erik: a walmart selloff underway. shares are down more than 3% in early trading. that may not be as bad as it sounds. we will be talking about walmart's strategy. olivia: apparently we millennials need our own tick tax. acs. we do not have the patience for just one taste. good morning. i'm olivia sterns. erik: i'm erik schatzker. it was a record-setting day for u.s. stocks yesterday. today, flatlining. the stock market picked up momentum and we saw the records set. they are still hovering near record highs. the big story is in europe.

a big plunge in the euro. that was after an ecb official says the central bank would buy more european debt sooner than expected. the purchases are going to be frontloaded. because the ecb believes that if it were to buy more in the summer into liquid trading it would have disproportionately powerful effect on the euro. olivia: that is not because they are assuming europeans are on vacation. all that news, the fact that the ecb is going to be frontloading, speeding up on purchases is sending european stocks soaring. it euro stocks up 2%. you're a stocks up 16% the start of the year. the dax is up by about 2%. u.k.coming out of the it is weighing on the currency. the british pound trading below one .55.

inflation in england fell below zero for the first time in 50 years. mark carney feeling the pressure to lead rates lower for longer. olivia: erik: let's have a look at what is making news on bloomberg this morning. hogan structure and sword in april -- home construction s oared in april. the biggest increase since 1991. construction fell 17% in february. americans also spent more on their homes the past three months and that first -- boosted depot.s for home first-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates. the company was helped by the continued rise of housing prices and the early arrival of warm weather. olivia: shares of walmart are down by about 3% right now. the world press biggest retailer posted earnings that mr. the top and bottom line. walmart is lacing the blame on

currency fluctuations. less than analysts were looking for. they were looking for growth of about 1.5%. it is the second quarter of positive growth in a row. the question is, is the turnaround working. shares are lower. senator elizabeth warren wants to change the trade bill before congress to me sure banks to knock in ride. warren says fasttrack trade bill could weaken dodd-frank regulations. her proposal stipulates any trade agreement would not be considered under fasttrack -- fasttrack allows the president -- be sure to tune into peter cook's interview with senator elizabeth warren 2:00 p.m. today on bloomberg television. erik: joseph stiglitz says there are worrying signs for the united states. he told bloomberg he's concerned about economic growth. states,pect the united

when they revised the first quarter numbers, will show negative growth. increasing evidence that even the second quarter will be very weak, maybe in negative territory. far below the kind of recovery a lot of people expected. went on to say outside the united states a exit from the eurozone is less likely unless germany changes its approach to negotiations. if greece leaves, there will be serious global consequences. the government in greece is optimistic a deal on locking they allow funds will be reached. european creditors are not sure. yana sparrowhawk us said the two sides are almost there. close.ink we are very until the deal is done, no one knows when the deal will be done. of 24ld it be a matter

hours? >> let's say it is a matter of about a week. creditors want to see an overhaul of the pension system. they say there will not be anymore bailout funds available until those things happen. is seekingchancellor support for a deal but up to a third of her party's lawmakers do not like it. elected to keep greece inside the euro zone she's meeting privately with lawmakers hoping they will see it her way. olivia: controversy over hillary clinton's e-mails will spill over into the election year. the government has proposed releasing 55,000 pages of the democratic presidential candidate's e-mails in january of 2016. that came in response to a request by vice news. private -- clinton used her e-mail account for personal --

could make the summer of 2015 a busy one for travelers. according to aaa, about 37.2 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home, the most in 10 years. the projected increase from last year includes trips by car, air, crews train and bus. the 25th.1 through erik: coming up, big news for homebuilders. building permits at their highest level since before the great recession. russia pass -- rish russia -- russia's richest man. he spoke exclusively about how his country is coping with the worsening relations with the west. olivia: walmart, the world's largest retailer reporting results that fell below estimates.

andow joins macy's, gas ralph lauren who site the u.s. dollar for lackluster sales. home depot had a stronger than expected start, boosted by a rise in home sales. withe joined by k couple .- kate koppel it's she is also the founder of the usa network. i've been arguing that walmart is not that bad even though shares are down by 3%. the reason i say that is because u.s. sales showed growth of 1%. when i look at the disappointing retail numbers that we had last week and the bad consumer sentiment, i think that is better than we could have seen. when you look at the set of results, do you think that walmart's turnaround strategy is working?

