it was first born in europe. nationalism has been born in europe. nationalism has not been born outside europe. more than that, i think it is a tricky thing which is happening. that is that an american president is bidding on more nationalism in europe. you know what nationalism in europe means? that's not nationalism based on values, it's nationalism in europe based on ethnicity. and what nationalism has done in the last 100 years in europe, we all know it! 20 million victims, all of this is based on nationalism. so an american president thinking, "0h, european unity is not necessary, let's go back to national identity, ideas of nationalism." that is playing with fire in europe! this is not america! this is europe! we have the holocaust, we had the pogroms. well, you can... i think it is a fair argument. you can cite the events of the 1930s and ‘aos at me but let's stick with what happened today. yes, but it can come back. let's look at the context for brexit. i come back to the basic point about the situation today in europe. you have just seem

commitment to europe. what could the vice president say that would matter to folks on the other side of the ocean? guest: there are a couple of things he could say. he could repeat what president trump has said, that he's about a commitment to nato. that would matter. because president trump has said other things in the past. implying nato was obsolete. that's left a big pocket of worry there in europe. he could say things that are reassuring about the us' support for the european union, which is coming in for a very tough year on all kinds of fronts. difficult election. a lot of anxiety about immigration and remarks of president trump has made saying is europe going to come apart and being very supportive of brexit, britain leaving the european union. those have gone down very, very badly. host: the phone numbers on the bottom of the screen. bronwen maddox, we're here to talking about transatlantic relations our guest will be with us for about 25 more minutes. we look forward to taking your calls. you are

as the united states stood with europe through the end of the 20th century, europe stood tall with united states at the outset at the 21st. the american people will be forever grateful. i have the privilege to see our bond firsthand. two weeks after those attacks on 9/11, as a member of congress i travel to germany to participate in international conference on terrorism. i will never forget what i saw as we arrived at the american embassy in berlin. a wall of flowers, 10 feet high, surrounding it. tokens of condolences, support and prayers of your people for ours. for the first and only time in its history nato invoked article five for filling our commitment to confront our common enemies together and the american people will never forget it. in the global war against radical islamic terrorists we have been bound by shared sacrifice. for the past decade and a half the nations of nato have answered the call to rid the world of this great evil. from afghanistan to iraq, to many conflicts across the globe, our sons and daughters have spot together on the field of battle. thousands citizens c

he's for europe, for the nations, not the people of europe. he sees the brexit and trump as a menace, as a bad example, but he could try to convince his people, but he's got to present his program. the latest pololl in french television says the program of the candidate, then his credibility is not corrupt. peter: you just talked about the threat posed by marine le pen for this crossroads in european history, as you describe it. let's catch up with marine le pen. she, too, likes to present herself as an outsider, despite the fact that she presents herself as -- that she comes from what might be coming that's what might be considered a political dynasty. >> she believes france is on the verge of collapse and only she can say that. the parties on the right and left care only about money, but i am a candidate of the people of france. also belongs to the political establishment. she has been a european him p -- mp since 2004 and has been accused of misusing funds to help her political p party. she has vowed to p put france first, renegotiate the c

europe safe at this point? james: i think the answer to that is a clear yes. the united states has shown it is committed to the security of europe, not because of some kind of goodwill, but because the security of europe is central to the security of the united states. i think congress -- and you will have a number of high-ranking members of congress at this meeting -- congress will ensure that the united states stands up for nato, fulfills its obligations to its treaty partners. i think you can answer that with a clear yes. that doesn't mean though that this president, with some of his statements camera -- statements, can't create quite a bit of turbulence. matt: 20 raise more money for nato? the u.s. pays 70% of the nato 1.2%t, and germany is only of its gdp, probably too little. james: the administration has a strong commitment to expanding the defense budget, there is support for that in the congress, i don't think that will be a problem. does that mean that the europeans get a free check and free ride? pro

