian leaders and iraq sunnis at the same time. When u. S. Troops withdrew in 2011, they left a country torn by violence, and fueled by sectarian rivalries. It woulds crisis threatens to tear the country apart again and create a fresh staging ground for the al qaeda inspired militants to operate in the region. In short, u. S. Nation building in iraq has been a miserable failure. Reporter sunni insurgents on the move in iraq, capturing territory as they advance toward baghdad. Investments that the u. S. Banked on in 2003 when they had an exercise that would eventually cost u. S. Taxpayers 1. 7 trillion. Well help the iraqi people establish a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the middle east. Reporter since toppling saddam hussein, the u. S. Has poured money into the Security Forces and infrastructure and institutions, hoping to create a democracy, capable of binding iraq, sunni, shiite and kurdish fictions, but it didnt materialize with malikis power. With iran gaining tremendous influence over iraq. Iraq is not a beacon of democracy in the middle east today, and the iranians are the ones who have most of the influence in iraq and that does not serve americas strategically. Iran has supported iraq shia for 35 years, and the shia influence has allowed iraq to extend its influence with tourism in cities, and they also train iraqi shia militias. Iraqis have the best intelligence in iraq today. And oftentimes, iraqis among themselves, when theyre trying to reach compromises, will look to tehran for guidance. That level of influence is a threat to the sunni state in the gulf, where money, much of it from private donors, has been channeled to isis to keep them in check. The cautionary tale in nation building. Aljazeera. Lets talk now, the u. S. Experience in iraq, what does it teach us about the road ahead . For that, im joined by richard butler, the executive chairman of the united specialists in iraq, he was the chief arms inspectors in the 1990s. It was his conclusion that iran was not truthful about the weapons of mass destruction, hes the author of weapons of mass destruction and the crisis in global security. Good to see you, and thank you. How do you end up with a result thats so far from almost everything that the u. S. Set out to do in iraq. Whatever you do, do it for the right reasons. What was done in 2003, was done, what we now know, for the wrong reasons. And even the economist magazine this week, and as you and i know very well, thats hardly hardly everything is a disaster. Okay . What was done then was done for the wrong reasons. What has to be done now is to identify what is happening, and then why its happening. Identify exactly what is happening leads to immediate actions. Why its happening it towards longer term solutions. When you start to look at those alliances that i just talked about, the strange bed fellows, its hard. Americans have sort of seen the middle east for a long time in a blackandwhite fashion, in a good guy, bad guy fashion, and its entirely confusing as to what it is, that the u. S. And the west can influence for stability. What we want to happen in iraq. Thats why i raise what is happening, and that gives us the point of what to do. But ali, that introduction was superb. You told people very clearly exactly how complex the problem is, and how serious it can be. So lets look at iraq. What is happening, a terrorist group that doesnt represent is an ethnoconfessional group, hardly religious, has invaded iraq. Under the normal rules, iraq has to say, can you help us . And i believe it will be stopped because while determined, its actually relatively small. What exactly will be done to stop it, im not sure. It operates in fertile ground. Were sitting here saying, we dont like you, isis guys, and we dont like amal icky, and the sunni government didnt involve the shiites. This is what has to be addressed in some way. The long issue, where does it come from . And where are the interests . We need to identify irans interests with syria. Syria has got its interests now with iraq, and saudi arabia is sunni. You explained it all very well. And i said that twice now, and ill stop with the compliments, but it shows how complex it is. What has to be done is that a serious, truly serious discussion, leading past the problems with the iranians, has to be put together. And thats where the u. S. Could be most helpful, maybe with the iranians. They have been influential too, the dialogue that incorporates those that have clear interest in the region to work out what will stabilize. You talk about the economy, which is why i watch you. One of the things that will happen is there will be a fullscale conflict in the middle east. Middle east. It feels tremendous like instability, but it feels like this is hinging on making a bad decision, and this could all south. Exactly, we havent seen a spike yet. But the Northern Oil Fields production has stopped, the kurds have taken control of major oil facility. And thats another thing, but the oil fields are included, because turkey has an interest in the kurds. This several communities, major regional and International Political and economic interests. We need the parties that have clearly established interests to sit down seriously and talk this through. No one wants this group to succeed. No one wants the chaos that will then ensue. But some of them will seek to benefit an opportunity to benefit from this awful action that has taken place, and that has to be addressed too. The discussion of mutual interests and stability included of course in the global economy. Come back