alix: welcome to the most important hour of the session. i'm alix steel and this is "street smart." stocks climb higher today. the s&p is still facing a weekly decline after the most popular trades came undone. first, electric cars, then solar power. now tesla is turning to big batteries. can the latest project change the way we use energy? later, boston scientific c.e.o. michael mahoney joins me to discuss the company's pipeline and high hopes for the latest "avengers" movie. it is expected to be one of the

biggest box office smashes in the history of hollywood. "street smart" starts now. here are the top stories we are watching ahead of the closing bell. a former goldman sachs programmer has been found guilty for stealing high-frequency trading codes. the programmer who helped inspire the book acknowledged he breached policy by downloading the code to his home computer. two former allies of new jersey governor chris christie have been indicted for the roles in creating traffic jams near the george washington bridge. another former ally pleaded guilty to conspiring to tie up traffic. baltimore's chief prosecutor has charged six police officers for injuries freddie gray suffered in police custody. the attorney says officers repeatedly failed to get gray

medical treatment after his arrest. his death sparked unrest and protests in baltimore earlier this week. elon musk has unveiled the missing piece, batteries for homes, businesses, and utilities. tesla is thinking big. he says his goal is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy. elon musk: this is going to be a great solution for people in remote parts of the world where there is no electricity wires or where electricity is intermittent or expensive. you can take the tesla power wall and it can scale globally. alix: what does this latest moon shot business mean for tesla and investors? the analyst joins us over the phone from chicago. onset is jonathan lee senior analyst at geologic resource partners and a lithium-ion expert. let me start with you.

you have a neutral rating on the stock. you have a $190 price target. your evaluation prices in a success from tesla in this storage business. how do you value something that does not exist yet? >> i think it is important to separate tesla as an innovator and tesla in terms of what they are doing with these plants versus how we have to look at that with financial markets. we give them full credit for selling out the 15 gigawatt hours. they already announced they will be devoted to stationary storage last year. putting out a model in 2020 gives us around two dollars of earnings and discounting that back, so it is about $40 is what investors are to pay for that business. is buried within the $200 some the stock is already trading at. alix: these batteries, how much

lithium do you need to power them? >> when you look at the class they will expand to by 2020 we are looking at 20% of today's supply. to me, that is one giga factory they will put in. on this one, 20% of demand from this one factory. alix: is there enough lithium to get that? >> right now, there's only one plant that is expanding. that is in australia with the joint venture. outside of that, there is no other expansion plans we have seen come to fruition. alix: what do you make of that? you have the lithium expert saying there may not be enough supply to match elon musk's vision in the short-term. >> that is why we put risk factors on all of the projections to get to our evaluation. the question they would raise is by 2020, where will there be

additional lithium supply forthcoming? we think cars and stores will likely be produced out of the get the factory. the thing to bear in mind if you start listening to what he was saying last night, he is envisioning a world where the could be up to 400 giga factories in the u.s. alone to serve the storage needs for 100% renewable great. we can take what the other guest is saying and multiply that by 400. alix: 400 giga factories. you kind of blew my mind. what would something like that due to crisis? -- prices? you would have to have massive supply you could easily access. it takes 18 months to get lithium out of the ground. >> there would not be enough supply. you are looking at a 10-20-year scenario. there would be no other way to get that much material out at that point. all of the premier assets that mine lithium are currently being

mined. every the project will be on the higher end of the cost curve. you will have to have a higher pricing scenario in that environment. alix: you have a higher pricing scenario for the lithium. what does that due to the end user? elon musk says $3500 for the batteries. >> we expect economies of scale. it does raise issues on why we are not overweight tesla with the midterm realism of some of the expansion plans. it almost sounds like we have this -- these chemicals buried in the ground where there is a finite supply. as we start getting more, they get more expensive to extract. it sounds like some arguments i heard from the renewables crowd about oil a few years ago. alix: it does not mean it is not legit, right? >> the point is we are talking about finance -- finite resources all around. alix: how much do you think

these batteries will wind up being? isn't this just batteries for rich people? >> the home batteries, it is not clear even at $350 per kilowatt hour if there is a case outside of environments where it is subsidized. i will give them an a plus for industrial design. for utilities, their numbers from third-party sources that would look too late next decade for gigawatt hours. that seems realistic and would play a role in smoothing out the variability of the grid. alix: jonathan, how can elon musk go about securing more supply? is there anything he can do to commit to buying a certain amount to get companies to invest in their own operations? jonathan: i think there are multiple ways of doing that. supply off takes, buying the

resource itself. there are a multitude of ways to secure the supply if you don't think it is available on the open market. alix: why have and they done that? -- why haven't they done that? i have not heard he wants to rev up demand. jonathan: i cannot speculate on why he has not done it yet. there is a wrap up by 2020 so he does have some time. i would not say it is eons. alix: brian, do you think we will see a contract tesla will have to secure? brian: they already have a contract with panasonic for batteries between now and 2017 coming from japan. many of the key provisions are react. that would imply perhaps 2018-2020 weather with panasonic or the upstream directly to

tesla that you might see similar minimum-maximums put in place. alix: brian, the stock today was down on the news. relatively flat. how quickly might we see me rating -- re-rating due to the expansion of tesla? ryan: we argue it happened last winter. this is just making real in terms of tangible products some of the plants we argue were already baked into the evaluation a year ago. alix: fascinating story. brian, thank you for the tesla perspective. jonathan, it was great to see you on the lithium perspective as well. we have less than an hour to go until the close of trading. scarlet fu is looking at the action. we have a rally. it was a brutal week. scarlet: you are right. we have extended gains in late