democratic institutions of europe. and we have suggested perhaps that european democracy initiative with our european allies to shore up the democratic institutions against the propaganda and cyber and everything else that russia is going to try to get false information out and to undermine the democratic rule of law. can you just comment a little bit about how useful that would be for a coordinated effort among europe and the united states to protect our democratic institutions? >> sure. thank you, senator. absolutely. i think such an initiative would be welcomed by our european allies and one that makes perfect sense. europe has been frankly dealing with what we're seeing from russia in many ways longer than we have. many of the countries he in central and eastern europe but in western europe as well have been dealing with an array of kind of information shaping policies and tactics by the russian government to try and alter the political dynamics inside these countries. sometimes their goal is to fuel instability by

in europe. important in an early stage. moment, we have space for fighting together at an early stage in a double medic forer -- diplomatic manner causes in which we have a common interest or priority. we might have a different approach with different priorities. or come on some other issues, we might disagree. -- i wouldimpression not pretend we don't have different views on some issues. i can tell you where the european priorities are and where i see common ground can be found and where we have different approaches. thee common ground in strong intention to work together. if i have to believe in all the messages i've heard, that is .lear to me continued cooperation, strong u.s. eu cooperation and work. contributed understanding that the european union is not an institution, it is 28 member states. ground on some of our priorities -- the fight against terrorism, solving the crises we have around us and globally, the situation in , terrorism not only in the middle east but also spreading into af

democratic institutions of europe. and we have suggested perhaps that european democracy initiative with our european allies to shore up the democratic institutions against the propaganda and cyber and everything else that russia is doing to try to get false information out and to undermine the democratic rule of law. can you just comment a little bit about how useful that would be for a coordinated effort among europe and the united states to protect our democratic institutions? >> sure. thank you, senator. absolutely. i think such an initiative would be welcomed by our european allies and one that makes perfect sense. europe has been frankly dealing with what we're seeing from russia in many ways longer than we have. many of the countries he in central and eastern europe but in western europe as well have been dealing with an array of kind of information shaping policies and tactics by the russian government to try and alter the political dynamics inside these countries. sometimes their goal is to fuel instability by

you know, europe has, as we know europe... it is not necessarily a sustainable racket for anybody, but the current sort of international crisis could go one of two ways for europe. europe is under threat, you know, it is like jokers to left and clowns to the right. it is, we have trump on the one hand, putin on the other, interested in dismantling the european union, supporting illiberalforces in europe, and i think geopolitically this could be a moment when europe has to come together to resist those forces — you have erdogan as well, where mrs may went immediately after seeing trump — or it could unravel. that identity for europe as a political, liberal union rather than as a financial, economic one might see some sort of revival. how do you see this year for 2017, for the eu? well, in 2016, february 2016, if you asked me, would we have prime minister may and president trump, i would say absolutely no way! so it is very hard to make predictions, but i would say, absolutely, it's going to be a roller—coaster and there a

stood with europe, europe stood with the united states. we have to remember that the only time that the alliance has invoked our collective defense clause, article five, was after the attack on the united states. and this was more than just a gesture. several hundred thousand canadian and european troops have served in afghanistan and more than 1000 has paid the ultimate price. the bond between the united emboldened inope, is very alliance, important today because we live in times of turmoil and instability and we need a strong alliance more than ever. we are stronger when we stand together. during our meeting, we talked about our focus in the fight against terrorism. nato continues to train security forces in afghanistan. we have started to train security forces in iraq. and we support the u.s. led coalition against isil with surveillance planes. but we agree the alliance can and should do more in the fight against terrorism. we also agree on the importance of higher defense spending and fair burden sharing in nato. this has been my top p

sam: we have no investments in europe to speak up. we basically avoided europe. my favorite line is it is great great fors and wine, cheese, not great for business. >> not offended at all, sam. to plug the book, are we over the top of the ticket? whether it is marine le pen, builders in the netherlands, and for that matter, trump. there are parliaments, congresses, courts that can really limit the extremes. sam: i think that is nothing new, that indicates the times. i am less concerned about the extreme as you refer to. but that does not necessarily make news. we see the news taking the extreme positions. remember, even in the data you -- up a minute ago, the price of a stock is always the last moment. it does not mean any kind of a significant trend. zell, on bloomberg daybreak: europe. for wine, cheese, castles, not for investments. vonnie: i don't know about the last bit, but he is right about the first three. more on the french elections as the political drama heats up. will another centrist candidate throw his hat into the ring and therefore took the race to

