this is business live from bbc news with ben bland and sally bundock. the world's biggest economy looks for a new banker—in—chief. president trump says he'll pick a new fed chair this week. we'll tell you who's in with a shout. live from london, that's our top story on monday 30th. janet yellen‘s four years running the federal reserve are nearly up, so will she get another go, or will financial markets be hanging on the every word of someone else? also in the programme, appreciating asia. europe's largest bank, hsbc, sees a hugejump in profits after doing far better in the far east. this is how the markets look across

europe at the start of the trading day, interesting moves following the record highs from the us on friday. spinning a profit out of silk. we'll speak to the company creating sythetic spider threads to make stronger and more sustainable fabrics. in china, we want to know, do you still use a camera? or is it all about taking snaps with your smartphone? just use #bbcbizlive. photos and a smartphone? you would never catch me taking a selfie! hello and welcome to business live. janet yellen is currently the world's most powerful central banker, but her days could be numbered. that's because us president donald trump says he will tell us this week who he wants to be the chair of the federal reserve come february. whoever gets the job will have a huge influence

on the world's biggest economy, and therefore the rest of the world too. and they will also be vital to mr trump's plans for the us economy. ms yellen could get another four year term but seems likely to be replaced, so who are the front runners? john taylor is a stanford university economist and always on the list of potential fed chairs but never gets thejob. he's a hawk and thinks interest rates should be much higher than they are. next up isjerome powell — he's a republican, a current member of the fed board, and he has experience in the private sector. but he's voted in favour of post—financial crisis rules that president trump doesn't approve of. and then there's kevin warsh. he's been on the fed board for more than a decade, so he is experienced, but he may want to see too fast a rise in interest rates. i'm joined by simon french, chief economist at the investment bank panmure gordon. good morning. so ben talking through

the various candidates, no sign of janet yellen among them. no, the markets have responded well to the four years of janet yellen, if you see the challenge she had on hands, the us economy recovering from its biggest financial crisis in 70 yea rs, biggest financial crisis in 70 years, she started the normalisation of monetary policy, bringing up interest rates, and this month is of monetary policy, bringing up interest the ;, and this month is of monetary policy, bringing up interest the balanceiis month is of monetary policy, bringing up interest the balance sheet, th is of monetary policy, bringing up interest the balance sheet, the $4 reducing the balance sheet, the $4 trillion held by the federal a skilful reserve. so that is a skilful balancing job, but she does not appear to be currying favour with the president. so if she is not nominated again, who do you think is the most likely to take the job, the most powerful central banker in the world ? most powerful central banker in the world? i thought the introduction was really good, it laid out the argument for all the candidates who remain in the field, jerome powell, talking about continuity, he has a

similar view on interest rates, a similar view on interest rates, a similar sort of path as janet yellen has delivered, and so he is the big favourite with the market. i think the thing to balance that against is john taylor, who may have a more aggressive you on interest rates, or at least his rules based approach has, but he is very popular with congress, and of course in the background to all of this is tax reform. we'll donald trump think there is a trade to be done? he provides the candidate congress wa nts, provides the candidate congress wants, and in return they will be more amenable to tax reform going forward ? more amenable to tax reform going forward? advice more amenable to tax reform going forward ? advice and more amenable to tax reform going forward? advice and that it's more amenable to tax reform going forward? .for ce and that it's more amenable to tax reform going forward? .for president t it's more amenable to tax reform going forward? .for president trump, important for president trump, because he wants to make a change, he doesn't want - yellen in the he doesn't want janet yellen in the post again, barack obama's choice, but he also wants someone in that position who will be the person to help him through with his economic programme, which is fairly important to him. yes, and he is on record as saying he wants persistent 3% — for gdp growth, and that means running

