but the battle for alstrom. they come up with a fresh offer. chinese tides. the premier begins his u.k. visit, bringing billions of pounds of investment to britain. we are alive with some of the biggest names in tech at london's cloud world for him. -- forum. welcome to "countdown."

is 6:00. bloomberg reporter standing by, ready to deliver the stories that will drive your day. live with details of the tug-of-war for alstrom. alibaba could be the largest ever u.s. ipo, but it fired a warning shot. story fromhas the hong kong. for twoh bloomberg exclusive interviews. the ceo will break down first-half results. menswear collection for the first time ever in london. several weeks after ge made a

, a countertrom offer. we have got the details. give us the details and tell us more about it. siemens iswhat really interested in. it's pretty much focused on the turbine business. offeringment they are 3.9 billion euros for the gas turbine. the japanese partners are offering an additional pre-.1 billion euros -- 3.1 billion , and for the joint venture finally, mitsubishi is offering 900 million euros for a 10%

stake. for now vehemence is bying their offer trumps ge about one billion euros because it includes more assets. they needed to add a little bit to seduce the french government. they have also decided to match ge's guarantee and offer to create 1000 french jobs in the next three years. they are in paris to lobby for he was "of the national assembly later today. >> what will be ge's reaction to this? >> for now ge is saying they are not planning to engage in a men's, but with the

of course they are not just going to sit and wait. knows he has the initial support of the board. what kind of concessions? we know how important this is for the french government. another thing is transferring a tolth signaling business something jeffrey has mentioned to thepast when he came national assembly in france. ge also knows he have the moretage it will be much simple. it only focuses on energy and does not include foreign partners to complicate the deal.

what is interesting is the main isreholder with a 29% stake saying they are planning to keep it in the long terms are not landing to sell this 10% to be she would like to buy. ahlstrom will accept offers in the next few days. >> thanks. has begune premier his three-day visit to britain. joining us now to talk about what it means for the business community is manus cranny. if this trip marks a positive test for chinese -british relationships. >> it is an official visit as opposed to a state visit. i think there is a double-edged sword. he was quoted as saying, changing misperceptions and

misgivings in the united kingdom. for cameron it is the calibration of taking the science as they decreased. cameron has been vocal in his human rights criticisms of china. i think both leaders have a great deal to play for. bilateral trade, $70 billion. under the cameron administration, exports to china have gone just under eight lien dollars to over 12. -- $8comes in behind billion to over 12. china comes in behind the u.s. >> where are they investing in the u.k.? >> i love the irony. i was sitting at home watching the national coverage. if you are chinese don't worry.

you have got to love the irony. they can't even get their act together. to fast.going that is pretty pathetic. only a few have gotten irish visa, if you are indian or chinese you could get it in the u.k. that is pathetic. the home secretary said she will deal with it. yuan, the currency of the future, the currency of choice. there have been relationships between frankfurt and the bank renminbito trade the and make it a critically important trading currency. the china construction bank will be allowed to clear those. i think finance and making london the center of renminbi trading is critically important and very much on the agenda. are done through london.

they are going to have minority shareholdings, a nuclear business here in the u.k.. who would have thought the brits the chinese to run it. alibabaning shot of ahead of what could be the largest ipo ever in the united states. revenue slowed. profit margins decline. let's bring in said in hong kong. what's going on? >> it could be seasonal factors. investors are certainly responding. we saw sales at a slower pace. 39% as advertisers paid less. you compare it to a year ago. that is when we had a growth of 70 one percent. it's quite a different. countries are moving

to mobile. the numbers show sales growth slowing. -- that'sd respective where we found these numbers. also some perspective on the board. the partners were part of the unique structure. one notable element -- 30% of the board members are women. investors determining whether they will be buying into shares of alibaba in what could be the in thatbiggest ipo market. profit, $3.7 billion. a nice chunk of change. mobile revenues up 12%. it's an increasing part of the business as alibaba moves to the mobile sphere. >> live in hong kong. some of the biggest names in tech are gathering for one of the leading cloud event in the world. london's cloud world for them. cloud computing is always a hot topic.

there are a lot of myths about what it is and what it isn't. caroline hyde is live at the for him to clear some of those up for us. good morning, caroline. >> the amount of investment being pumped into cloud computing is it he phenomenal. you've got 800 billion dollars over the next four years. forare getting so much bang your buck in terms of you fish and sea. -- innsultancy group terms of efficiency. 600 trillion per year to the economy. northridge has done some research, and more than half of the u.s. population still don't know what cloud computing is. more than half the population thinks if it is stormy and off you might have problems accessing the cloud, but what is

true is actually the cloud is nothing new. we have been using it with gmail, yahoo!. mobile phones your or tablet. used tohis is getting the cloud. it's all about accessing data remotely and just a window to your data. could add so much to the economy. it's about freeing people up. you don't need to be at your desk to access your e-mail or key data. usingn do it anywhere cloud computing devices. >> which companies are winning out? >> some of the new kids we have heard of are not that new. servicested unleashing -- software to access the cloud back in 1999.