and europe? --m: the way it looks to me and i talk to guys running different strategies -- the changes have been driven mainly by people who are using very similar inputs, and so if you are a programmer and you are writing something for a hedge fund, they all went to the same schools. they are writing similar programs. so they gather data and look at data in similar ways, and they are trying to look at this information and say what creates the informational data on a timing basis. any are looking at electronic piece of information that a machine sees that a human will not see at least moments later. and the machines work more quickly. hedge funds are trying to take advantage of the fact that human beings cannot factor in as much information as a machine can, and the human element if something they have not quite figured out how to put in. going back to the flash crash, those were early signs of different activity in the markets. but it is becoming more smooth now, and the biggest hedge funds of t

stood with europe, europe stood tall with the u.s. and we have to remember that the only time that the alliance has invoked our nato has invoked our collective defence clause, article 5, our, was after an attack on the u.s. and this was more than just a gesture. several hundred thousands of canadian and european troops have served in afghanistan. and more than a thousand paid the ultimate price. the bond between the united -- between the united states and europe embodied in the nato alliance is very important today because we live in times of turmoil and and then we need a strong alliance more than ever. we discussed our progress in the fight against terrorism. nato continues to train security forces in afghanistan. we have started to train security forces and officers in iraq. and we support the us-led coalition against isil with awacs surveillance planes. but we agree that the alliance can, and should do more, in the fight against terrorism. we also agree on the importance of higher defence spending and fairer burden-sharing in nato

it is in europe. and so the5e in europe. it is in europe. and so these negotiations will be very important. and i am very open about it. i think that fairness is the ba5ic it. i think that fairness is the basic principle we need to apply in the5e basic principle we need to apply in these negotiations. so when theresa may says, alongside donald trump, that, as you, she said to donald, a5 you renew your nation, we renew ours, you renew your nation, we renew our5, the opportunity is here to renew the special relationship, the po5t eu britain and trump's america will lead again, your response is? my will lead again, your response is? my response was yesterday industry i5 my response was yesterday industry is wonderful, i think, i my response was yesterday industry is wonderful, ithink, i have my response was yesterday industry is wonderful, i think, i have seen thousands and thousands of people not agree with this —— in the street i5 not agree with this —— in the street is wonderful. i don't agree in the rhetorical or the narrative of tr

it was first born in europe. nationalism has been born in europe. nationalism has not been born outside europe. what is more than that, i think it is a very tricky thing that is happening. that is, that an american president is bidding on more nationalism in europe. you know what nationalism in europe means? that's not nationalism based on values, it's nationalism in europe based on ethnicity. and what nationalism has done in the last 100 years in europe, we all know it! 20 million deaths, victims, pogroms, the shoah, all of this is based on nationalism. so an american president thinking, "0h, european unity is not necessary, let's go back to national identity, to ideas of nationalism." that's playing with fire in europe! this is not america! this is europe! we had the shoah, we had the holocaust, we had the pogroms. well, you can... i think it is a fair argument. you can cite the events of the 1930s and 40s at me but let's stick with what's happening today. yes, but it can come back. let's stick with my opening question about the context for brexit

, it sends a shiver in europe. you cover the middle east. how are arab nations viewing that phrase? what do they make of it? >> when we say arab nations i think it's important to distinguish he rab governments or regimes to the arab population. i covered syria for six years of this conflict. they believe it has been america first up until now. this is why they cannot account for why bashar. >> not a change in policy. >> not for them. but what's interesting now is you are seeing this strategic realignment in the region, particularly among israel, jordan, saudi arabia, qatar, you can wait, theu ae countries, the sunni majority countries which have apprehended, there is one consistency to donald trump's foreign policy that one can be discertained at the moment, and that is he is very hawkish on iran. that is something they are looking to capitalize upon. indeed today i saw that benjamin netanyahu and donald trump are talking about possibly reviving the ises real-palestinian issue on the-- israeli-palestinian basis on

