stephanie: good morning. wonder why you are seeing us? it is "market makers" happening out a new time. i'm stephanie ruhle. erik: obviously we have moved. you can see betty liu at noon eastern. it is part of our new coverage starting at 10:00. stephanie: she was with you for breakfast and now she is with you for lunch, but here we are. hope you enjoy. coming up in this hour, monday begins with a deal. noble energy to bride -- by rosetta resources for whopping $2.1 billion in stocks. everyone is looking at the oil industry. there is more and and a to come. tom: another showdown over greece. florence -- foreign prime ministers meeting over an accidental default. stephanie: and coming up, a former time warner chairman. the one and only dick parsons talking and and a and the cable

network. maybe a little jazz with mr. parsons. basketball, wind, jazz, who has got a better day than dick parsons? erik: that is what is ahead. let us look at what is making headlines right now. here's our news in focus. ♪ >> china and russia have strengthened the energy ties. the two sides have increased their guess applies from siberia to china. >> the people's bank of china use it as the central bank cuts it rate by 20 basis points. >> north korea says it has successfully tested a submarine launched ballistic missile. yesterday, pyongyang threatened to attack the south korean warship. >> and plunged the 17% on one day of treads. the early forecast had a

climate. >> "the avengers" are still winning the battle at the box office for second straight weekend, raking in more than $77 million. ♪ stephanie: i didn't see "the avengers" this weekend. erik: i did. stephanie: and? erik: mmm. stephanie: you don't have to like it. the teams who are seeing it are going to get the games and the lunchboxes and that is how bob iger gets it right. erik: the first "avengers" movie generated a billion and a half dollars in ticket prices globally. more headlines from the global resources a bloomberg news. and could be a sign that saudi arabia is frustrated over american policy over iran. the new saudi king will not attempt the summit at camp david

in maryland. saudi arabia has a number of issues including the conflict with yemen which will keep thinking from participating. saudi arabia and other gulf states are concerned that the u.s. have become too accommodating over iran. greece and eurozone finance ministers are all meeting in brussels to the greek prime minister's under the gun to come up with a list of economic reforms. greece is running out of money. it's next trial comes tomorrow when they have to pay money to the imf. stephanie: i take over for one of the biggest real estate firms. tpg capital has agreed to by commercial properties wakefield. the deal is about $2 billion. it is the holding company of italy's atli illini family. bring storms wrecked a small texas town just east of dallas.

officials say more than two dozen people were injured when a tornado hit van, texas late last night. first responders going door to door to find more victims today. the county says almost one third of its buildings in the town of 2600 were damaged by the tornado. the storm that spawned the twister stretched across northern texas and brought torrential downpours forcing a number of dramatic rescues from floodwaters. erik: jimmy carter is back home in georgia today after falling ill during a south american trip. he was monitoring the election in guyana. he was "feeling under the weather pickup the former president is 90 years old. a teammate of bernie made off has died after many years of helping the government take down those involved in the ponzi scheme. he was 58 and have long concert. -- lung cancer. he was waiting to be sentence for his role. stephanie: if you would like to

see fender bender's of the future, head over to california. and investigation by the associated press says that 10% of the drivers in the golden state have been in an accident in the past year. two accidents happened while the computers were driving and two while human drivers were in control. what is the good news? computer-controlled accidents were both at speeds of less than 10 miles per hour. the cars got dinged just a little bit. those are your top headlines of them wanted. i think a lot of people are focused on europe. the fact that the finance meetings are really sing every direction and action. what are they going to do with the greece situation? it is one of the many reasons that investors are sitting and waiting and watching europe. erik: it may be the reason why we assign that's not seeing a pickup in u.s. -- not seeing a

pickup in u.s. stock futures. on that note, we will bring you the latest. julie hyman is that the best. guy johnson is watching the european markets. julie: the two big elements affecting u.s. stock futures have been those rate cuts in china and the meetings and greece. china cut its one-year lending rate to 5.1%. they are cutting that same amount to 2.25%. something else to keep in mind as that you would think that would boost futures more, but we do have a push and pull of the european meetings. i'm sure guys going to get more into that in a minute. we did see that give a boost to the chinese market today. keep in mind that here in the united states, the context is that the s&p 500 is trading very close to its record on a closing basis, just 0.08% from the record close where it was on

april 24th. going in today's session are we going to see resistance to breaking through that? we might. in recent weeks, we have come close to the level. we haven't quite broke through it. something to keep in mind while looking at today's action. the two big elements have been the two that we have been talking about. we will see that when the u.s. session gets underway. erik: can you bring us up to speed on the talks between europe finance ministers and agree government? -- the greek government? there was speculation that there might be an accidental default. we know there is increasing pressure on angela merkel to let greece go and allow the eurozone to be stronger if you will. guy: i would not expect too much. that seems to be the expectation management underway at the moment. they are all in the room now and

talking. the last time that we have these guys meeting up did not go that well. it may be anything better than what happened in riga being an improvement. with the huge payment due tomorrow, people are saying that will act as a catalyst necessarily to get a big deal done here. don't expect much. i think this story is going to run a little bit more. greece says it has the money. the germans are least being pushed by some of their own internal politicians within angelos markel's -- angela merkel's party to cut away from greece. i think they're away from that at this stage. we are watching this carefully. to give you my two pence worth on china, european markets had a massive day friday. the fact that they do not go down today could be that china affect making sure that didn't happen. stephanie: i can make you have a little word on the street action this morning. another situation of confusion on the markets is that luminaries like warm buffets are

talking about the great american economy and that this is the place to invest. but if you look at the jobs numbers on friday, after we had a week of poured it in, had a great number, but actually look at the number. non-payroll was not good. it was just the unemployment number. i wish michael mckee was here. many people would say that is the most worthless of the three because it is not actually reflective on what the job landscape is like erik: here erik:. erik: i think that's why we saw the rally. everyone thinks the fed will be lower for longer. stephanie: it seems that way. there are more signals that the hike is not coming soon. the more numbers we get showing by the u.s. economy is not as strong as anticipated makes you feel like they are going to get it longer. erik: julie hyman and guy johnson, we thank you both. we will see you again soon. stephanie: we are having a good start in the morning. still to come, m and a in the

oil business. we are going to get the reaction on the consolidation from head of energy research at the moro. we will hear from einhorn. ♪

