>> from a very snowy bloomberg world headquarters in new york i.m. mark crumpton. this is "bottom line." to our viewers in the united states and those of you joining us from around the world. welcome. we have full coverage of the stocks and stories making headlines. scarlet fu is keeping tabs on what you should know about the major snowstorm bearing down on the northeastern united states. don mattingly wraps up president

obama's trip to india and joe is in athens with the invocations were greece following the weekend election. good evening. what can you tell us? >> people are still trying to figure out what the new government is going to be able to get. they are eager to rip up the existing agreement and change course on the bailout and austerity. everyone is trying to figure out how far they will go, what they will risk, and what the european partners will give them. >> what is the immediate implication for the country after the victory? >> i don't think anybody knows for sure. people were extremely frustrated at the pace of economic growth and the fact the existing government was seen as not negotiating hard enough with

outside partners. the election was in large part about frustration. i don't think anyone knows. there are a lot of people skeptical that the head of syriza will be able to accomplish what he says. think it is wait and see what this means for the country. >> the existing government have warned his election would risk greece leaving the eurozone. is it a risk? >> there is some risk. 50 voters stuck with the existing government, the status quo would have continued. the argument the existing party in power made fell flat during the election. they tried to make the election about if syriza was elected greece would leave the eurozone. the voters did not buy it. people here are skeptical that

greece will leave the eurozone. >> will this be a significant moment for europe's left-wing movements? >> that is the big story. right now people are not too worried about financial contagion. the belief is even if something backward to happen in greece that things would be ok in spain and italy. all across europe as the economy has been disappointing, you have seen the collapse of support for mainstream parties. mainstream right and left parties in spain, italy, france, and the u.k. have seen the popularity dwindled. this is really the big story the rise of extremist parties across europe. >> joe weisenthal joining us from athens, thank you. daniel is a former u.s. ambassador to greece and belarus. he is president and c.e.o. of lutheran world relief and joins

me via skype. mohamed el-erian is the chief economic advisor at elian. he wrote syriza's popularity reflects intense frustrations among greek citizens, including the perception their long sacrifice has not yielded meaningful gains. or sundays -- votes against austerity or a vote for self-determination? >> i think it is a vote against austerity. there is a nationalistic tone as well. even though the numbers are showing a slight turnaround in g.d.p. in greece it is not being felt by average citizens. it is similar to other countries that start returning to a path of recovery following our economic crisis in 2008. it takes a while to be felt by the average citizen.

that is not happening in greece. that is how the vote reflected that. >> greece's public debt is over 170% of g.d.p.. unemployment is over 25%. the new prime minister said the move to end five years of pain and humiliation has come. even if the terms of the bailout are altered, how will the new government deal with massive debt and joblessness? >> that is the real challenge. it is not just the debt. it is the economic challenge and restructuring that needs to take ways to get wrote going. the reality is the debt they have grace periods and repayment periods. the interest rates are similar to spain and portugal. it is not just about the debt,

but that has become the symbol for this lack of economic growth for average citizens. they created a large social work their state -- they created a large social welfare state. it is hard to turn that around without inflows of assistance. >> i'm speaking within the specter, former u.s. ambassador to greece. some countries such want greece to stick to the terms of the bailout agreement. if greece says no, there is a chance the country will not receive the support it needs to stay afloat. if that happens, will greece go bankrupt? >> yes. i think that could happen sooner than people think because you should start watching the banking sector first. they were low on liquidity before the election. the new prime minister lamothe have a lot of time to make sure he keeps on an even keel and a relationship strong enough that

they support the greek ranks. there is going to be a lack of confidence. that will mean more outflows from the greek banks as investors continue to worry and citizens about savings. there's going to be a challenge quickly to this country. it is going to start with the political challenge of how they negotiate with the e.u. and germans in particular. >> will be currency survive a great exit from the eurozone? >> yes. greece is roughly 2% of the g.d.p. of the european union. as we mentioned earlier, the real place to watch is spain. before you see on the political front -- if what you see on the political front with a far left radical party -- with other parties not seen as those that would

move to the center stage, they had now taken that stage. their biggest partner internationally with spain's far left party as well. this is the challenge. watch what happens in spain next, because that is really the threat to the eurozone. >> we have a minute left. last week, the european central bank announced in a massiv stimulation plan. how will be e.c.b. deal with the outcome of the greek elections? >> this is a real challenge for them. quantitative easing program was well-timed investment markets are relatively stable today in spite of this election result. they are not going to want to be seen in the european central bank as providing a program that rewards lack of restructuring or reform and re-creates a large expensive budget requirement for

social welfare that are unsustainable. i think you'll find a real challenge as they try to figure out whether the quantitative easing program can come to the aid of challenging countries like greece and spain and whether they are going to because this about doing that because they do not want to reinforce what they would see as negative political trends to push less fiscally responsible parties into power. >> daniel speckhard, former ambassador to greece, joining us via skype. privileged to get your perspective. thank you for your time. we will get an update on the blizzard in the northeastern u.s. and how it is affecting travel. "bottom line" continues in a moment. ♪

