it is one of the largest in history. steven mnuchin made the announcement today. earlier today the united states department of treasury's office of of foreign asset control imposed sanctions in response to the april 4, 2017 sarin attack on innocent civilians of the syrian dictator bashar al-assad. that was the latest response to his alleged use of that killed 80 civilians. white house officials will gather on capitol hill to layout details for the potential for an plan to republicans. this comes one day after he announces his plans for changes to the u.s. tax code. you managed -- gary cohn and treasury secretary steve mnuchin,'s paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, the leaders of the

tax-writing committees. president trump so the border wall with mexico would be an important tool for stopping the flow of drugs into the united states. the president tweeted that today as he continues to pressure congressional democrats to pay for a wall on the u.s.-mexico border. mr. trump has said mexico will pay in some wall for me eventually, but he wants congressional funding the construction can begin. in london, home prices have posted the biggest annual drop in almost eight years. according to the property right fell to $813,000. more expensive homes have fallen the most, down more than 4% in the last year. global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am mark crumpton, this is bloomberg. ♪

scarlet: live from world headquarters in new york, i am scarlet fu. joe: i am joe weisenthal. we are 30 minutes from the close of trading. scarlet: u.s. stocks rising as financial markets reacted after the french election. joe: "what'd you miss?" scarlet: relief as emmanuel macron emerges as the favorite. out ofe u.s., a big win tax reform, president trump takes on a possible shutdown, and check in the spotlight in 30 minutes. we will get the latest numbers from t-mobile. joe: let's look at where the major averages stand to the close. abigail doolittle is standing by. day.il: it is a risk on

we have the major access, the dow, the index -- they are all up. the s&p and the dow are having the best day in more than a month. that is true for the nasdaq, but for the doubt and s&p 500 -- dow and s&p 500, a new record high. this after the french election. investors are seeing relief after the establishment parties were voted out and centrist emmanuel macron is seen as the leader of the may 7 runoff election. very interesting, we have the french election overshadowing the trump trade, but it seems to be getting it a boost. 8033, the main sectors coming out of the election. we still have financials and the rentals are getting a very nice boost today. the top sector for the s&p 500. the tech sector, health care

trading higher, but energy is lagging. the bottom line, the french election results come of the trump trade a new breath of fresh life. now the movers, let's look at the top moves for the s&p 500, jpmorgan, bank of america, bank of america having its best day since november. health and lending activities were helped. we have two of the tech names behind those, apple and microsoft. the report this week. getting a bit of a bullish boost ahead of it. else, a new tax plan. president trump has said he wants attacks tax plan cut of 15%, for corporations. concerns deficit helping the highest tax companies out there right now. this is #518.

we have the s&p and white, we have 50 companies over the next 10 years with the highest tax rates out of the election. see them outperforming in a big way, but then after the health care failure, they reconvened. now today on the news and the news last week, the president trump is planning a tax plan. those companies are starting to benefit, investors hoping the tax cuts help that sector segment of the s&p 500, joe and scarlet. joe: thanks. and businesses are eagerly awaiting the plans for tax reform, trade and infrastructure investment. until they get details on the policies, they are holding off on major payroll changes. for more on what we can expect in terms of spending and hiring, let's bring in the founder of southbank research very always great to have you on the show. i like how you bring your own data and have something to say

others cannot say. what can you tell us from the data you are looking at and the degree to which businesses are holding back a bit on investment while they await clarity on the policy questions? was no follow-through. we had the aca failure. it is now almost may. now we have an idea of 15%. that is the best detail we had. so we are circling the airport. they are waiting for detail. they did not have detail. you have to have the context. there is a seasonality to business spending. the ceo sits down in january , cfo,is or her vp sales they cobbled together the strategic plans. they go out not revisit customers, what will their spending look like. the first couple months kind of a down time. we are waiting to see. march and april are with the investment standing -- spending and hiring kick in. it is a narrow window. it will start in march and end

in august. but they report in may. they are holding off spending pending detail. you will see that spending -- they have from the towel on trump for the year or whatever he releases will not reflect. they need to move forward. you are seeing that hiring kick in mike in health care. health care came back pretty strongly. because basically the trump effect is dissipating. joe: we have a chart, the southbank labor index, health measures. you can look at 2017, that is the red line above the prior year. scarlet: why would health care higher again? >> health care thought they would get hit hard by the eca reveal. there was confusion, should i hire, not higher. where should i invest, how? when it was not changed, and it will not be changed for a long time, there will be pent-up