♪ erik: coming up, as you will be is big in the free market news. alibaba is raising its stakes. speaking of technology, we are debating the valuations of the biggest name in private markets like uber and airbnb. this week, president obama will host leaders from persian gulf states to talk about iran in his push for a nuclear deal. one critical player has turned on that indentation. peter cook is in d.c.. saudi arabia's king is perhaps the most important plow or player in the gulf and has decided to stay home. why. ? peter: on paper, the reasoning

is the timing. the saudi's want him to stay in saudi arabia because it coincides with the human terry and cease-fire -- humanitarian cease-fire that is supposed to begin in human -- yemen. it is hard to see this as other than a signal that the saudi arabians are not fond of the policy of obama's nuclear scope with iran. it is going to be a one-on-one meeting between the king and the president at the white house first before the persian gulf leaders woodhead tech camp david. that is not going to happen. it is hard to not see this as a sign of disappointment on where they stand. stephanie: who is going to take their place? i'm sure there will not be an empty seat at the white house. peter: you have the interior minister for the crown prince of saudi arabia who will be there as will the deputy crown prince who is the king's son. these are the two people

arguably pulling most of the leverage in the saudi government right now. they are the heirs apparent to the king. these are critical players and people that the u.s. wants to get a better fix and handle on. they want a better understanding of where they see themselves. important people to be sure, but it is not the king. this is a difficult moment right now. u.s.-saudi relations are an indication of how fragile it is right now. the fact that these two are attending is seen by some as a positive in the sense that they do get a better feel of these new leaders in saudi arabia and what is going on in their minds as well. erik: that is happening later in the week. today, the president is holding a meeting with business leaders including the cofounder and ceo of airbnb. peter: that is right. the president is trying to spark october nor should, not just in the united states -- entrepreneurship not just in the united states, but around the

world. he wants global hospital ships and he wants u.s. ceos and tech leaders involved. he is naming a more global entrepreneurial ambassadors including the airbnb ceo. they are meeting at the white house later on today. this is all leading up to the president's trip in july to kenya for a summit of global entrepreneurs. he is talking tech entrepreneurship and american success stories he helps later on today at the white house. erik: peter cook is our chief washington correspondent. at 11:00, you will want to see the ceo and cofounder of bmd on bloomberg television -- bmb on bloomberg television meeting with president obama at the white house. stephanie: now it is time for your stop stories of the morning -- top stories of the morning here on bloomberg news. chinese stocks rallied the most in two weeks after the central bank cut interest rates for the third time and several

months. they cut the one year lending rate from a one-year deposit by a quarter point. this is sooner than anyone expected. in moscow, vladimir putin and germany's chancellor angela merkel met for the first time since january. margolis playing tribute -- her goal was paying tribute to the victims of world war ii and encourage pro-russian rebels and ukraine to live up to terms of the cease-fire. >> i again appreciate the work of the organization of security and cooperation in europe. and now, we must do everything. i think the russian president has also influenced the separatists so that we will succeed in implementing at least the cease-fire and of the political processes will also start. stephanie: meanwhile, vladimir putin urged angela merkel to lift economic sanctions against russia. those are your top headlines. can you actually urge vladimir putin to do anything?

erik: you can urge as much as the like but the question is whether the man will be listening. a new trend everybody. larger oil producers snapping up smaller ones. buying it for $2.1 billion in stock. for more on this in the oil market is lloyd. i decided to save a few trees and print out only 18 pages of your most recent report and what you put a cell on noble. does this deal change review -- your view? lloyd: no. it is actually as the price. most investors thought that noble have the assets for re-investing growth going forward. we put out a note the other day about feedback we had gotten. most of the pushback was unknowable. investors were very comfortable with what they had going forward. our concern was what investors would pay for the assets in israel going forward. the fact that they went out and

produced at a premium in today's market is going to be taken as a surprise. stephanie: what is your thought on the fracking debate? david i am worn came out -- david einhorn came out against it. is it the timing? lloyd: i have not had the time to go through david's analysis of it. it certainly struck a nerve. these companies typically are accosted for having poor return on capital and poor investments. i would argue though that in this case the core of the shales are good investments. what you will find is that i would've thought that you could make the argument a year ago and pointed out that some of the places are good investments. what the market is doing is sorting that out right now. they are saying something like the mississippi line or tuscaloosa marine shale is not good investment. the core of the permian i would

argue is going to turn out to be a good investment. one of the keys to that going forward is going to be technology. these new advances in technology are starting to see people like resources taking 20% to 30% more of the reservoir for low income of the cost. that is the argument against. erik: in the meantime, oilfield services are costing a whole lot less. lloyd: that's right. that is a good point. in the recent quarter, what you have seen is costs are coming down 20% and they expect another 10% going forward. about 50% of that is secular versus cyclical. you are seeing technology improvements going forward. you are fairly early and understanding what fracking is doing. you get a valorous -- eight barrels out of every 100 out of the ground. as the new technology increases,

you will see a larger rise in the aerials taken out. erik: what will it cost to get it out of the ground there? lloyd: people have talked about $20 as the finite cost going forward. i think it will go down 50% or 20%. you could be in the $15 range properly -- probably. stephanie: the companies you have by on, when will we see those go down? lloyd: we have seen a good run in the stocks. the direction of oil drives relative performance in stocks. one of the big debates going on right now is the portfolio manager analyst debate. the portfolio manager is saying that oil is starting to really move. i need to get into this thing. stephanie: lloyd, thank you so much for wanting us -- joining us. lloyd byrne, head of energy

research. erik: we believe back in two minutes. stay with us. ♪

just because i'm away from my desk doesn't mean i'm not working. comcast business understands that. their wifi isn't just fast near the router. it's fast in the break room. fast in the conference room. fast in tom's office. fast in other tom's office. fast in the foyer [pronounced foy-yer] or is it foyer [pronounced foy-yay]? fast in the hallway. i feel like i've been here before. switch now and get the fastest wifi everywhere. comcast business. built for business.

stephanie: it is merging 26 past the hour. it is time now for features and focus. julie: we are looking at gold. it is edging lower. that is after investors told to go to bully and backfired -- bully and back funds. that will cause the federal reserve to raise interest rates. my guest says that gold could be poised for a run higher. joining me now is taught horowitz. he is founder of average joe options.com. we have seen pretty much sideways action in joel recently.

