meeting on capitol hill of president obama and other congressional democrats. >> we have a great deal of optimism that the good things that happened with aca are going to stay and our republican colleagues do not know quite what to do. they are like the dog that caught the bus. they can repeal but have nothing to put in its place. it means something good things go away. >> he says rebel content no idea how to replace the legislation and their strategy will throw the income -- the entire health care system into chaos. president-elect donald trump has tapped a top deals lawyer to run a securities and exchange commission. a partner at sullivan and cromwell is the latest trump pick with deep ties to wall street, having rep is in a goldman sachs embarq these, much of his work has involved mergers and acquisitions. rush in the philippines are in discussions about increasing military operation after repeated threats by a president

by -- to scale back the troop presence in his region. docked onn navy ships a goodwill visit here in moscow says it is ready to provide seven rains and artillery. german police are searching two locations in berlin link to the suspect in last month's track attack at a -- killed 12 people. men believed to have been acquainted with -- once lived. police believed one man may have known about the attack. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in one 120 countries. i'm courtney collins. this is bloomberg. ♪ scarlet: live from bloomberg

world headquarters in new york, i am scarlet fu. joe: i am joe weisenthal. 30 minutes on the close of trading in the u.s. investors remain cautiously optimistic at the start of 2017. joe: the question is what did you miss? scarlet: officials were grappling with uncertainty when it comes to the incoming administration. the offshore chinese yen searching the most in the year. authorities arts link agency plans. we will look at what measures they may have to take to keep the and from plunging in value. obama meets with congressional democrats to discuss ways to push back efforts to repeal his affordable care act. we will speak with the maryland senator on the agenda. joe: let's look at where the major averages stand. abigail doolittle is standing

by. abigail: we're looking at gains for major averages. it is the second day of gains. the nasdaq, dow, all trading higher. nasdaq is on pace for its best november rally since 2008. interesting to see whether or not this week reverses last week off is the line. basic suggesting we could be looking at a weekly increase or gain for the major averages this week. some strength here for u.s. stocks in the first week of january. one factor is doing especially well, the airline sector up 2% today. airlines ast of big well. behind this is the fact that delta guided better than expected by measure of revenue in the airline industry. suggestsork, this yields were down 3%, suggesting

intern that earnings will decline on a year-over-year basis. perhaps investors are looking at the possibility fares will increase, but it may be an interesting nugget to keep an eye on my head of the stock today. as for another sector doing nicely today, we are looking at health care. the big strength for the nasdaq along with other averages, we see the s&p 500 health care indexes up about .10% -- .8%. on pace for its best rally since the election. this is after republicans areerday indicated they taking steps to repeal obamacare. what seems to have the stocks going higher is the idea it may turn out to be a partial repeal. this can be especially promising and positive for hospital stocks. these companies have derived the most revenue from obamacare. a partial repeal means they will not be hit as hard. perhaps trading higher on the

idea that the medicare expansion will not be heard as badly as it was before. we look at 512, this is a multiyear chart, trading in a rage on strength here. he has in fact gone above the moving average. this could tell us the buyers are really getting more interested and my also just shares could just trade toward the top of that, $70 per share. to benefitcompany private medicaid. >> it may not be worth reading too much into the minutes. at this point in time, policymakers have temporarily elevated uncertainty. head of race for tv securities,

economist at bloomberg news mentioned there are 12 mentions of the word uncertainty in the fomc minutes. two shy of what we saw in july them easily following the brexit vote. fed officials themselves are struggling to read a situation for what it is. does the fomc statement read to u.s. hawkish and bullish? >> there is a lot of uncertainty in that is absolutely true. wass also indicated to us the estimate was actually lower. now there is no question, everybody expects to undershoot.

it is lined in the minutes, which saves many, and they therefore -- that is been somewhat hawkish. hawkishificantly more but by reinforcing, if the labor -- he continues to run secondly told us if fiscal easing,hows signs of there was a lot of talk that policy does not change. the fed was saying risk of inflation -- we must act. that is also in my mind. joe: is this a new mindset for the fed? after years of worrying about inflationary undershirts, a constellation of risks out there, truly shifted.

