>> merkel and hollande push for peace in ukraine >> greece's leaders return home to consider their options after failing to find agreement with germany and the ecb on a debt restructuring p lan. >> denmark's central-bank cuts rates to defend the kroner. abandoning the country's euro peg is " unthinkable." >> we have the intention to keep to a peg. and we will do whatever it takes to do it. ♪

>> good morning. welcome. you are watching "the pulse." here in london. i'm guy johnson. >> a greek rethink and a mission to moscow. greece's finance minister and the finest mr. returned home to jubilant pro-government protest. >> are they protests? >> they are a sign of embracing the government. >> the anti-bailout plan received a cool welcome in berlin yesterday as they rethink their plans to revive the economy and protect their banks. what happens next? angela merkel and the french president friends what hol -- francoise hollande heading to moscow to push put in for a cease-fire. hollande is going back to moscow later this evening. he is now in paris. >> let's go straight to moscow were ryan chilcote is on the ground.

what is the timeline on these talks and how do we think they will unfold? >> the talks have gotten pushed back. they were scheduled for 5:00 p.m. moscow time. they are now scheduled for 6:30 p.m. as you said, the leaders are in the respective capitals the for the come there. their aides will sit down in an hours time and start trying to has out an -- hash out an agreement. angela merkel and françoise hollande were in kiev yesterday. the french president saying they have a plan that would maintain ukraine's territorial integrity and the fighting there. there is a lot of skepticism -- skepticism that we have seen many talks. i have been to several rounds of the talks in limmilan and minsk and normandy and geneva going back to last summer. none of those talks have yet to yield a lasting peace.

secretary john kerry was also in kiev yesterday to he is not coming to moscow. that says something 13 met with the ukrainian president after he expressed a little bit of his frustration. >>have a listen. >> ryan, i do not think we have that -- >> yeah. effectively what he was saying is that the russian president has had plenty of off ramps up until now.and he has left them in the rearview mirror. so skepticism on this russian side. the leaders of germany and france after they met with the ukrainian president yesterday were saying that the minsk agreement, that is where the last seals fire -- seacease fire was reached -- should be the -- lots of skepticism.

>> let's say putin does not buy the idea that the americans are going to arm the ukrainians. and there are going to be further sanctions. what is next? >> if this is the carrot the stick is twofold. yesterday the u.s. secretary of state said that president obama is considering arming the ukrainian military, providing weapons, defensive we apons. it is something the president has been reluctant to do but it was interesting in the middle of last week or this week, the nominee for the secretary of defense sai that that is something he would be inclined to support. in addition to that, there is always the threat of more eu sanctions. we have the eu saying they are going to publish the names of 19 individuals and nine companies one of which is russian, and

four individuals on m thato willn be subjectday. . get together on thursday. in brussels. there is no reason why they could not impose more sanctions. su there has been a lot of talk that ther -- there has been a lot of talk that the greeks have water down the line was they took out the words restrictive measures which is code in the eu for centuries. it is possible of angela merkel and françoise hollande and upset enough that they could introduce further measures. >> thanks osso much. >> let's get more on the story ahead of this meeting taking place a little bit later on in moscow. we are joined by standard bank head of emerging markets research. good morning to.

you. let me start with you. we have seen a series of these meetings, and at every single meeting we have ended up in a situation where progress has been limited. is today going to be different? >> in terms of the specifics of the ukraine story, i guess the question is -- is putin going to get what he wants from the steel and what does he want? he wants some kind of control over your crazy once ukraine in his spirit of influence. he wants administration and kiev. and all those kinds of things about no nato. you could argue that his intervention in crimea and eastern ukraine has made life so difficult for the government in kiev that they are forced to concede. frankly, i was in kiev spoke to 50 locals. no one -- one out of 50 -- would concede any of that.

very, very difficult ultimately to secure long-term settlement. there have been sanctions on russia. my sense is in the end it may be a military solution. one side figuring out they cannot impose their will on the other or -- ukraine securing defensive ability to stop the russians. >> what putin wants. what do europeans want? are they trying to counter what the u.s. might do? >> you can see some element of good cop, bad cop. the u.s. has been talking about arming the rebels. pretty much everybody understands if the u.s. were to supply weapons to ukraine, then russia would probably reciprocate and increase weapons flows. the situation would get a whole lot worse.

therefore, that is the backtrack. they have got a couple of objectives. one is to tsstop this war getting worse. secondly, you mentioned the greek position that makes eu politics more, tape it we are talking about more sanctions. it makes it more difficult to deal with other eu issues. trying to contain the situation is important. also in terms of the timing of this visit, they probably feel there is a wind of opportunity with president putin now. russia's economy is deteriorating significantly. we saw figures from the statistics service that showed 15% year on year inflation. we are expecting gdp to contract 5% this quarter. so, the oil prices has been the most damaging factor, but sanchez have twisted the knife. -- but sanctions have twisted the knife.

this might be a good time to get a compromise from putin. >> this talk of compromise, we are going to be able to get a deal done here. if you look at the balance of probability of getting a deal done with putin, looking at the backdrop and looking at his geopolitical view of the world at the moment, ukraine's one part of it. there are other parts. the oil prices down. what is there to encourage putin? what can we really do to satisfy his long-term ambitions and to ring fence him? we are going back to 1950's containment very. >>-- 1950's containment theory. >> short-term, i can imagine a cease-fire deal. that failed within days. something temporary to buy time and hope that somehow a longer-lasting peace can result. as you mentioned, this is big

stuff for putin. this is about i would argue he feels the ewest has gone back on previous agreements. this is his backyard. he wants to rewrite the post-soviet security structure in europe. for me, ukraine is central stage. there has been lots of drivers for this conflict. the russian economy was not working before this. the eurasian union was a driver to that. ukraine is central to that. i'm reluctant to see a long-lasting -- i do not see the americans or the europeans merkel bowing to putin's desire for a new security structure. the ukrainians are in no mood to compromise on their fundamental right to determine their own future. >> what is your take? first a reaction on her want to ask you about the currency. >> tim is right.