-- gold recently could why do you think we may break out here? todd: we have in stock for the last six or seven weeks. our will was down around $11.40. the real here and gold is that the strength of the dollar has kept the lid on gold. it keeps it from going higher. that is with the entire commodities space. as we look at the bloomberg index on commodities, the whole space has been underwater based on low interest rates in the strength of the dollar. i think that we have arty got loyal. the bad news for gold by extent of the market is that there might be a buyer down here because you have a greater chance to see a move higher versus how much we can go lower. julie: looking at the dollar index, it is down about 5% from its high that it reached a couple of months ago. yet gold has done a whole lot of nothing in that time. it has not gotten that boost from the lower dollar.

why hasn't happened yet? why are people waiting for? todd: selling off the dollar which is a regular normal cell as you expect. we have not seen a change in the trend of the dollar. we have not seen a change from the global economy. you still see china over the weekend lowering their rates. in the overall currency space that is going to mean a stronger u.s. dollar because we are still the best game in town, which is still to say that the daughter -- dollar figures to rally here and a change in the euro currency to keep a lid on goal as well. julie: that is a short-term trade and you are looking at it going way up. todd: it was trading at 1187. i think the percentages in the probability of saying that if we go down, you can go down to 1180 or lower than that, but the chances to go to 1220 is greater.

i'm looking at the trade to make a chance of $40 initially. if we get through 1220, 1300 would not be far behind. i think it is a much better percentage play to play gold here at the 1180 level knowing that the dollar made break and the economy will get better. it could happen soon, but there are too many reasons to believe that we could go a lot higher than we could go lower. julie: todd horwitz, thank you so much. joining us from the cme for features. stephanie, back to you. stephanie: here's a look at the top stories of the morning. china's central bank is trying to jumpstart the economy. they cut interest rates for the third time in six months. they are also raising the limits on what banks can take favors. the chinese economy is struggling to meet this year's growth target of 7%. both imports and exports fell last month. experts appear to like this move. chinese thought rose today by

the most in two weeks. erik: a powerful typhoon has been downgraded. the storm displaced people and caused 3500 people to evacuate. volvo will build its first plant in south carolina. volvo wants to revive u.s. sales that have fallen by more than 50% in last decade. the plant is set to open in 2018. the uaw is considering a plan to allow automakers to hire lower blue-collar workers. these workers would have low skilled jobs done by automakers suppliers. the jobs would not pay much around $10 or $15 an hour to allow a simile the workers to make $19 an hour. -- assembly workers to make $19 an hour. stephanie: full service of mobile future smartphones have

dropped by 4% in the first quarter. it is the first time that has happened in six years. experts say the reason for the decline is simple. there are no more first-time buyers in china. everybody has got a phone. more than 90% of mobile users how smartphones already. air force is across europe are grounding in the military transport after a fatal crash. the airbus 400 and crashed in seville, spain on saturday, just minutes into a test flight. four people were killed and two others injured. a german magazine says that one of the survivors told investigators that the plane had multiple engine failures shortly after takeoff. those are your tech headlines for today. it is a monday morning. plane crashes, national disasters -- natural disasters in asia and texas, we have had good weather in new york, but bad news around the world. erik: when we come back, we have been coming research this

morning to bring you all the stock news you need to know. caterpillar is one to watch. ♪

stephanie: welcome back. never to disappoint even though we moved times. it is a commercial break conversations that are good here. the u.s. stock markets are looking to build on record highs after indices on friday rounded off their best in today's performance since march . our chief market's correspondent scarlet fu joins us now to show us a big names on the move today. what individual names have got your eye back? julie: we have updates on caterpillar. this is off the big news from

china overnight cutting interest rates. commodities have bottom out according to analyst. we have the indices up almost 10% since its six-year low led by crude oil and copper is well. their view is that the consensus inflation is now baked into the consensus view. that is part of the asset prices and that the mining and commodity cycles are starting to see that the worst is over and that they are ready for the uptick. i would argue that it is already here and we have seen the bottom. they are taking a longer-term view and look to add to shares of caterpillar and joy global. erik: i know you have looked at salesforce.com. julie: bloomberg wrote on salesforce.com earlier this month about bankers taking over offers. erik: microsoft is in the hunt as well.

it is a huge company. figure than 70% of the s&p 500 members. that gives a sense of how few buyers are out there. morgan stanley has removed salesforce.com from its best ideas list saying that the premium built in to the spot price makes it a risk reward that is less favorable. stephanie: how much have we seen the stock move the news broke? todd:scarlet: it is a company that is fairly large. if you are oracle it you can take it over, but it will cost you a lot of money. stephanie: how profitable are they? erik: they trade at nosebleed valuations. scarlet: one more name for you is citigroup upgrading monster beverage. that was after monster had a disappointing first order number

after the distribution deal with coca-cola let out to pay lots -- payouts of distribution fees. citigroup says to look past that. the long-term industry with the coca-cola deal will pay off. stephanie: do you like it? scarlet: no you youdo? stephanie: i will not let my son stricter. i don't even like read bill. scarlet: what is your poison? stephanie: i don't read that much. definitely not read bowler monster. i like ginger ale. monster taste gross. red bull is disgusting. scarlet: i just generally drink water. i don't like gatorade either. erik: we are moving on stephanie. back to greece. eurozone finance ministers meeting in brussels today. they are talking about greece once again approaching another deadline. this one is tomorrow.

greece owes the imf some 750 million euros. what should we expect out of these meetings? with us now from athens is our bureau chief. good morning to you. for you, this has to be getting a little bit tiresome. there was fireworks in riga most recently. what about brussels? what should we expect out of these meetings? nikos: good afternoon. the theme for today's episode in the soap opera is brussels. that is where the finance ministers meet to discuss whether has greece has complied with the 240 million euros bailout. they must likely will say no again. greece really expects a positive statement of some sort.