demand. it was finally released in the last few weeks. you have companies saying i know what to do in terms of hiring, therefore i health care spending. all of the benefits are you had this trickle through. joe: another chart looks at good production in the trump economy. people building with their hats -- their hands. looking at a nice jump in april, at least in the month over month basis relative to the previous month, though this kind of looks like what you are saying, softness in the beginning. >> we have to recognize this just.is not last year, it will be softer than last year, but what we are seeing is a combination of strong home-building and strong investors. they are here, ready to play. joe: you compile your own data, so this is not government data.

you put this up. so people have a reason to trust you, can you give us something about the nature of how you collect this? >> i am going out and i am pulling together roughly one million data each week. i am going out to the 50 major metro areas in this country on a daily basis and grabbing all the hiring data i can get to. it forms a very reliable picture. this is the background to my payroll forecast. compare and contrast that with official data. how does it match up? is there a delay? >> this is more leading because i will find out when someone is hired now versus a few weeks. next week, it will be one month old, then other data is more model. it is more in theory.

this is much more realistic. scarlet: i want to ask about the earnings reporting season. we have pretty soft commercial and industrial loans. there was a sixth quarter lag. it was the lagging indicator, and it was talking about the end of 2015 as opposed to now. does it fit in with anything you are seeing? subdued partially a investment. a lot of the industrials, they have got a braking problem. if they don't start replacing equipment, they will have problems. you is an underlying theme will hear thrown out, but that is like saying cars are coming off. the total number is not really changing in terms of demand. there is a slight effort to get more demand going. i should say narrative. really what that is addressing is the fact there is not a lot of demand actually happening. last year 2016 was the d

stocking, restocking wave. was-- the first off terrible. third quarter, and when you look at gdp, it shot up 3.5% in third quarter due to inventory restocking. it is done. with the first quarter, the theme has been, now what? there is this hope that money from heaven will come down. and he has not delivered. now we enter the second quarter, it has not been delivered, companies will release spending, but they have been waiting to do so. the second quarter will look good, but with the second half, there is nothing driving it. a lot of banks, ubs, they came and said, look. it is soft, but it is soft because they want rhetoric, they want to spend, the rule is there, but the need is not. scarlet: thank you for joining us. usually he is in california.

we will hear from the italian finance minister on the french elections and really -- italy's current power struggle. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ scarlet: the second round in the french elections is set for may 7. that is when you read the penalties against emmanuel macron, but italy is due for a cominghip election this

sunday. they are calling the next big political risk event. the micklethwait spoke with editor who had this to say. >> this is the first round that of course is very good news. let's wait to the second round. this is good news for france and the global economy. because france is set to {european targets every new the european agenda. >> do you think this could reform the european union? could this mean a more integrated eurozone? >> more europe is needed, not just for monetary union. also to reassure european and jobs,bout results something which europe has not been delivering very well recently on. >> you think the problem is pushing that integration together, that will be easier

with macron than it would have been with hollande? >> europe needs a stronger structure for agenda. it needs to employ the single market, and i am convinced macron will use political leadership to deliver on those areas in an integrated fashion. >> what do you think the prospects on brexit are? you have negotiations with micron. how do you imagine he is different? >> i imagine it will be clear terms, and that europe will more easily reach a common position vis-a-vis brexit. >> that will be a hard brexit? >> maybe a clearer brexit without ambiguities. >> that sounds hard to me. maybe i can ask you questions on italy. you had they downgraded italy

last week on the back of political uncertainty. can you set the roadmap for the way which you expect italy to go ahead politically first? >> this legislature is bound to end in february, and i am convinced it will end in february. this is the rising government which has a very ambitious reform agenda in addition to the adjustments agenda and growth agenda. >> you would expect elections earlier than that? >> that cannot be fully ruled out in this stage, but the government does not assume to end its job before next february. --what do some critics say what do you point as being the main figure, and what is the main thing to be achieved? >> since 2014, when mr. renzi came to power in the government which i served, the full agenda and results have been

impressive. labor markets, judiciary system, tax, public administration, the school agenda, and we have to count in the defeat in the institutional referendum which has been a stop to the reform process but only partial. this concludes the competition law. >> in terms of competition, could italy embrace privatization that it has done? -- than it has done? >> the numbers are related to privatization, included in the document. ago,s only improved a week so this continues to be on the agenda for several reasons. and is efficiency on the management, diversification and finance resources. >> but when critics look at italy, they say you have a hand in many of the companies.

