>> pressure mounts on greece as officials call on the government. and the ecb grants the nation's cash-strapped banks only a small increase in emergency funds. >> we are at a critical and sensitive point in negotiations. we are submitting proposals and we hope we can turn this corner which will give us the possibility to move forward. >> fed fears -- u.s. officials indicate they will keep interest rates low longer given worries about the strong dollar and a sluggish market. >> for your earnings from air france.

we will bring you those as soon as they are released. >> welcome to "countdown." >> coming up more from a bloomberg exclusive with mark zuckerberg. well a social network is racing with the google to connect the world, there is room for the companies to work together. >> people need to be able to search and find information. whether we work with google on that or others in all these other countries -- that is an important thing and i would love to work with google. >> we are getting some breaking news. the benchmark share index and in japan closes high. where was manus cranny in may 2000? >> we will bring you the answer

to that question a little bit later. pressure is mounting -- our top story is greece. its european creditors need to strike a deal before the money runs out. the administration will submit a request for a six-month loan extension today, according to a government officials. the 240 billion euro bailout expires at the end of february. this week marks a crucial point ahead of that deadline. >> we are at a critical and sensitive point in negotiation. we are submitting proposals and we hope we will turn this corner which will give us the possibility of moving forward. >> meanwhile, the ecb is upping the amounts available to greece but only by a small amount

sending a signal that a political deal should be reached to halt capital outflows. >> let's get to hans nichols in berlin. hans, today is one of those defining moments. they have got to pull the trigger. what they want. >> if they submit a straightforward it could get approved by conference call. the problem is they are unlikely to submit a straightforward program to stay in the bailout program so the finance ministers and other finance ministers have made it so clear that they need to. as on bloomberg will said last night, solidarity is not a one-way street. >> the euro is more than a currency.

we have always made it clear whether it was greece, ireland, portugal, or spain, that when countries are in trouble we show solidarity. solidarity is not a one-way street. they are two signs of the same coin. >> manus, documents released last night give us a sense of what they want to do. they want to change the primary surplus to 1.5% -- it is supposed to be 3% for the year. that is one area where the eu seems like they are willing to give. but on privatization, they are not, and they want to slow down privatization. they want to take 1.9 billion from the ecb. they also want to loosen their labor market forms. -- reforms. if these are codified in the proposal that they submit today it is going to make it very difficult for the eu to approve them. then we have this common

sentiment out of jack lew that could put pressure. >> hans, you just mentioned jack lew. in terms of this -- it is very interesting that we have had a focus in terms of what happens. the outcome of negotiations in the north of europe and greece. >> the u.s. has weighed in sporadically -- what we have on jack lew is a call and a readout of the call. it was pretty harsh, the readout -- in some ways what mr. lou was doing was the same thing mr. osborne did on close doors -- behind closed doors. eurozone officials are saying you haven't properly calculated what might happen if reese leaves. -- if greece leaves. mr. lew was talking tough.

yesterday we were all expecting a proposal to be submitted to the eu. greece delayed and today they say they are on track but until we have the proposal it can't have any sort of deal, let alone a discussion. >> hans, thank you. we will wait for those news headlines and will bring them to all our viewers. a bit of breaking news -- we will have the ceo a little later on so a conversation can be had. if you were a shareholder in swiss re, they are doing a billion euros on a buyback in the fourth quarter net profit. that is quite a bit below the estimate. it is the -- excuse me -- it is

the cfo we will have. a dividend of four and a quarter swiss francs. a little bit of breaking news. >> that is the signal for the u.s. federal reserve. it's a minister released yesterday that many officials showed a willingness to keep interest rates near zero despite gains in the labor market. >> all attention now to turns to the fed chair who gives testimony next week whether she will provide any clarity on the rate increase. >> let's get a quick check on what was the highlight in the minutes. it has lingered below the fed's 2% target for 32 consecutive months. >> the strong dollar has rallied. >> top growth in the u.s.

economy was undermined. january cap the strongest three months of payroll gain in 17 years. >> let's bring in morgan stanley's head of global affect strategy, hans redeker. hans, this falls in line with what you were thinking -- next week you get testimony and that will be the freshest. i was reading this on the way in. these were a very benevolent set of minutes. is that a fair assessment? >> yes, but it is also in line with our thinking here at morgan stanley. the fed is in a situation where it couldn't take the risk to hike interest rates to think about it as a tail risk. if a federal deck did too early you would see the economy rolling over you would see

interest rates of only 1% not a lot of ammunition standing ready to act against us. there would be a huge downturn in economic activity. you want to do it with 100% certainty to have escape velocity. that means the fed is going to stay here, you could call it behind the curve, they wanted to be 100% certain there is enough escape velocity. of course, the question is the u.s. dollar. it is a nominal differential. there is no change in that, so the question means that you cannot protect it. the long-term trend of the u.s. dollar is going to stay very -- >> how did the fed -- the title

of the piece -- did the fed just entered a currency war? they mentioned this persistent source of restraint on export. has entered the currency war? >> first of all, do you notice that the dollar was mentioned? no. there is international development. i think people are taking the shortcut and saying international development means dollar -- but you have this demand weakness in other areas. the u.s. economy, which is the closest to escape velocity, it is natural that you have a higher currency and a weaker other currency, including the euro. i think the fed is not going to enter what you call the currency war. it is too materialistic a verb. i think what they are doing is a

natural investment in an environment of capital accounts open capital accounts. they are going to reconnect economies. when you look into u.s. dollar going up -- at the same time we have seen bond yields declining. a year ago, bond yields were remarkably higher. that means we have seen debt related capital interest in the united states -- can you really argued that the u.s. dollar has tightened financial conditions? i would say the answer is no simply because it has come down along way a significant decline. the savings are recycled into the united states and it triggers a high u.s. dollar. it generates low interest rates for the united states for the time being.