theon has been offering cloud since 2002. there are some old tech giants getting in on the act like microsoft. the new chief executive is saying to put mobile first. microsoft really in on the challenge. of new and oldt companies trying to get in on the cloud. some old foes are teaming up and working together. used to call microsoft and evil juggernaut a couple years ago. now they are willing to make sheet -- to make each other's program work on each other's systems. excel orccess microsoft word from your computer when you sat at home, not just the desk in your office.

they want to work more closely to be able to integrate and free up people. s> you have a raft of guest joining you today. who are they? >> next we are going to be speaking to john hammond. we are going to be talking about his particular company. this is all about getting transactions through. we were talking about syntax -- fintech, how the u.k. is really dominating. 44,000 people employed in london alone. we will be talking about his way of using the cloud in terms of his startup. whether it is being able to make transactions abroad that much easier. we will be speaking with him in 20 minutes time.

the head of envisioning. what a name. i will be back in just a moment. >> see you later. as the federal reserve meets in washington today we are focused on u.s. equities. economy put them on track to outperform those in europe? that conversation is next.

>> welcome back to countdown. 6:17.me in london is the u.s. economy is in focus as federal officials gather for a two-day meeting. we are joined by principal global investor ceo. good morning to you. the imf cut its forecast for the to two percent. they did say rates could stay lower for longer. the improving u.s. economy is good for equities. awful firstpretty

quarter. basically zero growth in the first quarter. i think what we're seeing is two and a half or three percent .rowth you get the imf two percent from that. i think we are still on an improving trend. the way to think about it is payroll gains of about 200,000 jobs a month. that's what we have been seeing. that's consistent with a round about two percent growth. i am optimistic about the u.s. economic outlook, which makes me positive about the domestic heart of u.s. companies. >> do you share the imf view that interest rates could and should stay low for longer, maybe beyond 2015? >> i do. i think one of the lessons of in thenges we saw

treasury yields so far this year has been there is a structural drive downwards for a number of reasons in worldwide interest rates. if you take the benchmarks, the 10 year treasury yield, it turned at 10%. 260.s been as low as at the beginning of the year everybody thought rates were going up. they were wrong. the safe haven demand with geopolitical problems. it was also structural excess of also a worldwide. it was tendency towards deflation. i think all of those things mean rates will stay lower for longer than most people thought. >> you were 2.67% today. you think they will creep up somewhat? >> i would say three to 325 is most likely.

be that 350 is close to the peak for the cycle. that leaves you the question of where the fed funds rate is. that's where they can directly influence, and i think they are at least a year away from changing the fed funds rate. there is still an output gap. i think they will want to remain somewhat stimulatory in monetary policy. >> what about your view of europe? the imf has brought out its big bazooka. where does that leave european equity? >> european equities have clearly done very well. they have calmed the monetary situation. d the moves toward

negative rate. the promise of quantitative easing down the track. they doing quantitative easing now? i think the weakness of the european banking system. i would argue that european banks remain undercapitalized, which is a difficult situation. >> will the balance sheet assessment proved to be a success this time around more than the last two banking reviews? doubt it will prove as stringent as it needs to be, but my guess is it will be an one ofment on the past. the things i will be looking at in europe to see growth accelerate, one of the things i will be looking at is stats to

recapitalize the banks and make them len. >> the key issue in emerging emergingnot all markets are created equal. one of the takeaways is continue to expect a rough ride in emerging markets. >> think in the near term that is correct. this report was by a firm called create research we have sponsored for several years. very in-depth research into how people are looking -- thinking assetparticular qualification. not all markets are created equal. i do think there are a lot of things going on right now in the news like the geopolitical

situation in iraq and the ukraine. think that points to differentiation being important. i think it also is a reason why economicof the performance in the u.s., the market has not done as well as it might. >> thank you for joining us today. president obama is weighing military options for iraq, including airstrikes, but that is not without doubts. details next. ♪

>> alibaba fourth-quarter thenue growth slowed. e-commerce company spent more on marketing to attract smart phone users. their first revision showed sales in march increased 39% compared to 71% a year earlier. europe's largest oil company shell is selling its stake in port said petroleum. the company is accelerating asset sales. it would eventually sell its holdings, except it was no longer strategic. earnings from crest nicholson. profits came in just over 30 million pounds. about 240 million.

we have an exclusive interview on countdown.ater up next, the lure of london. the chinese premier visits the u.k.. find out what is making the city so attractive. ..

>> welcome to "countdown." i am mark barton. let's head out to manus cranny. >> 2 dominant themes. one is iraq and the other is the federal reserve. checking in on the indian rupee. the clients. the biggest drop in terms of the rupee. that dollar rising. sinceggest three-day drop january. a one-month low. prices increasing in india.

markets said they will ease as the year goes on. the issue is this. as the iraq situation, that could damage the energy imports and trade balance. keep an eye on that situation. for a lateraling message from a central banker, look at the rba. expressed to keep benchmark arrays at a record low. china unexpectedly dropping. what do you are seeing are no more hate -- rate hikes. 93.29 is the support level on the way. bloomberg first word. back to you. >> these are the top headlines. ukraine said a russia has a 38,000 troops on the border as it continues to supply arms to

rubble forces. the chief of the ukrainian national security council wanted the invasion is coming. -- [indiscernible] investments coincide with the business of premier li keqiang coming today. it is the end of the diplomatic -- human rights and tub that. john kerry said president obama by terrorist thr is sending almost 300 troops to iraq. ruled quarter native military effort. ryan chilcote has been following. american troops are heading to iraq, that's a big headline it is self. >> it is.

