Transcripts For BLOOMBERG Countdown 20141224

Welcome to countdown. London on thisin wednesday morning. Also coming up today, cell phones made from diamonds are closer than you think. We meet the company developing it. Ity entertainment announced will release its new film the interview tomorrow in a number of theaters across america. Sony entertainment chief executive said we are excited our movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day. We are continuing our efforts to secure more platforms and more movie reachesis the largest possible audience. The two best friends stared each other in the eye. They knew this might be the end of the long row. Smaller chains are willing to screen the film, despite threats of filings from cyberattacks. The show very much goes on. 300, we understand, will be airing it as of Christmas Day. Whenhad to diverge course these threats of attacks started to leak out by the cyber bigckers and suddenly the four pulled out. We understand that a coalition of independent theaters signed a petition and sony started calling them up madly because they had to get the film over to them by yesterday to have them be able to screen by the 25th. The alamo draft house will be airing it in austin texas. Other theaters will start airing it as of the 31st of december. 300 will be going for it Christmas Day. Could be added to the list as time goes on, according to facebook. Jubilant among them will be seth rogen, he wrote the thatand he tweeted out freedom has prevailed. Sony didnt give up. At theatershown willing to play it on Christmas Day. Nothing like a bit of political pressure, is there . There was a feeling that the u. S. Had backed down to terrorists, to cyber attackers, and obama said i dont want some dictator in some place imposing censorship here in the United States. That was december 19. Quick sony is a private company thats worried about liabilities and this and that and the other. I wish they had spoken to me first. , do nothave told them get into a pattern in which you are intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks. Quite amazing that a comedy film has become basically a geopolitical incident. Not only was obama attacking the situation, we had the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations criticizing north korea in the u. N. For him as well. Basically i think the white house gave sony the green light, they said you have our backing, we actually wish you hadnt backed down. Now we have the white house coming out with a statement yesterday saying it is the right. F artistic expression how long before we can watch it here in europe . Here is the big question. We have put in calls to sony and we dont know if there were any answers to it unveiling internationally to go ahead. They do want to be screening in 60 countries in 2015. It was never meant to go to australia but it was meant to start off in australia and new zealand. I think what sony is making a statement here of is clearly this is not about the money. Why go to just the small amount of independent theaters, they could perhaps try to make money out of releasing it by videoondemand later and creator for your are. I think this is making a they feel you cannot back down to dictators in other countries. Youve got to have freedom of expression. Still the four biggest theater chains in the United States which operate more than half across the u. S. Have not turned around. We have not started hearing from a of regal saying we will show it. They probably have 10 or 12 screens, and you put up all the other films that might be being aired, from their point of view i think financially they cannot see any reward, but sony does feel there is some reward. The question we have not asked is, is the film any good . Roughly 50 has a draw for it and usa today said it fails to live up to the hype, floundering as a rowdy comedy as it grows dollar by the minute. So the critics are not exactly singing its praises, are they . So all the controversy surrounding it will probably ensure that more will watch it that would have watched it every i have the appetite to go. Ive been talking about it for two weeks. The score shows it sort of an average film. The russianmeasures central bank has taken to stabilize the ruble and raise the countrys key Interest Rates and spending 1 5 of its international reserves, Standard Poors has delivered a fresh blow to the currency crisis. Russianing in our expert ryan chilcote. What does this mean . You are going to see that movie, arent you . I would not go to the cinema, i would watch it on tbt. Think, is the threat of downgrading russia to john going to affect the ruble, or is it all in the price . It has not affected the ruble get. We saw a little bit of a spike in bond yields, but basically people have been trading russian bonds as if they were job for weeks. This is more a confirmation of what we already knew. More p saying there is than a 50 chance that they will cut russia to john in the next three months. The timing obviously a strange, given the fact that we have had over the last few days a bit of a rebound in the ruble, it has gained about a third of its value back since a week ago yesterday. But you know how the credit agencies are. The holidays begin tomorrow. It has been proven with france and the u. S. In the past. People have been paying attention to the russia story pretty carefully. Next year that company is heading toward recession. Politically speaking, how can inc. Change . Tenure for just january 15 an opposition figure in russia, he is not popular by any stretch of imagination but he has a niche of support in moscow. His supporters have called for a demonstration in support of him. Facebook got in a bit of hot water by deleting a post announcing it and then not doing that, but we are seen by many in russia as colluding with the russian government. Its a measure of two things. One is a measure of how disappointed and upset people are in the liberal wing of Russian Society with what is going on economically speaking. There were big demonstrations a couple of years back. A measure ofe exactly how the kremlin intends to react to these kind of things. Going to get convicted, will he get a prison term, and how will they deal with any demonstrators that do show up on january 15 . Have had a lot of economic deterioration already in 2014. 