were killed when gunmen fired on a check point. representatives from around the world are meeting right now in london to discuss somalia. the country has been mired in war and famine for more than 20 years. british prime minister david cameron is hosting the meeting to promote a global resolution to the situation. i'm max foster, "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm charles hodson. >> and good evening from cnn hong kong. i'm pauline choiu. this is "world business today," the top stories this day, japan appears willing to lend a hand to europe despite its own daunting debt pile. a falling out at the top of the gambling empire, bribery allegations drive two long-term business partners apart. a stampede into lin sanity. one company had the financial for site to buy in two years ago and has walked in with a bargain. they're not soaring and they're not slumping, but there is a perceptible lethargy on the markets as investors say tuesday's greek rescue deal is a stopgap really, a band-aid, not a solution. thursday's picture is mixed with low volumes mirroring low confidence in europe's debt strategy, charles. at this week's greek rescue deal was meant to offer cause for celebration, investors, ratings agency and furious greek public have other ideas. while lawmakers work over time to meet the criteria, the streets of the capital have once again filled with dissent. cash strapped agent theinians aren't alone in their disappointment. stocks are in limbo around the globe after a strong start to 2012. fitch became the first ratings agency to downgrade greece, cutting its score to c from ccc. if a debt swap goes ahead, that rating will fall into restricted default. other agencies will form low the lead. a vote is due later on thursday on the terms of the swap. one of the few major markets to rise this thursday was tokyo. exporters were among the gainers after the japanese government announced its intention to boost the imp's european fire power. japan says it might offer up to $50 billion to help europe out of its own crisis at a time when tokyo itself is gappaling with the biggest debt burden. kyung lah joins us. >> reporter: japan is saying, look, imf, we do want to help you, but only sort of. in an opinion piece that was written by the financial ministers of the united kingdom and japan in the "financial times," basically what the ministers were saying is, to the imf, we hear you, we understand the euro crisis is the biggest threat to global growth, so we want to contribute. we're only going to contribute if certain conditions are met. here are the conditions as spelled out in this opinion piece in the "financial times" saying, quote, we will not have any -- no new eurozone specific funds. that's a condition. they also will give money if the funds given are subject to imf conditions. also saying any additional resources need to be drawn from a wide range of countries and that the eurozone must boost financial fire walls, that being long-term solutions to the debt crisis. the imf is seeking to raise money. it wants to boost its ability to try to help out what's happening in the eurozone. but they need to get more countries on board. right now the united states and canada resisting contributing more to the imf. japan saying, hey, look, we're going to contribute. but remember we had the tsunami a year ago. japan has a long range of problems it has to deal with beyond the strong yen, the tsunami and the demographic crisis. this country is saying it underhands that what happens in greece and what happens in europe is certainly going to impact this country as well. on top of those issues you just mentioned kyung, japan is dealing with inflation, it tipped into recession last year. is there a public appetite for this? >> reporter: sort of. when you talk to people on the street, especially people who are involved in the financial sector here, they absolutely say they are paying attention to what happens in europe. there is a very deep understanding in this country, especially because europe is such a large customer of japan, that anything that does happen with the eurozone is going to deeply affect this economy. so this country certainly wants to help. it looks at the imf as a possible way toot tack the problem. but at the same time people here are looking at the possibility of their taxes going up, at the possibility of finances being diverted out sued the country when there's so many domestic problems that need to be fixed. >> okay. kyung lah reporting live from tokyo on the very latest with this story. thank you very much kyung. charles? here is toefr all picture in terms of european stock markets. i stress this is the overall picture. it looked a bit flat to start off with. we are seeing some overall gains. the big theme we're really seeing is bank earnings. let me start are credit ag cull, reported a loss in the fourth quarter, forced to set aside money to cover its greek bonds. so the net loss just over 3 billion euros or $4 billion. also, we've seen wider losses