and well have this conversation more. Ambassador richard butler, thank you. Highspeed traders can make money faster than you can blink, and that got the attention of congress today. And speed versus strategy, giving some an unfair advantage. And first, the airlines are making it tougher for you to earn frequent flyer miles. Dont let them get away with it, how to beat the system after this. Should juvenile killers serve life without parole . The didnt even ask for the money they just shot him. Horrendous crimes committed by kids. I think that at sixteen its a little too early to write him off for life. Should they be locked away for good . He had a tough upbringing but he still had to have known right from wrong. Living in america is getting more expensive. To explain, matthew, good to see you. There are changes we have seen recently with the region u. S. Airlines sort of deciding that theyre going to reward the highest paying customers more than people who just fly a lot. So people who look for good deals will be at a disadvantage to those who pay full fare. Yes, its an interesting move by the carriers, i think that they go about it all wrong. When you think about it, the business travelers are going to fly anyway, and the genius behind the frequent flyers, they appealed to the flyers at the margin. Those who travel on a discretionary basis. You have an upgrade, a service where people pay you money for finding the best deal possible for using their miles, and you are involved in the trend of the what is the trend with respect to using the miles . Are we seeing them devalue . Are we seeing inflation in the way that you use miles as well . Unfortunately for consumers, were seeing a huge inflation for miles in travel. Delta, american airlines, u. S. Airways, they have all devalued this year, and its going to get worse. You see them squeezed from two places. You mentioned that people are using them less, rather than miles its points now, but at the same time, were seeing inflation of charges by as much as 80 in some cases, so its getting much much more difficult to use your miles in an effective way. So generally speaking, if youre a stockpiler of miles, and youve been sitting on them for a long time, would you recommend that people burn them now. Yes, please burn them now. Do yourself a favor. Airlines are banana republic. They inflate overnight, and the miles that youve saved for years are worth of much less. Miles are a depreciating asset, like a used car. I have 50,000 miles, and whats my guest value . You have people who say i want to go on vacation, and whats the best value that one gets for their miles these days. Well, it all depends on what programmed miles are in. But generally, when you are doing it from a mathematical perspective, its still a better deal for Business Class travel, those using it for the Economy Class awards, its nice to not have to pay for the vacation this year, but in terms of the value of the points, youre getting much much less value than say you redeem for a Business Class trip around the world. Ive seen how you work, you charge a fee, and you generally get people a better deal than they could have gotten themselves and for those who want to try it at home, give us a few of the trade secrets. Sure, the first thing to keep in mind, the airline is not the only place you go. Some airlines have better websites than others, and united has a very nice website for searching world travel. U. S. Airways, and delta on the other hand have much more limited features on the websites, so they are not by themselves. You can redeem your miles for more than just american airlines. They have partners all over the world. But lots of times you have to call in to find the partner space, and you have to be patient. The airlines dont spend too much time on training their agents on how to book awards. Why make it easy for consumers to redeem their miles . But if you do research in advance, you find the partnerships that the airlines have, and you search for the partners t. And chances are you can score a nice reward for the miles. Whats a mile wort . Is there a number in your head. Depending on the program, 1 and a half to 2 cents each. What about credit cards . Is that a way to redeem miles in this day and age . Absolutely. A credit card, as difficult as the airlines devalue their award charts, in inflation, it becomes advantageous to use them, but products like american express, with chase, and their rewards programs, they offer a bread basket of redemption. So when it comes time to redeem, you can do the research, and you get points and more for your dollar you spend on the credit card. Matthew, thank you for being with us, matthew is a blogger and he can help you get more for your miles. Thank you, matthew. Guns. There are two to three million guns in a population of only 8 million people. And gun laws. After those laws came in, there have been no more mass shootings. How Different Countries decide. Their father had a gun. Their grandfather had a gun. Who has the right to bear arms . 