>> i think the shift has happened. we have gone from them consequently teleost to saying, the flag is low, the downside risk are lower. barink the threshold or from the data standpoint is a little bit lower than in the past. >> what will you be looking for in the jobs report? >> we are expecting .3 on the average hourly earnings. average hourly earnings will it is indeed tightening and the fed has to be understand -- aware of the fact that of debt year-over-year, it is the level at which they might want

to think -- rethink the base. joe: yesterday on the show, we alked to cameron who had really interesting way of characterizing the market on a macro market. to what he had to say. >> classic macro investing is hunting for -- you are trying to .ake 10 or 15 or 20% what starts going away, you give it a push, a kick. you slipfive years, the money off the table and move it onto the next read. impression get the traders feel this is a real move and not one of these head fakes we have seen for years? are they ready to push? >> we are. it is easy for me to say, another 25 basis points higher in rates. to 275.loser

we will actually need to see a policy is from the trump administration. willed to see the fed great hire. probably little more, but we have a big move. is now i think yes, it hiring. scarlet: the key is what happens with the dollar. it has been strengthening. people expected to continue to hold on to gains. lucky you see as a driver behind the dollar strength? >> a big difference between dollar strength and the euro. to some extent, it is a more sustainable rise in the dollar. race.t the

why the equity-- market shrugs it off. it puts downward pressure. let's say what was so last year, the fed will hike and real rates will hike, that starts hurting growth. not seeing what we saw in the past. as a little more sustainable. >> you mentioned a strong pmi data we got this year. you talk about the gap and how it opens up. it feels like that is a common theme. a lot of excitement in a

petitions for policy, a lot of people saying they feel optimistic. we want to wait until it actually delivers your how concerned are you about the gap of various surveys and measured expectations? >> animals this have taken over. these are the plans. i think the market will be very comforted by plant. a lot will depend on the details. that is where it will come in. i were talking about significant tax reform? , ireland of the bush tax cuts, which took six months. a comprehensive tax reform, it is stillasing, lagging.

you're getting signs of significant easing, inc. the market comforted by details of policy. thank you very much. friday, do not miss mike mckee's with the interview voting member of the federal reserve, join from the american economic association of annual meeting of chicago. up, is into the crystal ball. we are told what the big surprises are ahead in 2017. we will get thoughts on trump, china, angela merkel, and more here this is bloomberg. ♪

joe: 432 years, vice-chairman of

investment at blackstone gave a list of surprises in the coming year. one of his top surprises for the year was that president-elect donald trump might not be as radical as he seems. >> he is talking about tearing up the affordable care act right away. he will find up quickly it is not easy to do. >> you are saying he will be this way not through any of the the fault of his own. >> there will be some things where the whole procedural mechanism of congress will force him to pull back on. it will be a combination of both but the result will be a more presidency than most writers think. it means he will cut taxes,

dismantle regulation, spend some money on infrastructure, and gdp be closed 3% rather than two. s&p earnings will be close to 130 rather than 120-125. and the market will go off. so maybe her surprises are i've poppers. you say president-elect trump will realize he has been run by channel, which will lead to a more cooperative relationship with the world posse second-biggest economy. what will prompt the change of assessment of china? anyone is going to gain from a trade war? you listen to track passes regular -- rhetoric, he will slap a 45% tax on all chinese goods coming in, it would create havoc in the united states. citizens of the

country tourney against tim. he does not want that. he wants to be the most popular president who ever lived. he will be very careful slapping on tariffs and other things. that is why think he will proceed carefully. i think in the case of china, they are slowing down. one surprises -- one of my surprises last year, it is almost there. in 2017, i think it will go to eight. maintain ahelp china reasonable pace of growth. mark: the german chancellor, he said one of your surprises would be merkel losing the election.

if and whenasting that happens due to populist movement, we see a slow unraveling of the euro and the eu. that call is massive. >> this is happening around the world. there have been two populist events. brexit, definitely a populist event. i do not see why that would happen. i do not want to happen. he has to recognize a certain amount of popular momentum is spreading through europe, see it in france, and you will definitely seeing in europe. it is immigration related. vonnie: who will get elected?

>> i do not have as much conviction. think he will do much better than people think. all of this plays out to the markets in various ways. banks which are already in trouble. >> yes. designate, 2009, cannot allow the bank to meltdown and we cannot allow our thanks to meltdown. they will survive but the holding on by fingernails. there is money to be made if your calls on dollar-yen, on euro-dollar, are to be believed. >> right. i hope they will be believed. i think the dollar will continue

to be strong in the u.s. will be the best of the major market. i japan will do well as well. japan is starting out the year relatively strong. i think most people are not expecting that. scarlet: within 2017? in -- this illustrating at 21 today. trump be that for latin american economies and mexico in particular? >> no. my belief is the united states benefits from nafta. individual deal with companies. joe: that was the blackstone vice-chairman. scarlet: time for a look at some of the biggest is the stories right now. hulu'live tv service launches this year. the deal includes rod at -- broadcast of all major sporting events like nfl games and the

