this is business live from bbc news with ben thompson and sally bundock. the moment of truth arrives for italy, with the government set to defy the european commission over next year's budget. live from london, that's our top story on tuesday 13 november. italy is refusing to scale back its big—spending plans, insisting that its anti—austerity approach will help kickstart growth in the eurozone‘s third—largest economy. it could now face sanctions from brussels. also in the programme has apple reached peak iphone? tech stocks tumble in the us and asia after profit warnings from three suppliers of iphone parts. and markets look like this — after that tech sell off — we'll get an expert view on whats happening. and why fewer is more.

we'll get the inside track on the luxury watch market — and how low volume means high value — from the uk general manager of audemars piguet. today we want to know who's your favourite superhero? the marvel franchise is big business...we look back on its creator and want to know who you always wanted to be? let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive ireland man, obviously. welcome to the programme. we start in europe where it's the moment of truth for italy and it's showdown with the european union. today is the deadline for rome to resubmit its rule—busting budget to the european commission. that was — in an unprecedented move

— rejected last month. but italy's populist government has said it won't make any substantial changes. at issue is the government's plan to raise spending by 2.7 percent, compared to last year. it's trying to fulfil its election promises including a minimum income for the unemployed and scrapping an extension to the retirement age. it plans to keep to a budget deficit of 2.4% of economic output — orgdp. but that's three times the target of the previous italian government. one eurozone official is reported to have described that as "complete insanity" given italy's national debt of $2.6 trillion. at 131.8% the size of italy's economy, only greece has a higher debt burden in the eu. brussels will give its verdict on 21 november. the european commission could announce sanctions, including ultimately, a fine of up to 0.7% of gdp. with us now is salman

ahmed, chief investment strategist at lombard odier asset management. good to have you on the programme. give us your take on how this will be resolved, it sounds like the italian government has not want to budge on what it must to the electorate. it's turning into a game of chicken between the sides, i think the point i would make is that these deadlines could ship, even if these deadlines could ship, even if the process starts there is a long way before it finds come into play, it could take six months before you see a resolution. i think you are right, we have learnt european fudge, whatever you want a collar, the deadlines shift and quite often the deadlines shift and quite often the sanctions are not implemented so given that, italy has not really got an incentive to stick to the rules, has, then it feels it needs to

deliver on its promises? definitely, the italian economy is big, secondly the italian economy is big, secondly the italian economy is big, secondly the italian government knows there is pressure coming through higher italian areas, there is a problem for the european commission. they may not be getting sanctions from the european commission but actually the european commission but actually the financial markets, global markets will hit italy hard if they feel what they are proposing is not affordable. i agree with that point, i think if there is a resolution which comes through in the next few months on this problem is well be forced by the markets and the markets i would highlight is starting to punish the eurozone. looking at the proposals of the italian government do you think it will help the italian economy? their argument is we want to lay this or go down this route as a bird, further spending to give the italian economy the boost and then see the growth. what has happened is the

creative map which was used by the italian government has hit market confidence and the fact is it is becoming a self—defeating adventure. that is for the problem lies, a rise in interest rates is leading to an increase in debt that will offset any kind of growth boost which the italian government expects. many voted for the coalition government, young italian people, they are facing very high unemployment levels, have done for many years. what needs to happen to get them back into work and perhaps boost the italian economy that they?” back into work and perhaps boost the italian economy that they? i think italy need to reform and what has been disappointing about this move away from austerity is that it seems more like reckless spending rather than reform and i think the european commission is to accept some responsibility as well. this situation we are in has taken two decades to come into play. what we

