mark: from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, i'm mark crumpton. this is "bottom line." to our viewers here in the united states and those of you joining us from around the world, welcome. we have full coverage of the stocks and stories making headlines on this thursday. su keenan follows the drop in crude oil prices in the wake of today's inventory report. alix steel focuses on the waning power of the oil kingdom of saudi arabia. we begin with -- as germany leaves the door open.

good evening. a lot of jockeying for position on both sides. >> it really is at the moment. it is intriguing what's been happening here. the greek government cementing a proposal for a six-month extension to its loan bailout. promised flexibility -- that is quite a climb now. european nations saying the basis for a reasonable compromise. that doesn't keep the german finance minister from saying this should be rejected. the economy ministry in berlin said we are not saying yes or no. there are concerns, but potential for a way forward here. ask for an intriguing -- it makes for an intriguing discussion.

the ecb will take part in that as well. mark: we have been seeing some video during your commentary of the european central bank president mario draghi. what is the ecb's position in all of this? >> a very tricky one for the ecb. the concern here is a does not want to appear to be political. the ecb is being cautious, sticking to the rules. when it raised the emergency liquidity funding just yesterday , 3.3 billion euros, there nowhere near enough. the idea was to keep banks moderately liquid without allowing them to bailout the government. the ecb looks like it will keep pressure on even further with the supervisory arm preparing to tell banks they should hold back.

very tricky for the ecb. they are playing it very straight but they do hold quite a lot of sway over how this crisis develops. mark: there has not been much concern in global markets o far. how likely is it that could change? >> this is quite astonishing to some people. one analyst said there is complacency on the ground -- on a grand scale here we have seen the euro down only a little bit today. greek bonds rose today. european stocks extending seven-year highs. the markets are not too concerned. the other part of the equation here is quantitative easing which will start next month. 1.1 trillion euros coming in over the next year and a half.

that is lifting all boats at the moment and playing out. whatever happens in greece will maybe be contained. mark: paul gordon joining us from frankfurt, germany. thank you. david blanchflower is a professor of economics at dartmouth. he was a member of the committee from 2008 have a 2000 and. he joins me from hanover, new hampshire. the germans are clear -- they are tired of their citizens, their taxpayers carrying the burden for greases his coldness. -- greece's fiscal mess. >> it is clear from the conversation we were just having with your correspondent in europe, a deal has to get done.

it may take a long time. the markets are assuming one well. it is not a once off deal. you can always repeat this game. we will be back talking about this again in three weeks. i don't think the germans can literally say we disagree. you look at what happened with the ecb, it is clear they disagree. the ecb still went ahead. i don't think the germans just get to say no. mark: it sounds like what you are saying is kicking the can down the road. incremental changes as opposed to structural change many think greece needs at this point. >> that is probably right. we need to see structural reform and greece. we need to see tax collecting systems in place.

we need to see more competition. that is not going to happen on thursday or friday of next week. let's be real here. they have a real problem. they are in the equivalent of our great depression. unemployment is 25%. you have to give these greeks hope. we will give you this amount of credit and in return, you will do this. it is perfectly ok to say that some positive -- in return, you have to do positive things. that is not going to happen in five minutes. we have to get some deals done. it is too scary if you don't. mark: yesterday, the european central bank granted greece banks a small increase in emergency funds. how much pressure will the ecb be under to cut off emergency funding if a deal is not reached

by the 28th? >> there will be pressure there. pressure to get this thing sorted. if you connect it to what the minutes of the ecb meeting released today say, they have euro wide fears of what is going on. what goes on in greece spreads everywhere else. there's fears about deflation deflation in greece and everywhere else. the ecb will be under pressure to deal with greece. greece is not the only place. there is a broader concern there. 18 countries in europe in deflation already. we cannot just push greece aside. mark: what type of headwinds if any will the global market space and will we witnessed the beginning of another contagion? >> that is the great worry.

