Reforms, not sanctions. The imf hints the approach towards the situation in ukraine needs to be readdressed as it approves a 17 billion aid package. Youre watching worldwide exchange, bringing you Business News from around the globe. All right. A warm welcome to todays edition of worldwide exchange. Protesters have taken to the streets around the world for the may day rallies. Many are gathering to protect against harsh austerity measures. It does mean quite a few markets are closed. The nikkei was working today as far as asia is concerned. These are the individual markets today that have been trading in australia. The nikkei up 1. 27 . The all index dunn a third. The ftse, the irish market and the danish market as well. The ftse up 0. 3 . Up 10 points yesterday. A number of individual stocks were looking at today, bskyb, up nearly 4 at the moment. It reported ninemonth refs into up 7 to 5. 7 billion pounds, the results in line with forecasts, though the group says it added 74,000 net new tv customers in the third quarter. Lloyds today, also up nearly 4 , a 22 jump in First Quarter profit bolstered its case to restart dividend payouts in the second half of the year, helped along by the british recovery net income. Topping 2. 7 billion pounds. Dansk bank is up as well. First quarter profit beat forecasts, coming in at 14. 6 danish corona. We encourage results of 2. 8 billion after tax. It shows many of the activities weve been doing over the last year are starting to work. We are putting the financial crisis behind us. Our impairments are coming down. But we still have a lot of work to do on cost, also on our top line, the growth is sluggish. Theres still a lot more work to do but we are encouraged by our First Quarter results. That was danske bank kbroops. And novo nordisk, the Pharmaceutical Company lowered forecast by 1 percentage point. Xetra dax closing up last night. Up 0. 5 so far this week. That didnt tell us what happens in the month. Maybe the nikkei chart tells us what has happened in the month. Lets take a look. Down 2. 3 is where we stand. The dow yesterday was up from 45 points. The first record close of the year, the Third Straight positive month up 7 out of 8 of where weve been, up 45 points yesterday, up 0. 25 . Bond yields as well, a good increase in adp employment yesterday, 220,000 gdp, pretty much written off by the markets, 0. 1 , estimated at 1. 1 , much of that written away due to the bad weather. Theres a fairly good thought about what we might get nonfarm payrolls on friday. Twoyear treasury yields is where we stand at the moment. As far as currency markets are concerned, euro dollar, 1. 3. Firm today at 1. 3884. And Alan Greenspan told cnbc the fed cant be blamed for the financial crisis speaking yesterday on closing bell. He said the moves werent detrimental. The most important issue is despite the fact that we lowered rates, we did not have longterm rates moving down. We did not have money supply accelerating. There are no finger fingerprints of an easy money policy in the marketplace. So while it could have been and we could have been very kul kulpaibkulpa culpable at that time, i dont think that that one was one, a mistake. I dont think we were as an organization significantly involved in what was happening in the global markets. Joining us with his thoughts, heading amplified traying. Mr. Greenspan, we werent significantly involved with whats happening in global markets. Is anybody still listening to him . Im not. But yeah, i think what you are saying, im quite optimistic now. I think from markets point of view, its been a tricky four months. I think we came into the year so bullish, everyone. There was a lot of over the optimism levels have gone too high. Weve had four months of sideways action with surprising risks coming out. I think were through that period now. I think actually optimism levels are have normalized. I actually think that now is the time after four months of sideways action where ive been actually very uncommittal, which isnt like me. Im now committed. Committed to what . To risk on for the next three months. Its may 1st. It is. I know. I think for the next couple buy in may. Buy in may, go away. I think going into the summer well get a decent track higher. I think the gdp figures yesterday from the u. S. Were quite telling. I think this whole story about the weather in the u. S. Has dragged on for a long time. That was the final piece of the jigsaw for that story. The economy in the u. S. In quarter one was heavily affected by the weather. If you look at the Market Reaction to that yesterday, virtually hardly any. Amazing. A couple hours later we had chicago pmi data. This is important. The gdp data is old news. I know its important but ultimately, thats looking back and saying january was really bad. But the chicago pmi data was for april. This is right now, current, evidence that those weather effects have gone and were actually going to step up and see a decent Consumer Spending looked all right. Yes. Consumer spending was strong. Gdp was strong. What it points toward, if quarter one was so bad, they still managed to produce 200,000 jobs in february and in march. If the economy can produce that number of jobs when its not growing, well, what can we expect when it is growing . I actually think we got forecasts for 240 for tomorrows payrolls. A bill less than that. I forget the figure. Around 200. Yes. I think it can be a decent amount above 200,000. I think the good thing about the qe the gdp figure yesterday was, it was bad and proved quarter one was weather affected. The positive thing about that, i think, is on rate expectations. You know, the fed had an expected growth rate for this year as a whole of 2. 9 . Thats going to be a difficult target now, given the economy didnt grow in the First Quarter. As you just said, the Growth Numbers dont actually matter. Hang on. I think if youre worried about rate hikes, ultimately this will be the factor. I think we get another bull cycle in this twoyear up trend. As we hit the second half of this year or certainly quarter four, you know, rate hike fears are really going to ramp up. Theyve flirted with the market already. I think theyre properly come into play. The good thing about yesterdays gdp today its given us a summer window it you seem to be saying. Yes. Stay there. Sony cut its profit outlook by almost 70 . They say its exit from the pc business cost nearly 300 million more than initially expected. They will also see a 244 million impairment loss from its disk production business this year. I dont know whether you have thoughts about sony . Its not a new story. I think they probably will continue to make the mistake of trying to revive earnings, right the way across all parts of their business rather than saying, you know, this electronics game weve been in, were so far behind the curve, rather than just cutting that part of the business and evolving, theyre trying to revive something that is like flogging a dead horse. That story is not new. Its not going to affect the tech sector today in any effect, in any broad instance. The sony story is well known. Theyre struggling. You say youre going to go risk on. Yes. Risk on with what . Financial is the worst sector, utilities have had five months of gains, Energy Stocks have had three months of gains in the united states. If youre going to decide may is not go away but a buying opportunity ironically, just having talked about sony, the tech sector has been oversold. Thats the sector thats underperformed quite heavily. If you look at the nasdaq they were original valued. Social media stocks in particular. Kbre, but whats happened is some individual stocks here and there have been hammered to are fair enough reasons, valuations got carried away. The whole sector got dragged down with that. I think actually that story has gone too far. I think we can expect a rebound. If you look at the nasdaq sort of net overall positioning, its down to minus 1. 1 standard deviation. This is right down at the bottom end of the longterm range. I think that story has been kbrofr play overplayed. Weve had a decent story from some of the giants. I think that can drive a strong rebound in the tech sector which has been oversold in the last couple of months. Stay there. I have some other corporate stories were following. The firm was issued a profit warning late wednesday, says its going to raise 170 Million Pounds in emergency cash after slashing its operating profit forecast for the year. The new ceo has taken the helm. This news comes just days after that. The imf is approved a 17 billion aid program for ukraine, around 3. 2 billion will be released to kiev immediately. Imf managing director Christine Lagarde spoke to reporters in washington about the program. Under the program, we are not designing sanctions. We are designing reforms. We are trying to improve the situation so that the stability is restored, so that the Exchange Rate is supportive of more Sustainable Growth. And we are encouraging transparency and new Business Practices in a country thats badly needs those changes. Neil shearing is with us for his views. We saw the imf slash their growth forecast 0. 