need is a grand bargain, whereby both sides come together in the european commission gives some leeway to the italian government so that some policy moves i taken to help the underlying population because they are becoming radicalised at the moment. thank you for your time, good to get your view on italy and as soon as we get news from the european commission or the italian government we will make sure you you know. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news shares in apple fell 5 percent yesterday, dragging down wider us markets and wiping more than $1i0billion off the tech giant's market value. the fall followed a profit warning from some of the firm's suppliers. that's exacerbated concerns that demand for iphones is slowing. the uk prime minister theresa may says negotiations over the uk's departure from the eu are "now in the endgame". addressing the lord mayor's banquet in the city of london, mrs may said talks were "immensely difficult", but the sides would work "through the night" to make progress. mrs may will address her cabinet on tuesday, with some ministers thought to want a change of plan. an exceptionally rare i9—carat

pink diamond goes under the hammer in geneva tuesday, when it could fetch $50 million, setting a new record for a stone of its kind. the pink legacy used to belong to the oppenheimer family, which for decades ran the de beers diamond mining company, but auction house christie's refused to say who the current owner was. it's not me but it would look great on me. if it's in the auction house in geneva that is site you're not wearing it. yes, but you know what i mean, if you are listening, watching, i am mean, if you are listening, watching, iam happy mean, if you are listening, watching, i am happy to receive that, just send it my way! that's me, out of a job. anyway, moving on! us vice president mike pence is in tokyo to discuss a number of regional issues and a potential trade agreement between the us and japan.

pence will fill in for president donald trump at key asia—pacific summits this week. first rupert wingfield—hayes is in tokyo... talk us through what they are hoping to achieve. here in japan mike pence has been particularly talking about the trade agreement you just mentioned. he said japan and the united states will negotiate a new bilateral trade agreement and it will be a model for the region, for america's future trade relations with asia—pacific and he said it would be free, fair and reciprocal trade is what he called it. he said japan and the us had had unfair trade, unbalanced trade for far too long. ican trade, unbalanced trade for far too long. i can tell you japan is not happy about entering into these bilateral negotiations, it is not wa nt to bilateral negotiations, it is not want to do so but essentially trump administration is playing hardball,

threatening 25% tyrants onjapanese car exports to the us if they do not enter into this bilateral negotiation. where in mind japan exports about $40 billion worth of ca i’s exports about $40 billion worth of cars to the united states every year, and sojapan is cars to the united states every year, and so japan is reluctantly been basically put in a corner and is having to accept these new bilateral trade negotiations against its will. and those will begin, we understand in january. its will. and those will begin, we understand injanuary. that's been really major focus of the meetings here between mike pence and shinto abbey. we put, thank you, i know you will keep us across that. the initial u—boats happening on the markets. japanese stocks hitting a two week low. fewer orders from apple. suggesting iphone sales are slowing. enough to drag down tech

stocks. managing editor back some of its losses by the end of the session, down 2% rather than 4%. but all about optimism filtering through, that got through to hong kong suggesting china and the us may have resumed high—level talks. reports in the wall streetjournal said the us treasury secretary has resumed talks with the chinese vice premier. talks on friday. some sign perhaps the trade work may be coming to some sort of conclusion. and let's see what europe is doing, this is the current state of play. michelle fleury has an update what's

happening on wall street. us and canadian firms report earnings for the third quarter, this is seen as the third quarter, this is seen as the biggest financial test of the companies since canada legalised the recreational use of cannabis in 0ctober. bobo quarter doesn't cover the period when pot use was legalised investors will be looking for any clues on how sales are doing. and fresh on the heels of lows announcing it was closing 20 stories rival home depot reports its third—quarter earnings, watch out for what it tells us about the current state of the us housing market, consumers remaining confident the affordability of housing is still an issue that could dent future sales. joining us is maike currie, who's the investment director at fidelity international. lovely to see you. michelle talking about some of the issues, rupert talking about this meeting injapan, it would seem there are lots of discussions about trade and

