by acrossare standing the world to deliver the stories that will derive -- drive your day. >> the gdp figures. and david is in berlin to look at how germany's digital sector is driving the economy. theater, we will speak with head of italy's biggest company dashed oil company. -- biggest oil company. he will tell us how he plans to boost profits. >> we didn't forget about valentine's day. love is in the air for couples and retailers. we will talk to the leader of the u.k. gift site. that is in the next hour. the italiantta prime minister will resign after his party drew support for the government. --s is the calm relation homer nation of weeks of tension. from the latest, we have hans nichols in rome. >> good morning. he is going to have to defend charges he is assuming the premiership legitimately. --ough the front page of a here is the front page of the paper. the headline is, he appoint himself. he clearly had the votes. it in the democratic party. 136-16. likely face awill vote of confidence within parliament. that will include all the parties including the senate. what will happen is conversations between renzi and the other parties. ce is justof floren 39. -e wants to stat - -- this legislature. >> he thanked the prime minister for his service. that would be before enrico letta announced his intentions to resign formally. he will go to the president and resign. is going to be prime minister, he will be the third that was not directly elected. out snapdent has ruled elections. there is a chance that there could be snap elections. but it looks like everyone wants to get through this electoral law. after that, the prospect of elections could happen. but now it will be a smooth transition from one premier to the other. >> hands, among all of this turmoil in italy, markets do seem to be relaxed. the yield on the 10 year debt in italy hit the lowest level since february, 2006. amazing considering the political activity taking place. >> there are two theories to explain that. one, we are not any crisis mode. italyer uncertainty is in does not spread out. the other is that matteo renzi will be better at pushing through a reform package. he may cut taxes. he may actually move italy closer to both -- growth. he has a stronger mandate from his party. 39 years old and the mayor of the city of 336,000 people. now governing a country, europe's third-biggest economy. a country of 60 million. >> fascinating story. thank you very much. >> the footsie one of the best-performing european market. what political turmoil in italy? figures from france, germany and others -- lots of state for the ecb. what will be the ramifications? manus cranny is here. we just finished with han s. the longest recession on record. invoke reform.to any growth. had two years of stagnation. we are looking for a growth level in italy. percent of growth in italy. let's talk about this in the context of europe. 11:00 this we get to morning, we are expecting 0.2%. you look across the pond to the u.s. growth in the fourth quarter was over three percent in the u.s. it is not often that i curry favor with something about -- that an american treasury secretary would say. countries could do more to stimulate entries. the world needs demand. that is what european gdp will reflect. -- a lack ofd demand. the number three economy, structurally unreformed and unrepentant. that is the consensus view for france. you are possibly looking for 0.2% growth there. and hope that the taxation level will boost your economy to growth. for germany, you are all right, jack. bmws thenlling more you can throw a stick at. -- and then you can throw a stick at. but will germany rescue europe? >> are you listening to jack lew? >> maybe they should. i caught up with the head of the ecb. he said, why not have qe? qe could be in the cards. i personally doubt it. but eventually some people are beginning to believe it. does that really deliver growth? making them not earn anything on your money? negative rates, qe would be the two issues. but downgrading growth and inflation levels. >> we will see with the data reveals as we go through the morning. >> we are in berlin to look at the german growth. where exactly are you today, david? >> i wanted to look at the gdp through the prism of the startups, i have come to one of the interesting real estate developments that has taken place here in berlin. it is called the factory. it is in a former brewery >>. . 16,000 square meters. it used to be part of the berlin wall. i am in a glass box at the top of the building. that is why i sound like i am synthesized. i will be talking to some of the people moving into this building. peoplebe talking to the of sound cloud, the audio music platform. has 6 million people using it. and in 20 minutes, i will be speaking to the founder of this entire project. he hopes this real estate development called the factory will become a hub in berlin for startups and more stab at companies. i will be speaking to him in 20 minutes. gdp releasederman soon. how important is technology for germany? isthe digital economy becoming increasingly more important. it is growing around 10% a year. it now represent about three percent of the entire gdp. it doesn't some like so much, but it is becoming more integrated on a lot of levels. inm the auto industry -- four people employed in the industry, you can see that is also growing. about 430,000 across germany. year.s growing by 8-10% >> thank you david. live in germany. investng up, how do we in emerging markets? we will talk to rodriguez of black -- ♪ >> first. bloomberg. >> time for today's company news. fourth-quarter thatngs that -- most of growth was from acquisitions. they are facing increased competition. shipments in china fell for the first quarter in more than two years. idc says it signals growth in marketgest smartphone may be marked it -- moderate. telekom says they planned to be the leader in central and eastern european markets by 2018. they say they will continue to eye ou -- by assets and upgrade networks. welcome back, i am anna edwards. >> and i am mark barton. indexerging markets dropeped to a low last week. we are joined by gerardo rodriguez, specialist at blackrock. question to start off with. should we buy emerging-market assets? >> it is always time to buy emerging-market assets. returns -- they will come from emerging markets. 