the us economy quite hot, and normally supported by low interest rates, and therefore as a candidate, kevin warsh, john taylor, historically they have talked about higher interest rates, and that is not consistent with that thesis. simon, thank you for coming in, as soon simon, thank you for coming in, as soon as we simon, thank you for coming in, as soon as we get simon, thank you for coming in, as soon as we get any simon, thank you for coming in, as soon as we get any whiff of who has got the nomination, we will let you know. i might even the slightest whiff! let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. kobe steel has announced it won't be making a profit forecast for the rest of year, because it can't predict how its data fabrication scandal will hit its earnings. the steel maker has also scrapped its half year dividend to shareholders. kobe steel shares were trading 2% higher after the announcement was made. easyjet has confirmed a $46 million deal with air berlin to buy part of the insolvent german airline's operations, in a move that will secure 1,000 jobs. easyjet will buy some of the company's assets at berlin tegel airport, including landing slots, as well as leases for up to 25 a320 aircraft. the uk airline said it plans to take on 1,000 german pilots and cabin crew.

nintendo has raised its yearly profit forecast of the huge demand for its switch console. the japanese games maker says and recently increased production and now expects to make an annual profit of more than $1 billion. it also expects to sell 14 million switch consoles this year. it isa it is a big day for earnings today, and among the stories is banking giant hsbc, europe's biggest, reporting a massive jump giant hsbc, europe's biggest, reporting a massivejump in profits for the three months to the end of september. yes, doing much better in asia, karishma vaswani is in singapore, tell us more about this, then. well, hsbc reported a pre—tax profit of $4.6 billion, up more than 400%, but it has to be said that this is ‘base ‘ base of $843 from a pretty low base of $843 million in the same period last

year, so that spectacular rise needs to be put into context. the reason for coming off that low basis, because hsbc lost almost $2 billion from the sale of its brazilian unit in the third quarter of 2016, and also because of volatility in foreign currency movements. now, the group chief executive said that this quarter's strong performance was as a result of the bank's continued pivot to asia. we have known about this for some time, particularly in areas like hong kong and parts of southern area they have become really important for the firm's expansion going forward, and it is likely that we are going to continue to see that in the future, as a nalysts say to see that in the future, as analysts say the bank's continued bad nader has been part of its strategy to grow the business and make upfor strategy to grow the business and make up for losses elsewhere. —— continued growth in asia. a big story for the markets will be interest—rate setting decisions this week — by the federal reserve

in the us on wednesday, the bank of england on thursday, and the bank of japan as well. tokyo stocks ran out of steam to end virtually flat on monday but still at a 21—year high. the nasdaq closed 2.2% higher, spurred on by impressive results from apple and other tech companies a quick look at the european market at the start of the trading day, the trading week. i noticed that the ibex in spain doing better than it has in recent days, the catalonia crisis rumbles on. we can look at the day ahead on wall street with michelle fleury. investors with have little time to catch their breath this week between all the economic and corporate news due out. now, the big events of the monthly employment report on friday, and the federal reserve's interest—rate setting policy meeting taking place on tuesday and wednesday. of course, many wall street traders are engaged in a parlour game, trying to guess who will be the next head of the fed.

president trump says he is close to deciding who will replace janet yellen when her term ends in february. kicking the week off, though, is personal income data, for september, due out on monday. now, this includes the fed's favourite measure of inflation, and it's not clear to what extent numbers, which inched up in august, will be affected by the recent hurricaneshere in united states. on the corporate side of things, well, the focus on technology continues, with facebook and apple both turning in profit figures later this week. mike bell is global market strategist atjpmorgan asset management. good morning, what are you watching? we have got our eyes on the bank of england, whether they will put interest rates up, we think they probably will, but we have seen some signs that perhaps a few of the members of the mpc are starting to wonder whether this is a good idea.

