a setback. the dow jones closing at a record as u.s. stocks go higher. and vodafone set to get the thumbs up. --t eu welcome to "countdown." i am anna edwards. a warm welcome to the program. it is 6:00 in london. the former french president is

under formal investigation for the allegedly peddling. ofre was 15 hours questioning in paris. we can go to the french capital conna.ak to carolyine -- connan. >> good morning, anna. in 2012his immunity when he lost that election against francois hollande. he is not been charged yet. just being placed under formal investigation. he is accused of writing a high-ranking judge by asking confidential information in -- as government advisor in month ago -- monaco. there was another investigation

into illegal financing of his political campaign. , it is being said that he knew that it was going to be tough. nicolas sarkozy has denied any wrongdoing. some of the political allies are accusing the left-wing party. to prevent his comeback. with widelyozy respected to make his comeback as soon as this fall to regain their leadership of the right wing party that has been damaged by political infighting and in the long-term, to possibly run against president hollande in the next presidential election. >> thank you.

caroline connan reporting from paris. let's take a look at the markets. s&p foundow and the new records in yesterday's trade. signaling perhaps a bullish start. can that rally be sustained? manus cranny is here. good morning. whether itys worry her else all of the voices -- heralds all of the voices. it is an old rally. it is five years old. small caps rally and transport rally. they all took flight. i like what mohammed said in his recent piece. re: ready for liftoff? -- are we ready for liftoff. i think we should focus on this.

financial booms sprinkle fairy dust of delusional riches. is that where we are? the march of these markets? it is valuation versus reality of profits. we're just about to get the curtain raiser on profits. it has been more than two years since they were utah -- saw a drop. it is alums equity rally in 85 years. in 85 years.lly there is a theory or have transport and industry both cracking along together. stats. amazing low volatility, what does that tell us? >> i am a great believer in

options. i'm a great believer in pain. a little bit of value to protect you for the long time. exposed.eft very er said if you have a look at the volatility, crashing below the 20 level, go back to the last big rally everyone remembers. volatility is not a bearish signal they say back in the 1990's that the s&p actually perform when volatility was low. my challenge is that oppenheimer would say that is all very well. 1990's, nonein the of our central banks were slamming the market. challenge, myy

humble challenge. , what are thenth markets telling us? >> be worried. pricing in a very different decision in the u.s. and the u.k. five are marching ahead. that is concurrent with the view that it would rise. the fed, look at the tenure and the five-year. u.k. are below the the u.s. will go later than the u.k., but what we got yesterday in terms of manufacturing, autos, etc., the bond market might be a little filter. early becauseday friday is a holiday in the u.k. thank you very much.

the acquisition is part of a wave of colonization best consolidation sweeping the industry. airline hine joins us now. good morning -- caroline hyde joins us now. good morning. this will not stop taking place question might >> exactly -- this will not stop taking place? >> exactly. maybe it should not come as a surprise. -- sheve been trying to wants a single market for telecommunications. she wants to break down the. . they unveiled that they would be .lashing costs more than half the price now if you want access our data. if you will be imposing that sort of look for that market and

you're going to be breaking down there is, you have got to be aware you'll break down barriers in terms of m&a as well. it will not get the revenue streams from us traveling. they need revenue from somewhere else. at the same time come injecting money into building out the network and improving it, we want more and more facebook on our phone. you need improvement and infrastructure. please allow us to consolidate and make transactions. otherwise, this is a round peg in a square hole. .t is worth remembering why have you got -- 27%fone will get from ono market share and cost savings of 2 billion euros. he will also be 1.9 million

customers. they need to be a bigger force in spain. are they going to be investing in more mergers and acquisition? vodafone has been trying to get ande other revenue streams something a little more attached to the ground. >> yes, it data. he doesn't want to just access your data. it via television by vodafone and in your home. he wants vodafone to be an ecosystem for us. companies. up these he has been making purchases in spain. the next area he could be looking at is an elite. it is the third biggest market after germany and the united kingdom comes italy. in italy, there is an erosion in

revenue and the amount of customers. many have started to think maybe they could go back and try to get ahold of fast web good to try to buy it in 2011. they do not manage to get their hands on it. they analyze wind. this is not just vodafone. we have had liberty global. there is also a cable company. consolidation is a theme. caroline hyde, but the latest on vodafone. let's get an update on what happened at jpmorgan. jamie dimon has announced that he has cancer. he started treatment and will run the company as normal.

n says that his concert was caught quickly -- cancer was caught quickly and is curable. jpmorgan became the largest u.s. bank and shares have climbed 45% over his tenure today. coming up on bloomberg, we will get the reaction to the simmons latest figures said -- latest figures. we talkr on "the pulse" about the state of the u.k. housing markets. program, should the alarm bells burying? -- be ringing? we might be in re-crisis territory in markets. ♪

>> time for today's company news. bmw plans to invest $1 billion in a new factory in mexico. this plan will be bmw's second in north america and mostar start production in 2019. uw is the last of the top three luxury car makers for plans to build cars in mexico.