basketball championship. join at&t but has signed on for two unreleased bundles from hulu and youtube. seeking as much as $5.5 billion to complete a potential do for yahoo! and people familiar with the matter who also say the one being arranged by bank of america and merrill lynch. european union approval for the yahoo! deal. that is your business flash update. --, up next, although automakers pushed by 16 toward a record seven straight annual sales gain. look at a roundup of last month's numbers. this is bloomberg. ♪

scarlet: it emerges between

latin american current event of uti crude oil. analysis,f technical the white line shows jpmorgan latin america currency index. it took a fixed go right after the election and has stayed in this range and all ohio little higher. the blue line is futures. it has taken off because of opec still to reduce production with sinopec meals. continued to take up while currencies have struggled to come along. women on the mexican peso lost 14% of value versus the dollar since the election november 8. donald trump has threatened to renegotiate nafta, scrap plans for a factory in mexico, who knows how many other countries are under pressure to do these

things. classy see companies less inclined to invest. the mexican peso under pressure. let's talk about the automobile industry. things are looking good for them. a long-term #back to 1997 of annualized monthly returns coming you go back here in december, the industry sold 18 points, 9 million cars analyzed. it is best number since the financial crisis, up there before the financial crisis, occasionally we get is right here but the general trend has saying theykeep cannot keep coming -- going up. people have been predicting it for a long time. scarlet: the market closes next.

the dow is up 63 point gaining for a second straight day. the s&p 500 up by .6% led by consumer companies. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ scarlet: we are moments away

from the closing bell. "what'd you miss?" extending the rally into a second day following minutes on the federal reserve policy meeting. industries all advancing. i am scarlet fu. joe: i am joe weisenthal. "what'd you miss?" i want to welcome our viewers on twitter. we begin with market minutes. a second straight day of gains for u.s. stocks, two straight days of gains. you thection shows different sectors and the breakdown, materials, 24 of 25 names higher. ,onsumer discretionary automakers, homebuilders, retailers gaining sisley, up 1.3% on the session. joe: those real estate stocks

doing well. let's take a look at the government bond market, some interesting moves around the world. u.s. two-year and 10 year reaction to those fed minutes, , firming on the short end, higher, the klein on the 10 year yields, some flattening in the curve following those minutes. ,lso, turkish 10 year yields president erdogan demanding yields go lower. look at commodities, big loser at the bottom is new zealand milk futures. milk-dependent economy of new zealand getting hit after china saying it is importing too much milk from new zealand, rallying, crude ro

and goal basically not doing anything. kohl's sees full-year whereed 360 23 65, previously $3.80 to four dollars a share previously. than margins lower planned, and this is because of lower than planned sales, so a first read on holiday sales numbers. joe: so much excitement in the market now. scarlet: let's go to currencies. the euro is gaining. 9%.kohl's down let's move to currencies, the euro gaining, the region deflation scare over, cpi

accelerating the fastest in three years, 1.1% gain in december, the core number -- strengthenedyuan as much as 1.1 percent, the u.s. dollar falling in value versus the offshore yuan. that is the biggest move since 2016. they are pursuing new options to support the yuan, curving outflows, pressuring state owned enterprises to repatriate funds. those are today's market minutes. as i stick with the yuan introduce our next guest. brad, let's take a look at this chart which joe has pulled up, showing how capital outflows from china have accelerated in recent months, the white bars, as the yen suffered

losses. what does china do here? bloomberg reporting the government wanting to implement more controls to stem outflows and shore up the currency. can it work? >> possibly. in some sense it is actually don't introduce anti-can capital controls unless there is serious pressure. the maintenance of a basket bag against a broad set of currencies at a time when the dollar strengthened means the significantly, that and the possible reaction to trump policy changes, has created expectations of further depreciation. the government looks to be fighting those are expectations

and has meaningfully tighten controls. all the measures since november indicate the government is serious, not going to allow state companies to game the system, that well-connected chinese companies can't channel can't money out through foreign direct investment and the like, which on one level suggests a problem, and on another level suggests the government is putting its full arsenal to bear on the issue. help it stateuch owned enterprises selling dollars and euros provide? think of it as all chinese firms. in aggregate, china runs a meaningful trade surplus, so the economy is generating more dollars through imports, so there is an underlying source of support if these companies can be persuaded, force, course, to sell their dollars. there isher hand,