so very focused on whether aren't they will be concerned that wage growth has not picked up another. —— whether aren't they will be concerned. in real terms, wages are still an issue. the other thing that we are watching, the big decision at the bank of england, but perhaps not so the bank of england, but perhaps not so closely watched, the bank of japan meeting, i mean, the nikkei, although it has taken a bit of a pause today, it is still riding this global equities wave. japanese equities are doing very well on the back of this global growth, exports recently back of this global growth, exports rece ntly u p back of this global growth, exports recently up 18% year—on—year, and thatis recently up 18% year—on—year, and that is feeding through into strong earnings for japanese that is feeding through into strong earnings forjapanese companies, and the other thing you are seeing, on a relative basis, they tend to outperform when the yen has been weaker. what about the situation in spain? we have seen the euro come up

a bit today against the dollar, are you watching that closely, or are you watching that closely, or are you less concerned about that now? we are not concerned about it. as we have seen it play out over the last couple of weeks, they are not in a position to leave, so it seems unlikely to us that there is a majority of people within catalonia who want to leave, and even if they did, there is no clear mechanism for them to do so. all right, thank you, mike will return, we will find out how much he uses a camera later. keeping it snappy today! still to come, spinning a profit out of soap, a company looking to spiders to make more sustainable fabrics. not a halloweenjoke, will explain all in a few minutes' time! you're with business live from bbc news. advance to digital technology could

give uk manufacturers a massive boost and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. that boost and create hundreds of thousands ofjobs. that is according to an independent review which highlights the benefits of robotics, 3d printing and artificial intelligence. its recommendations should help inform the government's industrial strategy plans. the review was chaired by the head of siemens uk, whojoins us now, what chaired by the head of siemens uk, who joins us now, what were the recommendations you would pick out as key takeaway points, then? well, first of all, the overall recommendation is that great britain needs to have much stronger ambition and leadership in this fourth digital industrial revolution. we really need to drive it hard and make sure that we have the right mechanisms for british manufacturing companies to be able to adopt these technologies enable much simpler and easier way. and another key recommendation is to upskill our

people, we need to hit that head—on, we need to give our people the skills so it becomes something which is less of a topic we are scared of than one we embrace and transition to this revolution. another topic that some may be scared of, brexit, you talk about strong leadership in this area — right now all the leadership in this country is trying to negotiate a trade deal with europe when the uk does exit, something that manufacturers are, for very good reasons, focusing on at the moment. well, indeed, and as at the moment. well, indeed, and as a manufacturer in the uk, it is absolutely clear that we are looking for a deal which, at the end, has the least possible friction for us being able to trade with the eu. but iam being able to trade with the eu. but i am realistic, and there is going to be some increasing friction and increasing costs towards transacting

business here post—brexit. hopefully not that much, but it is another reason why this review is so important, because what we need is some optimism, and we need some positive things which will encourage companies like ours and many other companies like ours and many other companies to invest in the uk, despite what will happen on brexit. more business news for you on the business live web page. right there all saints is looking to expand into china. hello. you're with business live. our top story, financial markets worldwide are waiting on a decision by us president donald trump, he will decide on who he should nominate to be chair of the federal reserve. that's the job, nominate to be chair of the federal reserve. that's thejob, some nominate to be chair of the federal reserve. that's the job, some say, is the world's most important central banker. let's look at the markets. this is the picture across

the main european indexes. frankfurt and paris outperforming london. the spanish eye becks is up more than 1% this morning, doing better than it has in recent days as the catalonia crisis continues. i promised we would have a spider—man in the studio! you wondered what ben got up to. spider—man in the studio! you wondered what ben got up tom was hallowe'en! now let's get the inside track on spider silk. yes, it may be five times stronger than steel, but the mass of production of spider silk will never become a reality. and if the thought of all of those spiders is making your skin crawl, the california based start—up, bolt threads, may have the solution. the company uses gene splicing technology to modify yeast and this enables the mass—production of silk protein. bolt believes that this is much more sustainable than the conventional method of producing textiles which typically uses petroleum as the key ingredient. dan widmaier is co founder

and ceo of bolt threads. so this is the spider—man i have been talking about! but you're not really, a re been talking about! but you're not really, are you? just tell us about this. this is something that you and two others worked on whilst you were still studying at university for six yea rs still studying at university for six years and then you got more funding to establish it further. just tell us to establish it further. just tell us about the beginning of this story? something we told our friends that we didn't want to get realjobs so we that we didn't want to get realjobs so we started our own company and probably a crazy idea, no idea that it would go for seven years and work as well as as it does today. and you area as well as as it does today. and you are a scientist and you're creating this spider technology to create silk, but it's done in a much more sustainable way? we take the dna from an organasm and puts in a