u.s. sales grew last month. sales of the a3 sedan that has a starting price of under $3000 attractive younger buyers. and a possible bidding war for club med shares. they say they plan to make a bid evaluating the holiday company. welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. the 10th in london is a quarter past 6:00 this wednesday morning. n london is a quarter past 6:00 this wednesday morning. how long will it last? joining us is my guest. see you.at to let's talk about these new highs on the u.s. markets. the rally is now five years old. how old can get? >> we are sure everything is

fine. he will have low rates forever. we get these kinds of assurances. we have the suspicion that now.n put in place we have money being printed in japan. there is a strong bet there'll be money printing in europe toward the end of this year. we have incredibly low volatility. >> tell me about the historical context. we have heard mixed views on whether it is a precursor. >> there have been occasions. it was just before the asian crisis. just before the dot com

collapsed. there is a similar complacency. we had similar low levels of volatility. >> why is that dangerous? is it a precarious place to be? complacent.feels everyone hunts for yields. spreads incredible low on the credit. you have a general feeling of complacency through the markets. >> it is harboring any -- hovering. how low can they get? what are they telling us if they get lower? >> it will not see another 50 basis points. certainly in greece and in spain in italy, we have dutch bonds yielding the lowest of 500 years apparently. a good run in had

risky markets, maybe equity markets, it is a time to slowly divest. i'm not a predictor of doom, but leave some chips on the table. >> you are not predicting doom. it does make you feel a bit nervous. just how risk-averse would you suggest people become in the second half of the year? to awould choose a period safer level of investment so to speak. would you want to reduce your risky exposures and holdings every month? >> we mentioned peripheral bond yields. you think there could be more quantitative easing. what makes you think that? >> it has been as low as 0.5%. it will start to pick up.

wouldn't they have done it now with the unemployment situation? what is it that will be finally the thing that tipped them over the edge? >> never underestimate the inertia of the ecb. is getting them to be unanimous and dropping is doing up -- draghi is doing a fantastic job so far. cutting rates negative for instance. personally, i do not see why we have to stop at those basis points. there is a great experiment for the ecb. 10 basis points. let's see what happens. >> do you think anything they have been doing so far will be? think interest rates and

inflation adjustment -- 12 months up to april, we thinking to account weaker inflation? they haven't necessarily been paying less. have been very careful with their balance sheets. there is a complete paradox. >> the push and the poll. >> exactly. >> nick beecroft, more from him when we return. you are watching "countdown." ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. i am here with nick beecroft. nick, let's talk about if there were to be a correction, where there be a change of direction? where is the spark going to come from? -- where is the spark going to come from? property prices fell in china. you can get it by back on house. if you could get a house, they would buy it back from you and 40% higher than you pay for it now in five years. that is an interesting development in chinese

properties. >> right. >> what would you make of china? i am pretty sanguine on china. this is a country with enormous reserves. we are seeing the tweaking of stimulus. reducing reserve requirements, etc. the authorities are all over it. i'm very sanguine about china. >> if there is going to be a catalyst, what it is it likely to be? >> with the exception that major central banks -- maybe the fed are behind the curve.

yellen could say the figures are just noise. shut up follow that and follow me. wouldrice for the markets be a sudden change of direction on the part of the fed that rates will have to go come sooner than expected. >> we seem to be in a period where markets have been hanging on every word of janet yellen. are we getting to a point where data will be in the driving seat? they have had us in the thrall for a number of years now . they have been on top of the markets. in the u.k., it has been a tough first year. with a threshold on on employment. we are told that rates will be low forever. then the bank of england was a

price the market is expecting that is contradictory -- was surprised the market is expecting that is contradictory. if you like losing the grip of the markets -- at least the direction of inflation has been down. it >> it has. what we need to do is watch earnings like a hawk both in the u.k. and the u.s. that is the first sign of any trouble on that front. >> great to get your thoughts. nick beecroft joining us from capital markets. coming up, vodafone is the to increase its share of spain's mobile market. that is coming up. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. let's head out to manus cranny for the fx check. today.-dollar just below i will bring you some shocking news from the french prime minister. this currency is overvalued. bad for industry bad for growth. the ecb needs to go further. that was the moment in time he spoke with this morning. that information hit. janet yellen speaks with the

imf. says to sell or fade those rallies. something from barely 24 hours ago. it is having a great run. this morning we come back. a little bit worse than the market and it -- ended. -- keen an eye on that. finally come a let's have a look at australia here yesterday it was a something moment. there it was. we had the manufacturing surprised. we get construction data today good will see what impact that has. >> thank you very much.

these are the bloomberg top headlines. is under formal investigation for allegedly peddling influence according to agencyds -- french news in. sarkozy denies allegations. ukraine, minister from russia, germany, and france plan to meet after president vowed to take region from the violence torn east. the a showing teenager is the first man in a decade to reach the quarterfinals in his debut. spain's is edging into mobile market with its $10 billion acquisition. now.wner joins us

thank you for coming in. let's talk about this ono deal. likely to be approved? morning. i think it is likely to be confirmed. the competition if you -- issue makes it tricky across the market. it is not like the u.s. where there's a unified policy. >> tell me about that. i spoke to people who have been suggesting that they do want to treat the whole of europe is one big space in terms of competition. there are many more smaller players there are in the united states. what would there be competition issues. want to make it a flat market as they should be. they want to make it a flat, economic playing field.