5 days guns around the world a primetime news special series all next week only on Al Jazeera America weekday mornings on Al Jazeera America we do have breaking news this morning. Start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. First hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. The big stories of the day, from around the world. These people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place. And throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news. The life of doha. This is the International News hour. An informed look on the nights events, a smarter start to your day. Mornings on Al Jazeera America the stock market is rigged. That controversial and overly broad statement is at the center of a raging debate about how stocks are traded in the 21st century. The phrase caught fire after flash boards, a book about Michael Lewis about High Frequency trading. These guys use super Fast Computers and sophisticated formulas called algorithms to trade hundreds of thousands of shares per second. They are worried that highspeed trading firms are putting regular investors at disadvantage. How to deal with potential conflicts of interest between brokers and exchanges. A rigged game that favors highspeed traders over regular investors. The head of the panel said, theres significant evidence that these can damage retirement savings. Whether thats true or not is up for debate. But i want you to understand the debate, how they formed the stock market. Back in the 1920s, this is the latest information about a stock. Now, the information is almost instantaneously, traveling at the speed of light, and only the fastest can keep one the pace. Trading in the New York Stock Exchange. The acnism, the vast majority of stocks are traded here. To make you understand how the stock market really works, you need to go across the hudson river to new jersey. Now the markets are almost completely computerized. Data networks and surfer farms in new jersey are where most trades actually happen. Im in mmahwah, new jersey, and the data center is here, not on the New York Stock Exchange where almost all of the trade takes place. Youve got to be as close to the server farm as you can be. Thats called colocation. Only the biggest players can do that. Distance matters, even if its only a few feet. Its just one second faster than the competition, it could mean an extra 100 million a year for a High Frequency trader. Critics charge that the access offered by the exchange, buy before you do and selling it to you at a higher price. And the scrutiny of state and federal traders who are concerned that it might provide advantages unavailable to regular investors. High frequency trading is trading over speed over Everything Else. And in order to participate in that environment, you have to get keys to the exchanges. One of these exchanges will cost you 60,000 a month. Thats just one. The speed doesnt end with colocation. High frequency traders are willing to pay for my microsecond advantage they can get, even one between two different exchanges. Right now, for example, theres a fiber optic cable between mahwah, new jersey, but in the next weeks, a network will begin to link the exchanges. The laser itself looks a lot like wall. E and it uses technology for the department of defense. When putting it in empirical terms, it will take an 80 second time and bring it to microseconds. To put it in perspective, thats. 00036 second of a savings. Potentially it means a lot to a High Frequency trader. This relates to the time for a Stock Exchange between london and the New York Stock Exchanges. Currently, there are 12 fiber optic cables in the atlantic, the last one being engineered over a decade ago, but the new one will follow a little bit straighter line. By building the new table straighter than the twisting cable, it will knock off 500 kilometers, which makes it 5 milliseconds faster than the highest one today. But building it isnt cheap. The advantage for High Frequency traders, 200 million. The information is traverses the little fibers, and of all of the cable, the relevant part, Everything Else is occupying the signal. And its absolutely fascinating to think that this cable is linking the two continents. And it doesnt end there. Theyre thinking of constructing a Laser Network across the atlantic. Its a succession of 30 High Altitude flat forms, that would be geo stationary at 50,000 feet. With this technology, and that would connect new york to london . The price tag for the transatlantic air bridge that would save 30 seconds, 500 million. Now you have a sense of what were talking about, and lets talk about speed and the fastest animal on four legs. Used to describe High Frequency traders because of their lightning speed. They regular late futures and few people are in a better position than to explain how they present the threat to regular investors than bart chilton, hes currently with a Global Business law firm. And good to have you with us. Sever levin, a former prosecutor, said theres evidence that this is hurting people. Its anecdotal, but is it a threat to my viewers . I havent seen evidence that its hurting people. Clearly, they showed there to have speed, have an advantage, but they also have an advantage if theyre smart. They have predictable algorithms, and thats just the way of the markets, ali. When you think about floor traders, they had an advantage. Do i think modern markets are part of what were dealing with today. High frequency traders are going to be there, and are there legitimate sideboards, as i call them, regulations, rules, what have you, that should be placed upon them to see if the markets are sustainable. And we dont see things like the flash crash occur, or other Technology Glitches that really do hurt investors. Is there too much regulation in High Frequency traders . Theres exactly zip, nada regulation for High Frequency traders. Dodd frank is 2300 pages, and not one place in those are High Frequency traders even mentioned. So theres basic that needs to register them. And right now, if a regulator wants to command and get their books and records, they dont have access