kay: i think it's load uptick in the marketplace. -- i think it's load uptick -- it slowed uptick in the marketplace. they are going into smaller sized stores. seemingly more appropriate for certain locations. they are fighting online sales initiative because their online sales are representing 13% of their sales and that is lagging peers in the marketplace which are about 20% so they have a challenge. to meet that challenge they have recently launched a subscription service for $50, half the price of amazon in order to compete. it is too early to tell on that but that may be a beneficial move on their part. erik: do you think it is a good idea? kay: i do. i think people respond. if they have a subscription, like you do it amazon, and you

get certain perks, videos on demand and so forth as part of it, think it makes a big difference in loyalty to that brand. olivia: one statistic that i think might be keeping the one up. -- that might be keeping doug mcmillon up. shoppers --rt walmart online shoppers also shop on amazon. walmart shoppers in store do not go to -- walmart shoppers in stores do not go to walmart.com, the go to amazon.com. what if they can successfully transform the supermarkets into distribution centers? into the film and centers? maybe then walmart could rival amazon -- into fulfillment centers? maybe they can rival amazon. kay: strategies of where their placing the stores, what the proposition was for the consumer , very low prices everyday.

i think the consumer mixes and matches their shopping with a lot of different brands. to date, walmart has not delivered online the way amazon has. amazon shows with their prime -- it is kind of interesting with sam's club because it's sam's club revenues are down. it is surprising to me because sam's club shoppers are shopping and they paypoints a subscription rate to be there. olivia: sam's club numbers were a lot weaker. it also included fuel. walmart is not showing gains from the lower gas prices. i think that is another thing that perplexes them. erik: if you are a diversified retailer like walmart, the argument is you should be able to grow sales at the pace of

growth in gdp. kay: maybe they are with the 1% increase. erik: that would make for a much slower economy than some people think. kay: i think it is worrisome. a little over 25% of walmart's sales are international outside the united states. everybody is heading -- headwinds for significant sales outside the united states because of the strength of the dollar. walmart has different ways to make up those revenues. i think they are only doing a moderate job now. erik: you look at walmart's strategy, the leadership of doug mcmillon, what is it that the company is doing wrong? explain its persistent underperformance. kay: i think it has a lot to do with competition. it has to do with decisions made by management. how they're going to sell their product. market is moving so quickly in

all sectors that the consumers are showing up. people are going to restaurants, buying electronics. they have electronics at walmart. olivia: they cited electronics as being a soft spot. for that ably report slowdown. -- they blame the port slowdown. kay: high cost of getting the goods to go around the ports. walmart is a big user of that and the trucking companies that serve them also. olivia: what are people spending money on? patrick mckeague or says it is home, tech and cars. good news for home depot. kay: great news. home sales are up dramatically. it shows real signs of continuing growth and that is a benefit of home depot and companies like that that are prevalent in those markets. home depot had great results,

both for new home sales and renovations. springtime was pretty regular. i cannot say that for the northeast. planting and that sort of thing goes with home sales. olivia: is there runs -- is there one retailer that you think is ahead of the curve? kay: i think tj maxx is going up fantastic job. up in all sectors. in the united states. international sales, apparel and home sales are up. they were up in every category. i think they are hitting the consumer with a well priced, quality product. olivia: thank you so much. ay, founder of the u.s. network. erik: u.s. construction bounceback. the state of housing. ♪

olivia: welcome back. a look at our top stories. the richest man in russia says now is the right time for investors to come back to his country. vladimir putin tells bloomberg although sanctions put on russia by the u.s. and europe are starting to lose their impact. reserves to earns try to stop currency relapse -- currency collapse. miner.posts biggest most of his wealth comes from nickel which is not subject to sanctions.

