Of theaters across america. Sony entertainments ceo michael ouron said, we are excited movie will be in a number of theaters on Christmas Day. Efforts toinuing our secure more platforms and more theaters. So what happened . What changed sonys view on this situation . Smaller cinemas apparently. Caroline hyde is here with more. Ask coalition of independent ,inemas signed a position expressed their interest, got in touch. Sony thought, how can we get this film out . 300 the others will be showing this film on december 25. These films have been ready and waiting to go. Alamo, they are based in austin, texas. Also, plaza in atlanta. Atlanta police say they are aware and they are going to be monitoring the situation. The whole reason the interview was pulled because of Cyber Threats that maybe you would be in danger if you were viewing this particular film. Many started to feel that we have backed down to terrorists, so suddenly weve got to change. Hundreds more cinemas might be lined up for the next week as well. Seth rogen, the guy who wrote the film, has spoken out on twitter, saying the people have spoken, read him has prevailed. He is saying that the interview will be shown at theaters willing to play it. Talking of influences on this event. The president of the United States, before he decided to head off to hawaii, at a Significant Impact on this story. Is saying, weton never gave up, but it sounds like they had. That build up some concern. He spoke out and said, we cant so that some dictator in some place can start imposing censorship in the United States. He voiced concern that he hadnt been chatted to buy sony. Sony is a private company. It was worried about liability. I wish they had spoken to me first. I would have told them, do not get into a pattern in which you are intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks. This whole cyber attack has escalated into a geopolitical incident. Obama weighing in, the united saying oo criticizing north korea. This has become a fullblown saga and sony is having to stand up. It is sending up. Are we going to be able to watch this in europe . Good question. It is meant to be shown in 60 different countries. In january, it is going to australia. Asia was never going to show it. Are we going to show it as well . Will we start seeing it streamed . Sony hasnt answered those questions. It is worth remembering that the four biggest chains in the United States havent made a turn. From region hearing entertainment and amc that they are standing by their ban on the film so far. Intriguing new turn, i think. Caroline, thank you very much indeed. If you are watching and you decide that you want to do something on Christmas Day, maybe there is an option. Standard poors delivered a fresh blow to the russian currency that is very much in crisis. The ruble is appreciating but s p has warned that the countrys Credit Rating could be cut to junk. Lets bring in ryan chilcote. What does it mean . S p has very little holiday cheer. I decided to wear the christmas sweater. They say there is a more than 50 chance they are going to downgrade russian bonds to junk in the next 90 days. The ruble doesnt really seem to care. The ruble, up today by about 0. 2 . That is obviously no big deal. If you look at the last eight days, since high noon on tuesday of last week when it really bottomed out at 80 rubles to the dollar, it has improved almost 32 since then. It fell 50 in the week leading up to that. The ruble is strengthening and we see the central bank saying they are going to loosen up some of the collateral requirements they have for commercial banks that want to borrow from the bank of russia. They are going to allow fx loans as collateral. Another place no one seems to care is on the bond market. Yields have long been showing that investors are treating bonds in russia like junk. The yield is just over 6 . It to do was hire a week ago. The threat of an s p downgrade is seeing treated more like confirmation of what investors were anticipating. So we know there is going to be a recession next year. That has been made clear pretty much by everybody. In terms of the impact of that recession on politics of russia, what are people saying . Knowing that we are going to have a recession next year we just had a bloomberg survey. They are expecting a recession in russia next year. Currency crisis, economic crisis, financial crisis, that is a concern. One of the things we need to watch is to what extent this turns into a political crisis for vladimir putin. There is no quick answer to that. 15,date to watch is january when we are expecting the verdict in the trial against a member of the political opposition in russia. He says the charges against him are politically motivated. He may also be sentenced on january 15. The opposition has planned a demonstration that it did not get permission for from the city authorities. Interesting to see how many people show up. Ya,l this lead to a bolatna that was the name of those demonstrations we saw when tens of thousands of people turned out to protest against the russian president. And what kind of response we get from the russian president will it be a heavy handed one . This has very much been an abstract economic crisis so far. Just the last couple weeks when it turned into a currency crisis, it became more relevant. 