surely that has to change. >> well the privatization would not imply the government or the state giving up control of the management of the companies, but with the amount of ownership needed to ensure control. from a point of view of strategy, nothing will change. >> tell me about the bank of italy. there has been a lot of worries about individual bits. --ch ones were you most worry you most? >> there are cases which are being dealt with like on the back of the banks. there are individual cases which have pursued an independent successful strategy in terms of raising more capital like him credit. like banks are very strong here. then there is the medium and smaller size banks which are

still holding in their budget. they appeal to a larger amount which needs to be disposed of. we need to continue encouraging these banks to make the best use of the existing new legislature, with -- which speeds up significantly the problems in the credit market. and which could reduce the time needed to get rid of and appeal to a much shorter time, the short as three years. very short given the current numbers in the italian system. financewas italy's minister speaking with john micklethwait. joe: time for the business flash, a look at the biggest stories in the news right now. said their offer is the last invitation between the dutch paint maker oxon novell to the negotiating table before a hostile takeover bid. they will take their proposal

right to investors if there is no agreement by june. they hold their annual meeting tomorrow with some shareholders pushing for a deal. investigationer for possible cheating on diesel emissions tests. three judges are leaving the investigation. a company spokesperson said peugeot respects regulations and will defend itself. are facing johnson more than 18,000 lawsuits, claiming their plug thinner the toronto for internal reading -- bleeding. they also have medicine for 70 deaths, the first targeting the drug in or new orleans today. it was a top seller in january. whole foods shares rose today on news of a buyout. according to the financial times, albertsons is exploring a takeover bid.

sinceation has circulated the partners have gotten an 8% stake in the retailer this month. whole foods sales have declined six straight quarters. and that is your bloomberg business flash. >> with so much attention on political surprises in europe, how have they failed with -- fared with economic? this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ scarlet: a big theme of late has been the rotation out of u.s. stocks and into european stocks and emerging markets, so here is the s&p 500 versus the stoxx 600. we have normalized back to june, 2007. the s&p is in blue, and it moved above unchanged in march 2013. 27 -- 2007.o june europe stocks did not get there

until too late -- two years later, but it could not hold on. even with the latest relief rally, still below. there it was in 2007. the question, how much room is there to continue gaining? bank of america indicates not so much, because investors are 48% overweight, the highest in 18 months, now 20% underway on u.s. stocks. if anything, you might see a pullback from the trade we have been seeing the last couple of weeks. joe: it still looks like there is quite a gap to close. that was closely related to my chart which looks at the economies in the eurozone and the u.s.. i'm looking at surprise indices for europe -- this blue line is europe, the white is the u.s.. u.s. data, this is reverting, going back down. europe is looking good.

the spread, it is basically europe minus u.s., you have to go back to october to find that big of a gap. if you look at a new narrative in europe, we have the seemingly benign result in the french election, expectations of a design -- benign result from the election two weeks from now. you look at data. there may be people saying it is not so bad. the political situation more stable, the data. you can see the bull argument for convergence -- convergence between the two. scarlet: certainly sets the tone. the market close is next. take a look at the indices with less than four minutes. the dow is up. gains of 3%. s&p 500 adding 25 points. nasdaq the best of the bunch, gaining 1.25%.

♪ are moments away from the

closing bell. the nasdaq at a record high. the dow advancing more than 200 points. i am scarlet fu. joe: i am joe weisenthal. twittere joining in on we want to welcome you to our coverage. begin with market minutes, a banner day for risk assets after the first round of the french election is said and done. and le pen prevailing. that is what people expected. joe: that is what is crazy, huge moves despite the polls coming in as anticipated. scarlet: the shocker is the polls are correct and stocks took off. it was a huge day. .et's look at the vix handle.ck to a 10

there you go. biggest one-day drop in six 2011, a phenomenal move over the course of one day. when i look at the sector breakdown, you have two groups negative. only real estate is down. telecoms little changed, often by .04%. financials better performers, technology as well, so cyclically oriented moves in the market with economically sensitive stocks doing better. j.p. morgan was the biggest s&p 500 leader on it point basis, best day since mid-november. bard best percentage gain agreeing to be

