>> welcome to "lunch money," where we tie together the best stories, interviews, and video in business news. i am adam johnson. all right, take a look at my menu today. and company, it is all about health and wellness from products to the balance sheet. in motors, how do you sell a $2 million bugatti e a high-speed est drive of course. moving on and titans, life on the ranch. why this x hedge fund or left wall street for ringer, and liquid gold. it is all coming up today on "lunch money."

thethis is a big deal in cable company. >> it is official that comcast is buying time warner cable in an equity deal valued at $45.2 billion. 45.2 billion dollars. that values time warner cable at 150 $882 a share. $158.82. can createink we tremendous value by running this company on her cell. if charter wants to transact 158 dollars is the price. >> this was the cable love triangle. get.layed hard to now, comcast was going to be in on that deal, potentially buying some of the assets. >> we were hearing that comcast was going to enter into a friendly agreement with charter to try to acquire time warner cable together, so the news that they have done an end run around charter and done a friendly

merger with time warner cable came as a shock to just about everybody last night. >> ok, so let's get past a surprised factor. the buying the second-largest u.s. cable company brings comcast more than 11 million subscribers. it gives comcast access to new york city market and more provider content. so the question is -- how big does that make the new company? >> if you include directv, dish, verizon files, at&t you burst, comcast will have about 30% of all pay-tv subscribers, but if you look at this as just cable companies, comcast becomes really dominant, combining number one and number two. of course, you can also look at the world tv viewing these days to include youtube and netflix and amazon prime and hulu, etc., and then you get a figure beyond the early percent, so regulators will have to make the choice -- are they comfortable with comcast owning so many cable

subscribers and owning the n bc universal content portfolio? that is a lot of power in the industry for one company. >> oh, the regulators. if we know anything, washington will be looking for was stephanie ruhle likes to call the counter flip. >> anytime you combine a number one and number two in anything in this country, washington is going to be initially skeptical, but again, this deal will have to be scrutinized because it is not just her haps cable versus cable here. it involves a whole lot of more players and what it means in terms of programming costs, the flow of information over the internet. the department of justice, the sec will have to decide -- the fcc will have to decide is this in the public interest. >> and when it comes to the public interest -- >> will our cable bills go up? >> that is the question at the department of justice is going to look at. this is a very unusual type of merger, though, and that remember cable companies do not

compete with each other. they have separate geographies, so you get horizontally bigger, but it does not change the competitive dynamics one iota in any individual market, so the department of justice and the sec will not be reviewing this in the traditional -- through the traditional lens of hhi, which is the concentration index you would use. you could argue that it could actually lead to lower bills in that the combined entity, if the merger is allowed, will have more leverage to get lower programming costs, so that could flow through to consumers. >> ok, so cheaper programming, that is good, but think about the fact that more and more viewers are choosing to stream their video, so is there even if future for cable television? asked ceo john kline. >> it is all about size, delivering of content thomas etc., whether you're in the

former phone company, verizon, at&t, all of these guys have to get as big as possible as fast as possible. >> and so in the cable industry at least, this is pretty close to a monopoly now. >> i do not know monopoly, but ourverizons and at&ts national networks, but a cable programmer is localized, and that might be changing. you suddenly have a company that is that almost a national footprint, but they've got to have that in order to compete against alternatives. google is developing fiber that delivers 100 times faster speed than your cable or your phone provider does. >> and that is a good point. are a national provider, google. >> how quickly do we think cable provider, who cares, right? >> young people think about that. olds, ourlk to 25-year- 25-year-old producers are not even have cable. >> know, and they do not need

it. >> one thing that everybody is talking about today is the id of a monopoly, what is not being talked about today is the fact that comcast investors are going to have a lot tough questions theuse you pointed out loser here. is he really, because comcast is paying a big price here you go and remember, malone was going into this with a different philosophy on how to use cash. he was going to take advantage of the cheap debt market out there. comcast is using very expensive stock. investors are going to have a real issue with this deal today, and that is one thing that they are going to have to get over. forget about d.c. -- we will talk wall street here and we will focus on what comcast and how comcast is going to message this deal to investors. >> so the comcast-time warner cable yield could provide the giants more leverage in the negotiating subscriber fees. companies charge for content.