this is a domestically driven economy, so the low rate have an impact, support an impact on the u.s. economy. i think the u.s. is not entering the currency war. i think the u.s. will accept an adjustment process that has been undervalued for 15 years. we are now seeing this undervaluation taken out of the market. >> hans, you will stay with us this morning. that is the head of global affect strategy at morgan stanley. join us on twitter. that is not necessarily the correct interpretation -- >> when we return, air france and nestle. we will bring you the numbers as soon as they cross. ♪

>> welcome back -- breaking news from air france. profit dropped in 2014 following the longest pilot strike in the airline's history. the airline had overcapacity en route to asia, latin america and africa. earnings before interest

otherwise known as -- as well is the cost from the strike fell to 1.5 9 billion euros -- 1.59 billion euros, in line with estimates. little changed -- 24.9 billion euros remaining burdened by this cost structure that remains uncompetitive with rivals. the french unit lost money last year because of the strike and it is renewing efforts to slash expenses to withstand the march of low-cost airlines in europe adult carriers in international markets as well. profit dropping last year following the longest pilot strike in the airline industry. throughout the day we will bring you interviews you will not want to miss -- the air france cfo pfs will relapse she --

pierre-francois riolacci. >> caroline has joined us on said. they have had currency was -- what do you make of the numbers? >> bang in line with expectations. a slight fall in sale, but only by 1%. we were also seeing for your organic sales that is stripping out the sales of foreign currency. sales are up four and a half percent. and narrow target for the year. but everyone expected them to come under it. they are saying that for 2015 they hope to be back on track for 5% growth overall. many were saying that this was going to be not the greatest result, but put it in perspective.

we have got food prices falling inflation across the world -- the fact that they are still getting do -- still managing to get between 4% and 5% is pretty good. the chief executive is saying, we are building on good growth of the past year, and they say they still have their intrinsic strength, the footprint. we are not yet getting a feel -- >> you can't mention a swiss company without mentioning the bank. any idea of how it impacts the company? >> they are in constant capital efficiency, about 5%. they aren't giving us any forecasts, and he views relating to foreign currency. the enormous spike we have seen really doesn't affect the likes of nestle.

67 brands of bottled water -- >> what you mean 67 brands? >> 98% of this company's sales come outside. they have to bring it home and convert it to swiss banks -- all of their american sales which tend to be the strongest -- when you roll it back into swiss banks it is less room to your bottom line, particularly when you have weakening economies. your pay and sales are going to have far less bang. overall one has to dig into them a little bit more. but it seems to be in line with 4.5%. 2015 is going to be similar. >> i will have to do the affects check back the swiss bank is now the weakest it has been. i'm just looking through -- i

have done i haven't used the word currency but i would drill a little deeper. thanks for running up those numbers -- stay tuned to bloomberg. another conversation you won't want to miss. >> currency did overtake the swiss franc -- the strongest since the dollar last year. malawi kwacha is now stronger -- so says bloomberg. let's take a look at some of the other stories today. the u.k. defense secretary says there is a real and present danger. destabilizing the baltic states. lithuania and estonia ukraine's

leader urged the deployment the united nations in the country's east to enforce a cease-fire. government troops are now withdrawn from the strategic rail hub following one of the largest battles in the 10 month conflict. expanding latest fund-raising rounds -- the mobile car booking application. the company was valued at $40 billion, one of the highest evaluations for a technology startup. a luxury condo in manhattan could set a new record for the most extensive -- most expensive residential property. it is being put on the market for $150 million. so far the highest price ever paid for a condo in manhattan.

richard dreyfus has agreed to a four-hour miniseries about the financier according to a person at the abc television network. submitted three say it will air around the end of the year. he was sentenced to 150 years in prison after his ponzi scheme collapsed. you can find more of that story at bloomberg.com. >> has ricky, head of global affect strategy at -- we just did the math. as i said swiss francs are at the weakest level -- jordan says we are ready to intervene. where are we in this debate? who was next?

>> you meet are we going to see -- i think the risk for seeing something like that is fairly minimal. many people are looking into denmark as very different to switzerland. the central bank -- people are mentioning the middle eastern situation. i think all this imperils the case of switzerland, and that currency effects are getting on the pressure. >> let's talk about the euro>>. it has been remarkably resilient in the face of events in greece. it has hung around. what is going to undermine the euro versus the dollar?