2015, how is the russian population going to respond . What are the prospects for peace in ukraine . They are mixed, which is not saying much. On the one hand we had peace talks in minsk, the capital of belarus. Omorrow is not a holiday thats important. Basically you have the two sides in eastern ukraine, separated by about five or 10 tom underscore and occasionally they shell one ther five or 10 , tours kilometers. The other issue is still. For independence in ukraine. Yesterday the parliament voted to get rid of the countries nonalliance. And have enshrined in law switzerland like status that would disallow them from being part of nato. The president still said they would have a referendum but the russians immediately said that is extremely counterproductive and a hostile act toward russia. A different story in the United States, the dow jones closed on a high note yesterday, the first time its ever closed above 18,000. Lets take you over to hong kong. Sherry, lets start with the dows record finish. Faster than expected gdp growth boosted confidence in the economy, sending stocks higher. The dow added 64 points to set a new record while the s p 500 rose, also reaching an alltime high. Both rising for five Straight Days. Some of that is positive news mosting over to asia with markets gaining. The regional index heading for its fourth advance in five days. The cost be was at its highest despite dataweeks, out today showing Consumer Confidence fell to a 15 month low. The index closing up. 4 . Traded in a shortened Christmas Eve session. Closex 200 recovered to. 25 . Chinese stocks are enjoying gains. The shanghai composite extending yesterdays losses, falling now 3. 1 . The index has been in overbought terrain for the entire month, perhaps the reason why investors gains. King at some japan coming back from the holidays and playing catchup today. The 120trading above level. It did strengthen a bed after five consecutive days of losses. The nikkei finished higher by one point 1. 2 . It rose for five Straight Days now. Consumer sources and goods leading the gains. Just japan, the parliament confirming the Prime Minister, that gives him the opportunity to become the longestserving premier in four decades. What is in store for him as he starts a fresh fouryear term . A long to do list for the Prime Minister and a tough road ahead to get them done. Abbott did win a landslide victory in the lower house election earlier this month, but only because there wasnt much of an Opposition Force to begin with. The Democratic Party unable to put up a good fight. Resistance both from within his own party and from the public on controversial policies such as restarting a nuclear reactor, his push to and the tpp freetrade deal legislation to strengthen japans defense. Also in august he had a tricky task in the diplomatic front as he is expected to release a statement on japans ruling world war ii which will set the tone. So a lot to do from now on. Thanks a lot, we will speak to you little bit later. Continues and you can follow us on twitter. One of the big trending subjects , we know theourse dow was above 80,000 yesterday. Reachk 172 days to 80,000. How are the other stock markets of the world faring since july 3 . Right now you can always find me at mark barton tv. Christmas coming early for americans, they got an upward revision of gdp. The u. S. Comes back and it doesnt stop there. Well talk about the worlds biggest economy and what is to come in 2015. Stay with us. U. S. Gdp jumped the most in a decade. My guest says growth in the worlds biggest economy could even exceed expectations. Investment fidelity management. Thanks for joining us today. Were you even surprised by that blockbuster u. S. Gdp number for the First Quarter . That is a quite incredible number. Way the boost of consumption thats going to come from the sharp decline in oil prices is already coming true. Year, we expect the ,. S. To be a bright force again growing somewhere above 3 with housing accelerating, with the consumer growing at a faster pace. What does that mean for interestrate policy . How soon is the Federal Reserve going to press the buttons to reserve to raise Interest Rates . Inflation is actually moving in the other direction. They want to make sure they get to the target. I think there will be quite uncomfortable with inflation falling and getting away from the target. Lookingwere probably at normalization starting toward the late part of the second half. Some have come on the show and said they might even raise rates extra. Many membersat , talking about the economy overheating a little bit. Statement thate actually the risks of raising rates too early are quite high. Do they outweigh the risk of keeping rates at record lows for longer . I think thats one of the , igest reasons for next year think we could potentially see thanexploration earlier expected because of the huge boost of consumption thats going to come through. Thoughts onear her the European Central bank and other global economies. Stay with us. Thank you for joining us today. We are counting down to january 22 when the ecb meets. What are going to get from the ecb on that day . Is that when mario draghi andlly appeases markets gives them what they been asking for on the qe front . We been waiting for this for so long, think there is a whether its january or march, it remains to be seen, but i think there is an urgency, again with inflation turning. Nto dangerous territory going negative in the next month or two . It is possible. I do expect the economy to accelerate. This will not just come before they second half of the year. I think it will be quite uncomfortable but will be moving into the negative territory. Will inflation pick up as the year involves . Because of the downturn in Commodity Prices and Structural Reforms going through. It could affect expectations. Its quite difficult to get out of that territory. Expect mario draghi to win over the naysayers, the germans, the austrians, the dutch . Cost of fighting inflation are very high. I think ultimately it is about thats how theyre going to do it. Russia has got to be up there. Stemmingrt of crisis from one of the emerging markets could be risky. In this sense the crisis has come earlier. Is there potential for to properly spillover . Emerging market worry like we did in january of last year eric resch is not so linked to the rest of the world. Germany has already had the consequences of those sanctions earlier this year. There are certainly trade channels remaining and the contagion could propagate through financial channels. I dont think its going to spillover considerably. Thanks for joining us from fidelity investments. Stay with us. Make the best entertainment part of your holidays. Catch all the hottest handpicked titles on the winter watchlist, only with xfinity from comcast. Welcome back. Time to look at the Foreign Exchange market. What a year its been for the dollar. 11. 