>> coming up on "bloomberg best," the stories that shaped the week in business around the world. decisive days in politics, from paris to the soul to washington, -- with new faces entering the spotlight and familiar figures leaving the stage. >> he has to govern mainly to the right. he definitely has pushed the softer line toward north korea. >> different times for different reasons, people asked for an fbi -- for a new fbi director. now they're going to get one. >> in the midst of these storms, markets stay mostly calm while leaders look ahead to gauge what is on the horizon. >> i am worried about european banks. >> markets are really no good

at pricing binary events. where theok at possible source of the next crisis would come from, it is not the banks, it is the nonbanks. >> the earnings debate continues and top executives respond. >> the pessimism about espn is highly exaggerated. >> the strategy we announced at the end of last year is the right thing to do. >> i must say, we are optimistic. >> it is all straight ahead on "bloomberg best." ♪ juliette: hello and welcome. i am juliette saly. this is "bloomberg best." your weekly review from bloomberg television around the world. global politics dominated the early part of this week, starting with france's presidential vote on sunday. >> the polls are now closed in

france. it looks like we have a macron win. we think it points to victory because the posters are [indiscernible] we think it is likely a 65% vote for mr. macron. we will see that number confirmed as we work through the night. i am watching amazing scenes at the louvre and watching european flags being waived. how long will it be before i can buy a eurobond? >> if it is up to emmanuel macron [indiscernible] it is one of the cornerstones of its program is to give europe its own budget. it is definitely not for tomorrow, but it is a step in the right direction for europe. >> emmanuel macron has pledged to unite the country's wrists following -- unite the country's rifts following his victory over

marine le pen. >> i would like to say a few words for those who voted for madame le pen. do not boo them. after all, they have expressed their anger, disarray, and their belief, and i respect those as well. but i will do everything i can in the next five years to see that these people no longer have any reasons to vote for extreme ideas. >> at the end of the day, it is a very positive result for markets. we should not discount that. at the same time, he needs to find a majority in parliament and do the reforms. there are uncertainties about that and how much you will be able to do. when you look at trump in the u.s., even though there was a republican sweep, it proved to be more difficult than people thought in the beginning. >> the full extent of macron's victory, people will debate for a long time, but it does not matter. if he grabs a hold of this and plows ahead, it is not unusual in an american context for people to win very narrow victories and try to do a lot. in this case, he can claim he

has got 66% of the vote. he has to govern mainly to the right. france is the biggest welfare state in europe, the biggest state in europe, the least number of self-made millionaires. it has got everything for the right you would want to change. you would want to make france more business-friendly and introduce more productivity. that means taking on the unions. >> voting is well underway in south korea after a campaign dominated by political and business scandal. potential trade directions -- disruptions with the u.s. and growing worries about it s unpredictable neighbor to the north. tell us about expectations of the day. >> presidential candidates have already started voting. about an hour ago, we had the meeting candidate, moon jae-in, cast his vote here. you can see behind me, people are lining up to get their chance to cast a vote, but given that this is such an unprecedented vote, after the historic ouster after of the

former president, they are still questions about what will happen next. the national election commission saying the turnout rate will be around 80%. a record 26% of eligible voters have already finished early voting. vonnie: south korea is electing a new president. left-leaning moon jae-in is poised. . . to take power, and in nine years of conservative rule, according to exit polls. >> his parents are actually north korean refugees. he definitely has pushed a softer line toward north korea. a lot of folks here are anticipating perhaps some easing of tensions. david: president donald trump late yesterday shocked just about everybody when he abruptly fired fbi chief james comey. did anyone expect this? >> no one expected this. i can tell you i've spoken with several republican political advisers to the president and senior aides on capitol hill, and all of them are pointing to