>> the greek situation is creating an environment where the market is not clean. you think -- greece may exit or may not exit. you have this event risk hanging out and you want to know -- in the case of greece staying in you will have a little bit of relief in the market. the question is do you want to be witnessing this relief in the euro-dollar when you have -- it means that this tree, the leverage that comes is taking it to lower exposures and is creating a sort of stability. i think if greece is going to stay in, it is re-creating a clean market. the event risk would no longer be there. on the other hand, the ecb coming into the market buying government bonds -- there is a

shortage of bonds in europe. the impact that is going to have on yield levels -- it is going to be the delta, i can compare that to the situation in japan. when it comes to differentials, they are no longer driven in japan by japan caused you simply because they are at very low levels. the differential is driven by what is happening in the united states. i think we are getting into an environment where the euro trades like the japanese yen in the past. there is a lot of talk about equity inflow into europe and people say does that not support the euro? the interesting thing is that -- 95% of the flows into the equity market are the same as what we

see in the yen. the yen was declining, but all that happened as falling money came into the market. >> how you translate that? are we at the beginning of a much bigger and more dramatic move in the eurozone? >> first of all, the euro is going to win the race compared to the yen. the euro may decline over the next 12 months. two, the big flow elements of the euro, namely that real money accounts are shifting away from the euro that european banks where you find their asset return is that 3% being too low -- you are exporting capital. this export of capital, that is going to keep the eurozone. >> thank you.

>> coming up, the fare. they seem red flags -- what are they? stay with us. ♪

>> 6:30 this morning in london. he says be careful because the fed does not specifically cite the dollar. they use the words source of restraint. this is the big trend. the bottom right-hand corner, the dollar. the point about it is this. dollar going down, morgan

stanley would say it is a short-term reprieve. it will going to the bond market. the dollar index is lower. the fed is patient. concerned about currency. about the overall dynamics. they were not equipped for the fact they had their third best month. that next set of data, janet yellen's testimony, will set up the bigger and more persistent and dominant move. the past 24 months, much more dramatic in terms of what you can see. have a look at sterling. a little bit of an interesting move. mccafferty, one of the members. he backtracked and called for --

he said the next step will be higher. traders are paid the most amount in three years. that is ahead of the election. they are paid the most amount in three years to bet against this currency. getting ready for the election. >> the top stories on bloomberg this hour, pressures mounting on greece to strike a deal before the money runs out. the administration will submit a request for a six-month loan extension today. ernie to a government official. -- according to a government official. they say this marks the crucial point ahead of the deadline. >> we are at a critical and sensitive point in negotiations. we are submitting proposals and

hope it will turn the corner which will give us the possibility of moving forward. >> the federal reserve has signaled a willingness to keep interest rates near 04 longer. surprising investors. many fed officials judged that it risks ranging from a stronger dollar to the prices increase -- crisis in greece had inclined them to keeping rates around zero for a longer time. the u.k. defense secretary has warned there is a real and present danger that russian president putin will launch a campaign to destabilize all take states. government -- baltic states. government troops are withdrawn, following one of the largest battles in the 10 month conflict.

>> ukraine was given an ultimatum. if soldiers want to leave, they should surrender and give weapons to russian forces. put up a white flag and give themselves up. these were the conditions given to ukrainian armed forces. >> let's get more about conditions in the ukraine. it sounds as if they are a deal -- a great deal of ambiguity has been created about how easy or strong this piece is. -- peace is. >> the situation is there are isolated clashes taking place, but it has fallen under control of the rebel forces. what this means for the he's process, -- the peace

process there are two schools of thought. one is president putin will be happy taking this hub. the other is this may embolden the rebels and their russian backers. you see that in the markets. ukrainian yields are up. in moscow, the ruble gained significantly on the assumption the last that'll -- battle would mean that the cease-fire could take hold. >> how much risk is there that the peace agreement will fall apart? you look at the political theater merkel coming out and having -- and saying, we have an agreement.

it is the big apple if it falls apart for putin. -- it is a big gamble if it falls apart for putin. >> the cease-fire has been violated since it started sunday. the government spokesperson said, there has been progress made. we do not believe minsk is dead. the european countries that negotiated the deal will be hoping it sticks. that depends on what putin wants. and whether the agreement is in his interests. the problem is whether or not he decides the reaction of western countries has been so meek and mild that that may embolden him to go further. that is the risk. >> we watch the story with

intrigue. >> janet yellen and her colleagues like what they see in the u.s. economy and expect to raise interest rates this year. minutes from the january meeting. they leave yellow flags that incline them to leave interest rates low for longer. >> wage growth has been too slow. >> there is a dark side to low oil prices. a decrease in oil drilling could result in job cuts for the industry. january's production report shows signs of that. >> a rising dollar can make u.s. goods more expensive crimping demand. >> inflation is too low. it has lingered below the 2% target for 32 consecutive months.

>> comedic asian has proved risky and hard for the fed. they are tired of forward guidance. but stay with us. we are going to take a look at the european labor market. that is coming up next.. ♪

>> time for the top stories. nestlé reported the slowest annual sales growth in five years. earnings hit by changing demand in china and deflationary pressure. uber has expanded its latest fundraising appetite by $1 billion. this comes after they raise $1.2 billion in december. the move which valued the company at $40 billion, one of the highest valuations for a closely held start up. a luxury condo in manhattan could set a record for the most expensive residential property committee is being put on the market for $150 million. so far, the highest price ever paid for ita condo is $100 million

in a deal completed in december. >> let's bring you more from the exclusive. mark zuckerberg launched a service to expand the network, but will it ever bring in revenue? he told emily chang, it is not about the profit at this point. >> facebook is a for profit company. why call it.org? is it charity? ? >> if we were focused on profits, the most reasonable thing would be for us to focus on the first billion people using our product. the world is not set up equally. the first billion people are using facebook and they have more money than the rest of the

world combined. from a business perspective, it doesn't make a huge amount of sense for us to put the emphasis in this we are. we are doing it for two things. connect the world and we take that seriously. you cannot do that if two thirds of the world is not have access to the internet. he just turns 10 as a company. we decided the next 10 years, we want to take on some big challenges like helping everyone get online. it is important for us and a lot of other companies. in the long-term, it could be good for our company as well if you look at his is a long-term horizon to read the committees will develop and will be important. most people running businesses do not make investments for 30 years down the line. >> you said a year ago you could not construct a short-term model by which this becomes profitable.

