united nations over britain's plans to send a warship and a submarine to the falkland islands, which argentina calls maldivas. and the results are in, and there's. an unexpected clean sweep for rick santorum. santorum is celebrating after winning three state contests on tuesday. the former pennsylvania senator won the colorado and minnesota caucuses and the nonbinding missouri primary. those are the headlines. i'm monita rajpal. "world business today" starts right now. good morning from cnn london, i'm nina del santos. >> and from cnn hong kong, this is "world business today." the top stories on wednesday, january 8th. ratings agency s&p downgrades sony after a triple whammy of economic challenges. the question is are their exporters now losing out to their south korean rivals? a license to print money. why more american towns are minting their own currencies. and europe's football clubs used to attract all the top talent in international football, but as brazil's economy outperforms europe's, more players, it seems now, are staying at home. first up, though, investors continue to keep a close eye on events in greece, where political leaders are still working out a rescue deal with their creditors. amid the current uncertainty, there's still some good news there coming out of germany. this is the eurozone and europe's largest economy. this powerhouse has just posted record export figures for the year 2011, sending more than 1 trillion euros a year abroad. let's have a look how that's affecting the markets abroad. here in europe, we're seeing a bit of a bright spot to the trading session today. we're now just over an hour into the trading session. as you can see, we've got the likes of the kak 40 and the xetra dax. these two are doing better, up .9%. the greek prime minister phas reached a deadline where they have bonds due. we're seeing a bounce on the back of the better than expected numbers when it comes to german exports. we've also got a meeting of political ministers delayed until today. what we have in greece is the political side as well as the economic side coming to the forefront. bankers' minds projecting zero growth in 2012. that's one of the reasons why the cac 40 in paris isn't up by as much as xetra dax. also wanted to mention the ftse 400 talk whether the merger with glenco is going to continue. that's in the mix as many shareholders within those companies say they're not going to approve it so far. >> when you saw the figure on that deal and figured out how big those companies are, it doesn't surprise us we're getting that talk now. here you can see behind me we've seen the most solid gains of the week so far. japanese automakers doing well, this on hopes of getting a greek debt deal. obviously, that is so much in the mix, as nina points out to us. there are some analysts in hong kong saying there seems to be a general perception there will be some sort of relief for greece ahead. we'll see about that. toyota enjoying a 5% boost a session. it's raised its forecast for 2011. nissan rising ahead of its earnings report. this is great news for some japanese corporations. we'll find out that's not the case all around. profit rose 3.2% to $1.1 billion. not a good day for all japanese exporters. sony was downgraded to bbb-plus by standard & poor's. the hang seng doing well, up 1.5%. the japanese government has promised to help first time home buyers in a market which is a really, really tough one to get into, particularly if you're looking at property here in hong kong and indeed on the main land. i wanted to talk about the japanese exporters. nissan, while it may have defied the odds today, but many other big japanese manufacturers may not be so lucky. let's run you through how grim times have got all of these exporters. 2011 was a tough year for all sorts of reasons. the devastating earthquake and tsunami disaster, the strong yen as well. economic troubles overseas as we keep on hearing greece, for example. all of that conspired to produce japan's first trade deficit in 31 years, totaling $30 billion. clearly, these things happening outside and in japan itself having their impact. japan's currency problems, we cannot ignore these. they've been looming for some time now. just five years ago, one u.s. dollar would have bought you 124 yen. now it buys you just 76. that's a 38% less bang for your buck. that means buying japanese, well, it's a pretty expensive choice. let's talk about individual stocks. that fact isn't lost on the key exporters. toyota, for example, sony, and panasonic, they're represented here. what we've seen is they're starting to recover after that tough 2011, but they do have a long way to go. we can look a little more closely at that. here are the gloomy forecasts ahead. the stock recovery isn't being mirrored on the profits front. toyota -- and that's in blue right here -- has just forecast half the earnings for the current fiscal year that it boasted last year. sony meanwhile, that's in the middle right here. you can see this falling below the line, stagnating, predicting no real improvement on what was meant to be a blip in 2010. look at panasonic. i think the graph says it all. it's here in green. not a pretty picture at all. after lighting the way for so long, is the land of the rising yen now the land of the setting sun? let's go to kyung lah in tokyo. kyung, i know you've been speaking to a lot of analysts this week trying to get a grip on what's happening there, particularly on this export recovery, nonrecovery. what's it going to be? >> what experts will tell you and what many economists will tell you here in japan is the idea of a setting sun, that has already set. what japan corporate has got to do is look at new horizons. because of all the pressures you're talking about, all the external pressures like the currency. then you have to look internally that japan corporate has failed to innovate those big products that capture the consumer imagination. and then there is simply fierce competition from china and korea that corporate japan has really struggled against. all of these factors put together, what economists are saying is that corporate japan has simply got to figure out a new path. what a lot of consensus among the experts that i'm speaking to says there is this idea that this country can still make things. they're going to make incremental, small inventions. it still can be invented in japan and perhaps built elsewhere. the idea, manisha, in three years that 70% of production will