washington dc will now determine if micex should face criminal charges for allegedly authorizing the disclosure of sensitive information to the media. accusations,sputed which he says are in attack on his credibility. despite the world economies record expansion, high debt and trade wars pose risks. managing director discussed how current trade frictions could affect investments. doneme modeling has been -- and the actual impact on growth is not very substantial when you measure in terms of gdp. ist is more important something that is difficult to measure in the short-term, and that the erosion of confidence. mark: she's just slipping confidence can make investors more reluctant. a doctor illegally prescribing

opioid for prince for the musician died has agreed to pay $30,000 to settle a civil cl aim. he what a prescription in the name of princess bodyguard -- who diedbodyguard, from a next until overdose of fentanyl. the criminal charges will be filed in the musician's death. president trump was briefed on anti-drug trafficking effort and traveled to key west florida for an update on the joint interagency tax force -- task force. air,agency keeps tabs by sea, and online. >> we need border protection. we need to have the wall. mark: the president called the

briefing a great education. global news 24 hours a day, on twitter -- tictoc on i'm mark crumpton, this is bloomberg. ♪ julia: live from new york i am julia chatterley. where 30 minutes from the close with stocks slipping and the tenure approaching highs. is, but the question "what'd you miss?" julia: speculation the g russian government to come to aid, and that apple iphone

tracking down semi conductors, ringing the alarm for the current quarter. and the turkish president throwing his opponent for a loop, calling for a step election that could give him the upper hand. aluminum posted its first boston for the space and speculative russia could come to the aid -- aluminum posted its first loss, and commodities markets have been rocked in the last two weeks the clampdown of the largest aluminum supplier outside of china. there is for alternative supplies and concerns that the u.s. actions could affect other markets like nickel. here to talk about what is next for industrial metals is bloomberg's metals and mining reporter. hasn't it been a fascinating couple of weeks?

let's start with the prospect of russia bailing out, what does it mean for shoring up supplies because of sanctions? >> there is so much speculation as to what is worth to happen with resolve. will the russian government step in and bring them off the board for sanctions? and as the report we had overnight from college in asia and europe reporting that russian officials have been meeting with china but possible offtake there. it is a very, speculative market. joe: what is happening right now? is everyone sitting around? as a company while they figure out -- a bake minor who cannot move their products. when you talk about something like this, it is a true black swan. there is a sense of chaos going on.

the market is showing it. traders are showing it. what is actually going on -- like we reported last night, they are trying to do anything they can to get back into this market. lisa: in the meantime a lot of people are saying this will break them supply chains and crates the problem for the alumina market. how much is that true and how much is that just speculation? joe: it is a worry longer-term. short-term people are scrambling to find out how to replace units. julia: sorry to interrupt but we have some breaking news crossing the bloomberg terminal. what we have heard is the president met last week with rod rosenstein, and it has been told he is not a target of any part of the special counsel robert miller's investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter. we're joined from d.c. with the

latest. talk is through the details and the significance of rosenstein telling the president he is not part of the investigation. yet to remember the context of last week and i get that trump was going to remove rosenstein. incrediblewas under pressure from trump and congressional republicans and other conservatives. speculationng the that rosenstein was going to be fired. then he goes in to a meeting with trump at the end of the week, and the meeting was held to talk about the justice department turning over documents. rosenstein told trump he was not a target of the investigation, and that was what you are able to report for now. lisa: give us a sense of the significance of this. it appears to relieve pressure on rosenstein. trump after that meeting was

saying some of his aides that he doesn't see the need to fire rosenstein. it seems to have given rosenstein some breathing room. the other significance is you have to deputy attorney general talking to drop about an active investigation. it is thathat unusual, because we know, he told truck he wasn't under investigation personally. call me told trump he was not under investigation. case ofuilds the obstruction of justice or other crimes. there is no case to charge trump, but it does mean they won't. joe: this is the key thing i would like it to expand on. in theory, although right now,

rosenstein told trippi is not the target -- he still could be the target at some point, so how reassuring is that the president trump? chris: i am not sure president trump understands the additional context of what is happening. i think he came into the meeting thinking he is in the clear. what we have been told is everything about this investigation that mueller is doing -- the central person in the investigation is trump and his campaign and associates. while trump is not a specific target right now, which means the prosecutors don't have the actual indictment ready to go, they are still looking at his activities. he is the subject of investigation. joe: quickly to clarify this, this might tell us more about