it is about sovereignty and respect. it is about more than the current situation in ukraine. ukraine is the line in the sand as far as putin is concerned. it goes back to what they see as the west's overriding russia's interest. they talk about national sovereignty. in that sense, what would satisfy putin or russia would be if they are perceived that -- their legitimate interests are recognized or excepted. and means keeping the west encroachment nato away from its western border. we have short-term issues but the bigger picture is, the west has got to say, we respect russia's interest in its near aboard and that includes ukraine and we will not encroach. >> they redefined the border.

they have taken a pencil and redrawn that. let's talk about ukraine and the currency. they've loosened it. how close are we to a bailout? >> very close. it may get extended next week -- the deadline. if the west is not willing to arm ukraine, the country is desperately in need of western bailout money. one of the problems is there is not enough money. we all except that. 15 billion. they're getting around to 12 billion. i sense this murder in the currency would further close the external financing gap to help the imf close the gap. >> it s it going to be easier to support ukraine financially than militarily? the numbers are enormous, but it is going to be easier, i suspect, for the europeans to do that.

>> i agree. if there is no increase in military support for ukraine that will have a response from pressure and then you're into a broader, more dangerous unpredictable conflict with ru ssia. the financial solution is the way to go. my sense is that the willingness of europe to purchase a paid in that bailout is probably dependent on a calming of the situation. >> do think that is what angela merkel and hollande will say to putin? we are really going to support this country. >> putin seems clear about what he wants. what he said as he does not want to break up of ukraine. that russia does not want to have to financially adopt and take responsibility for east ukraine. but they clearly want some if you like independence or self-determination in the east with a pro-moscow policy and that buffer within ukraine.

the eu or the west taking financial responsibility for ukraine certainly will soothe russia, provided that we can see to that buffer within ukraine. that obviously is because the ukrainian -- will the ukrainian people except that? they are in no mood. but if it comes as a condition for the bailout they need, then that compliments may be forced -- then that compromise may be forced. >> a federal solution was not enough for putin in russia. it means that difficult forces and he knows that. ukraine is set against that. the issue is about what level of decentralization for these areas there will be no veto for these regions on the overall cost of the rest of the country. that is what putin wants. putin wants i was going to say crimea. >> does he want crimea or korea?

>> essentially, he once part of it. now way. ukraine is not going to be in nato. you get the sense that ukraine is the red line. no chance. that is the difficulty. if he does not get what he wants, is he going to escalate further? if he does not get that, then the situation will not get result. >> on that note, we have concluded the conversation where the red line is. >> that meeting is at 6:00 p.m. thank you very much. >> that brings us to our twitter question of the day. a fairly simple one. is the cold war back? let us know what you think. we will take a break. ♪

>> welcome back to "the pulse." live on bloomberg tv and radio and streaming on your tablet and phone. >> a strategy briefing after two less than fruitful discussions with germany and the european central bank. he was unable to find common ground with his german counterpart on the new arrangement for greece's debt. hans nichols is in berlin where the meeting took place. they cannot even agree to

disagree, hans. >> i like that -- less than fruitful. they cannot agree on what they are arguing about. a short-term extension, which is something that he wants. get them towards may, so they can have a longer discussion about refinancing some of his debt. clearly he wants to keep them in the bailout program. that ends at the end of this month. when he looks at the moves he had seen the new greek government undertake, he was less than impressed. >> in our conversation i could not conceal my skepticism that some of the measures the new government announced, but the colleague told me they are not decided yet, they don't go in the right direction in our view. >> in his opening remarks, he said that they agree to disagree, but the greek finance minister said he could not abide by that bit of dlipiplo-speak. >> hans, what options dido the

greeks have for funding? >> well, so yesterday afternoon, they reported there will be 60 billion in emergency liquidity assistance. we confirmed that around 59.5 billion. this is for the greek central bank. this is just on the banking side. in terms of the government's ability to pay pensions and found themselves, we still do not quite know how they are going to do it if they leave the bailout and if they are not able to issue anymore t bills if they have run up against their 15 billion euro limit. so, what came of yesterday from the ecb is more to do with the banks or less to do with the government. everything somewhat interconnected. but that had more to do with the banks and the government and we still do not know how they are going to fund themselves if they do leave this bailout program. >> thanks so much. hounds nichols with the latest

-- hans nichols with the latest. going wrong for now. >> interesting to see how his view of the world looks this friday morning. they are doing laundry and figuring it out. they got home last night to rapturous applause. there was a party. absolutely amazing to watch. coming up, we will stay with greece. one company is so key to emphasize that singapore is no greece that it wrote a 29 page letter to standard & poor's. what is going on? stay with us for more. ♪

>> welcome back to "the pulse" live on bloomberg tv and radio. >> company news. statoil has deepened cost cuts and halted dividend growth. its ceo spoke to bloomberg earlier today in his first interview since taking up the post. here is what he had to say about the plunge in oil prices. >> in the short-term, i am fundamentally uncertain as to what kind of price environment we will see. we will see a lot of volatility and we could see a low o il price environment for quite some time. fundamentally, i think we are in a part of a cycle and we will see a rebound at some point. whether there are some structural changes fundamental

changes for the longer term, that is still too early to say. we do not see any changes in our fundamental belief in our commodity. >> singapore is not greece. temasek holdings have critiqued standard & poor's. it says singapore cannot get be put in the same way as riskier countries like greece. >> moving on from the hack attack. amy pascal is stepping down from her role as cochairman of sony pictures. facin criticism after hackers made public jokes about president barack obama. she is said to start her own production venture. >> coming up, we are live in moscow ahead of those meetings. and we will also talk rubles with a chief fx strategist. shall we have a look at the markets? >> ok.

interesting to hear the new ceo of statoil talk about the volatility in oil. that is where we are in the equity markets. the italian market is one of the few to be trading hig i want to show youher. oil. monday we are trading at 51. today we are trading at 57. we have seen a 10% range for the price of crude this week. an economy based on oil prices, life is incredibly difficult. volatility absolutely i watering in this contract. jonathan ferro was talking about it popping around like a penny stock. on the week we are up 10%. >> talking about penny stocks if you look at yield, they had volatility. denmark cutting its deposit rate for the fourth time this year. it matches switzerland's rate of -075%.

that has had a negative impact on yields. >> you can follow us on twitter. remember our twitter question of the day? is the cold war back? let us know what you think. ♪

>> welcome back to "the pulse." live from bloomberg's european headquarters here in london. >> merkel and hollande traveled to moscow to propose a peace proposal to putin. merkel and francois hollande met with john kerry. kerry said america is working to change russia's behavior.