2015 could be different. Ryan, thank you very much indeed. Ryan chilcote on the latest out of russia. What else is on our radar . Japanese parliament has reappointed shinzo abe as the Prime Minister. A landslide victory in early elections last week and is now in line to become japans longestserving premier in four decades. Abe will seek to push forward policies which restore growth to an economy that has slipped. Tech, isdent of stepping down in the wake of an airbag crisis. The chairman will take a 50 pay cut for four months. He remains as a board member and is taking a 30 pay cut. Takata airbags have been linked to five deaths and recalls of millions of cars. Porsche is recalling its most expensive model for a second time. This time it is defective parts that are the problem. Porsche says it is a precautionary measure. The company sold its entire atduction run of the car 845,000 a pop. A reminder that the markets in london, spain, and france are closing early today. Italy, switzerland, and greece are closed for the whole session. But we are still here. Coming up, it is a cold christmas in moscow. Looking ahead to a year that could see russia entering a deep recession. We will be talking with that about talking about that with our next guest. Good morning. U are watching the pulse we are live on bloomberg tv. Now, it has been quite a Fourth Quarter for the markets. Russia has been struggling to stabilize the ruble and now we are potentially looking at a deep recession. Oil has hit a fiveyear low. Uncertainty in greece is something europe has to think about. 2014 will be remembered by investors for volatility. As we come out of 2015 and head into 2015, one story is gathering momentum, the u. S. Economy. Lets look ahead to next year and start with the u. S. Philip sure is with us. Good morning. Morning. The number yesterday was stronger than most people anticipated. The u. S. Economy is beginning to gather momentum. Mi overstating that . Ask i dont think that is overstating the case. We are beginning to see positive momentum in the states. We expect somewhere around 3. 5 percent economic growth. That is barring any other polar vortex that hits the economy. Forgot about that. Lets think about what could derail that. Of the world rest looking fairly anemic in terms of growth. We got a dollar that is continuing to strengthen. The u. S. Economy is a relatively closed one. It is, absolutely. The dollar, we think, is going to continue to appreciate against most other currencies. If you were in the eurozone, youd be very concerned about your currency rising to that extent. The u. S. Is pretty well closed. 15 of gdp, goods and services, exports, compared with 55 in the zone. The rise in the dollar doesnt have a huge effect on the economy. Im not too concerned about anemic Global Growth. You could well see 4 Global Growth next year, certainly 3. 5 . That is more than last year. The external economy isnt that bad. Lets talk about the monetary story. Most people now expecting the fed to do some tightening midyear. If the data are starting to get better, is the risk that we see that sooner . There is a risk, but i dont know how much closer the fed can bring monetary tightening forward, given that they want to make sure that when they are ready, they can signal that the markets. In that respect, you could see something a couple months earlier, potentially. No quicker than that. I think we are on track for june. This data came through without the help of incredibly low oil prices, or with very little help. In what factor does that do to the model . If you plugged in 60 a barrel, what does it do versus where we were nine months ago . It is a mini stimulus package. The u. S. Is much more sensitive to gyrations in the global oil price. The American Consumer tends to use more gasoline than other consumers. Secondly because of the low rate on u. S. Petrol prices. The u. S. Gas price tends to be more sensitive to the global oil price. You see that very clearly in the Consumer Confidence numbers. Lets turn to what is happening in europe. How big a concern is what happens in greece . Greece looks reasonably isolated at the moment. Is that sustainable . Forget that greece was the fastestgrowing economy in the eurozone in the third order. The Third Quarter. It is starting to catch up, i think that is the main point. Fortunately, it is relatively isolated marketwise as well. Events to ourhe three years ago, the markets would be very concerned about the prospects of greek exit from the euro. Now, it is very inconvenient. It does have profound implications for certain parts of greece. I dont think anyone is seriously expecting a greek exit or any sort of contagion. Into the plansy of the ecb, and its ability to an act qe. Is there any issue there . We are fairly confident that the ecb will do qe, if not in january, then in march. Form. About the precise there are several nuances which are possibilities. One factor which the ecb has been talking about is, perhaps making National Central banks pay for risk in terms of the holdings of bonds which the ecb buys. In which case, it could buy greek bonds. Certainly, when you hear the main Opposition Leader in greece talk about the ecb perhaps needing to undergo restructuring, that complicates the situation. That would make it a lot easier in terms of limiting the credit risk associated with some of the peripheral debt. This stuff should be riskfree, but it is not. If the National Central banks hold the debt and you were to see some renegotiation, that would make that mechanism a lot easier, wouldnt it . In theory, it would. Greekr example, the new government were to say, we are imposing a haircut on holders of our paper. Then the ecb would be facing substantial losses. It wouldnt just be the qe. Substantialds a stack of greek bonds from his Market Securities program, where it bought greek bonds a couple years ago. Going to be quite a christmas. Renegotiation yet again with greece. Philip, thank you very much indeed. Philip shaw, chief economist at investech. Coming up, we will take you inside new Robotic Technology that you could wear. It is comfortable, and apparently it is clever. We will show you when we come back. Welcome back. You are watching the pulse. We are live on bloomberg tv. Reports weeries of are looking at what 2015 holds in terms of new technology. For our first reports, sam grobart traveled to a small lab in indiana where the future of robotics is taking shape. When we hear the word robot, a typical image comes to mind. Robots today all share something. They are rigid, often made of metal or plastic, which makes it difficult to perform delicate tasks. That may be changing, thanks to a new field called soft robotics. Robot would be exactly what it sounds like, robots made of all soft materials. In many