how do they achieve that while allowing competition? these same time, allowed mergers to make financial sense of the companies involved? the issues are significant at the moment. they're concerned about the amount being invested in the network. we have to scale up in order to continue to force on upgrading their networks. regulators be worried about the balance sheet. isn't it up to them to talk about which risk appetite they want? -- explain to me why. >> they have a responsibility by definition. the purpose is to make sure gdp grows in terms of their responsibilities across the union. if you don't have competition --

they want them to prosper. if you don't have competition, that means you don't get gdp growth. .he economy stagnate your face is a huge challenge for the companies -- countries that are still developing their infrastructures. >> is it the right move for companies to move away from being a wireless provider into a cable company such as ono? >> it is a bit of a misnomer. it is only the last part of that network that is mobile. what they are doing is it is not a change. they buy is a good idea. the reason it is a good idea is because in the end, it is better

to go along fiber-optic. it is a more economically efficient process. the fundamentals are there to move toward a fiber-optic cable and the cable operators have most of that. the issue with the building is it might look attractive, but it is a time issue. by the time you put down your table, you may find it has been innovation in the optics, etc., etc. yet the other issue of getting the right away. it is not getting cheaper. , arecompany like vodafone they taking on too much debt to do these big acquisitions? is there a price worth paying because they need to invest in and for structure? that level is not insurmountable. i think it is around 2.1 or

2.15. i'm not sure it is that big of a problem. telcos have a remarkable ability to generate nothing but cash when they choose to do so. people look at longtime contracts. if you want to stop spending on your network and just squeeze the company for cash, that is quite possible to do. not sure it is that big of an issue. it is something to watch clearly. >> what are the weak points for vodafone? say that the profits will be 11% lower than they were previously because of price wars. where are the weakest points? >> we're not so worried about the net income level. that in itself is likely to decline somewhere else. the issue is there now on the downside. they are concentrated in one

geographical mass. it is politically fragmented. that is the issue. a number of those economies are moving slowly, if growing at all in real terms. that is their challenge. they do have a geographical advantage of having network in the same space. what we are all hoping is for a playing field. europe has to keep innovating and growing. the regulator has to keep helping. >> christopher, thank you. great to have your thoughts. let's move on. virgin atlantic turned 30 last month. it is celebrating with a high-fashion makeover. westwoodd new vivian crew uniforms last night -- they unveiled new vivian westwood for uniforms last night. these uniforms are not the only signs of a revamp at the airlines. >> they will get dreamliner's in

september. it'll be interesting as to what those will look like. i did ask if they could give hints on what inspiration would be. both the uniforms and the new planes are so important for virgin. the brand is essential in terms edginessng the hip, the of the brand. >> they didn't look about punk. vivian westwood designs them. you could see her influence. crews walk virgin seven miles per flight. you can see how the shoes have to be appropriate. you mentioned you were looking for clues as to what they're going to be buying. there are number of aircraft. >> absolutely. they will be getting a

dreamliners. they are considering another order that they will consider. they are keeping their options in for the dreamliner stretch and the 777. says it is not an essential issue. they can extend the lease. again, this is about keeping the brand fresh. it is great to have new uniforms and all of that stuff. when you are the passenger, you care about entertainment, deceit, the food, the in-flight experience. those are the things -- the food, then fight experience. those are the things customers care about. you do notsaying have your finger on the pop-culture? [laughter]

let's talk but his goal to make the company profitable again. he has been there for 18 months. how is he doing? losses.have had their he has bedded in a relationship with delta -- betted in a relationship with delta. he has definitely been influential in getting that to work. their service is facing some issues. the summer will be interesting. you have norwegian air that is starting services from gatwick today, we will have to see if the demand is there to keep prices for virgin. >> thank you. it seems like two letters are all you need for an app to go viral. we have a preview of how the yo

app works. >> yes. after the break, i give you all app.etails this little there you go. it is about everything and nothing. it took about eight hours to build. i will be telling you what it is all about after the break. ♪

>> welcome back. time for today's world cup news. they'll jump has secured its spot in the quarterfinals. has secured its spot in the quarterfinals. cameroon's football investigation is looking into allegations that a player fixed games at the world cup. cameroon lost all of its matches and was eliminated with the worst record. resilient football fans are collecting beer and drink cups sold at the side of the world -- brazilian football fans are collecting beer and drink cups sold at the site of the world cup. welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. the time in london at 6:45 a.m.

$90 million was awakened box office sales -- weekend box office sales for "transformers: age of extinction." china.shot partially in >> it certainly was. the morning to you. $90 million. it was $100 million. a strong support. the film has all of the elements of hong kong in it. you see the ferry there that is recognizable in many elements of chinese culture very shots of the great wall. you can understand why many fans lined the street of hong kong last month to catch a glimpse of the stars mark wahlberg and a number of chinese favorites.

the movie has turned into a box office smash hit in china. that is partly because it features so heavily chinese actresses. $90 million the first weekend was set. the franchise earned $56 million in 2011. china is the second biggest box office globally. if you look at the estimate, box office sales in china for the year is likely to be about $5 billion. beside levin billion dollars in the u.s. -- we saw $11 billion in the u.s. china is close. >> thank you. is one of the i did is used to describe the phenomenon yo. you message your friends with the word yo. . have never been i will attempt to yo you live a

television. did that work? takesll see how long it to travel across europe over here to the eastern shores of the mediterranean. should take a few seconds. i know you sent me one earlier. >> yo! that. heard it really took off and spread around the world. 1.7 million downloads. it is a record. >> yo! yo! >> thank you. i'm getting lots of those. course, like seinfeld with the show, this is the app about nothing herein it is two letters. you tap it and a sense yo -- it sends yo to whoever you sent it to.