rosenstein's job security to the degree in which trump to feel comfortable. chris: i think that is right, rosenstein walked out of that meeting with breathing room. julia: the message seems to be that the president said that neither man beast to be removed at this stage because it does not want to prolong the investigation, and that would be the inference here. the president could ultimately be caught up in the investigation that is targeting rot havelse -- i would this conversation with the president at this stage? why would you have to make it ?lear that he is not target chris: the subject of the meeting last week was about the justice department handed over documents to congress. rosenstein threw in there that trump isn't the target of the investigation. we are doing additional reporting in terms of what else might have been set in that

meeting. thatis point, it does seem all the buildup for rosenstein subsided at this point. julia: we'll know what precipitated the discussion, with the president saying if i am targeted here or am i not? and rosenstein seeing you are not? we still want to get additional context as to what discussion took place. lisa: we have a sense of where we are with miller's investigation and when it will wrap up? chris: we believe we are getting into the real meat of the investigation. if you look at the indictments until now, they have been on people like paul manafort for money laundering and tax evasion. our michael flynn for

obstructing justice and lying to investigators. the real meat of the investigation gets into the issues of whether there was cooperation between anybody on trump's campaign, or whether trump had knowledge of the russian interference in the election, and also the obstruction of justice. things are moving at a fast pace, and obviously we have the investigation into trump's lawyer now, michael cohen and the rate on his office. now you have a whole other track of investigation taking place in new york. the u.s. attorney is leading that office in that case. there are now parallel investigations into associates of trump that are moving into the meat of evidence and prosecution. julia: it goes back to the point that just because you are not the target does it mean you are not caught up in their. it also echoes the president's

conversations with james comey when he was the director of the thatand he was told at point he was of the target of the fbi's investigation into russian meddling in the elections. you make the connection as well in the story. omey put out the provides the background and framework for the interaction that senior justice department officials are having with president trump and comey reached the point he was so appalled by the way trump was interacting with him that he asked to not be left alone with the president. fired, so, he got rosenstein has been in the hot seat. rosenstein has been facing the and he ising fired,

going into situations where he is interacting with trump. it might not be surprising to see trump begin to lean on him to make public announcements about whether trump is under investigation, like trump did with comey. or to try to ask rosenstein to take other action that remains to be seen. and givingnature context of how these discussions can play out when you are dealing with the president. fridaythink it was last -- is this the day rosenstein is going to get fired? it felt like used to come at any moment. there was wobbling in the market and people were wondering what go on during the weekend. was rosenstein close based on what you know? chris: it ebbs and flows.

went up to theit edge, and it came in the context of trump's lawyer michael cohen and his office be graded, and miller playing a role in that. the trump looks over landscape, he sees who is in charge, rosenstein is in charge of mueller. and he begins to wrap up the pressure on mueller, and trump allies as well. that is when rosenstein was facing a lot of pressure. in considering the idea that he was going to be fired. this week is a different story. it seems the pressure has backed off some. we will see what comes next week and the end of this week. julia: we are now joined by bloomberg's view columnist. what you make of the conversation with the deputy attorney general at the

president, telling him he is not a target of the current investigations? does it give the president a reason to breathe a sigh of relief? he may be on as more evidence is turned out. to a year in the mueller probe and a over a year in the fbi investigation -- i think it is factly different. there is an echo of the famous conversation that james comey writes in his book, that trump was not a direct target, but declined to say in any way to the press. at the time, the environment was that trump was being as heigated by the fbi was coming into office. there is a little bit of a difference here. i have to tip my hat and congratulate jennifer jacobson

for this terrific piece. nowfact this is coming out is an important distinction. message that the same was relayed privately is being reported. it also changes the coverage of it. that i want to talk about -- is there a sense that these types of conversations are proper to be had by a-rod rosenstein with president trump -- with rod rosenstein and the president? does it matter? eli: i am going off of the reporting of this piece, but more importantly, none of this is really normal. we haven't had a president whose campaign was under investigation for a very serious issue, which is the potential of collusion with a hostile power. whowe never had a president

openly talks about firing the attorney general, and then fires his fbi director after he announces publicly there is an investigation into the trump campaign. we are in a new territory at this point. but none of it is normal in that sense, but it is significant that more than a year into the investigation, trump remains that he is still not a target in that sense. it is also significant because he has a whole different set of columns that we don't know yet with this michael cohen investigation. if trump was involved in intimidating people he was trying to quiet with money and things like that. those are potentially serious crimes, and if there are connections to him, we may find ourselves in a similar scenario