protein powder and then we spin it into fibres. you have done a deal with the stella mccartney fashion line for some products? we have as well as doing outdoor and we have a brand in the united states called best made company. . speed is everything. this is one of the things we've learnt coming from silicon valley. same thing, go really fast and learn what it is good for and bring the product to market. i'm sure president trump would be happy to hear you are keeping it all in the united states, you are not making the tie, you have got a tie here for example, in vietnam or anywhere like this. but in terms of the take—up, you have seen a in terms of the take—up, you have seen a massive, massive take up, you cannot respond to the level of demand. just talk us through that challenge because that could be very critical for you? this is a technology where we have designed

down the molecular level what it is and had to build the technology to scale it. we are working on building more scale. we commissioned a factory until california two blocks from our office that can make this fibre. there is 50 million tonnes a year. pass me the tie a second. i wa nt to year. pass me the tie a second. i want to feel it. i spend quite a bit on ties. we have to keep the variety. how much would one of these set me back? sustainable, but is it going to cost me a lot more? cost of making materials we are getting there on the cost of silk. he has got it! he has got it. how much? so that one is only a limited run of 50 units. $314. it's a scientistsjoke not about bringing the product to market. is it affordable? people hear the big fashion labels and

think i'm priced out? we are not too far off the price what silk worm costs. over time this could be as cheap as polyester. fashion is a second dirtiest industry in the world after oil which i was quite astounded to learn today. that was something i didn't know prior to researching your company. how quickly will this take on? i know you're doing it, but the uptake is not out there to have a real impact on the fashion industry, is it, in terms of making it cleaner? you're talking about 80 billion garments this year. i think all of our closets have too many. it is a problem of giant scale and we are moving as fast as we can. when the demand is huge the appetite to finance great expansion is huge. all right, dan, it has been fascinating to hear about your company. thank you for coming in. let's gets the latest in our ceo

secrets. cecile rein of seraphine, the uk's first line of fashionable maternity wear. coming to london from france, she started the business as a one—woman company. she now has sales of $26 million worldwide and employs 100 people. but her biggest problem was finding the right staff to hire as her business grew. when recruiting don't look so much at the cv, it's very hard for a new entrepreneur to take on new people and to give them the trust so that they can start looking after parts of your own business. many times i felt i have failed dismally and i didn't kind of sense that person correctly. at times i have recruited people from much bigger brands and ifound that they were really difficult to adapt. "we can't do this".

"we can't do that". i think when you are an entrepreneur you have to have a culture which is a kind of yes culture. i really learnt that don'tjust look at the piece of paper and the cv and the experience. you want to really look at the person. some people have got less perfect cv and will be better for your company. look at their true skills rather than what is written on their cvs. mike is back to look through the papers. good to see you mike. the first one that caught our eye was nikon to close its digital camera plant in china because we are using our smartphones? the compact cameras are being shut down, but they will focus on digital slrs. clearly, people are using iphones and other smartphones to ta ke

using iphones and other smartphones to take their photos in a compact way, but there is demand for the larnler slr market. i am that person. ti cannot remember the last timei person. ti cannot remember the last time i picked up a, i call it a proper camera, i know they are proper camera, i know they are proper cameras, compact camera.|j bought one before going on holiday because i wanted good quality chance to take photos, you miss the chance to take photos, you miss the chance to take photos because it takes longer to get it out of the bag. the phone is out, you swipe, you snap. it is really quick. we are asking you for your tweets on this. do you still use a traditional camera or do them on the smartphone? quite a differing opinions. luke says, "i preferto ta ke p hotos opinions. luke says, "i preferto take photos on my phone because it's easier. we have liam saying i use both. a viewer says she was never good with the camera, but good with the mobile phone. you can focus. what about you mike? the mobile phone. you can focus. what about you mike ?|j the mobile phone. you can focus. what about you mike? i bought a digital slr a year ago. have you usedit? digital slr a year ago. have you used it? a little bit. i would say