trading rebounding from a selloff yesterday. for the nasdaq, this is the first gain this week. manufacturing held at a two-year low. the forward-looking indicators suggest improvement. there was also a pickup in confidence. trading overall fairly muted. trading in dow industrials stocks off 20% from the 10-day average. let's check out the dollar, ending a seven-day decline but down for the week against the euro. data from europe is surprisingly to the upside while in the u.s. we are still trying to get over the awful first quarter g.d.p. report and what it might suggest about the rest of the year. oil is easing off a four-month high at 59.20 now. yesterday, and rounded off its first monthly gain since 2009. let's end with treasuries. treasury prices were lower. even though most of europe was

on holiday today, treasuries extended losses pushing the yield of 2.11%. this was the worst week for the 10-your notes in almost two months. alix: unreal, 2.11%. thanks so much. coming up charter reporting a wider loss the first quarter as investors wait to see if the cable provider pursues other deals. what is next? is it the purchase of time warner cable or bright house in the works? we will discuss. ♪

alix: welcome back to "street smart." here is a look at top stories ahead of the close. luxury auto sales are outpacing broader gains. deliveries for mercedes-benz saw the best april ever. b.m.w. sales also rose to a record and lexus saw a 12% gain. regiment was started by the

former junk bond investor. it saw its main fund decline nearly 9% in 2014. oil prices hurt its investments in energy and oil transportation companies. lowe's is pulling a brand of chinese flooring as it works on the controversy over formaldehyde. it will no longer offer the floor. the products were only sold online and not in stores. charter communications lost 81 wayne dollars in the first quarter. investors wanted to see whether they will buy time warner cable or bright house networks. charter lost out to comcast over a year ago. last week comcast dropped the $45 million plan. how quickly do they need to get a deal done? alex: fairly quickly if they want to keep the stock price

high. the same probably goes for time warner cable. they need to so quickly. that seems like a match made in heaven because it would behoove both companies to get some sort of deal done. the interesting thing is how bright house networks fits into this. bright house never reached a deal with charter a few months ago -- reached a deal with charter a few months ago predicated on the time warner cable deal going through. time warner cable has had a decades long hardship with bright house and has a right of first refusal for any company that would buy bright house. this case, that would be charter. theoretically, time warner cable could also buy bright house networks, maybe as a defense mechanism if it does not want to do a deal with charter. alix: we have heard reports bright house has been approached by both charter and time warner cable. where are the negotiations? alex: the most likely scenario is all three come together.

but that is a complicated transaction. alix: and expensive. alex: it is expensive. if charter is going to buy time warner cable what is another $10 billion among friends? time warner cable is going to be a $50 billion transaction. it is a lot of money. how does this get done structurally? how much cash is there in the deal? how much stock goes to the time warner cable? that is what the bankers for these companies are likely working on and will be. alix: and of course the price. charter bid 42 .50 and is now trading much more. a huge discrepancy. alex: the charter stock has also increased in value. another cash-stock deal. if time warner cable have taken the original offer, it would be over $160 a share because

charter stock has gone up so much. they will need to rework things. 100 3250 price -- the $100 32 -- the $132.50 price is long gone. it will likely be more. the cash have in stock mix, the board, the management, the various who owns what, all of that needs to be worked out. alix: why would it be more if time warner needs a deal as much as charter? alex: because the stocks have gone. alix: not a premium because of content? alex: time warner might argue that they are in a better position. they did post positive subscriber growth, but revenue was down. meaning they were basically lowering prices for you to sign up for service. they have lost customers for so many quarters that at one point it gets to the magic of numbers where you gain a little bit.

time warner cable may argue we are in a better position. that is what they will try to argue. depends on who you ask. alix: monday, we have comcast reporting earnings. what is it we will be clamoring to hear from them? alex: i doubt we will get that from management. it would be great. i think it would be a big question a lot of shareholders want to know. what are you going to buy now? that is the big question for comcast. i think you will see the earnings results because they are always good, they will be good again. comcast did not need to do the time warner cable deal. they've been best in class for years. i imagine what we will see again is nbcu is doing well and the core business is doing well. the question is, are they going to go with wireless next internationally next? that is what investors want to hear. alix: net almost $2 billion in

the first quarter. that would be flat. thanks so much, alex. a busy weekend for you, i'm sure. we two big interviews you don't want to miss. the c.e.o. behind wisdom tree and michael mahoney, the c.e.o. of boston scientific for a look into the industry that has fueled nasdaq rally. we will be back. ♪

alix: sometimes, you have to be in the right place at the right time. etf's have been on a tear. in the heart of that is wisdomtree. the c.e.o., jonathan steinberg, joins me now. you had a great quarter

congratulations. how big can the industry get? $3 trillion. >> in the united states, we have $2 trillion in assets. we are about 12% of the apply. i imagine we will eventually be the majority. alix: what do you attribute the success to? visit a change in investment tally? who is investing? >> people are investing differently today. they are embracing what is in their best interest, full transparency, tax efficiency. those are what makes the etf structure better. investors are embracing it. every channel is using it. retail, institutional, wealthy, less wealthy, everybody. alix: how sticky is that money? your currency hedged etf has raked in the cash. what happens when central banks change policies, currencies go crazy? what happens? >> you never know.

every cycle is different. every situation is different. we have seen a lot of stickiness. with an etf, anyone can sell at any time. that is one of the beauties of the etf. we can make no promises. historically, we have seen tremendous resilience. alix: how do you see etf's being used as hedging products and not just long-term investments? >> if you are talking about hedge equity where we are taking european exporters hedging currency, it has a tactical and strategic element. in a strong dollar environment it can be very technical. taking the currency out of your equities on your international equities your reducing risk reducing volatility. giving you a slightly more precise way to invest. that might be more strategic. you can do either one with the etf. alix: what happens on a week like this where we saw the dollar slipped and the euro rise?