the freedom of movement throughout europe. that only can work if we we are willing and able to secure our borders. we were not able to protect our borders, the mediterranean sea. we are getting better. that is what the last summit was about. we had to regain control and we have regained a lot of control already, but not yet everything that needs to done. and that is actually a debate that is to be done. i think if something like that is happening, like we have seen in the past two years... yeah, but, but, but... ..with the migrants coming into europe, then it is quite normal that you have a controversial debate in society and in a party. and ijust see a controversial debate in the party if you do at the right way, and with good arguments, and that is what we did in the christian democratic union in germany. yes, but politics gets in the way of — the reality is that we are just two months on from a terrible terror attack at a christmas market in berlin that turned out to be the work of a tunisian individual, who the german au

i know from speaking to colleagues of mine in europe, it sends a slight shiver through europe. how are arab nations viewing that phrase? what do they make of it? >> it is important to separate regimes from the arab populations from arab governments. they believe it has been america first for the past decade. >> what is interesting now is you are seeing this strategic realignment in the region particularly among israel, saudi arabia, jordan, kuwait, and sunni majority countries. there's one inconsistency to donald trump's foreign policy such as one can be discerned at the moment and that is he is very hawkish on iran. that is something they all want to capitalize on. we saw donald trump and benjamin netanyahu are talking about -- that i read is how can i help you mess with iran. that's one area with there is some positive to his foreign-policy. >> let me ask you this question. from the perspective you are engaging on shanghai or anywhere else in china and they use this phrase "america first," what does china make of it? >> they asked who represents the trump administration. how

you know, europe has, as we know europe... it is not necessarily a sustainable racket for anybody, but the current sort of international crisis could go one of two ways for europe. europe is under threat, you know, it is like jokers to left and clowns to the right. it is, we have trump on the one hand, putin on the other, interested in dismantling the european union, supporting illiberalforces in europe, and i think geopolitically this could be a moment when europe has to come together to resist those forces — you have erdogan as well, where mrs may went immediately prime minister may and president trump, i would say absolutely no way! so it is very hard to make predictions, but i would say, absolutely, it's going to be a roller—coaster and there are going to be even greater schisms in society emerging. there are those who see the ills of the eu as being greater than the merits of the eu. i would argue that what we have in europe, and having had peace at the heart of europe for over 70 years, should not be ignored or taken

stood with europe, europe stood with the united states. we have to remember that the only time the alliance has invoked the collective defense, article 5, was after the attack on the united states. this was more than just a gesture, several hundred thousand canada and european troops have served in afghanistan and several thousand have paid the ultimate price. the bond between the united states and nato, the united states and europe encoded in the nato alliance, is very important today because we live in times of turmoil and instability, and we need a strong alliance more than ever. and we are stronger when we stand together. during our meeting, we discussed our progress in the fighting against terrorism. nato continues to train security forces in afghanistan. we have started to train security forces and officers in iraq. and we support the u.s.-lead coalition against isil with awacs surveillance planes. but we agree the alliance can and should do more in the fight against terrorism. we also agree on the importance of higher defense spendi

the americans don't have as much weight on the balance sheet as europe. it's europe versus u.s. banks. if you look at that, you might say i want to close that gap and there is a value proposition there. is there really a value proposition there? how do you look at that landscape? >> i think it is a value trap. i think european banks did not after the financial crisis do the massive recapitalization the u.s. banks did. it was very piecemeal in europe. they have underrecognized nonperforming loans. i think european banks are not in as good a capital position really as the published numbers suggest. for that reason, i think they will continue to slow the creation of credit in your, which is a problem for the european economy. i see the weakness of the banking system, particularly in europe and germany. the other issues about the asymmetry of regulation, with the trump administration pushing to repeal dodd-frank, that has been one of our priorities from the start. with europe, tightening regulation, i think you will see -- regulatoryar arbitrage over the next year or two. the big wh