regulators in south africa say they are investigating price-fixing. 11 organizations under investigation by the country's competition commission. panel says it is checking citigroup and j.p. morgan chase. those banks will plead guilty in britain for manipulating currency markets. the euro tumbling the most in two months against the u.s. dollar. markets surging this morning following comments from an official saying the central bank intends to speed up its bond buying program. executive board member says the ecb willing priests -- will increase in may and june. the euro is being weighed down by speculation that greece's banking system is headed for insolvency. those were your top stories. erik: no one is talking about the weather this time. construction in april hit a

a 17ent -- hit a high and drop -- from a 17% drop in february. josh wright is here to talk about it some more how much weight do we give this housing number? josh: this is a strong number. the percentage change was eye-popping, 20.2%. the biggest since 1991. the way to look at this is a converging toward trend. housing permits, it is easier to file for those. they are up just 10%. that is a healthy number. this is converging not only with permits but homebuilder sentiment. sentiment in the first quarter made resilient verses in the first quarter of 2014, it dropped off. that ended up being an indicator of how weak housing would be in 2014. i think this supports the case for a strong year in 2015 for

housing. olivia: it is incredible that we had such a good number because all of the recent data points have come in soft. industrial production, retail sales, gdp. you think housing is strong enough to compensate for the strength of the dollar and the slack of business investment? josh: it is important to recognize that this is a tailwind that has probably got strong lifeline -- lifespans to it. this is a long-term trend in the u.s., a rebalancing of the u.s. economy because we over invested in housing before. now that we are seeing that turnaround, that means that as long as they long end of the curve does not spike upwards, we should get a continued tailwind from housing for some years to come. it is not going be gangbusters but it should be more of a steady breeze. erik: how close of a correlation

is there between permits and starts? josh: very close. erik: a 10% increase in permits how manyhousing starts months down the road? josh: two to three months out. further increases in housing starts. olivia: what about the correlation with new-home sales? they do not seem to be doing anywhere near as well as buildings. josh: we would have said the same thing about housing starts yesterday. the question was, where were the starts? and here they are. they are strong. this raises expectations for us to see strong results next week when new-home sales numbers come out. we have to wait and see what happens. erik: the percentage -- housing ownership has dropped. the lowest in decades. at the same time we have seen more americans go into rental units. this is one million new homes a

year. of america need one million new homes -- does america need one million new homes? more.i think we do need olivia: inflating prices. we need more inventory in chelsea. erik: not going to happen. josh: the other thing is we have pent up household formations from younger people who have not formed houses yet. in the shorter term, we are seeing some people enter and we have seen signs of household formations picking up. erik: thank you very much. bloomberg economist, josh wright. olivia: midtown manhattan's latest condo tower. we will take you inside 53 west 53rd street. the cheapest place will call you a cool $3 million. ♪

olivia: the newest condo in mid- -- midtown manhattan is ready to open its doors. the skyscraper is opening right next to the museum of modern art nearly 10 years after planning on the building began. we spoke to the men who built this property. 53 west 53rd is a unique new residential building. the amount of renovation that makes it modern. location, right next to the museum of modern art, makes it one of the best locations in the midtown area. an extension of the mind.

outside.ture is >> we put all the structure of the frame into a small, unexpected. beams and class. -- beams and glass. the challenge was to design apartments within this structure would respect the beauty and scale of this structure. there is almost no two similar apartments in the building because on every floor the shape and layouts are different. do a kind ofo dialogue with the buildings around. ,ou frame with different shapes the city and neighboring buildings. my first skyscraper, very

important. olivia: what do you think? more peoplek the build these ultra tall skyscrapers in manhattan, the harder time they're going to have filling them. you have to believe there are only so many buyers around for trophy apartments. olivia: it is true. the buyer of these super expensive splinter buildings overwhelmingly do not tend to be new yorkers. they tend to be international buyers. half a dozen in development in that area. erik: i bid you farewell until tomorrow. olivia: much more, don't go away. ♪

olivia: welcome back to the bloombergs market day. investigators say a bullet did not hit the windshield of that amtrak train before it he railed in philadelphia.