it is clear that u.s. does not intend for the troops to fight isis to take on the militants. some of is to train up the iraqi forces so they will relocate some embassy staff from baghdad to places in the kurdish controlled part of the country to the far south. shia controlled area, very safe. and jordan. it is very interesting if the u.s. believes that baghdad is dangerous enough or enough of a director to baghdad that they have to move nonessential personnel. that tells you something. the idea that it is going to lead to troop levels of going to 000 like 2007, that is a bit far-fetched. then again, you and i know these things never end. >> what if the lay of the land right now? >> yesterday we had the iraqi

cityorce striking near a of 200,000 people in the north which has fallen, the most recent city falling to the militants. , but also a sunni lot of shiites. you have many, many people in the north of the country. 700,000 refugees. video and, after the to those photos we saw of the alleged massacre which has been partially confirmed. -- and. said that not they cannot confirm that there was 1700 iraqi soldiers killed but it was a war crime. these people killed on the adage of trenches, shot in the back. that had a huge rallying effect. lots of cap -- lots of paramilitary, men signing up to fight. the most interesting from a

geopolitical perspective from all that is going on, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry, saying to the u.s. is prepared to cooperate, collaborate with iran in iraq. remember, we discussed this before. iranians have already up to three battalions of revolutionary guards in iraq, one which has already done fighting. the leadership said they have not been formally asked for military assistance and you have any troops. they have left the door open to cooperating and planning. john kerry said we will do it but on an ad hoc basis. you can imagine what it means for the united states relationship. sunni-based, sunni countries in the area. chris and back home. there will be senators and republicans crying out. -- >> and back home. barrelsting one billion

of oil per day. can we keep them to sanctions if we are cooperating if they need us militarily? >> thank you. for more on the chinese premier li keqiang's three-day visit, we are joined by mark. good morning. thank you for joining us. in investment is expected to be announced and the next few days. play as london's role part in attracting that sort of investment from china? is the financial center and is important. without the- mechanisms, deals do not happen. we have been working hard. currencyith china and facilities they need. >> how difficult has it been over the three years to develop the relationship when there's been a diplomatic freeze between the two countries because of

david cameron's meeting with the dalai lama a year or two ago? have they been difficult to engender a close relation with china? evenout a year ago and when the freeze was going on, that was a lot of business contact. a lot was happening during that time at the political level we were not getting the contact we had before. ba london accounts for 2/3 r payments outside of china and hong kong. could we consolidate? >> london is the western center for trading. it is a very strong position. what you would expect. london is the largest foreign exchange center. it would be natural that it is concentrated in london. >> paris, luxembourg, they're all trying to get a slice of the pod -- pie. as long as the pie is getting

bigger, we can benefit. >> i would not put it like that necessarily. a lot of that business would london as well. we do not see it as competition. a lot of it is complementary. london works with hong kong and singapore and other centers. >> the clearer the bank, mark, operations -- has a been chosen? is that the case? >> there is speculation. there will be an official announcement and the next day or so. say, would -- let us be the only clearing bank or could there be more clear and the banks in the future? >> that would only be one of fish leave. but banks can clear in other ways. -- there would only be one unofficial leave.

exist.text that already it is cleared. it is clear to hong kong and done efficiently. it would help having it officially. >> would it boost the amount of done?ction being >> i am sure it would booze and give more liquidity to the market. another step in developing. boost aam sure it would give more liquidity to the market. views aligned are the between the two countries when it comes to regulation? works verylation well together especially the bank of england and the people's bank of china. the starting point is very different. london is successful because it is open and the chinese economy remains close and heavily regulated. to get the two working together as a starting point is not easy.

they were very well together and it is reflected on the work being done. freeze us.nked to we are hearing visa restrictions will be eased. -- >> it is linked to visas. strength inoded the terms of attracting foreign business. is that true? is that being a diplomat? or is that not necessarily the case? has it made more difficult for chinese businesses to do business here? >> i do not think it has made it more difficult. it is quite a complex system. it is one that is more difficult for chinese business people to use than if they are going to other parts of europe. we are very pleased they recognized as they are two new steps to make it easier for people to get visas and get to them quickly. we are in a global market where

things move very quickly and people want to be able to get visas quickly. and for some, it can take some time. pleased that progress is being made. >> do you think china will remain the second largest investor in london? do you think it will remain near the top of those levels? >> i am sure it will remain near the top and the volume to increase significantly. >> mark boleat, chairman of the policy at the city of london. your one thing to hold money in your hand, how secure is it in the cloud? we are live from the world cloud form -- forum. ♪

>> ♪ >> time for world cup news. germany beat portugal. under while from -- portugal team wasn't