80% of the population and 50% of the gdp. it only 20% of financial assets. you can only think of growth when you think of emerging markets. if you want to have growth and returns come a you must have a portion in emerging markets. >> how should we differentiate? the south africa's? the turkeys? the brazil's? which categories to divide them into? >> the creation of these different -- they created confusion in the marketplace. are part ofntries willbasket -- they differentiate themselves and the individual dynamics will become more important. we have got to read interesting period in which all economies grew at a fast pace. they have developed their own idiosyncratic stories that will dominate as we go along. what we're seeing -- there are certain countries that have significant nominal rigidities. like argentina, venezuela. you have to think of them in a special manner. within those countries, there are those that have developed over the past couple of years external and internal imbalances that are unsustainable. markets are reacting to that. there are also countries that are not experiencing any imbalances. because of that, you have seen more stability and their financials. >> can i ask you about mexico? you are from there. you would be the first person to studio and speak enthusiastically about it. >> the recent economic history is one in which the economy has not been able to exploit its full potential because of significant strengths -- constraints. the energy sector is the most important example. the new government comes in with thatection result allows them to construct majorities in congress and have congressional help with the agenda. they bring together the different ideas of different parties. that has been the base upon which they have been delivering significant reforms on the structural side. with telecom, education, competition. and lately on the energy side. you have the potential to increase gdp growth all the way to foreign a half or five percent. -- is itommand commitment to reform that makes you excited about a particular market? gaining does seem to be momentum in some cases. we have seen recovering markets. marketstory of emerging is one of rapid growth. that captures the attention and imagination of the marketplace. 2001 to 2011, there was a rapid pace of growth. this was because of a reform agenda executed in the 1990's in difficult and challenging markets. unfortunately, it is the lack of reform momentum that has started effects on certain economies. markets are reacting to that. when you look at the world, there aren't that many places that have showed the willingness to do the right thing for their own countries, even though it may have a short-term political cost. next goes at the top of the list. -- mexico is at the top of the list. joining usrodriguez from blackrock. --we will hear from the role about the role of startups in germany's economy next. ♪ countdown.back to >> we are looking at germany through the lens of the startup scene. he caught up with the founder of a startup incubator. >> my name is simon. i am the founder of factory. forhe factory is the space startups to grow from each -- learn from each other. we look for a place to -- on theilding was east side of town, containing the east population. we have the innovators of the future working on what will become the future of the german economy. the factory is in direct relation to berlin as an ecosystem. it is an early-stage place. we have created a different approach. relevant. is you have youthful founders with great ideas. that is why we differentiate and call this a organic accelerator. we are creating proximity. >> david is at the factory with simon. david? ? >> the factories creating quite a bit of the buzz. sound club will be here in the spring. simon.to talk to there is a lot of interest in the startup scene. people are talking about the difficulty of getting funding. there's something else that is -- needs to happen. what can encourage the digital economy? >> [indiscernible] we could foster the really have ae -- legal definition of what a startup is. make sure it becomes a regular business. what are some of those parameters? asking the authorities to have -- [indiscernible] it sounds weird for somebody asking money back. stock options is another area that is difficult. >> absolutely. tovately, we will be having pay taxes at the current valuation. that is at the same time that we will have to pay the premium on the? -- >> you were in brussels presenting ideas about this. what kind of reaction are you getting? >> is very supportive. there are seeing -- high unemployment rates. they believe the digital economy could be a solution to that. >> what are you trying to achieve here at the factory? >> make early stages work better. we have much to fulfill with all the hype going on. we are going to see that happen, i hope, here. happening in start the spring when people start moving into the factory, this former brewery. >> fascinating. thank you very much, david. year has been a testing for the company. next.s >> i'm mark burton. here are the top headlines. enrico letta in italy saw his democratic party draw support and turned to rival matteo renzi . the president must decide whether to appoint a new prime minister or call elections. environmental agency says river levels are expected to rise. they had ever spite yesterday after more than two months of downpours. the new storm brings rain and wind. company --s says the israel's techof industry is vital. he says the industry is galloping like a horse. if you don't gulp with the horse, it will go up without you. if you don't gallop with gallopurse, it will tell u without you. welcome back. i'm mark barton. >> anna edwards and i anna edwards am. here is more on the french economy. we have france growing by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2013. that beat the analysts estimate. only two quarters of growth in the past. we have a bunch of data to come to the morning. 