you know, europe has as we know europe... it is not necessarily a sustainable racquet for anybody, but the current sort of international crisis could go one of two ways for europe. europe is under threat, you know know it is like jokers to left and clowns to the right. it is, we have trump on the one hand. putin on the other, interested in dismantling the other, interested in dismantling the european union, supporting ill liberal forces the european union, supporting ill liberalforces in europe, and i think geopolitically this could be a moment when europe has to come together, to resist those forces, you have erdogan as well where mrs may went immediately after seeing trump or it could unravel, that identity for europe as a political liberal union rather than as a financial economic one might see some sort of revival. how do you see this yearfor some sort of revival. how do you see this year for 2017, some sort of revival. how do you see this yearfor 2017, for some sort of revival. how do you see this year for 2017, for the

draghi is across europe. krishna: it is not even across all of europe. -- this tentative it is it is very tentative. if we hit a soft spot, things could turn around. things good head the other way very quickly. the situation in europe is very different from the situation in the u.s. where we have had a very robust economy and good employment situation for a reasonably long period of time. david: how does heat -- how does he avoid the lowest common denominator? krishna: the way he's solved that problem -- the way he solves that problem is in the quantitative easing mode. there is really no rush for any of that today. jon: looking at the comments coming from the president mario draghi, he comes out with prepared remarks, usually repeating what he said in the previous monetary statement. then he gets a series of pushback and questions. he saying --the takeaway is there is more work to do. is pushback from germany that inflation is on target for us. the euro is too weak. germany is the biggest economy in the euro

as the united states stood with europe through the end of the 20th century, europe stood tall with united states at the outset at the 21st. the american people will be forever grateful. again i have the privilege to see our bond firsthand. only two weeks after those attacks on 9/11, as a member of congress i traveled to germany to participate in international conference on terrorism. i will never forget what i saw as we arrived at the american embassy in berlin. a wall of flowers, 10 feet high, surrounding it. fragrant tokens of condolences, support and prayers of your people for ours. that image will forever be and mind.my heart for the first and only time in its history nato invoked article five for filling our commitment to confront our common enemies together and the american people will never forget it. in the global war against radical islamic terrorists we have been bound by shared sacrifice. for the past decade and a half the nations of nato have answered the call to rid the world of this great evil. from afghanistan to iraq, to many conflicts across the globe, our sons and daught

i think they want europe to take care of itself. they trust europe to take care of itself because they are more worried about china right now, and they feel they need to spend more resources there. i think that's what's going on here. tone andtely, trump's the way he delivers these messages are counterproductive, quite frankly. malte: maybe i can add this, there are circles in the republican party that are so stickley, they want nato to function, they want boots on the ground, and he relies on these circles. melinda: let us now pivot to asia ourselves.mixed-signal s on asia. office, he he took sparked alarm about whether he might reset america's long-standing one pilot -- one china policy in favor of taiwan. his chief strategist steve something even said about an inevitable war in the south china sea. let's take a look. >> the u.s. and c china. a showow of force in the s south china sea. the region is rich in natural resources, including petroleum and natural gas. it is home to major international shipping lanes. beijing recently be

europe. chiefan union policy frederico marini joined an event hosted by the atlantic council. it is about an hour. >> good afternoon and welcome to the atlantic council. thank you for joining us. i am the present ceo of the council. madam, high representative, a sellout crowd. they are bursting out the doors and i think this underscores ath the recognition we face historic moment in history for europe and the transatlantic relationship, long before the november elections, and that whate are eager to hear report you've given us from your trip thus far and also answer their questions and my questions as moderator on broader issues in the transatlantic relationship which we, of course believe is the cornerstone for all u.s. engagement with the world. we would like to think of ourselves as the home for europe and washington, d.c. and thus i am honored to welcome a high representative of the european union for foreign affairs and to ready policy and vice president of the european commission, madam