>> in greece, they failed to agree on a new plan to deal with debt. meanwhile, the e.c.b. said it will allow the central banks to provide as much as 60 billion euros in emergency funding for the country's lenders. denmark's central bank cut its rate for the fourth time in a year. in an interview with bloomberg, the danish central bank governor said the peg would not be abandoned. >> euro and kronor are very close substitutes. but of course if anyone starts having doubt about the beg peg we will have an issue.

we will do whatever it takes. there is no limit and we can go on forever. >> that is fascinating. anyone who has doubts about the peg, then we're going to have an issue. we'll talk about that in a moment. feels like a lot longer than that doesn't it? jonathan ferro is here with more. not a lot of movement in the numbers. >> no. just over 3 billion. could have been up by 100 billion. it gives you an idea how much they would have had to have spent to keep that cap. that is the reason we're talking about denmark. the governor of the central bank

sounding like draghi with we'll do whatever it takes. >> if somebody has a problem with it, then we have got a problem. >> having to cut rates as aggressively as they are. >> i could be wrong about this but somebody maybe thinks the peg is a risk. >> four rate cuts in a year. reverse q.e. in some bizarre way. trying to stop people from buying danish kronor assets. if i'm a bond trader now, i'm looking at their bonds saying i'll have some of that. >> do you think people are also trading on the renomination risk? that occurred to me last night as i was thinking about it. part of the bids on the bonds, you just wonder whether there is a redenomination trade there. >> one was three years old.

the other is -- predates the euro. it is about ability and willingness. i had this conversation with a bloomberg columnist. if you are pushing rates this negative and start building up to decemberic risk, that becomes a problem. >> what happened took everyone by surprise. >> it really did. again, this can happen quickly. the s&p is around 80%. clearly the -- there is space to run in this game. it is happening really fast. >> it is happening really, really quickly. you have this morning issue. the banks are having a meeting with the central banks to talk about the issue of the mortgages. you have got a great deal of

pressure. you wonder whether -- you have to link this to greece as well. i think you have a resolution from greece, i think it would make life a lot easier for the danes. that is two ends of the telescope you need to think about here. >> trying to stop this capital flow into assets. what can they do about this. we're in a position now in denmark where yields are becoming so negative. the mortgage market, you can get paid to take out mortgages. a bizarre event. you're telling me they can prevent the risk build-up off the back of this. that is a very different problem. you have to midwestic risk. >> i remember what happened -- all of that. it happened and it is gone. you saw that with the swiss as well. these things work until they don't work. we'll wait and see. >> that is general in life. >> but something -- is

sustainable or it is not sustainable. >> the only conclusion you can make from the last month is that they are having a harder time than they were three months ago. >> if this story keeps accelerating the way it is -- >> it is going to get expensive. >> john ferro with the latest on some of the currency moves in denmark. >> let's talk about what's happening in russia. ryan chilcote is live with his next guest to talk about the impact of the meeting between merkel, hollande and putin. >> that meeting is about 6 1/2 hours from now. obviously the biggest event of the day from russia. i'm joined by the chief fx strategist at russia's largest bank. let's start with the talks and what they mean for the ruble. we have seen the ruble

strengthen a tad over the last day. some of that is oil. is that fair to say? >> i think that is fair. i think the market is focusing on it as a game changer. a the situation in the ukraine has been deteriorating. there is a lot of talk over whether sanctions are working. there is a live debate in the u.s. about potentially arping the ukrainians. the downside risks have come to nothing. there is some cautious optimism but if it comes to nothing, there could be some considerable -- >> quantify that for me. downside risks could be substantial. >> i think the downside risks are quite material. essentially, the ruble at the moment is being underpinned by the oil price. the oil price is up around 15% so far this week. i think we need an oil price rally to be sustained. equally, there are a lot of local risks in russia. i have mentioned some of them.

if we don't see any progress in the near term, it will be around 270 before long. >> when the central bank surprised everyone reducing rates from 17% to 15% on friday, we saw the ruble fall to below 70 it has strengthened a bit since then. is that just oil? other than obviously optimism about these talks? >> i think it is mainly oil. the information we had from the central bank last friday, of course the market wasn't expecting a move like that. the currency extremely volatile. the market is trying to fathom whether there will be further rate could you tell can you tells to come. >> what do you think? is it fair to see the stram bank at this point is pretty much in harm of the kremlin in term turnovers kremlin really calling

the shots? >> i think further rate cuts are in the balance. they seem to have indicated last week they are focusing more towards stimulating growth. inflation is a problem. we had a huge increase on inflation yesterday. the policy rate is 15% as well. real rates are moving negative again. i think it is in the balance. rubles, best performing currency this week in the world. what is your forecast for the year and how do you see the ruble faring against the euro in 2015? >> i think, as i've said before i don't think there can be any material appreciation of the ruble over a sustained period without oil prices also moving higher. that is the first point of reference. generally, we can price out some of the specific risks, it could move down towards 60 or so. against the euro, i think you're picking two currencies that are going to be under pressure over the foreseeable future.