a statement from eurozone finance ministers ring that we are getting there. a really need this. if they don't get it, this may prompt the european center to raise the pressure even more for greece as early as this wednesday. governors from the currency bureau may decide to raise the discount that they have applied to the collateral that greek banks pledged in the exchange for emergency funding. let me remind you that greek banks are generated. they are bleeding deposits. their only lifeline is his emergency capital. if the ecb raises the capital to the collateral this means the days of the emergency lifeline will be numbered and the company will be push towards capital control. stephanie: what is the greece finance minister referring to when he says they are making process and they are getting

there? nikos: greece has repeatedly expressed confidence that they are getting their only to be hearing finance minister saying that they want to see reform in labor and pension reform and sales tax reform. we are not there yet no matter what the greek finance minister says. erik: uni has spent time together with him in athens. who is he speaking to right now? when he makes comments like that if he'd telegraphing something to the eurozone finance ministers? is he speaking to the greek people or his own party to calm the nerves? nikos: the greek government does not want to see deposit cash

flows accelerate. the greek banks do not have much leeway left. we have seen record withdrawals over the past few months. the rationality behind a statement saying don't worry that we are getting there. this will cut down favors on the banks and uncertainty and the country. what is scary is that this situation cannot go for much longer. sooner or later it greeks will have to make some concessions which will allow for bailout cuts. otherwise, it is out of the state or the banks will become solvent within weeks. erik: thank you very much. nikos is our bureau chief in athens. stephanie: what do we have to talk about? basketball. lebron james leads cleveland to a big win over chicago.

a big night for steph curry. ♪

♪ erik: coming up in the next hour on "market makers," activists have seen sales rise. stephanie: here are the top stories from bloomberg news for you. could it be a sign that saudi arabia is frustrated with u.s. policy over iran? the new saudi king this -- is skipping the summit at camp david. saudi arabia says a number of issues will prevent the king from attending. saudi arabia and other gulf countries are concerned by the u.s. is becoming too accommodating toward iran. a legal setback for julian assange. a high court refused to overturn his retention order.

he has been holed up in a london embassy for nearly three years. he is fighting extradition to sweden. he is wanting -- wanted for questioning and a sex crimes investigation. in hattiesburg, mississippi four suspects will be in the court today accused of gunning down to police officers. the officers were shot and killed during a traffic stop late saturday night. it was the first time in three decades that a hattiesburg police officer has been killed. in the nba playoffs, it is all about king james. lebron james nailed a jump shot at the buzzer's to give the cleveland cavaliers and 86-84 win. i hope you're watching, gary cohen. there was less than a second left on the clock. the eastern conference semi finals series is tied at two games apiece. that is why people love basketball. that is extraordinary. can you imagine the energy and

excitement if you are at that game? there is nothing better. those are your top headlines of them wanted how do you not love the nba? when you see that and a player and a personality and a guy like lebron back in his hometown, it is pretty amazing. erik: i love tuning in for the last five minutes of the game when it is not in that could stephanie: -- net and neck. stephanie: after you watch of flyfishing special, that's amazing. erik: i'm not denying it. stephanie: let's talk about what eric does like. erik: erik: we with talk to people in finance about the future of oil. here's what they told us. >> if you are in the emp business and you have to keep adding back to the reserve base in your production goes up. >> we have ensure that no one

leave the majors -- not only the majors go up in a few years. >> one you turn over nt -- and the, the company is in liquidation and you can bring them back up again. you do that by finding oil. it becomes lend a game of who can find the oil cheapest. >> they have gone down a lot. we have covered some of the shorts in the first quarter, but stocks have snapped back quite nicely. >> we could end the year $65 to $75 in oil. the oil patches and solution told oil prices is low oil prices. stephanie: that is why you go to vegas for week. boone pickens just to name a few. erik: what is clear is that if you are an investor in the equity marker is that you have to have a deal on oil. stephanie: without a doubt.

you have to have a deal on oil, but more than where is oil going, you have to play. think of the timeline. we had the head of the energy research department and the energy stocks that he was going to buy on -- the question is how long will we get there? a lot of buyers are saying there is a huge opportunity in oil. they are buying stocks with a two or three year time rise. if you are a short-term stock trader, good luck. go fish. erik: could uber be worth even more after a new round of financing? stephanie: they have money coming out of the ears. ♪

erik: welcome back. i am erik schatzker was stephanie ruhle. if you thought uber's $40 billion valuation was crazy talk, how does $50 billion sound?

it feels like facebook all over again. investors show no fear betting on private companies. he is chief officer of our our ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. just of the clear, you do not have a stake in hoover. the reason i say it feels like facebook all over again is that facebook reached a private valuation of $100 billion and then after it went public, it took more than a year for facebook to effectively grow into that $100 billion valuation. it was down into the 40's. venture capitalists like you love to see high valuations for private companies. is there a point at which a highest too high -- a high is too high? will: what you see with these late round private valuations

are essentially private ip is. we have seen the phenomenon since the late rounds of facebook. investors recognize that these are transformational companies and they are radically different and better business models. they are willing to pay up to own things that could accommodate the category. stephanie: is there in a limited appetite for them? will: i don't know. i think a lot of what you are saying is smart investors recognizing the way the industries are going to be transformed. in a lot of these people investing now are long-term holders because they believe these breakout companies can dominate. what is so different and important to understand about this cycle is that these are not talk, new orleans. --.com darlings. these are very good businesses. i took uber to take my family out for mother's day. i paid 1.5 times the search prices to get around. people feel that this fills a

need and they're willing to pay for it. it is driving what is a very good business. is it worth 40 or 50 or more? i don't know. these are transformative companies. stephanie: one president obama invites the ceo of airbnb and to be part of a council to sit with him, what does that say other company? does it make investors more enthused that it is not a.com darling and a chance for additional business here to stay? will: it is a great deal of vision on the part of the white house to show that these companies are plotting the future course of the american economy. these industries are going to change whether incumbents like it or not. the technology and power of these platforms. the fact that we can pop up our phone and get what we need on demand at any time is going to transform these industries. whether it is uber or airbnb,

those forces are inevitable. erik: the conversation and we want it to continue, would you mind sticking around? will: absolutely. erik: he is a general partner there. we will be back with will and a couple of minutes. stephanie: a lot more in the hour. dick parsons is joining us. stay with us. ♪

announcer: live from bloomberg headquarters in new york, this is "market makers." erik: good morning once again, it's monday, may 11. stephanie: as you can see, it's an all new "market makers" 8:00-10:00 a.m. betty liu will be joining you at lunch time, 12 noon. we have a big hour ahead. erik saw "the avengers" this weekend and it took in $77 million during its second weekend. what about the potential in china?