critically for markets today, the treasury secretary in the us will meet with the vice premier of china ahead of the g20 summit. meet with the vice premier of china ahead of the 620 summit. that will really help trade today. that's right. as we saw overnight, the fall in apple tech stocks, the stocks leading the market, this bull run, the longest rising market in history has been led higher by five stocks, facebook, apple, amazon, netflix and google and with worries around apple as the bellwether for the sector there are concerns the big tech giant has lost its billion—dollar crown and that could have a knock—on effect on other tech stocks but the good news is this has not had such an impact on asian markets because of the talks about president trump and president —— the vice premier. trade wars is the big concern weighing on markets. the other thing is brexit. we know the british prime

minister speaking last night at guildhall gave a speech saying everything is very difficult when you negotiate this sort of thing, she is going to update the cabinet today. we are down to the wire, we see this in the currency markets, the pound has fallen significantly but interestingly, so has the euro and they are kind of the terrible twins at the moment, feeling the pain of the lack of a deal, the lack of talent that is left to get a deal in place. —— the lack of time that is left. presumably for the euro italy is weighing on that as well i am sure. italy is but look at the bond markets, the yields are pretty stable. today is the crunch date for italy to revise its budget that it has put down in front of the eu, if we get some answers around that that will board the markets. it's about political uncertainty, trade wars, interest rates and brexit. all

right, thank you for now, you'll be back, i don't know if you have a marvel superhero or not! you will find one! that is the challenge. still to come why fewer is more. we'll get the inside track on the luxury watch market, with the uk general manager at audemars piguet. also how his career has developed, after he left school at 16! you're with business live from bbc news. the chief executive of premier foods, the maker of 0xo, mr kipling and ambrosia, is to step down. the news has come as the company published its results, showing revenues up i.3%. the firm says it intends to start stockpiling raw materials to protect itself against delays at ports in the event of a no—deal brexit. adam leyland is editor of the grocer, he's in our newsroom good morning to you. a lot in this

update from premier foods, good morning to you. a lot in this update from premierfoods, let's start with the boss going, why now? he's been there for six years which is more than he said he would do, he thought he would do 3—5, in chief executive turns that's quite a long time. he faced a herculean task, a basket case of a business six years ago and he's had enough, he believes this is the right time for him to 90, this is the right time for him to go, the business has not had a terrible set of results like it did this time a year ago, he has recovered from a very vicious proxy. action against and he wants to do it on his own terms and with 1.3% increase he figures this is probably the right time to do it. we are talking about gavin darby, the timing is everything, brexit is knocking on the door, we are talking about stockpiling goods, shouldn't

he is to the ship through choppy waters? timing, you are right is everything and interestingly, he is leaving at the end of january, he is not giving the headhunters time to find someone and a big question is not only brexit but who would actually want this job? he has taken that town from 2 billion debt pension to a billion and he has improved the business, build an international business, done a lot of things, got a strategic alliance, done lots and lots of things, sales of mr kipling are growing again, except but as you say there is uncertainty around brexit and he is giving the headhunters a relatively short time in which to find a successor and while it is not as bad business as it was when he took it over there are still so many around the future and its prospects and they are talking in that very lengthy press release about selling ambrosia to release capital for investment in the remaining businesses and high—growth businesses and high—growth

businesses and high—growth businesses and also presumably to pay down debt. thank you. much more on that including as we touched on, the ambrosia news. ambrosia for sale says premier foods. your're watching business live — our top story — italy is refusing to scale back its big—spending plans, insisting that its anti—austerity approach will help kickstart growth in the eurozone's third—largest economy. it could now face sanctions from brussels. now let's get the inside track on luxury watches — which are still considered to be exclusive items and wearing them a status symbol. i wonder what that would be like? i would be scared. and rising brand preferences among the population has resulted in the growth of the global luxury