some stability in russia could see the ruble do reasonably well. >> ukraine's currency lost half of its value in one week on top of losing half of its value in 2014. does it have further to fall? >> i think what we saw in particular yesterday, with the central bank of ukraine moving away from trying to manage the currency very closely. i think a lot of it points to -- >> market trade. >> exactly. points toward the i.m.f. talks that we have coming up. they manned ukraines move toward a more flexible situation. >> last question. take the sanctions away. return the oil price to above $100 a barrel. where does ruble go? will it ever go back to 32 to the dollar? >> it depends. if we were to i think

dollar/ruble in the mid 40's is reasonable. >> we're never going back to where we were before this crisis? >> in terms of oil price we see near term price for the next couple of years around $65 to $70 a barrel. >> thank you very much. that was tom levinson. the russian president will be sitting downtown the leeversd germany and france. back to you. >> thank you very much indeed. interesting insight. >> coming up, social climbers, twitter and linked in see their stock fall. we have that story coming up next. ♪

>> welcome back to "the pulse" live from bloomberg's london headquarters. >> another all in tech earnings last night. let's start with twitter. investors liked something. shares were up 13% after hours. >> yeah. once again, we're not getting overwhelming statistics when it comes to new people joining twitter. once again that, seems to be a bit lackluster. it inched up by 1% quarter to quarter.

what they liked was the new products being unveiled. they hauled in analyst for seven headquarters to talk about plans. -- hours to talk about plans. you have group chats being involved. capturing and editing of videos. clearly they are starting to make inroads as to how the develop twitter and how to woo in more users and advertisers. suddenly investors can see how this is going to be monetize. that is what drove up the share. we did see a net loss overall but we're starting to see time turning in twitter. and overhaul the business. the s.k. ho gone. they have new heads of finance product, engineering starting to reap rewards. >> how about linkedin? it too was developing new products which is helping it

boost sales. >> exactly. once again, this is a country -- company trying to get out of its usual job. they want to help you in a sales role. they want to help you as a market 're. -- marketeer. they have services for salespeople seeking new clients. this is a company that too is adding membership of 25%. profit beat analyst estimates. that is what drove their shares up. their forecast looking pretty strong. what i think is so crucial for linkedin is its chinese orientation. they now have 8 million users. they have doubled their membership. sure they have to play by some of the rules that china sets in terms of sometimes if you put something it tepids to get put

down again -- tends to gets put down again. shares rising after hours. they have a really rather ino vative way of marketing themselves. using liam neeson to lure you into linkedin in help perhaps recommend your own profile. this is a company thinking outside the box. shares spiking for both 2013 and linkedin. >> endorsed by liam neeson if you're the lucky one. i don't know if its sell or not. >> was that being unfair? probablyle. >> probably. we're going to stay with tech. we're going to talk about hardware. wearable tech is a big theme. will it live up to its potential? if it is going to do that, it has to look better. that's why they are teaming with

designers. >> we have with us two people behind another tech fashion collaboration. they teamed up to create a phone charging belt. gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us here on "the pulse." we were trying to figure it out. we are actually fascinated. this is a belt. i actually think it looks quite good. i was a little bit concerned at first, so tell us about this belt. you basically put it on. it looks like a normal belt but when you need to charge it, voila. >> what we have here is you have a battery going through the entire inside of the belt but it is completely hidden. what this has is a modular design here so you can swap out different styles like this. if you need charge your phone, there is a cable hidden behind

it. i'm actually wearing one. >> if you're on a date and say i'm low on batteries, what do you do? >> i have the belt. you're just checking your twit per. -- twitter. >> you say hold on, look at this. >> you just flip out to charging cable here and then you can plug in your fiend then it starts charging and you can put that in your pocket. >> you have raised quite a lot of money. >> yes. we did $80,000 as our initial and now we're taking preorders until july and with charlie went on to the cat walk in london men's collection in january. >> charlie, how interested are fashion designers at the moment of trying to figure out a way of integrating tech but making it look good? >> from my experience fashion is always a little slow in picking up on tech trends. particularly to do with technology.

for us it was divepbd perfect opportunity when -- >> so what did it look like when camente to you? [laughter] >> it was a little bit chunky. we just i think wanted to make it a bit more approachable for an everyday person to be able to wear whether it is with a suit or just walking around. >> you to look at weight. where you get it made. the look and feel. you like luxury. touch and feel. what was the main challenge for this? >> well, i think for us, someone who is used to designing suits it was a real challenge. i think it is making you feel like there is nothing there really. also it is a sleek, modern design so that it can integrate into your every day tire. >> you have done other designs.

this is not your first hardware outing. i'm just curious. that's an an until your pocket, isn't it? that is not something you say to many people. is this android friendly? >> absolutely. we designed it so it would work with both. you can use it with an detroit or with apple. it with an android or with apple. >> i would say 90% of people within the fashion industry have apples. that is just the way it worked. >> she still has a nokia.

a very old nokia which she recently lost and almost cried over. >> i'm not sure you have a charger. what is next? are you looking at more wearable tech? if i'm a woman i feel a little bit left out. i don't often wear a belt. >> what happens is the tech tends to increase the cost which increases it to tend user so you need to think about maybe for something like bag or jacket or something like that that may be changed more often than a belt. the reason we started with a belt is because it is something you wear and you tend to wear the same one for a long period. you need to look at how to make the tech modular. >> my belt hopefully stays on. >> exactly. if you're a woman, we like the handbag and clutches. we think they are really interesting places to put technology. the question is how do you

incorporate it in ato continue with your fashion without having to play multiple times for the technology. >> it looks good actually. i'm impressed. we should try it out. >> guys, thank you very much indeed. >> thank you. >> you can get all of our top tech stories on bloomberg business on our brand new website bloomberg.com act apple abduction. it is really fun read. >> check that one out. coming up later on "the pulse," we're going to talk to the v.p. on the one-year anniversary of a magazine. that is later in "the pulse." ♪

>> welcome back to "the pulse" live on bloomberg tv and radio and streaming on your tablet and phone and bloomberg.com. >> the fir word is up next, for our viewers, it is a second hour of "the pulse." who have we got for you? >> talking about a possible increase in wages. this will be the third round of german labor negotiation. >> with inflation negative that is a decent pay bump. we'll get his take on what is

next for the german economy. we'll take a break and see you on the other side of that. follow us on twitter at guy johnson tv and at flacqua. we'll see you in a moment. ♪

kraine. >> failing to find agreements with germany in the e.c.b. on the debt restructuring plan. >> and reserving the peg. abandoning its euro peg is unthinkable. >> we have the intention to keep the peg. and we will do whatever it takes to do it.