0.3%.- in terms ofth david technology and revolution in germany. germany is the growth engine. responsibility to really drive up demand in france. likewise with italy. deliver agot to growth number because they have had the longest recession since world war ii. you have a state of political chassis in italy. going for a new for government. overall, 0.2% for the whole of europe. that is when you begin to put things in a global context. a rise of 0.2% for europe would contrast with the u.s. which has percent. over three you begin to understand the debate that jack lew delivered. countries -- their responsibility to drive demand. those are the comments coming through. suffering from a disinflation cycle in europe. a threat -- the threat is you are looking at a japan style economic threat. that draghi himself denied at the news conference. >> what is in the toolkit? , withn you look at it some levelheadedness, you have to say -- could quantitative easing -- i caught up with head of the ecb. possible to have qe. but that is a big ask. those are the two mission-critical issues for the ecb to consider. they have downgraded their review on inflation and growth for 2013. and and mark, back to you. >> it has been a week for chinese economic data. this morning, we got inflation. let's go to hong kong for the details. >> beijing ridge east -- released its inflation data five hours ago. much --saw was not that just about what was forecast. forcoming in at 2.5% january. that was about the same exact growth we saw in prices for the month of december. wholesale prices, which essentially measures prices that at-that shut up further. the trend is clear. as far been in deflation as consumer prices are concerned. we have to take into consideration that china is scaling back the industry. practice -- prices at the factory gate. that does not mean we will get easing. -- bringing down the level of debt in the economy is a bigger concern. >> david, this is not the last set of data. the most important comes out today or tomorrow, money supply. what has been forecast? haveat is right to read we three today or saturday, metrics. one is the broadest measure of growth for the monetary base in china. the forecast is 13.2%. that would be the slowest pace of growth in 18 months. also, new currency loans. to top about -- expected -- what is more interesting is the amount for aggregate financing. everything from lowes to equity and debt offerings. .he forecast, 1.9 trillion re >> thanks, david. david in hong kong. >> the south african mining company anglo-american reported earnings. it it has been a year for the ceo mark cutifani. >> when you manage a large, diversified mine company, i would say it is as easy as hurting cast. herding cats. south africa accounting for about 45% of the revenue. elements of uncertainty provided by the strike. jacob zuma spoke about the strikes. >> he has to walk a fine line. he assumed that it to the strikers, but he knows a company like anglo-american is the largest credit sector employer. you can see how this could impact the lives of anglo. it is not just south africa and brazil. they have a huge iron ore project. gavepolished the boot that -- we are expecting some decent numbers from them today. they had good numbers from real. -- rio. we saw the cost of iron ore rise. we know they are probably going to have a good boost to profit from the estimates today. looking for earnings of $9 million for the year. some big numbers from them today. >> like rio tinto. not quite as big. >> we might be talking about cash. think you very much. >> let's move it on. this is bloomberg, 6:30. the championship face gets under facingth manchester giants of sports. match analysis is next. >> time for today's company news. they are reporting estimates that beat estimates. says the executive group is on track to achieve 850 million euros in savings for the fiscal year. his online -- mecca they will provide a distribution channel for content and access to emerging markets. sony playstation for has retaken the lead in u.s. videogame console sales. used to havex one the lead. sony was able to take the january lead. analysts are watching the sales closely to see if the market has permanently lost ground to smart phones and tablets. >> welcome back to countdown, i am anna edwards. >> let's talk football. we are crunching the numbers in preparation for the champion matches. arsenal announced some big games. dave is here. massive week for the in which teams -- english teams. they are the kings of possession, aren't they. >> i wanted to show the size of the task that faces us. giant games next week. was 63.6%. that is extraordinary. they have managed to improve that. possession. the opposition under 30%. over 700. these are off the scale. i was secretary the comparison with everybody else. it is off the scale. >> is like the old days. >> of course it is. that is the point of the style. some say it is more direct, which it can be. it is still possession, the absolute