>> and a surprise rate cut from the bank of thailand is hitting home in yet another emerging economy. er you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. >> good morning to you. so much to get to in today's program. kelly is a little bleary eyed this morning. >> it's because i watched the debate this morning. >> you just happened to wake up at the exact moment that debate started? >> i thought i'll just watch it for two or three minutes to get an idea of what's g 90 minutes later. >> and your initial thoughts? >> i saw the first one because i was in the u.s. for it. it did come off as dour. this one was livelier. but i don't know whether there was necessarily -- the narrative is that president obama did better than last time around. whether it was as much of a game changer i think is still up for debate. in any case, president obama and mitt romney have one more debate next week. they may have left it all out on the mat last week. they were much more confrontation confrontational, repeatedly bouncing off their schotools an over the moderator. the president accused romney of selling a "sketchy deal" to fix the economy, while romney says the middle class has been crushed under obama. >> if the unemployment rate was 7.8% when he took office, it's 7.8% now. but if you calculated that unemployment rate, taking back the people who dropped out of the work force, it would be 10.7%. >> governor romney says he's got a five-point plan. governor romney doesn't have a five-point plan. he has a one-point plan. and that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules. >> both men will be back on the campaign trail. romney will visit the battleground state of virginia. the third and final presidential debate is coming up on monday in boca raton, florida. >> that's your battleground, virginia. >> the number of campaign ads on the airwaves, it gets to the point where you don't want to watch tv at all. in iowa, they're shaving minutes off a lot of their tv programs to make room for the campaign ads. it's reaching a fever pitch. whether there are any undecided voters is up for debate. >> how the results will affect the polls at 11:30 a.m., about an hour and a half from now. first we'll head to singapore. >> we'll break uk unemployment data, that's in 25 minutes. we'll also discuss the latest from the latest meeting. >> the euros hit a one-month after after moody's said it would not downgrade the credit rating. talks between greek officials and the international lenders have been suspended. greece claims it will run out of money next month. outcries from greek coalition partners. a general strike in greece is set to take place tomorrow. spanish yields have fallen to their lowest since early april. this morning, the ten-year down to 10.57. joining us is bill blaine, been talking for a couple weeks about how the big event was going to be moody's. we thought they'd go sub investment grade. the fact that they haven't is clearly causing a reaction. what's going on now? >> it's been very interesting to see what this has done. it's changed the perception of so many international investors who have to follow indexes. spain remaining investment grade. only just, but still avoiding junk. >> still a negative outlook. >> but the fact that it is there, that's caused many of the accounts, the big investors who are sitting on the side saying okay, we know that spain has rallied. we've missed that rally. we're not going to get involved because we fundamentally doubt spain, but now this affirmation coming in means they have all had to go oh dear, capitulation, catch-up time. >> are they choosing to, or do they have to? >> if they want to match the indices they benchmark themselves, which still contains spanish debt, many of them are expected to go in. on the other side, though. we know that the spanish market has changedmassively. only 20%, maybe slightly more, of spanish bonds are now held internationally. most of the market is repatriated to spain. it's not a fundamental belief that spain is going to be fixed. >> an official bond buying as well. all of that is presumably good risk for appetite generally. bad news for bundes. >> what we've seen the last three months, an increasing strengthening of the market expectation that's going to happen in the face of doubts. now, many investors, many hedge funds are staying out of the market, waiting for the collapse and they're getting more and more worried every day because it's not happening. >> so what happens now? you look at these yields, for the spanish government, it's looking increasingly comfortable. >> well, on terms of -- >> comfortable is not an expression to be using. >> is 5.5% that far from a reasonable place for spanish debt? >> we're right at the levels now where if spain can maintain 5.5% and lower there is a chance that they'll actually start to see some improvement in their budget numbers. they get to that stage where they're just getting