here at the uk at rbs, royal bank of scotland, obviously a majority state ownership. we saw a 766 million pound annual pre tax loss on thursday. kind of sort of almost a perfect storm with a whole lot of factors working against rbs. one was provisional link to a scandal over miss selling a payment protection insurance, but also a lot -- much weaker position at the investment banker. steep decline in the profits there. one or two brighter -- actually, the other one i should mention is commerce bank. that stock off by as much as 7.5% and a bit of change after its earnings hit by the eurozone crisis. we are seeing gains for the french bank nettie see, its results beat forecasts banks to the fore in terms of investors. we are seeing a bit of gain after two sessions of losses, european stock markets seem to be gaining again. >> charles, the economic concerns over greece and the eurozone continue to weigh on most of the markets here in the asia pact region on thursday. exporters and financial stocks were down as fears grow about the viability of the greek deal. japan was the exception to this largely down beat feeling. exporters there did better than the index thanks to a boost from the weaker yen which has remained above 80 to the greenback in dollar-yen trading the day. exporters were also void by the japanese government's pledge to boost the imf. the nikkei was up by more than .4%, shanghai up by more than .25. the main aussie benchmark was in negative territory. meanwhile over on all street u.s. stocks pulled back as investors expressed doubts of greece's latest bailout. a negative reading on business activity in the eurozone. here is how it looked by the close of wednesday. all in negative territory with the dow down about .2%. the nasdaq by more than .50%. the s&p 500 down by more than a third of 1%. looking ahead to the start of trade, in about 5 1/2 hours from now u.s. markets appear set for a higher open. all the futures are in positive territory by quite a bit. at least by .30%. charles? pauline we had big u.s. tech earnings out after the close on wednesday on wall street. hewlett packard, fiscal first quarter profit fell 44%, fell 44% from previous year, $1.5 billion. despite that plunge that still beats the estimates from the street. it was first earnings called from the new ceo meg whitman who blamed the slump on p clfrnlths sales. hp's earnings kaems on the heels of a disappointing report from dell. dell says its fiscal fourth quarter profit fell nearly 18% from the previous year to $764 million on declining demand from its personal computers. it tumbled 5% in after-hours trade after the company said its first quarter sales will also miss estimates. i wonder whether both dell and hewlett pang card are the victims of the burgeoning sales for apple. >> that is the big question. still to come on "world business today." >> he's proposing today a corporate tax plan which i understand sounds like he's lowering taxes, but, in fact, he's raising taxes, raising taxes on businesses by hundreds of billions of dollars. >> that is mitt romney taking aim at president obama's new corporate tax plan. we'll break down the details coming up next. used to be we socked money away and expected it to grow. then the world changed... and the common sense of retirement planning became anything but common. fortunately, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. take control by opening a new account or rolling over an old 401(k) today, and we'll throw in up to $600. how's that for common sense? welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn from hong kong and london. it's taken more than a year. but u.s. president barack obama and his team finally released their plan to overhaul the united states corporate tax code. the u.s. currently has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world at 35%. the obama administration is now proposing to slash that to 28% and to fill the remaining gap which eliminating dozens of tax breaks and loopholes for businesses, especially the oil and gas sector. now, the administration says that will put the u.s. rate on par with rates in other advanced economies, but republicans want to cut even further. presidential hopeful mitt romney has come out with his own corporate tax plan which aims to reduce the rate to 25%. charles, those rates both by obama and mitt romney sound pretty high when you compare it to hong kong's corporate tax rate on profits. there's a flat tax rate of 16.5%. it looks pretty attractive for businesses. then there are certain tax breaks for certain sectors like for shipping and also if you're in the business of reinsurance here in hong kong. how do things look where you are in the u.k.? >> it's a complex picture i think always in terms of corporate tax. in terms of the basic rates that most people would pay, all those smaller businesses, less than about $400,000, $450,000 in turnovers in annual sales pay significantly less. we did have a tax rate of 26%. the current government is now -- has cut that down to 