strong demand on the part of chinese savers to move their money out of china, particularly given the expectations of further depreciation, so a battle between the underlying support from the trade account and the underlying pressure from the financial account. joe: i want to go back to the targetedhina, the yuan against this basket, is this meaningful? weakening comet a weakening every day, yes, it is stable, but do people pay attention to the basket? >> look, the market pays attention to the basket because the fact that the currency has been stable against the basket has meant you have not made as much money betting on the chinese yuan as you would have on the yen, so from the point of view of an offshore currency trader, the fact that the yuan is being managed matters. in the point of view of a

chinese citizen, they still seem to have expectations shaped by moves in the yuan against the dollar, so in that sense the basket does not matter. what matters is the expected path against the dollar. scarlet: i want to break in with comenews from macy's closing 68 stores, sees full-year earnings per share of storeto $3.10, and closures will affect 3900 associates good comes will be sales willcomparable fall by 2.7%. macy's shares down 4.8% in after-hours. macy's to cut 6200 jobs as well. and macy's, retailers reporting bad news in both those stocks, both falling.

we are talking about china. of the chinae story besides the outflows is that the economic data looks decent, ending the year on a strong pmi. this sustainable? it feels like tension, the underlying weakness in the capital situation, but the economy not doing so badly seems to be holding its own, how does this resolve itself? thehat in some sense is paradox if you compare where we are now to a year ago, the economy is stronger. thee is less concern about currency, but currency concerns have mounted because the move against the dollar even as the economy looks stronger. can it last in the short run? sure. the economy strengthen because of a policy stimulus. as long as that stimulus is china can,

maintain decent growth. does this come with risks? absolutely. the ultimate way out? my view is simple, you need to shift the basis of growth much more strongly towards consumption, so you don't have an underlying reliance on credit to support a high level of investment or need to rely on exports. scarlet: we have seen china's holdings of treasury declined steadily, now at a six year low, so china is looking forward to this year, may be a big seller of treasuries once again to help keep the yuan stable. how big of a factor will that be? where is the room for surprise there? selling has been treasuries, although it does not always show up in the data, there are technical complexities , since the fall of 2015, since the surprised evaluation.

there have been falls and reserves, down by about a trillion. it is commensurate with the fall and reserves. i don't think there is hit in news or any particular surprise. will this continue? yes. if reserves go down, china will sell treasuries. the important thing from the broader view of the bond market is that when china was selling when the bond market rallied in the middle of last year, china has been selling as the bond market sold off. china has not been the overwhelming driver of the bond market. fed, expectations, boj, ecb, and the underlying reality that without fed purchases that there is not a central bank market. the saudi's are selling, the chinese are selling. scarlet: well said. we want to reiterate some breaking news that came out

after the bell. kohl's shares getting slammed after the company cut its year forecast, shares tumbling, down planned tothan sales, gross margin lower than $3.60 to $3.65 versus previous estimates. out withmacy's coming a similar warning, reducing its full-year forecast as well and cutting 6200 jobs, and shares are down 5.5%. it says it continues to experience declining traffic in stores, and full-year comparable sales consistent in november and december. 2.7 percent comparable sales decline in november and december for macy's. we will keep you posted on these moves. this is bloomberg. ♪

joe: we are talking about kohl's shares after hours, the company now sees earnings less than $3.65 versus60 to previous guidance, shares down 11%, ugly retail news after hours. scarlet: macy's cutting its full-year earnings forecast, shares tumbling, cutting 6200 jobs. we had to bring and matt townsend who covers retail for bloomberg news. leadre talking about the up to the holiday shopping season, talk amongst retailers that the election has dampened

shopping. >> that was their excuse. the trend was not driven by the election, per se, just a trend of consumer behavior. it is finally coming home to roost and a big way for the department stores. e are going to the mall's last. their shoppers are older, so if you don't develop department store shopping behavior as a kid or teen, you will not go when your twentysomething or 30 something. clothing stores cutting back on employees. we have to wait and see how j.c. penney performs. they have been the better performing of the three. scarlet: why is that? >> they are coming off a big decline, numbers might have been artificially boosted, but they are focusing on different

consumers, minorities more private brands, but time will tell. they were coming off a decline. joe: this was mostly seen as a secular phenomenon. this is not about the week consumer. this is the world not going in their direction. >> a lot of retailers were complaining about the election saying the environment is bad. the environment is actually good, but wasn't good for them. hasody in a mall basically the sort of things, hurdles to get past. when i wrote that story, analysts said you don't see amazon complaining. people are spending, consumer confidence is high, so -- they only have their track record to rest on now. bring in an analyst on consumer products and retail.