>>. more on the blizzard expected to dump of to two feet of snow in the city.

lana, good afternoon. >> i am in central park. in the last couple of hours, i have seen this place transform. when i started, there were people running around. there were people walking dogs. everyone seems to be going home. to give you a sense of how quickly the storm is moving into new york, yesterday it was 20 degrees warmer. that is what it was at my last check half an hour ago. it is probably colder now. 50 million americans embracing -- are bracing for this blizzard expected to roll in along the east coast. five governors have expressed a state of emergency. this is going to be a major snowstorm delivering up to three feet in some areas.

even worse is expected to be the wind. in some places, it could gust up to hurricane levels. >> give us some historic>> perspective. the mayor of new york city, bill de blasio, he was quoted as saying this might be the worst snowstorm new york city has ever seen. >> it may be. it may end up being a regular january storm with a lot of snow. hopefully, it will be the latter. we are looking to see if it reaches 27 inches or above in new york city. that would be a new record. that was last made in 2006. not long ago. i willing to let 2006 have that record. if this storm wants to bypass us, i would be perfectly ok with that. >> no doubt. lana zak, thank you so much. scarlet fu is at the breaking

news desk with more on the storm. we know the storm has already called 1800 -- cost 1800 flight cancellations. what else can you tell us? >> has not affected the financial markets. business as usual today and tomorrow. they have recommended the bond market remain open tomorrow as well. expect trading to slow for the rest of the afternoon as people try to get home before the worst of the blizzard hit. stocks have meandered. dow industrials have posted a small swing. 129 points versus the average 265-point move. the two-year yield inching higher. the dollar little changed. new york city is making contingency plans. driving will be restricted to emergency vehicles starting at 11:00 p.m. no taxes, no buses after that.

new york city schools will be closed tomorrow. commuter rails will add extra trains this afternoon so people can get home. they will shut down at 11:00 p.m. >> what about the rest of the tri-state area, new york, new jersey, connecticut, massachusetts, rhode island, and into washington? what are we hearing? >> a lot of governors already declaring states of emergency including chris christie. trains will operate on a weekend schedule starting at 9:00 p.m. new jersey transit real service ends at 8:00 and will not be back on track before thursday. there is a travel ban in place in connecticut, massachusetts, and rhode island. massachusetts and rhode island begins at midnight. emergency vehicles only after that. further south in washington, there are changes to the congressional schedule.

peter cook says the house has put a vote on the border bill on hold. hearings for tomorrow are still on the schedule that could change. the senate vote on the keystone pipeline is supposed to take place wednesday. but that may be in jeopardy. a final note all of this is subject to change because the national weather service will be providing an update at 4:00. if conditions worsen, we might see all of that moved up. >> scarlet fu, thank you. coming up, we will look at why the congressional budget office is forecasting the budget will shrink more than previously forecasted this year. stay with us. "bottom line" continues in a moment. ♪

>> welcome back.

the congressional budget office just released its annual deficit outlook. the deficit this year will shrink more than previously forecast and unexpectedly narrow again next year is falling unemployment helps increase revenue. the head of the campaign to fix the debt joins me from washington. good to have you back on "bottom line." thanks for your time. does any of what we just heard from the c.b.o. surprise you? >> in the short-term, it is terrific news. growth is manifesting in smaller short-term deficit. that gives us leaving room where we have had massive deficits adding pressure in the past. short-term deficit has never been a problem. what this country faces other

than a sluggish economy is these medium and long-term unsustainable debt levels. the other piece of the report we saw today is we are still on a dangerous path when it comes to the debt. >> some of the other info that came out of the c.b.o. today calling for a 2.9% g.d.p. this year. in august, that estimate was 3.4%. what happened? >> i have not had time to go through what changed. we will have to compare the estimates compared to other economic estimates. they tend to be cautious, a reasonably good thing. i will have to dig deeper into the numbers. they just came out a few minutes ago. >> i'm sorry to put you on the spot. last month, the u.s. federal debt past $1820. what needs -- past $18 trillion. what needs to be done?