bought for 24 billion dollars, the combination of the world's two biggest health-care suppliers. hasbro advancing 6% after reporting results, revenue climbing, 43% increase in games division. sincefoods the best level july 2015. albertsons is considering a takeover of the company. the government bond market, pretty interesting, not much of a move on the u.s. 10 year yield. , thely jumped to 2.27% dominant theme wreck on, people losing nervousness, screaming higher, but a muted reaction at , sharper at the short income anticipation some of the relief may cause that to go faster than anticipated, but

worth paying attention to that we did not get much action on the long end. scarlet: it is probably linked just to the fear of the government shutdown. joe: very good point. that could be hanging out there. scarlet: i would be looking at euro-yen. over two days, it gapped higher at the open. -- gaped higher at the open. on commodities, this is the one area of consistent red across the board, gold selling off, not a surprise given the

worthsiasm, but it is paying attention to crude oil. crude is fading again. here is a one-month chart. starting to fade below 50 $50 a barrel. earnin reporting results. t-mobile's first-quarter revenue .issing consensus estimate analyst were looking for $9.63 billion for the quarter. first-quarter earnings per share of $.80 as well. i'm looking for a comparable number and i don't see one right off the bat. let's move on with other headlines. t-mobileof outlook, boosting the range for this

full-year ranted postnet addition. previously it was looking for 2.4 million to 3.4 million was suggesting t-mobile continues to gain market share over verizon and at&t. q1 ebitda looks like a slight miss. the stock has halted. scarlet: when i look at the chart, it did surge in the final minutes of trading before it was halted for this earnings release. may that had something to do with it it did close up quite a bit. we will keep you posted on when the stock begins trading again.

we will discuss the company's earnings results at 5:45 p.m. today. let's take a deep dive into the bloomberg. you can use the function at the bottom of the screen to pull up .hese charts, #7858 it was a sigh of relief in the currency markets, considerably less pessimism on the euro versus dollar, pound, yen. you're looking at the one week risk reversal rate, a gauge of market positioning and sentiment for those four payers. clearly the yen was the hedge against the euro. you can see how it had gone down the most in the weeks leading up to round one of the election, where's by contrast, the euro thesie there was less

klein, but a huge bounce for all these pairs, risk reversal. joe: let's stay on that theme. the key is the derivatives market were really getting negative. this is the daily change in the vix etf.fix 10.7% rally today, from friday to monday if you had bet on a decline in volatility that we would get of the nine rally. but ifday for stocks, you bet against volatility, you did quite well today. scarlet: the nine rally. be: the trump rally may not the force it was in the months

following election, but still , guidancegns of life largely in line with .xpectations before we talk earnings, are you surprised by the degree to which risk assets surged around the world for results in line with paul's. >> it was a strong day. my read of the day is that investors took this relief over the french election as a chance to buy opportunities that emerged last week. if you look at the leaders, financials. they are beating expectations, guiding higher, so in general that is where the sector scooped up opportunities, but they might been waiting until the weekend. joe: investors are holding off.

scarlet: kind of how companies are holding off making decisions on hiring until after the his taxt announces plan. >> is sought in the currency chart which you put up, which was phenomenal. you see these short-term moves, but overall long-term transitions intact. eps you have a chart of q1 broken down by different sectors. instill have a ways to go earnings season, but so far, was the key takeaway? are 25 percent of the way through. the sectors that produced the most results are financials and industrials. the great takeaway from last financial institutions were really high come and industrials were expected to be

one of the worst-performing sectors in the market. both of them beat. that is normal. what is not always normal is the extent to which they beat. we are beating on the top line and bottom line more frequently than on average. they are 50%, and normally 35%. is it enough to move the needle on the going forward basis? not yet. financial estimates that increase going forward, but the rest of the sectors in the s&p , so early inlling the season to get a full read, but financials and industrials are leading a strong charge on earnings. scarlet: what used to be the traditional kickoff, alcoa, this is now a just and upstream company. aluminum as of the materials.