i asked the ceo -- why? >> sometimes you don't say anything else other than yo. a simple yo gets the message. that is it. it is an efficient way to say stuff. like i'm thinking of you to your wife or come to the office. is that the same as saying i'm thinking of you or i love you? >> yeah. i'm thinking about you. send. >>i need to tap it and see it. there is one on my screen. who says romance is dead? happy birthday. yo happy anniversary. yo. >> i love his comment. it is very efficient to say

stuff. yo. how will the company sustained growth? that is ok. it is not just use sending these to me right now. they are playing with the idea of how to turn it into a business. there time you attach a link to a youtube video by yo. you send them content that you think is interesting. it took eight hours to build. if underground of more than $1.2 million -- funding round of more than $1.2 million. they wanted to be responsive all . they wanted to strike a balance. if it doesn't turn out to be viable, potentially losing shares. not bad for eight hours of

work. thank you. coming up, another upset at wimbledon as rafael nadal. a 19 old player -- to a 19-year-old player. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. the time in london is 6:53 a.m.

let's take a break and talk about what is in today's newspapers. caroline hyde is poring over details of her story. ryan chilcote is with us as well. >> i'm going to talk about what is one of the most astonishing scenes people have seen in mobile dan in years. -- wimbledon. serena williams unable to hit tennis ball over the net. she had a complete meltdown. a viral bug. she literally could not get the ball over the net and couldn't even bounce the ball. a one-point, the umpire asked if she wants to continue. want to continue went back on and lost another game. it was a complete implosion. people were shocked. it was difficult to watch. she wept on court and she and her sister conceded. some of the best have dark moments. >> we'll come back to tennis any

moment. >> this is pretty amazing. this is about tinder. this is a dating app that has gone beyond viral. [laughter] >> and thinking about how to go from tennis to tinder. [laughter] is quite female friendly. women have really taken on this app. actuallye women is filing explained -- complained that she has suffered atrocious sexual harassment. she is dating the marketing that her who said presence among -- made the company look like a joke. to have a fema that young doing well -- female that young doing

well and going against the app she helped found is a sad tale. ,> whoever hasn't seen the app you have to try it to understand the absurdity. >> we will go back to tennis for a moment and talk about nadal leaving the wimbledon. his opponent beat him. the 19-year-old from australia at 144th in the world and he has been the number one. that the it sweet is greatest australian tennis player was in the crowd to watch this happen. he was the first player ranked outside the top 100 to beat the card-carrying number one player yr was1992 when jim fur put out. >> a great thing to watch.

thank you both very much. continues in the next hour. we will talk about housing in the u.k. ♪

setback.y's comeback the former french president since accused of corruption. just short of 17,000. the dow jones close as a record. vodafone is expected to get a thumbs-up. >> welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. it is 7:00 you're in london. let's take a quick look at some of the breaking numbers.

the u.k. housing markets, one of the u.k. house builders giving us their numbers. first-half revenues rising 33%. on completion up 28%. priceerage completion rising 4%. no surprise that we are seeing these numbers on the rise in the housing market that has been doing strongly. the latest on mortgages suggested that we perhaps were coming off of the recent highs in the term of mortgage approval in the u.k. economy. interesting to get the perspective of the management team over that person. we will be speaking to the ceo atpersimmon, just server, 7:30 from now. nicolas sarkozy, the former french president is now under

investigation. we go live to the french capital to speak with erling conan -- caroline connan. >> is the first time in recent history that a french president has been taken into custody. he spent 15 hours in an and has beenn suit placed under formal investigation. nicolas sarkozy is accused of influencing a judge, asking him confidential information and in exchange,, sing him a prestigious job as a government advisor in monaco. that he wasion allegedly seeking is related to another case under inquiry at the moment which is a case about alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign. this inquiry started back in

february and according to a newspaper, these investigators are probing whether nicolas sarkozy allegedly got illegal funding from the former libyan leader more market after you -- gaddafi. the former french president, by using this judge and the high courts of appeals, allegedly was seeking information on how these proceedings against him were going. as part of the current , his lawyer and a judge have been placed under investigation. >> the french political scene and no doubt being shaken by this. it does have consequences even though he is the former president of france. it has forward-looking

consequences as well. >> of course it has big consequences because even if nicolas sarkozy has denied any wrongdoing at the moment, it is a big reputational damage for him. he has six legal cases hanging over his head and this looks like the most serious one. nicolas sarkozy was widely expected to make a comeback into politics as soon as this fall to regain the leadership of the unp right-wing party that has been completely damaged by political infighting and does not have a clear leader at the moment. he remains the favorite among the conservatives to run against insident all on -- hollande 2017. even though nicolas sarkozy said he quit politics in 2012, in the past few months he has been going across town, and

traveling, meeting the french people, even having a meeting with the chancellor angela merkel, some indication that he was planning a comeback. >> thank you. live in paris. the s&p 500 and the dow jones close at a record yesterday. it -- it suggest a bullish start to the second round of 2014 trading. manus cranny is here. >> it is the highest violation in four years. you know it is a good story when mark barton says, can you give me? those stats again? that is when you know you have a vein of gold. we have not had a correction in almost two years. it is the longest rally in 85 years. violation is at a high. -- valuation is at a high. i have a better one. 64 months rally. it is a longer old market --

bull market the 1999 or 2000. it is perhaps the most unloved rally. i love what he said. he wrote in his column for bloomberg view, he said financial booms sprinkle fairy dust and create the illusion of riches, and that is quoting the pis. small stocks, big stocks, all ripping ahead. dyeou believe in the transfer their it, both are rocking ahead and it is a bullish signal. there are other technicians that say the dow is trailing utilities and transport and this is a foreboding warning. i'm not here for the bulls. >> no. there are two sides. even though there is not much volatility in the markets. we spoke earlier on to nick beecroft. for him, it rings alarm bells.