[indiscernible] scoringe highest tournament in 50 years. erazilian supermodel gisell will present the trophy. the winner normally receives the trophy from the head of state of the host country. the british president is unpopular after spending $11 billion on the world cup. the globe reports that fee for has asked -- fifa has asked gisele to do the honors. the world cup has led to a bowl of counterfeit goods. chinese lawyers warned that people selling fake sick notes may be held liable.

welcome to "countdown." i am mark barton. world's leading cloudy evening kicks off today. it is cloud world forum. emerging areas, payments, raising the issue of how secure is it to send a money that way? caroline hyde is there. somebody there that might be able to answer that question. >> you are very right. i am joined by steve hammond. he is head of currency cloud. it is such an area of growth in london at the moment. first of all, let's focus in on what the cloud it means to you. how many doors doesn't have a -- does it have open? >> good morning. i am excited about cloud movement. it is liberating. it is removing barriers from

entry all over the place. it is really an exciting time. i am looking forward to the quality of your idea is a big impediment to your success. >> i love that you call it a movement. abouts a look a bit more what the cloud have allowed you to do and that business you are in. thatat it means for us is we can put together a series of solutions that orchestrate a payment which are very difficult to put together. there are regulatory issues, financial and operation issues. a softwareogether as platform and deliver to our consumers by a simple interface. what that means for them is they can pay as they go and grow the business appropriately. if you are a startup company and we have many that want to save that, we work with them so

they would bid to build the infrastructure from scratch from day one and can use hours -- with them so they would not be able to build the infrastructure from scratch from day one and ours.e >> you are business to business, helping other startups? >> that is right. >> making a payment and south african rand and we can make it easy for you. you are the impediment might be seeing in london infrastructure? is this an area of growth? beating the likes of california and new york. do you feel excitement? really an exciting place to be right now. london is an incredible magnet for talent. it draws people from all over the world. the time zones between southeast asia and america and europe.

it has a load of things going for it. a lot of money in the workspaces and investment into creating so we could be vibrant. we are super excited. see is want to investment continue. it does allow for great ideas to bubble to the surface. >> you talk about government investments to grow the tech. what about investors in your business? what kind of people are look to fund these startups? you are more than a start up now. you are a couple of years old. where is the money coming from at the moment? >> there are investment firms and software investment firms and these are people investing in companies. >> what about rival communities? berlin is getting in on the act. positive we are seeing

more technology hubs across europe and across the atlantic? >> i think so. it means that more and more money is being poured in. more ideas that can see the light of day. and more competition, a really positive thing for the space. >> one-to-one sync gets you excitement with the way the cloud is moving? we talked about $800 billion being poured in. what one thing gets you excited with the way the cloud is moving? setting up their own institutions? >> all of those things. it touches every single person, every single day. if you think about how you consume music, film, and so on, it is already part of our lives. consumers have made a choice. we are trying to work out how to make this proliferate.

>> no going back. a persond you say to who does not understand what the cloud is? half of the united states inks the weather affects your ability. is that one quick easy sentence to sum up what the cloud is and what it means for you and your business? >> this movement allows you to consume what you want when you want whenever you want. >> john hammond, thank you. commercial officer at currency cloud. is of the key companies that looking to animate. he does not like the word to disrupt but innovate when it comes to payments. >> thank you. caroline hyde act cloud world forum. she will be back a little bit later. highlights. germany beat portugal at the world cup. the spotlight. the full story is next in our

newspaper segment. ♪

>> welcome to "countdown." i am mark barton. just over an hour away from the start of european trading. top picks from the newspaper. is here.ere and mannus >> thank you.

just wait. .ensington palace i am not talking about prince george. london and the u.k. is the home to a pretty awesome stock. mayor -- meir as well with the wonder horse. p. think on the fla about royal ascot. no fences. i have done a lot of horse racing in my time. i will just eight more ryan chilcote for the moment. 125 pines. -- 138 covers. ,000 pounds. of 125 i know it boggles your mind. what is a cover?

it is all on. too. you, >> what is your greatest memory of horseracing? >> ascot, before they rebuild it. royal ascot in the evening. some very, very -- >> it leads into my story. müller. that is my story. it links. how many years ago? the name of the goal scorer. it is tom and -- it is thomas from germany. portugal did not turn up. one of their players got sent out. müller scored the most goals in south africa 4 years ago. ldo on his way out.

>> he is going for another double. the 5000 meter and 10,000 meter. there this next month. >> thank you. continues into next hour. stay with us. ♪

>> friends president francois hollande will meet with the chief executive of the engineering giants siemens and mitsubishi today as they come up with a fresh offer. bringing billions of pounds in investment to britain. >> condensing the cloud. we are live with some of the biggest names in tech at um. on's cloud world for >> hello, welcome to "countdown."