2 , actually effectively saying the country is in recession right now. Do you agree with that . For russia, yes, i believe they are in a recession. For russia. Well know more about the First Quarter later this month. I wouldnt be surprised to see it fall again in the Second Quarter. We know it was about 750 million there. In the Second Quarter it will still be significant. How has this not gone back into ukraine, the funding they need, when russia clearly is at the moment trying to destabilize the economy and create a federal country . Well, this is whats facing ukraine. On the one hand its a brink of crisis with Macro Economic problems. This is a huge program, 17 billion is massive, well over ukraines quota at the imf and it should free up additional funding, too, from the world bank and eu and from bilateral governments, too, from the u. S. As well. But this has all gone on the economic side. Theres a political angle to all of this, too. Really. The center is now losing control. This is the worry in development over the past week or so, that these, the country is now clearly in the hands of separatists in parts of the east of the country. Its difficult to see much were going toward the elections. One wonders if that changes anything. I think it may well do. It could be a flash point for further trouble. Its difficult to see a way out of this, that we will see political stability. So, for example, if the prowestern lobby win the elections, that will clearly exacerbate tensions in the east. If its indecisive, youll end up with a period of prolonged instability and infighting. The key message here is that the end is not in sight. Its difficult to see how we get out of this. Okay. Neil within stay there. Also on todays show, calls for celebration. Cyprus and eight other countries are marking their tenyear anniversary of eu membership. Will the Warren Buffett effect force cocacola to rethink its controversial executive Compensation Plan . Find out why fresh reports say the drink giants pay plan may be revised. And could the london rush for parking be about to hit the brakes . Well investigate the latest parking app heading to your smartphone. Huh, 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. Everybody knows that. Well, did you know that game show hosts should only host game shows . Samantha, do you take kevin as your lawfully wedded husband. Or would you rather have a new caaaaaar say hello to the seasons hottest convertible. Ohhh. And say goodbye to samantha. [ male announcer ] geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more. What is this place . Where are we . This is where we bring together reliably fast internet and the best in entertainment. We call it the x1 entertainment operating system. It looks like the future we must have encountered a temporal vortex. Further analytics are necessary. Beam us up. Thats my phone. Hey. [ female announcer ] the x1 entertainment operating system. Only from xfinity. Tv and internet together like never before. At t has reportedly approached directv about a possible takeover. The wall street journal says the deal would be worth 40 billion. Directvs current market cap would create a u. S. Pay tv giant close in size to comcast if it completes its acquisition of time warner cable. Directv has around 20 million customers. Growth has slowed in recent years. At t serves around 5. 7 million. Merck is reportedly considering the sale of a big portfolio of mature drugs that might fetch upwards of 15 billion. Earlier this week, reports that merck was pursuing another sale. On wednesday, it was said they were no longer in the running to buy mercks Consumer Health care business. Alibaba is reportedly in talks with its major shareholders about buying back a stake in its fast growing online payment business, alipay. It estimates to handle half of chinas online payments. Even if a deal is reached, its not likely to take effect until after alibabas ipo. Reports say the company could now file its ipo paperwork sometime next week. And box, is boxing up its ipo plans for now. The online Storage Company is delaying its planned offering until at least june, amidst weak demand. They are eligible to list as early as april. Investors are soured on cloud companies, an undevbessemer has8 million in market cap in the last two months. Protesters have taken to the streets around the world today. For may day labor rallies. These pictures from athens, may day is now the biggest labor holiday in the world. Many are gathering to protest against harsh austerity measures. Now, may 1st might be a day for most but it also represents the tenth anniversary of eu membership for the likes of debtstricken cyprus. A total of Nine Countries joined the European Union in 2004, many of which are eastern european. The eu now boasts a total of 28 member states. But is this a cause for celebration and reflection . Or anything else . Lets get more from neil. What do we make of the eu today, particularly this time of the year . The eu is demanding massive reform. Indeed. I think the expansion into the east of europe is perhaps one of the Success Stories the eu can point to over the past decade or so. Its been the anchor for strong and Sustainable Growth in eastern europe. Its been the anchor for a rise in prosperity in places like poland, the Czech Republic and slovakia. There are one or two countries that joined in 2004 and they are in a single currency and experiencing problems with the single currency. The eu has been a runaway success for other countries. Would you classify croatia that that bracket, in terms of it being a runaway success. Croatia only recentlidowned. Theyve had five years of gdp. Theyve been in recession pretty much tonightiously since 2008 now. And that really reflects deep structural problems in its economy. Which should have really been dealt with before as part of the succession to the eu. There was reform in places like poland. It didnt go as far in croatia. When slovenia joined, the argument afterward was that perhaps they joined too quickly. The process of joining has been so elongated now. It took croatia eight years of negotiations to be allowed to join the club. Since theyve joined, its had no positive effect on their economy whatsoever. In fact, its probably had a negative effect. Politically, theyre pulling away from this idea of democracy and open markets. I think the key zengs distin is membership of the European Union, places with single currency, places like slovenia with a single currency joined too soon. They have a relatively poor emerging market. Very different in structures like germany and france. Doesnt belong in the sing currency in my opinion. Whether it joined the European Union is the question. Theres plenty to game. Membership in the single market, its a huge positive, particularly when you open up markets with trade and investment. Thats been the anchor for growth in places like poland and the Czech Republic. The Institutional Reforms that need to join the European Union are important. These are countries that net beneficiaries in a fiscal sense. They have huge structural funds flowing to these countries in order to facilitate the catch up growth. The new members of the eu, how long before they join the euro . Because its implied that when you join the eu now, you also at some point will enter single currency. The uk has an appetite. The new members dont. So it is implicit within the terms of the succession that they will at some point yet to be determined join a single currency. Thats the key point, the events of the past two or three years has an appetite for entry into the single currency. Czech, hungary, the same is true with the single currency. Id be very surprised if we saw poland join single currency this decade. They can afford to sit and wait. Sitting out has been a huge benefit to them. They have control over their monetary policies, they were able to cut Interest Rates rapidly when growth slowed. They have control over fiscal policy. The backdrop for recovery was provided. It would be interesting. Piers, before we let you go, we have data coming up in a minute and a half. The uk pmi. Where do you think whats your target for the likes of the s p and the ftse . I think for this cycle, higher. If im right, obviously. I think youll get 1900 breached in the s p. Finally we could get a launch at 7,000 on the ftse 100. Its been a long time coming. The ftse 100 can make a new alltime high and test 7,000 in the next month. In the next in the next month. Really . Yes. The ukraine thing has been such a drag, and i think its been going for two months now. As you pointed out, this story will be here probably this time next year. I think from a market sensitivity perspective, we got a bit exhausted on that. I think whilst it still runs will be less and less of a Significant Impact on market risk, generally, globally. If you add the m a pickup, thats massive. In a lot of sectors now. This week its pharma. Its broad based and its massive. I think thats a powerful message. Its saying the company has been on cash for years and nows the time. This is large cap m a stuff. Thats a powerful story. I think thirdly, the eurozone periphery has been able to benefit from this i mean, what is excessive funds flowing into the peripheral debt space but the yields are so low and theyre cashing in on that. Dont get me wrong, i think the yields are unnecessarily low. If you get portuguese junk rated debt lower than austria aaa rated debt, thats crazy. I think in the next few months this will be a positive. Good to see you. Well take a short break. Well have the manufacturing pmi as soon as we come back. We needed 30 new hires for our call center. 