be outside of japan will be startling to some outsiders, but they say this is the reality for japan of tomorrow. >> how do you do it, kyung? if you have the likes of samsung, for example, pumping money into research and development and really coming up with innovation and new products is really where it's at, if that horse has already bolted for the japanese, there's no way they can catch up with some of these competitors. what is it the japanese need to do really well? what is it they can do really well over the next three years? >> let's talk about samsung for a minute. that's really an extraordinary numbers game. you look at samsung and a report today said they're estimating about $17 billion into research and development. then look at the japan side. panasonic and sony lost about $17 billion they're estimating. so certainly it is going to be a very tough climb. so what we saw today are some reports of some semiconductor chip makers merging, renassis with panasonic and fujitsu. perhaps by integrating their resources, they may be able to catch up. certainly when you look at the numbers, when you compare what happened with sony and panasonic with samsung's look at the future, certainly it's going to be a tough haul. >> i'm sure we'll be checking in with you for reports on how it's going to go. kyung, as always, thank you so much for that. nina? u.s. stock markets moved higher in tuesday's session, wiping out early losses on the hope that greece is nearing any kind of position of securing more bailout money. that was the closing bell on wall street. the dow jones industrial average rose at the end of trade about 33 points, or .25%. when it comes to the broader s&p 500, it closed up three points, at .2%. and the nasdaq edged up less than .1%. so a lackluster day for the market. the question is when wall street opens in under 5 1/2 hours time, the picture slightly more positive. we're not too far off the line. the nasdaq futures edging up .3 of 1%. those talks hinging on greece today. >> i don't know how you've been experiencing it, but those temperatures in europe putting a strain on demand, most importantly the ukraine, suffering one of the harshest winters on record. we've been speaking to the ukraine minister about the crisis. i don't want healthy skin for a day. i want healthy skin for life. 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[ female announcer ] daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy hair every day, try new pure renewal hair care, with balancing seaweed extract. only from aveeno. let take a look at the currency markets now. the euro is continuing its rise against the u.s. dollar. it's currently the highest level against the dollar since back in december. all of this is on the back of optimism than an agreement on greek reform. you also heard kyung lah and also manisha discussing the recent strength for the yen. the yen is currently trading at 77.06. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. >> you certainly are. now, to an outsider they may appear worthless, but a growing number of communities across the united states, home grown currencies are helping to stimulate their local economies. more and more people are believed to be turning their backs on the greenback itself to protect themselves from the nation's economic troubles. instead of printing -- instead. what they do is they print their own form of money. in the u.s., anyone can legally print their own notes so long as they're easily distinguishable from u.s. dollars and the value is tied to the dollar itself. it doesn't end there. more than ten u.s. states are also considering introducing alternative currencies. >> this is a really interesting story, manisha because the number of community currencies have spiked over the years, and those that have been around for some time have received renewed interest. the so-called equal dollar has been circulating in philadelphia since 1996. equal dollars are earned by volunteering and people doing good favors for one another. we spoke to some of their users. >> that's good. being a single father with two kids, mortgage, car notes, my son in a private school, it's a tremendous savings. i can save easily about $100 or more per week. we got three of these. >> all of your life and all of my life until now, you only thought of money as meaning u.s. currency. we're saying broaden your view. >> you volunteer your time, you receive currency, and you purchase with the currency. what better way? one, two, three, four, five. >> equal dollars community currency is a local currency here in philadelphia. we print our own money, and then we give it value by allowing people to use it to buy goods and services. i'm all for organizations that donate food or services, but what equal dollars does, it gives people an opportunity to earn their money. >> heart warming tale there. philadelphia is affectionately known as the city of brotherly love, manisha. >> it certainly is very appropriate, isn't it, nina? in the new york borough of brooklyn, the torch could soon be the currency of choice for many people there. just by using it, shoppers could be subject to discounts in stores. we spoke to the woman who's launching it as well as a retailer who's very keen to sign on. >> business owners are entrepreneurs, and this speaks to an entrepreneurial spirit of trying something new and just trying -- you know, experimenting. if it works, it works. if it doesn't, move on to the next. it's an idea that i think business owners respond to. hopefully, it does stimulate the local economy by getting people to go out into their local shops where the money is available to trade with. >> our margins on books are pretty slim as it is but anything to sort of foster community and get people shopping locally is worth it. it really comes down to logistics. i love the idea of it, and i love the idea that people can have this currency that can be used at many locations on my block. the question is just the logistics of it. >> so if mary dade gets her way, the next time you're in new york, it could be brooklyn torches in your pocket rather than dollar bills. in case you're wondering, the exchange rate will be one to one. >> heartening stuff. we'll be back in just a moment's time. let's check out the price of brent crude at a six month high right now. demand up, of course, partly on that freeze in new york -- sorry. across europe. also the american petroleum institute saying last week inventories in the u.s. were driven down. so more