do you have a better idea now? >> no, i do not have a better idea. the reality is, if a lot of people cannot afford to pay for data access some of these places, there probably are not big ad markets and it is not going to be particularly profitable in senior term. we will probably lose a bunch of money. storing the photos that people want to share will cost money. there is a mission belief set that connecting the world is important and that is something we want to do. that is why facebook is here. the long-term belief it will be good for these countries and for people who have access to these tools. over time, if you do good things, some of that comes back to you. you can always know what the plan is going to be up front. >> great interview with emily. we will be looking at our favorite stories from the usual output including the details

behind a certain ceo. >> check out where we are on twitter. 24 hours a day. we never leave. there is manus cranny. there i am at mark barton. what are the stories you want us to follow? ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown to ." randstad has released earnings. joining us is the ceo, jacques van den broek. you are the perimeter of what happens with the employment in north america and europe. europe grew at a slower pace. how is january? >> it is improving slightly in europe. in america, we see solid growth. also into january. the professional business is a bit hampered by the snow. we are prominent in the northeast. chicago and boston. there is slowing down, but a strong turn. in europe, the dutch business is improving. and of the year at less five.

-- plus five. good pick up a there. the french business is getting close to the zero mark. it looks like a slight improvement in the european market. that is good to see. >> very briefly, would you call it a trough in the unemployment numbers? >> we don't talk a lot about unemployment rates with our clients. we talk about demand and what they are seeing. for them, it is an insecure picture. we are a barometer. the dutch business and economy is picking up a bit. we see it in the numbers. the belgian business started the

year well. france, maybe not so much. but we are getting closer to the mark with quite a few clients in the in-house part of the business. >> let's focus on france. you are the -- have the prime minister pushing through structural reform in the lower chamber. he is trying to change the employment landscape. she is to do this by ram rotting -- he is having to do this by ramming legislation through. you have a strong presence. what do businesses want to see the government do to make the employment market more fluid? >> and they are attacking the french issues in their way. a social democratic way. they do this by creating subsidies. lowering the cost through

subsidies. that is one way to do it. they had a system in place for the last three years on subsidies. they have confirmed they will keep on supporting company life. we hope that will give a bit more confidence to our clients. they will continue her start to invest more in the french market. if that happens, then the policy measures have been good. france is a centralized country. this is not a surprise. it is not like employees getting together. making arrangements. >> let's talk about north america. one of the great debates is, how much slack is there in any economy. that has a consequence for wages. i know you say the snow has

hampered things. what would you be able to tell janet yellen about the live picture of wage negotiations? you have got the live data in terms of where we are with the wages. >> we do, although we don't track wages on a day to day basis. the economy has been growing quite solidly for the past couple of years. we see in the staffing business a lot of lou koller growth which is an indication things are improving. that comes with a bit of wage pressure. >> the other upcoming issue which is very pressing to us in london, i know you're revenues are a little smaller relative to other geographies. is there any feedback coming

through? our businesses here pulling back from hiring decisions? have you had feedback so far? cameron has been promising to change structural unemployment. what is the feeling on the ground? >> not yet. the u.k. business in comparison to other businesses is a firm business. we see good growth there. there is still hiring going on. an election is a point of uncertainty but so far no negative effects. >> when you meet up with other ceos, maybe we are being very domestic, what is the mood about the possibility of the u.k. leaving europe? >> for us that is not an issue.

it is not on the agenda. no, i do not hear a lot about that. greece may be. >> how would that impact you? we talk about the -- >> we have a small $30 million business in greece which is growing and showing good returns. >> would you buy and other business in greece if you had the option? >> no. not just because of uncertainty but it is a small market. >> great to have you with us. thank you for your perspective on the labor markets. jacques van den broek ceo of randstad. >> just over an hour away from

the start of european trading. time to look at the top choices. in light of the fed statement yesterday, the minutes, i have chosen eight he's -- ap piece. five things that worry the fed. wage growth is too slow. a long, long time. economists are debating whether or not wages are picking up but growth is far away from the 3-4% yellen has indicated is typical of an expansion. there is a dark side to oil prices. the minutes mention the low energy prices that might result in a retrenchment of employment in these industries. a stronger dollar may not be a good sign.

>> the fomc statement. i have gone for, what i used to like a long, languid, liquid lunch. $300,000. on a lunch. for anybody who is not sure who this is it is shane smith, the ceo of vice media. it went from being -- gawker wrote a piece on the employees that they were not well paid. they rebuffed it and said they gave lots of things, benefits and vacation and bonuses. it was at the bellagio.