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The imf hints the situation in ukraine needs to be addressed. And u. S. Equities close out april with a bang. The improving economy may force some investors. We think the idea of selling may go away. Theyre ignoring the weak First Quarter gdp figure. Celebrating 25 years of cnbc as well. Sterling hit a fiveyear high against the dollar after Strong Manufacturing pmis come in at 54. 5. Sterling now above 1. 6. Other data out, march mortgage approvals coming in at 69,592. Thats a little bit shy of the consensus as well, mortgage approvals, Consumer Credit, up 1. 1 billion in march. Versus februarys 0. 6 billion. Thats stronger than the forecast 0. 7 billion. The mortgage approvers, looking to be around 72,000. But anyway, stronger manufacturing data, Consumer Credit is stronger than expected as well. Joining us with his thoughts, marcos welch, strategist. We saw the strongest gdp and the manufacturing pmi suggests it continues. Yes, it does. The Manufacturing Sector is one of the sectors doing particularly well. Its clearly benefitting from a less adverse growth environment in the eurozone. Its probably also benefiting given that the uk actually exports quite a lot to germany from that strong domestic demand beer seeing in germany whereby germany on the other hand was not doing so at the moment. Noneurozone demand is tailoring off. It fits very well with the british chambers of commerce that we saw recently. You probably expected to sustain around to hold those sort of levels, nevertheless, one always has to come back to this point about manufacturing e ining sec the uk. It still represents a relatively small part. 20 . 12. 12. If you include the mining sector, you get up to 18 . Its still relatively small. What you need is basically a rather broader base and obviously services in general, retail and financial services, you need strength. So its interesting to see that mortgage approvals number. I think that really tells us something in terms of the bank of englands financial policy committee. Its not going to feel under any pressure at the moment. Actually, with the mortgage new mortgage regulations coming in from the fca, that is an automatic cri crimper on the number of approvals well get. It will be harder to get a mortgage approved because the underwriting criteria are being changed which has nothing to do with the committee. Exactly. Youd expect the mortgage approval numbers to decelerate further particularly in april when people are going to be coming across much longer lead times for actually getting a mortgage approved. It does tell us about how much inequality there is in this economy. There is an enormous amount. We saw it with the number of contracts yesterday, identified at 1. 4 million. Were seeing it with wages data, where youre getting quite a lot of substantial divergence. And it really tells you that, yes, those that are wealthy are doing well. Those at the bottom of the food chain, not only is housing becoming very expensive, but its also becoming less accessible for those at the bottom end, the firsttime buyers and at the bottom end. Yes. Youve got mortgage questionnaires, theyre going to ask you how much you spend on getting your nails done and pet food, god knows what other sort of stuff. This is all a bit of irrelevance. Because you change your spending habits after you get a mortgage. There are ways of circumventing it, im sure. On the other hand, we wont have the sort of housing boom thats driven by cheap credit. It doesnt mean were not going to have a housing boom, its just not one thats driven by cheap credit and irresponsible lending. All right. Stay there, mark. Well come back to you in a second. Protesters have taken to the streets today. Many markets are closed for the my day labor rallies. These are the latest pictures out of athens. May day, the Largest Labor holiday in the world, many gathering to protest against harsh austerity measures, particularly in athens. This is ahead of the allimportant u. S. Jobs data. Lets get your views on that. The adp number, 220,000, for the month of april. How does that lead us to nonfarm payrolls tomorrow . Its never perfect by any manor of mema manner of means. There shouldnt be too hefty askew from the session. The big misses come in months where theres a hefty seasonal adjustment applied. I think there are its very positive that labor demand is picking up back towards those levels that we saw in october, november last year. But were still probably going to be somewhere around the 220, 230 mark. It really fits with an economy which is growing at about 2, 2. 5 , which is good. Its welcome. But it probably also means that the fed, in its current situation, is basically still not feeling any pressure whatsoever. So bring forward any the moment in which it tightens policy or to, on the other hand, to slow down or speed up its tapering. Yes. We conclude in october. We conclude in october. The question is at what point do we start pricing in hikes . Thats going to be the big determinant. And i suppose the gdp numbers have given us a window where we can downplay this. They might get wrapped up quite viciously towards the end of the year. If youre looking at the consensus for q2 gdp, we have two months of the quarter to go, you are jumping the gun a bit, if you look at what could cover there, youre looking at something which would be 3, 3. 5. Obviously you should average out the two quarters. Youre at that 2 number, which is a trifold doll. I think in terms of where people are looking in terms of pricing in rate hikes, the greatest vulnerability is obviously in the fiveyear area. We saw the fiveyear area benefit when the feds tone was basically, you know, welcoming the recovery from the winter blip. But also suggesting theres not a huge amount of momentum and, therefore, they can stay lower for longer. That leaves us in the situation where were still being pressurized by zero Interest Rate policy. So markets actually probably will have to carry on reaching for yield in high yield. And also reaching for duration, simply because those 30year yields are that much higher, until we get to a situation where people feel were about three months away from a rate hike, then we could start getting into some trouble. I suspect as the year goes on and people refine, we converge on a timing, time frame, thats when the problems start. Very briefly, your forecast for the uk rates, when does the bank move, smometime next year . June, after the election. Fair enough. Mark, thank you. The ftse is up at twomonth highs. Another boost following that manufacturing number. There we go. Up 25 points, 6,805. We just heard piers say we might get to 7,000. That was his target within the next couple of months. As far as bonds are concerned, germany and italy are closed today. Tenyear treasury yields, 2. 66 , gilt yields, 2. 68. Theyre in lockstep together. The mover of the day is the pound, post that manufacturing number, sterling dollar, back over 1. 69. It is firmer against the euro as well. Now, after 25 years at citi, islamic bank mahmoud had a change of heart. Hes back to take care of the biggest islamic bank. In this exclusive with yousef, hes not pulling punches when it comes to his critique of conventional banking. Yousef joins us to introduce us to the discussion. Yousef, whats his problem . Well, good to see you, ross. Its a fascinating story. This is a man who worked for more than 20 years for citibank, then decides to join Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank in 2008. He says this is not just about muslim customers. He says the Value Proposition extends to all. And there are serious benefits to the business side. I sat down with mahmoud and asked him what those really are. Islamic banks engage in real economy. We finance construction. We finance trade. We finance schools. We finance hospitals. We finance the acquisition of real assets. The derivatives add value, genuine value to the marketplace. Its a zero sum gain. If youre an airline you try to we do not speculate. Its not magical. Its simple. We do take risk but we do not take that reckless risk. Currently the bank operates in seven countries. Earlier in april they bought the Retail Operations of barclays in the United Arab Emirates for 177 million as it continues to expand its footprint. That comes with a little bit over 100,000 accounts. I asked him as well, whats the strategy behind the acquisition was. We didnt buy barclays because we needed to grow. We are growing very fast. We have more than 600,000 clients. In 2008 we barely had 200,000 clients. But we are a bank that specializes in serving the eu nationals, the arabspeaking population. And we wanted to go into the expatriate segment. Instead of build it, we would acquire it. That would accelerate our entry into the expat market by three years. More than 100,000 accounts, we understand these will be converted to sharia compliant accou accounts. Are you worried about customers leaving, taking their money out of the bang and going somewhere else . Most acquisitions have a risk of clients that are not happy with the transaction, they would typically go somewhere else. Theyve had two similar transactions in the last four years. For us, this is our second experience. He is confident they will be able to retain those customers. The Bank Reported net profits. The stock is up over 40 so far this year, outperforming the benchmark abu dhabi exchange. Its a great discussion. Tune in tonight, 23. 