ok, 60 three cents reported eps, consensus $.48. a number when you see that out of whack it is not always comparable, first-quarter sales $2.66 billion, trailing consensus estimate for $2.96 billion, so alcoa eating apparently on the bottom line. we will double check to see if that is the case. on the top line, trailed by quite a bit. for now, it looks like it missed on sales and beat on profit. joe: going back to the overall equity market, earnings looking good so far, the technical picture, i have a chart in the #6971 they got a lot of attention recently that we broke below this 50 day moving average on the s&p 500, breaking above it quite nicely today.

what do see in this chart of significance? significant we broke below the 50, but did not see that downside acceleration. maybe investors have had six weeks and have pared back positions as much as they wanted to. i would look for followthrough and across with momentum to confirm that follow-through. looking at a moving average -divergence, when those cross positively, which they haven't in weeks now committed is usually a pretty good sign your correction is complete. do you read a lot into the 50 day? it is not your only indicator. you want to confirm with others. you want to surpass that early march peak. we are now reengaged in the uptrends. scarlet: thank you so much. joe: coming up, emmanuel macron

heavily favored to defeat marine le pen on may 7, but is the political rookie making any missteps in the media? we will find out. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> president trump says it is time to settle the issue of a potential nuclear armed north korea is now speaking during meetings with ambassadors and members of the un security council. >> north korea is a big world problem, a problem we have to finally solve. have put line. for decades, now it is time to

solve the problem. president criticized the security council for failing to act on series of alleged use of chemical weapons. problems for america's most expensive weapon system ever. says of $1 billion in added cost for lockheed's f-35 program. has estimatedam only five more months. theresa may has hired jim mussina for her election campaign come of reuniting the winning team behind david cameron's unexpected victory two years ago. she has also hired the political strategist and pollster who worked on mr. cameron's election. former president obama is using his first public appearances since leaving office to talk with students about his

experiences as a community organizer and how that laid the foundation for his political career. panel at let us do not the university of chicago, where his presidential library is planned. he says young people are the key to solving the nation's biggest problems and is looking forward to working with them. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. the scarlet: "what'd you miss?" emmanuel macron stumbles out of the gate, giving a 15 minute haveh that some say would been suited after a full election win. let's start with the breakdown of the vote. like the u.s. and u.k., france is a split country. if you look at a map and see who voted them a witch region for

which candidate, it is clear the east belongs to marine le pen, the west belongs to macron and paris as macron territory. melemchon and the pen did quite ombine theirca votes. >> they did. we have a silent majority who seem to be in favor of an open economy and staying with the eu, the two main extreme candidates garnered 40% of the vote. yesterday, the pen was leading and tell the city vote came in.

earlier today, francine lacrosse spoke with an advisor to marine le pen. let's take a listen. >> there is not much we have to actually do to expand be on base. voters are patriots and will naturally turn to marine le pen. d.c. any possible path for marine le pen to win? see any possible path for marine le pen to win? be complacent.t her people will turn out, but that is about 25%, then if you 's voters, youllon will get more, but he made a

play and told his voters to vote for emmanuel macron. are the bigon's question. willow bay they as we saw in this country, some of the bernie sanders voters go for trump. will they go for the extremists on the other end, or stick more with macron? we really don't know. turnout will be key, and it will be a hard drive for the next two weeks. is it too simplistic to say marine le pen represents the far hard right? share is a sense of disenfranchisement, people who do not feel the french economy and globalization is working for them. some are looking for an answer on the left and those who vote

for le pen look for an answer on know.ght, but you don't i have been struck how the old patterns of french voting behavior are totally broken down . that is one of the big takeaways from this election. i have heard it argued that media overestimated the degree of anti-euro sentiment in europe. that there is more intentioned than we give people credit for. does this electoral result politic that argument? becausenk it does a bit macron was in front him a but

there is some truth in what you have said. if you look at the polls on whether to stay in the european , those are the euro things most french want to do. i thing marine le pen's message and the reason she did so well is because she had a law and , not necessarily because she was so anti-eu, so just as with mr. trump, some of his voters went to him for certain parts of his message, but not all of his message. joe: thank you very much. rate getting your perspective. coming up, mexico's retail and industrial sector putting up decent data, so this is bloomberg. ♪ we will take a look.