>> this has become a big business, a wonderful business for these media companies, which tied toast were largely advertising, but because of the growth of cable over the years, the other businesses basically materialized where the cable companies would end up paying those small cable networks some money to be carried by the cable company, and that became sort of their business model, and in the broadcast networks, the abc's, were sayingwere wait a minute, we can do the same thing, a lot of people are watching our programming and we spent a lot of money in a, and we want to be paid for it, and whenever they go into the court of public opinion, they generally win. you think about cbs and time warner cable having the blackout fight last year, and few people have business with the cable companies, so the content players are able to get more and more of this revenue from retransmission fees. now they have to go back, have

the strategy talks, talk about how this affects them, cannot play time on the cable off of contest anymore. i do not know that it can make a huge difference for the biggest like fox and others who already get paid pretty big content and already have a lot of leverage, but it is a pretty important story to keep watching. david bank, now that we have time warner cable and comcast as an entity, that is a different kind of beast entirely. comcast has always been different from the different cable operators because it has got the content to go along with the pipes. why have we not seen more deals like that? >> of vertical integration between content and distribution , well, look, i think we came ofough almost a decade exactly the opposite. you had media conglomerates and simplifying their corporate structures, simplifying their business lines and returning capital to shareholders. nation, treasury

secretary jack lew, what he has to say but the debt ceiling extension and unemployment in america. first, jobs are sizzling out of pepsi. we will look at how much the company is saving from those jobs. and talk about a close call. syracuse's perfect record wasn't saved bythis -- wasn't this buzzer beater. the 19-year-old moved up the court and led 80 three pointer fly. nothing but net. syracuse tops pittsburgh 58-50 six, staying undefeated, 24-0. look at that thing, oh, yeah. oh! ♪

>> this is "lunch money," on bloomberg television, and we are also streaming live on bloomberg.com, your tablet, and your smartphone. i am adam johnson. in company today, it is about health and wellness, even losing

a little way. consider pepsi. america's largest food and beverage company beat earnings estimates and forecasts evan percent wrote, but there is a catch. -- 7%, but there is a catch. >> it will be labor savings, and i will come from a variety of ways. it will come from making be distribution center more efficient, it will come from doing shared services with some doing,work we have been but i would expect about 40% to come from labor savings. that said, we historically have been very effective in helping people who are displaced find opportunities elsewhere. >> ok, now to nestlé, even bigger than pepsi, it is the world's are just food and beverage company. slowest sales growth in four years and it too wants to slim down. here's the ceo. portfolio,into our whatever is not strategically, not really the enjoyment of business, and we will divest, we are going to do that much more

forcefully. so these are the things we are doing. we have also another way of saying it, we have also quite a lot of -- that we have, so we are really going for as soon as possible. we are a company that has a portfolio, we are a company that we a worldwide presence, but have to bring strength for growth for the future. >> and whole foods stumbling today. profits trailing in the stock is down. he problem? everyone lives in an amazon world. even high-end markets face competition. this is especially true in the smaller cities where whole foods will try to expand. will they succeed long-term? blogger, one of the 50 most influential women in food. >> they do a great job of getting people to buy great ingredients, but there is another step to getting people -- >> you have to know what to do with it.

>> are the customers in the kitchen? grocery stores, milk is the farthest away from the front door because they want you to go back to the milk. in the whole foods, it is kale, and they run out of it. what is it about kale? please explain to me kale. >> it is a superfood. and quinoa. they are the most searched ingredient on our site, quinoa and kale. >> the most important search for me is pizza. >> speaking of pizza, our single best chart takes us up nicely. thank you, tom. weed pizza a lot in america. about one in eight americans consume pizza a day. this is from the u.s. agricultural report called what we eat in america and it turns out boys between the ages of six and 19 lead the way. one in four of the meat pizza on any given day. >> are you leading research on this and your house? >> we experienced this daily.