interest rates low enough where they can start to put together a very small budget surplus. as that rate comes down, it becomes more and more sustainable. on the other hand, all it needs is a very slight knock for rates to go above 5.8, i think it is. and they're back in the danger zone. >> what have we heard people say after the plan was outlined, most people said okay, we're going to see the market force spain's hand here. we're not seeing the market force spain's hand. if it's not happening now, will it ever? >> cds down to a 15-month low. >> let's just think this through. bailout, the expected ont bailout is the thing that's persuading investors. it's the thing that's persuaded moody's this morning. if it doesn't happen, that perception, of course, will change, and at that point, the spanish will then turn the game around again by accepting it. it may be -- there was a very interesting article in bloomberg yesterday that just made the point and bold headlines. >> i don't think i know who you're referring to. >> i have no idea. >> i've never been there in my life. this article from an alternative news wire suggested that the spanish government could well play for worse market conditions so they can get easier bailout terms. now, that sounds counterintuitive, but that is the way you play poker. >> it could be a game theory issue. it's interesting that the talking about these programs has caused a significant problem. >> all you need is the possibility of rescue to assume that you're going to get rescued. also have to look at all the other things that are going on, like banking union. everyone thinks oh this is so important. we have to have banking union. to me, the banking collapses have already happened. they are not going to be bailed out. so what we're talking about is future bailouts for banks. so that fundamentally doesn't change much, except create further debt mutualization potential. >> which is why bottom line the pressure is on german bundes at this point. >> when we talk about germany, we're talking about a whole series of things. when we get this by the market kind of mood that we're seeing, then everyone comes out the safe asset. so that partly explains it. but we're also seeing a growing realization across the market. the germans say we don't want to accept any debt mutualization. well, they're already up to their necks in it. we take a look at these famous balances of payments problems in europe, the target to, i think that's gone from 200 a year ago or 18 months ago to something like a billion against germany. then there's all the money they've invested in the bailout programs. then there's all the money they've earmarked for bailouts. it is getting to get noticed. we saw one of the swiss ratings agencies actually downgrade germany from triple-a. i can't even remember their name. >> but it happened, nonetheless. >> bill blain, thanks for stopping by this morning. if you want to respond to anything you've heard on the program, you can tweet u us @cnbcwex. just over an hour and ten minutes into trade here in europe and we're pretty even stephens so far. the ftse 100 just up a point. the gains just talking about it in spain, the ibex, up, as you can see, 1%. italian at the lowest since march. and the latest unemployment state. as far as euro dollar is concerned, still above 1.21. aussie/dollar, back up to 1.03. sterling/dollar also getting up high as well. so it's certainly some risk on for the euro. li sixuan has more for us. hi, sixuan. >> thank you. after a day of trade, the shanghai composite eked out minor gains. gold minors shined. we saw weakness across in media stocks. in hong kong, research majors helped the hang seng rise to a seven-month high. the nikkei ended higher by another strong 1.2%. financials led the game as goldman sachs raised earnings expeckations. autos and minors also outperformed. south korea's kospi closed higher, helped by technology shares and blue chips ahead of next week's qe-3 earnings. in australia, bhp gained 1.2%. other minors also rallied. the asx 200 ended at a 15-month high. hcl technology shares hit a more than 12-year high, following up beat earnings helped by large contract wins. ross, back to you. in today's sign of the apocalypse, a new company called fame daddy would offer top mothers celebrity surrogate fathers. so called sperm of celebrity actors, athletes and politicians will be available to purchase for 15,000 pounds. there apparently is a market in everything. i'm more interested if you think this is a good idea. you can tweet us and reach us individually. ross? >> yes. just a big sigh on that one. coming up next, we'll discuss the guest who says they were thrown the mother of all hospital passes. some other corporate stories surrounding banks. the bank says it will have paid around 2.5 billion pounds to participate in the insurance scheme which capped losses on its most toxic assets. rbs paid around 1.5 billion pounds for