erik: all you need to know on mna this monday. stephanie: speaking of dealmaking, a former time warner ceo dick parsons is with us this morning to talk potential cable consolidation. plus his thoughts on banking jazz, and wine. he will be in the house. let's give you a look at the top stories of the morning. secretary of state john kerry is headed to russia to meet with president vladimir putin. the meeting will take lace in the black sea city of sochi. the last two years have had strange -- strained relations between the two countries. they will talk about the iran nuclear deal and the increasingly violent conflict in syria. the meeting was added as the secretary of state is going to a nato meeting in turkey. investors appear to like the

interest rate cut in china. chinese stocks rallied the most in two weeks after the central bank cut interest rates for the third time in six months print the people's bank of china cut the one-year lending and the one-year deposit rate i 1/4 poi nt. china is struggling to hit its 7% growth this year. noble energy has agreed to acquire rosetta resources. the price tag is $2.1 billion in stock. noble also was in $1.8 billion in debt and the deal will give noble a position in two of the largest areas of shale production in the state of texas. erik: another takeover will create one of the biggest real estate service firms. david bonham and tpg has agreed to by cushman and wakefield which is valued at $2 billion. the majority of it is owned by exxor a holding company of a

family in italy. the forced north american plant will be built in north carolina for globo. it will employ 4000 people. erik: we'vestephanie: we are seeing a red headline across the terminals on citibank. let's go to the news room with julie hyman. julie: this is part of the news we have been following on the currency investigation from the justice department. citigroup disclosed in a orderly filing that it has been discussing the currency settlement and it is in talks with the justice department. citigroup says the department of justice declined to prosecute it on libor rigging. last week, bloomberg news reported that the justice department was seeking to wrap up a five bank deal this coming wednesday.

that would include ubs. that was not previously ported -- reported and it looks like citibank is disclosing more details but not a lot. some of these are trickling out on this currency rigging investigation. we still expect the settlement wednesday. stephanie: dick parsons is joining us in a few minutes. he is a former chairman of citibank. we've got to talk about that with deck. --dick. we talked about shadow banking killing regular banks and they are not revenue generating and the fines are coming day after day. in addition to the fines, think about the added compliance and outside lawyers. that these banks need to have full-time, long-term and it's killing them. erik: if you look at the e-mails that these banks have exchanged over things like liibor and the foreign exchange market, you

knew something like this was coming. stephanie: i had dinner with a bank traitor of the weekend who said my biggest issue is not making money, he says every dollar i make who knows where goes? the amount of costs embedded in banks are killing guys that don't want to be in those seats. erik: we have more breaking news -- julie: comcast is naming michael j cavanagh as a senior vice president and chief financial officer will join the company early this summer from the carlyle group. they need to fill the cfo because the former cfo is departing to create a new company with comcast to focus on growth businesses around the world. michael j cobb and is coming from carlisle to be the new cfo at comcast. -- michael j cavanagh is coming

from carlyle group to be the new cfo at comcast erik: he was with jpmorgan forever and word on the street was that he did not like the future at j.p. morgan not because of the firm but the regulatory environment was not as fun to be a banker and went to become a copresident at carlyle group. those two were seen as the successors to the executives that currently run the carlyle group. you've got to draw the conclusion that michael kavanagh saw something at carlisle he did not like or he thought he would not be the anointed ceo. stephanie: maybe this was an offer he cannot refuse. erik: how could the carlyle group, one of the greatest wealth creating machines make a less attractive offer? stephanie: you side david

rubenstein's have pop rendition honoring dr. dre. i am going to rip up the script. tom sweeney is also here. -- paul, what you make of this. paul: it's a great hire for comcast. this signals that comcast is not done with dealmaking. they don't bring in an executive like this to mind the books. michael angelokis was one of the most strategic cfos in the marketplace. he got a up to do this special side deal where he can invest a lot of money on his own. comcast needed to replace a rock star and they did that. i think a lot of investors will realize that though comcast did not get their time warner cable deal approved, they are in the market still for significant deals going forward.

tom: michaelangelakis has always been a dealmaker. he did an amazing job as cfo of comcast transforming their story but he is off to ascii -- execute the big deal plan. to put something like him in that slot will allow him to do that. erik: the carlyle group is an amazingly successful firm. yes, it has not lately been as successful as blackstone but it manages more than $200 billion and at least on paper, michael cavanaugh had a shot at ceo. stephanie: again, on paper. it's not as if he is taking a job for chump change. this is a big job at comcast. erik: he hardly got his id badge working. stephanie: it makes me think maybe they gave him an offer he cannot refuse. ptom: the roberts family owns the

control stock that clearly, they want to dive into the operations of a global multi-business media company that is very aggressive. there are great operators running the cable business and the media business. if you are the cfo of comcast you are a strategic you maker and that's what they historically had in mind. stephanie: maybe he could not find a lunch buddy at carlisle. tom: it recalls the growth questions at the carlyle group. comcast is trying to capitalize and growth strategies. where the carlisle founders are thinking about the future is a good question. michael cavanaugh may have given us an adjusting answer. erik: what's on the table? could the three of them stay for longer at carlisle? tompaul: when you're talking about

a private equity platform by the carlyle group, there is always the question of generational succession. and when the founders are ready to unleash the next generation. i don't know mr. rubenstein but maybe they are not ready. stephanie: in the world of t boone pickens and warrant buffet and carl icahn, these investors don't seem to be going anywhere soon. erik: it's hard to institutionalize a business like the carlyle group and pave the way for a guy like cavanaugh or yonkin to take over from the guys whose dna infuses the place. stephanie: they also really like being masters of the universe and the don't want to trade that for an aarp card. paul: and they are getting paid quite well. erik: you can make so much money at a carlisle, why would you

want to leave? paul: he will make a lot of money at comcast, too. stephanie: great to have you both gentlemen. we have to talk about "the avengers" after the break. we are in a new time slot. erik:will fotiess will be with us and we will be back after the break.

erik: this is the new "market makers." "the avengers: age of ultron" topped the box office for the second weekend in a row.