we did with the 1990's when investigations about corruption and into anr, investigation about the cover-up of sexual harassment. kellyfter begin when you -- winnie o'kelly. >> there are specific meanings in a legal sense. i would also say that priestly the washington post reported that trump lawyers have been told he is not a target and a subject, and this alliance with what we are hearing. that would have been discussions expected to be had around if he is what to testify or not. if you are a target, that changes the definition of how you are going to testify if you testify, and what your lawyers advise you to do. explain the difference between a target and subject of how you get treated and what that means is arson investigation like russian meddling is concerned. winnie: michael cohen is a

target. there's a grand jury sitting. i don't know specifically about what, but he is a target and we know that, and that means anything going on around him, he knows if he testifies he can incriminate himself. other people in the investigation may be subject -- people not in charge -- people aware of not been charged and may become a target. target is someone has an active investigation going and next expected charges. lisa: i want to note the market did move on this report, and the s&p 500 did rise after this coup came out. the market rose. i want to bring in mike reagan for that mliv blog on the bloomberg terminal. why did the markets view this as positive news? reasonsu list all the the market is down today, i would think mueller made the list.

and obviously, there's some concern about this investigation they can to market prices, if you believe this reaction. it is possible this is a knee-jerk reaction. computer strategies saw the headline and reacted to it. i do think there is a little concerned that into the market. it is not easy to draw a straight line from the into stocks and earnings in the economy. it is a big area of uncertainty for investors. clearing it up will probably be good source some. those between the difference of the target of a subject and how important this is -- if he take a step away and look at the context, the president takes the view according to this report that he is not a target, and i will removed interrupt up anytime soon and we don't want to prolong it.

is he jumping the gun a little bit? winnie: this is not torn to wrap up anytime soon. eli: i would just say the real question is political. that trump evidence did or knew about doing the campaign that is at a level of collusion, it is a question for congress whether there is misdemeanors and so forth under the constitution to impeach. exactly mueller comes up with a degree of coordination. what is worth pointing out is that a year ago, back in 2017 and the early months, was unclear what the trump ministration approach and foreign policy would be to russia. there was a pending question that halted all of washington and the entire world, if there will be a quote for the alleged

quit that russia did -- quib that russia did. there is no evidence the trump government pursued anything like a soft line on vladimir putin and russia. would have to be a committed partisan to claim otherwise. and what trump has done in striking russia in syria and that removing sanctions and adding new sanctions, and supporting the expression of nato to include montenegro -- the list goes on. for now it doesn't seem the russians have gotten anything for their investment, so to speak. chris, did you get any sense in your reporting of where we are in this investigation, to go back to the point that lisa was making, we get a sense of

where they are in terms of progress? >> one thing that is at play here is whether or not a sitting president can be indicted. the idea rosenstein tow truck is not a target of the investigation is also a product of this open debate if you can indict a sitting president. as you i mentioned, there is a political element to this in the sense that as the investigation proceeds, if they find that trump committed crimes, and it want to put that into some kind of document, it could be in the form of a report that goes to congress. then it is up to congress to decide whether to bring impeachment proceedings against president trump. we are a long way away from knowing this, because the investigation is still continuing. new rocks are still being found

and overturned with new evidence . there's still an open question if president trump sit for an interview with mueller. that could lead to a whole new line of questioning. there is the ongoing cases, which will continue to generate evidence. winnie: we have to remember there are several ponds this investigation. we have the patrol farm in russia and the hiking please investigation and several other pieces including obstruction. we don't know where we are to wind up. joe: the michael cohen thing, this new think people are talking about a week ago has now become the number one story here. what is the big thing we are watching for next? the procedural thing is so interesting because who gets to look at all the communication and decide what prosecutors's can view? that we don't know.

also if you will try to cut a deal, or if he has a significant list of problems, and he differently does. there is a grand jury sitting. for then't know, except last year or two that his activities are in the spotlight. we don't know beyond that how bad it is going to get. interesting too note that people are speculating that michael cohen will be willing to cooperate with any investigators in investigation against trump. how does that play into this? seems tohe assumption be that michael cohen has great criminal concerns. i don't know that, he hasn't been charged with anything, just is still an innocent man, but there are some concerns. but whatever it is, you will get a better deal if you cooperate. there is some expect vision that might happen, and we saw that happen with michael flynn and gates. and paul manafort is fighting

the charges against him, but article on most not a lot more about the president and the campaign, even though it was not part of the campaign, including big involved in the rnc and the transition. those are things we are interested in. julia: we need a diagram to talk about the story. [laughter] o'kelley, great scoop. lisa: some news is crossing the terminal, and operator of u.s. ceo, announces that their will retire an announcement could come as soon as this week. turning losses on the day in response -- real estate investment trust that owns u.s. malls. julia: the market closes next. we have less than four minutes to go. you can see in the red in the last few moments, and the tech

sector is underperforming. we will bring you all the details. this is bloomberg. ♪ this wi-fi is fast.

