this is business live from bbc news with victoria fritz and sally bundock. tech turmoil continues — global markets slump as investors dump technology shares. the nasdaq suffers its biggest drop in seven years. live from london, that's our top story on thursday the 11th of october. how low will it go? the biggest sell—off on the stock markets since february rolls on in from the us through asia and has now hit europe. plus, are we investing enough in people? the world bank says governments around the world are not. almost two thirds of children fail to get a basic primary education. the european markets have opened. they've been open 30 minutes. you

can see the ftse 100 down about 84 can see the ftse100 down about 84 points in the first half an hour of trade. a slight recovery but as you can see, right across europe, we are seeing red. and from humble beginings in a gypsy caravan to becoming the multi—millionaire owner of wyldecrest parks, we meet romany businessman, alfie best. plus, a new study says if we want to save the planet, we should become "flexitarians", eating mainly plant—based foods, and eating very little meat! this could cut global greenhouse gas emissions. but would you change your diet? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. hello and welcome to business live. there's only one place to start and that's financial markets. all bets are off. we've seen massive losses in asia, following a terrible

session on wall street. what is going on and how will this affect us in europe? we are 32 minutes through the trading day. financial services, banks, cars, tack. —— tech. they're all being hit. let me tell you what happened in the first 30 seconds of trade. the ftse100 was down by more than 1%. things deteriorated even quicker across southern europe. paris is down 1%. worst losses in the ibex in spain. and worse in italy. italy is heading for a bear market — that means it's down by 20% from its peak. japan's index was down almost 4% — that's the worst one day drop since march. in china, the market was down to its lowest level since 2014. this was all after a tech—led sell off in the us. is what is going on? hopefully the

man with the answers is here. joining us is michael hewson, senior market analyst at cmc markets here in london. michael, what is behind all of this? is it just michael, what is behind all of this? is itjust this michael, what is behind all of this? is it just this fear of michael, what is behind all of this? is itjust this fear of higher interest rates coming from the united states or is there more to this? if one factor, sally, but it's certainly not all the factors comment is too simplistic to blame the federal reserve for this, as donald trump did in comments last night —— it is one factor. there are a number of factors, slower growth, the imf downgraded its global growth forecast for the global economy citing emerging market concerns are vulnerable to higher us interest rates with a stronger dollar and wea ker rates with a stronger dollar and weaker currencies. trade tensions between china and us has made weighed on asian markets for most of this year. trade tensions between

the us and eu which is weighed down on the dax and us markets. the political considerations to do with italy. hard to believe at one point this year the ftse in italy was the best performing stock market in may this year. top 25% higher. it's now ina bear this year. top 25% higher. it's now in a bear market. i'm looking at the people behind you. they look quite relaxed, this lady here, this gentleman here, this one here, they are looking like there is not too much trouble going on in the markets, what is the mood music where you are on the trading floor? sadly, we have been hit so many times before. i talked to you in february early this —— sally we have. these are nothing new. declining stock markets. it is no coincidence that 0ctober declining stock markets. it is no coincidence that october is well renowned for volatility. you are too young to remember 0ctober renowned for volatility. you are too young to remember october 1987 renowned for volatility. you are too young to remember 0ctober1987 when, ultimately, a hurricane or a gale

force winds caused the stock market to crash in the uk. it is no coincidence that hurricane michael is blowing into the us mainland and asa is blowing into the us mainland and as a result, hurricane force winds are hitting asian, european and us markets at the moment. it is a well overdue correction, driven by us markets, which have outperformed for most of the past two to three years. michael, thank you very much. michael, thank you very much. michael trying a bit of flattery. especially when he calls victoria sally throughout the programme! for more on this i'm joined by french, chief economist at panmure gordon. we were chuckling when victoria was pointing out that everybody looked very at cmc markets. do you want me to look panicked? not at all, just tell us what's happening. michael is right, there's a lot of things going on, a lot of noise but you can trace it back to the fact that we are