>> where are we on junkfood. >> because i junkfood. it contains milk and cheese. >> it is a lowest common denominator food. it sounds bad, but it is like one of the universally loved foods, so when people get together, people serve pizza because they know it is safe. >> you and others have revolutionized the food business. where will we be in five years? sort of more -- i think people will be eating better. i mean people are eating kale. not years ago, people would have been considering it. >> are you growing kale in your backyard? >> enough about health foods. do you like cinnamon buns? yeah, i like them, and they like them in libya as well. this was the first u.s. company to open there after the government collapsed and the key to the whole thing was logistics will suppress setting up the supply chain is number one. if you cannot get the product there, there is nothing to sell. >> joe bonnie -- >> -- chobani.

>> they got stuck in new jersey. setting of the supply structure month and years in advance is key. and then to find a supply structure that understands the market, the governments, the regulations, and really has the ability to invest in the infrastructure. we opened almost 100 cinnabon locations in under three years in russia. that is no fluke. that is a testament, and they are all profitable. anything borrow from web mcdonald's does -- >> they have pioneered so many other countries to figure out where they have failed, we where they have been important, and how do they tweak the concept both up franchise partners are one thing, but if you cannot set your pricing strategy in such a way -- >> i want to get straight to some breaking news, the prime justter of italy has

officially resigned. this has come as a huge surprise. he has been going to a meeting of his democratic party this morning, and he comes after a power struggle between him and matteo who became head of the party back in. he has only been premature for the past 10 months, but he has said he will officially resigned. the key here is that there will be no new elections. enrico letta, prime minister of italy, resigning today. ♪

>> we have some breaking news here at bloomberg. i just wanted to let you know letta, the premature

of italy, has resigned. this comes after matteo renzi, the president of the august party, the people's him credit party, has been urging letta to resign. a power struggle ever since renzi got the job back in december. letta has been in power for 10 months. earning -- urging, he will resign. italy will not hold elections for new prime minister because matteo renzi will take over the position as premier pulls up this has been a tumultuous time for italian politics after silvio berlusconi left and there has been a positive people did not know which party would take over, but finally, enrico letta filled up power vacuum.

now he is resigning at the urging of matteo renzi. he is the head of the people's democratic party. letta did not get along. we have seen italian bonds at most -- at multiyear lows falling amid this power struggle for control. so again, italian prime minister enrico letta has said he will resign. he has sent the statement to president napolitano. for more, let's head over to hans nichols, who is in italy. hans? it is dark and we thought it would have the same radiant experience as earlier. it is obviously an exciting day here in italian politics. i will just walk you through the last 2, 3 hours. what we saw is matteo spoke to his party, and he thanked letta for his experience was about a clear indication that letta

would be on the way out. but we had not heard from letta yet. now we have, he said he will resign. that means they will have to gather all the party that are in this governing vision, ask them zi would be accessible to be the new prime minister. if that is the case, you can essentially's switch the head of the government, switch the premier without actually having to call new elections. if that is not the case, if you have to call new elections, then we're into a further layer of turmoil. and that we still do not know about, and we are still hopeful that we may hear from renzi later tonight. he was opposed to speak after this meeting of his party. we did not hear from him, so now the question is -- will we hear from him, and what would he be saying? will he have legitimacy with the people? beenat have enrico letta saying in the weeks up to this because the power struggle is not new? it has been going on since december, since renzi took

control of the party. >> what he has been saying -- yesterday, his comments were very much about renzi needs to be careful, right, and he used this phrase. excuse me, my phone is ringing here. is kindhave from renzi of a series of moves to oust letta. let'se have from letta is take this road, let's walk very carefully, and letta eventually -- you did not have his party behind him, he saw the writing on the wall, and he needed to resign, and so he tendered his resignation. >> hans, it was such a tumultuous period for italian politics in the lead of four enrico letta to take over. do think this will usher in a new era of political instability in italy? >> that is a safe bet. the question is, markets have been pretty calm brought the day. the question is -- is very split between investors and voters?

investors might be relatively calm and almost thankful or pleased, there might be a slight change at the head of the government. the question is, will voters have the same view, and if voters feel as this this were were almost if this a coup d'état, what we will see as the government will then try to govern without any popular support. this will be the third prime minister who is not a democratically elected. unclear how sustainable that is in the long-term. >> all right, hans, thank you so much. hans nichols, our international correspondent. --re is a story now that drops to a record low, so it seems like investors are shrugging off some of the lyrical -- the rising political turnings. it is time for on the market. let's go over to julie hyman with more. >> as you just heard hans talking about, there was not much reaction to the resignation of the italian prime minister.