says it's 2017 sales will be heard by $575 million, charges of $250 million, or $.50 a share. how much can we extrapolate the troubles at macy's and kohl's to other retailers? much of those charges were anticipated because it reflects on store closings announced in 2016. they said they would close 100 stores, and we had expected to see sales lower, but as far as iniday, the weakness november and december is a big deal. were up against big comparisons from last year, a colder winter, so we would have expected slightly better numbers than what we see today. it is interesting that the weakness for both companies was , watches, a says

series categories, and assessor he's are a big category for the holiday. scarlet: for a peril, they had been managing inventory better. it seemed like the steep discounts were there, but not like years past. accessories being weak is not a good sign. that is what drove there good comps a couple of years ago, the trend towards handbags, women and men spending more, so across the board, not a good report for either company. assessor rees seen as a category that was relatively immune to the internet, people wanting to try things on, feel them. is that a part of the story? secular and preferences. handbags and watches as a category has slowed in 2016, and

we saw that in november and december. michael cores, other handbag makers, there has been more , and that obviously has tarnished the brand is somewhat. you can get these anywhere now, so that has been hurting sales, especially as traffic falls off. scarlet: macy's has been towing or playing around with its real estate assets as a way to raise cash and deal with some of the losses in sales momentum. what about kohl's? does kohl's have that option? option, but itat seems they are more interested in rationalizing the store size than closing stores. ,heir stores are more off mall which insulates them somewhat from the declining traffic we see at the mall, but it sounds like talking to them that they are more interested in smaller

stores than closing stores, but that may change. about there talking retailers blaming the election for the weakness, can they just say whatever they want? do they have to have some reason? >> i think they can say what they want, but whether people believe them or not is another a question. the election excuse was interesting because no one really believed it. it did not ring true. if you look at the data around the consumer, the macro data, it is all positive. joe: you might encounter someone who disagrees with that. and our retail analyst, thank you both very much. scarlet: a busy day, but "what'd you miss?" steven mnuchin may have run a bank that broke foreclosure laws.

what happened to the suit that was never filed? plus, democrats on the hill defending president obama's policies from being dismantled after he leaves office. what is their plan of attack after republicans promised to repeal his signature law. when santos reports, the focus will likely remain on bayers of the purchase. markthis is bloomberg. ♪

joe: "what'd you miss?" mnuchin mayy steven have engaged in "widespread misconduct" while foreclosing on homeowners.

a leaked memo from the california attorney general's office. with us now are two guests, thank you for joining us. this bank that steven mnuchin ran from 2009 in the wake and recovery, what did this memo say about the behavior? this memo is from junior staff in the california attorney general's office making the case that the attorney general should over itsank onewest foreclosure practices. they claim they found widespread examples where the bank would backdate documents in order to get the foreclosure process going, and in other cases where it would manipulate the sale process of selling homes at a foreclosure auction. scarlet: what happen with that inquiry? happen with the junior

members of the attorney general's office presenting this evidence? this up13, they sent the chain of command and recommended the attorney general filed this lawsuit, and the attorney general did not do that here it she is a democrat. obviously a is republican. she did not pursue the case. the memo lays out some of the challenges they would face if they pursued it. it was not a slamdunk. harris has not commented on what her reasons were for not pursuing the case. joe: a lot of banks, entities, have been accused of malfeasance related to the process of foreclosures during the entire crisis, and for several years after the financial crisis. what is the nature of some of these activities laid out in the memo? >> steven mnuchin bought onewest , a failed bank, in 2009. it had been one of the worst lenders of the subprime era,

specializing in adjustable-rate mortgages, a time of delinquencies. steven mnuchin was not responsible for that. a took it over and inherited massive amount of mortgages that he ended up foreclosing on, tens of thousands of homeowners over several years. say he took it over, but how involved was he in the day-to-day running? >> he was in charge. he led the investor group that put the deal together and was ultimately in charge. joe: these specific transgressions. there are certain steps of bank is required to do if they foreclose. they can't show up one day and put a lock on the door and move your furniture out. there has to be time where the home owner can get up to speed on their mortgage, so the claim is that they did not follow the procedure? somee claim is that in