the fed talks about fears to the downside fears of the global market. this is the potential downside risk to the global economy. that's why it is so important that this become sorted and the pressure from various governments -- obama has been making it clear that he thinks this -- this external pressure to get a deal done because what happens in europe does not stay in europe. it will spread, and we know that. globally, we are concerned about something horrible happening in europe. mark: is there a possibility that greece may never be able to pay off its debts? >> the prospect of that is extremely high. the amount of debt it has is so huge the chances -- it can't

even pay the interest on that debt. some sort of restructuring or spreading this thing over a long time -- that debt is so high that is a big problem. the likelihood of them paying down the road is zero. mark: always a pleasure to have you on. thank you so much for your time. we have breaking news on the buddhist vision company -- food distribution company cisco. >> the ftc has sued to block cisco's acquisition of u.s. boots -- foods. it would hurt competition and raise prices. the ftc making these comments today in a statement, also saying this combined cisco u.s. boots would control 75% of the national market for broad light

distribution services. -- cisco-u.s. foods. cisco has tried to take steps to prevent this from happening. it has tried to sell some of the operation -- that does not seem to have placated the ftc. it is extremely rare for the ftc to sue in these sorts of situations. you look at some number of 2013 the only sued in 1% of the mergers and acquisitions that have been put before it. this is not a regular occurrence. look at the stock reaction we are seeing in sysco. overall, shares down 2% on the day. they have remained steadily down around those levels. perhaps this is something investors thought could be a possibility. mark: thank you.

let's get you some of the day's top stories we are following at this hour. walmart will begin paying its u.s. hourly workers at least nine dollars an hour by april and $10 an hour by next february. the plan will result in raises for about 500000 and part-time workers -- five500,004 and part-time 0 full and part-time workers. athe latest in a series of blows to american express after its with costco and jetblue airways ended. american express says it plans to appeal. up next, the power of saudi arabia and the world oil markets.

we will have details when "bottom line" continues in a moment. ♪

mark: it is 15 minutes past the hour. let's check bloomberg world news. the cease-fire in ukraine appears to have existed in name only. pro-russian rebels -- ukrainian troops have given up a strategic crossroad town to the rebels. mark: from the first minute -- >> russian military forces did not keep to the cease-fire. the biggest concentration of shelling was in sector see. mark: the president calling on the united nations to send in peacekeepers. president obama speaking for a second day at the white house on

violent extremism. the u.s. is not at war with islam but with those who have perverted islam. those heading groups like islamic state and al qaeda will not -- are not leaders, but terrorists. libya wants more firepower. the country is as the united nations security council to lift the arms embargo. egypt is among those backing libya's request. libyan militants linked to isis released a video showing the murders of 21 egyptian christians. we will have another update coming up in 30 minutes. saudi arabia's position last year to keep pumping almost 10 million barrels of oil a day successfully pushed down prices. u.s. production stayed resilient at a 40 year high, thanks to shale. how much more ammunition does the oil kingdom have? alix steel joins me now with

more on this story what can saudi arabia do if it's goal is to push prices lower? alix: let's say that is their goal. there is three things they can do. put spare capacity to work. it's the extra juice of oil they have in the kingdom. it lasts for about 90 days. they could potentially produce 12 million barrels a day. the second thing they can do, destroy the back end of the curve. if you want to buy oil in 2016 it is a lot more expensive than if you buy it right now. saudi arabia was able to lock in sales in 2016 2017, pushing the price of oil down and then cut cash flow -- the last step is they could keep building crude and product stocks.

eventually product prices are depressed and refiners don't want to make the product anymore. therefore there is more oil in the market because no one is using it. mark: will they really do this? alix: yes, no and maybe. how about that? the spare capacity is very possible. there is a lot of skepticism. it could be as low as 11 million barrels. there are far away from the back end of the curve. however, they are exporting more. they are exporting more therefore it means the production is rising marginally. they're putting more oil into the market. it could increase exports to one million barrels a day from the back half of 2016. they could have a lot of influence in that respect. mark: thank you so much. coming up highlights of our

exclusive interview with mark zuckerberg. what is behind his plan to bring the internet to the rest of the world? stay with us. ♪

mark: tonight, a bloomberg exclusive. mark zuckerberg says internet.org is planning to connect the world to the web. it is good for facebook's business. emily chang sat down with zuckerberg. here is why getting the next billion people on the internet will impact facebook's bottom line. >> how will you judge that this has been a success? 10 years ago, you vision was to get a billion people on facebook and people thought that was so audacious and now -- you did it.