scarlet: "what'd you miss?" mexico's soft data liking behind hard data. we also see mexico is the reverse. --

the truth is somewhere in between. it does see these indicators converging with the consumer confidence being a drag on economic indicators and that confidence keeps moving north and perhaps getting towards the unchanged line. scarlet: i love how this soft-hard data has become a meme. in your, we don't have this diversions. scarlet: we will see. joe: very amusing. mmwant to look at the g function. when i got in today and was looking at all that green, i thought it is so bright. my eyes literally hurt at how bullish it is. the far right column, that is the commodities column.

commodities, oil falling, coffee, wheat, live cattle. ,hese have been mediocre lately so something to keep an eye on ,ven as financial markets surge other indicators not doing too good. indicationrhaps an this rally in risky assets will not last. joe: could be. scarlet: t-mobile shows will begin trading at 4:30. t-mobile reporting thatts, the mid-point of mrs..

trump, tax reform, what kind of changes could be coming. this is bloomberg. ♪

president trump posted in meeting of the members of the united nations security council and discussed the need for big reforms following the recent handling of events in syria and north korea. i have long felt the united nations is an underperformer that has tremendous potential. president also said the nine nations has not solved conflicts in the past, but hopes that starts now could nikki haley is not ruling out a u.s. strike against north korea if

pyongyang tests another nuclear bomb. she praised china's involvement in trying to pressure north korea to cease missile tests and criticized kim youngren -- kim jong-un as unstable and paranoid. russia is providing weapons to the taliban for use against american backed forces in afghanistan. russia has denied it provides weapons to the taliban, however defense secretary jim mattis of the claims that a press conference. >> we will engage with russia diplomatically. , butll do so where we can we are going to have to confront where what they are doing is contrary to international law. mark: secretary madison met with the afghani president and other senior government officials hours after the defense minister

and army chief resigned over the massacre of more than 140 afghan lasts at a military base friday. marine le pen says she is to brevity stepping down as the head of her national front party . the move appears to be away for her to embrace a wide range of potential voters ahead of the may 7 runoff between her and emmanuel macron, the independent centrist who came in first in sunday's initial round of voting. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. scarlet: let's get a recap of today's market action, gains across the board. the dow adding 215 points, advances of at least 1% with nine out of 11 groups finishing

higher. rally thatraordinary the expected happen. hitting t-mobile subscriber estimates, so benefiting from stealing market share from verizon and at&t. it is trading higher in after-hours trading. the stock was suspended up until three minutes ago. .3% is the early trade, up from its gains in regular trading. scarlet: scarlet: joe: wells fargo, third time is a charm. wells fargo's living will cleared by fed after earlier failures. this time they have passed, the fed and fdic, and marks the first time that all major banks

had there'd living wills deemed acceptable. scarlet: shares are popping in extended trading. there is that move higher. joe: pretty minimal moves, and there are other issues with wells fargo. "what'd you miss?" trump's top economic advisor and steven mnuchin will lay out the plan for tax reform on capitol hill tomorrow, one day before president trump is set to public the unveil his plan. for more details, let's bring in our chief washington .orrespondent i we going to get a tax plan on wednesday? atwe will get one that hints which direction the president wants to go. mick mulvaney indicated more

details will come in june, so it seems like the white house is scrambling to put together something before the 100 day marker is up. scarlet: we got headlines that trump is set to ask for 15% for a corporate tax rate. this is consistent with what he has been pushing for. >> it is consistent, but let's be honest, this caught officials and aids on capitol hill -- des on capitol hill completely off cord. a reporter shot at a question i him about whether or not there was can of the attacks plan, and then he responded it would be on wednesday and followed up with a tweet. mick mulvaney said to david westin on friday that he would like to see health care go first, so i want to play for you with secretary mnuchin said

earlier today about some of the goals and objectives of tax reform. take a listen. >> we have been clear on what the president's objectives are for tax reform, middle income tax-cut is a priority of the .resident, simplification the average american should be able to do their taxes on a large postcard. business tax reform. we need to make business taxes we willive and expect bring back trillions of dollars from offshore. the key part there that you can bold underline is that they would do a middle income tax break as well. there was some rumblings on capitol hill and k street that that would potentially be a situation where they will handle corporate tax reform separate reform.dle income tax they will be advocating according to secretary motion for copperheads of tax reform. not get specific