>> good morning to our viewers in europe. good evening to snose asia. a very warm welcome to those just waking up in the united states. i'm guy johnson. >> i'm francine lacqua. >> greece's prime minister and the finance minister have returned home. they did so to pro government celebration after their anti-bailout plan received a cooler welcome in berlin yesterday. what happens next? germany's chancellor angela merkel and the french president hollande are having a different problem. they are off to moscow. they are going to meet with the russian president, putin. they are talking about ukraine and a cease-fire plan. let's go straight to the russian capital where ryan chilcote is on the ground ahead of that meeting. what is the timeline for these

talks and how will they unfold? >> they are expected here in the evening. the french president is set to arrive at 5:30. angela merkel at 6:30. my guess is it will be late night talks. that usually happens with the russian president. as you say, the whole idea is to try and create some kind of cease-fire maybe the beginning of some kind of peace plan, but there is a lots of skepticism. as you know, i have been to a lot of these talks in mink -- minsk and berlin. nothing really ever longer than that. and the stakes are very high. in terms of human lives. more than 5,000 people killed in the conflict in ukraine. hundreds of thousands of people

according to the united nations displaced. it has been nothing short of a calamitous week for you crane's currency. it has lost half of its value in the last seven days on top of losing half of its value last year. it was europe's worst performing economy last year as well. the stakes are really high but there is a good deal of skepticism here in moscow and in western capitals that these talks will produce constructive results. >> ryan, what happens if the talks actually today fail to lead to resolution? what can we expect -- where can we expect the crisis to go from here? >> you know, fran, there is a sense that these are are -- i don't want to say the last hope for peace, but that the options are running out. we heard the secretary of state of the united states, john kerry, who notably is not coming

to moscow for these talks but he said putin has had plenty of off ramps and has left them the rear view mirror. two things are on the agenda. one is the e.u. heads of state gather on thursday. essentially they will be talking about greece but it is possible they will impose more sanctions against russia. of course the greeks watered down some of the language out of the foreign ministers meeting that took place last week. nonetheless, it is possible diplomats at that meeting told me you could have germany and france, particularly if the german chancellor is upset coming out of this meeting that we could see more. in addition to that, we could have a situation where we go from the tier three sanctions to if quked say it this way, defcon 3. we could be looking at the beginning of a proper proxy war. the united states is talking about potentially arming the ukrainian military. possibly providing the ukrainian

military with as much as $3 billion worth of defensive weapons. of course they already accused a russians of arming the separatists in the eastern ukraine. there is a lot of concern about that. do we really want that? people talking about the return of the cold war. well, that would lead to an escalation definitely. secretary kerry said yesterday president obama has not made up his mind but he will very soon. presumably these talks today in moscow set to take place in just a few hours are going to be important as it does draw conclusions. back to you. >> thank you. >> greek leaders having a strategy meet affing two discussions with germany and the european central bank. the prime minister was unable to find common ground with his german counterpart on a new arrangement for greece's debt. hans nichols is in berlin where the meeting took place. hans, just how far apart were

the two finance ministers that didn't even agree on disagreeing. >> that was the key quote we got. he didn't even agree to disagree. it is an open question on whether or not they were even talking about negotiating. something to tide them over or something where they want to stay in the current bailout program. that program ends at the end of the month. without that they are going to have a lot of windows to e.c.b. credit closed upon them. that is greece. >> we didn't even agree to disagree from where i'm standing. from where i'm standing, we agreed to enter into

deliberations as partners with a joint orientation towards a european solution for european problems. >> now, as you guys mentioned, there were crowds protesting back in athens but they were pro government protests. that demonstrates underlines the extent to which there could be a potential collision course. they feel they need to listen to these concerns and those concerns are not back home arguing for compromise. guys? >> as they sit down and think about it this weekend and reconsider their options and talk and figure out what ebb maybe they would suggest to do, what options do the greeks actually have to fund themselves? >> well, ok, for the greek government, they can go to try to issue more t bills. they are at a 15 billion euro limit. they can go up to 25. that can get them some short-term financing. in terms of the e.c.b., close to

60 billion euros in emergency liquidity assistance. now taking money out of this window costs about 1.55%. you take a look at what greek banks took out in december in total. it is around 56 billion. 59 60 billion would seem to be enough to cover all of the greek bank's financing needs. that is just the greek banks, though. that is not the greek state and that is at a much higher rate which is going to put pressure on the banks. >> thank you so much. hans nichols there with the very latest. an e.u. financial telling bloomberg that euro group is meetinging on february 11. it throws us back to 2011, 2010 when they used to meet every three or four weeks trying to deal with the situation. they are back. >> the other day we were talking

about the bid to cover on a greek bond auction. >> that also throws us back. >> we're now back talking about that as well. it has gone full circle. we will continue to follow that story and build you up to it as well. remember, you can follow us on twitter at guy johnson tv and francine is at flacqua. back to maybe that russia story or the cold war. is the cold war back? let us know what you nifment is that what we're looking at here in europe? still ahead, the currency conversation. the danish central bank governor strikes a draghiesque tone telling bloomberg he will do whatever it takes. details after the break. ♪

>> welcome to "the pulse" live from bloomberg's european headquarters in london. now the swiss national bank has published details of their reserves. they revealed the tovepkts propping up the franc before it abandoned the euro peg three weeks ago. what do the numbers reveal? >> europe 1.7%. s&p board member said it could have been 100 billion swiss francs. you can see how much pressure they were under and why they tipped the cap francine. it was going to get very, very expensive.