i know! i know! i know! i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is

simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. ♪ julia: stocks breaking news were

before the close. i am julia chatterley. and if you are tuning in live on twitter we welcome you to the closing bell coverage. we begin with our market minutes. today we saw in the red, tech leading the way. people are getting jittery particularly with apple, considering the fact we might get smartphones being less and demand. also saw the semi conductor space having some weakness. you can see red across the given thed as that tech heavy nature is down significantly. to give you a sense of specific stocks, we mentioned apple and nvidia.

and disappoint forecast indicating that perhaps there'll will be less demand for iphone 10 and iphone 8. and nvidia following up on that wondering if the semi conductor space is overvalued at this point. 6%, androup falling phillip morris sing the biggest one-day decline 2008. decline, and people are not smoking as much as they used to, great for health care but not so great for people selling cigarettes. joe: let's look at the big action today, and that was an the long end of the curve and government bond markets. two-year,and the 2.34% -- 2.43%. and the 10 year yield is up at 2.91, if you basis points higher

earlier in the day, i can to .93, so some steepening as opposed to flattening. and it wasn't only in the u.s. this happened. take a look at europe. up,zerland 10 year yield france, youland, can go down the list. there are theories about what is going on. i saw cameron crise talk about profit taking, and he loathed using a term like that because it is a horrible cliche. some people talk about european supply, i think there is a clear answer, but a major break up work in the long end of this developed market curve. spread --y, the 210 you see this deepening.

julia: there are more investable things to buy. possibly the united states with rising yields. [laughter] julia: and currency lad we saw the dollar rising -- and joe mentioned as well, we saw the canadian dollar, a mixed back. gaining from the strength of commodities, and oil is at a three-year high, and canadian prime minister singh nafta talks saying naftaied -- talks have intensified. three days now of the losses there, we have taken a lot of weakness on the strength we saw following the brexit decision. you can see right now it is softer in the session. soft today after gains yesterday relative to the u.s. dollar. will talk in detail on what on

earth is going on in turkey and with fresh elections mean for the country. joe: now a look at commodities, are higher commodity prices inflationary or disinflationary? today, we got a cooling. earlier today there were up, and then commodities were breaking a little. $69, then down modestly. the commodity world down a little bit, and iron ore -- a wild day in metals. it is the center of the market action right now. and those are today's market minutes. lisa: for more on today's market moves, let's bring in kevin caron, who joins us from new jersey.

i want to start with the tech sector because we saw apple in particular in the semi conductor, is this a buying opportunity? ? >> i don't think so, we actually shied away in the growth areas of the market led by technology, he saw such a big run up there last week, particularly as akin to the end of the year and beginning part of this year. by contrast when we look at the value oriented sectors of the market -- there is a better risk-reward trade-off there. a couple of months ago we cut off our exposure to growth and by definition, technology. i wouldn't change it here, and they could settle down further. storyesterday, the lead on the bloomberg was talking about all these people concerned about flattening. and you have a story like that and get one of the biggest

steepening in moves in a while and harkens back to early february. what is going on there and what is going to happen next? kevin: it will have to do with the economy. our read on it lately has been somewhat better. through january, february, and march, we looked at a wide variety of economic indicators on the long end of the curve will key off of that. when you got to february we saw some weakening, and we cut back our equity exposure because we some weakening in the economy. here, we are seeing a bit of firming here. particularly after the flood think we have seen in the last few weeks. julia: we also see a real libor and the two-year rate and implications of that financing for companies in particular. i know you don't around and

looked at the most indebted companies. what does an increase in funding costs are we talking about for these companies? do you expect that to continue to weigh on the stocks in particular? kevin: companies that are financed in the short end in particular with libor, regardless of the reason an increase in libor recently -- the reality is it is going to increase funding costs. we started to look at companies that may have a bit heavy amount of debt in the capital structure and tied to libor. they have been underperforming generally speaking in the s&p. we have to be leery of this and this time of the cycle. and we also look for more signs of inflation and want to be careful there. lisa: i want to push back a little bit, because there are

companies that have leveraged corporate loans that were priced out of libor were experiencing bigger stock declines. haven't we been seeing a corporate flow market with repricing's spreads narrowing? is this really a correlation or could this be something else and correlation and causation? kevin: when you look at companies that have more volatility -- it comes from somewhere. the comes with the nature of the business or how the business is financed. that was the case during the financial crisis with many financial companies who are no longer with us. ultimately, it is valuations, those the things we focus on. when you get deep into an economic cycle, particularly one where you had no interest rates for a very long time -- which can encourage some that investments -- want to be particularly careful of companies that have gone too far out the spectrum and taken on too much debt, because that can