details, but some sort of broad outline principles. do you think those principles will line up with the principles that we know kevin brady and paul ryan in the house have expressed interest in? >> that is a great question, and one many republicans are wondering. paul ryan and kevin brady and republican leaders have spent a theyf time forming what think is the tax reform blueprint likeliest to pass and is revenue neutral. there are a few questions the white house has to answer that will give them a sense of how serious they are. the first is whether a tax plan will be revenue neutral. it has to be revenue neutral in order to be permanent and not sunset. the second, what the duction's and loopholes will they close? choices,et difficult

and if they don't push, it is unlikely to happen. they all have beneficiaries who will fight to keep them, so pushes,he white house motion it's unlikely they will put together a plan that in something permanent. scarlet: speaker ryan has pushed for the border adjustment tax, u.s. companies have filed back against. are there proposals that don't include the dat. -- bat. >> without it, it's unlikely to be revenue neutral. it doesn't synthetically likely to succeed at this point. retailers have been lobbying furiously come aggressively and have had success in building doubts in the minds of ,awmakers, so without the bat

it is unlikely they can get a revenue neutral plan. a lot of questions right now. aides say theyn need leadership to succeed on these things. it is easy to say tax relief, cut taxes, but to make it permanent and have it stand the test of time, you need these difficult choices on revenue offsets. it is unlikely we will hear it on wednesday. scarlet: thank you so much. we do have some after-hours movers, express group halted from trading. .t was moving quite a bit it says its contract with anthem is unlikely to be expended. halted frompts

trading which is why we don't have it up yet. humana also reporting results, mest-quarter revenue -- let start with first-quarter earnings estimate above consensus estimate, also raising full-year guidance, first-quarter revenue at $13.8 billion, the stock gained 2.5% in extended trading. next, on the race to the middle between premium content television and digital media. how he is cutting down on television time. this is bloomberg. ♪

scarlet: the television industry is repay intending reinventing itself for the

digital age. thecently sat down with turner ceo on media transformation. the return of advertising money to television from digital. >> digital is still growing quickly. our digital business, cnn, bleacher report, some of the strongest growth in advertising across our company, but there is a fight for share, and let's face is, in the digital world, it is almost an oligopoly. to twords are going companies, facebook and google, and they're probably taking 85% of the growth in digital, and what has been called into question is the efficacy of the metrics they have been selling advertising against, but there is an arms race, and it is almost a race to the middle. if you are a company like ours, premium content company, we are

trying to develop digital capabilities that we can go to advertisers and guarantee audiences and roi and be able to report out in a specific way to make sure they are comfortable that they are reaching the consumers they thought they were going to come in that gets back to the technology investments we have in making and the impact that will have in revolutionizing the way we will monetize those audiences be it on the flipside, the big digital companies are doing the exact opposite, which is they are trying to get into premium content, youtube, facebook, and we are calling it a race to the center. who will get there faster? of tv pick up the best versus ken the digital players get their hands on enough premium content that they can convince advertisers to continue to go in that direction?

there will be plenty of money to go around, but i'd like the chances of tv with the reach that we have come of the brand friendly environment, and the immersive emotional connection to storytelling. scale is something advertisers like as well. one thing that can be frustrating, the commercials a long, boring on linear tv, even on demand, you can't get past it quickly enough. how do you address that? >> we will reduce the number of commercials per hour. >> really? challenge andthe opportunity. i agree with you. why has netflix risen so much in terms of popularity? there is too much advertising clutter untraditional television. we have announced on one of our networks, we have taken the at down by half. we started that in the fourth quarter and have been revenue neutral to up so far.

how is that possible? we also reduce commercial loads on tbs and tnt. >> are you doing more programming? >> programming is longer, so the way we can make up for the reduced ad loads is make the advertising better, more contextually relevant. we believe our ratings are higher as result of having reduced ad loads. if you look at minute by minute ratings on ad supported cable, ratings go down, then when the commercial is done come he hoped the ratings come back to where you were. if you have fewer commercials, engagement,her higher average audience levels, and your ratings go up. we have also done some research that seems to indicate that if you make your advertisements more relevant and you reduce the , recall of the

ads go up 10%, higher ratings, higher recall, anybody watch march madness? a few people. you need to tune into sports more. we were putting on advertisements during march madness that had charles barkley, samuel jackson, spike lee. these were engaging, funny advertisements. premium content and its own right. so we have studios internally at turner where we are producing our own advertising. >> will kind of investment is that take? >> it costs a little, but we are a big company. [laughter] >> what you're describing sounds like a super bowl ad where people stick around to watch the ad. >> that's what it will have to