4 , thellar down dollar just. 1 from a twoyear high against the euro. Blockbusterdays gdp number, the fastest growth in 10 years. According to economist we surveyed here at bloomberg, the employment rate should remain low, giving that Federal Reserve more reason to raise interest 2015. In the euro has only been heading in one direction, down 11 year to date. These are the Bloomberg Top headlines today. In a twist worthy of a hollywood blockbuster, the film at the center of the sony hacking saga will now have a limited release on Christmas Day. Sony will screen the interview at about 300 tutors in the United States. The films storyline centers on a fictional plot to kill the north Korean Leader kim jong on. Seth rogan celebrated with a tweet saying freedom has prevailed. The russian Prime Minister says the country is facing the risk of the d recession. He also says russia needs as in 2008. Agement tendered in court said it may cut russias Credit Rating to junk. Former u. S. President george h. W. Bush has been admitted to the hospital in houston, texas. Experienced 90, shortness of breath. He was admitted as a caution, according to a statement from his office. He is the oldest living expresident. U. S. Medical devices making strides. Caroline is here once again. So smith and nephew is back in place. It could be a new year offer we understand here bloomberg, but remember its the maker of medical devices, it was back in may that had to admit they were in the early stages of analyzing and evaluating an acquisition. They have to back off her six month. From may to november they did not make a new approach to the u. K. Companies with an nephew. Now it looks like they could be getting near one. They have been analyzing with the people they work with to try to work out what sort of money they would want to offer. People familiar say they would pay a 30 premium. The company is only worth close to 10 billion pounds. It is only up by quarter so far this year. You could be looking optimistically toward the new year it would seem. Explain the rationale behind this deal. Back in may when they were analyzing the deal, all the in theit was a companies United States that had a load of cash and they do not want to bring home profits. They started buying up companies. Nd lower taxation areas its not going to be tax inversion, according to people familiar than not planning to buy with an nephew because of a lower tax rate. The reason that always said the deal makes sense anyway is because of trimming costs for hospitals. We want medical devices to be cheaper. We cannot spend so much anymore. Usterity has been here i think in that respect it would help cut costs. Overallent got the reason of tax efficiency but when you look at the deals from earlier in the year to try to bring down the cost back in june, it doesnt mean that. Porsche is recalling 205 of spiders,ed edition 918 the most expensive car in history. Hans nichols joins us from berlin. Good morning. What is behind this move . But there is a defective jesse portion, they now said yesterday. They will have to recall it. It has to do with the front axle. This is the vehicle that cost 845,000. They only made 918 of them. Now in september they also had a problem, but that was with the rear axle. At that point there were only 46 vehicles. They contacted everyone directly. This is a plugin hybrid. You can get 67 miles per gallon. Rius, 60that to the p miles per gallon. My question is on miles per gallon, why do you even care if youre spending close to a Million Dollars on a car . Are you really worried about the price at the pump . Prius price the range. Could i am a walking man, as you know. Taking a step back, how was 2014 for porsche . Its been a banner year so far. Daves sold 169,000 vehicles. To 200,000 byet 2015. Look at russia, sales there are up 19 on the year. They are selling a lot of cars and it is a Profit Center for volkswagen markets. Are you lacking inspiration for those lastminute christmas presents . Our next guest may be able to help. Joining us is the chief executive of lifestyle concierge company. Lets say its Christmas Eve, which it is. Its maybe 12 hours later down the line. I burned my christmas turkey. I call you up if im a member, what can you do for me . This happen last year and the year before and the year before. We get about a thousand requests on Christmas Day and three or 4000 requests come in today, people on having a turkey really does destroy christmas. How do you fulfill that . Equest last year calls came in from people whose christmas was about to be ruined because there of and was broken or they left the door open. Either cooked the turkey at a restaurant and run home and serve it or what are your other more unusual requests . On Christmas Day, thats a lot. Give us an example of some of the more unusual ones. One of the classics is people waking up on Christmas Eve and realizing theyve got a bunch of presents that they havent actually organized yet. Day waking up on christmas and thinking, what can i do . We have lifestyle managers who will talk to people about that and they will say i have to get auntie. G for my , youet out of jail free say this will suit her. Your excuse for not having something physical to give her is you have to check the date. You will say when are you free in february or whatever. Ive already chosen a show for you. My favorite story is one year, someone overdid it on a pub crawl with friends. He woke up in a place he didnt recognize and got on his phone to you. He lost his mobile so he called on one of those oldfashioned phones which we have and use for many years. He knew our number and called us and said im lost, you need to get me home. I dont have any money, either. We said, where are you . He had no idea but he was able describe the postcode of the local street sign. We figured out where he was and got him picked up and got him home. You are international. How many members . Around the world we have about 2 million members. Are focusing on High Net Worth individuals. What keeps you ahead . What is your unique selling point . Other people think they can deliver great service. There are others. Have theater and dining experts who know the chefs, no had to get you him. Alreadyel experts have been to the hotels they are recommending. I was very geeky. It was a roleplaying game. It was a spinoff from dungeons dragons. Its great to see you, alex. At 10executive officer rupee read you can join the conversation on twitter. Im sure he is on twitter. Let us know what you think of the show. Have you ever used one of these tailored Concierge Services . Now if you wake up in a ditch, you know who to call, if you are a member. Diamondses made from are closer than you think. Sam grobart traveled all over the world to get an exclusive look at the technologies, innovations to shape and instruct construct our lives since 2010. Developing a way to make diamond semiconductors that will allow us to have thinner devices that require less energy. But we know that the diamond is a gem and it takes billions of years to form deep in the center of the earth. ,e know it is beautiful expensive, and rare. But diamonds can serve another purpose far beyond jewelry. It may just be that the diamond is the foundation of a new era in computing performance. If people understood all the tech technological lications one of those applications is your smart phone. We have what computer power increased by leaps and bounds. Phone started out the size of bricks, but now they are pencil thin with the operating capabilities of a full computer. That trend has one major advantage. The temperature is the same as on the sun. Electronics run exceptionally hot. The founder and ceo of a con technologys. He has figured out how to use. Iamonds they can be incorporated directly on chips where you dont need that same level of cooling. Heat is the enemy of performance in electronics. The problem is that they take up a lot of valuable space. Were at the point where we can continue to make system smaller because we have to