liquidity support. bankers could be debarred. the british bankers association is also sketching out plans for a standard qualification, which would be needed to work in the city. the proposals would mirror similar standards set for doctors and accountants. shares in citigroup closed up 1.6% after pandit unexpectedly resigned yesterday. reports suggested there were tensions between the former ceo and current chairman michael o'neill over pay and strategy that led the 55-year-old to quit. citigroup stock has lost 10%, but as the former ceo all to blame for the poor performance? pandit was, in fact, handed the mother of all hospital passes when he took over the helm at the end of 2007, and stuart kirk, head of the lex column, joins us. first you have to explain to me, at least, what a hospital pass is. what do you mean by that? >> that's being the thrown the ball. >> it's a rugby term? >> it is. >> this shows my lack of knowledge about rugby. >> it also shows he took a pile of rubbish. >> it was in free fall when he became the ceo and kept on falling to the bottom. >> city has trailed competitors over the period during the recovery where he can't necessarily blame where he inherited. or can he? >> also underperformed a lot in the rebound as well, and i don't think it's really his fault. i don't think anybody else could have done any better. i think he did the sensible thing as well. i've met him lots of times. i think he's one of the good guys, to be honest. i think he's fairly humble, pragmatic and was given a really, really tough job. >> it sounds like michael o'neill coming on to the board with a history of interviewing for the b of a job where he wanted to shrink the bank, break it up. maybe citigroup viewed it as a similar strategy. do you think that has something to do with the tension that ultimately led to him leaving? >> but then you've got this strange conference call last night where the new ceo and chairman said it's business as usual, which begs the question, why did you get rid of the guy, if indeed that's what happened? vickrum suggested to us that perhaps like an original elder just decided to go off and walk into the desert. >> it just doesn't wash. because if that was the case, you just don't do it on the day after. >> if the board had been talking about this for a long time, which was suggested in some of these articles, to do it the day after the announce seems peculiar. >> the day after a earnings release that seemed to cheer the market. >> although the other interesting thing, share price move-wise is that when vickrum announced he was leaving, the share price didn't really rally, which is probably not what the board wanted to see. >> but on the other hand, i think there was a knee jerk selloff. does that actually confer basically a positive judgment in terms of investors' point of view on the whole thing? >> i think investors expect very little more from city than that. i mean, vickrum has been very consistent in his strategy for the group for the last two and a half years. and it's not a bad strategy. it's a strategy copied by hsbc, and hsbc's share prices have been outperforming citi. >> when do you think we'll actually find out what really happened? are we really any closer to finding out? >> i don't think we are. i guess it's water under the bridge now. now investors need to decide whether citi is more of a buy today than it was two days ago, and i think new ceo doesn't necessarily make it so. >> where does this leave the investment banking unit? >> well, i think i'd be a little bit vulnerable if i was in investment banking, much like if i was an investment banker at barclays. i don't think investment banking is in the new ceo's dna necessarily and i think there's a worldwide push to try and make banks like citi and like barclays more friendly, fuzzy, consumer-friendly, politically friendly and less master of the universe like. >> it certainly seemed as though the fed's decision was part of the reason why the board was pretty unhappy. in terms of strategic moves going forward is that one o'of the key ones? >> whether you pay a dividend or not doesn't change the valuation of a company one bit. i think the whole idea whether a bank can increase its pay outratio five years after a financial crisis is a little bit silly. >> you don't think that makes the bank more attractive to investors? >> no, not at all. otherwise you would say that vickrum was fired because he didn't lower the capitalization by the company. you'd never say that. i think the dividend is a sideshow. what's important is can he make the investment bank perform better. citi has fallen in a lot of key areas. the other big question is can they make it work internationally. but costs are high. do they want to become hsbc-like or not? >> stuart kirk is head of the lex column. >> in some wayings, he's got less room to fail. good to see you. thanks for joining us. americans may be ready to shop this