to them. The regular trader doesnt me. They have to go to a judge and get a subpoena, and this goes for anybody not registered. People could be hitting the delete buttoner be at the paper shredder. They should have programs that are tested before they get put into what we call the live trox environment, and they should have kill switches to stop one of these programs, and there should be equal access, and not special access to speed as your package pointed out. The traders will tell you, this is technology, and youre just oldfashioned. Well, theres something to that, but the point is, when we look at everybody in the marketplace, who is taking advantage of the circumstance . The free market is what it is. If people want to invest in speed and smart markets, its not necessarily bad. As you pointed out, ive been a critic of the hfts, but i want to be fair. Michael lewis book, im a big admirer, and my favorite is the blind side, but he had a blind side with High Frequency traders. Even though im a critic, they decrease volatility. And think about 30 years ago, when urn in the stock market, it would cost you for a transaction, and now you go on e trade, and its less than 10. Thank you for staying on top of this, and its important to know that people are paying attention it. The former commissioner of the trade commission. The basics of the major stock indices as part of my weeklong series of tuning up your portfolio. But first, hes a powerful voice in washington for businesses and not doesnt pull punches. Hes a very thoughtful guy and an interesting man and we like him and he did a good job, but he lost. Much more on my conversation with tom donahue, after this. The primary defeat of eric cantor makes the odds of passing in this country. Thats the conventional wisdom. Man who runs the most powerful business lobby in washington said that [ audio difficulties ] im talking about tom donahue. In the second part of my interview, i asked about immigration, and other issues, and i started by saying that canters defeat translated to power for the tea party. And look at his blunt response. First of all, i think youre fundamentally wrong. Let me say why. We have had 13 or 14 races in the primaries, and you couldnt tell the canter what everybody was talking about. What we and others were doing, very conservative, who would be good in the general election. When they were elected, would contribute to trying to find a bipartisan or rational way out of americas problems. In the past, we were letting people get nominated with issues that didnt make sense. Everyone, either open race or the primaries we have been in, and then we come to the canter race. And mr. Canter is a very thoughtful guy, an interesting man, we like him. But he lost. And the headline in the papers and in all of the the tea party wins. The tea party wasnt there. This is a very nice guy who may share some views with them. But were sort of worried when the guys who hook their wagon on a tea party name. This is a very nice man. A faculty member down there, and richmond is one of the most conservative communities in virginia. In my own view, very few people voted, this guy. 12 voted and he won a little bit more than half of that. So 6 voted in the district. And the bottom line, canter, im sorry for him, but there are 35 members of the congress, and we spoke to them all. I spoke with the other conservatives, and does Immigration Reform have much of a chance with the setbacks, and republicans want to push this forward. In other words, no one wants to shep herd this ahead. Reporter you may agree that something that i said a few weeks ago that if republicans dont go out we are halfway there, but now, in the house, theyre going to do bills, and somehow well put them together. [ audio difficulties ] they shouldnt bother to run for president in 2016. I didnt mean there would be overwhelming. You need to have a good relationship. The republicans arent taking your advice on this one. What i think is going to be able to carry that torch for the republicans with the environment that we have. Now, look, we are very political, but my colleagues operate all over the world. We are talking, and we already, in our building, we have president ial politics, but im telling you, dont write off you may have to wait a minute to get more done after awful of the primaries are finished. But im telling you, there are enough votes on the house than both parties to get a reasonable immigration [ audio difficulties ] is the conservative party, who do they have to run on these issues . Is christie out of the race as far as youre concerned . The answer for sure, come around and see me and well make great events. The bottom line, they didnt get all the way there. There are a lot of attractive people now beginning to consider what could happen in a republican run. We put this together. Theres a renewed interest in making sure that we drive the economy, that we get economic growth, that we get more jobs, and we do the collateral thing that make those things possible, and the chamber has a very simple system. Were just going to work on it every day. We got almost 500 people, we have 300,000 members. We represent 3 million companies, and we work with whoever wants to help get something intelligent done, were going to be there. Let me ask you one more thing, the chamber was getting attraction, 95 billion in tax breaks to repatriate money to the United States from corporations, and we have seen potential deals with pfizer going after astrocitizen ca, and now this with tronnic in ireland. And there seems to be a tax undercurrent with