now, it's the world. if that's not audacious, what is it? >> the goal is to make it so a person can walk into a store and buy a phone and get access to some free basic internet services. that is the primary goal for people around the world. once we have baited it and this system is working in every country, that is step one and the next step is making people use it. -- once we have made it and this system is working. a secondary goal is to make it so that this is a profitable thing for the whole international operator community. that's why you make this sustainable. this can't be something that is just charity for these operators around the world. this will work if providing free basic services and's up being a

way for them to get more paying customers and more people online and then they can build faster networks to reach more people. the signs we have from the early countries we are into just both of those things will be true. if we can make it so basic services are available in 100 or more countries and the billion or more people can get connected , that will be a huge win for all of these people. they will have no access to information on jobs and health care and communication tools they did not have before. >> you hope for more than a billion people by 2020. >> we will see. mark: you can see the entire interview on studio 1.0 tonight at 8:30 p.m. new york time. it is time for the commodities report. su keenan is in the newsroom with the details. su: big moves in oil. completely erasing a 6% drop

that happened earlier in the day. gold heading for the biggest advance in the month. we are seeing oil close -- declining a bit as we had to that closing trade. guess showing a bit of a turnaround. it was down as much as 4% earlier. -- gas showing a bit of a turnaround. the weekly government report proved bearish, but not by watch. -- not by much. only twice to build up one analyst said. many motorists will get sticker shock at the pump these days. a gallon in california rose 20 cents in just the past week. the retail level lags the futures market. you have a lot of oil out there. mark: we are seeing a reversal

of fortune in oil stocks? su: they are now under pressure again. apparently 9% loss earlier today after announcing its cutting its oil drilling by almost half. >> part of the rally we have seen has been coming from the fact that these copies have made aggressive announcements. eog was an announcement of that last week. commodities are very different history. they are spot assets. they have to clear supply and demand today, not the expectations of supply tomorrow. su: gold bouncing back up. the fed minutes leading to fresh gold buying. big moves for grain and oil futures. mark: su keenan thank you. you can watch us live wherever you are. bloomberg tv is now on roku

players and android tv. it's almost time to play ball. spring training for major league baseball starts soon. my conversation with ron darling when we return. ♪

mark: welcome back to the second half-hour of "bottom line." i'm mark crumpton in new york. let's get you some of the top stories we are following on this thursday. we begin with the price of oil. su keenan telling us what was going on in the crude markets a moment ago. it is down about 1.9% this afternoon, trading at 51 .15. top economists predict oil prices will keep the economy on a roll. jason furman says the impact of

oil's collapse will offset the slowdown in china and europe. america is poised for another good year. prosecutors trying to figure out whether a former morgan stanley advisor was hacked. someone posted some of that data online and asked potential buyers to pay for more. the former advisers lawyer to rise any wrongdoing -- denies any wrongdoing. in a cold, bitter winter, these words give warmth. pitchers and catchers are right for spring training. i spoke with ron darling. he's now an analyst for the mlb network and sny. i asked him about the economic state of major league baseball. ron: the economic state is fantastic. there is news today that the arizona diamondbacks will sign a new television contract locally

with one of their regional sports networks. it could be in the 15-20 or range for upwards -- 15-20 year range. it has not had a lot of success of late and they command those kinds of prices. mark: you mentioned the commissioner. he has retired. what is his most important challenge coming out of the gate? ron: it is interesting. the commissioner did a fantastic job. fantastic in building the brand of baseball, building the business of baseball. i think that is going to be his legacy. for rob it's a totally different thing. baseball is very healthy but the game of baseball is something that rob is going to have to work on. i think pace of play making it

quicker for the fans at home and making it more attractive to young people not only to play the game but to catch a game on tv. there are so many sports out there and so many great sports. baseball has to make sure they have their entire foot in the water when it comes to attracting young fans. mark: there is talk of instituting a pitch clock to speed up the game. is this inevitable given that one of the biggest complaints about the game is it is too slow? ron: the pitch clock will not be in the game this year or next year. down the road, certainly. it is something you can use it i'm happy they are going to use the clock interplay -- when you are down in the minor leagues, you are trying to teach your players how to play better.

how to play quicker. the clock will teach them that. by the time they come to the major leagues, they will be better at doing that. there will be a clock someday but we have to work on getting players tuesday in the box getting the patches to deliver the pitch when they are on the mound. maybe lessening the warm-up pitches for the relief pitchers. having the relievers have to face at least three batters instead of one and done. to push the time back to 2.5 hours. it makes more sense. mark: baseball has seen a decline in run production. there is talk of shrinking the strikes own. -- strike zone. are you concerned we will see a return to the days of home run derby. ron: every time a rule comes, is the kind of anti-pitcher -- the ballparks are smaller.