ward the notion that this decision to fire director comey will lead to more confusion in washington, and any political capital of the administration had hoped to seize upon passing health care reform through the house of representatives now seems to be in question. vonnie: the president defended his decision on twitter, writing that comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in washington, republican and democrat. when things calm down, they will be thanking me. >> absolutely laughable. sales to pass any smell test. fails to pass any smell test. >> nobody has been happy with his performance, and i think, the clinton investigation was politicized. it is time to take a new direction with the fbi and the president has made a wise decision. >> the timing raises questions because of the interference part of russia in our election. >> i do not think the system has been compromised, but different times, for different reasons, people asked for a new fbi director, and now they will get one. >> had he done this at the outset, it would not have been

surprising. james comey is a controversial character. he did have serious detractors on both sides, particularly democrats, when he moved forward with this investigation. he had put himself in the position that he thought was politically untouchable, and then to fire him now -- it is catastrophic and baffling. jonathan: governor carney sat down the clinical unknown. it is decision day for the bank of england. the bank of england keeps interest rates unchanged. the bank of england saying the u.k. may need tighter policy than the yield curve implies. get on it, the message to the markets this morning. the bank of england raising its inflation forecast in 2017 .7%, cutting its gdp forecast. >> they said they predicate the forecast on a smooth brexit. are the risks symmetric? is there a possibility of a super smooth brexit? >> no, of course not. >> the rest are on the downside.

>> if you look at the last 10 forecasts, they have done exactly the same. they said wages are going to pick up, 4%, back to where was in 2006. and every time in the last 10, they have been wrong. every forecast going forward, they lower the wage growth forecast and they get it back to 2%. the whole of this forecast, the whole positive of this forecast, rest on this illusion that wages are going to rise. they are not. i am afraid it is complete nonsense that i heard today. >> we have breaking news out of washington. the u.s. and china have reached a sweeping trade deal. >> xi jinping and donald trump talked about the 100 day period where they would work out a trade deal. they have delivered. 10 consensus areas have been reached on trade issues, including agriculture, energy, market access for financial services, which has been a

bugaboo for the united states for a long time, but also u.s. beef. >> there is a glaring omission in this trade agreement and that is with the coal industry. another thing that is not in here is something the previous administration and some republicans worked on, and that is environmental protections. that was left off the table. this -- when you take a broader step back, it is a reset. >> there is not going to be one silver bullet that suddenly takes our trade deficit from the 300 billion-odd to zero. that is not the way it is going to work. >> are you trying to get it to zero, secretary? >> no, we will get it as far as we can, but the important thing we accomplish year is that we want to do it by increasing total trade and by increasing the ability of our companies to export. that is the number one objective , because that is what will create more jobs here. juliette: still ahead as the

-- still ahead as we review the week, barclays ceo meets with shareholders and speaks with bloomberg. elizabeth warren says if president trump wants to break up wall street banks, she is ready to work with him on legislation. plus, look back at a torrent of quarterly earnings reports. up next, more of the week's top business headlines. austerity seems to be over in australia, by the look of the country's ambitious new budget. >> we have a progrowth agenda. focusing on significant infrastructure investment. juliette: this is bloomberg. ♪

juliette: this is "bloomberg best." i'm juliette saly. let's continue our global tour of the week's top business stories with a busy day of m&a on monday.

>> following months of talks, the deal of the luxury company space finally inc., coach agrees to buy rival kate spade for $2.4 billion helping the company to -- helping the luxury brand cope with an industry wrought with discounting and sluggish demand. >> coach has had a successful turnaround of its own brand, but they came to the realization there is not that much more to go, so if they are going to keep growing and if they cannot add sales with coach itself, they are going to have to keep buying other companies. so enter kate spade. vonnie: coach went into footwear recently and it was a head scratcher because coach was always known for handbags, but kate spade has been into footwear for a while. can they be complementary? tothat is the idea for them, continue to grow market share for coach and their family. there are not a lot of cost synergies between the two of them. the idea is to create a conglomerate or a mini conglomerate, kind of like an

lvmh, but on a much smaller scale. david: sinclair broadcasting has confirmed its deals to acquire tribune media for about $3.9 billion. not a big surprise, although 21st century fox flirted with it. >> the price may be a surprise from what we had reported about one month ago, where sinclair was hoping to buy it in the high 30's per share. the final price ends up being $43.50 per share, driven by some fairly late competition for this asset. you mentioned that fox and blackstone took a look at combining and potentially buying tribune. they did not end up bidding in the end, but nexar did. that is another broadcast tv company, and i think that pushed the price higher. mark: shares of akzonobel lower today. europe's biggest coatings company rejecting a third offer from its u.s. competitor ppg raising the prospect of a hostile approach. is ppg going to go hostile?