25%. in fact, it's going to go down in stages from here over the next couple years. and ultimately in 2014, we'd be looking at a tax rate of 23%. it's definitely an issue that the government here has in its sights, pauline. >> certainly and with the economy the way it is, many countries are trying to boost their own economy by attracting more businesses back to their territory. it will be interesting to see which plan wins out at least in the u.s., charles. >> okay. let's move on, because high stakes political showdown appears to be taking shape down undeferment prime minister julia gillard has called for a meeting after the shocked resignation of kevin rudd on wednesday. gillard ousted rudd in 2010. the betting is he wants the top job back for himself. rosemary church talked to political editor hugh riminton about how risky this is for gillard? >> reporter: it is a high-risk play. it's a curious thing for a stable, wealthy, plas id democracy, the prime minister grasped the nettal. she and her cabinet believe the foreign minister have been working for months in a campaign to damage her by stealth essentially, creating conditions where the polling numbers for the prime minister continue to decline as they have been doing so it will be ripe for him to take over and sweep for an election scheduled for next year. what they have done is essentially ramped up pressure on him by having proxies for the prime minister in recent days, being increasingly vocal in their condemn names. he was in washington. he said enough is enough. i'm quitting as foreign minister, on a plane right now somewhere over the pacific. a ballot has been set for the leadership within the ruling labor party for monday next week. the prime minister believes she can win and win handsomely. it's a dangerous, risky ploy for her. >> hugh, how do the numbers look? this has been a festinger problem for kevin rudd. he never really quite got over being shafted. >> reporter: well, kevin rudd was an enormous hero of center left politics in australia he swept to power in 2007 after a dozen years of conservative rule. he was immediately popular. he was, in fact, the most popular australian prime minister in history for a period. however, there were problems underneath the surface. ministers and senior public servants who were working with him describe terrible tantrums, a sense of kai os, a micro manager who didn't consult with anyone, insisted in being involved if every area of policy to the point where decisions weren't being made, dysfunctional leader, to such a degree that in the end julia gillard had to step up and take control of circumstances here, take control of the government and lead a challenge that she won in 2010. now, since then, it is alleged kevin rudd has run a campaign of essentially leaking against the prime minister. she barely got home with the government in 2010. she in fact had to form a minority government with the help of three independents and difficult for her ever since. this is her intent to clear the air,. if she doesn't win overwhelmingly on monday, there's a danger that kevin rudd will go, sit on the back benches, plot, sulk, do whatever else is needed to be done and have another crack at her in a few month's time. will it clear the air? we'll have to wait and see on that. >> that's hugh rem inning ton reporting from australia there. we'll have to see what happens down under with that leadership ballot. still to come on wbt, china, the u.s., russia and india have finally found something in common. they've all got it in for the eu's aviation carbon tax. it's green-minded europe verses the rest of the world. that is just ahead. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. welcome back to "world business today." let's take a look at the price of oil today. brent crude rose 98 cents. it's now trading at $123.55 a barrel for april delivery. now, the price of brent crude rose this thursday after hitting a nine-month high earlier in the week over concerns about supply. a weak euro has meant that the cost of a barrel of bread is near a record high for those paying for it in the euro, the single currency. right now it's trading for just over 93 euros a barrel, just 16 euro cents below its peak from 2008. that's likely to squeeze both corporate profit margins and consumers putting upward pressure on inflation at a time, of course, when european economies are very fragile and the ecb has very little room for monetary maneuvering. this is "world business today" live on cnn. welcome back. some of the world's biggest economic powers have finally found a policy that they will agree on, and that is stopping europe's aviation carbon emissions plan. now, the eu is taxing airlines that use european airports for the carbon pumped into the atmosphere. when i say their flights, it's their flights from the takeoff airport to destination including not only european aerospace, but all the aerospace in between the place where they took off and where they enter european aerospace. if you're flying from