key. you keep the ball, the opposition cannot score. and 0.5 this season. >> they came away with a victory. >> look at this. they would have come away with a bigger victory. look at the position in the game. this is just a game. they managed to restrict to 45. had -- bayern -- - arsenal had two shots in the game. canoes show that bayern sometimes keep the ball and not do a great deal with it. what arsenal needs to do is be more direct like they were last time. get inside the 6-yard box you never know what might happen. surely they have no chance? >> i didn't want to tell you this, but we were going to do some stats for arsenal against the top six. >> to they have a chance? >> of course. from my personal opinion, i think bayern is so powerful. barcelona.r -- look at this. manchester city and barcelona, these are third and second in the domestic leagues. goals court, manchester is 68. that means barcelona laid fewer. -- played fewer. remember as well that barcelona did not have -- he will probably be missing for this game. it shows how extraordinary -- the goals come from everywhere. i think city had a big chance in this game. it will be fun to watch. >> there both maybe not as strong as they could be. >> barcelona particularly has its issues. city firing on all cylinders, it would be interesting. inis a cliché -- i say this september or october. you look at these things and say, wow, they are playing well and could win the chairmanship. it is always about form now. women -- winning the thing is about form now. city has drawn away. they are shaky. barcelona had a terrible result against valencia. some of the favorite teams now are looking a little bit -- >> the winner will be feeling great. thing can change, to. o. who knows. they won't be throwing away anymore. >> the entire season can unravel. going back to the arsenal game. they have the cup this weekend. your whole season can unravel in the space of two weeks. >> people are already saying that with arsenal. also, liverpool. because they are not involved in any of this -- arguably, if liverpool loses to arsenal, their fans will not be happy. as marina keeps telling us -- they still have city and chelsea to play at home, who knows what will happen? >> of the league champions, who had the vest chance of walking away? >> chelsea for sure. they have pedigree. thatu get a team that has moment really like city -- a chance that they will go away, you are all struggling. chelsea knows how to win over two legs. >> favorites overall? >> bayern is the vest team in europe doesn't mean they will because-- win it, strange things can happen. but they are the favorites. dave.nks, back.rom -- he will be >> coming up, it is valentine's day. we are looking at some of the best songs as presented in the times today. with newspapers after a short break. ♪ >> welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. >> and i am mark barton. time for the picks from the newspapers. just us three. dave is here. >> thanks. >> he is actually in rome. >> he is in rome. dealing with italian politics. >> take it away. >> we will look at lizzie, someone nobody have -- will have heard of. amie williams did so well. she is going to win gold for great britain. thehe skeleton, one of craziest and scariest sports. we throw a lot of money at this. she is terrific. lovely girl. looks like she will win. i don't know much about it. she is way clear, and that is a long way. >> this time i am not. sports asjoying the much as others are. >> slope style not your thing. >> what about the cheerleading from the bbc commentators? >> i'm a commentator myself. >> was the view? would beer towards not liking it. i think you should be more editorial. they are passionate and you have to love that. final point -- i don't like hearing someone falling over because they are norwegian. aren't we world citizens? that is my view. >> it is valentine's day, i am told. today, the obvious. the 20banged guest -- best love songs. >> pet sounds. one of the great albums. not in love. how deep is your love? interestingly -- >> yeah. , number 18.ift don't know that one. what is your favorite valentine's day song? >> i don't know. >> the power of love? criqui goes to hollywood -- frankie goes to hollywood? tableriend booked a quiet -- [laughter] thehat is straight out of 70's. you are giving away your age. >> this is not a nice valentine's day gift. is gatheringtorm and will provide a triple pronged attack on the u.k.. winds.nd gale force over.limeters of rain period ofrs -- over a six hours. we will continue through the second hour. >> italy and crisis. prime minister enrico letta bows to pressure and resigned. >> can the eurozone sustained economic recovery? germany's figures out today. for aninvestors looking earnings surprise from anglo american. welcome to "countdown," i am mark barton. >> i am anna edwards. we are getting figures from germany. >> gdp up 0.4%. they forecast 0.3%. ahead of expectations. we hadossing the -- p.ench dbp -- gd experts rose more strongly than imports. government consumption stagnated. private consumption declined slightly. there was an increase in investment, equipment, and construction. >> but get to david freed in berlin -- let's get to david in berlin. >> one of the interesting things about the numbers has been the dichotomy between the hard export like the gdp or performance and soft numbers like business confidence surveys. the confidence survey at a two-year high. economistsonomies -- wondering why you are not seeing that reflected in the hard numbers. maybe are you are -- you are beginning to see it performing in the numbers for the fourth quarter. government is slowly becoming a little bit more optimistic. we saw this week, that economic ministry increased its forecast for 2014, looking at 