>> that is what michael mcgarry seems to be indicating. kzo hasve said that ac until june 1 to come to the table and negotiate a deal. if they do not do that, then hostile is the way to go. but keep in mind, the dutch market is one of the toughest to get a hostile transaction done in. it will not be easy for them. mark: activist investor elliott advisers are petitioning a dutch court to back its efforts to oust the chairman over his refusal to negotiate with pbg. are they going to get their way? will the chairman and up being ousted or not? >> it does not look that way. the company said today, akzonobel came back and said they don't know what good it will do to oust the chairman. they will probably bring back somebody who shares our views. it shows that we are in a difficult situation here. elliott is unhappy with the company's refusal to engage. you will remember that we have had three attempts by ppg to get them to the negotiation table, and so far, they said, we are not interested.

they are taking the gloves off and trying to go the hard way , going the court route. it might be that ppg may say, we have come as far as we could . . we have tried three times. we have had fruitless negotiations or talks with the other side. this isn't really going anywhere . they could go hostile. very difficult. a lot of hurdles. or they might go away. very hard to say which way it will go at the moment. >> the australian government pushing ahead with the nationbuilding program. they tax the banks, sticking to a surplus protection that relies heavily on wage growth. take us through some of the highlights of the budget. some of the losers are the big banks in australia. >> that is right. i will give you some of the headline numbers first. the debt is at $29.4 billion. the deficits are narrowing in australia, and there is a forecast return to deficit by the year 2020 or 2021 of $7.4 billion.

however, assumptions about the return to surplus do rely on some pretty optimistic assumptions about growth. for example, gdp getting to 2.75%. inflation above 2%. and i are around $55 per john by march. -- and iron ore around $55. >> we have a progrowth agenda with the government focusing on company tax cuts, focusing on better access to key markets. focusing on a significant infrastructure investment program. everything taken together, the best advice for the government is this forecast is prudent and credible and responsible. >> china's specter gate inflation increased less than an expected in april as weaker commodities took its toll. >> what does this tell us about what is going on in terms of reflation? it is not going to really bother the pboc one way or the other, these numbers. >> you are right.

economists we have been speaking to suggest there is unlikely to be big change in terms of pboc, when it comes to benchmark rates or moves in the money market. it is the reflation story that is interesting. there was so much talk about this at the beginning of the year and you had that february number producer prices close to four eight year highs. now we have seen this dropping off. as you point to the commodity prices, that is really the main factor and the base fx, and it has an impact on the deleveraging question here, because corporate profitability has been helped and boosted by these higher factory gate prices prices, now that they are coming off, those profits are likely to be dented. that will make it more difficult for corporates to pay down their debt, so the implications are broad both domestically and internationally. vonnie: apple is extending its lead as the world's most valuable company. the iphone maker became the first u.s. company with a market value of more than $800 billion. a little more than two years after crossing the $700 billion

mark. how significant is the psychological milestone? alex: i mean, it is a big deal. it is the first time we have ever seen a company this big, but let's not forget that when ramco comes to market, we will talk about more unfathomable numbers when it comes to market capitalization. it could be above $1 trillion, some are saying. it is a big deal. vonnie: what will happen with the iphone 8 cycle? is that when we will see market value go higher, or will that be sell on the news kind of thing? >> that is the risk. a lot of the surge this year has been about enthusiasm for the iphone 8. we do not know to what extent apple will be able to deliver on those expectations. matt: wall street bond traders who have survived years of slumping revenue, those who have survived, are on track to receive some of the financial industry's biggest bonus hikes for this year. i know so many guys who have