>> we have not seen outflows. the dollar has been week for about six weeks. this week has been particularly weak. we have had net creations in the whole suite, very resilient so far. alix: what about new products? some companies are launching etf's type 2 activist investor products. what are you looking at --? >> there are a lot of products in the market. we launched european small caps two months ago, the most successful launch we have had, took in $200 million. we are always adding two different becky's -- adding to different buckets and will be adding to them in the upcoming quarters. alix: thanks for coming. is interesting to get the big perspective with movements in the market. thank you, jonathan steinberg,

c.e.o. of wisdomtree. after the break, i will talk to michael mahoney about why he is optimistic about medicals, huge driver for the nasdaq. we will be back. ♪

alix: welcome back to "street smart." i am alix steel. there are the top stories ahead of the closing bell. barclays will struggle to meet its profitability target unless it makes deeper cuts to its investment bank according to analysts. while barclays increased profitability in the first quarter, cost cuts were cited as the main reason for improvement. apollo is meeting with bond market's biggest investors to mend relationships. the private equity firm has been accused of shortchanging over corporate buyouts. that is according to bloomberg sources. anti-kerry bob was ordered to pay -- bnp paribas was ordered to pay after being found to

violate sanctions. bnp was also ordered to serve five years of probation. u.s. and canadian governments jointly set new rules designed to make tank cars earlier to stop and less on to accidents. two years ago, an unattended will train derailed and exploded into back -- will train the righ -- oil train derailed and exploded in québec. scarlet: we have a couple of names. the new rules are that they need to be replaced or retrofitted in 2014 and then controlled ones would be required for dangerous ones. a lot of companies have things at stake. the railroads, the companies that build and onlyown the tank cars, and companies that rely on the railroad to ship.

that has leveled off the last year or so with the drop in crude prices. who wins and loses? surprisingly, not the railway companies themselves because they don't own the tank cars. it will probably benefit tank car manufacturers including trinity industries and american railcar. these companies would presumably get more orders because they would behind the effort to retrofit or replace. the companies that only tank cars -- own the tank cars would have increased costs. the u.s. government estimates it will cost $2.5 billion for companies to comply with the new rules. the goal is to make these railroad tank cars easier to stop and more resistant to punctures and prevent accidents like the one we saw two years ago. i believe four accidents so far this year. alix: fascinating. thank you.

erik schatzker brought this to us earlier today. a really good look into the oil industry and how much we move oil. scarlet fu, thank you so much. it is investor day for boston scientific. the company announced plans to cut costs and roll new devices to bolster its operating profit margins. for more on the company plans, i am joined by boston scientific's c.e.o., michael mahoney. what is the thing you are most excited about? >> what i'm most excited about is the innovation we are bringing to patients. this year, we announced three breakthrough products, innovation devices. one is a watchman product which helps patients reduce the risk of stroke. is a first of its kind of product. we have another breakthrough product called emblem to help patients with sudden cardiac arrest. it is transformational because it does not require a lead in

the heart, so there's less infection and longer battery longevity. these are two breakthrough products that will accelerate growth in the future. alix: in 2014 come you expanded sales for the first time in five years. you have lofty revenue goals. how are you going to do that? organic, r&d, or m&a? >> it is a combination. we delivered 6% growth this year. we provided long-term guidance. we will be a mid-single-digit company with margin expansion. it is a combination of organic rmb -- organic r&d like the emblem product. we have a $1 billion urology business. we will be number one market share leader across five segments. it is a combination of business development and global expansion. alix: you have stopped your share buyback or.

at what point will you be wanting to return money to shareholders? >> were going to slow it down for about 18 months. our commitment to shareholders is top-tier growth. we delivered 18% in the first quarter at 15 percent for the full year. part of the cash this year was used for acquisition. we have but legal settlements behind us. we are committed to looking at the share buyback program in 2017. alix: your stocks and stocks in the arena have been on a tear, helped to fuel the nasdaq rally we have seen. what is your take on the sector and volatility? >> we have a lot of momentum. over the last three years, our stock is up 200%. this year, up 30%. we have done very well for our shareholders.

we are excited about the ongoing growth we have in the company. one thing going for it is the innovation we are delivering and also the demographics. the aging population, the desire to stay young, the emerging market growth. demographics provided tailwind for the industry. alix: is there a risk we might have the fed reversing course? we are seeing money cannot assets that have done well. what is your fear? >> we don't get concerned about that. our only concern is delivering on commitments and the pipeline. we have meaningful innovation we are delivering in cardiology and in areas that treat parkinson's disease. when we bring new products to market, we drive market growth and expansion. some of the interest rate and currency fluctuations have less of an impact in terms of our growth prospects. alix: you are moving manufacturing to china.

what is it like to do business there? >> is a great market. that business is our fastest emerging-market. we are growing about 25% year to date. beside a joint venture with a company that will manufacture endoscopy products to grow that division. alix: how do you assure quality? >> we have a rigorous quality program in the u.s. and outside the u.s. as well. we will have the same quality standards around the world. alix: thank you for coming. look forward to charting your growth prospects. boston scientific c.e.o. michael mahoney. next, it is no secret yahoo! has been on a buying spree. keeping the talent happy is another challenge. ♪

alix: it is no secret wars meyer

has the money spending spree. since you became c.e.o. she has acquired more than 50 companies. buying the associated technologies plus the talent. keeping those people happy may be a challenge. joining me to discuss is nicholas carlson, author of "marissa mayer and the fight to save yahoo!" what is with the brain drain? >> i was asking an executive why they were leaving. he said the idea a started executive or cofounder wants to stay at a company is crazy. they are stuck at a big company. after a few years, they go and start new companies. alix: is it the same for google or facebook? >> there is attrition out of those companies. but they are able to hang onto them better.