engender risks you don't want to expose yourself to, particularly if you end up in a recession. julia: when do we see that playing out? for many companies, as long as you can borrow and invest the risingeven as the prices -- you are still winning. that is true, but the thing i can change is the prospects and expectations of the investments you are making. a lot of that assumption and the idea you can earn a greater return on your capital than the cost per capita is true, that will create value. but often those loans and expectations for the returns to be earned are returns that are in the future. there is some risk involved in this. there is a temptation, and we said many times in the past with credit cycles -- that credit is overextended, and many times it takes a washing out to really out where the weak spots

are, and where some of the misjudgments were in terms of those expected returns. you have to be careful, and that is all we are out recommending. joe: there's a lot of action in the commodities space right now, particularly in the metals. for a u.s. centric specifically, oil, people did not have that on the radar. how does it change the dynamic in the investing landscape? kevin: the commodity prices and oil prices haven't gotten so high as to create a real threat to the vibrancy of the economy. the one place that has been a little difficult has been looking at the dollar, which is underlying a lot of this. we see a weakening dollar despite rising interest rates and a better economy in the united states. it is a little peculiar and we have been somewhat wrong in our call of the dollar this year.

but ultimately we see some firming in the dollar, and we expect to see oil prices settle down and not become much of a drag on consumption or the overall prospects of the economy. we are not all that worried about it. julia: where do you see that playing out in terms of cross rates? ultimately, if you look at the united states versus europe, the dollar euro we expect to see some strengthening their. we see the fed leading the ecb in terms of tightening, and we think the prospects in the united states over the next six to 12 months will look better relative to growth rates in europe, which have been surprising over the last year or so. we expect that the bonds out over time and expect to see the dollar strengthened somewhat versus the euro over the next six to 12 months. julia: kevin, great to get your insights. intrigue, the

attorney general telling president trump last week he is not the target of a special counsel investigation, but how much assurance and that the county. we'll have more coming right up. this is bloomberg. ♪

mark: i am mark crumpton with first world news. the beauty attorney general robert was a sample president trump last week he is not the target of special counsel robert miller's investigation. according to people familiar with the matter, or was inside but the pope think a meeting with the president a week ago today, the president hasn't ruled out moving rosenstein and

miller, respond to reporters questions about their faith today by saying that the two are still here. despite objections from senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, the judiciary committee will consider a special counsel protection bill. the bipartisan legislation was introduced last week as president trump publicly criticized robert mueller. >> covers must consider its role to make sure it can avail itself of traditional checks from the executive branch. in my view, that means congress should at least required the executive branch to issue detailed reports to congress about the appointment, investigation, or mobile of special counsel, especially in light of the work done by bipartisan group of senators from this committee. ofk: chairman grassley said mitch mcconnell that the views of the majority leader are important to consider, but they do not govern what happens here

in the judiciary committee. the justice department general is finding a former fbi director andrew mccabe repeatedly misled investigators. the top federal prosecutor in washington dc when not determine if mccain should face criminal charges for allegedly authorizing the disclosure of sensitive information to the media. the top federal prosecutor in washingtonmccain has disputed tt investigations, which he caused an attack on his credibility. in the u k, signs the reason may challenges on brexit. the house of lords has overwhelmingly voted to push the u.k. torts staying in the customs union with the eu. the labour party treasury spokesperson says it is time for the prime minister to make a deal. john mcdonald spoke to bloomberg in london. >> whatever happens to the commons of lords will defeat this government until we get a

sense of copper mice. i think it was staggering -- if i was the theresa may, i would be saying the game is over. after get a deal around the customs union. day: global news 24 hours a on the air and on tictoc on twitter. i am mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. scoop,a bloomberg news rod rosenstein is said to have told president trump last week he is not a target of any part of special counsel robert mueller's investigation into russian interference in the election. let's begin our next guest, kevin, talk us through how significant it is to have this conversation, discussing what president trump and his involvement in the investigation is, and also the fact he is told

he is not a specific target. kevin: it is interesting this conversation happened at all. we know rod rosenstein went to the white house last week in part to persuade the president's frustrations. you're hearing from people on the hill that rosenstein was slow to comply with the request. apparently at this meeting he volunteered about the mueller investigation, and said trump was not a target of it. the real question is, what does that mean? for now it appears to have cooled off some of the president anger and a talk about firing robert mueller or rod rosenstein. at the same time, not being a target might be a technicality. he may not be about to charge them -- but it does mean he one at someome point in the armor the investigation hence, it is still an ongoing investigation with