include these materials. Attaching diamonds directly onto microchips it eliminates hunting for those space diamonds naturally die fuse he. It is the best conductor of heat that we know. Diamonds synthetic produced in labs. Makes you take a substrate want to put the diamond on top of. Reactor, methane and Hydrogen Gases are combining with intense pressure that bonds to the surface of the silicon wafer. Because diamonds are so strong, they can be formed into incredibly durable but remarkably thin layers. They are discreet little chips that we patrick that that we package and those are our electronics. They are more thermally efficient and also generating and developing the next generation of technology. The first diamondbased products will hit stores as soon as in the next 1224 months. While we will see a great improvement in size and performance, the change in price will not be as substantial. They have done a good job and for training diamonds as a very costly item when they are not. Methane is one of the most abundant molecules in the universe. The cost benefits are not just limited to consumers and small electronics. About 50 of costs are just on the cooling side. That means the amazons and apples of the world are spending a lot of money just to keep cool, but they could see huge reductions in operating costs over the next two years. As diamonds become more common in the electronic systems. Millions of times more powerful. Very important for continuing tomorrows products. Last year they were able to charge a diamond, enabling it to and givingctricity the potential to make our devices is much smaller and much more powerful. Its an old story in technology. There are limits and then there is new technology that burst right through those limits, opening up an entire world of technology. A the Ebola Outbreak was watershed moment in africa for 2014 as the disease continue to take human and economic tolls. The hardest hit areas have been slashed. Liberias growth was revised ton to 2. 2 , sierra leone 4 , and guinea 2. 5 . Tens of thousands of citizens still have the virus. That spring in my next guest, she was in sierra leone as ebola began to grip the nation. She is from the International Charity Restless Development. It was a sense of the impact of ebola on both the people of sierra leone and the economy itself. Good morning, thank you. Impact of the ebola crisis on west africa is huge. As you mentioned, sierra leone of 11 point growth 3 prior to the ebola virus hitting the country earlier this year. It will now experience a retraction of 13 , down to 2 growth forecasted for 2015. So alongside the devastation and the loss of life of so many nationds of lives, a that is already recovering from civil war, i think the Economic Impact their speaks for itself. Will the crisis get worse unless efforts are stepped up to turn the tide . Say. s difficult to this epidemic is unprecedented. There is a lot going on in the country. Working we can do is be towards the rebuilding of the country while tackling the epidemic itself. Give us an idea of what Restless Development are doing to tackle ebola. It is an agency that believes vast majority of solutions to poverty, social and disease in west africa can be solved from within. Using an inside out model, in workinged action, with communities to be informed, to take control of their response to the ebola crisis and to take action against future infection. Hatteras this go about . Im not how does this come about. I know you did some training in 2014 but your program has developed since then. We have close to 18 countries with young volunteers on the ground who are working in all 13 districts together with the local leaders, enabling those communities to develop actual plans on how they will curb future infections within their own communities. Obviously that goes handinhand with the medical side as well, the medical intervention. While we are both working with the communities, we are also help in the reporting of sick or dying persons as well as children. Is that the key you need for mobilization and not medical treatment, which is what the International Community was offering . Both are just as important as each other. The medical intervention is actually crucial to the success of our response to the ebola crisis, but it cannot work alone. We got to see that behavior changing at the local level, whether it is an urban or rural community. This is where Restless Development, together with several other partners, are working on the social mobilization side. We will be reaching 3 Million People over the next four months. The four districts youve worked in have showed lower infection rates. Medium termhe success we are seeing. Longerterm, are models of which hitr to the ebola crisis sierra leone focused on livelihoods and the role of young people in the government of their communities and the nation. We will in the longer term be transitioning back to that as we see the ebola curve coming back down again. How long might it be if before the ultimate goal is achieved and no new infections nationwide . I know thats a tough question. Its very hard to answer. There are so many predictions out there, but who knows . Thanks for joining us an enlightening us further on what is happening in sierra leone. We continue in the next hour. We will would back in two minutes. Stay with us. The controversial movie the interview will be released in the United States. Russias risky new years. Countrys Credit Rating to junk. It could be one of the big deals in 2015. Striker is said to be planning a takeover of smith and nephew. Stocks to a record high. 18,000 fores breaks the first time as it puts on 1000 points in five days. Welcome back to countdown. I am mark barton. It is 7 00 in london on the day before christmas. How to save meat. Aboutggest complaint products is the taste and texture. Sony entertainment has announced it will now release its film the interview tomorrow in a number of theaters across tomorrow. Stony entertainment chief executive says we are excited our movie will be in a number of days buton christmas securing our effort to secure more platforms and theaters so this movie reaches the largest possible audience. Stare each friends other in the eyes. They knew that this might be the end of the long run. Neither one could say out loud that they were both thinking. Here is Caroline Hyde. It is the smaller chains that will show the film. Coalition of independent theaters got together and signed a petition expressing their interest, sony got on the phone and said look, if you are up for it, we will send you the film. They had to ship it yesterday for it to be played tomorrow. There is a huge your turn you turn going on at the moment. 