>> $300000. we will talk all things greece and ukraine. stay with us. ♪

>> pressure mounts on greece as european officials reach a rescue deal. and the ecb grants cash-strapped banks a small increase in funds. we are at a critical and sensitive point in negotiations. we are submitting proposals and we hope we will turn this corner. >> fed fears u.s. officials indicate they will keep interest rates low for longer. given worries about the strong dollar and sluggish housing markets. >> the u.k. defense secretary of

a real and present danger of a russian campaign of undercover attacks to destabilize baltic states. good morning and welcome to "countdown>." also coming up, more from mark zuckerberg. well the social network is racing with google to connect the world, he says there is room for the companies to work together. >> people need to be able to search and find information. whether we work with google or others, that is an important thing. i love to work with google and they are a great search product. >> pressure is mounting on greece and its european creditors. the prime minister elect's demonstration well submit a

request for a loan extension today. the bailout program expires at the end of february. he says this week marks a crucial point ahead of the deadline. >> we are at a critical and sensitive point in negotiations. we are submitting proposals and we hope we will turn the corner which will give us the possibility of moving forward. >> the ecb has upped the amount of emergency funds. but only by a small amount. sending a signal a political deal should be reached to halt capital outflows. >> let's check in with hans nichols who has been following the twists and turns. you have a good camaraderie at the moment. what can we expect?

what is the inside track? >> what he said yesterday is the application, the proposal the written and a way that satisfies the greek public. it is unclear whether they actually get specific on some of the things the government is publicly talking about. whether that will pass muster with the finance group. yesterday angela merkel talked about how solidarity is more than just a one-way street. >> the euro is more than a currency. we have always made it clear whether it was greece, ireland portugal or spain. we remain firm solidarity is not a one-way street. solidarity and efforts are two sides of the same coin. >> they released some of their proposals, formal concrete proposals. they do want to have a budget

surplus of 1.5% this year. the eurogroup might give on that point. on privatization, greece wants to stop the privatization. instead of getting 2.2 billion dollars from asset sales, they want to take $1.9 billion. on labor market reform, they are heading in a different direction from where the germans want them to go. you mention the ecb news. that is interesting for a couple of reasons. mainly, the size of the increase. they are up to 68 billion euros. it was a 3.3 billion euro increase. here is the issue. if they leave, if greece leaves the current program they will have a difficult time accessing any sort of funds. they have a little bit of reading room, but it is not the escape hatch some were hoping

for. >> talk to me about jack lew. the americans turned to him. jack lew talking to the greeks and warning them of the situation of procrastination. >> normally when the u.s. weighs in, they are critical of germany. they say germany should do more to loosen austerity. when you saw president obama talk about this last week or two weeks ago, he was clear he was pathetic with greece's position. now you see a bit of a shift. jack lew warning not to play too swift with this. mr. osborne told the opposite of the equation. it is either good cop, bad cop,

or they see different coal prints. where mr. osborne is concerned some of the finance ministers are not properly considering the dangers of the situation. the dangers of cutting it too close. >> thank you for that roundup. hans nichols in berlin. >> breaking news, from the biggest supplier of energy to u.k. households. it owns reddish gas. they have released earnings. 28% decline reflecting challenging conditions. earnings on an adjusted basis to be lower than 2014. this is a company that cut earnings after november. facing pressure from declining oil prices and the

possibility of a terror freeze if the you -- tariff freeze. they say seneca is at risk for a downgrade. they have a new executive who replaces the previous executive who retired after a decade at the helm. he took over a comedy that saw profits fall by a third. blaming mild weather, outages at nuclear plants. 2014 was a very difficult year for the company. the recent drop in oil and gas prices creates further challenges. we are cutting investment and costs in response. driving efficiency beyond the planned levels. we have take the difficult

decision to rebased the dividend. they are rebasing by 30%. big moves by centrica on top of the announcement yesterday. >> this goes back to the cma. the investigation and terms of competition in the u.k.. we have been with them for 10 years. centrica supports the cma investigation. they say they will continue to engage and review the content for the statement today. it is important not to speculate on the final outcome. they believe it could rebuild trust. rebuilding the trust in the market for customers, investors and other stakeholders. >> the signal from the u.s. federal reserve yesterday evening. the minutes released. many officials showed willingness to keep interest rates near zero despite gains in

the labor market. >> attention turns to janet yellen. whether she will provide clarity on the likely timing of the first increase since 2006. >> let's take a look at what was highlighted in the minutes. >> stronger dollar also a concern. it has rise to sense the fomc had their last meeting. >> january, the strongest cuts in payroll gains in 17 years. >> we have had the numbers. air france and klm, profit dropped in 2014. that is following the longest pilot strike in the airline's history. we covered the pilot strikes at

nausea. what else have they said? >> the 14 day strike in september, which is as you said the biggest they have had in its history, had a big impact. for 25 million euros. -- 425 million euros. a missing estimate, below 2013. they had it reduced capacity of 4 million available kilometers because of the strikes. revenues were cut iby 5 million. if you look at the operating income of air france. and you take out the cost of the strike the operating income was actually positive last year.