>> solutions have been known for some time. there are so many reminders in the report showing us over the next decade, we are going to be adding $7.5 trillion in debt through the deficits and growing the debt significantly. that is going to be at record levels. interest payments will reach $800 billion a year. that is incredibly troubling for the economy and our standard of living. the answer, well-known. you have to look at the major drivers of the growing deficit and debt. those are health care costs aging of the population, and interest payments. one thing we can do is get the deficits under control. we need to reform the entitlement programs associated with those things, health care and retirement programs. the same time, our tax code is out of date and not raising

enough revenue. we have to look at the two big hearts of the budget, revenues and entitlements. the solution is not going to be in dramatic cuts to discretionary spending, defense and domestic which are headed toward record lows. if they return to anything close to reasonable levels, those deficits will be larger. so we need to look to other parts of the budget. >> i was looking at some recent publications. you are focusing already on the next occupant of the white house. you believe included in the next president's first budget should be reforming the tax code. does that mean you have given up on the possibility of tax reform being addressed in a serious way during president obama's last two years in office? >> i am pessimistic about getting the overall debt deal we need for this country in place. the president and congress don't seem to be able to do the challenging fiscal changes we need to get done.

i'm slightly more optimistic we might be able to take steps toward business tax reform this year. the president, the republican leadership have all shown an interest in updating our cumbersome tax code. that is one place i am hopeful. we are mounting this project to encourage the next president to focus on it. it will be critical. >> two weeks ago, the committee put out a paper outlining six fiscal speed bumps that should be dealt with sooner rather than later. they range from funding the department of homeland security to the return of the sequester. how much economic damage will be done if these are not addressed? >> i don't think we are going to fix the debt problem this year. but we could at the least not make it worse. last year, congress added $100 will into the debt because when they have choices to make, they

borrowed or relied on budget gimmicks. this year, we have to do things like highway trust funds. we are going to have to raise the debt ceiling again. all of these are moments where congress could get rid of policies that don't make sense and replace them with more sensible policies. to give an example, this doc fix is part of current law every year but congress gets rid of it because it is a cut to doctors payments they cannot go through with. let's replace it with meaningful health care reforms that would slow the growth of cost in a sustainable way. that would be a great step forward. it would not fix the system but it would make a big difference. we are hopeful on the speed bumps we can make some positive steps forward. >> maya is president and c.e.o. of the committee for a responsible federal budget. thank you for your time. the close of oil -- up next,

the close of oil and demand-side economics. the collapse of oil prices is not just about supply. more on that it a moment. ♪

>> welcome back to the second half-hour of "bottom line" on bloomberg television. i am mark crumpton in new york. thank you for joining us. let's look at the closing price of crude oil. it is down at 45 dollars.15. he said opec has opened a meeting with non-opec nations to balance the market. one thing he did not discuss with demand. alix steel joins me in studio. we focus on how supply is

affecting prices. talk about demand. >> p deak demand, have we hit it? i focused on china because it represents 2/3 of demand. we've seen a 50% increase in oil demand. that has driven the demand story so far. that increase is coming to an end. you're seeing china focus less on energy intensive sectors. there are restrictions on borrowing. they are cautious on lending and moving away from shadow banking. the slowing housing market. all of that pointing to using less oil. >> in china in december, imports hit a record high. does that mean a demand revival? >> it is a fake out. china has been building up and filling their strategic petroleum reserves. they want about 90 days of will cover -- oil cover. that has not been going down to

the end user. that has been building up reserves. they could buy as much as 200 million barrels this year but to fill up reserves, not for underlying demand. at some point, that will run its course. >> will lower prices spur demand? >> they imposed a tax on fuel. that does not go away just because there is a decline in prices. it does not mean the consumer feels it. bank of america says global oil demand should react to lower prices with a six-month lag. he sees that picking up on the back half of the year, but mostly from developed nations and not developing markets like china. >> the indian prime minister broke protocol when he personally met president obama on the tarmac upon the u.s. leader's arrival in new delhi.