that i use my iphone most of the time for photos of people. it's there all the time. easier to use, but for things if you are trying to ta ke but for things if you are trying to take a landscape photo of light, sunsets, it is not as good as if you use a digital slr. technology can make leaps ads bounds and sometimes what you gain in terms of compact and convenience you lose in terms of quality. american express is basically changing the bay it does things. what's going on? well, there is this competition in the card industry at moment, trying to get the high end consumers, who spend lots on credit cards and there is a battle around rewards going on and i should say in full disclosure that jp morgan! should say in full disclosure that jp morgan i work for are one of the companies involved in that battle with our credit card products in the us and you know, we and various other large banks are competing with american express to try and take some of that business of the high end spenders. and that's it. the fings times calls it a rewards war?

i suppose people are looking for benefit. if they are going to get rewards on flights or cinema. the other thing is hard to get tickets because it becomes the marginal benefits that might sway people? analysts do sit down and work out what the benefits are per card. but it is harder to measure things that are much more tricky to make. mike, thank you. thank you for your time. we will see you tomorrow. hello there. hello there. it has been a mild october. this is the most widespread cold night of the season. still showers by the end of the night running down the north sea coasts into england, but otherwise, with high pressure, clear skies, light winds, it has allowed the

temperatures to fall away sharply. those are in the numbers in towns and cities. it is in the countryside that you will notice a grass frost and perhaps in many places an air frost as well. a cold start, intun shine to greet monday. the showers around the wash into norfolk fading away. we look to the north—west to see changes and push in atlantic air backin see changes and push in atlantic air back in and the weak weather fronts too blowing more cloud into northern ireland and scotland and perhaps rain in the far north of scotland. it will be dry across england and wales. some high cloud spilling down into northern england, wales and through the midlands in the afternoon. that will limit the temperature rise after the cold start. only nine celsius or so. hanging on to more sunshine across southern parts of england and here temperatures 11 or 12 celsius. across the south and the south east, where we have the clearer skies, there is the risk of a touch of frost early on monday night. the mild airthat is frost early on monday night. the mild air that is on the way takes longer to reach here, but it does turn milder on tuesday. we have got

the strengthening west to south—westerly winds blowing in cloud and we will see rain in scotland. some heavy rain over the hills in western scotland. temperatures are back to where they should be and there will be sunshine across southern england and perhaps into east anglia too. we are closer to that area of high pressure which by tuesday is not over the uk, it's more across central parts of europe around the top of it, we are seeing those weather fronts bringing some rain and again the rain really focussed on scotland, the western side of scotland. some of that rain could nudge down into northern ireland, but again for england and wales, it is going to be a dry day. lighter winds and mild for the 1st november. the weather front lighter winds and mild for the 1st november. the weathe| sinks the rain across scotland sinks southwards a little southwards overnight. weak. a little bump of high pressure follows on introducing cooler air for thursday. maybe a risk of a grass frost in the north as it cools off here, but for most north as it cools off here, but for m ost pla ces north as it cools off here, but for most places it is a dry day with sunshine. you may see the rain lingering through the english channel and across southern england. hello, it's monday, it's 9am.

i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. our top story today — kevin spacey apologises after being accused of making a sexual advance toward a child actor. and sexual harassment claims at westminster spiral, with reports of 36 mps being accused of misconduct. so these young people, especially as some of them, it might be their firstjob in politics, they have been desperate to get it and might have applied amongst 400 people to get the job, and they get the job, and then they find this mp has wandering hands and says inappropriate things and they feel slightly frightened or threatened by them. where do you go to make that complaint? who do you speak to? at the moment it's not clear at all, and, of course, no—one really has teeth. there is no body that can slap the mp down and say that behaviour in this place is no longer acceptable. in around half an hour's time, we'll hear from tv presenter anne robinson, who says women really should know better than to share