welcome to the second hour of the program. stay with bloomberg for two exclusive interviews this morning. moschino unveils its this morning. european car sales rising 4.3% in may. the ninth consecutive monthly gain. growing consumer confidence encouraging purchases of new models from the likes of rehn no, volkswagen and general motors. 1.13trations increased to million vehicles from 1.0 9 million a year earlier. five months sales gained 6.6% to 5.6 2 million cars third among

the top 10 car sellers in europe, registrations at third-ranked renault jumped the most in may at 18% with gains of 9.5 are sent for the market leader volkswagen at 4.2%. car sales in germany, which is europe's biggest market at about one quarter of deliveries rising 5.2% in may. that is in part thanks to an extra selling day. registration did fall 3.8% in italy, the only drop among auto markets.big nine is the magic number. european car sales rising for the ninth consecutive month. >> seven weeks after general electric made a bid for alstom energy assets, siemens has made a counter offer. for more.s in paris tell us about it. >> that's right, anna. the original idea was siemens of

creating two european champions, siemens is really interested in palestine's gas turbines. siemens is offering three .9 billion euros for alstom's gas turbines. in order to make the offer more attractive, the japanese partners of siemens, mitsubishi and he touchy, are offering 3.1 billion euros to create some kind of joint venture with alstom in other energy assets such as steam turbines and the power grid. on top of that, mitsubishi could for offer 900 million euros a 10% stake. siemens is saying is that there offer tops ge by one billion euros because it includes more assets. they knew that in order to

seduce the french government, they needed to add a little bit more than that, so they also decided to match ge's guarantee on jobs and to also offer to create 1000 jobs in the next three years. >> what about ge's potential reaction here? saying theyge is are not planning to enter in any bidding war with siemens, but of course ge knows that some analysts are starting to say might be moreid attractive, so ge will have to react. they have said in the past that their offer was flexible. they could offer more concessions to the french government. what kind of concessions? we will have to see. it could be more job guarantees, it could be transferring ge's rail business to oust him, but

ge for sure will need to keep lobbying in paris with the french government. consider both offers in the coming days. >> china's premier again his three-day visit to britain. here's what it means to businesses on the markets very at it is positive, because relationships between the two countries in the last three years have not been the best, have they? >> they certainly haven't. one could either choose icebox, deep-freeze or, bit like us when we have a fall over syntax of a story. i go one way and you go the opposite direction. it is a recalibration of the sino-u.k. relationship. the two things that you don't do if you want to have good relations with china? to be fair, david cameron making the point.

it is an official visit, not a state visit, a little bit less about the queen and more about .ameron and business both have a lot to deal with. lee said he wanted to change the misperceptions. under his tenure, exports have risen by 50%. worth of bilateral trade. it is critical to get this relationship right. is the number three relationship .a. itthe eu and the u.s. is very important for both sides to posture friendly. >> we have got some information on where some of that investing in the u.k. is going to take thesvisa indeed around

ules. i business,business of as i say, what you have is the cmi. this is the largest or investment group out of china, already committing one .5 billion dollars of certain trophy investments. small and medium enterprises are on the roster, but infrastructure is fairly important. you have a nuclear commitment mnc, cm and see, cgm -- c nuclear power in europe. americans would like them to invest in nuclear power. for me, the magical issue is this, probably because i come

from a markets background. this is a critically important issue for the city of london and financial markets. this is the second biggest bank in china. there are many ways to skin a cat, as they say. what may be used to be the prime business of the city of london migrates and changes. today it looks east. >> manus cranny, thanks so much. > london's cloud world for um, there are a lot of myths about what is and what it isn't. our european business correspondent caroline hyde is clear thingsto up. good morning, caroline. >> get this, adventure capital firm north ridge did some

research. apparently, more than half the people in the united states say -- that they took data from say that car -- cloud computing could be affected by stormy weather. they don't exactly know what cloud computing is at all. the levels of money going into it is quite phenomenal. more than $800 billion could be flowing in over the next four years in investment in cloud byputing by businesses and individuals. that could have an even bigger effect on the economy. mckinsey consultants think we could add up to $6.2 trillion by 2025, just by embracing the cloud. you and i already use the clout. use there using -- cloud. if you're using or accessing data from any device or on the world, you are cloud.

you're making your smart phone or tablet a window into your data. businesses, it is enormous. it means that they can just set people free from their desks. they can be working from home or working on the train, accessing the e-mails, accessing the manipulation of word documents, excel spreadsheets, all the time while they're not at their desks. you can become far more efficient. this is the capacity of growth, mark. will you beerviews bringing us today? i know you have a number of guest joining you throughout the morning, there. we're talking about these business opportunities. here's winning and who is losing -- who is winning and who is losing. called box which is seeing money flow into them in the billions of dollars. we have some of the old guard

like microsoft and ibm really starting to harness the cloud, wanting to provide new software. microsoft is key among them, offering office 365. timmy up with salesforce and with -- teaming up salesforce and apple. i love this name. speaking to the chief envisioning officer. we'll be talking to him in the 10:00 hour to discuss how microsoft is driving this forward. satya nadella really wants to bring cloud computing first. he feels that's where the money is, that is where the growth is for microsoft. we will also be speaking to ippe botterie. will be

speaking to her the opportunities lie for investors in the cloud. how much is this disrupting current institutions, current businesses. we are talking financial technologies been taxed, how much cloud computing is helping growth there. and area were london is pioneering, beating the rest of the technology hubs out there with the amount of people and new start ups we have. all of that still to come, mark. we will also talk about how much you can save in energy. if you move all her e-mail and works in businesses to the cloud, many feel that could cut energy use is by 87% at work, because we will have more consolidated data hubs out there. the latest big changes to come by moving to the cloud. i will be back in a moment. caroline. chief envisioning officer. >> you can't have the job if you

can't say it. i envision a break, that's what i envision. up next, its a tech panel that iss.don't want to m sharing cars insuring parking spaces, that is coming up next. ♪