we've seen a little bit of a bounce back today -- bounceback today, we are seeing some buying here today, particularly in the nasdaq, which is leading with an 18 point game. we will be back -- 18 point gain. we are back on the markets in 30 minutes. ♪

>> this is "lunch money," on bloomberg television, and we are also streaming live on bloomberg.com, your tablet, and your smartphone. i am adam johnson. today's moving picture where the video is the story. clashes between rival parties in joann's work -- between opposition in johannesburg. the ruling party, just call the african national congress, has not done enough to create jobs. groupnverted u.s. cargo docked in spain on its way to destroy syria's chemical weapons. the next poor call will be in italy will it will take on -- the next port call will be an

in italy. and snow kidding. another winter storm hitting the northeast here in new york. getting anywhere from eight inches to 12 inches in new york before he moves in new york before he moves into new england. it is already car -- coated parts of the southeast and dump series no on washington, d.c. government offices are closed. in the nation, president obama signed an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for government- contracted workers. his larger goal -- expanding that rate across america. the minimum wage is the cover of the latest edition of "businessweek." though truth be told, we created six different covers for this issue. that is how conflict this issue is. we spoke with economics editor peter mccrory. >> this is not an easy issue. it has only difference moving parts because of the strained economics, about which there is more russian than there used to

be, and then there is kind of the whole moral issue, like what is thet, and then there engineering issue, given the fact that you have different answers from the economic than the social justice, what ultimately should you do? >> peter, $10.10 is about half the median wage in this country. how does that compare a story to what we have seen yo? that relationship. >> that goes back to the way it was may 1960's and 1970's, but it had declined. the $7.25, which had been the minimum wage and since 2009, is well below half of the median wage, and it has lost buying power. bringing it up to $10.10, which is the president's proposal, not just for this executive order before the federal minimum wage in general, would put us back into historical line. it would be by a narrow margin the highest ever in terms of buying power.

>> i looked, peter, at the minimum wage, and i look at the research that you have done. what is the republican state, those against raising the minimum wage, what is their most cogent point? >> well, philosophically, they argue that the minimum wage is privateing with contracting between consensual adults, and there is no reason the government should get involved in that. if somebody wants to work for a certain amount of money, somebody is willing to pay it, why should the government get involved? but if you don't buy that, if you don't buy into the libertarian philosophy, you might still think that the people against the minimum wage have a good point, which is simply that it could destroy jobs. mightea is of course he be worth five dollars an hour to an employer, but you are not worth $7.25 or $10.10, so you will lose and be out of work. >> you can repeaters. in the latest issue of bloomberg's "businessweek. " charlie rose interview check --

interview treasury secretary jack lew and asked about the extension of the unemployment benefits. >> i hope we are not owned this debate. on implement benefits, being extended is very important. -- i hope we are not done with this debate. benefits being extended is very important. the short term unemployment rate is approaching historical levels, and the long term unemployment rate is staying quite high. nots not because people do want to work. there are all kinds of complicated reasons that once you are out of the workforce for more than a couple of weeks, a couple of months, it is harder to get back in. people who are trying to find a job in an economy where it is still challenging for them to find a job need to have extended benefits. >> do you believe we can get back to full employment that existed before 2008? >> i think we are still -- >> can we get there, and how long? >> i'm going to have to resist

trying to predict how long, but i think we are going to see the kind of recovery that gets us back to a place where people who are looking for work can find work. requireit is going to that extra effort both in terms of giving people a chance, as we were just talking about, but also making sure they have the skills they need. if the job you had is the job it is no longer available, we need to make sure you can get the skills for the jobs that are available. >> secretary lu also spoke about the significance about the clean ceiling extension that was just passed. ofthat takes away the threat a self-inflicted wound, which would have only hurt our economy. so i am an optimist. i think if you have a couple of months where you see the benefits of making decisions and working to get things done, there is more we can do. i do not think things like and restructure our partisan issues. in almost four years, working on these issues, i think it is fair