00 cet. You can watch the rest of the story on cnbc. We talk about what the drivers will be over the next few years. And this is a man that says the future is all about ethical bank. Theres a broader fundamental shift under way. Well get into that. Make sure you tune in, ross. I know youve got the perfect setup at home. Maybe an additional surround sound system can give you something additional to enjoy it. We get the bass out of your voice out with a subwoofer. Which is very important. What hes saying, going back to the oldfashioned style of banks should be the enabler. They became the growth story themselves from the financial crush. Theres a lot of emerging literature that looks into that and discusses the merits of conventional versus islamic or ethical banking. Of course thats a discussion for perhaps another time. Conventional banking can be ethical, i think is what were saying. Yousef, look forward to that. Its on my Electronic Program guide, all ready to go. Thank you. Thats access middle east. Also still to come, cant find a space . Theres an app for that. Of course there is. Well be joined by the founder of a new startup who says your smartphone could help you park. [ banker ] sydney needed some Financial Guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. So we talked about her options. Her valuable assets were staying. And selling her car wouldnt fly. We helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today. And tomorrow. So lets see what we can do about that. Remodel. Motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. They take a banker. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Because when people talk, great things happen. Youre watching worldwide exchange. Sony slashes operating profit forecast by nearly 70 for the year ended march due to additional costs for exiting its pc business. We go to the nikkei. Hi, makiko. Pc sales had fallen short of expectations for 2013 and was likely to slay sluggish for the current year. That led to writing down the value of pc components on hand as well as compensating suppliers whose orders had been cut back. In addition, demand for disks in europe declined unexpectedly, forcing sony to book a 250 million impairment lost from its overseas Production Unit for fiscal 2013. All this added up to the firm sharply lowering operating profit forecast to 264 million from the previous 800 million. Thats all from the nikkei business report. Thanks for that. Our guest is on the line from malaysia. Whats your reaction to this, the profit estimate slashed by more than twothirds, because of more costs associated with the pc division. You know, the good news is theyre beginning to get out of this business. And there are good news coming out of its smartphone business as well as of its play station 4, which has done extremely well. The tough part is, they continue to have the Television Part of the business which is also equally structured. So we have yet to see significant change which can change over the forecast that sony is on its way to a strong recovery. You talk about the electronics division. Tvs have lost 7. 8 billion over ten consecutive years. How are they beginning to turn that around . I think they were forced to take a position. They need to stay in that business. Its a lot harder. We cannot see that Business Innovation coming which will help it to be more effectively rid lower cost manufacturers be it from korea or china. They have to be able to take that position under intense pressure, take that position very soon now. Theyve been in focus ever since daniel put them under pressure last october to spin off the entertainment division. Is he going to ramp up the activism . I think it seems like now, you know, he has more ammunition. The reason people continue to support sony, to have that integrated play, there is value in being able to integrate the different pieces as we see convergence across the screens, the mobile phone, the gaming, et cetera. Its a lot harder to execute it. Maybe they may have more time, integrating these disparate pieces together. Look, what do you think, manoj, theyve got to do something with entertainment, sort out the electronics division. When will we have a better idea of how theyre coping . Clearly they will not cope with it well. They havent yet told us about when theyll see value coming. In the absence of doing that, then they need to exit the Television Business which continues to struggle. If you look at it independently, the Hollywood Studios business is something that has its ups and downs, but it is a strong business. You know, it will be back doing well going forward. If they have a very good play in the smartphone business. Theyre share is growing there. They have potential to do well in the gaming business. The exit of the pc business, i think now theyre a much more cleaner part of the business. When theyre done with the Television Business, maybe theyll have a cleaner sony in the marketplace. Head to cnbc. Com to find out why some analysts are saying that sony needs to innovate more to stay relevant. From sony in japan to china, concerns linger over the health of the economy. The Manufacturing Activity slowing more than expected. Exports have fallen. The pmi was 50. 4, coming in slightly higher than expected. Meanwhile, china also says three people are dead and another 79 have been injured at a train station as attackers use knives and an explosive. The incident happened in the Western Region of as xi jinping was paying a visit. How much oil is there to play with . Helia eastbound rahibrahim has reporter the fortunes of the city was changed forever. A pipeline was created to bring north sea oil from about 50 platforms offshore. That created a huge amount of work and an Economic Life line in the 1970s to a Great Britain that was struck by economic malaise. Since then, politicians of all sides have used oil receipts to finance public spending. With the referendum approaching, the question still remains, how much oil is left . The problem is, theres a bit of a mismatch. The obr is forecasting that oil revenues will hit 3. 2 in 2016. Thats the first year of Scottish Independence. Meanwhile, Scottish Government is saying that it could get as high as 7. 9 billion. Some Major Players situated in aberdeen have already stated their concern about the effect that Scottish Independence could have on their operations. It is very important that the industry points out the risk and opportunities about the different businesses. Here were saying from a business point of view, we dont see that this makes sense. The problems of declining oil revenues in an aging population cant simply be wished away. The uk government claims. Especially if scotland is independent. Awful lot of myths with less evidence to back them up than the existence of the loch ness monster. Oil, the huge gap that exists between the fantastical assumptions of how much we get from the oil and the reality of what we are actually getting today. I mean, theres still considerable amounts of oil, around 15 to 24 billion barrels of oil is a finite resource. The price can only go one way. Reporter from the s ps perspective, scotlands economy will do well with or without oil. What is clear is that oil town aberdeen will play a major role in whether voters in scotland choose independence come september 18th. Its worth pointing out, sterling is actually on the rise today, posting a very Strong Manufacturing amount. Came in better than expected, up 57. 3. Thats pushed sterling up to fresh 4. 