been pushed out, retired, or fired from bond trading over the last five years. are they finally going to get a break? those who actually managed to keep their jobs? >> apparently. i mean, it is quite a reversal of fortune. there is research from a u.s. compensation consultancy, johnson associates, who is saying that bond traders will be the group of people on wall street that receive the biggest bonus hikes this year. they are forecasting a 15% increase. precrisis, the bond trading was the envy of all wall street. everyone wanted to work there. post crisis, not so much. really, this is quite a remarkable turnaround. >> sprint started preliminary talks to merge with t-mobile u.s., according to people familiar with the matter. executives from sprint's largest shareholder softbank had contact with former t-mobile owner but telecom. -- dutch telecom. how do i think about this if i am a regulator?

>> the idea that is instead of having in the american case, two very strong wireless operators and two also-rans, you have three big ones that can effectively compete with one another, but the counterargument is going to be, the current situation has worked from a consumer perspective in many ways. if you look at the international context, most large economies are going from four wireless carriers to three. so the u.s. is an outlier in still having four. this is a sensitive subject. everyone knows what they pay for their phone bill. no politician wants to be the one telling consumers they will have to pay more. i think this is still from a regulatory perspective, very tricky situation. ♪

juliette: welcome back to "bloomberg best." i'm juliette saly.

barclays annual general meeting this week with the ceo first public meeting with investors since a whistleblower scandal put his tenure at risk. erik schatzker sat down with him in london following the meeting. >> since i got here, one of my goals was to be very transparent with regulators. many ways, we are partners in trying to avoid the next financial crisis. there was a very constructive dialogue between barclays and the bank of england and the pra and dsca. it is very important to us. i respect the regulatory framework here. and let's just see how this all plays out. erik: if the unthinkable happens, and you are deemed unfit to run barclays, does the bank have a plan, succession plan? >> you know, i've got the full support of the board. you saw the shareholder vote today. let's let the investigation run its course and see what happens. erik: have you reevaluated the

risk of brexit to barclays, given the hard approach theresa may has taken and the hardline brussels has taken recently? >> the level of dialogue within the prime minister's office, with her government, the chancellor, the regulators, has been really quite something. there is a lot of listening on both sides. we are a british bank. we are here to support the united kingdom. but also, we are the largest underwriter of european sovereign debt. france is very important to us, germany is important to us. we have a large credit card business. we have bankers and sales people all across europe. continuing to engage with europe is important for us. i think it is important for europe. i think there are -- just like having to set up holding companies and united states, continue investment banking in the u.s., the european union is going to require us to set up structures across europe that make it more robust and more within the fold of europe. that's ok. erik: you know what i am getting at.

does the hardness of brexit determine how great the impact a bank likerk barclays? >> you know, there could be decisions taken that might not be in the best interest of the free flow of capital, but one of the tenets of the -- you know, if there are a couple of things that came out of the financial crisis as a positive, one is the coordination of the g-20. one of the things the g-20 stuck thes, as we reregulate financial industry, let's not inhibit by putting up barriers to free flow of capital. so long as those barriers are not put up, there will be workarounds around brexit so london will remain a very important source of capital relative to europe. erik: relative to some of your peers on the subject, you are an optimist. at least you are constructive. what is the upside to be ing optimistic? what gives you that degree of confidence that they do not have? >> i am just expressing what i think. i do not think it is optimism or

pessimism. it is what i think. you know, we have a bank subsidiary in ireland that is part of the european union. we have 1200 employees in continental europe from milan to paris to frankfurt to madrid. there will be uncertainty. but having been in the financial industry as long as i have, it is amazing how creative it can be. now let's just make sure we do it in a very safe and sound way. juliette: more of the week's most interesting conversations coming up on "bloomberg best," including chicago fed president charles evans, u.s. senator. elizabeth warren and ubs chairman axel reyba who is happy with the results of the french election but is warning that europe's troubles are far from over. >> there will be a hard exit at

the end, and that will have negative repercussions on europe. juliette: this is bloomberg. ♪