fbi agents performed forensic work on a crack in the windshield. they have not ruled up the possibility that something else to train. four passengers hurt in the suit. have filed a a judge in boston is expected to schedule a hearing today. a jury last week voted in favor of executing the marathon bomber. his appeals process could last at least a decade. a driver needed surgery after his car crashed. doctors say james h cliff will be ok. the fourth frightening crash in just a week. speed rules.et the -- tweaked the speed rules. u.s. stocks are a mixed picture after housing numbers came in

better than expected. perhaps that has investors thinking a rate hike could be coming sooner than later. disappointing data had many convinced janet yellen would push back until the winter. let's show you what is happening in the currency market. the dollar and the euro moving in opposite directions after an ecb officials said the central bank would frontload and buy more european debt sooner than expected, probably because they think all the sovereign debt traders will be on holiday in july and august. lots more to come. the richest man in russia and one of the few oligarchs not facing western sanctions. why he thinks the worst is over for the russian economy. a huge surprise in housing starts last month, one of the few good leases of economic data. i will be joined by mark keeseville. we will tell you about the sma

ll college in iowa. pimm fox will bring you that interview at 11:30. we have been talking about it all morning, european bonds are getting a lift after an official says the central bank is increasing produces in may and june. the comments from executive order member -- from the executive board member follow a selloff that wiped off with a $400 from global bond market. here with me to discuss, the head of u.s. rate strategy at bank of america. thank you for joining us this morning. why do you think the global bond selloff has abated this week? >> i think we are back to fundamentals. if you look at fundamentals of u.s. growth it is too early to say the weakness in the first order -- you have had week data so far, notwithstanding today's data.

fundamentals do not support high rates. i would argue that what we have seen is what we should have seen, some sort of repricing. a huge boost from oil prices as well as currency. it is still early to say is the european growth sustainable. i think people have started to rethink the ecb and think the ecb is going to start tapering. i think what we heard today from the official was, they might frontload the buying. i think the ecb is sensitive to the fact that the euro is going to strengthen is going to hurt growth ultimately which is why they want to squash this expectation of tapering. i think the market is being driven by low liquidity, technicals. ultimately i think if you look at fundamentals, some repricing was warranted. i think we went a little too far .

why do you want to buy u.s. treasuries at this level? priya: i think we have had a lot of pressure from a ton of corporations. corporate issuance, we are running higher in the last two years. -- a lot ofen supply to put pressure on treasuries as well. we will be heading into memorial day, less insurance that less issuance. when we focus on fundamentals, and think it is about the data. we are surprised by the consumers not spending as much as they should. the consumer has a good job market and low oil prices and yet retail sales have been week. i think we will reassess and say, maybe this is a 2.5 percent gdp quarter, which is better than the -1% we are tracking for

the first quarter. it still keeps september on the table. we didn't just have really strong housing numbers that have some thinking the rate hike might come sooner. you have a year and forecast for a yield of 2.3%. analysts at goldman sachs are looking for a higher yield. for both treasuries in german bones coming yields are going to , yields are bunds going to go higher read when you disagree -- go higher. why the you disagree? the work we have done suggests the strong double bond correlation. our european team does not see much higher rates. it is hard for u.s. rates, particularly in the long and, to

decouple from the global dynamic. we are still seeing bond inflows at the expense of equities. that is going to keep downward pressure on u.s. rates even as the fed starts hiking. olivia: i guess it is because rates are so low. a final question on guilt. this morning we had inflation data showing that inflation act with fell below zero in the u.k. for the first time in 50 years. everybody thought the british economy was going to be the first central bank to tighten. it does not look like that now. priya: we are expecting them to hike. we have a higher rate. i think the point you highlighted is a risk to every central bank because inflation is a global phenomenon. rebound int find a

u.k. inflation or european inflation or x -- or inflation expectations, there is a risk all these hikes will be pushed back. i think it has global reproductions -- global repercussions. olivia: thank you so much. ahead, tic tacs are the latest products trying to appeal to millennials. we will explain, next. ♪

olivia: welcome back. time to get you caught up on all the action happening around the world. caroline hyde joins us from london. caroline: while you guys in the u.s. are focused on potential rate hikes, in europe it is all about the stimulus. we are seeing borrowing costs fall in. you have germany coming down. still long way off of those lows they hit back in april. money pouring back into spain. -- he was here in london giving a speech. the ecb may start sucking a bonds faster than expected. low.head of that summer that has people reengaged in the bond market.