quite end of cycle. the global expansion has been going on about seven 01’ expansion has been going on about seven or eight years, quite long in the two. investors are looking at this and saying, "where is the next leg up coming from?". if it's not, those risks of rising interest rates, trade war, yes, the weather conditions, some fairly punchy devaluations in tech in the us. that isafairamount devaluations in tech in the us. that is a fair amount of bear sentiment. but it is surprisingly speed of the seller. each time we have hit new highs with which markets have dropped, not the amount but how quickly it's happened. dropped, not the amount but how quickly it's happenedlj dropped, not the amount but how quickly it's happened. i was looking at certain stocks like amazon down 6%, etc, discovered their big four but when you look at how amazon has gone up in the last 12—24 months, it is nothing —— it looks like a big fall. of course, money being taken off the fang table on these stocks, facebook, amazon, netflix and google, they have done so well, they

have driven the us stock market higher. the president of the united states has said some quite unpleasant things about federal reserve. he called them tight. "the fed is tied" he said. that doesn't exactly. . . fed is tied" he said. that doesn't exactly... we have seen other leaders, president erdogan turkey has pretty criticised his central bank but you don't expect that in the us economy. investors have said, given those games, we will bank some of them, and take it over the table. keep calm and carry on seems to be the message at the moment from investors. i think that's right. one of the things you mentioned in the intro is a similarfall of the things you mentioned in the intro is a similar fall happened of the things you mentioned in the intro is a similarfall happened in february this year and we sometimes lose sight during the summer months thinking it hasn't happened for ages. eight months ago it was similar. fundamentals, global growth, the imf talked about 3.5% growth, the imf talked about 3.5% growth, still the fastest in seven yea rs, growth, still the fastest in seven years, that is the thing. when the panic hits, step back and think, earnings, growth, what are the fundamental things that bush share prices higher? thank you very much.

think about your diet for us. -- that pushes share prices higher. are you a flexitarian or not? meat free monday? plenty more coming up. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. let's turn our attention to singapore. the battle to offer the world's longest nonstop flight steps up a gear on thursday, when a new singapore—to—new york service takes off. singapore airlines is relaunching the service five years after it withdrew it, because it had become too expensive. it will cover more than 15,000km and is scheduled to take just under 19 hours. carmaking giant bmw wants to take control of its joint venture in china and is set to pump billions more into its production capacity in the country. the german firm will spend $4.16 billion to up its stake in brilliance automotive from 50% to 75%. the move comes amid china's plans to relax rules forforeign car companies operating in its enormous market. shares in sears holdings plunged by more than 30% on wednesday

following a wall street journal report that the us retail chain is preparing to file for bankruptcy. i think sally has just been talking about this story earlier on in the programme. sears, which also owns kmart, was once america's biggest retailer, but has struggled to compete with the likes of amazon and walmart and is grappling with a debt load of more than $5 billion. there's been a lot of attention on the indonesian island of bali this week. where the world bank and international monetary fund are holding their annual meetings. the world bank is well known for funding infrastructure in developing countries — roads, bridges and dams. today they have a very different tone. but in the last few hours, it has called on nations to rethink their priorities — and invest more in their people. it's launching a human capital index to score countries on how well they are doing.

according to world bank figures, almost a quarter of children under five are malnourished 60% of primary school children are failing to get even a basic education. and 260 million kids in poorer countries get no education at all. good to talk to you, ian, what do you make of the message from the world bank today? it's been a fairly negative message. firstly, they have taken their growth expectations for both 2018 and 2019 down from 3.9% to 3.7%, not on the basis of expectation of economic recession or a bubble, it's actually because of politics. it's the concerns about major trade fighting particular between the united states and china. that obviously makes people feel a lot greater czech predation. last

imf meeting we had it was europe is out of recession —— a lot greater trepidation. global growth is robust for a couple of years and things felt good but now increasingly growth is still solid but they are deeply worried about what feels like greater unsustainability in geopolitics going forward. an awful lot of tensions that we see in the imf today. what do you make of this message about not investing enough in people? government is not doing enough for things like education in their countries? do you think they're pointing the finger at any country in particular or do you think it's a generalised message?m isa think it's a generalised message?m is a little bit of both. 0bviously, one of the great stories of the past 40 yea rs has one of the great stories of the past 40 years has been taking people out of poverty. women getting education, urbanisation, improved life spans, greater inoculations. 0nly10% of the world today doesn't get inoculated by the age of one, that extraordinary compared to where we we re extraordinary compared to where we were 20, 30, 50 years ago. they want