cases the attorney general staff found a backdated documents, which appeared to correct earlier paperwork errors they had made in a way that did not require them to start the foreclosure over again, which would have taken more time and effort. scarlet: how much do you see this playing into his confirmation process. is this going to be contentious? will it be papered over? what are you hearing? democrats have signaled that steven mnuchin is one of trump's cabinet picks that they are going to put up a fuss about. however, the republicans have 52 votes in the senate. they only need 51. they will need to get a couple of republicans on board to block it. joe: thank you very much. scarlet: coming up next, we will speak with the ranking democrat on the senate foreign relations committee. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> i am courtney collins. penceresident elect mike repealing and replacing president obama's health-care legislation would be the trumpet ministrations first order of business. today, he said the affordable care act has taken a toll on the american people. promises of obamacare have been shown to be false and broken promises. the american people want us to start over and repeal obamacare and replace it with the kind of reform that will give the american people more choices. >> senator chuck schumer says the gop effort to dismantle the affordable care act would "make

america sick again." >> we have a great deal of optimism that the good things that have happened in aca are going to stay, and that our republican colleagues don't quite know what to do. they are like the dog who caught the bus. but haverepeal, nothing to put in its place, and that means so many good things go away. >> chuck schumer says republicans have no idea how to replace the legislation and their strategy will throw the health care system into chaos. meanwhile, republican senator is leading candidate to be president-elect donald trump director of national intelligence according to people familiar with the matter. he served in the senate from 1989 to 1999, and from 2011 to this year. turkey says it has identified the gunman who shot up at night club on new year's eve, leaving

39 dead, but not releasing his name. shown an media have video of the crime suspect and his stand bowl. police have detained 20 people described as islamic state militants. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. scarlet: thank you. breaking news they came after the market close. here is how stocks closed for the day, the second straight day of gains, but don't look for retailers to rally tomorrow. decliness extended after it reduced its full-year earnings per share forecast because of disappointing performance during the holiday season. scarlet: some ugly numbers. joe: kohl's and macy's coming out after hours, really ugly numbers and outlook for both.

scarlet: macy's will cut 6200 jobs after a weak christmas season, and them and adding management to cut costs. sales for 2017 will be heard by a about $515 million, so steep declines after hours. "what'd you miss?" the aca isover underway. the gop leadership eager to repeal and replace. congressional democrats argued the republican plan will make americans worse off, so how will democrats try to save or preserve parts of obamacare? ,et's ask senator ben cardin who met with the president earlier. he joins us from capitol hill with details. good to speak with you. i want to get a sense on what was discussed with the president and what specific lands democrats will be taking to try to preserve as much of obamacare as possible, or serve as a

roadblock to republican efforts? >> the president underscored the point that the aca not only helps the millions of americans who have health insurance that did not have health insurance before, but also those who had insurance now don't have to worry about pre-existing conditions. they don't have to worry about annual limits or lifetime limits. they can keep their children on their insurance policies. they have preventative health care, and the list goes on and on, and a repeal leaves all that in question as to what will happen next. we don't believe the republicans will tell us what comes next, and that puts the american public at risk, so everybody is at risk with the repeal of the aca. he is the strategy to hang back and let the republicans tied themselves into political knots? >> not at all. we will point out at every point that this makes no sense to

repeal the aca, particularly when you don't know what you are replacing it with. we plan to use every procedure, voice, vote to stop this from happening and point out to the american people the risk if in fact republicans repeal it. scarlet: can you give us a sense of what specific procedures and how quickly you can implement that? we are on the budget resolution, 50 hours of debate. there will be a amendment's that we offer that hold republicans to protecting those parts of the aca that the american people expect, no pre-existing conditions, no lifetime limits, preventative health care, affordable coverage for all americans. we will offer an amendment's that deal with these issues and we will see how the republicans respond to these amendments and consideration of the budget resolution itself. this is just the first step, the passing of a budget resolution.

if they are successful, we hope they are not, then you have to look at the reconciliation bill. what does it include, repeal, replace? outvery step, we will point amendments and point out to the american people the risks that what they have today, reliable, good insurance coverage at affordable rates, is at risk. the democrats are in a position where it is a choice of full repeal with no corporation or cooperating get a watered-down version of obamacare that contains some elements of the safety net, but not as robust as it is, with democrats except that? would they not partake in that change to the system? >> we will certainly look at any offer that the republicans make. if they will put on the table are replacement, then we will look at the replacement. if we have a chance to amend