it has moved to the euro. currently have the euro moving the first and two months. down 1% against the dollar. the dollar is rallying on potential thoughts of when that rate hike will be. grace, also -- greece also adding to concerns. still no deal when it comes to the greek debt debacle that continues. we are seeing money flowing into greek stocks. currently up 2.5%. you're seeing big moves up 30% in terms of attica bank. there does seem to behold that the assets in greece will be interesting but do keep an eye on some of the car companies. interesting moves we're seeing in the consumer index. strong car numbers. automobiles overall are currently up some 3.36%. not one single auto is falling in europe.

if you take a look at what is going on in the u.s., we are struggling to make new record highs on the s&p and the dow specifically. any game today would be a closing record for the s&p and the dow. in the s&p we are getting close to an intraday record. 2131 .78. very little change. you have to look at what is going on with oil prices. oil is down for a fifth straight day and trading at its lowest since the end of april. goldman sachs has said there will be a coming surplus that will send prices back to $45 a .arrel by october that s&p energy indexes at a one-month low. some of these large cap energy stocks, having a bad day. exxon mobil at its lowest since april 13 and chabrol -- and

chevron its lowest since april 7. one of the other things that has been hitting oil prices today has been the gain in the dollar. caroline is watching it from the europe perspective. if you look at the dx why, we're seeing a gain. that is bad news for oil prices. had housing data in the u.s. that came out much better than had been anticipated. that is helping give a boost to the dollar. asia.: what happened in stock ended the day in the green. the shanghai composite rising 3% , led by brokerages and energy companies. gain the biggest one-day since january.

dispute over the expansion of a key underground copper and gold $5.4 billion.r man filed this report from hong kong. report.man filed this deal is thee ou largest in the country. the third-largest copper mine in the world. will account for one third of mongolia's economy. not to mention open the door for more than $4 billion in new investments. the stalled talks have caused foreign investment to plummet by 90%. turquoise hill resources owns two thirds of the project. shares have been up 40% for the year. olivia: islamic state has reported the rounding up and killing of enemies in ramadi. residents say victims' bodies

are being thrown into the euphrates river. 25,000 people are now fled the city. at least 58 people are dead after a mudslide in western columbia. officials say they do not know how many more are missing. .eavy rain caused an avalanche it struck a small mountain town yesterday while people were sleeping. the corruption tribal -- the corruption trial. not guilty to she pleaded not guilty today. -- she pleaded not guilty today. a conviction could mean 10 years in prison. the bird flu could cost the u.s. $1 billion. officials say it is affecting 15 states. chicken and turkey farms in iowa and minnesota are the hardest hit. those two states have lost nearly 30 million birds. millennials' attention spans are even shorter than you

expected. a new kind of tic tac will hit the shelves. a meant that changes flavor as it dissolves. the head of marketing says they are designed for young people hate being bored with one flavor. for more, i want to bring in pimm fox who has these fancy new tic tac's. lemonade flavor combined. i brought a couple boxes. this is made by an italian company. they are based in italy but they are worldwide. not only do they make tic tac's, t nutella.he they are going after a new market. this millennial market, those born between 1980 su and maybe 2004. 1982 and maybe 2004.

olivia: i read something in the press release about tic tac targeting emotional rescue. what does that mean? pimm: they are trying to hit your bliss point. a technical term in the food industry that is designed to activate the desire for more sugar. when you look at the nutritional value that is on the label, it says there is no sugar in them. that is merely because the u.s. government says if you have less than half a gram of sugar in a particular serving, you can say there is no sugar in it. each serving is described as a tic tac which is less than half a gram, hence they do not mention. olivia: i would have us earned it is that i would've assumed it is fake sugar. 3.5: whole box is about teaspoons of sugar. you could just have chocolate instead.