indications of higher demand are pushing that price up. a very warm welcome back. you're watching "world business today." we are live here on cnn. a brutal winter is pummelling europe with temperatures 10 to 15 degrees below normal for this time of year in some places across the region. for individuals, it's been fatal. at least 250 people across the continent have so far died from the cold, 155 in the ukraine, which is the coldest country. it's pushing up energy consumption right across europe, but in the ukraine, it's currently at historic highs. cnn's matthew chance has been speaking to ukraine's energy minister, and he joins us from kiev to see exactly what he has to say. matthew, italy has said, for instance, it's really facing a real power crunch because of a lack of gas supplies coming from russia via ukraine. other countries in a similar situation. what has the energy minister been saying to reassure people here. >> reporter: that's right, nina. in fact, some european union countries are reporting the amount of russian gas through pipelines, most of which comes across the ukraine, are down 30%, which is obviously very difficult during this extremely cold weather in the continent. one of the issues, one of the questions that's been raised is where all the gas has gone to. is it russia that hasn't supplied it, or is it ukraine that's been siphoning it off for its own purposes? i sat down earlier, as you mentioned, with the ukrainian energy minister victor boyko, and asked him specifically about that issue. is ukraine siphoning off gas from russia, from its pipe lines, which is meant for paying customers in europe? >> no. the main reason about lower amount of gas coming to europe is extremely cold weather in russia, first of all. that is why the west border of our country, we received smaller amount of gas than it was before. according to technical conditions, we must receive 500 million cubic meters per day. we received 400 all those days. that's why 100 million doesn't come to europe from russia. >> reporter: but the russians, of course, deny this. gasprov, the russian gas monopoly, says it has not lowered the volumes, the amount of gas it's pushing through to european customers. so somebody's not telling the truth. >> i think the information was when the deputy of gasprov said they're not ready to give additional gas to europe. the fact is that smaller amount of gas came to us. >> reporter: that was the ukrainian energy minister, blaming russia for the shortfall of gas in western europe. back to you. >> matthew chance there in ukraine. it must be freezing there these days. many thanks for that. let's get the latest on this brutal winter blanketing most of europe. iran cabrera is at the cnn weather center. it's been freezing in britain where i am, but goodness knows whoo it's like in kiev, where matthew is. it's been brutally cold. temperatures at 25 to 30 degrees below zero at times, and the windchill has made it horrific out there. they're using a lot more energy. when a country that supports a significant amount of energy is having issues meeting their own demand, you're going to have a drop-off here. that's what we've been talking about. you heard matthew chance said upwards of 30% of reduction. that is going to impact a lot of folks. then there are the ships, the pipelines are the pipe lines, but then we have the ships that are also transporting this energy over, and they have been grounded as a result of ice. haven't been able to clear the ports here. just an unbelievable turn of events here. the shortage has been critical. the biggest offshore gas storage facility for the uk has been pumping at maximum over the last five days, and they'll likely continue to do so. things are going to get a little better this weekend as the temperatures begin to moderate to the west. here in the east, we'll have big highs dominating over the current temperatures. the sun has been out for a while. we're still at minus 16, and that's the way we're going to be the rest of the day and really for the rest of the week as you see these blue and purple hues, another reinforcing shot of cold air that's going to come all the way down into the balkans. cold air is in place, and then we have the lows in the mediterranean that have been producing the heavy amounts of snow that have been burying villages and towns across the balkans here. that will likely continue. the snow amounts not as heavy. that is certainly some good news there. they're going to continue to snow a little bit here as the lows move in, and it's going to remain cold for a good chunk of the continent here, again except for extreme western areas, and that does include to the north and west into the uk, where temperatures will be again to moderate there. >> ivan cabrera, many thanks for that. coming up on "world business today," we're on the campaign trail in the united states. we take a look at the rise of super pacs and what an impact they're having on the republican race for the nomination. from cnn london, i'm nina del santos. >> welcome back to "world business today." let's take a look at what's going on in europe. we're 90 minutes into today's trading session. what we're doing at the moment is tracking gains that have been going on in other parts of the planet, such as asia. not huge movements in these markets, but bringing back some of the losses we saw in yesterday's session. greece is paramount to many an investor today, this is because we've got a meeting of political investors going on later today, in which they're going to be finalizing the bailout. that meeting is delayed until today. as the talks resume, markets are nervous, but some of them still managing to push higher, particularly the eurozone markets, like the xetra dax, which is up just under 1%, and the paris cac, up .75%, manisha. >> we have hopes of those debts being covered in greece. we've seen decent gains today. greece very much in focus. it has been over the last -- well, it goes back quite some time, wasn't it? automakers were higher in particular in japan, that helped by earnings news out of the biggest ones, toyota, for example. sony has been downgraded to bbb-plus by s&p. we've talked about how that's impacted them. we got a fairly good performance out of the nikkei 225 today. in hong kong, beijing is saying it would help first time home buyers. that pushing up the biggest property stocks listed in asia. those are heavyweights in hong kong. the hang seng getting a big boost out of that. but obvious