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xfinity x1 gives you exclusive access to the best of the billboard music awards just by using your voice. the billboard music awards. sunday, may 21st eight seven central only on abc. >> i think we should encourage the development of the real economy, as it is creating real wealth. today, the virtual economy is over-growing. the key tenet of the virtual economy is money begetting money. however, now it is actually money out of the pocket of the real economy. it will not help accumulate wealth, nor will it make profits. its gain is generated from the loss of others. i don't feel this kind of economy is a good thing. >> services industries are growing well, as opposed to the larger manufacturers. china's economy is changing. you recognize that, yes? >> the new economy is the

internet economy. it has created some jobs. but at the same time, it has also brought about unemployment. it has forced a lot of brick-and-mortar retailers to close down. i noticed that in the u.s., the retail sales sector has also been affected. i think the internet, e-commerce, is a platform. it provides convenience to consumers. but some of its practices are not right. they are unfair competition. for instance, some of those in the industry are burning money in exchange for more traffic. they sold a product worth 100 at a price of 80 to snap up market share. they ruined the manufacturers, who were forced into lower quality and even make shoddy products just to stay viable. if they stick to fair competition, i think it is fine. the problem is they have unfair -- they have improper means of competition. juliette: that was the head of china's largest soft drink company in an exclusive interview, telling stephen engle

his concerns that the rise of the internet is damaging his country's economy. bloomberg also discussed the economic future of europe with several business and financial leaders this week. let's start with ubs chairman axel weber, who spoke exclusively with kathleen hays about the impact of political turbulence on european markets. >> the bigger concern for me is not really the immediate future. i think the immediate future will see a relief rally for the euro, and will also see stronger data coming out of europe. pmi's are very high, so i think there is no problem for the rest of this year. but we will move into the italian election next year. there's a strong anti-european morement, so there are problems ahead. the british exit, brexit, is a countdown that is happening now, with problems that will only be solved in the 12th hour. there's more volatility ahead over the next two years at least for europe, and that is going to be a rocky road. kathleen: you were talking about

this earlier, that there is a possibility brexit is more than a risk to just the u.k. it is a risk to all of europe , potentially, that could hurt the economy and spill over into the global economy. what is the chance of that? how will that happen? >> like every event. markets are not good at pricing binary events. a binary event could be a hard brexit. from what you hear from the british government, they want to have influence over immigration, so they are not part of the common market. and they want to have trade agreements with the rest of the world. that is part of the customs union. that is the definition of a hard brexit. there is little on the continental european side that will be coming forward to accommodate that british exit. it is self-chosen. so i think there will be a pretty hard exit at the end. that will have very negative repercussions on europe, both the continent and the u.k. , and it will spill over continuously in the next two years into market volatility. every speech the prime minister gives, every election outcome, will be priced by the market.

there will be ups and downs, short release, rallies, more concerns. it will emanate volatility into european markets for two years to come. banks like us have to choose strategies that will make sure we can be of continuous service to our clients throughout europe, both in the u.k. and europe. >> what was your read on what happened in france over the weekend? do you see that as a domestic story, or does that tell you about a larger political occurrence around the world? do you see that as populism being stopped a little bit, or centrism winning the day? >> i think centrism winning the day. i thought earlier, le pen could win if she had a strong left-wing candidate against her. but she -- i knew really as soon as macron won she could not win against a centrist candidate. i don't think it is populism gone away. because if you look at the voting, he got 20 million. she got 10 million. 12 million people abstained. if those 12 million had voted --

or had not spoiled their papers. so there is still a large protest vote. when you think about it, 22 million people did not vote for macron. it is quite a significant move i think. david: do like european equities writ large, french equities in particular? >> i like european equities. i like swiss, german equities. still doing pretty well. the euro being weak really does help germany, as you know. it has the biggest balance of payments surplus in the world. it is a significant advantage for it. david: how about european financials in particular? commerzbank today reporting better-than-expected trading results. everyone of these banks is in the middle of a turnaround plan. >> i am still worried about european banks. structurally -- don't get me wrong, i think they are all trying to do the right thing. u.b.s. is probably further ahead than the rest in becoming a wealth manager.