it raked in $77 million here in the united states and canada. paul sweeney is still with us. some of that money was $50 which is what it cost me and my daughter. if you want to see it in 3-d in new york city, it will cost you $50. stephanie: how much per ticket? erik: i don't know the new math. stephanie:it's $20 a ticket was the fandango service charge. stephanie: in my mind, that's like a cheap date. erik: the first avengers had gross ticket receipts of one point $1 billion setting a record. i think spiderman was behind it. is this the home going to over $2 billion? paul: i don't think so, it has been huge numbers but it has

been less that first two weekends than has been expected. it will track to the 1.5 ilion dollar mark because china has not opened yet. it's the second largest rocks of his market outside north america and it soon will be the biggest. that will open and be huge. erik: but the chinese don't pay as much for their movie tickets. stephanie: but there are more of them. what are the ancillary effects question mark it's a hugely marketable movie in terms of all the products and the outside things. we're not talking about "selma." paul: nobody does ancillary revenues better than disney. nobody does merchandise better than disney. movie studios are envious of disney with merchandise. then you have to wonder if it goes into the theme parks. stephanie: of course it does.

paul: they opened a car's theme park in california which rejuvenated one of their theme parks. stephanie: as in lightning mcqueen. paul: that is in the california adventure lannon and that brought them back. stephanie: can anyone touch this machine? paul: i don't think so because you have pixar, marvel, and now lucas films with "star wars." for the next five years disney has it planned out. stephanie: you have the movies the studio, the theme parks, the retail stores -- try to beat that. paul: and they have espn. erik: what would it take for disney to screw up the marvel franchise?paul: if they were just group the execution of any of these characters, that would be an issue. one issue that investors are

concerned about when the numbers came in light is if we are having the beginnings of superhero fatigue. stephanie: if they get one of these characters wrong, my sons are dying to see this movie and they will see it seven times matter how bad it is. they are not as critical as we are. is that really a big issue? the star wars fans will go to the movie in even if they hate it. paul: the franchise move is are almost a lock with characters and stories that everyone knows and they work globally. erik: i like paul rudd's ironic twist on antman. thank you very much for being with us. stephanie: here are some of the top stories -- the european finance ministers are hoping to see some sign of progress from greece at today's

meeting in brussels. they will not release any more bailout money until the greeks come up with more economic reform. >> it's the occasion today for the parties to reassure their partners and show their commitment and will to find a deal and assure you that we have that will and i think today will be an important step. stephanie: the government -- the prime minister expects the eurogroup to acknowledge that greece is moving in the right direction. greece is quickly running out of money. it has to pay about $840 million tomorrow to the imf. early today, tornadoes struck northeast texas and southwest arkansas. at least two people were killed and dozens were injured and there was widespread damage. earlier, there were dramatic touches from north texas were helicopters had to rescue people trapped by flash flooding. the storms at some up to seven

inches of rain. a tornado in the region late last night injured more than 20 people and destroyed a number of homes. erik: the online furniture retailer wayfarer lost money last quarter again. it was smaller than expected and revenue beat analyst estimates. it said it had 3.6 million active customers at the end of the first quarter. those are your top stories this hour. stephanie: there is a new commercial property powerhouse in town. david ponder bins firm tpg capital has agreed to buy cushman wakefield for $2 billion. how will this combined company be better positioned to absorb the ups and downs of the real estate market? let's bring in ed hammond. was this a surprise? ed: they have been around the so it's been almost two months

since they went on the block publicly and tpg or an obvious buyer because of the scale. erik: why do they want to get rid of it? ed: they had it for a long time and they increase their state. they took it as high as 81% and brought it back to him recently. they were looking to get rid of this two or three years ago. they thought they were going to ipo and they didn't. they like it a lot but they had shown ambition. stephanie: what does $2 billion say? ed: in this case come it means a huge number of people. the company will have about 43,000 employees combined worldwide. cushman has significant presence in the u.s. which tpg is slightly shorter on. you get this enormous real estate presence. you get realtors and you have new markets.

you can be very strong in china but you get this huge presence now north america. erik: how long will it take before tpg can consolidate this with cushman. ? if you look at the valuation, 26 times trailing earnings, that's rich. ed: it is. it will take them a while. they outline the small usually that there will be some redundancy. cbre are better than the rest of this business but because they have recurring revenue. they do manage buildings. instead of doing the traditional realtors which are transaction-based you have this huge recurring revenue stream

from facilities management and managing rental. erik: it makes the revenue is more predictable? ed: yes and investors love it. stephanie: house a price for you? not usually, there is a consolidation play that is obvious in this you get enormous economies of scale. the barrier to entry is low in real estate. if you have a cell phone and the gift of data, you can come into this industry. there's an obvious sense and putting number four and number three together. stephanie: ed hammond, thank you so much.

[beeping] ooo come on everybody, i think this is my grandson. [lip syncing] ♪little girl you look so lonesome oh my goodness. ♪i see you are feeling blue ♪come on over to my place ♪hey girl ♪we're having a party happy birthday, grandma! ♪we'll be swinging ♪dancing and singing ♪baby come on over tonight erik: it's 26 minutes past the hour which means we are a few minutes away from the opening bell in new york city. in global markets this morning, joe weisenthal is with us.

everybody thought china would ease further. joe: the chinese economy has been slowing dramatically presumably missing official growth forecasts. yes, they need to do more but this last one came as a surprise. erik: in previous chinese moves we have seen more of a reaction at least in u.s. equity index futures. joe: who knows what is factoring into u.s. equity markets today question mark there was a big move in china and their work -- i think the shanghai composite up 3% overnight. there were some notable moves and asian currencies. we will have to see how it shakes out. stephanie: does not feel like you was investors are confused question mark a look at the jobs numbers fridays and immediately people were excited. the unemployment number looked good but nonfarm payroll stunk and wage improvement stunk. it's not like there is a clear positive picture.

all the data has not been that good. joe: it's the same story we have been getting for six years which is improvement but not amazing. and not bulletproof. stephanie: that's bad for the u.s. economy and good for investors because rates will notj get hiked. oe: investors don't see any imminent pressure on the fed to hike rates. nonfarm payroll has been pretty solid and the unemployment rate keeps going down, there are signs of which pressure. it's not amazing or perfect but it's not bulletproof but it's kind of what we have come to expect. erik: what are people saying about the dollar? what will it take for it to reverse course? the index hit 100 and backed up substantially as the euro strengthened. joe: everyone was talking about parity that it was a matter of time. erik: now that euro is at $1.11.