wall street versus europe, will donald trump's moved to ease regulations widen the gulf between europe and the united states? thede serra joins us for hour. i am francine lacqua in london, tom keene in new york. even japan and japanese stocks are just waiting for president trump and some kind of flesh on the bones when i comes to how he plans to reflate the u.s. economy out of what we saw in the last eight years. -- davide serra and on to add harmon, i will lead with a chart today off the bloomberg. go,e is this weight, but and are we going to see that in a sort of state of the union speech tonight at 9:00 new york time? francine: people in europe will have no sleep, 2:00. tom: you will be up for that. you were up for the oscars. francine: let's get to the bloomberg first word news. taylor: in the u.s., president trump will discuss foreign policy, security, and more before a joint session of congress tonight. he is still working on the speech and they are not sure how specific he will be on policy goals. he is expected to increase -- health-care talks. ceo howard schultz came out again

touches europe? again, this is a political question and we normally as a company was a leave politics to the politicians. we as a company are a successful participant in the economy in the netherlands, a large for distance, a growing participant, and i do not think that will change with the elections. in the overall picture, commenting on what may happen going forward in europe is not something we would normally entertain and support because we do not know. so far the effects of most of these developments on the economies have still been relatively benign. francine: thank you very much. chris pissarides, when you look at the positive -- populist that could or could not take over europe, are ceos right to discard it? christopher: i am sure they are they feelsing it, but uncertainty, their contingency plans is not something that the ceo would not want to say in public. something for the boardroom. i am for both ceos of big company in europe and macroeconomists, people concerned about jobs like myself,

the world would be a decidedly were notce if europe united. americans know best what great value it is to be united and that becoming divided is the prelude to a fall. it is in the interest of us all to prevent the disintegration of the west. as for our continent, in this respect, we will not invent anything better than the european union. matters, i these heard today from vice president pence, three times, yes. after such a positive discussion, both europeans and americans must simply practice what they preach. on saturday, in munich, you during your trip across europe in 1977, with your older brother, you found yourself at some point in west berlin. marveling at what you saw. and then crossing through checkpoint charlie only to see the shadow of repression hanging over people. have -- i had been living under the shadow for over 30 years. what i vividly remember from my own past is how after martial in was imposed in poland december 1981, president ronald reagan urged all americans to light a solidarity candle on christmas eve as he did himse

stood with europe, europe stood with the united states. we have to remember that the only time that the alliance has invoked our collective defense clause, article five, was after the attack on the united states. and this was more than just a gesture. several hundred thousand canadian and european troops have served in afghanistan and more than 1000 has paid the ultimate price. -- have paid the ultimate price. the bond between the united is verynd nato important today because we live in times of term i'll end insmed -- in times of turmoil and instability and we need a strong alliance more than ever. we are stronger when we stand together. talkedour meeting, we about our focus in the fight against terrorism. nato continues to train security forces in afghanistan. we have started to train security forces in iraq. and we support the u.s. led coalition against isil with a wax surveillance planes. canwe agree the alliance and should do more in the fight against terrorism. we also agree on the importance of higher defense spending and fair burde

when i think about the security of europe in europe, i think great britain is a crucial partner of our security here. security.e problem of it is connected with economy. of course we would like to create good businesses, with america, but also in asia with china. but we have to be very careful and we have to look at our interests especially. in our part of the world. , want to be seen as a unity not as a group of separate countries. >> let me go to a couple questions from the audience. we have a parliamentarian from ukraine. excellencies, i have a question to whoever may answer it. in 2008, ukraine and georgia during the bucharest summit asked for a nato action plan. 2 european states plucked the decision under the precondition -- blocked the decision under the precondition that it would escalate the situation. boardsived full-fledged in georgia and ukraine. -- theainian president budapest security guarantees were not implemented properly by the west, which was by the way signed by the u.s. president and ukrainian prime minister. my question is, would you agree that these type of weste

as the united states stood with europe through the end of the 20th century, europe stood tall with united states at the outset at the 21st. the american people will be forever grateful. i have the privilege to see our bond firsthand. two weeks after those attacks on 9/11, as a member of congress i travel to germany to participate in international conference on terrorism. i will never forget what i saw as we arrived at the american embassy in berlin. high, of flowers, 10 feet surrounding it. supportf condolences, and prayers of your people for hours. -- four ours. -- for ours. for the first and only time in its history nato invoked article five for filling our commitment to confront our common enemies together and the american people will never forget it. in the global war against radical islamic terrorists we have been bound by shared sacrifice. for the past decade and a half the nations of nato have answered the call to rid the world of this great evil. from afghanistan to iraq, to many conflicts across the globe, our sons and daughters have spot together on the field of battle. thousand