season, but not until they drop. consumers plan to spend an average of $749, up just 1.2% from last year. it would be the smallest increase since the 2008 to 2009 period, which followed the financial crisis. and best buy is getting into the crowded tablet market. it will start selling its own device called the insignia flex on november 11th. it runs on google's android software, is about the size of the kindle fire and the mini ipad, which apple is rumored to unveil next week. >> it should be bendy. >> do you think that's going to be the secret sauce? a bendable tablet? >> kind of like paper. >> wouldn't it be interesting if we came full circle and what we came out in five years time was basically a digital newspaper. >> can you make a newspaper digital? >> that's effectively what's happening. >> fast retailing expecting to post record sales this year. its founder likes to say the best retailers are the ones that thrive. >> a little star power every now and then doesn't hurt either. >> reporter: advantage, djokovic. it expects to sell five times more than it expects next year, and most of it overseas. the u.s. should push into the black in two years. >> another key market for you is china. you had to close 60 stores because of the protests. in the last four weeks, how is all your stores in china compared to last year? >> translator: they are a little weaker, but it's starting to recover. i can't give you an exact figure, but it's not as bad as people think and we will recover in one or two months. we will continue to open as many stores as possible in china. >> reporter: it's a bit ironic because 70% of your clothes are actually made in china. but what about diversification? why aren't you in india yet? >> translator: we are thinking about it. we need a partner. unfortunately, in india, if we were to bring clothes made in china, the terrorists would be very high. we need to manufacture an india or a neighboring country and that will take time. >> reporter: is this recession going to take longer than the last recession you experienced? >> translator: in retail, the companies that really grew did well during the recession, so the recessions are opportunities because people become much more selective about stores and brands. >> reporter: they sell basic clothes, a big contrast to rivals. this can sometimes make brand building a challenge overseas, and that's where the tennis star comes in. >> i even learned to say the word in japanese. so it's a very cool brand, very young brand. the brand that develops very fast. >> game, djokovic. >> love that. love any tennis story. >> and the end of season. andy murray could get number one if he wins it. we need to talk about this. >> i'm there. we'll get the latest uk jobs figures. don't go anywhere. sleep train's best rest event is ending soon. don't miss your chance to get sleep train's very best mattresses at the guaranteed lowest price. plus, pay no interest for 3 years on beautyrest black, stearns & foster, serta icomfort, even tempur-pedic. and rest even better with sleep train's risk-free 100-day money back guarantee. but the best rest event ends soon at sleep train. superior service best selection, lowest price, guaranteed. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ we're back, we've got breaking data out of the uk. clay mccount and boa minutes as well. the bank of england voted 9-nil to keep the key rate at 9%. some have questioned the impact. a considerable scope for stimulus. agreed expand by expanding growth in october. commodity prices suggested inflation may pick up. the omt announcement helped cut risk of a sharp economic slowdown and they say their surveys suggest -- well, the growth is weaker than the bank of england's august forecast. signs on the funding for lending scheme for the mortgage market are encouraging. >> speaking of encouraging, we actually have a pretty encouraging report on the jobs market in the u.s. the claimant count falling versus no change expected. the employment level rising to a fresh high. the unemployment rate at 7.9% compared with 8.1%. it's always remarkable how similar these rates are. nevertheless, average hourly earnings were at 2% year on year roughly in line with forecasts. but again, 29.6 million workers roughly speaking. that is a new high. you can see the sterling rebounding against the dollar. it had earlier in the session reached a four-month low against the euro. this after the weaker inflation data yesterday. we're likely to see a rebound there. jeffrey dicks is around the table. jeffrey, your interpretation of these figures? >> well, i'll start with the policy, if i may, because that's what really interests me. i'm surprised that david miles didn't vote for some more qe this month. you said it was unanimous on qe as well as on the interest rate decision. a month ago, he was flagging, or we assume it was him, was suggesting he was getting very close to voting for more qe, but i guess he's