am joe weisenthal. alix: u.s. stocks rose today. markets seem to be letting out a sigh of relief. is "what'd youon miss?". alix: the greeks maxed out their credit cards while they still can. speak to the ceo of a giant american ethanol producer. what has the plummet in oil prices down to his business. alix: we have to begin with stocks. s&p has close below is moving average of the first time since october. we did have a rally. we didn't run out.

closing below this level is significant. we did see a 1% rally. it could not hold onto it. joe: it felt like an update, then a down day. we did see an impressive move and europe's huge gains across the indices. france and germany up over 2%. italy over 3%. alix: how many days since our last correction? 74 days since i last correction. i want to see how long that will last. take a look here at the s&p 500 compared to a 200 day moving average. we are just below it. if you can take a look inside the terminal for me. why iss this so crazy --

this so crazy? we should be down today. we are not. that freak out traders. it its 200ose to day. freaked out traders. apple is rolling over, breaking down, and in s&p down. that could be a difficult day. we did see the rollover. we are breaking some critical levels for heavy volume, big leader stocks like apple. joe: i also want to look at the moving average for initial jobless claims. we got a week number today. weak number today. we are seeing a rise. we are off the recent lows. anythinghink this is

to be a learned about. you should pay attention to this number creeping up. alix: you did a good circle. good job. the imf learning is mobile global growth forecast is weak. i want to bring in at. -- ed. let's talk about the imf call. i wanted to see how accurate it is in predicting u.s. growth over the last three years. they underestimate the growth. imf forecast coming in below. are we better than we think? year overlook at the year percent change, since 2010 it has been growing 2.5%. if you take out government , relative gdp has been

increasing by 3%. i look at the comparison and think that's not such a bad thing if the private sector is growing around 3%. that is what has been going on. nonfarm businesses another way of measuring gdp and productivity, same thing, 3%. joe: you pay attention to these forecasts? >> i don't know if they're exciting, but i think they are -- do represent a consensus. you need some sort of benchmark when you forecast. what is the consensus? bloomberg puts together consensus estimates and we are surprised if it is above or below. to come outot going with anything wild. alix: go ahead.

something we talked about a lot here has been china. chinese stocks -- i want to pull up a chart. yes, there is not a lot of correlation. if you look at where it starts over,k, the spread rolls which means there's concern about global growth. dubai the correlation and thesis? buy that correlation and thesis? i think too much government spending and meddling by central brinks -- banks is why we are in secular stagnation. china has had more excesses than anybody else in terms of quantitative easing, pumping into much liquidity, a massive amount of excess capacity.

i haven't seen the historical comparisons. it looks like they created one of the biggest bubbles of all time. joe: it's too late to fix anything, but what should the government have done to get the economy going if not for spending. ? the first round of q e-mail sense. -- the first round of quantitative easing made sense. i think the fed should have been raising interest rates all along. alix: raise every meeting now? >> they've always got them to the point where they can't do it. again, i try to avoid making policy recommendations. i try to figure out what the policymakers are doing and where they are going next. masters ofkers are the universe.

they think they can control and fix all of our problems. i think the big problem is investors are losing confidence, as we can see in china, then japan, and maybe the united states and eurozone. joe: speaking of investors, inc. america -- bank of america has his dashboard with indicators, and you can see we are getting to bearish levels. chinas that all about, europe? >> this is been a tough market for technicians. they have gone up. i hate to use this expression, but it is pretty descriptive. these markets have been rigged by the central banks. we can see that clearly by what is going on in china right now.

anybody betting against these markets has been betting against the central banks. joe: and you would say that they've rigged the u.s. market as well? >> the bond markets have not been totally free. alix: they're dealing with the regulation? >> the central banks have intervened big time in the markets through their and interesteasing rate policies. joe: is there ever a time when markets are not a function of politics? >> you're right. we used to target the fed funds rate. we didn't do quantitative easing. kind of directis intervention, having central banks be this huge and buying securities. bubble, theeen this

rig game, and it is ending badly. you say that will happen in the united states? is our market doomed? how welletty impressed we are doing despite all the meddling, regulation, ontario policies -- monetary policies. a lot of entrepreneurs, capitalism, so were going down the same road as the chinese, europeans, and japanese. we have a long way to go. alix: what keeps you up at night? >> i could be wrong about inflation. the reason central banks have an able to get away with this manipulation of the market, buying securities, is because inflation has been near zero. if it comes back, then it will be blown. that could make the economy vulnerable to recession.

joe: thank you very much. alix: coming up, things may be tough and greece, but some greeks are choosing to max out their credit cards at the apple store. we will tell you why after the break. ♪

"what'd you miss?" i am alix steel. you are looking at a live shot of nikki haley. the flag will come down tomorrow morning. agreedth carolina house to remove the flag after 13 hours of debate. bush has raised more

cash than any other republican contender, $114 million. his closestton is rival with 70 million. 11 million in the first 16 days. alix: facebook says it's not jumping on the music streaming bandwagon. there were reports they were in the early stages of just that. they were ready to take on apple and other services. those are your top headlines. are at thees level they have not seen since 2008. look at this. it's used to make stainless steel things, battery systems, power tools. historically high london metal exchange inventories, but this is one commodity that could have

upside. 60% of nickel producers are currently underwater. there must be at some point a supply reaction. also, china really loves this metal. joe: what are some of the things they make with nickel? emergency power supplies, battery systems, and the market is expected to grow 3.5% this year. they are still buying. 20% of side for nickel prices. some weakness because of summer and maintenance. nickel is a really good bullish china indicator. bearish ones,the this is bullish. joe: many more banks now have grexit as their base case. , but now morekely and more banks are using the odds as being more than 50%.