they drop the mound. the hitters are not hitting. the evolution of this game, the streaking use of this game is that will allow these hitters to make the adjustments. they are the best on the planet they know what they are doing. they have been in barest the last couple of years but they will make the adjustment and turn it around at some point. -- they have been embarrassed. you are dealing with human beings, umpires. some will reduce the strikes on by a little and some will reduce it by a lot. -- strikes own by a little -- strike zone by a little. mark: alex rodriguez is back in the news for an apology some have called disingenuous. what would you tell him? ron: he has a lot of people

giving him advice. i'm one of those people -- has alex done a lot to burn his bridges? absolutely. anything he writes or says right now is going to be considered disingenuous because of all the things that have happened. that being said i would love to give him another shot. i would hope you would come back and play well for the yankees. if i were advising him, i would say just be quiet and play ball, put your uniform on and do the best you can for the yankees and let your bat and arm and glove speak for you in the future. mark: how would you describe the current relationship between the owners and the players? ron: it is very good. that being said, it is interesting you asked that question. we talked how good baseball is,

how much money is in the game. at some point, these contracts being given, not to the best players of the game but the middle players of the game are getting these big contracts. the owners at some point will want to call back -- they have a new head of the union for baseball and tony clark. the owners might take a crack at the players this time around and try to see how strong they are. even though the game is great and strong, i would not be surprised if there is a little discord in the next time the collective bargaining agreement comes to pass. mark: ron darling. looking for cheap vacations? we have just the place in today's latin america report. we will be right back. ♪

mark: be sure to check out the latest edition of "bloomberg businessweek." the cover story on the container store. you can read it on the go with our app. it is time for today's latin america report. book you venezuelan beach getaway quickly because prices like this cannot last. last week short on dollars after oil prices dropped by half venezuela's government replaced the old plan with a system that allows company's and individuals buy and sell greenbacks at a price set by the market. those with access suddenly became much cheaper. a domestic flight costs seven dollars. it room at the five-star marriott hotel in caracas, $60. a big mac is only $.92.

coming up another player may be taking a bite into the auto industry. apple has revolutionized how we consume music. it may have plans to reinvent the wheel. we will have that story next. ♪

mark: welcome back. it is 45 minutes past the hour. let's check bloomberg world news. the euro zone biggest economy saying no to greece. germany has rejected the greek proposal to extend bailout funds for another six months. the greeks wanted to get rid of the belt-tightening terms imposed by creditors. germany said any moves would come with string attached. >> we have always made it clear whether it was greece, ireland, portugal or spain, when countries are in trouble, we show solidarity. we remain firm in that solidarity and not a one-way street.

solidarity and countries own efforts are two sides of the same coin. mark: european finance ministers will discuss the proposal on friday. rare transparency from the ecb releasing minutes from last month's policy meeting. the first time they have done that. showing most bankers decided by government that was the only option big enough to fight deflation. the ecb has launched a $1.3 trillion quantitative easing program. that is a look at world news. limit your sugar, cut down on red meat coffee is ok. bloomberg's ad culture -- agriculture reporter joins us from washington. the advisory panel on dietary guidelines is suggesting a sugar tax. what is their argument and what is the initial reaction to the proposals? >> it has been fascinating, since these guidelines came out,

to see what's been going on. you immediately saw shares drop for companies ranging from pepsi to hershey. markets were definitely watching this report because you saw a committee that took its instructions to take a look at the food system in the u.s. quite seriously. they talked about red meat been cut down specific sugar targets for the first time ever and they got into policy issues, including recommending sugar taxes. in the last hour or so, i've been speaking with the agriculture secretary and you can see things getting real back a bit. they will put together the final recommendations later this year. he says he does not want the government to be coloring outside the lines. if they go too far the core mission from the statute of looking into actual recommendations for what you should and should not eat could get obscured. he wants to be a bit more cautious mark: what is the reaction from me companies?