applications, that makes perfect sense. This is rebecca cramer. She runs the Fabrication Lab at Purdue University where they are looking to create a different kind of robot. One you can wear. Our bodies are really soft. We want to wear robots, where technologies. It makes more sense to integrate the technologies into what we already where, which is our clothing, fabric. The wearable robot is not a new concept. Researchers have been working with socalled exoskeletons, but typically they are made of clunky frames and large battery packs arian battery packs. Rebecca imagines something you wouldnt even notice was there. Longterm, if we think about what might exist, i think of completely integrated soft exoskeletons that will assist with our emotions seamlessly. In the simplest definition of the word, a robot consists of two parts. Sensors, which monitor things like motion, ken schrader temperature, and light, and actuators. Our sensors are much further along than our actuators. Turns out making those mechanical muscles out of soft parts is incredibly difficult. Solving this problem comes down to one thing, material. In soft robotics, materials cant be ignored. It is a central comp onent. Depending on the material, the robot will behave differently. Lacks a number of options are being explored. Things like pressurized gases or a combination of chemical compounds. One of the more successful demonstrations is made from a metal that can be programmed to remember its shape. We are working a lot with shape memory alloy. You can get them as wires. We literally use a sewing machine to incorporate these into fabrics. What you are seeing here is that shape memory alloy sewn into a cloth. When you apply a current to the liars, it causes them to curl up. Robotic fabric is getting some big attention. Rebeccas research has received funding from nasa for its potential in space exploration. Future applications may include smart athletic wear like yoga pants that could correct your form, or rehabilitation clothing that could help patients regain movement. A soldier that has to track a very long distance, even if you could take away a small percentage of the energy that goes into every step, you can enhance endurance. It is exciting to think that we might be able to change the world someday. What rebeccas team is doing isnt about a new product. It is about expanding what is possible. The dawn of soft robotics has the potential to completely change the way we interact with machines on a daily basis. If what they are doing is successful, it may not be long before the word robot has a different meaning. Sam grobart reporting. In the next report we are going to bring you, it is all about controlling devices by gesture. Like a jedi,. That is coming up later on the pulse the account the pulse. Welcome back. You are watching the pulse. Im guy johnson. Happy christmas eve. These are the Bloomberg Top headlines. Theres been another plot twist in the saga surrounding the interview or cosony has decided it will release the controversial film in around 300 theaters and it will do so tomorrow. The films director and star, seth rogen, celebrated sonys decision in a tweet which said, the people have spoken. Freedom has prevailed. Minister hasrime said his country is facing the risk of a deep recession. Medvedev was quoted by the novosti news agency. His comments come as Rating AgencyStandard Poors has said that it may cut russias pro rating to junk. In the United States, there have been angry scenes following another policeinvolved shooting in a st. Louis suburb. That is not far from ferguson. Blackooting of an unarmed teenager sparked outrage and nationwide protests last month. The Police Department is conducting an investigation into that shooting. You are looking at pictures of ferguson where there has been another shooting. Lets talk about the car sector. We have seen a shakeup at tech,. The president is stepping down after defective airbags resulted in millions of vehicles being recalled. He will be replaced by the current chairman. The company said its executives would be giving up some of their pay. Lets bring in ryan chilcote. This has been a longrunning saga. What is happening now . What has pushed the company to make these changes . They want toid reorganize and focus on centralizing their response to the recall of these airbags. It doesnt get much faster than this. Stocker stepping down today. Hit tog to take a 40 his salary. He is going to remain on the board. The chairman will take a 50 hit to his pay. Byy are trying to indicate sacrificing their own salaries that they are taking responsibility for whats going on. Overallit is just the amalgamation of the damage that has been done by this recall over the course of 2014 given the fact that we are at the end of the year. It has prompted this response today. Hes going to give up 30 for four months. What has been the issue here . This has been a worldwide story that has affected multiple manufacturers. The issue has been the inflator is for these airbags. If it is hot enough for humid enough, it is the inflator that has been exploding, sending shrapnel throughout the car. Obviously, not what you want to happen when you deploy your airbag. This has had massive damage industrywide. 16 million cars recalled worldwide. Produced inars were 2013. We are talking about one in five cars out of global production. 11 carmakers unaffected. I think there are two structural issues. It doesnt matter whether you are driving a porsche or a lowend car. In many cases, takata provided these bags. They claimed early on they blamed themselves to a certain extent. We just expanded to quickly and didnt have enough quality control. They had outsourced through 100 different suppliers. Ryan, thank you very much indeed. Lets turn our attention to what is happening in m a. And brewing in the new year with u. S. Medical device maker stryker looking at bidding for smith and nephew. Caroline hyde is also back with the details. We know that it could be bidding in the next few weeks. It could be a new Year Resolution f