lloyds has done particularly well by becoming a pure u.k. retail bank, but they are still being hurt by the j.p. morgans and goldmans. they are still really dominating investment banking globally now. juliette: turning to the u.s. economy. last week, president trump told bloomberg he is actively considering a breakup of giant wall street banks, giving a push for the return of the 1933 glass-steagall act. this week, bloomberg's chief washington respondent -- correspondent kevin cirilli spoke with u.s. senator elizabeth warren about the possibility of working with president trump to revive the 1933 law. sen. warren: you bet. i am ready. >> how realistic is it? sen. warren: i am ready. i already have the bill. remember, i have a bipartisan bill already. is johnnsor on this mccain and maria cantwell from

washington, angus king, independent from maine. kevin: have there been private conversations between your office and the white house on this particular measure? channelren: not back yet to the white house, but we are reaching out to the administration generally. kevin: have they been receptive? sen. warren: so far, they have been receptive, and that is what i want to see happen. i am ready. this is one of those basic things. folks on wall street may resist it, but most of the american people get it. there is one kind of banking that is your boring checking account, savings account, and it really ought to be separated from high risk gambling banking. smaller banks went more easily compete against the big banks in the circumstances. smaller investment companies would be able to compete more easily against the investment companies. this is one of those walls that would let you actually have simpler regulations overall. if the banks are only doing banking, banking regulators can

see that, and if the investment companies are doing investment banking, the kind of risk-taking they do, then let's evaluate that separately. >> glass-steagall 2.0, a good idea? >> i don't know enough to tell you if it is a good idea or not. i understand why there is an inclination to go there. i think high capital requirements is a good idea. i think treating the balance sheet transparently is a good idea. the next step, i would have to look a lot more of the details of what would be proposed. >> are we fighting the last battle? mohamed: i think we are to the extent risk has migrated. if i look at where the possible source of the next crisis would come from, it is not the banks. it is the non-banks. >> funny you should say that. because overnight, someone has been making comments about the feeling the bank needs the ability to oversee the shadow banking sector. they are aware of it.

they are just behind -- they just do not have the ability to target it. mohamed: they are very much behind. the extent to which risk has not just migrated to nonbanks, it has morphed in the process. if you worry about a market accident, it is more likely to be out of the nonbanks rather than the banks. juliette: as always this week, plenty of concern among investors about how the federal reserves is global political and economic trends and risks with policymaking fast approaching. for insight, bloomberg caught up with the chicago fed president, charles evans. >> the last time bloomberg caught up with you, you were two rate hikes for 2017. do you still stand by that given the temperance of the data? >> my outlook has not changed that much. if anything, maybe -- the first quarter data was weaker than i would have hoped for. we are looking for the second quarter to make up for that so

it averages closer to my 2.25 rate increase. i am mindful of the fact that for many years, we started off thinking that growth would be stronger and by the time we were finished, it was a little bit lower than that. the unemployment rate is at 4.4%. we have had strong employment growth for some time. this ought to support getting inflation up to our 2% objective. i think we need to get it to 2%. >> you were clear about that. that is our mandate, along with full employment. but the debate around wages. you mooted the discussion around ryan's lachman. if i look at the wages data, this is a little bit like the cpi data. a little bit of question mark the market will put beside it. the wages data at 2%, does that muggy the past to the higher land of rates for the fed? >> right. i think normally you would hope wages would be growing in the 3% to 4% range.

inflation target of 2% with productivity growth, you get 3% to 4%. not quite sure which one dominates. at 2.5%-two .75%, depending on the measure. they say it is difficult to find workers with the skills. you would think that would lead to skills being bid up even more than that. >> it has not happen that way. >> i'm hopeful it will move up. i think resource slack has been eroded quite a lot. probably, we are at 4.4%, arguably we are at full employment. ♪

juliette: you are watching "bloomberg best." i am juliette saly. it has been another busy week of earnings reports from companies around the world. our roundup starts with