joe: everybody expected at the beginning of the year that it would be a matter of time until the fed would hike and it would be years before europe would hike. since the beginning of the year, european economic data has consistently outperformed expectations in u.s. data has missed expectations. as long as that happens, i don't think that story is relevant. stephanie: i cannot wait until dick parsons is with a sprint he has done so many things. the most important guy on the planet. when we think about the economy what is your overall view? some say the u.s. is the greatest place to invest in them a get more data that says america is not doing so hot. dick: i think we are the tallest midget. no one is doing great. i agree with you --

we are slumping along and doing better and better but there are many areas that could be strengthened and nobody would call this robust. we are the tallest midget. erik: if we are living in a world of midgets, what does that mean? are you saying we are in secular stagnation for the next couple of years? or do you agree that the next couple of years will be low growth and interest rates even if they go up are not returning to normal levels anytime soon? dick: i think the latter is correct. it would not surprise me if the fed did not tighten this year. if they do, it will be a 1/4 t urn on that will be it. i think we are in a low growth, low interest rate environment for a while and it's taking the world a good while to recover from the crisis of 2008. erik: a great environment for

dealmaking? dick: yes and for investors. hopefully we'll keep bubbles from being created. stephanie: if you look at the consumer look at gas prices and oil prices, when will we see the consumer start spending? why aren't we seeing more activity? it's still so sluggish. rich people are getting way richer. joe: there is something weird going on with the data. we did not yet the consumer spending surge in the first quarter that everybody predicted because of lower gas prices. if you look at surveys of consumer attitudes whether it is the comfort index or the university of michigan, they are at their highest level in years. not like the consumer when asked how they are doing is feeling bad. i would like to wait a while to see what is going on.

maybe there was odd data in the first quarter. let's wait a while and see how the consumer shakes out. dick: it's also possible consumers learn something. they will just not jump back into the pool with the same enthusiasm. stephanie: have they learned their lesson? dick: i don't know but there is more caution o and joe weisenthal is with us as well. julie: we are seeing stocks little changed out of the gate. you have been talking about some of the elements like the chinese rate cut which you would think would give a bigger host to u.s. stocks but we are not seeing that. the finance ministers continue to hammer out a solution on greece. folks in the u.s. maybe

reassessing valuations or levels for the major averages. the s&p 500 is still trading near a record level, less than 1/10 of 1% away from that level. those are record levels you want to watch through the next several sessions. that is something to keep in mind. on the group level what's dragging us down the most or inhibiting gains as energy as a group down about half of 1%. erik: when we come back, more with dick parsons the former ceo and chairman of time warner. we've got questions about the cable industry and consolidation and perhaps a question about citigroup, another company where he was chairman. stephanie: i think we might talk about jazz and wine as well on a monday.

erik: this is the new "market makers." sports commentator will simmons is leaving espn. the president of espn says it's clear they needed to part ways in his contract will not be this fall. where will he go? will he go to a digital venture? it's a story of the sports business and media, perfect topic for our guest did parsons, former chairman of time warner and the former ceo and chairman of citigroup and he served as the interim ceo of the los angeles clippers. what makes more sense to you? bill simmons is a huge name. should he trade on his notoriety and the massive audience he has built and go and build a digital venture with maybe the backing of a drive it equity firm? dick: you never know.

it has been my experience that the most important name on the business card is not yours. espn will be just fine. bill will figure out what is in his interest rate many guys are making that move now. to the digital world because they see they can create enormous impact and wealth trading on their notoriety and fan base. stephanie: it's a lot harder job. when you look at katie couric and what she has done now that she is in the dental world, that is a hustle. when you are part of yes pnr nbc, that spot is warm for you and you show up. dick: you are right, people think it's easy because they see other people do it. it's a hustle. you have to get lucky. erik: if you are advising bill simmons, what would you advise him to do? dick: i would not presume to answer that because i don't know what he wants to do. i know that espn will be fine

and he will probably be fine. erik: how hard should fox sports chase after him? dick: is a good name and sportscaster so many people will dangle things in front of him. if he tries to do the entrepreneur thing stephanie is right, it's tougher than people think. stephanie: it seems like more and more superstars whether they are bankers or sportscasters or restaurant doors want to -- a restaurant tours -- restaurateurs want to do this. dick: you can't pick up a newspaper of someone who did a startup and then sold it for $2 million. people say they can do that. but this is envy. everything changes except people but it's not so easy. erik: one reason we like to talk about espn is it is at the center of this debate between content and distribution. there is no more valuable property on television than espn. it pays disney $5.50 per

subscriber per month. time warner cable was part of time warner when you were there. you look at the aborted talks with comcast because of the justice department objections and the fcc objections. what makes the most sense for time warner cable? is it to join with malone and charter? is it another path forward? dick: time warner cable has many options. distribution is key. people argue that content is distribution. i once worked for a guy who said -- content is king that distribution is the power behind the throne. without distribution, you have nothing and they've got a terrific distribution platform. i think what they will have to do is figure out what makes the most sense for their shareholders. consolidation has been going on the cable business since there was a cable business. there used to be thousands and

now there are a few and it will continue. ultimately, there is probably room for two big telcos and two big cable companies. i/o is thought it would be time warner but that remains to be seen. stephanie: why should washington be intervening? these company's we talk about coming does not seem like customer service is a priority for them. washington should care about americans and what they have to say. dick: washington cares about politics. stephanie: washington cares about washington. dick: it has not been definitively articulate from the government but i think they felt comcast and time warner were just too big. particularly on broadband. i don't think they were worried about cable but broadband. time warner cable and comcast have like 56% of the homes in this country. that's too big. erik: in retrospect looking at

the success that comcast has had starting in cable, bringing content with the nbc universal acquisition, would it have made more sense for time warner cable to remain? dick: i don't think so. just look at the marketplace to come to that conclusion. we had an issue where we had a big content producing house in one hand a big distribution house on the other, and they attract different shareholder bases. people do not want is making the choice for them as to whether to put this together or not. they either wanted something that was pure on the content side or pure to tradition side so they can make their own choice. i think the separation of time warner cable and time warner was appropriate and the marketplace has reword the shareholders. -- has rewarded the shareholders

for that separation. it makes it easier to manage an uncertain world. erik: there are going to be two telcos, at&t and verizon, and two big cable companies will john malone run one of those companies? dick: john malone was the smartest guy out there when i was in the business. i never found anything that caused me to question that. erik: we will take another break and be back in two minutes.