watches market, after a slump from the rise in smartwatches. 0ne company that is still growing strong, making 40,000 new timepieces annually is swiss manufacturer audemars piguet. earlier, i caught up with the uk's general manager, daniel compton and talked to him about the luxury goods market and how he got into it. it began actually back in 1989! left school at 16, came from the suburbs, i found it incredibly dull for i left and i find a job in the i found it incredibly dull for i left and ifind a job in the evening standard that was to be an apprentice for gucci, to meet the glamour of being around bond street and makerand glamour of being around bond street and maker and the luxury world was com pletely and maker and the luxury world was completely different to my suburb of london. that was how i got into the luxury goods business, from there, i learned how people interacted with customers at the highest end, learned about craftsmanship of product and did not look back in terms of my interest and passion for that world. what did you learn, what

did that firstjob teaching about the industry? i would polish the brass on the i would have to run the trousers or the dresses, anything that needed tailoring i would run to the taylor, weight, get it done so that particular movie star or minor royal had their address in time for that event. what advert is the money come from, they cost quite a bit of money, who is your customer? and are particular industry we have relatively younger average age of customer, 30—50 which in our world is relatively young. we do have international business in london, certainly we rely on that at even a mile, a point of sale in maker has a different customer to that in knightsbridge, we cater for different customer to that in knightsbridge, we caterfor both. different customer to that in knightsbridge, we cater for both. do you ever feel tempted to ramp up production to get the money in because clearly you could sell a lot more than you make? you are

relatively low volume watch brand with a relatively high value and pa rt with a relatively high value and part of what we do is protecting the traditions of that industry and its beautiful part of switzerland it is from and for us it's not about trying to make war as you rightly said. we have other ways in which we grow our business, we sell directly to the customer, we control the brand experience which is hugely important to us in the way we grow our business, it's not about more, it's about making the same but making them better and have a better quality of service for the customer. given to you celtic, people who have a lot of money must come to you and say i want this, i want bad, i want to change my money —— might watch, do you ever say no, this is what you are buying? we do have some crazy requests but we cannot have spoke make every watch for every individual person, we will change the crazy colours for people, someone the crazy colours for people, someone will have a think strap for

his month in a pizza for the summer, he would move to orange then for a sporting event, but in general are casing and the main body of the product that is already hugely limited and that is something that normally stays as it is. we often see those headlines, the top end of the market doesn't get affected by any sort of financial downturn and timing on spending, is that really the case? i don't think it's always com pletely the case? i don't think it's always completely immune in the way commentator say, we will be fine, it doesn't affect the top but it's true that there is a certain level of wealth that insulate it from things that changed locally in the economy andi that changed locally in the economy and i think london is an international city with a vast amount of wealth that will still be amount of wealth that will still be a hubfor amount of wealth that will still be a hub for consuming luxury. looking back at being 16 again in that first job, what you think you learned from that but you still have got with you today, the biggest lessons you carry around? it would be have confidence

in yourself a bit sooner, possibly. just because it to be a few years to actually move beyond the next stage but i wouldn't swap the early years we re but i wouldn't swap the early years were anything because that time of observing and absorbing what other people do was i think of value. not sure it could be done the same way now. really lovely story, daniel compton. how to make it in business, a tough business to be in. maike currie, who's the investment director at fidelity international is still with us. tributes pouring in for stan lee, the former president of marvel comics who died at the age of 95, he created so many super heroes that we know and love. a very long list. i view a marvel comics fan or not?”

would say i am but more so because of the movies, i liked fantastic for, iron man. there has been a huge resurgence in the marvel brand, it almost disappeared, years ago it was just for geeks, the comic book geeks who have the comic books in the loft there for years and years, the franchise, the movie franchise owned by disney, is that right? yes. it has re—emerged, such a strong brand and accessible to all. you might say some criticism, they keep churning out sequels, actually what we need are some new. . . out sequels, actually what we need are some new... 6ive out sequels, actually what we need are some new... give us out sequels, actually what we need are some new. . . give us a out sequels, actually what we need are some new... give us a new direction. the lack of female superheroes, i must say. what i find interesting about his characters at the fact they are flawed characters, they have risen alert the power, they have risen alert the power, they are notjust they have risen alert the power, they are not just superheroes. they have risen alert the power, they are notjust superheroes. they are not perfect. they have their