did you get further with the bear hug that followed -- he carried that further with the bear hug that followed. so mattingly joins me from washington. -- don mattingly -- phil mattingly joins me from washington. >> the hug was real. that is what i hear from washington. his visit last year has led to steps forward on multiple fronts . most notably on climate change, defense agreements and a nuclear agreement dealing with civil nuclear power going forward. you saw the hug, definitely a break in protocol. it was not just for show. it was the real thing. >> you mentioned the nuclear agreement. officials are calling it a breakthrough. is it? >> it is probably not a breakthrough, but it is a step forward. it is something the president

underscored in a press conference. >> today we achieved a breakthrough understanding on two issues that were holding up our ability to advance our civil nuclear cooperation. we are committed to moving towards full of limitation. this is an importance step that shows how we can work together to elevate our relationship. >> here is why it is such an important step. the original agreement was signed in 2005, the u.s. pledging to help expand how india does civilian nuclear power. however, there have not been major investments on the u.s. side for two reasons. one is supplier liability. indian law would subscribe that to u.s. companies. u.s. officials want to keep close track of all nuclear material moving through the country, something indian officials are wary of. on both issues, progress was made. the president called it a breakthrough. we are hearing from officials the devil is in the details. the fact that both leaders were able to reach at least a top

line agreement is a big step forward for a country in desperate need of supplying power if they want to reach the prime minister's: getting every individual -- goal of getting every individual in the country power by 2019. >> is president obama is pushing for better access to the country for companies. >> one of the fastest growing economies in the world. there is huge potential. you had c.e.o.'s go over with the president. the secretary of commerce was over there in a big way. what u.s. officials announced today was about a $4 billion package of trade provisions, of investment opportunities, they are looking to push forward. there is an understanding there is a lot of digital in this relationship, much of which is untapped. if u.s. businesses are going to succeed in that region, they

need to make that big push now. that is what the president was trying to do today. >> phil mattingly joining us from washington, thank you. coming up, president obama and angela merkel are set to meet next month. we will examine their agenda when "bottom line" continues in a moment. ♪

>> welcome back. brazil's real fell for a second straight day. evidence of a stalled economy heightens the challenges for finance ministers who have pledged to impose fiscal discipline. at&t will buy mexican wireless assets for $1.9 billion. it is the third deal to expand south of the border. the acquisition includes companies that operate under nextel mexico retail stores

and about 3 million customers. the purchase price does not include an unspecified amount of debt from n.i.i which filed for bankruptcy in september. greece has sworn in a new prime minister, alexis tsipras. his biggest challenge to make good on his pledges which include a write-down of greek that and persuade eurozone officials to keep the aid flowing. germany is the biggest contributor to bailouts. disposition would be key -- it's position would be key. the german ambassador joins me. there is a new prime minister. he wants to overhaul greece's bailout program. germany has made it clear it wants the original bailout commitment to remain in place. is there room for compromise? >> greece has a new leader, a democratically elected leader.

we respect the outcome of the election. we have to see what the ideas of the new leaders are in pursuing the path of reform and what he thinks about the commitments greece has made with creditors and international partners. we will talk to the government. we assume the government will talk to the international partners, predators i.m.f., european central bank, the eu -- the e.u. we also are mindful and hope the new government is mindful that it should pursue the reform efforts and is mindful of the international commitments it has engaged in. >> sunday's great folk, did it send a message to eurozone lawmakers that support tough austerity measures?

could spain use this ballot box initiative to force international creditors to think differently about what they are doing? >> it is an election in greece. we are discussing the situation in greece. i cannot speculate about other countries. now we have to talk to the new government and the weather we can find common ground. >> let's discuss the situation between russia and ukraine. any pressure from u.s. officials and the european union to increase sanctions? >> conditions have deteriorated. we have seen increased violence by the separatist. we have seen an attack on the strategically important city.

that is that news. a threshold has been crossed. if that would continue, the international community would have to react. we are talking about assessing the situation. we will have a special meeting of european on ministers next thursday. ambassadors of nato countries met with ukraine in brussels. the situation is serious but we want to maintain the unity across the atlantic. so far the u.s. and the e.u. have been close and have seen eye to eye. we want to maintain that. >> they cut the russian status to junk status. what are the rebel effects for the global economy? -- what are the ripple effects

for the global economy? >> they are not good. we don't have an interest in bringing the russian economy down to its knees. we want a russia that is part of the international community and economy. that is bad news for all of us. we don't want to have an isolated russia. the philosophy of sanctions was to send a political message. we want to keep on engaging the russians. we have sent a strong message on sanctions. but we also want to engage russia. >> chancellor merkel has taken the lead in response to the crisis. how does the u.s. view her handling of the situation? >> relations are close. dear coordinating policy almost on a daily basis -- we are

coordinating policy almost on a daily basis. i am happy we have kept western unity. it is important it stays that way. >> where is common ground between our countries? >> in a lot of areas. on ukraine-russia, iran, the fight against isil. there is a lot of common ground we have. >> speaking of the fight against isil talk to me about the coordinated international response. what more needs to be done? western allies face the same shared threat. >> isil is a global threat to all of us. we have to be together in this fight. we are an active member of the anti-isil collation -- coalition. it is a political effort with arab countries. it is financing. it is a challenge to delegitimize isil in the muslim world. all of this we are doing together. >> i would be remiss if i did

not ask if there was lingering resentment after word came that the n.s.a. was tapping phones of allies, including chancellor merkel. does that create a challenge dealing with groups like i saw? >> the impact was strong in germany. there was lots of trust. i think we are moving on. we have a constructive dialogue with our american partners and the agencies to find common ground, what to do and what not to do to each other. we are now focusing on the threats. >> mr. ambassador, thank you so much. coming up, governor christie declares a state of emergency in new jersey and says he is ready to deal with it. that story when we return.