>> he says we are in the danger zone. he reflects on three different. it's -- different periods. oppenheimer's argument is fear ye not. i think that bond markets over the past 20 years where you are not protected -- i am a proponent of buying a little bit of protection in life. oppenheimer would save fear not volatility. 1990's, volatility was low. next -- nick beech croft says renumber 1997-1998. it was an asian crisis. 1999-2000, a bit of an internet bubble. 2006, 2000 seven, we can all remember. there are two sides to this. according toy come oppenheimer, is not a bad thing. maybe oppenheimer forgot to write that the world is not a

wash with zero price money from each institution. >> let's talk about the bond markets. the stock market and the low volatility in stock margaret what in the bond markets about whether we need to worry about the environment at the moment? >> look at a five year government bond yield in the u.k. here is how it compared earlier. yields are rising in the united kingdom, therefore the u.k. bond market is in sync from the voices coming from carney. yields are rising, however u.s. yields are below u.k. yields. yields -- lower yields are not reflecting the fact that they are probably well moving in 2015 and might even move in the first quarter. bond markets, some say, are completely mispriced. >> thank you very much for that. let's talk about one of our top corporate stories. french mobile giant orange says

it cannot pursue a consolidation deal in its home country without elaborating about what that deal had involved. we were waiting for even to approve the -- the eu to approve deal billion euro for vodafone. >> no deal, yes deal -- it is no deal for orange. interesting headline. interesting statement coming from orange. one of the biggest players in the french telecom space had said it cannot pursue an operation that would lead to consolidation. they examined the possibility of participating in an operation but they can't because conditions at that group have not been met. what consolidation and what operation that is, we do not know. it has been intriguing. there has been much debate that it was eyeing -- vodafone was eyeing a portrait of we have not had confirmation in france. i will have more on that later. no deal for orange.

we are getting consolidation cross-border. we are getting likely thumbs up from bea, that is what everything is expecting, that vodafone will be able to pursue a 7 billion euro deal for a cable operator in spain. they have been pushing to reduce in your.ers less roaming charges if you are a user. if you are going to reduce the market barriers to you and i, you have to do it in terms of consolidation as well. need to invest. they need to update the networks. you and i want to download files, docess cloud everything from our phone. , they are allowing consolidation as many countries have said, please, allow us to buy each other. allow us to pool and share numbers. look at how much vodafone is

going to save in spain by buying the company. 2 billion euros. they will gain 1.9 million customers. >> this is a company that is spending happy -- heavily, investing in infrastructure, doing deals. they will be doing other deals, because people have in raising flags about their debt levels and whether they can keep it up. >> so the rating agencies like moody's have been slightly flagging, look, we can downgraded the debt level of vodafone because they say they are getting too high. this is a company that has a load of cash to be slinging about after it sold out of its u.s. venture. it has been picking up money. 10.5 billion dollars on cable in germany. could they make an acquisition in italy? where ve been after fast

-- fastware. could they go back? this is the third biggest market. after germany and u.k., the third biggest market is italy. they are struggling. maybe they need to purchase. got a new cable company -- this is a european theme. >> jp morgan chase jamie dimon has announced he has throat cancer. he started treatment and will run the company as normal. n said his prognosis was excellent and that his cancer was caught quickly and is curable. we certainly wish him well. 12 minutes past 7:00 in london. we will get the reaction to persimmon's latest figures when we speak to be ceo jeff fairburn. on "the pulse" we will be joined why kate barber. is there a shortage of supply?

that is a 10:40 london time. still to come on this program, vodafone is looking to expand its share in the mobile market. we will look at the latest trends in telecom and beyond. ♪

onto today's company news. ing has raised 1.5 billion euros in a share sale of its insurance company, nn group. the stock will start trading in amsterdam today. increaselans to headcount by 24%. the company will hire about 1000 employees annually over the next five years. i merrily outside of germany. the herring runs counter to the european car industry's sales slump. facebook is being investigated by u.k. rep learners -- u.k. regulators. thatmes after studies show a psychological experiment was conducted about what users saw in their new see. takenok says it had appropriate protections for people's information. welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards.

an acquisition is taking place in the telecom center, including vodafone's acquisition of ono that looks to get approval today. steve joins us to discuss this and mandate an answer we have seen -- -- m and a bonanza. thatf the most interesting you have pointed out in your notes is that acquiring companies have consistently gone on to outperform markets. typically in years gone by you saw a business doing the buying and the company acquired, their stock rose. we going to see something different over a long time frame? >> no. at study we look at looked -- to quarter post announcements. that can be anything from six months total of performance. what we are seeing on aggregate, if you look across all dealmakers, they have the full

and the market. >> is that because the rising tide lifts all boats? >> this is compared to the markets. dealmakers are outperforming their peers. but we think it is down to is that dealmakers are learning. not every deal works. the ones that often get the press are the train wreck spirit the press does like to look at -- train >>. they are learning from their mistakes and putting more rigorous progress into how you do and implement the deal. >> one of the biggest harbors of aand a -- drivers of m and deciding.s. companies to do deals and save on the tax bill in the bargain. is that something you see continuing? >> i think we see a significant wave of large m and a coming now