definitely facebook. it has more momentum, a fun place to be. alix: is it a yahoo! or marissa mayer program -- problem? >> i think she is a hard-working executive who walked into a difficult situation. yahoo! has a desktop-web business. basically, it is web e-mail declining quickly. she walked into that and has not been able to reverse it. be does not mean she is not a genius. it is a hard situation. alix: what is the culture at yahoo! when you come in as a small startup in terms of fostering a career? >> some of them are doing really well. jeff bonfort is now running yahoo! e-mail and the new search app they are building to compete with google. a lot of them go in and hit a wall because yahoo! is a big company trying to compete with thousands of little companies to create the next hot app.

that is a hard place to be. it is hard to work for marissa mayer. she is intense. she's not a warm person all the time. she is a micromanager. it is tough to make it work. alix: how long do you think she has left? i keep asking this question. >> it is because yahoo! is a tough spot to be in. they will spin off alibaba next winter. after that, she will appease out the shareholders. after that, you will have a very small yahoo! left over. a private equity firm will look at the cash, about a billion dollars a year and say that is not being valued highly. i can buy that right now and get my money back in a couple of years. i think that private equity firm is going to go in and buy it and i think she will find her way out of the company. alix: is a long time to wait. will activist investors have the

patience to wait as we see the brain drain happening? >> there is a lot of toothpaste left they can squeeze out to keep the stock price healthy. he can start putting pressure on her. there is a bunch of real estate he thinks could be more valuable. he thinks they can cut the stack by 5000 people. he thinks they can do a search deal with google. a lot of little things you can do to optimize the asset. alix: cut 5000 people. does that mean no more acquisitions? >> i think a lot of yahoo! investors would like them to stop buying companies. alix: fair enough. thanks for coming nicholas crarlson. next, is apple looking to sell bonds in japan? i will tell you which bank has been hired to arrange investor calls. ♪

alix: here are the top stories we are watching ahead of the closing bell. "avengers: age of ultron" hits the box office today in this is expected to be one of the biggest smashes in history of hollywood. the first film grossed more than $1.5 billion, the third highest tally ever. i already have my tickets. before the horses leave the gates at this weekend's kentucky derby, the biggest winner is likely to be the company that puts on the event. the race will bring in an estimated $83 million, up 6% from last year. ticket sales have been boosted by $10,000 seats at the track mansion that will come with

tickets. more watch problems for apple? customers are complaining the digital crown is too sticky. apple's answer is to put it under even though it is not waterproof. the little button is used for scrolling through apps and e-mails. apple may sell its first yen bond. it is already made its debut offerings in euros and the swiss franc. there arranging fixed income calls for may 7. joining me to discuss is tim higgins. why would apple be doing this now? tim: we have a couple of things going on. their cash pile keeps growing. this week, they announced they will boost their capital return program. part of that is going to be through taking on new cost, new debt. a lot of the cash is overseas. to access it in the states they

have to pay u.s. taxes which costs money. this is a proven way for them to do it in the past. apple is not saying what the new offering might be for, but to have the announcement earlier in the week saying they would be accessing the market [indiscernible] alix: why borrow in yen? tim: we are seeing record low costs in japan for corporate borrowing so it is a cheap time to get in more money there. alix: what kind of inherent risk is there in terms of currency fluctuations? what happens if rates in the uprising? tim: you are always up against fx headwinds when you are a global company. they have seen issues throughout this year and say their headwinds will be stronger going into the second half of the fiscal year. that is part of the way to hedge against that is to have currencies all over the world. we saw them get into additional euro borrowing earlier in the

year. they went into the swiss francs as well. alix: at what point is it worrisome? what is the tipping point for the company? tim: that was a question we saw from analysts monday. they say they are confident in the business and hence the reason they feel they can increase their capital return program. they are planning to return about $70 billion over the next three years. alix: they think they are good, but analysts are not sure yet. what is next? any word on where apple might borrow next and if they may have to? tim: my suspicion is given the guidance they provided we will see more borrowing going forward. alix: i want to get your take on the report from the business insider talking about the digital crown on the apple watch, the rotating dial being too sticky. we have heard that issue. we have heard the cap on the watch is not working right.

is it unusual for an apple rollout to have this much negative headlines? tim: what is the with any new apple product launches a lot of attention and folks looking for any kind of glitch as part of it as a test to see how the product will do going forward. if you look at the iphone 6 launched last fall, there was the infamous bend gate where people found if they sat on the phone, it would bend a little bit. the advice was don't sit on your phone. alix: great perspective on apple. they are borrowing in yen plus their products. tim higgins joining us from san francisco. in the next hour, a huge weekend for sports. we have the kentucky derby, the nfl draft, and the fight of the century. floyd mayweather versus manny pacquiao. we are going to have a preview. "the close" is next on "street smart." ♪

mberg television. i am alix steel and this is "street smart." we have stocks rising through the afternoon. biotech shares making a comeback. we want to get right to scarlet fu at the breaking news desk with perspective on the rally. a very difficult week. scarlet: absolutely. small biotech's, small caps and the major indexes all recovered from yesterday selloff. but the rebound not enough to change the tone for the week. the score is still down for the indexes.

data this week has been mixed. you have the disappointing first-quarter g.d.p. report wednesday. evidence of lackluster consumer spending balanced with signs that wage growth is perhaps taking up. then you had today's pick up in consumer confidence. even the manufacturing report seemed double-edged because the headline number held at a two-year low. forward-looking indicators could suggest improvement. when you look at what has been moving, treasuries were the story for the week. that followed a route in european bonds. higher european yields made u.s. treasuries look less attractive on a relative basis. the 10 year note had its worst week in almost two months. the dollar is down for the week against the euro as data from europe has been surprising to the upside while investors are having trouble moving past wednesday's g.d.p. report. that is all weighing on investors as they try to make sense of what is to come in the

second half of the year. alix: as we unwind the trades that have done so well in the past few months, scarlet, thank you so much. i'm here with the team carl mark pattison, and oliver. let's start with today's data. factory orders picking up in april yet holding at the weakest pace in almost two years. what does this wind up tell the fed? >> it is a slow growth environment. we are making marginal improvements. it is two steps forward and one step back that gives the fed plenty of cover not to do anything or raise minimally if they feel like it. but there is no impetus to do anything. there is no urgency, no inflation. there's not enough going on to drive in one direction or the other. alix: especially with data like today. employment dipping into contraction but there were some bright spots. new export orders and imports were better. it is all machine -- mushy.