japan, this will be all the flight over siberia as well as the flight into the european airport. on wednesday, more than 25 countries vowed to do whatever it takes to defeat that tax. after talks in moscow, russia, india, the united states and china all agreed on a basket of countermeasures. they will do everything they can to cancel or post post the eu's tax. russia has already said it may limit european airlines flights over siberia. other countries might ban their airlines from taking part in the scheme. the eu's climate commissioner has fired back on twitter. connie head guard wrote, unfortunately, our question for the moscow meeting participants remains unanswered. what's your concrete constructive alternative? pauline? >> well, i'm curious to see how this turns out. i fly from hong kong to europe at least twice a year. lit be interesting to see what kind of change i see in the price of tickets. there's no question this car xwon tax is a divisive issue. could it lead to a trade war? that's the question that richard quest put to the editor of business green. he said that's one of the likely scenarios. >> it is a lot of sabre rattling. there are elements of this agreement that if brought into force could spark a very, very serious trade war. >> okay. but the europeans are adamant that they're not going to budge. >> yeah. >> basket of countermeasures. already the chinese. where do you think this is going? >> there's two ways it can go. one is a very, very bad way, and we do have a quite severe trade war potentially in the offing. some of these counter measures, they're talking about banning their airlines from taking part altogether in the eu emissions trading scheme. russia talking the same. the u.s. could do the same. if that happens, if you're an airline, you breaking the law not to comply when you land in terksu, but breaking the law to comply when you leave your home states. the airlines are very, very worried. if that escalates, it could get disastrous. however, there is a route out. all parties are saying they want this to go to the national civil aviation organization. the eu are basically saying bring it on, if it goes there, that's where we want it to government we want an international agreement, too. >> still to come on "world business today," the next chapter in a billionaire battle royale between two former best friends is about to be written in the gamble hub of mccow. we'll tell you who is likely to get snake eyes. don't go away. 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seeing that on the share price. at one stage it was off by as much as 3.5%. let's move on to royal bank of scotland, that swung from a small third quarter profit to a loss of more than $2.8 billion, 2 billion pounds in the last quarter of 2011. despite that, a lot of yes, sir are being asked about the size of bonuses paid to rbs staff. i sense a political storm. in fact, the political storm is already breaking around that one here, pauline. >> i imagine that's creating a lot of anger all around there. charles, here in the asia pack region, another lackluster day on the markets. investors in japan took some heart from the weaker yen in hopes of a boost to the the european rescue fund from the japanese government. as we heard earlier in newscast, the japanese government is considering contributing. big exporters including sharp and nintendo ended the separation up around 3% to 4% mainly because of the weaker yen today. elsewhere there was caution in the air. take a look at the board. financials in hong kong and exporters in south korea both suffered on global economic uncertainty as we learned yesterday from andrew in seoul, south korea yesterday. what's happening globally certainly is reflected in concerns here in south korea. so we saw some of that. the main aussie benchmark was largely flat amid a political showdown in the labor party with prime minister gillard calling for a leadership ballot on monday. charles? lingering questions about the greek bailout had u.s. investors playing it safe on wednesday with news from the housing market also mixed. investors didn't have too much reason to be buying. u.s. stocks ended wednesday lower, not dramatically. nasdaq off by about half a percent. the dow off by about .2%. perhaps some of the optimists might have hoped the s&p broader market strung out by the two off by about .33%. charles, we're going to peel back the layers of a saga going on in asia. the dice are about to roll for a japanese gambling billionaire. later today in macau, the board of wynn resorts will voeft on whether to oust one of its directors and biggest shareholder following accusations of bribery. ramy inocencio is following this. >> this story between two former best friends, steve wynn and kazuo okada has allegations of backstabbing. by the end of this week, okada who co-founded wynn resorts should know whether he'll stay on the board. it's not expected whether he'll reside. wynn resorts filed a lawsuit that accuses okada of bribing gambling officials to get his