unless tax rules change. some sectors have been prime candidates. comingas been a big wave . we have seen a lot of big announcements. the telecom sector has had a lot of deals being announced. we see the momentum continuing to build. >> what other european companies why bc -- might we see taken out by this am and a activity? the telecom has been a hotbed. are there other sectors that are kind of untouched but as things continue to build, we might see? >> certainly the favorites would be high-tech would be continue. financial services will continue. they continue to focus on their core businesses. we will see acquisitions. pharma -- >> what if we see a correction in stock markets? we have seen these multi-year

highs on the markets. i do believe we have seen all time highs on the u.s. indices overnight. if we see a correction, how will that work into the psychology of m and a? a one hand it might make the targets cheater -- on one hand it might make the targets cheaper -- >> as stocks go up, acquirers get more confident. that is one thing we see. we say acquirers are outperforming, a lot of it is down to confidence to proceed. if the stock market takes a hit, that will dim the confidence. we also have very low interest rates, lots of cash on balance sheets. companies who want to use cash and raise debt instead of equity, there are a lot of opportunities out there. >> what about the number of completed $10 billion plus megadose -- megadeals? >> that has been in i nteresting sweep.

there a few -- very few of the big deals are closing. there is so much being announced and so much in the pipeline, that will swing around as they make it to fruition. --seems very quiet great quiet. >> let's move on. we will take a short break. the u.s. may be selling 4000 lockheed missiles to iraq in the country's fight against the sunni rebels. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. us talk about geopolitics because the obama administration is planning to sell 4000 be a iraqissiles to government. we are joined by ryan chilcote. an armsis a bit of competition over iraq and the geopolitical struggle at the same time. the obamaarned that administration has told congress they want to sell iraq 4000 hellfire missiles. they are made by lockheed. they are laserguided missiles almost always fired from helicopters. their original name comes from helicopter launched fire and forget missiles. you fire and it is supposed to go to target. they come sometimes from fixed-wing aircraft, in particular drones, predators,

stuff like that. mostly it is for helicopters. mostly for busting vehicles with armor, which is interesting because the only reason why the insurgents that these would be used against in the north and west of iraq have armor is thanks to the u.s. military in supplied place which iraq the first time around when we left. that is the whole idea of it. the only issue here is that the iraqis are saying they cannot get these weapons fast enough. the u.s. is being way too slow -- not just in terms of military assistance in general, but even in providing weapons. >> is interesting to see where the supply of weapons is coming from. moscow also supplying. >> the russians really sort of stuck it in a way to the americans on saturday, delivering five fighter jets. aircraft fixed-wing that are in a way, being used in

place of american f-16s. the russians sold them five of these initially, part of a half $1arty for billion. sort of a masterstroke for the russian defense industry in that they sold used aircraft, which allows them to get around import controls and got them in quickly with the military personnel on the ground to train the iraqis how to use them, though they do know a bit about using them because i rock use them in the iraq-iran war. the u.s. is a $4 billion contract to sell these lockheed f-16s, lockheed martin the biggest u.s. contractor, but the iraqis say they are waiting for these planes and they are not coming. >> thank you very much. demand for new homes remains strong across all regions of the u.k.. that is according to persimmons. the chief executive joins us next. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. let's head out to dennis cranny. >> yesterday was about manufacturing for the u.k. and sterling. today it will be about construction numbers. sterling get a blip fire. we are flat on the day but we had the nationwide survey coming out. u.k. home prices up 1%. second quarter in the united kingdom, house prices at the peak of 2007. no massive shock but what you see here is the overall trajectory. nationwide saying basically

whatever the bank of england does, it ain't going to stop this train. keep an eye on that because we get to construction numbers and that will be fairly important. i want to bring you some news on the euro. we had comments from the french prime minister manuel valls. he said it is overvalued. he said ecb needs to go further. thee are the words of french prime minister. we have eurozone epi and janet yellen and madame lagarde later on today. the rallies and have a look at the aussie dollar. eight hours ago i was talking about an eight-month high and it has come off those highs. , the trade deficit wider than the market had anticipated. back to you. >> these are the top headlines this hour. former french president nicolas

sarkozy has been charged with influence peddling. expected tobeen make a political comeback in time for the next presidential poll in 2017. sarkozy denies the allegations. foreign ministers from ukraine, russia, germany, and france plan to meet in berlin today. the meeting comes after president poroshenko ended ukraine's cease-fire. he also vowed to retake territory from separatists in the violent, torn east. the french open champion rafael nadal is out of wimbledon. he lost to an australian teenager. he is the first man in a decade to reach the quarterfinal in his debut. past half hour, the home-building company persimmon ceo joins usurn, on the phone.