all of this. Whats your sense of American Companies seeking to relocate big parts of their businesses to avoid paying Corporate Tax . I dont think thats what theyre doing. Those few companies thinking of buying things overseas, everybody is paying a territorial tax. If youre a french company, german company, italian company, you pay either where you make the money or where you bring it home. You dont in both places. We pay in both places, you have to think of how you can avoid paying double on your fundamental tax rate, and i think americans want to get emotional about it. If theyre fair about it, i ask them a simple question. What would you do if you had to pay your personal income tax twice . We need to fix this problem, and until we do, there will be people either leaving the money there for Investments Overseas or looking for ways to minimize a huge amount of tax. Believe it or not, im not done with him. Youll hear more from tom donahue tomorrow, including his colorful comments about Carbon Emissions and how the pipeline is a political football. Youve heard of the dow and the nasdaq and the s p 500. But you may not know how their daily numbers are adding up. When we come back, our week along series on investing, strategies to help your portfolio. R this, is what we do. Al jazeera america. The numbers do not mean much, but the dow is the most important symbol of the nations stock market. This week we bring you a 5part series highlighting key Investment Strategies and principles. I tell you about the major stock market indicis. We look at the dow, the s p 500 and the nasdaq. They are not created equal, and its important to understand the differences when prosperity is on the line. Billions of dollars in retirement are tied to the indicis, and theres differences in how each is calculated. We brought in financial advise job, doug flynn, from flynzeto financial cap ital. I asked him to explain that. Theres different ways to make up an index of the the s p is the 500 Largest Companies, companies. A Bigger Company has more influence, apple. Yes, exxon, and those. The top 10 holdings in the s and p are about 18 of every dollar is in the top 10. Capitalisation. If apple has a bad day, it could affect your investments, if you are well diversified even apple. Thats right. The dow, an old indizzy is price weighted. It means stock with higher price is weighted more heavily in there. All of this is a proxy for what the market is doing. Unless you are in the 500 or 30 stocks, it doesnt mean thats what you are going to earn. Its a proxy, is the market doing well. Opinion . Over time its a good proxy, everyone measures themselves. The nasdaq theres 3,000 stocks in that. They are different numbers, over all they give you an idea, depending on what is in there. What the market is doing on an observing basis. Something to look at. You talked about the s p being capitalisation weighted. The do you being price weighted. Weighted. You can its interesting. If you take the s p and they are equal weight, index fund. Weight. Instead of having the top 10 s p index, it would be 2 of the portfolio, because 0. 2 of all 500 stocks will be in there. If you look at historically, it has a performance relative to the average s p, because the smaller of the big 500 stocks have more in there. Typically those companies are. More average and nimble. If i like the assortment of storks, but tired of apple fluns my stocks, but i want equal weight. But maybe the less thing you want to have more apple stocks. Theres different ways to index, but equal weight is the first to look at. You have something on the chart, the different kinds of capitalisation, and you have one that is rules based. That means you can provide anything to indexing. It doesnt mean market capitalisation. You can say i want to sort by value, by the price to earnings ratio, by price to book and sales. You can weight and reindex. And there are different funds that specialise. If you look at them nearly all over time have outperformance relative to the market capitalisation. There are things to look at. You might find companies that have lower price to book is a better measure than just im buying the Largest Companies in the United States because they are larger. Price to book is a Company Whose book value is trading lower than what the company is perspective. Theres many different measures, this is a good way to get online and look at the different types of indexing and weighting. And there are funds that will do it or you can look at it yourself and dig deep and see the holdings in there that may not be as big a weighting in the typical index fund. Its in the 401 k. Using the Different Things to make sure you are not davis cuply kating the duplicating the indexes. We call it overlap. Its fine if it does well, not fine if it doesnt. Doug flynn, cofounder of flynn zito. Tomorrow on our continued series. Well consider investing, energy, pharma, or pinpoint russia or a region like asia. Ill explain the pros and cons and whether the risk is worth the reward. Youd like to jump on the bandwagon and like to make money out the air b b but you find the idea of a stranger in your bed is creepy. On tech know. That is immense. There a misunderstood. Vital part of the ecosystem. Is a tiger shark. First one of the expodition can they be saved . Sharks dont eat people. Tech know, every saturday go where science meets humanity. This is some of the best driving ive every done, even though i cant see. Tech know. Were here in the vortex. Only on Al Jazeera America. Air b and b, the website that lets people rent out room on their sofa