5 year highs against the dollar. Well take a short break. Still to come on the show, from the uk to the u. S. , gdp there almost comes to a halt in the First Quarter. Was it just the weather . The markets seemed to shrug it off. Well have plenty of analysis coming up in the second hour of worldwide exchange. Youre watchi ining worldw exchange. Sony slashes its fullyear profit estimates by 70 as it counts the costs of exiting the pc business. Were designing reforms, not sanctions. The imf hints the approach to the situation in ukraine needs to be addressed as it approves a 17 billion aid package. Another mega media merger might be in the works today. Reports suggest at t has approached directv about a possible takeover. And u. S. Equities close out april with a bang. The improving economy may force some investors to rethink the idea of sell in may. Youre watching worldwide exchange, bringing you Business News from around the globe. Hello. Warm welcome to you. If youve just joined us state side, welcome to the start of your Global Trading day here on cnbcs worldwide exchange. We closed out the month of april with the dow up at a record close, up seven out of the last eight months. The dow is up 45 points right now, called a little bit higher by around 7 points above ra fair value. The s p was up five points yesterday, this morning 1. 5 points above fair value and the nasdaq is currently around 9 points above fair value. But weve had the second straight negative month both in the nasdaq and the russell 2000 as well. Its the first time weve seen two consecutive negative months for the nasdaq since the first may 2012. I recapped what the u. S. Did yesterday. We just showed it on the board anyway. There we go. In percentage terms, down a quarter, up a quarter for the dow, the nasdaq down a third. The ftse is up at twomonth highs. Currently up another third of a percent at 6,805, helped along by british manufacturing data, pmi data coming in higher than expected in the month of april. 57. 3, that boosted sterling. A number of individual stocks looking at today. Plenty of markets are closed here in europe for the may day holiday. Its really only the ftse, the irish market and the danish market that are open. In terms of individual stocks, the bskyb up 3. 8 today, the pay tv operator coming up with ninemonth revenues up 7 to 5. 7 billion pounds. The results in line. The group did say it added 74,000 net new tv customers in the third quarter. Lloyds bank up 4 today, a 22 jump in First Quarter profits helping, bolstering its case to restart Dividend Payments for the second half of the year. Also being helped by the net recovery in british net income. Danske, up about a percent today in copenhagen, coming in at 3. 6 billion danish crowns profit. Novo nordisk posting First Quarter sales of 23 billion danish crowns. Sales growth forecast is lowered by 1 percentage point. On the bond marketing with giltyearolds, 2. 67 on that. Over here in the u. S. , 2. 65 is the yield where we stand. Of course, didnt get huge reaction from equity markets to that 1 First Quarter estimate of growth. Supposed to be 1. 1 . A lot of bad weather put in. That market is much more encouraged by the adp number of 220,000, gains in private payroll. Today we get figures on personal spending and the manufacturing equivalent as well. On the currency markets, the dollar crawling higher against the exchanges. Y volume is fairly light. Euro dollar, steadily. Ster leng dollar as well. The Federal Reserve gave a generally updata assessment of the economy at its latest policy meeting whilst trimming the bond buying program. Steve liesman has been breaking down the details. Reporter two reports ending in dp today, adp and gdp and they couldnt be more different. Gdp was a real shocker at a just barely positive 0. 1 . That compares to wall streets estimate of 1. 1 . Consumer spending was up 3 but a good portion of that was increased spending on health care as a result of the Affordable Care act. Housing was down nearly 6 for the second lousy quarter in a row. Business equipment continues to disappoint. And Government Spending was down half a point, failing to bounce back from the depressed numbers resulting from the government shutdown. Economists at bmo said the American Economy virtually stalled early this year in the face of severe winter weather. One reason for optimism in the months ahead are numbers like adp, the Payroll Company whose data is used to forecast the governments jobs report this friday for the private sector. They continue to show good job growth in the economy. They saw private sector growth of 220,000 compared to an estimate of 210,000. And march was revised up by almost 20,000. Nonform payroll estimate for wall street, 215,000 for the government report on friday. Late in the day, the fed seemed to take the gdp data in stride. Blaming the slowdown at least in part on the weather and following through on wall streets expectation to reduce its bond purchases designed to drive down Interest Rates. The fed signaled more tapering ahead while at the same time promising to keep shortterm Interest Rates low for what looks like well into 2015. Well get more on that in just a second. Before that, British Police are investigating reports of a suspicious package in the canary wolf district, the Major Business district outside of the city. Many Financial Firms and headquarters are there. Reports the entire area currently on lockdown. Well bring you more on that as we get it. Lets head back it a discussion of the u. S. Economy. Marvin buff is the head of european fx at barclays. Good to see you. Good to see you. When you take the data in the u. S. , as we head towards the employment report on friday, what are the implications for the dollar . Our view on the dollar remains fairly consistent, even after the gdp data. We continue to look for longterm dollar appreciation. In the near term, however, its going to be challenged until we get some supportive inflation data that is going to push the Federal Reserve towards rate hikes. And thats likely to happen in the second half of this year. But in the near term, we see a little prospect of that. We do think we could get a significant boost to the dollar this week. As you highlighted in Steve Liesmans report, the jobs numbers looked quite good here. The gdp numbers should be taken with a pinch of salt and given the weather issues that affected them. Were looking for a 250,000 job gains in the payroll report. Thats this friday. That should give the dollar some firmer support in the near term. But ultimately its going to have to wait better news on inflation to support u. S. Rates and thats a trend of dollar appreciation. Unfortunately its never a zero sum gain for currencies, is it . No. When you say firmer support, against which cross rates in particular . We think its going to get most of its support versus the euro. We think that should be an across the board move there with the u. S. Rates moving higher towards the end of the year. And certainly the payroll report should support it across the board here. The places we certainly look to focus on in terms of trading are being long dollar swiss, being long dollar yen. Those are the places that offer the most up side, probably this week, over the longer horizon we think theres more up side versus the euro and swiss in general. St sterlings getting a nice boost. Cable up to 169, marvin. How much further can it go . Is 170 the top of the range . Yes, the numbers here are fantastic. Youre seeing it from all different dimensions, today we have the Strong Manufacturing numbers, strong consumption numbers in the past. Housing has clearly been supporting consumption. One of the interesting things weve seen is the increase in investment activity or certainly intentions to invest and capex among the uk corporate sector. That adds some potential upside. I think sterlings going to start to face head winds in that theres a similar issue, perhaps even more so in the uk that inflation continues to be low and falling. Thats ultimately going to cap expectations for rising rates in the uk. So we see sterling struggling to get higher than current levels. I think you might get retracement versus the dollar here, were officially forecasting three months out, 1. 65 on the basis of inflation softening some more here in the uk. Marvin, good to talk to you, head of fs europe at barclays. On the agenda in the states, weekless jobless claims are out at 8 30 eastern. The forecast is a drop by 9,000, total 320,000. At 8 30, we get april personal income and spending. Income expected to rise 0. 4 , spending by 0. 6. And at 10 00, the april Manufacturing Index is out. We get march Construction Spending the fed chair janet yellen speaks at 8 30 a. M. On the earnings front, Conoco Phillips, exxonmobil, mastercard, clorox, tmobile, kellogg and viacom. Well have more on that. After the close on earnings, well hear from kraft and lin d linkedin. Dealers continue to shake off the effects of the winter weather. Other stories were following today, sony has cut its profit outlook by almost 70 . The japanese electronicsmaker says its exit from the pc business costs an extra 294 million than they initially thought. Well also see a 244 million impairment loss from its disk production business. Its being put forward as a problem for sony. The biggest problem with sony in most of corporate japan remains completely unable to innovate or come up with new products. Plus a stubborn belief that at some point Something Like a tv business will turn into a profitable sector. Theyre hanging on in there based on what they sees aa longterm like 200, which isnt going to happen anytime soon. At t apparently approached directv about a possible takeover. The wall street journal says any agreement would be worth at least 40 billion. Directvs current market cap, a combination would create a u. S. Pay tv giant close in size to what comcast would be if it completes its acquisition of time warner cable. Directv has around 20 million customers. Growth has slowed in recent years. At ts land line business serves around 5. 