you are saying that the trading for the first six months has been strong. paint a picture for us. how strong is the housing market? >> good morning. yes, we are really pleased with the progress we have made. we have seen continued confidence in the market following last year. that has given us a good forward sales position and what we have been concentrating on is increasing production levels to meet extra demand. >> us talk about mortgages because the most recent mortgage perhaps --d some to some to think that the housing market was coming off the boil. you paid a picture of mortgage lenders supporting customers with a disciplined approach. or showing signs of weakness is the mortgage market at the moment? >> i think in the recent weeks it has been a little uncertainty over exactly what action the bank of england may take. last week, we saw them introduce

measures which actually, and the short term will have little effect. i think confidence remains good the buying public and mortgages continue to be available to those people looking to enter the new housing market. they are good products but the lenders are very disciplined. that is keeping a lid on the lending practices. we are saying that a good number of people are mortgage trouble canortgagable and we convert them to sales. it is a good story for people looking to buy houses at the margaret >> if you say the lenders -- at the moment. aref you think loaners disciplines, you don't think the bank english -- bank of england needed to clamp down on the mortgage market last week? >> i think the measures introduced, most of the lenders

are already taking account of those. this was really more about the medium to long-term to make sure those practices do not change in the future. i think the respond -- the market responded well and appreciate that those disciplines were already there in the majority of the markets. in the short term, there will be little effect to the ability to opt out of mortgages. >> thank you very much for joining us today. jeff fairburn, the ceo of persimmon. virgin atlantic turned 30 last month and the money is celebrating with a makeover. richard ranson -- branson unveiled new crew designs last night. you were there. you saw these new uniforms. you were not wearing one, but blondie was. >> she was in the jacket. she was singing last night. one of a variety of celebrities were there. of course, richard branson.

it is a lovely uniform. it is sort of a 1940's french fashion was the inspiration. >> there are signs of vivian west in there, certainly. what about the revamp at the airline more generally? this comes at a time where the companies try to revamp the airline. >> absolutely. they will be getting a new dreamliner in september. any,would not give me richard branson or the ceo, would give me any hints to that, they want to do a big splashy introduction. this is such an important thing for virgin atlantic. the last thing he wants, the ceo, is for virgin to be any other airline. they really need to stay unique and it is becoming more difficult to do that. they have redone and improve their product rate in the middle eastern carriers, you see that even though they don't directly compete with virgin, they have some of the -- a company rolled out the residence in their a38

0's. they are glamorous product. >> they tried to pitch themselves on in-flight experience. fleet of an aging 747s. they might be replacing some of them. there are four aircraft in the running. >> they will spend the next 12-18 months considering their options. craig crigger said they are keeping an open look at the a a350, and the triple seven. that not a critical thing can extend the lease is on those planes, but it is important that they keep their product relevant. it is nice to have a new uniform but as a passenger, you want nice food, nice seat, a new-looking plane and that is what you care about. >> what about the profitability of the is this -- business?

the ceo has pledged to make it a profitable airline. >> 18 months. they have lost this last year. delta now has a 49% stake and they have a transatlantic jv. it will be interesting to see how the summer plays out. as of today, norwegian air is starting their transatlantic flights. it is a tiny operation, a low-cost operation. is also also -- va spending on the trans-atlantic market. there will be competition. we will see how that affects prices. >> i find myself strangely obsessed by shoes this morning. i caught a glimpse of the shoes, i think, but i learned from the press release that goes along with this new uniform that crew on virgin atlantic fights will walk on average seven miles on each of flight. it is important for them to be comfortable. >> my mother was a stewardess on pan american so i will have to ask her about how much walking.

>> that is a lot. crew must carry a torch and spare batteries in their handbag. kerry, thank you very much. ater the break, m and activity is at a seven-year high. we will find out why next on "countdown." ♪

>> time for day-to-day -- time for today's company news. bmw invested $1 billion into a company in mexico. it will be be the second in north america and will start production at 2019. bmw is the last of the top three luxury dealers to detail plans to build cars in mexico. e 22% lastes ros month. pushedble bidding war club med shares to their highest in years yesterday. investors say they plan to make a bid of 790 million euros. big deals are back. it is the busiest year for m and

a activity since 2007. matt campbell joins us with a breakdown. let's talk us what you have seen so far. i'm sure taxes will, but some point. >> this is a very busy year. this is the busiest of 2007. after which there was a bit of a crash. lots of people are hoping that we -- >> a bit of a crash, yes. >> oh people are hoping not to repeat that experience but we are seeing every large deals in the pharmaceutical which we talked about a lot as technology, media, and industrial. this is fairly broad-based. it is not across every industry sector but it is not dominated by one or two. we are seeing a lot of ebony's thinking about big transactions. >> just this morning we saw the share pricing. it seems like they have rejected bid interest and this could be the latest in a line of

companies that has attracted interest because of tax advantages. this one a retailer. we have not seen that before. >> we have not seen retailers take advantage of the notion of an aversion where an american company re-domicile's to a u.k. or another country for tax purposes. the -- is that industry agnostic. the u.s. has a very high tax corporate rate, 35%, and the u.k. is more like 20 and on the decline. this is an attractive thing. health care is where we have seen the most of it. pfizer tried and failed to do it with astrazeneca. as long as the loophole in the u.s. law stays open, we expect to see lots and lots more. >> i saw analysis that was suggesting there might not be a claim -- a change in the tax law shortly in the united states and opinion seems to be divided.

lawmakersot see u.s. acting imminently to change this, is there a deal that might be a step too far for the u.s.? we have started to see -- do you think we will see household names in the united states move or tax domicile to europe? could that trigger red flags in the way that a bid for astrazeneca on the political establishment in the u.k.? are we going to see deals of that kind of magnitude that start to make an impact on u.s. regulators? >> i think we will find that out very soon. pfizer was probably the first. pfizer is a household name, a huge american country -- company. walgreens, which is partnered with alliance boost started talking about doing the same thing. we are getting into household-name territory. you run into the problem of passing legislation to a divided congress. there is a desire by both major parties in the u.s. to see this as a broader tax reform.