stephanie: welcome back. here's a look at our top stories. it's the beginning of the and for television franchise -- " american idol" will go after the air after the upcoming season. this will be its 15th year on fox. it was once the biggest thing on tv with more than 30 million viewers but it is now drawing

under 10 million every week. the uaw is considering a plan that would allow automakers to higher thousands of lower paid blue-collar workers. these new workers would handle low skilled jobs that are traditionally done by the automakers suppliers print jobs and not pay much only 10-15 dollars per hour and entry level assemblies workers make $19 print the record drought in california is hitting starbucks for the company will no longer use water from the state for its water brand. it will move production to pennsylvania and look for a new supplier. california has imposed its first ever mandatory water cut up 25%. those are your top headlines. erik: moments ago, we learned citigroup is discussing a currency settlement with the justice department. that's from a quarterly filing. with us is dick parsons, the former chairman of citigroup. you know what the inside of the

banking industry is like. it is different today or perhaps worse than it was when you were chairman of citigroup. it's citigroup, jpmorgan, ubs and rbs and will have to plead guilty presumably to the justice department on wednesday in connection with this investigation into currency rigging. dick: you can't fight city hall. the banks are in no position to resist the regulators on any of these things. you cannot do it because there are too many handles on you. i don't have any insider knowledge with respect to this particular series of transactions. what i will say is the big banks are still in the penalty box coming out of 2008 and they will be there for a while because, in my opinion and i think the regulatory regimes around the world decided they are too big and want to put pressure on them

not to bust them smaller and less risky and as someone told me, the people are still angry at the banks. erik: that's why the banks are anticipating the elections in november of next year. they will be punching bags and become political fodder on presumably the progressive arm of the democratic arty. is there anything these banks can do to prevent this? dick: i think it's inevitable but the banks will survive for it we need the banks. this whole thing comes to a halt without these big intermediaries. they just have to survive and put their heads down and stick to their knitting and try to push as much risk out of the system as they can. it's just going into shadow banking. stephanie: it seems like banks are doing everything they can but they still cannot catch a break and people hate them as

much as ever and employees don't want to be there anymore and regulators have the stamp on them. what can the ceos do? should they get new jobs? dick: when you are going through hell, the only thing you can do is keep going. stephanie: when will it end question markdick: in a couple of years i think. it cannot continue forever and ever. the banks will be in the penalty box for another three years or so. stephanie: you either go through hell or you don't. the global head of fixed income at deutsche bank has just announced moments ago he is leaving the firm after 20 years. is he going to comcast? is he going to the carlyle group? no, he is leaving deutsche bank to " walk the earth." if you are coming from the tech world, you are dam rich.

what does it say about career bankers, people who have spent their lives working inside an organization to say i am hanging it up. what does it say about the industry? dick: it really is top. my job was to get them through the crisis. once we did, not because of me but because of the good people at citibank and everybody -- erik: we need to go to a

\ ' watching. the big deal in the energy industry, noble energy agrees to acquire rosetta resources, $2.1 billion in stock. rosetta is rising while noble is lower and we are watching zulily which is a big after allie babbit increased its stake in the online retailer bringing it to 9.3%. finally actavis which fought allergan for the biggest pharmaceutical deal last year sales are up 59%. stephanie: i want to turn our attention back to dick parsons. he made his name in the business world serving as chairman of time water and citibank but his passion is jazz.

when it comes to maintaining america's sense of musical history, mr. parsons is fighting an uphill battle. digital and streaming technology from spotify to apple have made access easier but perhaps limited the millennial sense of how music was born. the first step in addressing this was to revive minton's jazz club in harlem. duke ellington and louis armstrong played there. what is your next step? you are chairman of the apollo theater and you understand harlem is more than having a moment as new york real estate is getting hot. it's moving north and you cannot murder -- moved further south. what is going on here? dick: there is a revival in harlem right now. jazz is a big part of it. it was the scene of so much creativity in the 20's, 30's, and 40's. at the center of that scene was a club called minton's playhouse.

like sony things in harlem, it burned down in the 70's. it was shattered. -- -- shuttered. it was shattered when we got it so we reopened it and revived and we are trying to lock into that renaissance happening up there in terms of jazz and capture some of the newer artists but connected to the old, their roots. you are right, the young people today do not get the fact that america's only true contribution to global culture has been jazz. stephanie: hold on a second -- one more time? dick: it's a global culture. i'm talking about performing arts culture. erik: what about the blues? dick: rock 'n roll is uniquely an american experience pretty

jazz is global. america and england --stephanie: motown is american. dick: we just speak the same language and jazz is global. it affects global musical tastes around the world. it is our contribution to the sort of global cultural elite those. people have lost sight of how that happened and who that was which is relevant today in my opinion. it's also dam good music. stephanie: do people care? if young people are not interested in jazz and there is less jazz musicians on the scene, how will you lead the charge question markdick: people care about things intrinsically that they are told to care about. we are telling them we are trying to be a part of your life

and you should care about this. this is part of your heritage. this tells you something about who you are and where you came from. stephanie: and people love live events right now. erik: is harlem the next brooklyn? dick: i am from brooklyn. i can accept that. yes. in fact, the people in harlem know it. they have looked at what's happening in brooklyn and they say those guys got the jump on us. they took control of their community and they are investing in their community and they are rebuilding their community. we need to do the same. stephanie: how will you help locals not get priced out? dick: one thing is to give them jobs. the problem in harlem was it was economically hollowed out so nobody who lived there could work there. in our place, 70% of our employees come from the neighborhood. now they've got money. stephanie: i knew i was moving uptown for a reason. thank you so much for being here. the one and only to persons.

♪ >> we are seeing big deal this morning and oil and real estate

and there is word of another in a supermarket industry. the elephant and networks fight for your attention and add dollars that go with it. there were tried to convince companies they are still the best place to reach an audience. the legacy of tom brady, one of the best quarterbacks ever but how much will the clay gate -- how will deflate gate tarnish his erik: we look a little bit different. we think it will help you give us -- help us give you everything you need sharper than before. olivia: all the important stories generate buzz every hour.