300 theaters good play the movie despite threats by cyber attackers. Chains say they will start showing it on the 25th of december. The police in atlanta have already been informed. They will be monitoring the location. Other theaters will start on new years eve. 300 in total but we could get more us weeks progress. Seth rogen, the man behind the film tweeted out ecstatically, saying the people have spoken, freedom has prevailed, sony did not give up. What prompted this turnaround in events . Nothing like a healthy dose of political pressure, i am pretty sure. As much as the head of Sony Entertainment said they never gave up, it pretty much look like they had. Everyone felt they are backing down to cyber terrorists, too longdistance dictators. They came out on december 19 saying we cannot bow down to a dictator in some place to impose censorship and United States. Lets remind ourselves what obama said on december 19. He was annoyed. Sony as a private company with lurid about liability, this, that, and the other. I wish they would have spoken to me first. I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you are intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks. I am pretty sure sony thought, green light. We can go ahead. They are looking to push ahead with the situation. This is phenomenal that one film has become basic we basically a geopolitical incident. Samantha power, who is the United States ambassador to the United Nations, is bringing it up, saying she is not happy with north korea. When will we be able to see it in europe . A good question. No comment on the International Rollout of this film. It was never going to be shown in a ship but they were meant to be starting in australia and new zealand. It was meant to be shown in 60 countries in 2015. We dont know if that International Plan still exists. According to some of the small independent theater chains, there are plans that show it on video on demand. We may be able to stream it. More fascinating is that sony is going, we are out of the money anyways. By showing it in a small amount of independent theaters, they are not going to make back their money in theater sales because the four big players are out of the running. They have not changed their minds, the controllers of half of cinema in the u. S. It is 70 million to produce. It is an expensive film, and all pertained to a. Some put it at 200 million. I have been reading the reviews in entertainment weekly. It isaid that is why there. Its a satire, bludgeoning the laughs with a nonstop hammer of bro humor. Dont you love it . Ive been talking about the film for so long i feel we have to really going say. Im interested to see how the next steps are the how they unveil the film on the agenda. They feel they cannot drop to north korea. One person said it is torture from start to finish. For all the measures russia has ,aken to stabilize the ruble raising the countrys key Interest Rate and spending 1 5 of its reserves. Standard poors has blown a fresh blow. It is warning it will cut its Credit Rating to junk. Lets bring in ryan chilcote. There is not much Market Reaction to this. Not really doing their part to bring Holiday Cheer to the russias story, as i am with my christmas winter. They say there is a more 50 chance of downgrade in the next 90 days. Russia is one notch above junk. Investors have been treating russian bonds like junk for a few weeks now. You look at the yield right now. It is above 6 . It was higher than that, above 7. 5 about a week ago. It has come down. The ruble has strengthened to the tune of about 40 . It looks poorly timed but we have seen this before. The central bank is taking action, introducing a new instrument to stabilize the ruble, saying they are going to lend to banks that have more than 60 billion rubles on their Balance Sheets in foreign currency. The whole idea is to try to bring more stability to the ruble going into the new year. We have rbc and the government talking to we have already seen the government talking to oil exporters. It is just another case of what brings are being propped up . We saw that yesterday. Parliament met yesterday. They introduced a whole new raft of laws. They were signing bills into law. One raising the amount you can have on deposit with the bank from 12. 5 thousand dollars to 25,000 that will be insured. It allows the central bank to take equity stakes in the bank if necessary, if they are worried about the health of a bank. The russian government trying to shore up confidence in the Banking System as russia goes into these long holidays. A lot of russians will pretty much disappeared this weekend and be on holiday until the 12th of january. We have that bank that is effectively under centralbank control as of yesterday called trust bank. Investors lost trust in it last week. They want to make sure it is a oneoff. Politically speaking, how could things change in 2015 in russia . I think that thus far this crisis we have been talking about has been an abstract one with the exception of the last couple of weeks. Prospect of the currency crisis turning into a political crisis. The russian president s rating is about 80 . Any western leader would be delighted to have the top hilarity the russian president has with his own people. As we get doubledigit inflation, will people be as happy . I think january 15 will be our first measure of that. That is the first day in opposition politician in russia is said to be either convicted or acquitted and sentenced. There is a demonstration already planned for that same day. If a lot of evil turnout he does not have a huge following, but if a lot of people turn out to relative to what he has had in the past, it would indicate among the liberal faction of Russian Society eight growing dissatisfaction with what is going wrong. If the government has a heavyhanded response, that would show a lack of willingness to tolerate that dissent. How isou came ukraines economy . It is like a race to the bottom between ukraine and russia. Ukraines currency was the worstperforming. Russia was secondworse. Economically speaking, the forecast for the Fourth Quarter from the analysts we have talked to our forecasting a 14 contraction. This was already europes worstperforming economy. 14 is hard to get your head around. I dont know if greece got that far. The government has a budget draft they are looking at right now. They are forecasting a 4 recession. The russians are looking at up to 4. 70 according to the central bank. The got 17 billion of aid pledged to them. They say they need at least 15 billion more. Some people say 20 billion more in the coming years. It looks like the European Union may be willing to pony up a couple billion. A different story in the United States for the dow jones closed above 18,000. Chinese stocks doing their best since 2009. Lets take you to hong kong and shery ahn. Lets start with the dow jones record finish. Confidence in the u. S. Economy sent stocks higher as the gdp grew at the fastest pace in more than a decade. Adding 64 points to set a new record while the s p 500 rose to 2082, also reaching an alltime high. Both of them rising for five days. Some of that positive mood is spilling over to asia today with most markets gaining here. The regional index heading for its fourth advance in five days. Pi in south kos korea was at its highest level in four weeks despite data showing Consumer Confidence fell to a fourmonth low. Enclosed up. 4 . Australian shares also edging higher in a shortened Christmas Eve session after slipping in early trading. Up. Asx 200 and did chinese stocks are giving up some gains. The shanghai composite extending yesterdays losses, falling 2 . Overboughtas been for the entire month. It is a reason that investors are booking some gains now. Japan is coming back from a holiday. Playing a bit of catch up. The yen is still breaking. Breaking the 120 level. It strengthened after five days of losses. The nikkei is finishing up 1. 