>> that might take longer and that could be the delay. and merrillmerica lynch, an analyst talking about the types of businesses that could be bought up in europe by american companies. not saying this will happen or they have an indication that it will happen but the king at the amount of money that some big american businesses have overseas, just speculating as to what it might be interested in, you start to go occurrence -- carss defense companies, companies, technology companies, it seems that no sector is to be protected from this trend. >> certainly not. that is because the issues are common across the big american corporate. offshore cash is a hugely. instead of paying tax on your in income, -- many of them are held in u.s. bank accounts but they cannot be used in the u.s. without paying a 35% tax penalty. drove thert of what

ge bid for a big chunk of alstrom, finding a productive use for the cash. this is another element that encourages u.s. companies to make big, big deal. >> matt campbell on the m and a way. it is called the sharing economy and many see it as a revolution in the way that we live and it is being aided by new technology startups. lablaka whichr is b expanded in two years. our european business correspondent has more. $100 million raised for a company that is basically a 21st-century take on hitchhiking. >> exactly. a safe way of doing it. almost like facebook, you analyze who is going to be driving your car. >> you can stop them before you commit. >> precisely. ensure that they are a good person, decide what part of the world they are from.

you pick the list a couple of days before going the same way. you save yourself money, the co2 omissions. it has raised a phenomenal amount of money. $100 million, that is a lot of money when two years ago the only way to raise -- they only raised $10 million and a push them into 11 new countries. now the world is their oyster's. --comes from index investors ventures and other partners. but now they can get to other continents, even. >> this fundraising is to go outside of the bounds of europe. we will look for other countries, other big countries. we like countries where you have a lot of people, you have cars on roads. asia is a possibility, south america is another possibility. we can go to any country where you have cars and mobile phones, basically. manselli. fredereic

he set it up with his own experience. the trains were all full in paris and he tried to get one which was expensive. he got his sister to pick him up but as i drove home, all the cars were empty. he thought it could be so much more efficient. that is why he set up blablacar. >> what about the trend for sharing and the sharing economy? it seems as if it is getting momentum. some critics say, is this not driven by austerity? and the focus on am i not continue. >> maybe once the economy starts to ramp up, we don't need to share to save money in the same way we did. i put that to him and he said, no, this is really a change of culture, a change of habit, particularly in europe. >> we are people who like to live together and share. i think it is in everyone's genes. what we do is making the possibility to actually share the usage of cars but also to

trust the people you will meet online. we have lots of trust features on the website so you know with whom you will be writing before you go. this is important to create the community and create the new sharing era. >> to get to london to manchester would cost to about 15 pounds if you use blablacar. a lot cheaper than booking a train. they are currently carrying 8 million registered passengers across europe. they are in 12 countries now. poland and russia is where they are making big expansion. one million per month, that is more than the eurozone. and they have to build a tunnel. >> thank you very much. we will take a break on the program. federal reserve chair janet yellen will be speaking at the imf headquarters in washington. we will have more on that and he seems to watch today when we come back. ♪

>> i'll come back to "countdown." i am anna edwards. the time in london is 7:52. manus cranny is here with the top market seems to watch. what is on the market's mind this morning? janet yellen will be speaking. >> yeah. i think this is an incredible story, you think of christine lagarde and janet yellen, two really strong women who are

respected by markets. yellen will be speaking at the imf -- >> giving a lecture on central banking. >> i suppose a lot of central were getting a lecture to the central bankers bankers over the weekend. it reminds me about talking about fairy dust across martin and -- markets and whether that can continue. that should be an interesting speech and we will watch that. we have little pieces of data. inflation indication here in the u k -- in the use own -- eurozone. perhaps not a laser-like focus on that like cpi, but ppi expected to bump a little, coming in flat. >> jobs. tomorrowe jobs report from the u.s.. it is for thursday instead of friday because of the july 4 holiday. >> adp.

as market will look at that being its most ready test of momentum in terms of job building in the u.s. and that it takes the movement at the shorter end of the u.k. in terms of what the market thinks will happen with interest rates. we know they like to run into the end and factory orders as well. it will be out a little later on. we are looking for a drop of .3% in the factory orders and the u.s. and spain. you will see a drop in unemployment, down by 150,000. -- needs to do more and strangely enough, the euro is overvalued. it is a little bit telling in terms of that. >> they have the ecb meeting tomorrow. inspectedge in much -- expected. >> go to the beach. >> thank you very much greater

"on the move is coming up next. that will be focusing on the market opening. ceo richard jeffrey. mark will be what you for that program. i will see you tomorrow. ♪

"on the move >> welcome to"on the move -- >> welcome to "on the move." i am mark barton. here with me now, manus cranny and caroline hyde. good morning. >> good day to you. record highs on the s&p 500. the russell index also moving. can the dow break 17,000? is momentum still there? are the markets covered in fairy dust? i will tell you a little bit more when we get started. in the meantime, let's kick it to cap olene -- to caroline.

>> manus, former french president nicolas sarkozy has been charged according to asp. this comes after 15 hours of questioning in the suburbs of paris. the case was on his plans to run for president. caroline hyde, over to you. >> thanks. deal and no deal. i am talking consolidation in the telecom space. we expect the eu to give the thumbs-up to vodafone's bid. that is on a day that french mobile giant orange says it was unable to pursue consolidation in its home market. much more on all the stocks that will be affected. first, back to you, mark. >> that is what we are watching here today in london. european markets just opening for trade. let's check in with manus at the touchscreen. >