but of course the strike was not the only problem. they are facing strong competition from low-cost carriers. and the middle east airlines. they had to face ticket prices dropping last year. >> what is the outlook? you mentioned the budget airlines. the issues they are facing. they also have middle east carriers, middle east and other. they -- abu dhabi. what is the outlook for this carrier? >> the year 2015 will be tough for air france. in a statement, they said that outlook has to because shares. it is so cautious they did not want to give a profit goal for

this year. last year, they had three profit warnings. they did not want to repeat that. they did not give any price -- precise outlook. they did give an outlook for unit cost reduction, between one percent-one .3% for this year. overcapacity and some routes, asia, africa, south america. they have already cut 5000 jobs since the end of 2011. they announced 800 more job cuts. you have to bear in mind all the cuts and measures are also having a social impact. the reason they strike happened in the first place was because of the measures. the transfer of some pilots to

trans-avf. where pilots have lower salaries. this year, they will also have a negative impact. we will ask all these questions to the air france klm ceo. you can tune in at 9:30 london time. >> we look forward to that interview. well done. >> the u.s. beverage can make are offering to buy the u.k. beverage can maker. this does have a bit of history because on february 5 they did say they were in talks to acquire them. this is slightly more than the

previous offer. it is 628 pence a share. let's have a look at some of the other stories we are following. the u.k. defense secretary has warned there is a real and present danger that vladimir putin will launch a campaign of undercover attacks to stabilize the baltic states. this came as the ukrainian leader urged the deployment of u.s. peacekeepers in the east of the country. government troops have withdrawn from the strategic rail hub following one of the largest battles in the 10 month long conflict. >> ukraine was given an ultimatum. if ukrainian soldiers want to leave, they should s

urrender and give themselves up to the winners. these are the conditions given to ukrainian soldiers. >> uber raised $1.2 billion in december. a move which valued the company at $40 billion. one of the highest vibrations for a technology start up. -- valuations for a closely whole technology start up. >> according to two people beast on the inquiry. gail and marsh -- he was detained for acquiring information on wealth management clients. federal investigators are trying to determine whether his computer was been breached. >> a condo in manhattan could set a record for the most expensive residential property. the 21,000 square foot property

is being put on the market for $150 million. the highest price paid is $100 million for a duplex penthouse. >> the man in jobs, richard dreyfuss, has agreed to star as bernie madoff. that is a person -- according to a person at abc television network. it will air around the end of the year. madoff was sentenced to prison after his ponzi scheme collapsed. causing losses of $18 billion. close encounters of the first kind. there is the story. the next bernie made off. maybe robert janeiro. -- the next bernie madeoff.

or maybe robert deniro. >> at 3:58 a.m.. today, you have to go to twitter and look for some of the fx checks. >> breakfast cereals. hold your breath. time to get our take on the eurozone. our next guest argues it is ripe with opportunity for investors. ♪

>> investors should be excited for the eurozone. if they can just managed to put aside the mounting uncertainty over greece, the situation is improving. great to have you with us. i love your phrase, which is, to paraphrase al gore, it is too late to be pessimistic. you have to overlook greece and jump in with both feet. >> our argument is there has been too much pettus schism.

-- pessimism. the weaker euro, low oil prices, these will be tailwinds. we think there are good opportunities when we compare it to the rest of the world. >> there has been a lot of press about how a hunch fund manager -- hedge fund manager -- if you look at a stock chart, there is a small difference. can that be sustained or not? >> a lot of that performance has been built in based on the quantitative easing program. you will see the portfolio rebalancing as people are pushed out of fixed income. income seekers will look for higher dividend paying stocks. we are saying earnings come through in a positive way. good q3 numbers.

q4 looking good. if you compare that to the u.s. the stronger oil prices and dollar it is a good opportunity. >> i interviewed statoil. this give medical about where oil prices are going to. where are you in the underage about the dividend? where will the big dividend phase before jpmorgan if not in oil? >> people are concerned about the oil situation. where the oil prices going to bottom out. the search for income across the zone is more difficult because of the stocks. the high-yielding stocks becoming more expensive. when you search for income, it is a stock specific story.

>> it is very much stock specific. the markets are no longer as cheap as they once were. very much a stock pickers market. >> what about political volatility? we mentioned greece. u.k. elections. all sorts of elections culminating with spain later in the year. do we ignore it? how do we strategize around political risks? >> the thing about greece's played out more a in the media than the markets. there could be some sort of complacency, but we have been through this before. markets know what will happen. we are looking for a resolution. it was a lot of common ground to be found. eventually, we will get to that resolution. that is what markets are falling back on.

those things are always with us, whether russia, isis, greece. geopolitical risk is always a part of investing. what markets tend to focus on is the business cycle and that is including -- improving in the eurozone. >> i'm going to do a piece at 7:30 about the u.k. and how ethics traders are paying the most premium in three years to protect themselves for sterling to take a little bit of a dip. what do you think? how do you look at the u.k.? strongest growth in the g7. i have all my stats for -- how do you look at the u.k.? the sweep of where we should be. the political risk currency risk. >> i look at the economy.

it is going great. the strength of the economy is strong. a boost for the consumer. a market report showing wage growth is positive. all good things. there are smaller stocks, the ftse 100 is very international. it is about what you are paying at the moment to read the valuations in the u.k. are no longer cheap. we say, is there value? not so much. we are worried about the general election. that is why you see people hedge their currency. volatility is spiking because people are worried about the eu referendum. political overlap happens in the coming year. >> what about the fed? maybe they could keep on hold for longer? they signaled as much, if we sift through the minutes at the end of january meeting. have you changed your view on

when they are going to raise rates or not? >> it is a process they are going to go through. it is five years in the coming. they will move slowly about it. i think you will see the word patient be taken out of the next statement. but some of the dovish will come through. we are worried about the strength of the dollar. ultimately, we look at the strength of the labor market. the economy with momentum. >> great to have you with us. straight, forthright answers. from j.p. morgan asset management. >> is the ftse about to hit historic highs. manus has not told us where he was on december 31, 1999. where were you?