>> it is a wishy-washy report. the gives us some confidence the bleeding in the first quarter is starting to subside. at least we are stabilizing. export orders were up. that is good news. import orders being up not so good news. i fear as we look ahead to next week's data, we are going to see a big surge in imports in march because we have resolved the west coast port dispute. i think that held back imports. once it fills in the missing pieces with the new trade report, alix: how really? >> doesn't look good, it will get worst -- worst next week and as we look ahead, we have that inventory building. the factory sector is not lurching forward into q2. alix: mark, are you worried?

>> this is a semi natural phase where we are bumping along these variances. nobody talked about the dollar. we should expect it like it did to have an export problem in the first quarter. that did not help the economy. consumer confidence is a little shaky, retail not growing well. it is a mushy economy. i would rather see the fed bump this and get on with life. alix: move on. >> we have done enough talking about it. alix: i was going to part that where we ended today, so we can look. at the dow is up and we saw the carnage earlier in the week. everything is jump in about 1% this actually has the best day to day since march. on the commodity side, we saw oil snapping its three-day

losing streak and we saw the u.s. dollar snapping the losing streak, so what we see is this unwinding over the last few days. the dollar was doing well, now it is coming off. we want to get to get to breaking news, did we meet the numbers? >> you have to go with the numbers, look at the biggest movers for the week. tech momentum that had happened -- helped propel the nasdaq. it gave investors a big reality check. linked in, 21% for the biggest one-week loss ever for this company. the outlook for the quarter came in below what analysts anticipated, in part because of the strong dollar. it is about revenue growth. they have beaten top line estimates since going public but this past year saw a violent selloff. and twitter was up before the

earnings report and you had drama with early results, surprising management there and investors. a self slowdown in the first quarter was not an anomaly and it led to reduced forecasts. you can see it was off by 25% for the week. in the meantime, they were two winners. you had go pro, which the growth overseas helped the estimates and gave a forecast that surprised the upside giving ideas that this is a hard-working company that can turn a quarter. and expedia, the online travel company ended a losing streak, up five and a half percent -- 5.5%. gross bookings increased 19% and expedia also says that they closed their orbit acquisition -- will close the orbits acquisition by the end of the year. alix: thank you.

i am joined by my panel, we just heard the talk about link in blaming the dollar. we have heard that from many companies. it was rebounding with stocks, what is the impact of a stronger dollar? oliver? >> the dollar will continue to strengthen, everyone is a focused on the euro but generally speaking the dollar is stronger and it is because the fundamentals in the u.s. look at her than in most places in the world, compared to britain europe, japan. so, i think that will continue and of the worst of it is behind companies. what caught companies flat-footed and there are exceptions like nike, but not just the fact that it rallied how quickly a rally. it was very rapid. it was super expensive, so most of that is the hide us and we

will probably see around parity but we are seeing maybe 1.12 but those people speculating $.80 to the dollar, they're probably, down from that. it will not have a big impact on earnings going forward. alix: as we see global growth picking up, is that -- will that have an impact on dragging down the dollar? we see china still going at 7%. >> it all has to do with the interest-rate differential. so the fed jumped out and drove a stake through the heart of the dollar rally by introducing the notion that the fed it was not going to engage in a measured pace and there would be rate increases later than they initially expected. then when we got though weak jobs report, that killed the momentum. but now the fed with a new plan of one and done, maybe two and

done, they are saying and ensuring that the dollar strength does not come back in the full course that we saw in q4 and q1 of this year. we wait longer then europe will improve and that will take the pressure off, because you will not have the strong divergence of central-bank policy. the fed is going in at a greater degree than other banks but by waiting later you mitigate that stark divide which drove the currency over the last -- alix: one second we will get back this conversation. scarlet hasn't breaking news. scarlet: bloomberg reporting that salesforce and the german-based maker of business software held talks about possible alliances between two companies. these discussions showed that they may by -- outright. earlier this week we had reported that salesforce was working with bankers and financial advisors to help it

deal with -- or field take over offers after being approached by a takeover or acquire. no word on his that might be. but we are now finding out that as amp he has held discussions with salesforce, potentially buying outright. alix: it looks like salesforce's ceo might have approached mcdermott in this conversation. more on this story later. a lot of news from jeff go a lot this week, he made headlines. he told bloomberg that he wanted to ensure negative german debt. >> take a look. >>i wonder why people don't leverage that negative view, because it seems to me that there is no way to lose. if we look at this and the leverage it a hundred times, we get a 20% return. what is the downside? if you can hold it for two years, the price along the way -- >> are you doing that? >> i'm thinking about it.

alix: it may sound good, but that trade may be challenging. europe actually regulates the shortselling of government bonds. what do you think about something like this, it sounds good in theory, but in actuality it sounds difficult to do. mark? >> you have regulatory limits and limited contracts. he runs it money on a grand scale, so that i think that was a pr statement quite friendly. but he is not wrong. conceptually, if those mass contracts existed, there is a way to play this. remember, a lot of people play this with currencies using 100 to one leverage. when switzerland made an announcement like --, the brilliance that you refer to, there is no preannouncement, slamdunk, we are dislocating from this euro making the swiss

franc independent, but people got wiped out. anyone advocating 100 to one leverage they had better know what they are talking about. >> be very careful when you push against the central bank. >> especially europeans who love slamming speculative investors. i can tell you nothing makes them smile more than taking a hedge fund guy or a big portfolio manager who takes an outside that and says, here you go. that goes back to the old days with the pounds, 20 years ago. they learned their lesson and they won't allow it again. alix: let's take a look at -- speech next week, what do investors want to hear. we heard about lagarde pushing firmly, don't mess up the market. >> don't blow things up, because then matted lagarde will go in with a mop and clean things up. that they are sensitive about their past trust -- track record, in the early 1980's and