>> are we seeing a replay in denmark? >> i think that is the story. oil goes down. what do we do? we start attacking anyone who produces oil. smash their currency lower. we start looking everywhere else. hong kong, in this case denmark. we question whether they can keep it. they are telling us they have problems. rate cuts. it is pretty clear there are concerns there. >> let's bring in steven. is it going to just get more and more expensive and will they eventually to abandon it? >> so the basic -- the point here to make is that in europe, the fx nightmare, if you want to call it that is not that 19 countries use the same currency. ss that you have four or five important once that don't. if your monetary policy is not completely independent which it is not in europe for these small countries, it is difficult to

have a floating exchange rate and free movement of capital. it is going to result in fx volatility or policy volatility. this is an issue now because policy makers are more sensitive to things like financial stability risks, imbalances and capital flows are different. the nature of capital flows are different to where they were precrisis. precrisis net capital flow was persistent in one direction. now capital flows as we know can swing very quickly in both directions so it makes it more difficult for policy make to manage. >> so what is in the toolbox? >> the bangor england is a great model to look at. macro potential policy is there. the problem is if the policy is

very loose, macro potential policy is delute effectively. so you're playing whack a mole. -- diluted effectively. you have negative rates. the impact is -- >> is it sustainable? >> is what sustainable? >> is the peg sustainable? you're in a whack a mole scenario. if you're taking a picture of flows being very fast. you're painting a picture of monetary policy being already incredibly loose and macro potential being used to manage the edges of that, at some point is that a sustainable risk or not sustainable? >> what is probably less sustain sble this divergeance in thinking about monetary policy. you have the e.c.b. doing one thing. >> the e.c.b. is not going to move. >> well, but the capital flow is there from euros. that is a difficulty for policy makers outside of the euro area.

>> three things. one, the g.d.p., the balance sheet is low compared to the s&p. two, the target, we should talk about where the tarked is. 7.26 in a 2.4% band. it is still trading at a tight band. it has come down a little bit but it is still a tight band. three, it is not euro/swiss they did not have a agreement with the e.c.b.. there is an agreement on both side to try and keep this peg. whether the e.c.b. at some point when it regime gets very difficult and steps in and has to many taken it, it is interesting. denmark is very, very different. >> we also had that great interview yesterday with the central bank governor. we're talking about theories. but he stood up and he said i'll do whatever it takes. we're not going to abandon it. this is a credibility. there is a man who didn't --

three weeks ago. saying guys, trust me. i have this one. how much do you believe him? >> the whatever it takes line is clearly an indication they are trying to align their policies more closely with the e.c.b. so there is potentially less upward pressure on the crown. when it comes to sustainability the main question here is not so much upward pressure on the crown. i don't think there is as much as is there has been on the franc. but it is the financial stability risk. this is still a long-term issue. i don't think there is pressure on it for it to break immediately. it is a long-term issue. it is something for policy makers to consider how do we position our country's maker economic policy in the long run. >> can we change the notion of the peg in order to make this more manageable?

if they want the bands out. is there a way of finessing the policy that will make it sustainable and make the central bank's jobber's? >> i think the most -- bank's jobs easier? >> however that is achieved, if it is a singapore style trading ban or a chinese style adjustable rate peg. >> there are other policy options. it doesn't have to be as it is now. there are other ways of doing it. >> there are other policy options. but i think the easiest option is for central banks to coordinate and make sure their toolboxes are roughly is same as one another's. when you have equilibrium, you need macro economic cycles to be aligned as well. >> the e.c.b. is not going to say it is going to be setting policy for denmark.

>> again, the problem -- the problem is that the e.c.b.'s policy has an effect on the whole of europe. that is true. they don't set policy for one country. >> they have enough problems, you know. let's talk about greece. yesterday we were talking with jon and we were talking about is this a cypress in the making? the worst possible scenario. how do you see the greek situation developing and the impact on the euro? >> first of all, the impact on the euro has been limited because it is close to max short euros and positioning is euro already. limited impact. the greece issue, there are two main factors. the first factor is the funding gap. the e.l.a. program sort of fills the gap for time being. so there is not as much risk to have whole banking system. the other issue is the long-term

-- the debt burden. what do we do about the debt burden? i really they the greek government is genuine -- genuinely interested and determined to change the image of greece abroad. so i think if they can present the rational enough plan that has them following through with the necessary reforms for greece, i absolutely think that debt forgiveness has to be part of the plan. now whether or not the debt forgiveness comes first or after the reforms are done is going to be one of the sticking points. i think this is a new greece potentially. it is -- you know, at the end of the day a lot of this is about trust, right? the way that the programs, the previous programs were designed. they were designed in a way that highlights the lack of trust between predators and debtors in europe. sometimes, though, the best way to restore trust is to use trust to actually show trust. i think that is where the debt

forgiveness element cops into it. absolutely greece needs to have a plan an it needs to provide evidence that it is following through on that plan. >> from the other side of the table, how does that get managed? given the german position on this, this is going to be quite a significant -- how does it get packaged up with a bow around it and presented to the german people to make it acceptable? >> i don't know, guy. >> i'm just curious. >> i think the trust aspect is a critical element of it. so the debt forgiveness needs to be in there but also, the reform -- >> there was a poll out this morning that suggested that the bulk of germans still believe greece needs to stick to the existing program and clearly that is not something the greeks will be in any way interested

in. >> it is all about timing and debt forgiveness. when the relief is given. it is about a number of things. >> the german labor market is still strong. there is no contagion in the bond markets. what is the sne? when i listened to him talk, he was not just talking about the polls. he was speaking of the 1930's and talking about how he has to go back home and he is digging deep now to try and get germany to give something. it is not just about economics. >> which unfortunately on the, you know we talk about trust and that makes him sound radical. we have had steven on for six minutes. how can we not talk about the u.s. jobs today? >> the u.s. jobs today, i think the main thing for the fx market is positioning. positioning is long dollars so therefore the market is going to

be very sensitive to negative print. in the payrolls, you're looking for the weakest link in that report if, there is one whatever that is, expect that to be the most important thing for the fx market. when you look at the overall picture for the united states and the investment picture the net trade picture, the consumer confidence picture and then also that -- how that is accentuated by capital influence, the dollar it is still a very positive environment for the dollar. it is still a very positive environment for the dollar and therefore, the stronger dollar is likely to feed those factors further. >> all right. thank you so much. jon ferro. steeve gallo. >> coming up, a casualty of sony's hacking scanned a.m. amy pascal will depart. details of that story next.