7 million. Mercks reportedly considering the sale of a big portfolio of mature drugs that might fetch around 15 billion. Earlier this week, reports that sanofi were looking to buy merck. Now, you dont have to get up off the couch. Hulu will debut an ad that will let you order pizza hut pizza night within the ad. It combines pizza huts online ordering system with hulus interactive ads. Once you place the order, the tv show youre watching will start back up again. Hulu includes ads on both paid and free streaming services. And the nbas board of governors will hold a Conference Call today to determine when owners will vote on whether to remove the l. A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the league. Among the groups expressing interest in buying the clippers is david geffen, oracle Ceo Larry Ellison and oprah winfrey. Oprah would be an investor. She says its important to have an africanamerican own another sports franchise. Wed like to know, given the chance, which sports team would you lick to invest in, own or run . Let us know. Join the conversation on worldwide exchange. Get in touch with us, worldwide cnbc. Com, or directly to me, rosswestgate. Box is reportedly upping its ipo plans for now. Well find out why the company has delayed its listing. Sfx bing. Whos got two hooves and just got a claim status update from geico . This guy, thats who. Sfx bing. And i just got a. Oh no, thats mom. Sorry. Claim status updates. Just a tap away on the geico app. The annual company retreat. Planned, as usual, by this guy. Nature lover. People person. And you put up with it all. Because he also booked you a room. At this place. Planet earths number one accomodation site booking. Com booking. Yeah youre watching worldwide exchange. Recap of the headlines, sony slashes its profit estimate by almost 70 . On higher costs from its pc business exit. At t is reportedly looking to snap up satellite broadcaster directv. And the imf approves a 17 billion bailout package for ukraine as prorussian separatists seized more government offices in the east. Meanwhile, British Police have confirmed to cnbc theyre investigating reports of a suspicious package in the canary wolf district which has resulted in an entire area currently being on lockdown. Cnbc just learned as well the staff of the kpm building have been told to remain in the office and stay away from windows and roads in the area have also been closed. Well keep you up to date with developments on that. Meanwhile, the imf approved a 17 billion aid program for ukraine. Set to be rolled out over the next two years. Around 3. 2 billion will be released to kiev immediately as donors aim to stabilize ukraines economy amidst continued political strife. Christine lagarde spoke to reporters in washington about the program. Under the program, we are not designing sanctions. We are designing reforms. We are trying to improve the situation so that the stability is restored, so that the Exchange Rate is supportive of more Sustainable Growth and we are encouraging transparency and new Business Practices in a country that badly needs those changes. Thats the latest from Christine Lagarde. Joining us with his thoughts in donetsk is nbcs jim maceda. While we wait for more details on that aid package, what is happening with the separatists in the eastern part of the country . Hi there, ross. Lets start with just down below me. You can probably hear the chanting. We have several hundred prorussian demonstrators walking by, past the hotel. Weve seen a contingence of different Political Parties here. The loudest have been these prorussian protesters chanting russia, russia. Meanwhile, weve heard reports in the last hour or so that Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov who is currently on a visit to peru has called for kiev to sit down and have a dialogue, talk directly to each other under the osce, the same osce that currently has seven of its monitors being held hostage about an hours drive or so from here in that rebel stronghold slovyansk. This could be another delaying tactic but it is the first time that moscow has laid out a plan for dialogue in such detail. I can tell you, talking to many prorussian separatists and a number of occupied towns, these people have no desire at all to talk to kiev. They hate the government in kiev. They dont recognize it. They still call it an illegal pooch. It will be interesting to see if this peace balloon goes anywhere. If it does, it will speak volumes to the influence that russia has over the rebels. Back to you, ross. Okay. Thanks very much for that. Nbcs jim maceda. And a noisy donetsk. Still to come on the show, cant find a parking space . Of course theres now an app for that. Well be joined by the founder of a startup that says your smartphone could help you find that perfect place. U. S. Futures are indicating after yesterdays move higher well get another day of gains, the first trading day of may, the dow up 45 points yesterday, currently high by 7 points this morning. The s p up 5 points. Both of those indices making a Third Straight positive month. The nasdaq was down for the second straight negative month in april. And today it is called higher by around 9 points at the moment. A long way to go, of course. Meanwhile, box is boxing up its ipo plans for now. The wall street journal suggests the online Storage Company is delaying its planned offering until at least june because of weak demand recently for tech stocks. They filed in late march, but investors have soured on cloud companies. An undevil of 37 publicly traded firms tracked by Bessemer Venture Partners has apparently lost 58 billion in market capitalization in the last two months. Meanwhile, ever wondered how many hours you waste on that frustrating search for a car park space . Now, according to fresh data, motorists spend more than 8,300 hours in their lifetime looking for somewhere to park. But the end of that frustrating road might be in sight because theres a developer of a new app. London tech city startup park jockey claims to be First Service that allows drivers to compare prices, book and pay all at the same place. We have the ceo and founder of park jockey. Youre up and running today. Yes. 8,325 hours, a lot of time looking for a space. How much are you going to cut that by. Well cut that all the way to 800. Well cut that by 90 . Right now 8,000 minutes is actually one year out of peoples life. Were basically saving you a lot of time. Also, were basically giving you a good deal in parking as well. Why . Is it going to be cheaper on you . It is actually it is eventually cheaper because youll be able to look through our app and find a nearby cheapest parking spot for your needs. If youre a price sensitive customer, you can just use our app to find the cheapest location you may the be aware of. How do you know i if theres an ncp, if theres a space free. How do you know if theres a free bay . Parking bay . A metered bay . Right now were not actually focused on onstreet parking. Were only working with the commercial operators and stuff offstreet. However, we have plans to get into the onstreet space as well. We do guarantee spots. If you make a reservation on our platform, your spot is guaranteed in advance. If youre running late for a meeting or if you have a time sensitive event, then its very wise for you to use our app. Car park cant let just explain how that works. Sure. I drive up, spaces, i go in and take a space i want. How do they know to keep a space for some other guy that might be turning up 15 minutes later thats reserved through you . Sure. Our systems are fully integrated. So that we count how many spaces are available in car parks and that space number gets reported back to our platform. When we run out of spaces, we dont oversell. We just stop selling, basically. Okay. Okay. A nice service. How do you make your cut . We make our money off of taking a commission out of every transaction from the parking companies. It is completely free for the users. Frueh downloads, free purchasing, no convenience charge. Youre going to roll this out in america . Yes. We are up and running in miami. Were launching in chicago in the month of may and were going to be in six other cities by the end of this year. Okay. Park jockey, coming to a city near you, too. Thank you very much for coming and talking about it. Thank you. British policemen have con femmed to cnbc theyve been carrying out a