that, we will try to amend it. it is hard to speak in abstract, but we don't want to lose the benefits of the aca. we have seen this slows growth rate for premiums for all americans in recent times. we don't want to lose that. protect theto insurance coverage that americans have today, the affordability and quality of their insurance coverage. scarlet: you are known as a policy wonk for a reputation of working well with members of both parties, some folks have said it would make an easy political victory for the republicans to make modest law, let the current premium stabilize, then take credit for it later on. you see any willingness on the republican side to do something like that? of the aca, passage we have said we are open to improve it. if they want to meet with us and

look at ways we can make the aca better, absolutely we will join them in those efforts. it was never a perfect bill. bere are heirs it can improved. sit down and work with us in a bipartisan matter and we would work with them to improve the law. if they are talking about repealing it without knowing what will come next, i can assure you we will find that. scarlet: are there any members leaning in the direction to work with them on that? >> republicans working with democrats? we have not seen any real effort to engage us on the aca. democrats willing to work with republicans and in order to make our health care system stronger and after. -- and better. we are not willing to put americans at risk by repealing the aca. scarlet: you had met with rex a sense ofgive us what you learned when you spoke with him. some interesting

comments about believing in science and trusting in science. chance to talk for a little over an hour. this is the first part of the process of confirmations, individual meetings. we will have confirmation hearings and there are still questions that need to be answered. we did talk about a variety issues, including his position on russia and how he views russia as a threat to america a, and we did talk about the climate change issue. i was encouraged by his comments about his belief in science. he reminded me that he is an engineer and has a science background and believes in the importance of signs and that we have responsibilities in regards to dealing with climate change, so it was encouraging to hear some of his comments, but this is the beginning of the process. he: do you share anything

said about how he views the u.s. relationship with russia? >> he pointed out that russia has done things that are very much against our interests. i pointed out and he acknowledged the fact that they have annexed crimea and ukraine, that they continue to supply military assistance to disrupt eastern ukraine, the fact that they are supporting the bashar al-assad regime in syria, he pointed out all of these issues, including attacking america through cyber in the most recent election, so he pointed out to me that he understands there is a different role between the ceo of exxon mobil and being in one case state, representing stockholders, and in the other case the best interests of america. we will get into more specifics, and there are a lot of issues that we need to have a better understanding about. scarlet: what are the areas that you are most concerned about? what would keep you from approving him as secretary of state?

>> the major challenges does he understand the difference of being the ceo of a major energy company and the relationships he has that globally and order to get more energy resources for his shareholders versus how he would have to work in a tough americanpresenting views, recognizing america is the world leader on democracy and good governance, and how he would use the position of secretary of state to deal with those types of challenges. that is probably the greatest concern that members of congress have come a whether he can separate his prior life to his new responsibilities, if confirmed. joe: ben cardin of maryland, thank you for joining us. scarlet: coming up, low prices driving down profits for three straight years. we will examine how this affected monsanto. this is bloomberg. ♪

scarlet: i am scarlet fu. "what'd you miss?" monsanto shareholders approved a , butillion sale to bayer now needs approval. that has sparked concerns. let's take a look at monsanto ahead of earnings in today's numbers don't lie. it would create the world's of pesticideser and genetically monitor five seeds. it would be the largest acquisition by a german company. tough market conditions have led

to unprecedented consolidation in crop chemicals. monsanto's customers are under pressure from a low crop rices. investors are skeptical of this monsanto-bayer tire. the stock remains below the offer of $128 per share. monsanto stock off its lows, but still some 20% below the offer price. presuming the deal does go through, this is how bayer would look. monsanto's contribution is the blue portion of that bar in the middle. crop science will replace health care as bayer's biggest business. recent earnings performance masking weakness in one of its divisions. lastt jump less than 1% quarter, barely a move. there is concern that the move thoseayer take away from

earnings in recent years. it has been fueled by more sales from several of its brands. we will be following monsanto's earnings before thursday's opening bell. joe: joining us now to dig deeper is jeff mccracken. thank you for joining us. a new year, new administration, new set of eyes looking at regulatory things related to deals come how does that affect this deal in particular? , it's notnsanto-bayer being done on its own. are also doing extraordinarily big complex global deals, so the regulators are they looking at just bayer -monsanto and isolation or the whole landscape? i don't think they can ignore the landscape when other

