Im francine lacqua. We are getting breaking news from germany. That december number bank in line with expectations. That is also what we were expecting. The Current Conditions number is well in line with expectations. Economists got it right. There you go. Breaking news. Lets check on the euro if we have that in terms of current assessment. That is one of the strongest figures at 110. Lets begin with our other top story. Vladimir putin taking to the podium. The spotlight on the russian president today. Markets and investors around the world are all ears to hear what the russian president will say at his annual press conference. It goes on for a while. We will be in and out of this for the next few hours. Four or gifive hours. Journalists have been told not to bring in cuddly toys. There will be no cuddly toys of out within the auditorium. Lets get our Bloomberg View columnists take on this. Jim oneill is with us. Who was that daft person how muchay that the world has changed. That is s