>> i was trading on a bond. >> that brings us to our next guest. ♪

>> it is 7:30 in london. the dollar is reversing down. that is the one currency trending lower. yen, in an upward trajectory. there is a persistent source of restraint and that is the strength of the dollar. according to the fed.

we had a conversation where they said the trend will ultimately reinstate itself. the trend on the dollar will continue higher. savings will float the u.s. that will go into the bond market. it will go into the equity markets. definitely the fed remained patient. they refer to the strong dollar. the fed essentially getting a little touch of cold feet in terms of the timing on when they will move on rates. janet yellen give us her fresh view. equipped with the unemployment numbers from christmas. let's check in on dollar sterling. one of two individuals. he stepped back from that. he said, the risk of low inflation is that the behaviors we adopt when that happens become entrenched.

the next move will be upwards and gradual in terms of rates. traders are paying the most premium to protect themselves for a downside move on dollar sterling. this is the overall year to date. down by an eight of 1%. dollar sterling is something to keep an eye on. >> the top stories on bloomberg this hour, pressures mounting on greece and european creditors to strike a deal. the prime minister's administration will submit a request for a loan extension. the bailout program expires at the end of february. he says this week marks a crucial point ahead of that deadline. >> we are at a critical and sensitive point in negotiations.

we are submitting proposals and we hope we will turn the corner which will give us the possibility of moving forward. >> the federal reserve has signaled willingness to keep interest rates near zero for longer, surprising investors betting the resurgent labor market would prompt an increase. officials judge risk ranging from a stronger dollar to the crisis in greece has incline them to keep rates near zero for a longer time. the u.k. defense secretary has warned that there is a real and present danger about automatic and will launch a campaign of undercover attacks to destabilize the baltic states of latvia, lithuania, and estonia. this came as the leader urged the deployment of u.s. peacekeepers. government troops have withdrawn from the strategic rail hub. following one of the largest

battles in the 10 month long crisis. >> the ftse 100 touched a peak yesterday during trades. it started with closing at a record high. let's ring a man who was around. he is the cofounder of an investment management firm. i want you to bring in on the bloomberg machine, you can see where you were. >> in 1999, that is when i first interviewed justin. i first interviewed in january 1999. back then, we were talking about glaxosmithkline when they were not one. companies like marconi. the 10th biggest company on the ftse when it picked.

>> ici. >> a lot of people looking blankly. i am looking at my linkedin profile. i was a bond broker. traveling around the middle east for first national bank of chicago, which does not exist anymore. it is jpmorgan. >> not many real fossils exist like us. >> we are going to get excited when the number comes through. but it is not the same footie. -- ftse. we have been through technology nirvana. >> we had banks in the middle of that. it is a reliable -- unreliable index. because it is so heavily weighted, the top 10 around 40%. if they keep changing and they

drop out, it distorts. that is why we are sitting here wondering why the rest of the world is hitting all-time highs and we are just scraping it. if we had looked at an equally weighted ftse, the highest day would have been yesterday. >> a lot of it is bad timing. if you look at the ftse after the peak at the end of 1999, it fell 47%. and then rose steadily through 2007 when it declined another 40%. through 2009 to read there have been great bull markets. a couple of bear markets. >> try setting up a business in 2001. >> i'm going to interrupt the retrospective.

we have a headline from one of the credible news sources in germany. germany once greece to introduce capital controls. capital controls. >> the money has been pouring out very quickly. i'm not very surprised about it. the is, are you going to support that? what other banks support will they provide? i do not believe greece is going to leave because it is not in anybody's interest. without creating to damaging a precedent for spain or portugal. >> what game is the ecb playing? they increased the liquidity and assistance around by a couple billion. >> keeping it going. just.

>> it is just essentially so they can run their businesses. >> greece has to pay the imf debt. what they will eventually come down to is, the debt is going to be yours. it will still be with you. a realization is being written off, but without using the words right and off. you end up with that kind of relationship. the debt is still there, it is just in perpetuity. >> back to 1999. it has been such a change. if you had reinvested the dividend, a different performance. >> one of the most important things is, one of the dullest that's a investing is compounding dividends. that's how you build up money over time. we all love to be excited

traders. the old phrase, the time in the market, that is very important. it can be lovely to pick the peaks. with hindsight, of course we can. if you had built it slowly and steadily despite having a banking crisis and a recession or two, a couple of black swans, you could have steadily made money over the time by having a will diverse session having a diverse -- by having our diverse portfolio. dole but i like dole -- dull but i like dull. >> you are shifting on the u.s., making new records. why the shift? >> america has already done very well. the next move in the interest rates they will not be in any

rush to do that. they will go back to 1936. america was coming out of the depression and they put interest rates back up a tiny bit. they went right back into recession. the eurozone, we are key with those valuations. you can see an improvement. the key issue is a told right to the east my old hunting ground. countries benefiting from the discount and oil. developing nations, those that produce commodities and absorb commodities. they have had a fantastic discount. india, china, the philippines. finding value of their. -- ouut tt there.