>> time for today's company news . ing group, the biggest dutch financial services company is seeking 1.5 alien euros in its i d.o. unit. its ipo unit. siemens is partnering with two of japan's biggest industrial manufacturers as it seeks to carve up alstom's energy and transportation assets with mitsubishi heavy industries and hitachi, while potentially combining siemens and alstom's transport assets. the company is accelerating its asset sales.

itsl will eventually sell 23% holding because it was no longer strategic. "countdown."to i'm mark barton. >> it is 16 minutes past seven. the rise of the cloud has propelled the growth of the sharing economy. we are joined by executives into companies which are leading in sharing cars and parking spaces. thank you very much for coming in to talk to us. mark, let's come to you first. we have talked quite a while about the sharing economy. i would just on the start of that journey? >> i think so, yes. when it comes to sharing cars, which is what zip car specializes in, we have done a great job of getting the early adopters into car sharing, but our next challenge is to go mainstream. the reason for that is that's what our cities really need if we are to relieve the congestion

and the parking stress and of course the pollution that we face day-to-day. >> you provide the cars that people than share. it there going to be an evolution of the business model into sharing existing cars that people already own? or is that some of the else's job? >> we'll see all kinds of models emerging overtime. the model you just described, that your to piedmont will, is something that is already out there. over time, we will see different models and people using them for different types of trips as they see fit. is increasingly turning to the sharing idea? >> you're talking about large businesses? >> it depends on the sector. if you look at the automated sector, bmw has invested in park at my house and industry as a whole has moved positively towards this trend. if you look at the accommodations are, some of the large incumbents like hilg

hilton and continental, they have reacted with panic. they are resorting to lawyers instead. >> we will fine you if you rent your car parking space out. those problems have been overcome, haven't they? >> there's a thing called a use classes planning order. some counselors were saying that by renting a parking space or a driveway on park at my house, you're turning your home into a car park. most people thought it was silly. as a result of this, people are saying you can get a fine of up to 20,000 pounds just for renting out your driveway. middle-of-the-road, law-abiding people who are getting a bit of a shock. is guidance there from central government saying

that homeowners can rent out their driveways to park at my house. >> do you think that authorities -- that if authorities made it easier, you this would allow sharing types of businesses to grow? >> i think they broadly have. it is a difficult thing to do. a lot of these companies are doing things that haven't been done before at scale. regulators and the government will always be playing catch-up heard broadly speaking, the government has done a fantastic job. a roundtable put on a few months ago, more broadly what they have has all been incredibly positive. >> you have done some research, haven't you, mark? , if britain could save by embracing the pay as you live shammond traditional owning of goods and services.

goods and shared goods instead. of the country is already using shared services in some form or other. they're saving around 530 pounds a year by so doing. when you multiply that up across the adult population, that is over 12 billion pounds a year that they are saving. it is already happening. this, sharingy to itself is not an issue, it is an ancient form of communities working together. as we come a bit disconnected in the last 50 years or so, today's technology allows us to reconnect through the broadband, through our mobile apps, and then exchange goods and services face-to-face. it has this other value, which is reconnecting communities. somerks product has

control. when they find a zip car they have some idea what they're going to get hurt with your product, you don't really have much control over the state of the parking space, do you? what to say that the user doesn't get a dreadful experience for whatever reason and then associate your company rightly or wrongly with that? pocket my house is a peer to peer model. these systems work for a well because of the review system above all. on part of my house there are over 200,000 reviews. people will leave comments about the space. >> people the very granular and ul reviews about the spaces. micro entrepreneurs are highly infant -- incentivized to do a

good job. if you don't do a good job, you will not make much money. >> both models will survive in the sharing economy? >> absolutely. i think there will be -- if you take car sharing, it is very well suited to urban environments where space is at a premium and people need a car only occasionally, because most of the time they are traveling on public transport. of life asabout time well. when people are single and they're working hard, it suits them absolutely perfectly. as a move further out of town and have children and settle down, maybe they do need to own a car. a temporal thing as well. >> thank you so much for joining us, mark walker from sid car. zipcar. e si

♪ 11

>> time in london is 7:26. for more on the gas situation, let's welcome the chief and ryan chilcote.