to say that republicans and democrats alike want to build a better company and want to invest more. we need to have a conversation about how to do it. >> mentioning infrastructure, someone said to me look, it is the time to invest in our future, but we are not doing it the way we should. we are notthat investing as much as we should. i think this would be a time where we would be wise to be putting resources into the things we are going to need to be a vibrant economy for the rest of the 21st century. when i talk to ceo's and i go across the country, the two things that i hear from them, the questions they ask when they aside whether to invest in the united states is the infrastructure to get what we need in and out of our factories, and will we have the workforce that we need not just today but five years, 10 years, and 20 years from today to fill the jobs that need to be filled? and i think the answer to both sell those questions is yes in many cases, plus we have

abundant energy resources, that are making because of doing we have toeaper, but make sure the answer five years from now and 10 years in our yes, and we need to know we do not have the info structure, the roads, the ports committee airports that we are going to need. and we know that we could use the good of middle-class jobs to build those things now. so we are very much going to try to get more investment in those areas. >> you can catch the full "charlie rose" interview with the treasury secretary tonight 8:00 and again at 10:00 p.m. eastern time. 1800 acres and billions of dollars, this is the life of hedge funder now rancher tom steyer. and we are looking at how booze is booming. and take a look at this -- 2500 couples at the unification church tying the knot together. husband and wife were messed up by the church.

get this -- the guest list -- 20,000 people had attended. ♪

>> entitled, tom steyer started a hedge fund, 1986 with $8 million, and by the time he set down in 2012, $30 billion. the airline company will -- beuerlein i become the largest hedge fund in the world. part of our latest additions of titans of the table, he gave our betty liu a tour of his 1800 range in scenic northern california.

>> the northern california coast is one of the most picturesque places in the united states, so it is no wonder that this is where billionaire tom steyer spends his free time. just a few miles inland from the pacific is the 1800 acre ranch steyer and his wife, kathryn taylor, bought in 2002. only an hour outside of san francisco, it is a world away. >> running this huge ranch, how is it different than running a hedge fund, a $20 billion hedge fund? >> it is incredibly different. it is the same in the sense that you think it looks like an asset , but it is actually dramatically changed by the people who run it. and that is exactly like every organization i have been in, having great people at the top, it is unbelievably significant and powerful, and that is where the comparison ends. at branch has a team of

15, including scientists who study it logically permit ways to raise -- study ecologically fit ways to raise cattle. >> that is how the animal moves across the plains of the earth. what you would think of is real success, if it turns out scientifically that we are right, if the way we are gracing the different animal causes the land to soak up twice as much carbon as normal. >> steyer has always bucked against conventional wisdom. he and his wife decided to settle here near their alamo motter of san francisco the -- tar of semper cisco university. >> i never felt that i was really part of that community, even though i had lots of friends and foes of >> is that what you left wall street ipo --

street? >> we did not think it would be a great place to have little kids. californiasitting in in the out-of-doors, it would be hard to re-create. >> steyer tried to get out to his ranch a few times a week. in addition to raising grass-fed cattle, the ranch plays host to who comeool children to visit the 300-pound pig. >> tie to that the table, a half-hour session with tom 8:30 --irs tonight at at 9:30 p.m. tonight here on bloomberg. and coming up, the whiskey business. ♪

>> in w, people are getting thirsty for ride. reports thate

whiskey grew over 60%. that report shows that total revenues are also increasing about 10% and what is really stealing a lot of it is rye. this is one of the new whiskeys, "details" magazine called the best new age whiskey in america. rye whiskeyea, old is virtually uncontested. there is really no old american rye whiskey. really over 10 years old, over six years old, over seven years old, anything from the aged segment. traditionally speaking, you do not see an age statement on the bottle, which is why the high end of whiskey him a domestically and globally, -- >> would you please a plane while my youngest child is spending $70 a bottle for whistlepig? >> brass you do not value your