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>> governor chris christie has declared a state of emergency ahead of the blizzard expected to bring up to two feet of snow to the state. trish regan joins me now. >> new jersey transit is going to shut down at 8:00. there is nowhere for anyone to go. new jersey, my home state, where governor chris christie is back on the national stage as he was with hurricane stan the -- hurricane sandy two years ago. that catapulted him to the national stage. >> he got the scorn of the republicans because he had president obama. >> he was the american governor after the way he handled sandy. he knows his leadership will be tested. i want to play for you how he

handled himself at the press conference earlier today. >> this is my sixth winter as governor. i have had double digit states of emergency imposed for snow. we have had hurricane irene, hurricane sandy. for better or worse, we know how to deal with these situations. i feel completely confident the folks behind me and all of the people that work for them prepared. >> a lot more at stake for governor christie now. he has formed a pac to evaluate whether he will run were president -- for president. he is getting closer to the date where he needs to decide. >> has he been embraced by national republicans? >> he was. now there are reports that republicans are turning away from him now that they have just wish -- jeb bush. he has gotten the scorn of local new jerseyans because of bridge

gate and how he handled sandy afterwards. a lot of people have not gotten the money to rebuild their homes after the disaster. >> greek elections are in your eyesight as well. >> someone who specializes at looking at emerging in trouble markets -- and troubled markets will be joining us to talk about how the greek crisis is going to unfold. >> more on that and the storm the blizzard of 2015, with betty liu in for trish regan. >> we thought we might get through winter without a blizzard, and we have not. >> you get through it and wake up on st. patrick's day, and there is snow. >> this one is called juno i think. >> scarlet fu will have another edition of "off the charts" on the other side of the break.

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>> welcome back. this is "bottom line" on bloomberg television. most of the northeastern united states is preparing to shut down expecting a blizzard of historic proportions with new york city declaring a state of emergency. while everybody scrambles to prepare, one company is watching

its stock climb. scarlet fu joins me with the story in "off the charts." who are we talking about? >> are talking about a company called generac based in wisconsin. they make backup generators. we have been here before. do you have the buildup of a big storm coming. the scramble to hunker down. the following utility poles and the loss of power. gnrc rallied as much as 7.6% today to a six-month high. it did pull back a little bit, but the gain is noticeable. >> talk about how this is history repeating itself. >> go back to august of 2011

remember hurricane irene? during the store, shares climbed 23%. the following week, so what happened. down 4.7%. it pulled back but did make headway net. superstorm sandy during the storm rallied 32%. the following week, this is where it gets interesting. we had a blackout in manhattan for a couple of days and across the area for two or three weeks. the stock still rose 1.5%. it builds on those gains. tropical storm andrea in june of 2013, during the storm, the stock rose 3.6%. the following week, it dropped 15%. the gave back those gains and more. andrea turned out to be a tame storm. >> i guess people get storm

fatigue where they do not believe officials when they say it could be as bad as it could be. >> we did not have notable storms in 2014. i swore i would get a generator after 2013 and never got around to it. i went online and was checking out the generac generator connected to the national -- natural gas line. this sits outside your home like a central air-conditioning unit. it kicks in when the power turns off. fantastic. >> you think of certain companies when mother nature decides to remind everybody who is in charge. some companies are saying this is going to be bad, but we are going to make a killing. >> we are going to be prepared and are ready to offer our wares. that is what generac does. this particular model $4600. the less fancy 6500 is smaller

with a fuel tank $799. i'm offering options. >> thank you so much. we should mention tonight the c.e.o. of generac holdings will be among pimm's guests. that does it for this edition of "bottom line" on bloomberg television. thank you for joining us. "street smart" is next. ♪

>> welcome to the most important hour of the session. 60 minutes until the closing bell. i am betty liu and this is "street smart." the east coast racing for an historic snowstorm. stocks are fluctuating, the euro strengthening. goal declining -- gold declining as investors estimate the fallout from the greek vote will be contained. "street smart" starts right now.