olivia: i would much prefer chocolate. i think i am onto the lemonade now. pimm: very successful company. the patriot -- the patriarch died in february. after the second world war, chocolate was so scarce in italy they mixed it with hazelnut and over to make it go further. they are quite smart. what does it taste like? olivia: i think i am done but i do not think my breath smells any better. pimm: they just want you to buy them. olivia: looking forward to having you join me in about 10 minutes. still ahead, the fight over trade rages on as senator elizabeth warren challenges president obama's trade agenda. we will discuss that with peter cook, next.

olivia: welcome back to the bloomberg market day. russia's richest man says the worst is over for the russian economy. vladimir potanin. says the political situation has stabilized in russia and investors are not worried about additional sanctions coming from western europe. he also says russia wants to be part of international community, just not at any price. >> some people are making a huge russia, trying to push america.eader from it is a big mistake. we want to be part of europe. we want to be part of the civilized world. we have our own mentality, interest etc.. it is a big mistake to push us because we are friends.

we're friends, not pupils. he also spoke about what it is like to be rush upon richest man -- to be russia's richest man. good to not very demonstrate that you are rich. i am always trying not to demonstrate this. i'm trying to be as simple as possible, to help people, to make more philanthropy. to pay good salaries for my workers. when people start to discuss that i am the richest one, i sport.aybe it is not in in sport, i am happy when i'm winning something. one,is game, the richest maybe -- for a russian it is a

sad story. olivia: the bloomberg billionaires index takes his fortune, making him the 54th richest person in the world. senator elizabeth warren is taking her fight to the floor of the senate this week. she's trying to block a bill giving the president fast-track trade authority. the senator will talk about doing battle with her on president later today with our chief washington correspondent peter cook. peter joins me for a preview of that interview. tpator warren is saying the is going to undermine part of dodd-frank. and you explain what that is that she is alleging and how likely it is she could derail the deal? peter: this is going to be an uphill fight for senator warren. they believe there is an opportunity not only in the senate but in the house of representatives to force this

deal back to the drawing board. what she is talking about on dodd-frank -- this is been an area of contention with the white house between the president's team and the senator . she believes tpa, the transpacific partnership and the european deal to come, what allow for changes to dodd-frank based on international agreements. the white house insists that is not possible under these deals and that is where the debate is on that issue. she is saying she is trying to make an amendment to the fast-track bill saying there is no way to roll back regulatory rules under any trade deal approved under trask -- under fast-track authority. olivia: what does this infighting do within the democratic party? senator warren taking on the president. does it do lasting damage? peter: it is clear there has been some short-term damage. there have been frayed nerves

between democrats and their president. even questions about whether the president's criticism of a lisbon warren -- criticism of elizabeth warren has gotten to personal in this. hillary clinton has not taken a stand yet on the transpacific partnership. clinton, you can see how this is tearing the party apart. olivia: a lot of people talking about the tpp. talking about nafta. how does opposition to the new transpacific trade partnership compared to the opposition that squared up behind nafta? peter: it looks very similar. much of it is being led by organized labor. they are using many of the same arguments to try and undermine this deal. it looks very similar. that one barely passed the congress. this one, likely to squeak by as well.

there are tough arguments being made both ways. the fact that this president is taking on a elizabeth warren and vice versa, makes for an unusual situation on capitol hill, one that could have lasting damage. olivia: thank you so much. looking forward to your interview. peter cook, our chief correspondent -- our chief washington correspondent. not miss his interview with elizabeth warren at 2:30 p.m. eastern. you can watch it on bloomberg.com. lots more to come, including el.k kies he is here to tell us why he is still reeling oldish -- still feeling bullish. ♪

>> welcome to the bloomberg

market day. housing rebound. building permit. it could signal a vigorous selling season. question economist says europe -- a greekared default would have serious ramifications we will hear an exclusive interview. : we will look at the world's top college endowment and you will never guess which one lead the pack in 2014. ♪ olivia: good morning. at where theook stocks are trading at the s&p 500 is down. the dow jones averages higher by 5.5 points.