1990's, when the fed tightened progressively, then the tide rolls out and you have problems. this is a different fed and i think that yellen is emphasizing that. they are tiptoeing forward. this makes this different from previously. alix: they are sane just get it done. nevertheless, we have this unrest and we can't stop talking about it. >> let's keep in mind the last time the fed raised rates was 2006. in the last 20 times prior to that, which goes back to the 1980's, 18 out of 20 times market were higher and it is not the first hike that you have to worry about, it is the last one. we are long ways away from that. alix: a big week for wall street and -- we get a slew of earnings on monday mcdonald's turnaround plan and we will hear from evans. wednesday, the day for greece

scheduled to make a payment. and on thursday, the u.k. holds its elections. and on friday, we will get different path monthly job report for the u.s.. you name it, they are coming out. mark, what is the thing that your pain at the to do next week? >> how quickly manny pacquiao recovers from his loss. alix: you are betting against takeo --manny pacquiao? >> look the opinions we have heard about how the fed is acting, lots of messaging, it is productive. and also, hinting that and starting to elevate american u.s. interest rate is a critical step. the sooner we get there the better, because we are not -- we're talking about edging into this water.

i'm still of the view that the quicker we get to the edge of the water, we are still on the beach. i have a lot of confidence in yellen and her methodology. are we going to have another english coalition government, of course we are. quite friendly, no one is going to live -- when the absolute majority there. alix: and we will talk about that in a few minutes. it guys, we could go on for hours. great to see you as always. karl, thanks for joining us. coming up next what is the hold up, many customers waiting for their apple watches to arrive. we will have details behind the delays and later, hollywood is coming to new york. networks are going to be busy with advertisers. ♪

alix: recapping breaking news, the ceo of as amp he held -- at last year about a strategic alliance between two companies according to people with knowledge of the matter. i'm joined by alex sherman, tell us what happened behind closed doors between mcdermott and the ceo of salesforce. >> they had discussions last year. one of the people familiar told bloomberg about the discussions, this was about as amp he bind salesforce. there were a few discussions that kicked off last april. the key is being that the plot thickens, but we don't know if these talks are still active. one person told us that the company that made the approach the more recent approach, is not sap.

there is at least one other company involved, if not more that are still hovering around salesforce potentially engaging in talks. we don't of these are alive. if sap is the mystery company though we were told that they were not become company that made the more recent approach. alix: what's interesting is that it seems like salesforce approached mcdermott himself -- themselves. and now we are hearing reports that salesforce is fielding a takeover offer. it is a different dynamic. >> correct, it is possibly they are related -- possible they are related. maybe salesforce said that they were open to discussions and it got out and another copy came for them. maybe they said look, we really like your company. maybe they are related. it is hard to say at this point. we are still sore of cracking

the net of this story, a mystery novel. this is the first secondary peace and that companies are looking to take on such a big chunk, which is of course what we broke a couple of days ago when we reported that salesforce was working with bankers to contemplate the idea of selling themselves. alix: thanks alex. if you preorder at an apple watch, chances are you are still waiting for it. according to a report only 22% of those who purchased the watch received it during the first weekend of shipment. many customers don't have an expected delivery date. why or what does this tell us for the preparation for the iwatch? joining us from san francisco -- and mark patterson. tell us what you found in the report and what was your take

away? >> apple is a little slow to get the watches out. as he said, 22% of the watches ordered have been delivered another 40% go out next month. but 40% of the buyers don't have a date. so there is something going on in the supply chain. the thing is, i don't think it will make an impact on the success of the watch. we can see in our data this is the most loyal fan of buying this watch. alix: is there an issue with the tapping function, due to one supplier, is that why? >> we measure the buying behavior and the shipping behavior, so we know what is not shipping and shipping, so we can steadily with the cause may be. in my be something in the supply chain. alix: market, are you going to buy one? >> no, but can niche is making

some good points. no one knows what the reason is. did apple underestimate the demand, was there a manufacturing problem, at this point we don't know for sure. when you look at apple and how many transformative products that they have brought out and how that has transformed the value and the economics and the stock market. my view and i would be interested in kanish's video, this is not a product powerful enough to impact the economic value of apple. they brought steve jobs and others they brought fashion to technology. not technology is trying to get into the fashion world, that is why i am slightly critical of this. this is the most loyal customer this is not expanding the loyal base, the new base, excuse me,

of probable apple customers. this is not an explosive new thing, it is a nice talk in. alix: do you have a view on that, considering that mark is a talking about the initial adopters and rolling this out? >> these are the hard-core apple loyalist, but this is a very profitable fan base. if you look at the numbers here these guys have a money tree. every several months they are able to generate a few hundred dollars to buy the next apple product. our data shows that 20% of the people that bought the iwatch had just sprung several hundred dollars on an iphone a few months ago. 70% of them had bought an apple device in the last two years. these are really hard-core fans spending five dollars on average on a watch, buying on average 1.3 watches. many of the bind to watches, so

there is a lot of money here being spent. it is what apple has done right they created this loyal fan base that spends a lot of money on other products. alix: good perspective on this rollout. thank you. market you are sticking with me. after the break, we will look at oil earnings painting a better picture of crude oil prices, or is it the end of cheap oil? ♪

alix: this is "street smart" and i am alix steel. -- it was ordered to pay $9 billion, they are accused of violating transactions.