>> it is been two days since your talk with the russians collapsed, one day since the deadline expired and they stopped providing you with gas. i understand you have a delegation headed to europe this morning. how much of that russian gas do you expect to replace as a 's workof this delegation ? >> actually, it is possible that all imports necessary to supply ukrainian consumers can be replaced from europe. we need to unlock directly from slovakia through major pipeline which has been utilized. well known to the whole world,

who have made already several az. it is thetog issue of capacity which should be available. >> how long do you believe you can go without signing another deal with the russians for gas? >> quite long. >> the russians say there is no way you will make it through the winter without their gas. >> it will be quite a complicated job if we do not supplies inent europe. that is why it is crucial for us to resolve this situation. but one important thing which everyone must understand, we have no choice. there's no other option for us on the table. if we do not resolve the issue right now, russians will do the same in december as they usually

did. the positive side of the situation is that we have this conflict during the summer. had we agree to this problem, the same problem would b

the situation couldn't be much worse. give us a little color about the situation around the table. >> it is very different from day to day. the political situation is very unstable. we actually have ward there. there. war probably there were seven days when we were discussing with mr. miller the gas price in sectors in a very constructive manner. the something changed and gazprom delegation came back with the same approach that there should be a price change mechanism. at that point i clearly

understood that we are wasting time and we need to wait when russians will pull out of the discussion, which actually happened. >> on to ask you one final stream, about south something that maybe not all our viewers know about. gas pipeline would bring from western europe and go around ukraine. the russians say it is a good option because ukraine has been so difficult as a transit company in the past -- as he transit -- is a transit country in the past. it sounds a little more favorable -- like a more favorable view of the construction of this pipeline. there are more than a little concerned about their ability to get their gas come this winter. thatoncerned are you ukraine may just be left out as a transit country, and that that you is prepared to do that?

you're not proving to be a -- a very reliable negotiating partner with the russians? streamlieve that south is one of the key targets why this was created. russians have created an artificial gas crisis. negotiate, fail to or to reach compromise, and it was not possible, they claim that europe needs south stream. russians will be able to choose any route they like. to that, they would blackmail other transit countries including potentially new transit countries through which south stream could be constructed. we think it is just your blackmail. togaz. ceo of naft

>> mark, checking in the on the rupee. emerging markets are also very much in play and in focus. with that in mind, look at the price index coming out higher than expected. what you're looking at here is .he rupee paring its losses the dollar rising and the rupee falling. the cost of energy potentially rising in the imports a great deal in terms of energy. india, theybank of say don't worry about the external issues. that is given the rupee a little bit of a reprieve. remove the agenda slightly further south of india into australia, the aussie dollar is

declining. a sickly, the reserve bank of putting benchmark rates at a record low. that was a little bit of a shock for markets. tone.a keeping a dovish you're just seeing the ozzie dollar, a little bit lower this morning. 9354, 93 29 is your next support level on the ozzie dollar -- on the aussie dollar/dollar. for more, we're joined now for an exclusive interview with the ceo seated -- stephen stone. 26%.ue up by some it up for us. >> these are our interim results, of course. a good start to our first six

months, assisted by help to buy. to -- of course what we need is improved consensus. a very good first half for us. prices depends where you are in the country. i think is fair to say that london has been pretty racy for one or two years right now, that'll did -- double-digit inflation. parts of the southwest in east and west midlands are probably below the prices they were in 2007. enersys to stage housing economy. of the spc meeting today. you won't find out today what they conclude, but we will find out soon. there's been a lot of talk about whether they should apply some

downward pressure to the housing market in some way, get out there toolbox. would you think they will or should do? >> doing something with interest rates are cap snuck going to have a great impact. what you have to do in london is build more homes. i think it is important because we have a dual stage housing economy. we don't have a knee-jerk reaction to london which is going to throttle back the rest of the country. >> i know you have spoken in the past about needing more supply. have said there are brownfield sites are on the u.k. that we can build on. to third queries -- do you think we need to build on green belt land? 78% of our sides were on

brownfield. unless we start to look at green , we have a housing problem. as regards to green belt, the way the government are tacking at the moment is to say to the community, you need a five-year land supply and it is for you to judge with that is best put. if that means rolling back the green belts, we will support you. thank you for joining us. for those out there that aren't well-versed in planning laws and the greenbelt policy, tell us why they are flawed. >> they were set in place two generations ago, 1955, the greenbelt dan was established very people don't understand how huge an area the country is covered by a greenbelt as a

nation. the london greenbelt covers 3.5 times as much land as the whole of the gl a area. you have about 20% of the area that is greenbelt. you have at least three to stage for example. you can't build houses around them. we're spending 18 billion pounds of money on crossrail, a very good thing, but you can't build stations around the houses around the stations on crossrail because they are in the greenbelt. of course, we need to preserve land which is environmentally valuable, which has high immunity quality, but a lot of the greenbelt is not, it is simply fairly rubbishy sort of land, it is golf courses and intensive arable land. >> don't think your major suffered popular. have too many golf courses in this country.

revenues, but in surrey it happens. the houses in surrey cover only about two points -- 2.07% and golf courses cover 2.7%. >> there is more land under golf courses. >> the gardens are very green. >> what about the point stephen was making previously about brownfield sites? you don't think there are enough? >> there are not nearly enough. ridiculously where housing is concerned. in berkeley iste not operable to someone who wants a live near cambridge where there are jobs. any change to planning rules?