they are talking about a post-american europe. we have not had a post-american europe since 1941. before that, that wasn't a pleasant time for european history. >> speaking of 1941 and that decade preceding it, how does the slogan america first resonate? chicago.rom we remember it well. there is a disquiet about a united states that since 1942, practically speaking since the late 1940's, has been the linchpin of european since -- european security, european prosperity, european unity. the european project is much of an american project as a european project. the united states is walking away from that. not only what about us, but are you actively opposing what we are trying to do? it is a tough time. america first seems to remind people that maybe we are going back to an american foreign policy with regards to europe and the rest of the world in which the centrality of alliances particularly the , transatlantic alliance, is less than it has been. >> mr. armitage, do you want to comment? >> america first is understood differently in different parts of the world. in europe, as we ha

the handle in europe has been mixed. we started out very strong, but some of the optimism has been fading as investors have been second guessing the earnings coming across this morning. the ftse flat. stronger for the french market where some big cap stocks have been reporting. and the italian market now sliding into the red down 0.4%. foreign exchange markets, a lot of investors noticed a pick up in the u.s. dollar in the past 24 hours. this morning you're seeing a comeback for euro and sterling trade. though the u.s. dollar is trading firmer to the japanese yen. 112.20. that's a bit of a stumbling block for the japanese yen. >>> shares in yara international are languishing at the bodyttomf the stoxx 600 after a q4 loss as low fertilizer prices hit the norwegian company. th >>> french oil major total is eyeing assets. the ceo said the company's strong balance sheet meant it could look for opportunities to pick up attractive assets from struggling rivals. this as total posted better than expected fourth quarter numbers.

this is important for europe. this is essential for europe. then there are other issues where we share concerns with the u.s. administration and with many others in the world that are not related to the nuclear program of iran starting from yemen or syria, support terrorist activities, missile tests and things like that. i would add as european human rights in that, maybe it's a different story here but for us it's really an important part and as intuchans we -- europeans we do have sanctions in place, we also are concerned about some of the things. but what is clear to us as europeans or together and what i also convey here in my meetings is that europe feels an interest and a responsibility to engage with iran specially as long as the nuclear deal is fully implemented on their side, on the nuclear commitments, we will continue to engage with iran being it in economic relations, being it in dialogues and cooperations we have started. i know it's not the u.s. policy, this is the european policy and this will continue. we have a one side full i

this is singh that for europe, and -- this is essential for europe. and there are other issues where we share concern with the u.s. administration and maybe otherness the world that are not related to the nuclear program of iran. not related to the nuclear agreement. the role of iran in some regional conflicts, starting from yemen or syria, reports of terrorist activities, the missile tests, and things like that. would add a european human rights on that penalty. know this is a different story here but for us it's an important point. at europeans we have our sanctions in place for nonnuclear related issues with iran and some cases our sanctions are tougher than the american ones. so we also are concerned about some of the things, but what is clear to us as europeans, altogether, and what i also conveyed here in my meetings is that europe feels an interest and a responsibility to engage with iran, especially as long as the nuclear deal is fully implemented on their site, on their nuclear commitments. we will continue to engage with iran, being it in --

one, europe is not ready it leave because people won't lead europe lead. and there is a number of reasons for that. we work from a template. we abide by free trade and are dichlt to move from the template because of our internal complex model. it is economic diplomacy trump is setting up. it is like a romantic base power that will struggle in a real cold world and you can almost immediately see how this has had an impact on the -- reaction on trump presidency in terms of trade policy and other issues: we will be asking to do things we are not prepared to do this. it is legally and politically impossible. it is based on the assumption it is better to divide and conquer and better that the eu didn't exist. it is based on a gross calculation to think european commission, brussels is europe. it is not. what is happening in the latest years during the ricrisis is th all the powers went back at an -- back to the member states and europe is still united. divide and conquer with china and russia will not work. brexit is an anomaly. i am happy to talk more about th