to continue to lean into ensuring we don't forget about the most displaced people that are in the ha rd est to reach displaced people that are in the hardest to reach places. especially when the global order becomes more fragmented. but it's also about governance. no matter what kind of a government you're in, if you stop investing in your civil servants and in the bureaucracies, if they decide they don't want to work in these places, you lose for generations. i see this happening in my own country in the united states, it's happening in mexico, in emerging markets, too and its what the imf and world bank are concerned about. when you talk about governance, i got the impression from the world bank report that they are very much pointing the finger at governments in countries where kids are going to work very, very young, missing out on education. and yet there is a lot of money to invest on the part of the government. sure. again, there's no question that there are plenty of governments in the world today that

are failing, in terms of the basic social contract for their people. it's why you see so much antiestablishment sentiment in many of those democracies. whether it's brazil or mexico, we've seen recently a spate of elections where people are saying, "we're willing to go for a very different kind of u ntested go for a very different kind of untested leaders it's notjust the united states. because we feel the united states. because we feel the establishment and the wealthy are not taking care of us. that they message coming through loud and clear from the world bank today. message coming through loud and clear from the world bank todaym has been great to get your perspective, thank you forjoining us perspective, thank you forjoining us from bali, ian, president and founder of eurasia group. quite a mouthful. still to come, from humble beginings in a gypsy caravan to becoming the multi—millionaire owner of wyldecrest parks, we meet romany businessman, alfie best. you're with business live from bbc news. another big name on the high street

is opening its books today and wh smith has published a 4% fall in pre—tax profits for the past year. wh smith, which sells pens, paperbacks and pencils, has been suffering like many high street retailers. but its bestsellers continue to be shops in train stations and airports. our business correspondent, theo leggettjoins us now. icw richard smith shares are down quite a bit this morning, tell us what they had to say —— i can see that wh smith shares. stephen fry, the chief executive has talked about the chief executive has talked about the restructuring of the operation. you are talking about two businesses. 0ne you are talking about two businesses. one is on the high street. a measure of how difficult life on the high street is. even with a 3% fall in sales and profits, that has been described as a good

year. the company is congratulating itself on getting across one of the latest trends, slime related products. if you don't know what thatis, products. if you don't know what that is, ask an eight—year—old. that is treading water at best, slipping back worst. each restructuring measures announced and that is why this announcement has happened. catering for people in railway stations and airports, more of a captive market and passenger numbers are growing. that side of the business is doing really well, profits up 7%. in the uk, it's all about balancing existing assets. because these shops are quite expensive, there's not much room to grow, the rents are high. but it is doing very well. there is the international focused business, doing very well. there is the internationalfocused business, wh smith is aggressively gaining new outlets in airports all around the world. that is where the growth is and whether focus is. world. that is where the growth is and whetherfocus is. the world. that is where the growth is and whether focus is. the travel business is now the biggest part of wh smith's operation. disappointing on the high street, high street conditions we know are hostile, the

travel business, where people are stuck in an airport and they want to get a smack and a glass of water, thatis get a smack and a glass of water, that is doing pretty well. —— they wa nt to that is doing pretty well. —— they want to get a snack. 0ne one other story. the competition and markets authority, the competition watchdog, is to investigate british airways alongside american airlines, iberia and thin air on its revenue partnership for transatlantic routes. —— and finair. no infringement, they said, of competition law found so far. plenty more on the website. your're watching business live — our top story: global markets slump as investors dump technology shares. all over the world. it was a torrid session in asia. europe is not going well either. a quick look at how the markets are faring. the ftse is down over 1%. germany

has recovered, it was down 2% but now it is just 7% lower. france is down by 1%. that is the latest on the market. here on business live, we feature all sorts of business leaders. but i think it's fair to say that our next guest has one of the most exceptional stories we've ever featured. alfie best was born in a caravan in the english midlands — and got his first taste of worklife at the age of eight, when he tarmacked roads with his father. and along the way, he developed a taste for business — working in everything from van sales, to telecommunications. now, though, he's a very successful property tycoon, owning the biggest residential home park company in europe. wyldcrest parks owns and runs 72 parks across the uk. the company provides homes to 13,000 people. it's also wants to branch out in the united states and has plans for expansion there. it also has plans for big expansion