2 higher. Japans paller meant parliament confirming shinzo abe the Prime Minister. Opportunityhim the to be the longestserving premier in four decades. What is in store for him . A long to do list. Although abe did when a mandate, he faces resistance from within his party and from the public on controversial policies such as restarting nuclear reactors, he is the first to join the tpp freetrade deal and legislation to strengthen japan defense. One of his Biggest Challenges from now on is to carry out his third arrow, which would be implementing a feasible growth strategy. Analysts say it may be difficult to expect much progress in the first half of next year because the focus will be elsewhere on issues such as taxes, security legislation. Withinolitical factions the party are expected to make it hard for him to move forward on real and meaningful structural reform and with local elections in april and a Party Leadership vote in september, the order in which he tackles popular policy may prove crucial. Back to you. Bloombergs shery ahn in hong kong. The markets here in london, spain, and france are closing early today. Those in italy, germany, switzerland, and greece are closed for the entire day. You can join the conversation on twitter. Let us know what you think about the show. Tell us how you are feeling the day before christmas. Bridget jones is treating. Trending. Why is Bridget Jones trending . Wearingy colleagues are funky christmas jumpers. They are laughing because they know it is true. I have to stare at them all morning. Theyre trying to get me to where the christmas jumpers by the end of the show. I dont do jumpers. They are too hot. I like both of yours. Penguins. All sorts of things. Youre thinking im going mad. Saudi may think it can stand oil at 20 a barrel. My next guest says current levels are unsustainable for the market. We will talk oil investments. Lets go back to the markets. The dow hit over 18,000 for the first time ever. Lets bring our guest into the conversation. Aon hewitt. 18,000, eh . 172 days to took 18,000. Give me a reason to buy equities when valuations at are at a fiveyear high. The fall in Oil Prices Going to see Consumer Spending up. The treasury is that 2 . Where is the money to go. That is the reason to buy. You might hesitate from a body which and standpoint, from a valuation standpoint. I think the data flow is with earnings, just about. The issue is further out because those violations are a hindrance. At what point did it become a threat . It probably still has a ways to go. We are at 17 times next years earnings. If itk we get 10 higher starts to become what is your worry . The fed, if and when it starts to raise rates, this that put the foot on the pedal of this equity . The longest bond deal status flow, and that is the key, if the jigsaw sustains it. If that falls out somewhere, we shouldnt have a problem the gap between the twoyear and the 30year is narrowing, isnt it . If you look at the socalled term premium between the front end, it is pretty much at an alltime low. Unsustainable. That has to change at some point. Shortterm Bond Investors or Equity Investors . I wouldnt say i was a Equity Investors for the time being because the falling in oil price is bondfriendly. The worries are all a little bit further out. That has been the story. The oil is just a little bit ahead. Back you in a second. Tappan datta stays with us. Back to markets. Marketdatta, the head of allocation at aon hewitt. You say market eats markets in the u. S. Go through the equity clauses. Which ones will do better than other ones . Onds are the points of weakness. Im of the view that the federal interest begins the journey of normalizing Interest Rates. Elds have spilled over into all asset losses. Im not exaggerating. Began that Journey Towards hind yields, and assuming that it is true when it does, then there are number of High Yield Bond Fund had a they have had their alltime low. It is a proportion of the highyield bond market. When does that journey end . In some ways, if you look at what is happened with highyield bonds, i can readily explain some of the problems by saying it is an Energy Sector problem. The Broader Market has reprised a little bit, but the issue is these deals might still, even though they are higher than they were a few months ago, might still not prove enough of an inducement for a riskfree asset, which will still have your bond yield move higher. A reach for yield is to save everything from Investment Grade to highyield to all the bond proxies and the equity markets. That spillover effects will change in reverse. You will get a Broader Market affect as that happens. The big question is when that happens and how strong that is. Returns. What sort of return should we be happy with in 2015 . Be if you to were to ask me to look ahead the next three years, it really is a 5 world, across the spectrum. Depressing, but it is something, isnt it . Biggest risk for 2015 . Number one worry . Which one do you want to talk about . There are so many. Which is the number one of all . The two big risks out there are the way china plays out is still a major risk out there to the markets. The other is just really the issue of the u. S. Fared and what happens to the yields and spillover effect everywhere. Great to see you. Happy christmas. Enjoy the holiday. Tappan datta. Still to come, how to fake meat. The biggest complaint about substitute product is the taste and texture. We will talk to the company that claims they found the solution. Youre watching countdown. You can see the euro down by 11 against the dollar. 1. 2183. 