controlled explosion of a suspicious package in the the canary wolf district. The area has been on lockdown but will reopen shortly. Still to come, dow component exxon reports before the bell. Will it hit another record close . We have a preview, after this. For our call center. S im spending too much time hiring and not enough time in my kitchen. [ female announcer ] need to hire fast . Go to ziprecruiter. Com and post your job to over 30 of the webs leading job boards with a single click; then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. You put up one post and the next day you have all these candidates. Makes my job a lot easier. [ female announcer ] over 100,000 businesses have already used zip recruiter and now you can use zip recruiter for free at a special site for tv viewers; go to ziprecruiter. Com offer2. This is wch bhp. Im ross westgate. The headlines from around the globe. A dramatic revision. Sony slashes its fullyear profit estimates by nearly 70 as it counts the cost of exiting its pc business. Were designing reforms, not sanctions. The imf hints the situation in ukraine needs to be addressed as it approves a 17 billion aid package. Another mega media merger could be under works in the u. S. Reports say at t has approached directv about a possible takeover. And u. S. Equities close out april with a bang. The improving economy may force some investors to rethink the idea of sell in may and go away. Youre watching worldwide exchange, bringing you Business News from around the globe. And if youve just joined us state side, hello, welcome to you. Were showing you shots of athens. The reason for that is because it is may day, that means plenty of equity markets in europe and asia are closed today. May day is a labor holiday. It also means plenty of protests going on. This is the picture of athens. Protests are just wrapping up. The biggest labor holiday in the world, may 1st. Plenty of markets closed in europe. This is where we stand with u. S. Futures after the gains we saw yesterday. The nasdaq down for two consecutive months, the First Time Since 2012 when it closed out april. Today, the first trading day of may, the s p 500 about a point above fair value after being five points yesterday and the dow finishing at a fresh closing high on the last trading day of april, 16,520. Were currently called high today. The ftse, the irish market and the danish market are open today. The ftse 100 is a little bit higher this morning by around about a third of 1 . What are investors to do . As we head towards employment and post all this u. S. Data weve had, heres a recap of some of the thoughts weve already had on the channel. U. S. Corporate profits show gdp are only at a 60year high, which isnt bad. Its worth noting the u. S. Operates in a global economy, which is reasonably sluggish. You lack at the second and Third Largest economies. Domestic u. S. Demand has been fairly robust. What we want to be is neutral. We want to be long volatilities, long the swiss franc. We think theres a safety aspect to that. We want to be starting to look at bonds, and especially with u. S. Yields. Yesterdays price action was quite telling. We Say Technology has taken a big hit but technology dividends are an excellent place to be right now. Nasdaq 100, Technology Companies that pay good gfds, were thinking apple, microsoft, ibm. That i think is an excellent idea right now. Some of the thoughts weve already had. Be ins out from bombardier. Slightly show on that. They received net orders in the First Quarter, 19. 1 versus 28. They say theyre on track to meet fullyear guidance. Im trying to be reassuring with that. Exxonmobil and conoco set to report earnings before the u. S. Opening bell. Weve seen shell and bp beat earlier this week. Wall streets expecting exxon to post an earnings per share of 1. 88 and conoco, 1. 58 a share. Daniel is a senior port foal kb Portfolio Manager. Whats interesting, Energy Stocks have had three months of gain. Finally. Its a very unloved sector. Its been posting pedestrian Growth Numbers and declining return on capital employed. Its been disappointing in the last three to four years for investors. Big oil is regaining its ground. Its starting to be more capital disciplined and were starting to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, however, its the First Quarter, First Quarter results tend to be good. We need to see a little bit more to get earnings going up. As far as exxon and Conoco Phillips are concerned, how much is unconventional shale moving into the picture for them . Well, for exxon its going to be a big driver. Gas prices have gone up quite substantially since the winter to 4. 7 million btu. For conoco its less important. For them its more about the the oil basket that they get. Well probably see an improvement there in terms of both margins and return on capital employed. Yes. As youve said, theyve had to shrink their production really to match the situation. We now are we now getting that in balance for the exploration or whatever . One of the things they need to refocus is on expiration. So far its been about these huge developments, the cash against, all these very, very large developments that have not returned the type of Production Growth that they were supposed to. Theyre extremely complex and expensive projects. They need to move more into a better combination of expiration and development, not just a large project driven. Thats what has been causing all these disappointments in the last years. What do we expect with dividends now . Dividends have been increased, both exron and chevron have increased their dividend. They put their pay out closer to what european majors have in the past. In the past its been more about growth for these companies. Its more about returning cash to shareholders. Obviously oil prices are higher, gas prices are higher, refining margins are better. Your favorites . I it into prefer bg group and the americans, chevron and exxon relative to the europeans. Europeans keep dogged by refining margins and high taxation. And obviously, the challenges in libya and in major projects. Continue to be more in the focus driven companies, conoco, chevron, xx and bg in europe. Thanks for coming in. We have weekly jobless claims out today in the united states. Forecasts have dropped by 9,000 to a total of 320. Also at 8 30, april personal income and spending. Income is expected to rise 0. 4 , spending by 0. 6. At 10 00, the april ism Manufacturing Index is out. Its forecast will rise half a point for march. We get march Construction Spending, plenty to chew through there. On top of that, fed chair janet yellen speaks at a Community Bankers conference at 8 30 a. M. As we just mentioned, conoco and exxon reporting today, also on the report card, mastercard, clor clorox, kellogg, tmobile, viacom, kraft and linkedin. And automakers report april u. S. Sales today. Theyre expected to rise 9 from last year. As dealers continue to shake off the effects of the winter weather. Some of the other stories, alibaba is reportedly in talks with its major shareholders about buying back a stake in its fast growing online payments business, alipay. One option would have alibaba buy a third of alipay. Reports say the company could now file its ipo paperwork sometime next week. Ahead of the float, Kayla Tausche has been taking a look at who is set to benefit most from the Company Going public. While Alibaba Group still looks to be on pace to be the biggest ipo to hit the u. S. Market on record, it does appear to have hit a bit of a snag. We were expecting the f1 filing, detailing alibabas financials ahead of that ipo to hit as soon as last monday but we still havent seen it yet. Now that im talking to sources, they say we still might not see it until next week. A few reasons are being cited for this delay. Number one, the document could be upwards of 400 pages. With various groups making up this business model, executives, underwriters, examiners, auditors, there are a lot of parties that need to give their sign off, krot the ts and dot the is. The second reason thats being cited is, of course, alibaba has recently been bemoaned for its rampant selling of counterfeit goods on some of its sister sites. Others have not been happy about that. Auditors will need how to figure out how to treat those proceeds as well. Theres been a continued focus on deal making and alibaba both at the corporate level and by its founder and chairman, jack ma three deals have been struck, one most recently at the beginning of this week. As these companies and these stakes get folded into the companys financials, some of the information will need to be updated. You have to get the executive focus as well. Im hearing that the executives and the underwriters and the auditors, examiners, all various parties that are working on this are in the same room and theyre going through it. But it still takes a lot of time. We still look not to be getting that document until early next week. Though it could still happen this week, im told thats unlikely. Thats the latest on