across the world. alfie best has had an amazing journey in establishing his business. that was one hell of a build up! now we have built you up. you have been hassling of doing business for a very, very long time. i get up every morning and i pinch myself. -- you have been hussling. ifeel like premier league footballer going out to play football. it has been a fantastic journey. i am to play football. it has been a fantasticjourney. i am surrounded by wonderful people and i have a great team. that has helped me drive the business forward. you say it has been a fantasticjourney, real roller coasters, you started your first business when you were 16 and you were bussed by the age of 20. yeah. at that point, you had a home worth half £1 million in essex. -- and you went bust by the age. you we re and you went bust by the age. you were living in your car at the age of 20. at that time i thought i could walk on water. the business i was running was van sales and higher centre. i had a murmurat

was running was van sales and higher centre. i had a murmur at 20 and collapsed across the desk. i can only say that the hardest knocks, the art to be the person that you do come. life doesn't mould you, my scarves you. that was in the 19905 when there was a really difficult succession which hit your businesses. -- life carves new. the only way i can describe it is that someone only way i can describe it is that someone painted "don't enter" around my business. what drives you, alfie best? what drives you to move on from where you well, get up, get out of your car from where you well, get up, get out of yourcarand from where you well, get up, get out of your car and start again to build up of your car and start again to build up to the business you have now, which is worth £250 million? wyldecrest parks has an asset value of £250 million. to be fair, what drives me is fearfear of of £250 million. to be fair, what drives me is fear fear of going bust, of not having anything and going skint. every morning, i wake with that fear to drive me forward. but also the enjoyment to see how

far we but also the enjoyment to see how farwe can go. but also the enjoyment to see how far we can go. wyldecrest is not only a good company, what it is also doing is providing a service, housing. and it's part of the housing. and it's part of the housing supply chain. it's freeing up housing supply chain. it's freeing up people's bricks and mortar, allowing them to downsize. the tick box here is massive. i'm surprised that there are not more companies out there that have just taken the bull by the horns. you look back on your childhood with great fondness. you grew up in a gypsy community, travelling all the time and you work with your dad who you say is the most hard—working with your dad who you say is the most ha rd—working dad. with your dad who you say is the most hard—working dad. you say it was very tough and you didn't realise how then how poor you all were. what i would say... ijust wa nt to were. what i would say... ijust want to ask you this, you hit for many years the fact that that was your background, what sort of discrimination have defaced ? your background, what sort of discrimination have defaced? as a gypsy, discrimination have defaced? as a gypsy, the way i would describe it,

you are a white man in a black man's body. -- what sort of discrimination have you faced? you are disseminated against without people either realising you are a gypsy- against without people either realising you are a gypsy. it is extremely difficult gypsy —— you are discriminated against. why would you tell someone you are a gypsy when you know you would be stigmatised? "liars, cheats and thieves". why we re "liars, cheats and thieves". why were you open about that side of your life? you have to know where your life? you have to know where you are from to know where you are going andi you are from to know where you are going and i reached a point in my life where i didn't feel i had to hide who i was. it's only in the last ten years that i actually decided to make a point of, "i don't have to hide away". alfie, what makes a good businessmen all business woman? nature or nurture? three answers to that. definitely nurture. if you see your parents going to work every day, that's the norm. nature is something that is within us. if you have an

entrepreneurial spirit to drive forward , entrepreneurial spirit to drive forward, then that's always going to come through. but i'm a great believer in the environment that you're surrounded with hard—working people. if you see that, that's normal. whereas, if you see people that are, you know, not content with working, that are looking not to go to work or not push that boat out, then you're going to be... you're going to think that's normal as well. my mother and father are the two hardest working people i know. alfie it's been really great to meet you, thank you for coming on business live, all the best. thank you very much. in a moment, we'll take a look through the business pages but first here's a quick reminder of how to get in touch with us. stay up—to—date with all the day's business news as it happens on the bbc‘s business live page. there's insight and analysis from our team of editors right around the globe. and we want to hear from you, too. get involved on the's is business live web page at bbc.com/business. 0n twitter we're at bbc business.