1.8% growth. that to looking for accelerate in 2015 two two percent -- to 2.0%. we are seeing and upgrading of the forecast. >> are there signs that the economy is accelerating? walk us through some of those. evidenceis and total -- there is an a total evidence evidence.s antecdotal they're going to stop offering incentives for selling mercedes-benz cars. someone from the auto industry saying they are increasing the amount of ships by 10. see thiseginning to anecdotal evidence of the car of an -- that the car industry cannot keep up with the manned. -demand -- demand. called thea place factory, a real estate development. this place has become a technology hub in berlin. the digital economy is becoming more significant in germany. you can see it represents something like three percent of economic growth. three percent of the total value inthe economy and germany -- germany. and growth in employment in the sector of 8-10%. here.us cranny is we have had two pieces of data so far. >> it is the number one and number two economies within europe. germany.d would you have the structural reformation in the -- what you have is structural nation reformation. then you wake up in italy and the stateolitical -- of chassis. in italy, a level of unknown that a couple of years ago would have been devastating in terms of the bond markets. numbers.iting for the can they come out of recession question mark -- out of recession? the longest since world war ii? they have downgraded their levels of growth for inflation. argumenten -- the big is about the spiral we are in. is it a japan style economy? what should the ecb do? one of the official said negative interest rate should be considered for all the banks in the zone. it is something that has come through in conversations i have had with the chief economist. there is no reason that qe cannot be enacted here in the eurozone. everything is if you are looking at record low levels of interest rates. is the market really differentiating the true risks? lew would argue it is the responsibility of core countries to demand josh -- drive demand for the periphery. you the headline numbers for anglo american. earnings-per-share comes over -- comes in at over two dollars per share. they have had a six percent increase in underlying operating profit. 2013, the story that has been. it is about 2014 now. they expect headwinds to continue. manyhinese economy that investors are uncertain about. we will see how 2014 shapes up. >> what are the challenges facing mark cutifani? >> he has problems in brazil. then the strikes in south africa. 45% of their revenue comes from that region. it is a big problem for them. they are sensitive to it. side, weuth african have weakening in the south african rand. --s is something jake and jacob zuma was talking about. beneficial for exports. impacted themly negatively that much. >> good stuff, thanks a lot. >> italian prime minister enrico letta will resign today. this is the culmination of weeks of friction between enrico letta and party leader matteo renzi. we are joined by hans nichols from rome. covering american politics. you thought that was exciting. >> good morning. i am comfortable wherever there are clones. -- columns. what we have is a challenge. what he needs to do in the next 24 or 48 hours is prove his legitimacy. he is facing questions whether he sees power. power.es yesterday was a culmination of party friction. the mayor florence clearly had the votes. to form a new government within the party. he is just 39 years old. he wants to stay in office as prime minister until the end of parliament in 2018. >> the party urges the start of a new seat. there was a great moment in that press conference when he talked and thanked enrico letta for his service. that was before enrico letta had resigned. there will be questions about matteo renzi's legitimacy. he is the third prime minister to take office without being elected. there are questions about whether they will be elections. they getd change after through this electoral law they are debating in parliament. once that gets through, you could see the government claps --in and elections government collapse and new elections. >> how have markets been reacting to what is happening in italy? >> virtually no reaction from markets. we are out of the crisis mentality. may have more ability and support to push through a reform package that is lower taxes, reforming the bureaucracy. if he can do that, that is what investors want. they also want -- are not terribly concerned about whether the columns are doric, or corinthian. >> it is corinthian. >> marcus helping me out. >> thank you very much, hands. -- hans. guest will be talking about the eurozone.. analyzing the data. -- chiefkets and economist joins us. ♪ >> time for today's company news. estimates for liberty global. was forthe increase acquisitions. they are facing compositions from rivals like vodafone. smart phone shipments in china fell for the first quarter and more than two years. -- that that signals signals growth may be moderate in the biggest market. china mobile only started office in -- offering the iphone last month. thethey went to become leader in central and eastern european markets by 2018. the head of operations outside germany says the company will continue to buy assets. revolution in every country. welcome back to "countdown." >> the time in london is 7:14. we have had that gdp figures for france and germany, coming in ahead of estimates. we have some analysis. thank you very much for coming in. numbers.an estimated where does that leave your outlook for the eurozone? >> if we look at what is going on in europe, it is the story of a slow recovery. what marcus twill be focused on is what this means for ecb policy. we had the forecast. on one hand, growth