-- meetat companies? >> there was some concern from meat lobbies that all meat was going to be frowned upon in these guidelines. at the beginning of them, and explicit statement that we meet -- lean meat can be part of a healthy diet but red meats were looked down upon. in the end, this is an anti-meat set of recommendations. they say it is contradictory. you can see this talking point emerging over the next few months. mark: how much do these guidelines really matter? >> this is something at the base of the federal nutrition program. guidance for what is now my plate. this bully pulpit from the committee cannot be underestimated. usda and hhs will come up with

their guidance at the end of the year. this does not get taken back. this is not part of the discussion could. mark: what do they see farmers planting? >> it has been a busy and cold day in washington for u.s. they releas. -- in washington. corn and cotton will be down. we also saw a reduction in soybean acreage. mark: alan covers the agriculture department for us. thank you so much. we are still waiting for the apple watch to hit stores and now apple is set to be working on its next prop -- next product. the applecart. trish regan joins me with more.

trish: it could be a fabulous design because apple is known for its designs. it might be a bit of a departure for this company to get into the car business when they do all they do so well. a lot of people are saying that what might ultimately happen is we see apple come up with a fabulous software program that could go in any car and would diversify itself by not having all the risk placed on having to sell that hard to be vocal and instead be the software. mark: there is a good story on bloomberg.com apple's electric car dreams may bring detroit nightmares. trish: i don't think they welcome it. look at the resistance you have seen from dealerships across america when it comes to tesla. there is opportunity to disrupt in this marketplace, for sure.

technology could be what brings the auto market forward. the auto market is going to have to face a lot of changes. look at google and its efforts to create a driverless car. look at what's happening with uber. my goal is to make it so that no one out there has to own a car. you hop an uber ride to everything when you need it. there is a lot that could challenge this industry and this is one more. mark: apple challenging the industry because they have $170 billion why. why not? trish: they're putting together a team to work on this. mark: we will continue the apple discussion on "street smart." trish: the former ceo of apple.

stay tuned for that. we will see what his thoughts are. we will take a look at fashion week. today is the last day. i will be speaking with a fashion designer to talk about her latest collection and trends in women fashion -- women's fashion. mark: speaking of the markets, a quick look. the is down 40 points right now. -- the dow is down 40 points right now. >>♪

mark: get the latest headlines at the top of the hour on bloomberg radio and streaming on your tablet and on bloomberg.com. that doesn't for this edition of "bottom line." thank you so much for joining us. " on the markets" is next. mark: it is 56 minutes past the hour.

we have little change -- mark was looking at where we stood a few moments ago. we are down about 43 points on the dow. investors weighing today a number of different factors, including what's going on with the greek negotiations as well as a number of different earnings out here in the u.s. one spot weighing on the dow in particular and one of the reasons why it is the underperformer today is walmart. falling to a two-month low after earnings this morning -- the xrt still trucking along. is this a bad sign for the xrt? joining me with some answers -- walmart is the first of the big retailers to be reporting. it seems like that thanks to

talk about today are pretty specific to walmart. >> right. walmart stock is down nearly 3% today. walmart did be on same-store sales but they had to lower their guidance. they cited wages for their workers as an increased cost. which is a very specific to walmart. investors are shrugging that off. >> are other retailers going to be making similar moves? we probably will not hear that from the reports in the next several weeks? >> all signs we are seeing are pointing to the consumer that is poised to spend. consumer comfort levels at the highest they have been in a year. consumers have the money in the labor market is strong. are they ready to spend it? what we have seen with gap in preliminary earnings and

estimates, consumers are there and they are spending. the xrt is at a record and stocks like gap have boosted the xrt. i believe gap has had double-digit gains in october. which is way outperforming the market. >> what is the outlook for this earnings season? these stocks have already done so well. >> a lot of that is in anticipation of these companies reporting great earnings. we have had a few indications through the luminary data -- preliminary data that we might be poised for a good earnings season.

earnings have beaten estimates but the bar has been low. a lot have cited currency headwinds. walmart did that, too. they did a tribute the boost in wages to one of the main reasons they would cut guidance. >> talking about the xrt. we appreciate it. ♪

>> welcome, everyone. 60 minutes to go until the most important hour -- the close. stocks fluctuating all day on a headline in. speculation a deal could be reached tomorrow. speculation keeps growing about the possibility of apple building a car. i will finally warmer at all ceo john sculley. thinks about all of that. "street smart."