quarterly results from disney. >> a little beauty and beastly for entertainment giant disney. they reported better-than-expected earnings per share, $1.50, beating estimates of $1.41. but the revenues were a touch short of expectations. but the real focus is the network division. that is still a problem. the loss of cable subscribers, the content costs. remember, this is a company that spends over $7 billion a year on sports rights contracts. david: it looks to me like it is a story of the theme parks and studios. is that the story? >> it is the story from where i sit, for the quarter we just announced. yes. both of those units were up 20%, 21%. the pessimism about espn is highly exaggerated. espn is still a very healthy and profitable business, one of our most profitable businesses. it is a product in demand. the fact that there are still a

lot of competition for live sports rights only points out just how valuable this product is. no one has gone more of it than -- has got more of it than espn. >> snap down more than 20% in after-hours trading. any which way you look at it, revenue, user growth, all these numbers missed analyst estimates. forecasts also coming in chive expectations. which metric is most disappointing? >> i think the user growth is the main thing that people are looking at, because snap does not have a stable business. this is a very young company. you want to be able to see that there is a future. the future is in the growth. the future is in how many people app thatadd to this they can later make money off of? the growth rate is just not what investors were hoping for from this young, hot company that is incredibly popular among young people. >> when you take the risk of buying an ipo, you expect one or

, if not to or three, quarters where they will do a good job relative to expectations. the first quarter, they missed on everything. users, revenue, cash flow. there is not much to like in the number at all. >> softbank gaining at the tokyo open after full-year profits beat analyst estimates. that is despite the company 's struggles in the u.s. tell us what drove these results. >> it has been a good fiscal year for softbank. they reported a record ¥1.4 trillion in net income for the period ending march 31. of course, that is a one-off, because during that time, they have sold part of its holdings to alibaba as well as its entire stake in the finished game maker super cell. the company also reported more than ¥1 million in operating profit. the company did not give a full-year forecast. someone has said investors can expect operating profits in excess of ¥1 trillion going forward. >> toyota says profit will fall for the second year in a row.

the company's first back-to-back decline since i was two years old in 1994. it sees operating profit-seeking shrinking 20% to $14 billion in the year through march, prompting its pledge to take a closer look at investment. >> how much is the u.s. auto industry and demand a big player in how toyota sees its balance sheet? >> it is a big portion of toyota's revenue and earnings. the yen definitely has a role in that. the appreciating yen does not help toyota. i think a lot of that has been factored into the stock price. what people are concerned with is, are they able to stick with their outlook for the coming year? they are also forecasting a lower earnings and potential loss. juliette: commerzbank has reported first-quarter net income ahead of all analyst estimates. germany's second-biggest listed bank said net income was 217 million euros in the latest three months, ahead of average

forecasts of 74 million euros. commerzbank says it is still seeking to keep the ratio at 12% or above. >> i think the basic belief is the strategy we have announced at the end of last year is the right thing to do. i think q1 with a good start into the year and decent results proves the strategy is on track so far. that obviously is convincing. >> i.a.g. reported first-quarter net income of 1.14 billion euros, beating expectations. underlying pretax profits also topped estimates, partly due to strength in the turkish banking division. >> how optimistic are you going forward? do you share the market's optimism? >> we are optimistic. at the same time, it is not so much the market we will be looking at. i rather look at the amount of clients. it has gone up from a total of

-- 36 million is the total in terms of clients. if you look at primary clients, it is 9.85. as mentioned, the total amount of loans we made net is $5.7 billion this quarter. we do see client growth on our side. that is really part of following the financial. that is really the part what makes me happy. i am optimistic about that part. >> whole foods reporting second-quarter earnings in line with estimates. and it looks like the investor -- the fight-back against its investor activist is now in action. what do you make of where it stands in the fight and the earnings, which the market is reacting positively to? >> they are saying five new board members, a new chair of the board, so some people who have been on the board a long time leaving. they are accelerating programs. they are doing more cost-cutting. they will change the way they purchase products to centralize those operations. definitely some positive news.