1 from its strongest in two years versus the euro. Big day today with the economy rise in the Third Quarter by the most in over a decade since dwee. Jobless claims data should remain the lowest since october. That should or could or may give the Federal Reserve more reason to raise Interest Rates. But there it is. The euro dollar almost at a twoyear low. Im mark barton in london. These are the Bloomberg Top headlines. In a twist worthy of a hollywood blockbuster, the film at the center of the sony hacking will be screened at about 300 theaters in the u. S. The storyline centers on a knicksal plot to kill kim jong un. The director celebrated the decision in a tweet saying the people have spoken. Freedom has prevailed. Medvedev says russia needs hands on management in the same way as 2008. Russian lawmakers have rushed rough legislation allowing moscows deposit insurance former u. S. President george h. W. Bush has been admitted to hospital in houston, texas. Bush, who is 90, experienced shortness of breath. He was admitted as a precaution. He is the oldest living expresident. S 2014 comes to a close, sam grobards traveled all over the world to give us a look at technologies and innovations. As the won looks to meet alternatives, the biggest complaint about faux meat is not only the taste but the texture. We found a company in claims they found solution to both of those issues. If you think about meat and say it has to come from chickens, cows and pigs. We need to think about about it differently. Im the founder and c. E. O. Of beyond meat. Our submission to create meat directly from plants. For decades people have attempted to make imitation meat from plants. The imitation has never been that convincing. What is meat . I think about it from the perspective of what is in meat. It is lipids, water. What were doing is extracting them from plants and assembling them the architecture of Animal Protein or muscle and providing meat directly from plants. What makes beyond meat different from its predecessors, instead of taking a product like tofu and trying to make it like chicken, it rebuilds it from the molecular level. Flavor is important but it turns out it is not the most important thing. When i think about the single most important innovation that we were able to create, it really gets back to the texture. To our later in with Animal Protein with that feeling on the teeth. They were able to create this unique texture through a combination of heating, cooling and pressurizing the proteins naturally found in plants. Im going to try some of this chicken. All right. The texture is really the key here. You get that feeling, you use that word fibrous. Stringy in a good way. Without the structure, without the fiber, youre not going to get that mainstream penetration. They are currently selling two kinds of plantbased meats. Chicken strips and ground beef. Both are designed to mix with other ingredients which makes it easier. 2015 will be aing make or break year for beyond meat. The company is preparing its next product. A burger. That is a way taller order than chili. They seem to think they have an edge. Once you start rebuilding meat from the ground up. You can make it better. What youre having now has more protein than beef and more iron than steak and more calcium than milk and more antioxidant than blue berries. The question becomes are we eventually going to see a meatless future . I dont think it is realistic to think that people are going to stop consuming meat. I think the niche population is going to do that. You look at human health, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, these National Epidemics we have. If you look at climate change, i can make an impact in each of those areas by changing out the amino acids at the center of the dinner plate. That is really exciting. For decades, Meat Alternatives have been stuck in he health food ghetto. They are nudging us to plantbased alternatives that are distinguishable from the real thing. If they are right, if you cant tell the difference between, say, chicken and beyond meat chicken and their product is better for you and the environment, the company is betting its future on the hope that you are about to become much more of a vegetarian than you planned. Some grobat reporting there. Our next guest created an ice cream that has fewer calories per portion than an apple. Hi. Morning. Thank you for joining us today. Really . A delicious guiltfree ice cream . Yeah. Really . To begin with, it was not a delicious guiltfree two years after government grants support and an awful lot of time, we have what we think to be you tell me. You taste it. We have three flavors. Traditional well known flavors. That for example is salted caramel. You can taste it. You can really taste the caramel. We use lacuma fruit. A south american fruit. It tastes between maple and caramel. What are the other two flavors . Vanilla. I have never eaten ice cream by the way at this time of day. How we have done it is we Virgin Coconut Oil instead of cream and boost each flavor with fruits. It is the fruit that gives it not only that healthy boost but also that kind of rich taste. What about chocolate . That is raw cacao. It is a raw version of chocolate. Journey, harry, has come from brazil. That is where this idea kicked off . Yeah. It came from a mad expedition that we did on the northeast coast of brazil. Trying to break the record for the longest distance traveled by kite buggy. It took us a lot longer than we were expecting. You ran out of money and food . Actually we ran out of money but that is a different story. We ran out of food. Locals actually when we came into a town they showed us how to use coconuts and other berries and super foods that were growing and we realized they tasted a bit better and they were clearly fresher and much better for you. I think that gave us the energy to carry on a. You came back. You resigned from your job. Yes. Moved to your brothers sofa preponderate yeah, for nine months. And the journey began, didnt it . Yeah. 25 months later, three different factories. Four grants. Tell us about the grant side and the funding side. How difficult is it to get funding to set this business up . There are always Funds Available for businesses to ask. That offer something new to the marketplace. People are interested in innovation. Of course it is hard. I was 25 when i started. No track record. Certainly no track record at creating foods. It was tricky to persuade people that this could be done. Croy the healthy make an indulgence healthy. Winning competitions was the biggest showing prove to people actually that we have got what it takes. It is being picked up, isnt it . Yes. It is in 117 stores. Were very lucky. Tell us the moment that you discovered that they were going to sell your ice cream . That was amazing. We had been speaking for over a year. We got involved early so that we could create something that they ind of felt part of but also with relative aspects, if that makes any sense. I was at home at my desk when the buyer called me and he sounded really, really stern on the phone and said charlie, yeah, well take it. I was so nervous but it was amazing. Does that give you leverage for other absolutely. Id does. It definitely demonstrates that you have a mass appeal. That people are buying it. At the same time we are pushing sbeeverpbing waitrose at the moment. What is the Business Plan here . What is the dream . It is building a relationship with waitrose. There are still a lot more stores that we would like to get into. They are big enough and they have the right consumers. They are Health Conscious as well. They are really keen to continue that. We are of course developing new flavors as well, which takes time. And were keen to get into premium independent stores as well. I have to ask and ill ask you both, as a man with an older brother, i wonder what would it be like going into business with my brother . What are the pitfalls of going into business with your brother . The pitfalls is the danger of ruining a relationship. We were already best friends. We already had been incredibly good