forecast held up. but inflation was revised down. take both weaker growth and lower inflation -- importantly, also potentially lower inflation expectations -- to see action from the ecb. it makes action less likely in my opinion. >> less likely or not possible at all? towould seem strange perhaps think of the ecb stepping in now to do something for the eurozone. >> keep in mind we do still have another batch of monthly numbers coming out ahead of that number -- meeting. only atll be looking out q4 data, but also some other data coming out between now and the meeting. when we think about the risk of deflation, i see two potential sources. one is internal. the internal growth engine lose some of that momentum. we see a slowdown in the economy. if that happens, it is more likely to be a slow process. if we want something fast, it is likely to come from the outside. this is where the emerging markets become important. china in particular. if china were to see a hard landing scenario. that is the type of thing that could heighten those risks both to the real economy and the .eflation -- inflation outlook >> will come back to china, but let's focus on france. 0.3% for the year. it is the recovery temporary or gaining traction? slow. view is it is very this is the key point. when you look at the headline numbers, we are not talking very strong dynamic growth numbers. we are talking about numbers that are at slow speed. if we continue to see that level of recovery, we will have debt levels growing in europe. the key point moving forward is to see a process of structural reform continue. that will in the medium-term to be basis for growth. >> you mentioned the debt levels could reach 95% of gdp for france. i think this is where when we look at france today, you can read it as 22 stories. the get -- as two stories. the glass half full or empty. reforms are necessary to lift the economy to a higher growth path in the future. in the coming months, we will see how much reform will happen. the payroll tax cut. >> now we need to see what exactly happens and the details around these cuts. the social contributions. how much will it bring to the economy. our estimate is the initial -- headline numbers, if they come through, that could lift gdp 0.8%. we built that into the 1.5% growth forecast. it is helpful but not giving you that strong recovery. more is needed. >> the finance minister telling us france is open for business. let's move on to germany. we had better than estimated numbers. this comes on the back of car sales numbers. a two and a half year high. increasing for the seventh straight month. how strong of the story? robust german story is a story. if you look at germany and contrast it with other economies , you do not have the same time of -- height of debt overhang. or the fragmentation that shapes ae periphery holding back more sustainable recovery. for germany, the challenges what is happening in the economies around germany? >> and in china. .> and the emerging markets sometimes we get the impression that germany exports to china. in absolute terms, china as a small share. but an important share. , but emergingtant markets more broadly are important. the back 20 years. 20%ging markets were just of global gdp. today, they are 40% of gdp. it is a much bigger share and more important. the prime mr. will resign today in italy. may be the new prime minister. do you have hopes that the government under matteo renzi could put through key measures such as -- starting with the electoral law? >> if we look at what is going on in italy, we have been disappointed in terms of the pace of reforms under the different governments. we need to reserve judgment until we see randy come into office and actually start and lamenting those reforms. it is not just about an individual wants to put in place reforms. there is a political process. it will be the same parliament. some of the challenges to enrico letta will also be faced by matteo renzi. >> which reform would you say should be top of the list? >> i think the most important reform is to ensure there is but whether -- is better political stability. bectoral reform does seem to the one that should be at the top. the takeover the european presidency. -- they take over the european presidency. if you look at the economic reforms, it is broad-based. judicial reform. product and service market reform. labor market reform. a strategy to lift the business sector to become more competitive. when we talk about germany, it is not just the reforms that drove change. business sector becoming more service minded with exports. >> great to get your thoughts. the key for joining us. >> just ahead, perdition figure skating legends return to the ice. hotshots is next. ♪ -- >> welcome back to "countdown ," i am mark partin -- barton. it is time for hotshots. in el salvador, of ok note corrupts -- a volcano erupts. it resulted in 500 meters of gas and ash. this is the first activity since a larger explosion late last year. one championula eyes another championship. the canadian driver announced his plans to compete in the rally course. it begins in portugal in may. --figure skating legions ice.ds return to the they will perform the same dance won them anm -- olympic gold in 1994. up next, a valentine's day themed in the know. the holiday is celebrated by couples and retailers everywhere. we will talk to the head of a gifts website. ♪ >> i am anna edwards. minister enrico letta plans to resign today. italian president must decide whether they want to appoint a new prime minister or call snap elections. desperate and's environmental minister says river levels are going to rise. ofer more than two months downpours, the new storm rings downpours and wins. shimon paris says israel's expansion of the tech industry is vital to the country's future. he says the feature is galloping like a horse during if you don't ifl up with the course -- you don't gallop out with the horse, the horse will gallop without you. >> you must have a new system. >> welcome back to "countdown." 