>> great to see you. thank you so much. >> 7:40 in london. as the european commission looks to rebound markets. jonathan the briton charged with undertaking reforms, has told bloomberg in an exclusive interview the city of london has nothing to fear. >> i help that people -- i hope that people will welcome it. the city is a place that is in favor of single market projects. open markets. it knows it has a great repository of expertise. i would hope it would welcome a head. i come back to my core point about the capital market union. would you might call a single market for capital.

this is a project for 28 member states. i am more concerned about weight -- what we can deliver for alt with the member states than for anyone state. >> during the conversation on twitter. -- join the conversation on twitter. i just tweeted out a credible report that greece may wish to introduce capital controls. press speculation. i have to emphasize that. you can maybe find mark barton's interview from 1999. if you have a bloomberg terminal go backwards. >> i was an old timer. did the fed just enter the currency war? ♪

>> time for today's bart chart. did the fed did just injure the currency war -- 4enter the currency war? they pointed to the rising dollar as a source of export restraint. leaving the u.s. as the only

developed nation forecast to raise interest rates in 2015 giving upward momentum to the dollar. let's have a look at the chart that reflects how well the dollar is doing. this is the bloomberg dollars pot index. i have gone back to 2005. it tracks the performance of 10 leading global currencies against the dollar. on february 11, the right-hand corner, it hits an all time high. 2005. since then, it has fallen just a little bit. down by about .5%. others have also expressed concerned about the dollar strength including warren buffett and goldman sachs president, who questioned whether the fed can raise rates without damaging the economy. the stronger dollar is the fact of tightening. -- de facto tightening.

he said, it is doing much of the work for them. even though the citigroup index shows data is falling short of expectations by the most in more than two years. the dollar has risen more than 4% against the major 16 trading partners in the last 12 months. even though u.s. companies are being squeezed by the strong dollar, exports only count for 13% of gdp. consumer spending accounts for almost 70%. regardless of that, futures contracts show an 18% likelihood the fed will raise rates. down from 23% a week or so ago. the key event to watch, janet

yellen. did the fed just injure the currency war? -- enter the currency war? >> nestlé reporting lowest numbers in five years. uber -- this comes after they raised $1.2 billion in december. a move which valued the company and $40 billion. one of the highest the ua should's for a closely held technology start up. -- the highest valuations for a closely held technology startup. a condo is being put on the

market for $150 million by a developer. the highest price paid previously is $100 million in a deal completed in december for a duplex penthouse. you are looking at a live shot of the city of london. futures indicating stocks will open like this. yesterday, we had the ftse inch towards the all-time record high. it is about 20 points shy. futures indicating stocks will open lower. stay with us. ♪

>> the biggest food company in the world posted sales growth. they sounded more upbeat for 2015. caroline hyde has been looking over the numbers. what was your take? >> china stood out. the fact that they said they have to adapt to changing consumer demands. we saw for nestlé the slowest growth in five years. below the long-term target. they are saying, we need to adapt. we connect -- reconnect with the changing expectations of the consumer.

have launches. china is a focus for them. america's doing well. in this café -- netstcafe doing well. relative to the market, good growth. spain and portugal recovering. the problem points for europe are you a u.k., germany italy and greece. russia and ukraine drove growth in a deteriorating environment. what we really wanted to hear, forget about organic numbers as they call them. what about the swiss franc strength? this is a coming that does --

this is a company that does 98% of their sales outside their home market. 4.4% growth. it could have been 10% growth if not for the strength of the swiss franc. >> i wanted to know how many of their beverage cans i have drunk in my life. >> the man that supported them through tough times. >> while she is talking, i will have a sip. >> shares could jump 15% for them. the company manufactures and distributes beverage cans. agreeing to be bought for 628 pence. a premium on the share price. a 40% premium. an american company makes everything from paint cans to spacecraft. the interesting thing is, wells fargo, the analyst saying this

will have antitrust issues. they will have to make large-scale divestments. sell off assets. any luck? >> the craft beer can. >> she is more craft beer than you. >> you like cider, don't you? >> let's talk energy. >> down 20% -- 28% in terms of earnings. >> you said that was for a drop of 20-25%. >> net loss of one billion pounds. that will take the headlines. they are the largest supplier of energy in the united kingdom. they are cutting dividend. cutting costs. investments. trying to react to the situation. investors are not going to be happy. >> well done. a nice round up from caroline

hyde. be sure to stay tuned in throughout the morning. >> see tomorrow. "on the move" is next. big news today. ♪

jonathan: good morning and welcome to "on the move." i'm jonathan ferro at bloomberg's european headquarters in london. let's get straight to your morning brief. greece is poised to submit a request for a six-month loan extension. pressure mounts to seal a deal after the ecb granted the nation's struggling bank only a small increase in emergency funds. lower for longer. fed policymakers are inclined to keep rates near zero for a longer time, highlighting international risk. treasuries rally, the dollar weakens. in tokyo, the nikkei climbs to its highest closed in 50 years. japanese exports jumped 17%.

right here in london, we sit tight as the ftse is just 32 points short of breaking an all-time high. that's what we are watching this morning. futures markets in europe edging a little bit lower. dax futures off by 27 points. expecting a little pullback at the open. manus: the equity map just beginning to show some declines. flat in paris. it is deflation there. glaxo -- wasn't glaxo, smithkline. marconi just went to zero. there is that very prophetic thinking out there. all countries eventually end up near zero. they go bust or they get taken over. bae systems not doing well this morning.