the alibaba ipo for now. Thats Kayla Tausche with that update. Cocacola may be rethinking its controversial executive pay plan following pressure from Warren Buffett. Berkshire hathaway abstained from voting last week. The wall street journal reports buffett has privately expressed his reservations with the coke ceo mukta kent. There were no injuries but the accident did force the evacuation of part of the downtown area. Around 15 cars derailed, three of which caught fire, several ended up in the river. The incident has renewed concerns about oil and gas being transported by train through densely populated areas. Coming up, at t isnt sitting idley by while its rifles are striking deals and big acquisitions. Find out which company ma bell has in its sights, next. Youre watching worldwide exchange. The headlines, sony slashes its profit estimate by 70 . At t reportedly may be looking to snap up satellite broadcaster directv. And the imf approves a 17 billion bailout for ukraine as prorussian separatists seizes more government offices in the east. Now, its already been an incredible year for m a activity. Deal logic says global deal volume topped 1 trillion last week, the fastest pace since 2007. But there may be an awful lot more to come. Bertha is at cnbc hq in the states with more. Hey, bertha, good morning to you. Hey, ross. Lets make a deal seems to be the theme these days in big boardrooms. Already this week weve seen pfizer make a 100 billion play for astrazeneca and ge made a 17 billion bid for alstoms energy business. The wall street journal reports at t has approached satellite tv operator directv about a possible takeover. A deal would be worth at least 40 billion. Directvs current market cap, a combo would create a u. S. Pay tv giant, close in size to what comcast will be if it is approved to complete its acquisition of time warner cable. Directv has about 20 million customers. But growth has slowed in recent years. While at ts land line tv business serves about 5. 7 million. At t already has a partnership with directv to provide Satellite Service in areas where it offers broad band but not its uverse tv service. Sprint meantime is reportedly meeting with banks to work on funding for its planned bid for tmobile. Sprint which is majority owned by japans softbank is hoping to fund the bulk of tmobiles estimated 50 billion price tag with Corporate Bonds and the rest with convertible bonds and syndicated loans. Sprint is facing some push back from u. S. Regulators who oppose consolidation in the Wireless Industry and reports say the company is aware it may have to give up some spectrum in order to appease critics. And merck is reportedly considering the sale of a big portfolio of mature drugs that could fetch upwards of 15 billion. Earlier this week, reports say sanofi was pursuing a similar sale that could bring an 8 billion price tag. Mercks offpatent drugs are known as, quote, diversified brand and are mostly sold in emerging markets. It was said it was no longer in the running to buy the Consumer Health care business of merck. Lots of deals. You know what that means, ross, lots of work for the investment bankers. Theyll be happy, wont they . Good for them. They could use a lift. We like them to be happy. Thanks for that, bertha. Good to see you as always. Bertha mentioned that at t has reportedly approached directv about a takeover. On the back of that, you can see here in london, vodafone stock trading lower. At t is interested in making a bid for vodafone. Meanwhile, another british u. S. Media interest. Richard desmond reportedly looking to sell his channel five to viacom. This deal may be worth up to 60 million. Viacom will announce its agreement when they report quarterly numbers. They are coming out before the open this morning. Now, markets fed by yellen, we had the dows first record close of 2014. Well cross the cme for analysis and where we head now as we get into may. First day of trading for may. Just to remind you, stocks closed out in the u. S. With a bit of a divergence between tech and the blue chips. The nasdaq declining in april by around 2 . In fact, down for two straight negative months. The First Time Since may 2012. A different story, of course, for the Dow Jones Industrial average. We close at a record high at the end of the session yesterday. And up threequarter percent for the month. Up for three straight months in a row. Seven out of eight months weve been up for the blue chip index as well. So where does that leave us with futures this morning . They are calling a little bit higher. Not by much, 6 points for the dow, the s p, which is also up for the Third Straight positive month in april, up, and the nasdaq currently higher by 8 points. What happens now as we get into may . Joining us is chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager at barrett gilyard advisers. Thanks for having me. Do we sell or decide this may be a time to get in after four flat months . Certainly this is a seasonal time that historically, certainly in a Congressional Election year here in the u. S. That sell in may and go away has been traditionally the right thing to do. But this year, it might be a little different because the economy seems to be picking up steam, earnings are going ahead of estimations and so we think investors should use this period, not so much as sell in may and go away but as a way to look at your portfolio and reposition yourself for whats coming next. When you look at the stocks that have done well over this last month, utilities, five months of gains, energy three month of gains. And a big washout in tech stocks. One wonders whether the value might be in some of the tech names that got sold out with the social network companies. The work that weve done, these social network stocks, the 3d printers, some of the biotechs, theyve had big corrections since the levels they reached in the First Quarter. The levels that many of these Companies Reached in the First Quarter, what was akin to the telecommunications and internet bubble back in 1999 and 2000. All weve seen is a correction from really bubble levels. So we dont think thats the place to be. Wed much rather go where the cash flow is. The cash flow is with the mega cap techs. You can get Free Cash Flow yields of 6 to 10 . The reason why thats good is because companies can only do a few things with their Free Cash Flow. Two of the things they can do is return it to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buy backs but also they can reinvest in the business and these big Mega Cap Companies have a good history of having high return on invested capital. We think thats where investors should be looking, not so much with these fallen bubble stocks. Okay. A little bit more comfortable for the next month or so. What happens when we get towards the autumn and the fed concludes qe and then people really do start thinking about when the rates go up. Well, the futures unknowable. I think the fed has been very clear that Interest Rates are going to stay lower than what one would normally associate with Interest Rates being at a normalized level. We think its very likely that Interest Rates during this cycle, which still has a way to go, could peek out at less than 5 . Certainly with a forehandle on it. We think really the question for investors looking at the stock market is that on the one hand, the longterm metrics for the u. S. Market shows yellow light. You have the ratio thats high, you have the schiller p e. If you look at current reality, the stock market is only about 10 higher than its historical level over the last 50 years. In fact, there was a period for around eight years, starting in 1958 where the market was as high as it is today. Good to see you. We think people should get comfort from that. Thats it for worldwide exchange. Squawk box up next. Good morning and welcome to squawk box. The dow reaches a record high after the fed gave an upbeat view of the economy. Coke may be rethinking its Compensation Plan after Warren Buffetts decision to abstain from voting on it and all his comments. And the imf approving a 17 billion loan for ukraine. Its thursday, may 1st, may day, 2014. Squawk box begins right now. Good morning and welcome to squawk box, right here on cnbc. Im andrew ross sorkin, along with joe kernen. Beckys out today. Shell be back tomorrow. A big close for the trading day on wednesday. Were still dusting off the confetti. It was not just a record day for the dow, cnbc celebrated its 25th anniversary. We were all here with our president , mark hoffman, bringing down the gavel remotely from our headquarters with more than 500 employees on hand to participate. It was a very, very cool moment. As for the markets, the dow as mentioned finished at new alltime high. Thats incredible. The first record close of 2014. The dow adding 45 points to the close at 16,580. Stocks moving higher after the feds positive comments about the economy. And another 10 billion cut from bond purchases from 55 to 45 billion per month. I think, you know, investors might have been cheering on