many threats that investigators are pursuing. ire canversely, trump's just because day, trump may have backed off rod rosenstein for now does early mean he will not want to fire him next week. kevin: that is exactly right, although guest told when adviser he does not want to do anything that will prolong the investigation. he understands there is a chance that this would prolong it rather than get it over with. if there is a chance to get it over with sooner, then he wants to do that. but if something changes and there's new information out there, or a shift in the wind, that could change. as wei have to wonder, discussed the ins and outs of what is happening with robert miller's investigation, is there anything we can cling onto as far as dates and events and that their investigations to pay attention to that that's a

deadline on this? kevin: the straight answer is no. we get the sense mueller does not want an indefinite investigation by it is not looking to have this go on as but we knowible, there's a number of active threads and they're not done with the things they are planning to do. there's also onboard cases including a trial with trump's former campaign manager, paul manafort. that doesn't start until the summer at the earliest. we know those events are ongoing and there's a whole new investigation involving trump's lawyer, michael cohen. it is clear that the work through legal questions and materials seized and fbi rate of his office, home, and hotel room. there is no clear legal deadline of any kind. i guess the question would be if there is any political deadline from the president's perspective or perhaps from congress?

.ulia: you mean the midterms thank you so much. we will continue to talk about it. coming up, the forecast for iphone demands leaving the industry's ringing the alarm bell on sales. we will talk about today's slump right up. this is bloomberg. ♪

julia: a semi slump as apple fell today after the tower semiconductor issued a tepid growth forecast amid rising concerns about iphone demands. we are joined by romit shah. how concerned are we?

romit: we are concerned, and was interested from the report as not only did they reduce their guidance for the quarter, they reduced the guidance for the full year. an issue withe is iphone demand in this corner and reducing expectations for iphone demand in the fall, when new phones come out. joe: semi conductors have been weak lately, and have been bulletproof until recently, but they are now selling off. we have a chart showing the one-day move and housing of get it is. how much of a story is the slowdown in smartphone sales -- and how much is it that the story that people have been bullish on some i conductors for a while, there's a secular way upward without pricing pressure coming to an end? less about mobile and more about the trade war we are hearing about with china and the u.s.

you saw qualcomm deal on hold. if you think about the group and the performance in the last two years, m&a has been a big part of the notebook expansion we have seen in a lot of these names. if it is holding back this deal, the market concern is one not see other deals for quite some time. take meanwhile you have concerns and the battle with the u.s. on china, and no one had with apple you are dealing with the diversification issue with the lack of diversification feeling at the chart on the bloomberg terminal. you can see at the breakdown of apple's revenues -- iphone revenue is the main driver. that is the white line, whereas services, and other parts is a small fraction. how big of a deal is this that we are seeing a slowdown in iphone sales? what does it mean for the company? romit: then analyst who covers apple is that the advocate for the stock. the way i look at it is that

this is supposed to be asked iphone x was supposed to be a super cycle, and it hasn't been very super. the smartphone industry reminds be a lot of the pc industry from five years ago. you got to a point where the market was saturated. everybody has an iphone. they are holding on to their iphone longer, replacement rates are going down, and that is an issue for apple and a lot of their suppliers. julia: were talking about this on bloomberg markets, saying to hang on to the thing. at what point are people going upgrade, they go to the iphone x, for example? is there a catch up? romit: i am an optimist and out of the we are dancing innovation with phones. one think the tech industry is talking but in the next couple of years as we could start to see foldable iphones.

is that innovation that can read people in. about the chip side specifically. so much of the argument is that every guest in the world is going to be smart, ar and vr and all the stuff nvidia does -- cloud and all that, is that in place? romit: i think the long-term drivers are still intact. if you look at the future you economists, iot, driving -- those technologies are enabled i semi conductors. i wouldn't get to bearish -- i would look at these names like macron or applied material and say, when do i buy them? lisa: romit shah, thank you for being with us. from new york, this is bloomberg. ♪

mark: i am mark the first world news. house minority leader says president trump must come to congress of you wants to continue military action in syria. pelosi said going to congress will help the president. >> is his best protection. as he said, obama needs congressional approval. that was august 20 9, 2016. day, het 30, the next said the president must get congressional approval before it attack on syria. say that he goes on to we shouldn't attack syria. says there isagon