♪

>> welcome back to "the pulse" live on bloomberg tv and streaming on the ipad and bloomberg.com. >> let's take a look at today's company stories. moving away from the hack attack amy pascal is stepping down from her role at sony pictures. she faced criticism after the hackers made public her jokes

about president obama. she is going to start her own production venture. >> coming up, another demonstration in greece. this time in support of the government. we talk about their home coming to athens after the break. ♪

francine: welcome back to "the pulse." live from london. i'm francine lacqua. guy: i'm guy johnson. francine: angela merkel and francois hollande travel to moscow to present a peace proposal to vladimir putin to halt fighting in eastern ukraine. merkel and hollande met petro poroshenko in kiev yesterday. poroshenko also met with john kerry. guy: greek leaders rethinking

their strategy after finance minister yanis varoufakis and his german counterpart wolfgang shallow sales to narrow demonstrator -- narrow differences over greek debt. the ecb has said it will allow greece's central-bank 60 billion euros in emergency funding. francine: 10 marks central bank has cut its engine mark rate. -- denmark's central bank has cut its benchmark rate. the danish central bank governor spoke in an interview with bloomberg. >> the euro and krone are close substitutes. if anyone starts having doubts we will have an issue. our message to the pension industry and to investors is that we will keep doing whatever

it takes. there is no limit on our balance sheet and we can go on forever. guy: a great interview. a fascinating story. the market moves at the moment are eye watering. jonathan: hard to keep up. there are concerns at the central bank. maybe they have a problem. we are a little lower, down in italy. i'm standing on frankfurt with losses. the ftse in london higher on the week but lower today. not so long ago you had presidents trying to sort things out with vladimir putin. not so much. the market a little bit less sensitive as it might have been before. elsewhere, back from russia to greece for a look at the athens stock exchange. up by .2%.

a ride, a brutal couple days last week to regain some losses. the market likes the sound of a bridging program. kicked the can further down the road. leaving the problem to be dealt with another day. the big story this week has got to be in the commodity market. wti crude, $52.36 on crude. the week we've had. this has been remarkable. back in a bull market. you question what i bull market is certainly does not feel like one. up 20% from the lows. we go now we bounce around like a penny stock but we are higher on the week by over 8%. the biggest weekly rally for crude in six years. elsewhere in the fx space, i will bring up the dollar. all about jobs day. jobs day 230,000 is the number

people are looking for. unemployment expected to stay at five .6%. this becoming a little bit of a problem for some exporters. remains to be seen whether the fed will tolerate that or the treasury will slap it down. the payrolls report, as important as it is, there is something for everyone. the top line is great for the bulls and bears are looking at wages. where are we? three hours, toning down. francine: wage growth, that is what we are looking for. jonathan ferro with the latest on nonfarm payrolls. guy: talking of growth germany's largest trade union is entering the third round of negotiations with key employee is. more than 300 50000 employees have walked off their jobs with employers like ford and daimler. joining us is the union's

clinical -- political secretary. you are looking for 5.5%. inflation is at zero. >> good morning. we claim 5.5%. hello, i can hear you. practically, the wage and demand is one of three demands we have for this collective bargaining round. one is the wage increase 5.5%. the objective behind it is to stabilize the internal come of the domestic demand by increasing wages. this is an important factor to stabilize the domestic demand. we have two qualitative elements

to improve the situation of workers in the company's. one is revise and improve collective agreements on partial retirement. one is an element which deals with qualifications and training. a new collective agreement for more possibilities for the workers to leave for training and qualification, to improve and adapt to the needs of the company and also the needs of their career plan. francine: uwe, give us a sense inflation, there is no inflation. you want 5.5% increase, what do you think you will achieve? will you be happy with 2%, that is still significant bargaining power. >> as i said we tried to counter with a higher wage

increase. it is important to strengthen the internal market in germany. to have a second pillar besides the export orientated economy. we must develop the internal domestic market. to strengthen the internal market, it is also a possibility to account for macro economic imbalances in europe. guy: i am fascinated. two things come to mind. do you think -- are you being more aggressive on the wages because you think you have the support of central bankers? which does not normally happen. this time around they are keen to see big wage increases. the second thing is du, as a result of what you are saying think that germany's policy of not allowing more demand in

germany to help the rest of europe out is wrong? >> first i will say we are not more aggressive because we have to support -- the support of the central bank. in each collective darkening round, we are very self-conscious. we know our power. it is great to hear that we must strengthen the internal markets eye raising wages here. guy: that is something, you are hearing that in france and greece. i'm not really hearing that in german politicians. ok -- francine: i think we are having technical difficulties. we will bring uwe to london.

interesting to see how they are trying to combat deflation. spending power of their employees by increasing wages by 5.5%. a lot of people would be happy with that. guy: >> a lot of people in europe would be happy. it would provide germany as a source of demand in the eurozone. some would argue that is what the eurozone needs. you need to have austerity in certain parts of europe and you need some sort of demand elsewhere in the eurozone. maybe that is what he is talking about. interesting stuff. francine: next, we talked to the people behind pret a porter's magazine. ♪

maybe that is what he is talking about. interesting stuff. francine:

guy: welcome back. you are watching "the pulse." francine: it has been a year since net-a-porter lodged its magazine. combining editorial content with technology to cater to the modern shopper. joining us to discuss the future of the magazine is the editor-in-chief. thank you for joining us. we are talking about the future

of the magazine. who is the perfect shopper you are targeting? who has the money to spend? >> this was launched with the net-a-porter woman in mind. she's always on the move. she traveling 11 times a year and she loves fashion page she's traveling and looking for a beautiful generation. that is our typical woman. guy: what defines success? is it different from the past? >> for us it is. what we have done is approached it in a different way. we have torn up the grill book and started again -- the rulebook and started again. success was about engagement. we are finding it is inspiring women to shop more.

for us, success is being able to engage existing customers but also draw in new customers. francine: this was started a year ago. critics were saying we do not need another glossy magazine. it must have been a challenge for you to incorporate another editorial but at the same time showcasing what net-a-porter had to offer. it has been a success. why is this a model for the future? are we going to see the blend of commercial and publishing more? >> what was exciting, for me having worked in traditional publishing, there is a lot that has changed. there used to be a time when people would wait for months to find out what had happened with collections in paris or milan in "bazaar" or "vogue." francine: twitter happened.