and you can find us on facebook at bbc money. business live, on tv and online. what you need to know, when you need to know. many of you have been in touch today about what you eat. you are what you eat so we are told. simon has promised to divulge his diet. let's talk about flexitarian why diets are being seen as a key to help with the problem of global warming. we think about environmental impact coming from transport, the waste we put out there. but an awful lot of greenhouse gases come from quite intensive farming, particularly production of meat where methane production of meat where methane production but also the quite intensive use of water actually degrades the environment. what this report is saying is if we can move

away from red meat, and go to more sustainable ways of looking after the environment. it is not saying no red meat at all, but a lot less. it's interesting. i was in manchester. in their canteen, they have meat free mondays. there was a woman ahead of me saying i need my protein. there are plenty of people who are not that convinced about this and say i should be able to eat what i want and there are other bigger threats to climate change. somebody tweeted you this morning saying donald trump is one of the big reasons. there will be strong opinions and everyone wants to have their own diet as their preference. it is for those people who are —— who want a wealthy and parameter in packs and who don't have strong preferences and want to think, how cani preferences and want to think, how can i reduce my environmental footprint by the way i consume a balance between meat and vegetables. have you changed your mind about what you need? probably i was aware that i was probably eating too much

red meat from a health perspective but i hadn't thought about it from an environmental perspective. it adds evidence to push you in that direction. thank you. sue bradley says, yes to the question to change your diet. not only will we save the planet but we will improve our health and our bodies. win— win for her. we have a joke, plants have feelings, tangen, it's a fact that they communicate when in pain and in distress. some bleed sap, vegetarians should rethink their diets. charles says i will give it a 90, diets. charles says i will give it a go, i have lovely children, they deserve a clean planet and generations to come. captain crunch, liking your twitter handle, eating grass is no way to live, give me a burger, he says. i i captain. it's a hot debate. see you soon. have a good day. —— aye, aye, captain. yesterday was the warmest 0ctober

day for seven years, temperatures got up to 24.6 degrees in the south—east of england. today's forecast not as straightforward as yesterday. there will be sunny spells but much cloudier with some showers and rain. it will move into western areas this morning across northern ireland, western scotland, wales, the south—west. quite a bit of fog in the north—east will clear away and for many eastern areas it will be dry with some sunshine. still quite warm in the east holding onto those oranges but further west, yellow colour is moving into the map which indicates a coolerfield yellow colour is moving into the map which indicates a cooler field to things. more like 16, 17, despite sunshine later in the day. that area of rain will continue to move away into the north sea. lengthy, clear spells therefore for eastern areas. temperature is not falling much

below 10—13. we have this and rain moving into the west. that is associated with storm callum spinning up to the west of ireland. it will move north. still some very strong winds expected for many of us. strong winds expected for many of us. and some heavy rain. you can see a wet day for much of scotland, northern ireland, wales, the south—west. it intensified as we go through into the afternoon. in the south—east it will stay largely dry but there will still be strong winds with gusts of 40—50. the strongest of the winds will be towards the north—west where we could see gusts of 70 miles an hour. 15—18 in northern parts but in the south—east with some sunny spells still a fairly warm day. the weekend, we have got a wiggling the weather front moving its way right up the spine of the uk. this wiggle in the weather front means that it will intensify the rain, quite a wet day

for many western areas in saturday and particularly south—west, wales and particularly south—west, wales and north—west england and much of scotland. very wet. many central and eastern areas should stay dry and pretty warm with some sunshine, temperatures in east anglia up to 24. much of the rain will clear away on sunday. brighter skies and the best day of the weekend in terms of the dry weather. temperatures coming down a little bit. goodbye. hello. it's thursday. it's 9 o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire. welcome to the programme. the most powerful hurricane ever to hit north—west florida is now heading for georgia. hurricane michael caused storm surges of up to 10 feet, submerging homes and ripping up trees. i saw a lot of storms but this one here was the worst i've seen.

you see what it did around here. it snapped trees like they were toothpicks. we'll speak to people living in the affected areas. former conservative prime minister sirjohn major criticises the government's key welfare reform, universal credit, saying it could cause the tories the same problems as the poll tax did.