no reports of civilian casualties from last week's asos strikes by the united states, france, and britain. kenneth mckenzie says some of the sites strike in syria likely included chlorine gas and sarah . >> we can say with 100% certainty that is the case, but we believe the evidence is there were chemical weapons at the site. mark: pentagon spokeswoman says there are no indications that syria is preparing to use chemical weapons again. new measures are coming to puerto rico seven months after it was devastated by hurricane maria. if federal control old is made today and six by the to approve several fiscal plans that will serve as the islands economic blueprint for the next five years. those plans call for an average 10% cut to the island's pension

system. the plans also call for the closure of prisons to consolidate dozens of state agencies, and the cuts in government subsidies. the supreme court says associate justice sonia sotomayor's shoulder break is worse than first thought on the court says the 63-year-old sotomayor cutback on travel. she hurt herself in a fall at her home on sunday. jesus she doesn't expect to be back on the bench next week when the court hears its last arguments of the term. global news, 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2,700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. julia: stocks across the board for u.s. equities -- the tech sector down a tens of 1%,

underperforming, in the brief spike at the end of the session. and the headline crossing the president is not the target of the russian investigation -- and we have heard throughout the show, difficult understand what that means. and talk about flattening in the yield curve, and we see a bit of steepening. watch this space is all i am saying. and cuba's national assembly elected as successor of raul castro, ending six decades of rule from the castro family. the new president will still have to answer to raul castro, will remain the head of the congress party. joining us now is the director of the latin american studies. great to have you with us, thank you for joining us. i have seen it described as the biggest little transition in six decades, yet is the new president going to be answering to the castro's, how big of a change is going to be politically?

that tomorrowieve is going to look very much like today, and yesterday. there is a symbolic change, no doubt, as the castro family moves out of a formal leadership is a ship in the government. as you mentioned, raul castro will continue to have the communist already of cuba for the time being. and the years old, longevity runs in the castro family. they are not immortal. [laughter] miguel diaz canal took and we arersday, looking at worsening relations with president trump and cuba. economically, what are you expecting for cuba? economically cuba is passing through a difficult time.

for two or three years, there message to the cuban population to prepare yourselves for another special period, referring to the time in the early 90's and the decade of the 90's after the fall of the soviet union went to but really fell out of what was the second world communist fear, led by the soviet union, and into a condition of a poor and developing country. with the openings that have taken place in cuba -- internal structuring of the cuban economy ashtead have been opportunities, no doubt, for some cubans to get ahead. nevertheless, the macroeconomic outlook for cuba is very difficult. the american embargo continues to stifle economic growth to impede economic growth, and at the same time, cuba is looking for and has found other investors and backers in other countries.

we can think of brazil for example, venezuela, up until a year and a half ago was also a big backer. china is a big investor into cuba. the cuban government is most concerned about economic change and how to maneuver in the internal restructuring in cuba will also maintaining political control. as well, to provide some semblance of improvement in the quality of life of everyday cubans. new we don't expect the president to go full on on reforms that you sometimes see with a new president. plausibly -- you anted at opening restructuring of the political confines, what could that look like? richard: there is a current positive the issuance of licenses for entrepreneurial practices i cubans.

you get the cup opening a restaurant or cafe, being able to wreck out a room in a home or a home for tourism. these small economic enterprises, which to make a very big difference in the lives of cubans were able to access those opportunities. there is a positive issuance right now, to has been statements since august of last saying the government, this has gotten out of control and we need to understand what is happening. a general accountability of who has what kind of licenses for what kind of practices and get a real understanding of how socioeconomic differentiation is taking place. this is a concern for the cuban government because it is clear that some cubans are getting ahead, improving their quality of life, and others are very much left behind. these socioeconomic inequalities create problems within the discourse of the cuban revolution. this discourse has changed a little bit over time, instead of

everyone being equal -- there's an emphasis on everyone having equal opportunities. richard, thank you very much, director of latin american studies. lisa: up next, turkish delight, and the market reaction to early elections in turkey. joe: and a reminder to subscribe to our podcast on itunes, and will find our best content to enjoy over the weekend. you love watching us monday through friday, and you can listen to the best interviews over the weekend. you can go seven days a week and never go a day without us. this is bloomberg. ♪

julia: it is time for the business flash of the biggest business stories right now. the ceo of intercontinental hotel short off the boat to leave the eu. key strategicwith or nurse something we are focused on. we think the u.k. is an incredible long-term market. >> are still bullish on the u.k.? >> is only 5% of our business globally, but it is where we are based and more opportunity for us to grow our branson the market. julia: developing intercontinental luxury brands, the governor of the south african reserve bank once the warning of a trade war and spoke to bloomberg tv at meetings in washington. definitely trade and what is the extent

of the damage -- that is significant. good for the global economy. julia: u.k. podcaster scott shareholders price for a bidding war with 20th century fox and comcast. skype added new customers last quarter as it waits for u.k. relators to the site its planned tie up with fox. 13, inion is due by june the meantime, comcast and at a premium to the fox bit and will formalize its offer soon. streaming radio is starting to pay off, the social media from trails facebook in monthly active users, but an increasing number of advertisers are buying slots on their timelines.