i'm not convinced necessarily says wens janius accept this and go away. i think potentially there is more they might want. it seems investors are happy with what they are hearing from whole foods. >> we have a dividend raise, a share buyback. all surprising things. they are trying at the very least. >> that is right. they're working with ever core to fend off janus. clearly, they have circled the wagons. they're coming out with a lot of news to say, we are on top of this and can turn it around. ihn mackey, the ceo, saying, am in control and can do this. i think that is the message from whole foods this afternoon. >> bricks and mortar retail continue to struggle. this time, it is macy's who se shares have been falling in the premarket after earnings came out this morning, falling short of expectations across the board. on earnings, revenues, and same store sales. at the same time, they said for the year, we think we will be able to hold up. how do you square those things? they were off significantly on earnings-per-share. but they still think they can

make it through the year. >> i think it is puzzling thing to say. the first quarter is often the worst for retailers. you do not have to boost from holidays, sometimes easter messes things up, so maybe they still think they have some sort of plan for the rest of the year. but it is puzzling. >> allianz reported pimco net inflows totaled 21 billion euros in the first quarter. europe's largest insurer confirmed its outlook for 2017 operating profit at 10.8 billion euros, plus or -.5 billion. >> the 200 million ahead of our pro rata outlook for the year. insurance is always a volatile business. therefore, it is too early to address our outlook. it is true, pimco is really on a great turn for recovery. we had already a great last quarter in q4. now q1 continues. i think q2 will also continue the success story of pimco. ♪

>> the vix, often called the fear gauge, though it is not really a measure of implied volatility, at its lowest level at one point today since 1993. below 10. that is an extraordinarily low implied volatility. >> this is hmov on the bloomberg, which looks at historical movers by index weighting. you want to focus on this part of the screen. not surprising. apple, which is at a record. alphabet, microsoft, amazon at a record. facebook, paypal, broadcom. >> there are about 30,000 functions on the bloomberg. we always enjoyed showing you our favorites on bloomberg television. maybe they will become your favorite. here is another function you will find useful.

quic . it will take you to our quick takes, where you can get fast insight into timely topics. here is a quick take from this week. pres. trump: everyone is listening to you now. you came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before. >> u.s. president donald trump's victory is part of a new wave of populism sweeping through democracies of the world. what differentiates populists from mainstream politicians is they claim they alone represent the will of the people as a whole. that allows them to dismiss any opposition to themselves or their policies as an attack on the popular will. modern populists often take this approach as they tap into the backlash against immigration and globalized economies many voters feel have left them behind. here is the situation. unlike most ism's, populism does

not to lean left or right or even center. from the late, radical socialist in venezuela to the far right nationalist marine le pen in france, the uniting factor is how they conduct politics. according to one author, there are three requirements for politicians to be considered populists. one, they make an appeal to the people, championing their cause against a despised elite. mr. trump: she will keep our rigged system in place. i alone can fix it. >> populists also use crises or manufacture them to justify the call to revolt. lastly, inflammatory language is used to shock the establishment and prove politicians' credentials as one of the people. >> there is a lot of scum in holland that makes the streets unsafe. >> here is the argument. because populists make big promises to shake up society, they tend to bump up quickly against democratic checks and balances. in particular, the courts and media that were designed to limit what governments can do.

the temptation becomes to declare these institutions as part of an elite conspiracy to block the people's will. pres. trump: i have a running war with the media. they are among the most dishonest human beings on the earth. >> there is a reason why populists emerge. they promise a correction for democracies that seem to have lost their representative power, and they offer a fresh start. the challenge remains for mainstream politicians to address widespread economic and cultural fears. otherwise, the draw of populism is not going away anytime soon. >> anything is possible if enough decent people are prepared to stand up against the establishment. thank you very much indeed. juliette: that was just one of the many quick takes you can find on the bloomberg. you can also find them at bloomberg.com, along with the latest business news and analysis 24 hours a day. that will be all for "bloomberg best" this week. thanks for watching. i am juliette saly.

this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ haidi: china lays the foundations for a new east-west railroad, and is the project of the century. victims in 150 countries. the weekend cyberattacks may strike again this week. haidi: the world's biggest miner is having a makeover. set for a name change and a new image. betty: g7 finance ministers