>> even weekly magazines happened. you find that brands are live streaming their shows. people are seeing things instantly. what was exciting was the fact that it was global, which meant you had control of your bran d. i have worked at various magazines. you know exactly what you are getting in every country because it is one set of editorial content. we do have three currency additions. in the states is dollars, in france it is euros and in the u.k. it is sterling. what excited me was one set of content for the discerning global customer. we did look at the rules of publishing. we did a lot of research at net-a-porter. we have an active audience.

one of the things they like, they love the time away from technology. guy: there is an ipad version. >> there is a digital edition. it is a replica of the magazine. the big difference is you can shop. there are pathways everywhere. the magazine is shop able. if we look at how we use our mobile phones it is like a remote control at our life. it is our bank, pa, diary. we wanted the magazine to be a personal shopper, has a concierge service. it is shoppable and feels modern. guy: we have the physical version and there is the tablet version.

do you use them differently? do they work together? >> the print edition is the one you would read in the bath. what is exciting is, for example the cover on the new issue, there is a beautiful dress. you can click on the image and shot the dress from net-a-porter or another website. i need it. there is a world of inspiration -- beneath it there's a world of inspiration. you have an incredible shopping experience. you are getting lots of inspiration. francine: were you surprised that people still buy physical magazines? >>guy: for the bath.

>> this magazine has been a hit on the newsstand already. it kind of backed up the research we did. we talked to a luxury audience. i was not surprised. i have been nicely surprised i how much of a hit it has been. we are available in 60 countries and 220 cities. it has been about trying to get the woman on the move. francine: are you concerned if one of your rivals, a known magazine launching a website where they sold clothes? >> it is easier for a retailer to become a publisher than the other way around. we have the infrastructure and the audience and we had the understanding. we now deliver next day to 80

countries and same day to london, new york and hong kong. if you're reading "porter" and you fall in love with the dress, it will be with you in a few hours. which is revolutionary. francine: the world is changing. guy: mr porter, how is he doing? >> he was launched a few years ago and has a huge audience of 2 million men around the world. guy: does he have a magazine? >> he does. it comes out six times a year. it is more like a newspaper. men prefer more of a tabloid version. that is how we communicate. francine: one final question. you should try it. what sells at the moment? beauty, small handbags come in terms of spending? is there anything hot now?

a lot of emphasis is on beauty. >> for us it is high fashion items. for net-a-porter that's the brilliance of the vision. to sell those high ticket dresses online. that was the thing people thought could not be done. those certain runway looks, they fly off the shelves. francine: that is the dress, right behind you. thank you so much lucy yeomans and test mccloud smith. guy: angela merkel and francois hollande are heading to russia to speak with vladimir putin. angela merkel saying she does not know if a solution is possible. back to the russian capital for

more on that meeting. ♪

francine: welcome back to "the pulse." live on bloomberg tv and bloomberg.com. guy: ryan chilcote is in moscow. the german chancellor making some comments in advance of the meeting. not concerned -- not convinced

she can get a deal. ryan: she flies in, so does the president of france. they sit down with vladimir putin at the kremlin. the meeting is scheduled for after 6:30. the time has moved a lot. it will be a late-night discussion like they had yesterday with the ukrainian president, who then met with for five hours. not surprising that the german chancellor is not optimistic. i was in milan where she met with putin and sat with him until 2:00 in the morning. i was in normandy where hollande was there as well. none of the talks have had meaningful results but they are going to give it a go. francine: we are watching the u.s. january jobs report. it is very volatile.

and a lot of temporary workers because of delivery services. jonathan: it will be about the top line and then 230,000 is the estimate. unemployment 5.6 percent. we want to see wage growth continue. flattened by a falling inflation rate, maybe that is the saving grace for the labor market here the participation rate is low. there is something in it for everyone. guy: if you want to be negative, the participation rate, if you look at the top line number you will feel good. interesting to see how different markets lacked onto different numbers. equities latch onto the top line and it will be fascinating. jonathan: you just came off of the best jobs growth in over a decade. the fed has rates near a record low. i also goes out of the fed, they are keen to get away from the 0% interest rate. francine: it might not come this year. a lot of analysts had in pushing back there for test. -- their forecasts.

jonathan: in the year we've had so far, 12 nations easing. people are discussing the potential for the fed to capitulate. guy: i wonder if we are going to talk about whether the stronger dollar will slow down the economy. jonathan: at one point we were talking about the strong dollar and closed economy won't matter. then people are talking about it affecting the trade balance. is it a job for the fed or the treasury? francine: what can the treasury do about it? nonfarm payrolls later. jonathan: i will put it on twitter and one minute. francine: we are not going to invite him back. that is it for "the pulse." keep it here on bloomberg tv. "surveillance" is next with tom keene and his team. guy: we are on twitter as well.

@guyjohnsontv and@flacqua. bloomberg tv continues after this short break. ♪

>> this is bloomberg "surveillance." tom: on jobs day economists are focused on your paycheck. too many americans falling

behind. the hollande-merkel pact. they and putin pal -- pow wow in moscow. golf considers a tiger free future. masters panic. good morning, i am tom keene. joining me is olivia sterns and brendan greeley. here's olivia. olivia: the leaders of germany and france will arrive in moscow on a mission to sign a cease-fire over ukraine. the meeting at the kremlin the day after they met with petro poroshenko. here is secretary john kerry. secretary kerry: there has been a number of offerings for russia to take over the course of the past months.