i go prerifry europe, core europe, do i diversify? >> if you look at flows, there's not a specific preference for peripheral versus core. having said that, if you look at the broader growth picture, europe is looking better. some countries are looking more better positioned than others. for example, france in a slightly better position in comparison with the signals picking up from the likes of italy. so there are differentiations to be made. when we talk about broader severe of underweight, we are talking about being broad rather than selective. >> i was listening to mark carney's press conference yesterday, it sounded like he was quite optimistic on unemployment levels coming down, growth heading higher. he did sound cautious on wage inflation and indicated they could go from 3% to zero. at some point that will come home to roost with the consumer. are you optimistic at all about uk growth and the uk investing in the short-term before we have the actual brexit? >> definitely. with regards to yesterday's meeting, it has been on balan

you are focused on europe. i wonder if you see any signs coming across the atlantic that markets there are shakier or less confident in the stability of u.s. policy. guest: i think we have seen a lot of policy statements come out at the beginning of trumps presidency and we need to look at the longer-term and what is going to happen with tax reform, and spending. those are the things the market is more focused on. guy: how does it work in terms of treasuries, the relationship with european governments and that relationship into european credit? if you are a u.s. investor, how are you seeing this fit together? guest: for u.s. investors, they tend to look at the absolute yield and they look at germany and they say that is low yield compared to two treasuries so why should i bother to do that. i do think on a hedge raises it is becoming more interesting. you take out the currency risk. some investors are starting to look at longer data bonds in europe. we have a slow growth economy and relatively low inflation and

that exist in europe. with those three challenges, it has been tough for the past few years for european banks to surprise analyst expectations or provide strong positive eps growth. last year, we have seen a lot of adjustment and we know we're not getting interest rates that are going to much lower. we have a lot of regulatory adjustment being paid off in restructuring and increase profitability in the big names in europe so we expect more positivity in european bank stocks this year compared to last year. being --are still talking about fines being paid off. what do you expect from this earnings season? will be interesting because last quarter, they said they are beginning to reach it -- retake market share. the u.s. banks a pretty strong results and deutsche bank restructuring. rbs has a large investment bank franchise but it a bubbly needs to be peered back further. hsbc is the big one. it's the most geared in europe to rising rates. gettingthe market is that may be the capsule is being put behind us b

than in europe. these together leads me to conclude that it is more likely the dollar will continue to strengthen. i have stopped making hard predictions, it is too tough. francine: what about your prediction about relations between germany and the u.s.? the war of words between peter an sayingnd mr. widem they are not cheating the u.s. and because the euro is weaker than the dollar, where does this end, is it just noise? becausebly just noise we have not heard from the new treasury secretary for his use on this are obscure at the moment, this is just rockthrowing now rather than sustained, new fundamental paradigm shift in the way the u.s. use the dollar. i agreed that the dollar is more likely to rise them fall, especially if the border tax adjustments which house republicans are proposing, if that is implement even in a small way, it will be a dollar plus and higher interest rates and easing of fiscal policy. if you have those dynamics pushing the dollar up, it makes sense to be shouting about not

we have -- on europe. we have been taking profits in , andds we deem to tight there is pressure to focus on other areas of the credit spectrum, like mortgage backed securities in the u.s., for instance. we are waiting and taking our cues. the base case scenario is still that a mainstream candidate will be elected in france. to 30% have about a 25% chance of le pen winning the election. the base case remains in line. but this is too high a probability to ignore. francine: i showed the service yields, and it is in negative territory for some time. it keeps going lower and lower. we saw a new record just a couple of minutes ago. talk us through this. is this a safety play? what is happening? geraldine: i would agree. the ecb, the right has contributed to this factor. thislearly at the moment, is seen as one of the safe havens in europe, the bond. -- bund. leaveen presidency would the euro. there would be a lot of hurdles for her to achieve this. the likelihood of this happening are probably much lower than ev