7:31.s day fore's day is a big lovebirds, but also for retailers. british able are expected to spend more than one billion pounds on gifts. zak edwards of prezzybox.com joins us. how is valentine's day? >> we have had a good year. year fromll up this the previous year. the trend has continued. 70% up. >> one of the sort of gets people are buying? -- what are the sort of gifts people are buying? --this is one annas >> i'm going to have to explain to mark that is a spot treat meant -- spa treatment. >> people like to buy things that are rude or food. that.didn't need to know >> what about a chocolate pizza? that seems a big seller. there are many types. >> a plethora of chocolate pitas. -- pizzas. you can make your own. we do them with chile. strawberries and champagne. great twist on the traditional pizza. >> your company has done well and seen some decent growth rates. is this part of a broader movement towards online retailing? >> a combination of a number of things. economically things are on the way up. thought ias, people will spend a bit of money. we have a great team who is passionate about prezzybox.com. we work smartly and nimbly. we are a small company. we tend to do -- we are quick to react to market conditions and trends. we have a new champion product -- >> we go to trade shows. we will be approach by suppliers. look at competitors. we are quick to market our products. that promoting those products. >> what is the key to a successful website? >> there are a number of things you need to do. you need to stick at it, because it will not happen overnight. spend too much money on marketing. you need to take it manage of the different routes to market, like mobile and tablet. we notice of february we x-ray had more visitors by mobile phones and smartphones than by desktops. you have to ensure that your website works on all of these platforms. >> and is appearing on the right search engine still the right -- do people find you on google or social media? >> we massively dependent on those company. on google. we have a team of people that arch after us -- our se engine optimization. >> what about the trends? you mentioned the downturn and how that has made things tougher. the people by different gifts as things get easier? >> what we found the downturn is where people would happily buy novelty gifts, they would then by functional gifts. people would buy things they could continue to use. >> not sure where the candy g string fits. that was atoken -- good one. >> i don't know if you have a significant -- we be treating them to a gift from prezzybox.com? >> didn't she help you set up? >> we have been together since a little longer than 2000. she is very lucky. >> have you made an honorable woman of her? >> we are engaged. you can't rush these things. >> i like the lovers leap bungee jump. 120 pounds. >> she keeps asking me to do it. >> thank you very much. happy valentines day. zak edwards, managing director of prezzybox.com. says he willta resign. we will have more on the political turmoil in rome. ♪ >> time for the company news. germany's largest steel maker says revenue has increased. says theyexecutive are in track to achieve 850 million euros in savings for the fiscal year. the chief executive says his online retailer will acquire for $900 million. they will provide a distribution channel for content and access to emerging markets. and the playstation for has retaken the lead in u.s. video game console sales. the rival xbox one from microsoft was the december leader. was able to regain the january lead. analysts are watching closely to see if the console market has permanently lost ground to smartphones and tablets. welcome back to countdown, i am mark martin. -- barton. 20 minutes until the opening of the markets. >> francine, happy valentine's day. what do we expect? >> futures are indicating a sluggish start. unchanged. let's see with the ftse and the decks are doing. we can get. what a lot of euro area growth. german ddp and french gdp. 10.eurozone gdp, later at and italian. hans have are own nichols. he is one of the biggest italian visit this -- we will have a cover station with one of the biggest italian businessman. i want to ask him about the italian politics. a discounthas because he is an italian company. visionl that change his and what he can do? whether he will have to get more foreign investors? >> equity markets and bond markets are remarkably unmoved by all of what we have seen happening in rome. >> another day, another italian government. >> you can say that. --'s talk about the beers de beers. >> they are part of anglo-american. we are talking to the ceo later. messaging.ry, about focus.ll be our tech we talk about anglo-american as well. those will be our main stock movers. >> much to look forward to on ' "on the move." has resigned in italy. we are joined by hans nichols in rome. >> good morning to you, mark. we are joined by a political risk analysis to -- analyst. he will walk us through what the risks are. -- tell us, what are the next 24 or 48 hours like for matteo renzi? i believe matteo renzi will have to hit the ground running. i envision a quick appointment by the head of state. he will hand over the torch he -- that is where matteo renzi will have to seek a vote of confidence. i see no problems in the lower house. it will be harder in the senate. there is no clear lead. matteo renzi will need to have some new friends to pick up. undecidedl quite whether he will get that support from the fringes or whether