othersstanley, citi, are 50%. this is like bad karma pointing out things. it's kind of awkward. back in 2012, they were the first to say grexit is happening. as we know, that didn't happen. earlier this year, they said it's not going to happen, felt confident the vote would be yes. , andhey have come back once again citibank has said it is our scenario. could be a quick exit, 1-3 months, 1-3 years, that could happen, so it's still not like tomorrow. joe: they said even if they get a deal this weekend, the long-term prognosis for greece to stay in the deal.

make a really strong point. it's hard to imagine the current government can stick to the program they would need. they see ongoing problems. they did no favors for its credibility. alix: speaking of+++ seeing a rush into people buying things like dishwashers, televisions, macbooks. they want to put their money

somewhere where it's going to have value. the new york times did an interesting article where a guy wanted to buy $1 million worth of jewelry. the jewelry said no because he wanted to keep it. joe: people since the bottom is about to drop out. this happened in russia. they wanted to spend their money on things that would hold value, cars, jewelry, computers, iphones. spending is limited in greece right now, but as long as they can spend and stores with inventory, they will. alix: demand from greece customers for sovereign gold coins is doubled. -- has doubled. there is a demand by the great people. joe: there are people talking about bitcoin. alix: that is a whole other story. oil prices are down. ofwill asking the ceo the fourth largest ethanol producer how that is affecting his business. ♪

alix: "what'd you miss?" i'm alix steel. .oe: i'm joe weisenthal we are joined now by the president and ceo todd becker. good to see you. what does it mean for you when you see oil prices down 50%. you make ethanol that goes into the gasoline. what does that do for your margins? that cornd thing is is down as well. that makes it competitive. we are competing well. .e compete for our share, w we see expanded lens. we are doing well. although prices have dropped,

other factors have driven demand. corn, wen it comes to have seen it rally. we've seen concerns that there's going to be a tightening of supply and prices go higher. what is your perfect oil and corn price? dropped, cornices prices did not. ,orn realized it had to compete and it has done that. we have seen a recent rally because of weather, but the black swan event was not the weather, it was to back to back bad crop years. yield is not dropping much. futures have rallied. they are expecting the crop will come in worse than expected. that will help keep ethanol prices low. joe: i'm curious about the politics of ethanol.

obviously, ethanol depends on government targets. do you worry about the politics? >> not really. you have to get through iowa. the mandate is there. economics are driving behavior. we have 10% of the fuel supply because of the mandate. blends --ded joe: the mandate is crucial to your business? we are not focused on the next 20 years or if the mandate will be there. you have to compete. ethanol has remained a discount gasoline. $.45 discount to gasoline. when we had most certainty on epa policy prior to that announcement, we were blending ethanol to the max. the blenders did not know what

the rules were, but they did it to the max. alix: we have seen ethanol stocks climb over the past year. they are above the average. yes, you can produce as much as you want. eventually, you are stocks that wind up not being used. >> we are below 20 million barrels, extremely tight. we are tighter than we usually are. drop downanol stocks to 16 million barrels, the tightest we have seen. under 20 million barrels is tight. that is driven by export demand, great global demand growth. they don't care about u.s. policy or what big oil wants. they want more ethanol, expands her feel supply -- expands our fuel supply. joe: what other countries where you're seeing the fastest

growth? also need ay renewable fuel standard and order for them to want to import the ethanol. >> they want our product because it is cheap. while the united states is uncertain about their policy, 30 mandates popped up around the world. even in the philippines, we are seeing retailers tell us to bring 20%. they say they don't care about the oil guys. product, cheap octane, extend our fuel supply. it has changed the dynamic of the world today so that when there is an excess of ethanol, the world steps in and takes it, which wasn't the case 3-4 years ago. that is driving the behavior of the consumer. alix: thanks. i really appreciate it. joe: we will be right back. >> thanks.

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alix: "what'd you miss?" i am alix steel. china is selling off their cotton reserves. they said the government will sell tomorrow, one million tons over time cotton was down again today. the government is charging more. -- one million tons over time. cotton was down again today. the government is charging more. the government is struggling.

india might not plant as much cotton because of china. joe: is this like our strategic oil reserves? alix: i don't know. joe: that would be cool. janet yellen is speaking tomorrow about the economy, china, greece, when the fed will high grace. everybody will be watching the janet yellen speech tomorrow. a great economist had a line, the u.s. economy is an island of mediocre tranquility. that is so beautiful. we will see if that is how janet yellen season two. -- sees it too. alix: a bloomberg reporter saw a transaction on his these a card n greek out in droppe

currency. biggest slip. good to have you back. joe: i'm exhausted. alix: thank you for

emily: google fights back. we debate the future of the economy. ♪ emily: i am emily chang. this is "bloomberg west". two of the most influential venture capitalists say silicon valley is taking on too much risks. developed thes tiniest and most powerful computer chip in the world. is it a game