friends. It was less of a pitfall and more of an opportunity. We understand all of our strengths and weakenses. We are very, very different people. Actually an opportunity to work with somebody who is your best friend and someone who you can resolve issues incredibly quickly. What is your view . When you have an argument you kind of get over it quite quickly. You can say exactly how it is. And then move on. It works extremely well. There is a trust thing. Trust is so important when youre doing business with someone. There is no one else you can trust better. Good luck to you both. Come back next year and tell us how you do. Up next, bart chart time. Todays question, what is 2014s best performing currency . Stay with us. Time for todays bart chart. What is 2014s best performing currency . You guessed it. It is the u. S. Dollar. It has risen against all 16 of its major counterparts in 2014. Registering a gain of at least 5 versus all of them. It has also risen against expanded list which encapsulates all 31 of the worlds major currencies and gained against all of the merging market currencies as the Federal Reserve wound down its bondbuying program and paved the way for an increasing u. S. Rate for 2015. This is bloomberg spot index. This is a chart that best illustrates the dollars performance. It tracks the currency against 10 major peers including the real, the yen, the pound and the euro as well. It has risen 11 in 2014. It is set for its biggest annual gain since the series began at the end of 2005. Right now it is close to the heist level since march 2009. That of course was reached on tuesday. We also have the bloomberg correlation independence si. That tracks the dollar against nine other developed nation currencies. The dollar comes out on top in that one as well with a gainor 12 followed interestingly by the new zealand dollar. Look at the middle chart. This is the worst performing currency versus the dollar in 2014. You might have thought it was the russian ruble. Yes, it has fallen 40 in 2014 against the u. S. Dollar but the ukrainian currency faring even orse dropping 48 in 2014. 48 decline. That is as the conflict with pro russian rebels raged on. There were actually a couple of currencies, a few to be precise that rose against u. S. Dollar in 2014. We track 174 currencies here at bloomberg. According to the data, just six gained 1 or more against the dollar. Led by this one. Samali schilling which had its best year against the dollar since 2005. Here is one you can tell your friend or family. What was the best performing currency in the world out of 174 versus the dollar . Shilling. Somali is that the sort of question you ask your family . Maybe i have a weird family. The dollar undoubtedly the king of major market currencies in 2014. Somalianeonone basis, and its shilling was the best performing currency against the dollar. Ok. Youre looking for live shots on the city of london. Equities are set to open higher in about 10 minutes. It is Christmas Eve. We have a flashing christmas tree. What more can you want . See you in a second. Here is Caroline Hyde. It is interesting. Back in may due to u. K. Takeover panel rules it has to go away for six months. Go away and think about it. A standoff time. Cooling down. It had been reported in the u. S. That stryker was indeed interested in the u. K. Medical device maker which was smith and nephew. It had a sixmonth cooling off period. We understand. Give it o weeks and then it could be back again this Time Offering a 30 premium. Smith and nephew shares are already up 26 . It is valued at 15 billion dollars. Somebody coming back . Precisely and snapping it up. Clearly actually interesting moves yesterday. It was reported in the u. S. Times. We saw their listing jump. People like it for them but they also like it for stryker. Strykers share price up almost 2 on the back of this as well. They might be finalizing a bid and coming towards the end of actually putting on the table in the next couple of weeks is good news. What is so trgs is the rationale has changed. Once again, a u. S. Medical Company Going for a u. K. Medical company. Where have we heard that one before . Pfizer, astrazeneca. It was all about trying to lower your tax and gain from the u. K. Lower Corporate Tax rate and also be able to use the money that you made abroad. U. S. Companies dont like bringing their profits home because they get taxed at the higher rate that the u. S. Currently imposes. Problem is we know the u. S. Government is trying the crack down on this. Because of political risk, we understand according to people familiar that stryker will not treat this as a tax emersion. What is winning it is cost cuts. Synergies. This is all about trying offer the u. S. Hospitals and insurance cheaper materials and cheaper good and cheaper medical devices that smith and nephew make, cheaper surgical implants that stryker makes. This is why they got together earlier. Other big u. S. Companies looking trying to Team Together because it brings down the costs. Interesting. One to watch for 2015. Caroline, thank you very much. You can always follow us on twitter. You can follow caroline. It has been mainly about food today. I saw one of your pictures. Not only are they wearing amazing christmas jumpers. At Caroline Hyde tv. I know it by heart. There i am. There she is. I have to promote my twitter handle in 2014. This is the final show for me and you until next year. What is number one on your list . Im not going to say. Really . I dont know. Something gold. A bit of bling. A leopard skin coat or Something Like that . Nah. Im over that, thanks. Nothing designer. You know who she is talking to. Gold. According to everyone. I would think diamonds would be more suitable. Oh, really . On the move is next. Happy christmas. Good morning, everybody. Welcome. Youre watching on the move. Im guy johnson in for jonathan ferro. We are now Just Moments Away from the start of limited European Equity trading. Stocks will trade for half a day in the United Kingdom in france and spain and they are closed in germany, switzerland and greece. Here is what we are watching this Christmas Eve. Over in the United States the dow has broken through 18,000 after a big g. D. P. Revision in the u. S. The dollar as a result hit its highest levels since 2006. Stocks in japan have followed suit. The nikkei closing out at 200 points. It is a very different story in russia it is a nation takes steps towards junk. The s p says it may cut russias Credit Rating. Meanwhile Vladimir Putin prepares to bail out banks as he faces an uphill battle in 2015. So that is what we are watching. The European Markets limited European Market open that were about to see is happening as we speak. Lets find out what is going on. Caroline hyde is at the touch screen. Thank you very much, guy. Yeah, a little bit red on the open. Flat on the ftse 100. Off by. 10 . What blowout numbers we saw yesterday from the United States. Third quarter g. D. P. 5 . Beating every single economist out there that we surveyed. 75 we got the news from. None of them thought it would go as high as 5 . Cleawe