youngest child for wisdom and value purchases. she has a real eye for value. writes what he is getting at is the station. what sets whistlepig apart? >> listen to you. >> you know your stuff. >> the whiskey is a friend of age. we have never in the united states allowed our whiskey to asia long enough to meet its full potential. at 10 years old, there is nobody else in the market who have an old rye. given the time, it is better than any single mark -- single malt scotch. inthis is an they -- barrels, or are you aging it in bottles? >> no, no, when it is clear, goes into the bottle, dispense 10 years into the barrel before it goes out into the bottle. >> ok, so have you ever tried clear with he, better known as moonshine? it turns out that tennessee

white whiskey is so popular the company cannot even keep up with the demand, and that is despite building one of the biggest custom stills in the world. jamie grosser is the guy who makes it. always fighting the stigma of moonshine, but in this 2000-square-foot facility, we have the ability to produce 1800 cases a month, and by the end of the summer, we will move into our new facility, 50,000 square feet, where we will be a will to do but 40, 50 cases a month, and that is really to give up with demand. ,e cannot make enough with he so the world's largest custom- built white whiskey still, we do it exactly 100% how popcorn always made it. most people do not know that moonshine is just unpatched whiskey. post-prohibition, the government wanted to make sure if you went to a liquor store to buy with he, they would get your task -- to buy your liquor, they would get your taxes.

so they try to convince americans that white was made in a carburetor and it would make you go blind. popcorn has been making this for many years. >> i have made all kinds of liquor in my time. [inaudible] time andade some one- sold it to this couple, and they were so happy i made it. >> he took me under his wing and, tommy exactly how to make this. we started it in a mason jar, but he always said my whiskey is too good to be in a mason jar, so as soon as we can afford it, bottle.h to the black >> you may need some moonshine if this is one of your corvette. this is new video from the corvette museum in kentucky, eight cars, yeah, because there was a single. this is video from one of the

security cameras the night it actually happened. ♪

>> you are watching on the markets. i am julie hyman. it is almost 56 past the hour. let's see what is going on with stocks at this hour. we do have a little bit of bounce back today and stocks. they have been stable throughout s&p, the dellhe

dowbout went in -- the -- earlier this week, yellen did testify between the house services committee, barbaray asked reinhard, chief investment strategist at credit suisse, who weighed in. >> the very positive testimony that janet yellen gave us yesterday really assures the forward guidance for the fed, but this is a fundamentally driven market, and fundamental driven markets can be suggested to changes in sentiment, so we have to be mindful that any forward-looking data flow can be very choppy for the market. >> use all that we are recovering, which is why you have gone back to neutral.

is that why yo? >> yes, we have seen better data flow. we are very positive that there is a global recovery going on for 2014 that was better than the one we saw in 2013. >> we also heard from j.p. morgan investment management global strategist anastasia on barroso -- amarosa. optimistic. >> the fed is pulling back, but they are certainly not anywhere close to raising the short-term , the, so eventually monetary policy side, we are not anywhere close to that, but in the meantime, u.s. consumers are doing better, u.s. corporations are starting to buy some of the catch back to work. >> the jobs market was a little shaky. >> it was certainly makes, but let's keep that in perspective. let's keep in mind we are trying to dig out, and we are trying to get to what has been a very,

very unseasonably cold january. so for that reason, i do not think we can really read into much to the jobs report. and there are plenty of reasons for optimism. consumer confidence for one continues to move ahead, retail sales continue to move ahead, and most importantly, home prices, which is really what the fed has been trying to stimulate, home prices are starting to continue to move ahead. >> but not everyone agrees with the fed. a billionaire investor told that he would do it differently. advocatingeen preannounced the longer-term program, maybe cut it to $5 billion a month of taper. that would take it down over about a year and a quarter time period -- >> so in $5 billion increments. >> yeah. i would do even more gradually. >> ross may have the right idea. the economy is still on fragile

footing, and that is sending cold higher. it is the seventh straight session we seen gold rallying. it is the largest rally since 2011. now trading about $1300 an ounce for the first time since november. we also want to check on natural gas. with the weather being what it is, and so many storms in the northeast, you would think we would see natural gas prices moving higher, so let's take a look at where those prices are indeed. on the day.ng a 5% that is it for on the markets. we will have more in 30 minutes and you have got "bloomberg west" is up next. ♪

>> welcome to "bloomberg west." our focus is on invasion, technology and the future of business. we're following a few big stories today. motorola mobility is