whetherlonel -- external support will come from berlusconi. >> that would be a contradiction. to go with never berlusconi, but at the same time, it was matteo renzi who brought berlusconi back onto the scene. a couple of weeks ago, matteo renzi signed a pact with berlusconi which outraged some. >> where the likelihood of snap elections after an electoral law is passed? remote forare more the law. it was the look for a lot reform that triggered this twist of events. sincely, matteo renzi that the-- sensed reform was not going through. >>up elections. -- no snap elections. does that mean he will serve until 2018? >> it is close to impossible. elections to form a new parliament soon. >> one year is my guess. >> what are the challenges in terms of getting a program through parliament? what are his priorities? a tax cut? >> he knows he has to line up the reforms first. inmate, we will have european in may, we will have european elections. they will be on he different agenda. the pm is going to take the blame for some of the reforms of the past. he has to mitigate the negative -- i being seen as delivering. we will probably start with some of the reforms he has agreed to with rose coney. an overhaul of section five of the constitution. these are places where we have unanimous agreement. >> what about economic reforms? >> he has made some saber rattling statements in the past. he has said he is not scared of waging war against the unions. >> we will see whether he is serious or not about that commitment. >> what about the tax on financial transactions? several -- we have to go a little more into details. we had an effort of this government to introduce an election tax -- -- a speculation tax. the volume was that of transactions would decrease and they would run the deals outside italy. has not been much market reaction. investors are you running. why? >> there are two species of investors. italians are emotionally sometimesinvolved -- it is a direct involvement -- they are supportive of matteo renzi. those are the ones cheering. there are other non-italian attached fromwere italian events and except that italy is politically unstable. they know that politicians come and go. the civil service remains where it is. that is a good reassurance for them. >> we have been talking all morning to people about legitimacy of matteo renzi. does this a road his legitimacy question mark -- you road -- erode his legitimacy? >> he started off very popular. someone who could appeal to the people in the street, common people. this is probably not positively affecting the image. surveys tell us that italians dislike having, for the third time in three years, a prime minister appointed without elections. >> is remarkable. we will leave it with this. a clear they are -- soft push. something that will not necessarily lead to snap elections. we will send it back to mark and anna. >> thank you very much. hans nichols, our international correspondent in rome. what the markets are making of the turmoil. edp data released in just an hour. more after the break. ♪ >> welcome back. i mark barton. >> and i am anna edwards. it is 7:53 in london. where do we start? the italian bond market? >> why don't the markets care? something hans nichols has been talking about. they don't care because this removes them -- we face the prospect of the third unelected prime minister in italy, man who is never been an mp. in the markets, there is no reaction because there is no uncertainty. ecb'sh the ruling on the on buying program, you would have thought this might be the time when italian bond yields should be headed northward. >> there was a reaction with within about 30 minutes when investors thought this took the risk away. >> it went from a german decision to eat european decision. isn't likely another institution will go against them? sticking with the european -- we have the european gdp coming through today. better than expected in france, germany. we still have the italian number coming. >> promising numbers. less than the euro. compared to the debt in the u.s. u.s. --ata in the has the federal reserve tapered into a week this? -- is this just about the weather? if this data without in september or october, it is unlikely they would have been bargain-hunting. -- sincetigroup mid-january, it has fallen to 74 to 23. that tells you the amount of estimates.as missed the fed will have to decipher what is the reason. >> when we get the next clean payroll number? >> over the weekend in the u.k. -- the longer the situation lasts, you will have to wonder how much of an impact that will have on various data coming out. >> more rain in the two days than the whole month. the month january? "on the move"e -- is next. we hope you have a nice day. ♪ . . as a ." welcome to "on the move i'm francine lacqua. coming up this hour, to chief executives join us. first, we are moments away from the start of european trading and our markets team has everything covered. jonathan ferro and manus cranny. will get to hans nichols in rome later in the program. manus, let's start off with you. the market will depend on gdp. >> we have good news from france. better news from germany. number one and number two. not only do they want to kick the current prime minister out, unsettling the situation, can they deliver any growth? they have had the longest recession since world war ii. we had socgen, they said, you got a tick better in france and germany. you are talking about an anemic recovery. to that end, we should be grateful. euro popped a bit higher. >> it is not a great figure. france did better than expected. >> we set the bar very low. >> but hey, i am a glass half-full person. if you look at the indices, on the weekly are higher. let's go

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