or their house is valued at 10 billion. They raised 5 million since their last round of funding, and investors are not the only ones that want a piece of the action. Savvy entrepreneurs, around the world, avertable ecosystem of company that want to cash in on the frenzy. So you have decided to rent out your apartment onair b and b and shoot off to the tropics for vacation. Congrats, just a few small details. How will you org the key exchange . What happens if a pipe burst if youre gone . How do thank you handle the gross factor of coming back to an apartment lived in by strangers . Fear not, new startups aimed to streamline the air b and b process, for a key. Guesty is one of those establishments, available in the uk and australia, it does everything from your guest inquiries, screen them, clean the place, arrange a key exchange, and provide a 24hour concierge for the guest. All they ask is 3 of the money you make renting out your place. There are about a dozen startups. Many are concentrated on the coast, from San Francisco to new york city. Guest hop and air envy are all San Francisco based start ups, and air keeper and properly is based in new york. Most charge between 50. 100 depending on what you need. Some will restock toiletries and clean up before you return. Air b and b is getting in on the action too. It already offers a 24hour Concierge Service for 24 an exchange. Soup to nut service. So we reached out to air b and b and so far havent heard back, but they plan to provide Concierge Services for every part of the booking process, including booking changes, and cleaning services that provide clean linens in between guests. It will stock the fridge with vitamin water and leave a mint on the pillow. Its not free, it costs about 60 each time. And the question is whether the Startup Ecosystem is the beginning of a new market or if the systems are doomed to fail as air b and b tries to squash competition. A prompt at the stern school of business at New York School of business, and good to see you again. Good to see you too, ali. Im puzzled on what to make of this thing. On the one hand, you have air b and b, which makes value out of a previously empty space in your home, and does it do everything or is it good that it spawned these other companies that are cannibalizing on it. I wouldnt think of cannibalizing, but i would think of it as adding value to air b and bs service. Were at a place where a large part of the population is not comfortable with air b and bb, its taking b and b closer to normal for a lot of first time customers. Customers and people who rent it out. It gives a certain degree of comfort to people who want to rent out their home. It grows the market. So air b and bs challenge now is to think about whether they want to let these companies thrive, and in some cases, thats the best thing. They stay out of their business and let them add value to air b and b. And another strategy might be to acquire them. If they start to generate a lot of revenue, and its largely because of air b and b. Saying we have noticed that theres a big market for Concierge Service or key exchange, so lets bring it inhouse and absorb it. I look at ebay, which did a great job of creating out of nothing, and it was good for everybody involved. There were companies that started to get on ebay and did that. And how would you compare ebays success on this front. Its a great analogy. Because ebay also had the retail experience, and then you had the ecosystem that delivered guaranteed. And i think that the big example there is paypal, created as a way of making secure payments between semianonymous strangers, and pay grew and ebay acquired it. And one of the services becomes big like paypal, i dont see any of the addons to air b and b approaching the scale of paypal. But slowly ebay started absorbing some of these into the platform itself. And went from being hands off to more involved. And thats the choice that air b and b will have to make, if they want to be a platform or a matching service. And then there was apple who invited people to be part of their system. And they thought it was a better way of doing business. Theres a good pattern there, because as these services proliferate, so long as the Customer Experience was them are good, this sort of enhances air b and bs value. Because more people will be comfortable booking through the air b and b platform. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Good to see you again. Oil futures, contracts to buy on a given date . When i quote the price of oil, its for an oil contract. 42,000 barrels of oil or 42,000 gallons . Oil sold today, 106. 36, its written as bbl. All you need to do is look at my handy oil barely. It stands for blue barrel, for the official standard of barrels back in the day. And while this barrel is painted the official blue color, its not regulation size. A regulation barrel holds 42 gallons of oil. And this here is a 55gallon drum. It originated with the oil boom in pennsylvania. It used to be shipped in any kind of barrel, usually whiskey or wine barrels, it allowed british traders to refer to the same measure. Based on wine. You cant buy it, it may not matter, right . [ audio difficulties ] even so, we still quote oil prices. Thats it for today, see you tomorrow. Announcer this is al jazeera. Hello, welcome to the newshour. Im here in doha with the top stories. Sunni rebels attack iraqs biggest oil refinery. And battle Kurdish Forces near a major oil town to the north. Ukraines president processes a cease fire to prorussian separatists can lay down their weapons. Dozens of