and in honor of musk says a new battery offered by tesla can revolutionize the world. >> this is going to be a great solution for people in remote parts of the world where there is no electricity wires or where the electricity is extremely expensive. you can take this and it can scale globally. alix: 1.3 billion people worldwide do not have access to literacy. and it with me is mark patterson, founder of matalin patterson global advisors. it would you buy one of these batteries from tesla? >> he is covering a broad topic to helping people in poverty to something that you plug in a wall. there is a multi-textured answer , you are looking for sure answers. over time, the more that we

switch to tentative injuries especially at home where we can set the energy out of the sky, and not depend on utilities and loading a batteries, if you doing that it is not green. obviously, the utilities, coal natural gas and so on, there is a game being played here with this. but the marketing is brilliant. over time, is the right thing to do. over years, these movements will be profound. today, they are a bit of a stretch. alix: what about the response ability of the government versus private investors to get this ball rolling? >> there's no question that unless the government said that steps and with subsidies, these will not get going. e.on musk is one of the greatest beneficiaries of these taxes. alix: thank you, we have more to talk about. we are going to talk about cars in just a few minutes. we are going to talk about fast

cars. he is into fast cars. we will be right back. ♪

' n sap and a sales force. scarlet: we told you about how salesforce hired a bigger is with takeover offers. this afternoon, we learned that salesforce and sap the german business software maker held talks last year about an alliance between the two. their discussions include a potentially sap buying of them outright. what's interesting is the details. we reported earlier that mcdermott was contacted by phone after sap reported closing

result in april 2014. this is reporting to people with knowledge of of the matter. we don't know if the discussions are still in progress. it is also important to note that the reports of salesforce hiring bankers to deal with takeover offers also came after another bank -- excuse me, another company approached salesforce. that is context. it is interesting to note that sap approached or was in discussions apparently with salesforce about a tie up. alix: and the current market cap, $48 billion. here are the top stories we are watching after the closing bell. cooper office in southern china was rated as part of a crackdown on illegal taxi services. that is according to state run news agencies. they were suspected of offering -- pretty without a license. alibaba is seeking candidates to

resemble a popular point actress. to add was seeking applicants who knew how to -- the code monkey. and in japan, the timeframe for 2% inflation will not be reached, but it did not make a urgent enough for him to boost a stimulus. corona went on the defensive saying that no -- it wasn't needed now. with me is mark patterson. and pam fox. i want to stay -- pimm fox. i want to stay on the topic of japan. what is at the risk here if we see central banks diverge? >> i don't know what the risk is but it seems like the bank of japan and every other central bank is buying u.s. at treasuries. if you buy them, what happened, that yield goes down and that crowd out others who want to buy

and it makes it more valuable and you get the exact conclusion that you didn't want to get in the first place. but what else will you do? "street smart" -- alix: no matter what the fed does. >> they raise rates and nothing happens. >> nothing will happen in the short run. when we look at the big picture, so far central banks around the world have pumped economies by $11 trillion. they have a printed money swapping currencies and the debt. it is pretty profound, i like to see a japanese minister like that standing up and not jumping into the deep end of the pole. we have to get comfortable with the natural economy and what they are doing. we have helped with central banks they have helped enormously in the last six years. enormously to provide the slow-growing economies.

let's let this a baby economy get up on his own feet and start walking. alix: so you think that they should not pump as much money in the system? >> the ecb has less choice. at least four countries are making it mandatory for them to keep having to do that. alix: i'm assuming one of them as greece, they have payments to the ief over the next few weeks, it huge payment. they want to reach a deal by sunday and in other potential meeting on may 11. the rhetoric does not stop and there is no deal. pimm: tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of the bailout deal with greece. 200 -- 270 $4 billion in loans later and so here are the details. you have 25% of the population unemployed. one out of every four people. >> they do not have a job. and on taxable entity. pimm: and you have had the

economy string -- it shrank by about 26%, so imagine if you have a four room apartment and you take a rim away. -- room away. what do you have as the deficit and debt? something like 176% a combination of increasing debt and you have a shanking gdp, that number is bound to get bigger. the government has collapsed the government deficit, but this is not a political issue as much as a financial issue, because maybe they will go to a referendum. alix: at the end of the day mark, there's nothing that they can do to prevent money from going from the country. they cannot prevent kids leaving. they can't help the unemployment rate. >> they do not have a choice on the release of the next $7 billion. the country will go bankrupt.

the finance minister of the country said, i know what i am doing. i am the minister of a bankrupt country, that is a bold statement. that is what he said on the first day. there is a reality and there is a negotiating heart, but back to your point, this is a political problem not a financial problem. financial problems are obvious. they need the $7 billion bar none. how did they sell it to the greek populace that voted for people that they said they would never buckle. pimm: the irony is is that the money that was going to be paid back the money just goes back and you end up going for more money. the banks made that ok. not the greek banks, but some that originally created these swaps and hid the deficit. >> while this imminent collapse has happened, great bond, you take these bonds and they have

moved violently. they have moved in a short amount of time. just about 30% today. obviously a 30% yield is not rational, they are super distress. you wonder if this is not the time to pile in. if you believe greece has a political solution they are willing to face and the prime minister is pointing at that lally pointing at a referendum -- pimm: he is part of the negotiating committee. alix: would you, if you are putting money to work? >> i mentioned it to a firm. alix: and it was in their interest, is there the appetite to make it -- >> all of them are studying the opportunity aggressively, they want to see if there is another political blackeye the needs to be sustained by the deadline or whether now is -- should they buy now? alix: when is it the real

question. in europe, the 24 hour sports car race. this is in france. mark, i can't believe it you will be competing in june. it tells about the car that you will drive and the race. this is one of the craziest raises out there. >> it's the number one highest attending rays of all time. that is me on at the racetrack. this is a prototype. you cannot buy this car. we race mixed up with those gt cars, after martin's and all that. we make them match -- much quicker. there is a prototype class like that. they did 220 miles per hour faster than us. and a straight line, 190 mavs brouwer. it is boring you, but when you go through 170 miles per hour in a corner, you are panicked, you need to suppress and look

through the thin to that is in your life and get it dead right. it is the most exciting thing. alix: unbelievable. it scares me. when you do it -- would you do it? alix: coming up tomorrow, sports fans have a plethora of sports to watch. but when it comes to attending the biggest event of the day some may be left out in the cold. i will its plane. and he can know his head to the box office this weekend, we are talking about "avengers: age of ultron" -- i have my ticket. ♪

alix: tomorrow is sports fan heaven, we have the nfl draft. action continues in the nba and nhl.