faults, absolutely. interesting that you identify with iron man, the billionaire philanthropist led by. it sounds like you. —— philanthropist playboy. he gets my vote. thank you for your messages. tommy agrees with me, he says definitely iron man. mark says my dad is my superhero. that's so sweet. many of you have voted for superman that is a dc character, i must admit i am a superman person as well. captain america, one viewer says, he stands up to baddies, a lwa ys says, he stands up to baddies, always dust the bike think and there is always a good theme, a good story. good over evil, that kind of theme. let's talk about another story in the guardian, a call for aid story in the guardian, a call for a id boycott of story in the guardian, a call for aid boycott of the ftse 350 firms without a woman on the board, tell us without a woman on the board, tell us about this, sounds as though we are going backwards not forward. the

statistics are staggering, out of the 100 companies that make up the ft-se100 b the 100 companies that make up the ft—se 100 b only have six female chief executive officers, still five companies out of the ftse 350 that have no women on the board and i think in this day and age we talk about 50% of the population, we talk about 50% of the population, we talk about diversity, inclusivity of thought, ifind about diversity, inclusivity of thought, i find it about diversity, inclusivity of thought, ifind it staggering about diversity, inclusivity of thought, i find it staggering these companies are still stuck in the old world. it's the age-old debate about whether companies should be forced to have women on the board, whether they should be some sort of quarter or whether it should be something thatis or whether it should be something that is encouraged. i think there is a difference between tokenism and targets. all companies have targets, they have targets and spend of how much they spend on paper clips, they should have targets in terms of how many women they have on the board. great to have you with us today. that's it from business live today. there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live webpage and on world business

report. hello, you may have had to dodge heavy showers and thunderstorms yesterday. this water is cold, menacing cloud beneath, cumulonimbus, quite rare to see these. for today fewer showers can pretty yesterday, more in the way of sunshine, again quite a mild day. through this morning, showers across scotland, northern and western areas of england and wales, those disappearing and for many this afternoon, try with sunshine, cloud coming into northern ireland later, temperatures above the average, around 12—15d. through tonight cloud thickening in northern ireland, pushing into scotland, rain moving m, pushing into scotland, rain moving in, and also wales, northern england by the early hours of tomorrow. clear it spells towards the south—east, not going to be cold,

the temperatures staying up, mild 6-9 the temperatures staying up, mild 6—9 even 10 degrees. during wednesday this weather front, this system right across the uk, bringing the wettest weather towards northern and western areas but within that weather system you can see this finger of mild, if not one air coming from the south. temperatures will remain above average. some rain at times across northern and western areas but some brightening up across wales, northern england into the afternoon, show is disappearing, the rain easing across scotland and northern ireland, dry and bright towards the south—east of england. into thursday, we will have more rain coming into the north—west scotland, into northern ireland throughout the day, patchy fog around central areas, could be slow to clear but generally speaking some bright spots, a bit of sunshine breaking through, some orange colour

is developing on the temperature map, 17 degrees possible in the south—east on the thursday, further north in scotland and northern ireland temperatures still 13—15. big area of high pressure sitting across russia, that extending right across russia, that extending right across towards the uk through friday, keeping things mostly settled, blocking any weather systems from coming from the west, quite settled, staying quiet while the a southerly wind, the risk of more fog which could linger for much of the day in places. goodbye. you're watching bbc news at 9 with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... the prime minister will update her cabinet this hour on the latest developments in the brexit talks —uk and eu negotiators express "cautious optimism" after late—night talks. the number of people known to have died in the worst wildfire in california's history rises to 42. a woman who says she was promised a peerage in return for sleeping with a member of the house of lords urges other victims of harassment to speak out.

lord lester denies the claims. they're sold as "flushable", but the bbc finds all wet wipes currently on the market fail the water industry's disintegration tests. and in sport... liverpool and england striker daniel sturridge is charged over an alleged breach of football's betting rules.