casino up and running. he's accused of putting up this man at the wynn macau in hotel suites costing up to $6,000 each and every night. it's estimated more than $100,000 in total of wynn funds was used to host him as well as his predecessor. that was despite steve wynn's objection to this manila casino called entertainment city, valued at about $2 billion. he saw it as competition to his own macau resort. in what might be described as retaliation for okada's lack of loyalty, wynn forcibly bought back okada's 20% stake in wynn resorts. last friday that stake was worth about $2.7 billion. wynn forced okada to sell this at a 30% discount, taking its value down to $1.9 billion. on top of that, okada can only cash in his chips on the sale in ten years n. a statements, wynn said he would force this and fight this forced redemption. he added, quote, the entire process has been tainted by the desire to serve steve wynn's predetermined goal, and that is of removing the u.s. arm of okada's firm as the largest stockholder of the company. this bill their battle will continue. we look to friday to see if okada survives and is chair on the board of wynn resorts. interesting, there is a japanese restaurant called okada at the wynn macau. i think we might be seeing a name change coming pretty soon. >> i think you can count on that. wow, that is getting uglier and uglier. ramy inocencio, thank you very much. charles? let's circle back to that political storm i was telling you is already breaking in the press. and that is on the news that the royal bank of scotland has dealt analysts and indeed others a brig surprise. britain's biggest state-owned lender just reported a loss of 2 billion pounds as i mentioned, more than $3 billion for 2011. that is nearly twice as big a loss as expected as the eurozone debt crisis put pressure on the investment banking arm and there were other payouts i mentioned, too. in a move to placate the public, it cut the bonus pool for its investment bankers, despite the fact that they weren't doing nearly as well as they did in 2010. that pool was shunning en to $390 million -- sorry -- 390 million pounds, that's $612 million. that's less than half what it paid out the previous year. rbs cut those by topping out pay and benefits by about a third. it really will be a storm in light of the redugsed profits from that part of the bank, pauline. >> charles, staying on the theme of paychecks, pay seems to be a little more closely related to performance at phone company at&t. ceo randall stephenson's paycheck is going to be $2 million lighter this year. that decision was made by at&t's board because of the failure of the company t's t-mobile bid. they had to hand t-mobile $1 billion worth of spectrum after the deal was blocked by u.s. regulators, it was a one-two blow there. it's hard to feel terribly sorry for stevenson. his total compensation including base pay and stock options in 2011 is still worth $22 million. coming up on "world business today," it's a turbulent time for the world's airlines. but some carriers are staying aloft by pushing into new markets. that story is up next here on wbt. slsleeeep p nunumbmberer s sto? yoyou u wawalklk i intna coconvnvenentitiononalal ms ststorore,e, i it't's s ry nonot t ababouout t yoy. ththeyey s sayay, , "w"weleu wawantnt a a f firirm m bebn lilie e onon o onene o of ff yoyou u wawantnt a a s sofou cacan n lilie e onon o onene o " wewe p prorovividede t 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yoyoue toto w wororryry a aboboutg ththe e wrwronong g mamat. ononlyly t thrhrououghgh s. ononlyly a at t onone e ofo0 slsleeeep p nunumbmberer s. business today" live on cnn. the man who changed the face of budget air travel in europe is about to take on west africa with a new low-cost carrier. the easy jet founder is planning on launching fast jet. a new airline to link the capital with six west african countries. it's the beginning of what could be a low cost pan-african carrier. it will start by releasing 15 aircraft. it expects to carry five million passengers a year, pauline. even though he's starting that new business as the global air travel market suffers turbulent times, it's in emerging markets like africa, asia and the middle east that some airlines are extending their reach. cnn's leone la carney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. k carney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. h carney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. a carney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. n carney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. i carney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. carney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. arney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. rney reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. ey reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. y reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. reports on the carriers flying into new frontiers. >> reporter: only 1985 a new air carrier is born, with just two aircraft, emirates launching the mid den flight to karachi. it's a bold plan to rival the region's main carrier gulf air. today 'em rilts is making its mark in international aviation. it's one of the fastest growing airlines in the world with a fleet of 169 planes serving more than 10 destinations. at the heart of its success is its strategy looking east. actively targeting emerging markets often unserved by the world's western carriers. tim clark, the airline's president has been instrumental in mapping out those routes from the start. >> if you roll the clock back 26 years, i don't think we contemplated then in the late 80s what we are doing today with regard to the emerging markets which, as these economies started to energize and you saw the rise of the middle classes in those areas. and with that came demand for travel, not just for business, but for travel to see the rest of the world. >> reporter: thriving in the untapped markets of southeast asia, africa and latin america, emirates quickly took off, now the largest operator of the a-380 super jumbos. >> if you concentrated on the primary hubs, you'll always be up against the competition. by going for second and third-level cities, i say places like chengdu you call a third level city, it has a population half the size of the united kingdom in it. >> reporter: dubai has never been blessed with the same oil riches of its neighbors. it has been an ancient trade and shipping gateway with ships crossing from the shores of india and east africa. dubai's leaders recognize the strength of that. dubai has been one of the main ports in the persian gulf for centuries. ships sailing their precious goods through these waterways, building trade links and creating an international transport hub for the region today these routes are being reborn and rebuilt from the sea to the sky. now the government has put aviation at the heart of its growth strategy. not just by launching emirates by supporting and expanding dubai's airports. nearly 50 million people a year pass through its three terminals, making it the world's fourth busiest international airports with passenger numbers growing at a rate of more than 15% each year, the airport hopes to become the busiest in the world by 2015. greater traffic to dubai's airports brings more people into the city boosting the overall economy. >> we were so well connected, we were able to continue trading as an airline, perhaps less reliant on what was happening in dubai, but it was very important to us. as that demand fell off, we turned on other areas. today the aviation sector which includes the airport is 25% of gdp of dubai. >> reporter: the emirates story is serving as a template for the region's other two main carriers, its had and qatar airways. >> the world population is growing and we are fortunate to be in the heart of a region that has over 3 billion population just within five-hour radius of our hub. >> reporter: abu dhabi's flat carrier has services to more than 80 destinations as valued as iraq and kazakhstan. its plotting expansion into china. together the three gulf airlines are spreading their routes from the middle east to the far reaches of asia and africa, retracing the ancient silk road in the sky. leone knee lakhani, cnn, dubai. >> those airlines of course have to deal with bad weather and the historic snowfall this winter across central and southern europe may now be melting too rapidly. that's raising concerns of widespread spring floods. meteorologist ivan cabrera is live at the cnn weather center to explain. ivan, it sounds like we went from one huge problem to another different kind of problem. >> the warmer it gets, the faster the problem is going to be exacerbated here. we'll watch the temperatures closely. you're absolutely right. the danube is going to be the culprit if we have significant issues. this is the water weigh that has been frozen. we have the chunks of ice dislodging as a result of the thawing. my concern is not that. it's all the snow that has fallen in and around this region here. we're talking about meters and record amount of snow. we've been showing you the scenes from there. if we have enough rapid melting here, we're going to have some significant flooding across the river. that water has to go somewhere. once it melts, it's going to go into the danube. yes eve able to see oh this is a fascinateding picture from the last few days. you can see the time lapse of what is happening there, pauline. in the south, the sun is out, if temperatures are warming up. that snow is melting and melting rapidly. i have better news for the weekend here. ironically we are hoping for actually colder wealth they are time around, just when we can slow down the thaw. it has to be a gradual thing or we'll get into a lot of trouble here. spring no question here to the west. the eye beerian peninsula, even into the uk in the mid teens. to the east here comes a little scandinavian cooler air and that's what's going to at least begin to help us out with that rapid thawing that we've been seeing over the last couple of days. >> okay. so it could slow that down a little bit. thank you very much, ivan. we appreciate it. charles? well, coming up next on "world business today," what's in a name? quite a lot if you're rising nba superstar jeremy lin. we'll tell you how one woman is cashing in on lin just ahead on wbt. an 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[ male announcer ] these are real tempur advanced ergo owners. find one for yourself. try your friends on facebook. see what they have to say unedited. ask me what it's like to get a massage anytime you want. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic brand owners are more satisfied than owners of any traditional mattress brand. [ woman ] ask me why i'm glad i didn't wait till i'm too old to enjoy this. [ male announcer ] start asking real owners. treat yourself to the ultimate sleep experience and save up to $200 during the tempur ergo savings event. plus visit tempurpedic.com for full details on our five day, five year special financing offer. don't wait. the tempur ergo savings event and five year special financing ends february 26th. tempur-pedic. the most highly recomended bed in america. at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. welcome back live from cnn hong kong and london, this is "world business today." nike is known for its star-studded ad campaigns. with the london olympics fast approaching, it's preparing an all out marketing blitz. maggie lake shows us what to expect from the advertisers and suppliers. >> reporter: with heart pounding videos, star turns from carl lewis. >> welcome to new york and the launch of two days of unbelievable innovation. >> reporter: and present day olympic grates -- >> i know for sure i'm definitely going to run fast. >> reporter: nike had its product launch in new york city. >> we'll show you the very latest in performance technology footwear and apparel that you'll see on the world's greatest athletes in london this summer. >> reporter: nike's light as a feth earl footwear, state-of-the-art track suits and flashy jerseys won't make their debut for months. when it comes to olympics, brands don't have a split second to spare. nike has endorsement deals with some of the world's most professional athletes. with 5 billion people expected to tune in, participating in the summer olympics presents a special opportunity. >> the summer olympics always represents a time when a lot of different sports come together. you have a very broad audience that we try and take advantage of every four years. >> reporter: not to be out done, adidas, an official partner of the olympic games. its new olympic shoes are already hitting the shelves. it's not just sports brands gearing up for the game. coke is now posting olympic advertising on youtube featuring sports stars and the music of mark ron son and katy b. paying big bucks to reach a global audience is more important now than ever. >> generally the olympics are the uld mat, the crescendo of feel-good advertising. most people don't look at a checklist and count how many shoes they've sold. they look at it as a way to insert their bland. >> reporter: experts see an almost 4% rise in year over year advertising. for nike, it's millions well spent. >> it's an opportunity form us to use the olympics as a backdrop to introduce the next phase, the next generation of innovation. >> only 157 days to go until the opening ceremony. i cannot wait. >> reporter: nike is hoping for its turn in the winner's circle. >> we will see all of you in london. >> reporter: it's just one of many global firms hoping for a marketing slam dunk. maggie lake, cnn new york. >> now, what price would you pay on the biggest name in sport right now? i'm talking about the multiple pun-inspiring new york knicks star jeremy lin. his personal brand is valued at more than $14 million. arguably more valuable now. it may surprise you to learn that one small chinese sporting goods company paid this to trademark lin's names. you're reading this correctly. they paid $708 u.s. dollars. here is the catch. the company actually applied for the trademark 18 months ago when its owner first spotted jeremy lin. it can now use his name on basketballs, shirts, hats, shoes and much, much more. but the name may not be familiar to many people outside of china. this is actually what ms. eu paid for, injury me shl with the chinese name spelled out in chinese characters. she still certainly got a bargain. you can expect the man himself to shell out much more than $700 if he receives the rights to his trademark pun lin-sanity. that application is under review. we shall see how that turns out. that is it for this edition of "world business today." i'm pauline choiu in hong kong. >> i'm charles hodson in london. you're watching cnn, the world's news leader. good-bye for now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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