will there be any major changes to laws of the been in place for decades or will we see crinkling around the edges of planning rules? >> that is been abandoned towards localism. you're asking local people to assess their own housing needs and then to decide where they feel is appropriate in their area. if history is anything to go by, it will be tinkering around the edges unless we do something radical, i'm afraid the supplies issue will continue for another decade. it is not a good situation for people who want to see shelter. point. come back to that >> the demand for housing is driven by rising incomes. irrelevant. real incomes to

rise. as the rise, the demand for housing increases. the has -- because we have such a rigid supply, the prices go up. goinga problem which is to get successively worse over time and more divisive in our society between the housing halves and housing have-nots -- ves and the ha housing have-nots. >> what about when foreigners come with money and buying property instead of putting it into a bank account? is this an overstated contributor to higher prices and housing? release therately houses to the london market first heard that does mean overseas buyers can buy them, but we don't go overseas. one of the differences i've seen is thatast two months

housing now seems to be one of the top five items politically, labor ort be the dems the tories. >> are they talking about cartons cities or greenbelt reviews and five-year land surprised. with tinkering, it just needs a real focus. postelection that will happen. they have little real power to influence it. thet is ridiculous that bank which should be worrying about the real economy is spending so much attention on the housing market. that shouldn't be what drives monetary policy. given the situation we have put ourselves in by these policies, it is having to pay attention. >> you expect more haphazard appearances of town blocks in

london. fewer skyscrapers per capita than any other city in the world because if you look at a map of london, it is -- there's almost no whether you can put a skyscraper because 73% --westminster is a constant famouseve there is a oak tree and you have to be over to see saint paul's and that oak tree. gentlemen, thank you very much. great conversation. thank you both of you very much. could behing you own adopted. what if you speak with the cofounder that hopes to bring out the collective in all of us. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." is seven: 46 here in london. here is a scenario never wrote

.- it is 7:46 here in london here's a scenario you never want to go through. thank you very much for joining us today. >> what was the inspiration back in 2005 when you lost your luggage? >> it wasn't inspiring, actually, it was annoying. the fact that it took us weeks to fill out an insurance claim form was a nightmare, as you probably know. having the database of your stuff following you wherever you go see you can access it, the insurance company was asking me what is the serial number on your watch, give us the receipt on this computer. who keeps? i have a drawer at home and you're supposed to keep all of that? there is chocolate and pens that don't work. we sett is precisely why up to launch snaps. i want a database that follows

me. >> you have people putting their life in the cloud, if you like, to be able to access it like -- for things like insurance claims. it has also morphed into a place where people can share their collections with others. what two people collect? from stary everything wars figurines to whine to art to watch his tissues to handbags. we are all hoarders of some sort or another. some are obsessive about it and others are casual collectors. i collect a lot of stuff. literally, the stuff we are uppsected to is why sn was born. we have lots of stuff. it is out of sight and out of mind. this is to bring out the collector in all of us, but in a very simple and intuitive form.

i wanted something dummy proof so i can just literally go click click click and arrange it, drag and drop it on shelves and forget about it. the business model? i know you have had $5 million ceo of funding from a dane group in saudi arabia. >> ultimately, this group is going to become a delightful experience for most users. --white want to copy a model if i want to copy a model, it would be pinterest. exactly what ben did. i write and contract -- and contact and speak to my early users. we are all constantly reaching out to our early adopters and snupps? wedo you use

want to make people -- you want to make sure people are using it and they love it. >> how big? >> big. >> we want to be the largest place where people actually connect around their stuff, the stuff that they own and cherish and love. >> you standing over there. -- he is standing over there. >> this generation is constantly using apps. basedof the ideas are from him. i am not a big social guy when it comes to apps. .e is the organizer bit is really my area.

i am still his dad and i still boss him around. >> if you lose your belongings, it is a perfect place to store them. if they are stolen, my first iought about the idea, thought if you had all your personal artifacts stored in the cloud, it has to be secure. >> absolutely. it is as secure as we can make it. nothing is totally hack proof. that is why we made the verytration process simple. you can have the name superman and no one will know who you are. unless someone uses the database , you can divulge very little about yourself. to make ity trying

as easy as possible. >> thank you for joining us today. >> thank you -- come back and see us when you are big. up next, with less than 10 minutes to go until the european open, we will talk to manus to find out what is moving in the markets. ♪

>> i'm anna edwards. 7:54 in london. >> hire opening across the

opening acrosser the markets. the bank of england will be watching. let's have a look at the board for data, followed by germany. futures are slightly higher. there is there is data slate. keep an eye on auto stocks. nine months consecutive sales rising. let's have a look at those three stocks. they will be in play today. we haven't seen a drop in emerging markets. for fivet seen a drop days in a row since january. and then a little bit of a month. it could be a bumpy old ride.

>> manus, thank you very much. "on the move" is next. obama'sbe looking at mideast dilemma. stay with bloomberg. ♪

>> welcome. investors weighed the significance of a return to iraq as oil prices return to recent highs. ask the u.s. is sending troops to iraq. the obama administration is sending just over 300 soldiers to iraq. another city has fallen to insurgents. the u.s. says they are willing to talk to iran about coordinating efforts in iraq.

>> the battle for ahlstrom heats up as siemens and mitsubishi launched a counter offer. the companies are in paris to meet with the french president. to see a bidding war with ge? i will tell you in a moment. >> thank you very much. the world cloud for him is the biggest event. you have microsoft, dropbox. all the new players trying to hone in on investments. we are expecting $800 billion over the next four years. still half of americans don't understand what cloud computing is. they worry that a weather will affect your ability to get access to your data.