be. as supported television will not sustain if you continue to interrupt the television shows with quick spots. there has been so much innovation and distribution and not a lot ofand innovation in advertising. over the next five years come at there will be as much or more than any other areas of the business. joe: that was part of my interview with john martin at conversation here in new york. some breaking news, espresso grips has resumed trading and plunging. the company saying it believes its contract with anthem is likely to be extended beyond 2019, losing its biggest customer and has not provided a formal written notice of its intentions. cvs is gaining 1.5%. scarlet: coming up. joe: egypt is open for business.

that is what the country's minister for investment cooperation says. we hear from her next. this is bloomberg. ♪

egypt received a 12 been dollars loan guarantee from the imf to help with the modernization and reform of its economy. with egypt'sspoke minister of investment and international cooperation on rebranding and investing in egypt. >> part of my task is to say egypt is open for business. we are rebranding egypt, improving the business environment, and making sure investments come in from the u.s. and other countries.

we are putting forward investment loans, insolvency is low. the private sector has had concerns. have been concerns about the rule of law and how it works for investors coming in in egypt. what are the timetables for having reforms in place? >> it is time sensitive, so parliament is discussing and finalizing the economic committee. the others are in the pipeline because we are looking at the legal framework in a comprehensive manner. it is other factors that affect financial inclusion. ago, we have proposed amending the capital markets bill. that addresses many concerns regarding minority shareholder

rights for example, allowing for new financial products, diversification, and financial inclusion. egypt has been given a 12 been delegated t on a loan from the imf. two truncheons have been released already. do have an estimate on when the third tranche will be released? >> we have been working closely with the world bank with a program that supports a major economic reform, unprecedented reforms, reforms labeled by the executive board and bank is the most ambitious in the region. we have already released the first two tranches based on a program that is homegrown and has been prepared by the government and done extensive consultation with people, stakeholders, civil society, private sector, and discussed extensively by the parliament.

the third tranche is on its way to just yesterday, i had a meeting with the managing director and vice president and we are almost there and finalizing the package. it focuses on improving the government,mate, account ability, and transparency. that is one area where the political leadership has intended to create accomplishments. >> weeks, months for the third tranche? >> probably it will take another four months to finalize because we just released the second tranche a few months back, so the operational process at the bank takes a little time. through which sectors you believe are the most attractive for foreign investment in egypt. when the sectors were people saying i am interested in investing in that? >> we are focusing on sectors that will create jobs, because jobs are a priority.

to achieveing sustainable and inclusive growth. finalizing argy, program, which is also important. energy will come first. secondary industries will create jobs. will focus on upper egypt, adversely affected by lack of tourism. we are focusing on transportation because there are many large cities that are currently being developed, and collectivity matters to achieve development. >> you mentioned tourism went down substantially. has a come back? how far? >> it has been picking up lately, which is significant and reflective of the figures the

minister of tourism had seen, so it is picking up. joe: that was egypt's minister of investment and international cooperation. scarlet: coming up, which you need to know to cure up for tomorrow's trading day. this is bloomberg. ♪

scarlet: "what'd you miss?"

gains across the board, the nasdaq at a record high falling the first round of french elections. joe: a sigh of relief. up, mcdonald's and coca-cola reporting first-quarter results before the bell. joe: i will look at u.s. new home sales data at 10:00 in eastern time. wells fargo shareholders vote on whether to replace the board. this comes after wells fargo said it's living will will was approved by the fed. that is all for global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. thank you for watching. joe: this is bloomberg. ♪

>> i am alisa parenti and you are watching "bloomberg technology." president trump says the u.s. has tremendous potential it has

not lived up to. he spoke about reforms today during a meeting with ambassadors and members of the un's security council. he also told ambassadors scattered at the meeting that the time to deal with a potentially armed north korea is now. -- a potentially nuclear armed north korea is now. treasury secretary steven announced sanctions today on syria at the daily white house briefing. top white house and administration officials, including gary cohn and secretary mnuchin, gathered on capitol hill. tomorrow, they plan to lay out details for their tax reform plan. beforep comes one day president trump announces his ideas for changes to the u.s. tax code. former president obama made his first public