competitors are doing deals. you see that with health insurance. to do their deals of the same time, and now they are both in court and make it blocked, so nobody actually knows what will happen with bayer-monsanto. they said it will take until the end of this year, maybe 2018 before we know if the deal will get approved. scarlet: you have a deal that affect so many different countries. it needs antitrust approval and 30 countries. that is mind-boggling. this approval and one country make it easy to get approval in another country? >> not really. this will come down to the united states and europe. the big issue, they don't overlap all that much, but where they overlap is in cottonseed, corn seed, and soybean. those are the air where you will see the best teachers. -- divestitures. earlier today, bayer said

they're not looking to sell, a health care business that was on the block, that they were looking to sell, so they are sticking with what they have got. health care big and and pharmacy, and now they're doing this big deal for bayer, creating a conglomerate, and by and large investors don't like conglomerates these days days. . joe: the incoming administration, the expert --ian, more laissez-faire the expectation, more laissez-faire, but they seem to tohawkish related international trade and international deals, does the fact they are international change the calculus at all? >> if it was a chinese company buying something in the u.s., there would be some issues. if someone does a big deal where they are consolidating the

industry and whomever is overseeing things for the trumpet ministration, they might not be so concerned about the forces on their suppliers or rivals, but if jobs get cut, will someone step in and figure out a way to halt the deal if jobs got cut? upn andst year, honeywell talked about a hundred billion dollars deal, tens of thousands of jobs would have been cut, and i wonder how that would be handled by the trumpet ministration. joe: do you see deals not happening because of potential buyer does not want to deal with the ramifications of major layoffs? pr.t of this is about >> you just don't know. at&t and time warner was announced during the election come the biggest deal of 2016, and trump took a shot at it and said i won't let that kind of deal happen. none of the people around that deal think he or the regulators

he will put in place will block the deal, but there is a lot we don't know. this is an administration and a candidate unlike any other. scarlet: is there a way for companies to do back door m&a? acquired the assets they want through other means? the companies they are trying to buy assets from, they know what is going on, so they charge them more. keep an eye ond .s sprint-t-mobile sprint has been friendly with donald trump. that is the deal we are keeping and i open for in 2017. joe: jeff mccracken, thank you very much. scarlet: the dow has yet to the 20,000, but that coin has climbed to an all-time high. we will examine that next. this is bloomberg. ♪

joe: "what'd you miss?" bitcoin, let's go into the bloomberg terminal and pull up a five-year chart of bitcoin, which briefly breached its all-time high today. 1130 was the all-time high, back down to 10 93, lots of renewed seen as an bitcoin, vehicle to move out of china and other troubled economies like been his way left. -- like venezuela. you go back to the end of 2013 when there was that parabolic , then it burst, but did not completely end, now rallying

back. scarlet: that advance looks more sustainable. someone pointed this out to me that if you look at a longer never looked nearly as bad as it did. it looks like a steady ascent. scarlet: that demand is not look to change anytime soon. let's get you to business flash headlines. the largest department store company plans to cut more than 6000 jobs, 4% of its workforce. after holiday sales came at the low end of its forecast. macy's also cut its annual earnings forecast. late tradinged in after that retailer cut its fiscal outlook and reported disappointed sales for the most recent quarter.

earnings will be three dollars 66 $23.65 a share. $3.60 to $3.65 a share. vanguard says while the bulk of the money went to products that $50 billion was absorbed by active funds. that is your bloomberg business flash. joe: coming up, which you need to know for tomorrow's trading day. this is bloomberg. ♪

scarlet: "what'd you miss?" u.s. stocks rose for a second straight day. macy's and kohl's cut their full-year earnings forecast. joe: pretty mediocre, excuse about election related softness not bearing feud. -- bearing fruit. scarlet: overnight, china

releasing data for services, setting the tone for overseas markets. joe: i will look at the senate it armed services committee hearings happening in the 10:00 hour tomorrow. scarlet: we will look for headlines from that. annual consumer electronics show in las vegas, lots of gadgetry for fans out there. it should be fun. that does it for "what'd you miss?" joe: have a great evening. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> you are watching bloomberg technology. let's start with a check of your first word news. mike pence is repealing and replacing president obama's health-care legislation will be the trumpet ministrations first

order of business. he urged the gop to include the transition period to keep people on health care until they revealed their remedy. on capitolbama also hill, defending his signature legislative achievement. the president focused on how well the law is working. former indiana senator dan coats is a front runner to be president-elect donald trump's director of national intelligence. that is according to people familiar with the decision. towill also nominate someone run the sec. he is the latest trump take with deep ties to wall street. dylanin church shooter roof did not ask jurors to spare his life during opening statements. prosecutors plan to call as many as 38 people related to the nine people killed as the trial continues.