and the fight of the century getting underway in las vegas. and at the running of the roses the kentucky derby happens at churchill downs. there is something for everybody. and jamie is evan and mark pattison -- a joining me is evan and mark. are you going to the fight? >> i used to be in could boxing -- i used to be in a boxing. i'm excited. alix: can you give us an idea of the sales? >> $6,000 for a ringside seat, i'm not sure some of them will sell. it gives you an example of how pricey these are on the secondary market. alix: would you buy a ticket? >> skip the $35,000 but for the super bowl some people buy

expensive tickets. and boxing, this could be over and eight seconds. it could be over in five rounds. it could be absurd. alix: that is a great point, what is the chance we will see a knockout? >> a little less likely for these fighters. they don't really knock them out with consistency, they are both fairly old and they are light. it is the difference between when floyd mayweather hits you and when mike tyson hits you. odds are, 1-3 and vegas that this goes the full 12 rounds. alix: talking about sponsors, we talk about how much the players make and how expensive the seats are, but who are the sponsors and how much do they pay and what do they get out of this? >> the main sponsor is a mexican beer. they paid a record to be able to sponsor. i talked to in evaluating today that if it is a first round

knockout, they will get -- exposure. if they go 12 rounds, it is $30 million. if this goes a long distance, it goes that it has a big effect. alix: how hard is it for a big player to have the cash wouldn't mind spending six figures. >> it is difficult, we wrote a story about the mayor of las vegas who cannot afford it. others cannot afford it. people are struggling to find a ticket. you need a large amount of money or a fantastic business connection. alix: and mark is turning down a ticket, we should say. evan, they give for the update. we will watch the fight. and mark, thank you for joining us. coming up next, you can forget about floyd mayweather and manny pacquiao the networks will be here for upfront.

and her it's a mightiest heroes return for a battle and it is expected to be a box office success him of the biggest in hollywood. ♪

alix: it is shopping season for advertisers at the annual tv upfront. more than a half billion ad dollars spent on cable networks last year, but digital advertising is catching up with about $3 billion spent in 2014. joining me is it the president and ceo of united entertainment group. what is more important this year? >> from where i sit, new friends. there is more viewership repetitive viewership, a lot more money moving into the new front energy -- area. it is exciting. alix: what does this mean for networks, are we moving into a place where cbs have a show on

tv and they move it online, is that a new front? >> if you think about new front is the delivery mechanism. it is untethered, a new front industry. it is a tv show with a tv format, but it is delivered in a new front+++

but when i travel, which is often, i binge. house of cards is my favorite. alix: i also did. thanks so much. ♪

alix: here are the top stories we are watching. charter communications said it is negotiating good faith with -- networks as they brace for another wave of consolidation. last month charter agreed to buy white house -- bright house that deal now in jeopardy as they were watching comcast. and a great rivalry could be turning into a collaboration. relations between apple and samsung appeared to be fine. apple's ceo is winding down patent suits and samsung will produce chips for apple and

apple product. and boxing fans'least favorite outcome would've the a nightmare for the fight. if the welterweight title unification fight ends in a tie, both will be paying out laws as high as 18-1 and will have to return it millions that on each fighter. disney's "avengers: age of ultron" hits theaters today and disney as saying that it could exceed 200 million dollars in a box office receipts and its opening weekend. it is already taking and over $27 million and thursday's night showing and more overseas. that is not including china. huge numbers. the first film grossed more than $1.5 billion. and joining me from l.a. -- how could this be -- how big could this be? >> we were expecting this to be

the biggest film of the summer and could be the biggest of it the year. it into you historical context, adventures -- "avengers: age of ultron" is on track to break the record for the biggest opening for a film ever. that is around 220 $7 million, that is what they are expecting. they are probably being conservative and in some people have it going as high as $220 million. it will be interesting to see how much it does over all in the u.s.. some people expected to do a bit less. as you said, as well, the international element of this film could be huge. it may be over $1 billion overseas. alix: what does this mean for disney? how important could this movie be for the company? >> it is a key franchise for them, the marvel universe and it is one of big -- one of four big

productions that they have. the animation of disney that makes frozen and other -- they will make a frozen too, but they also have other films coming out and they have lucasfilm with star wars. this is part of the whole machine that is disney when it comes to film. they are dominating the industry. alix: last summer did not do well for movies, how does this set of the summer? >> it depends how you want to look at it. if you adjust for inflation, it is better than last year but still fairly low in terms of ticket sales. it will be a record year overall. the summer is very important, everybody is going to the theater more. we expect a record-breaking summer. and a record-breaking year people talking about $11 billion. alix: i have my ticket and i

know where i will be in three and a half hours. that is all for "street smart" -- have a great weekend everybody. ♪

mark: i'm mark halperin. john: with all due respect to the new york times, this is a chris the ally and this is a curse thekrirstie ally. >> with all due respect. john: happy national chocolate park day. indictments, indictments and more at stake. first, chris christie. his old pal pled guilty to two conspiracy counts of bridge gate while his lawyer said evidencing the existence of a getting the governor in the scandal. paul fishman did not lay a