twitter daily active users jumped all percent over the last quarter, marking the sixth time in a row it reported double-digit growth. shares areorts that up 30% this year. and that is your business flash update. turkish president announced yesterday that snap elections would be held in june, a year earlier than scheduled. begin nordic reporter, tells about turkish assets, is it about reduced uncertainty sooner rather than later? things,nk there is two one is he is willing to hold elections early means he is confident that he is going to win, and we're going to have a status quo that the market is more comfortable with, then ate uncertain political situation.

the other thing is the currency has been going down, and the fact that is happening is something that might make the ,resident the little concerned and therefore try to stabilize things into the election, so i think that is fitting into market sentiment and will have those efforts taking place. joe: is the status quo good? jens: we have seen on a number of occasions that the market likes to know what is in store. when the you might have political reservations about what is going on, knowing what is happening often makes the market comfortable relative to the alternative of total uncertain outlook. does the perspective if you want to look at this. lisa: i have seen some analysis that traders are expecting the turkish government to raise rates in the april 25 meeting next week. how likely is that in how much is that is being priced in to

the lira? the: the issue there is experience in turkey has been that the president puts political pressure on the central bank to not raise rates to much. the reason we have had a weak currency in turkey for several years is that real interest rates is incredibly low relative to what is going on in the economy. the big question now is, with the election around the corner, is the pressure from the president and government overall going to be less? and is the central bank allowed to move? this is a tricky situation and the market is split as to whether a hike will happen. it is fair to say the trajectory over the next week or two is going to be determined by if the central bank delivers are not. i don't think that is a done deal because we have an election around the corner. julia: election comes after a period of significant reshaping

and consolidation of power in the hands of the president, whoever he may be. what ultimately is that going to be? if you have a president who is anti-tightening moves, why would that change? jens: i think the simple reason it would change -- having the currency going down in a disorderly fashion is not very popular in the general public. that would be a simple feedback mechanism there. i think going back to your first point about what is going on in turkish politics -- it is true that all these changes have happened. for those reasons, it also means that when an election is called early, it really raises the probability that erdogan and his party is going to come out on top, because they would not make this announcement was they are confident that it gives them a real mandate. joe: assuming they get the real what do they do with

it specifically? i think we'll go back to fundamentals, and turkey is facing a very tricky situation and that they have very honorable external balances. as opposed to many emerging markets around the world, they have the kids mobility to rising interest rates because they have a lot of external debt in nominated dollars. they are very vulnerable, and given interest rates this week, we are having significant spikes best i can very make it quite unstable. that is the reality will face regardless of exactly how the votes come in at the election. jens thank you so much, nordvig. finance ministers and central bankers around the world are gathering in washington are the imf spring meeting. trade is at the top of everyone's mind, and our own

francine lacqua was there and caught up with the australian finance minister to get his thoughts of trade wars. australia, we are always optimistic and believe the world is a better shape economically than a few years ago. i have been coming to this meeting for some time now, and the first three years in this job -- the imf what downgrade the global growth outlook in every meeting. we now have three upgrades in the global growth outlook, so overall things are looking up. in the u.s. and europe, and from an australian print of you, stronger growth in other parts of the world -- we're globally focused and open trading economy, we do business with the rest of the world. the rest of the world is better, we do better. are heavily dependent on

china, your biggest export country, and you are dependent on the u.s. mathias: we have a strong economic relationship with theand china. from our point of view, there is no such thing as a trade war, and we don't believe there will be a trade war. we believe some issues have been put on the table. i think the issues will be worked through. i am very confident that things will work themselves out. >> the u.s. is an come at the u.s. isn't tpp, who will happen with the tpp and the u.s.? mathias: we pursued an ambitious free trade agenda and were committed to policies supporting an open market and free trade. we believe we have contributed to 26 years of continuous growth in australia and contributed to lifting living standards around the world.

and has created more jobs and allow consumers to get more access to alternatively priced parts around the world. we are unequivocally committed to free trade. united states does not want to pursue the transpacific partnership any further, we provide leadership to suggest other countries that there is a good idea for us to keep going. in the transpacific partnership has been finalized and signed on i the 11 remaining countries. it is good for us. if the united states decides to join, we would work on that. >> do think they will rejoin? mathias: it is totally up to the united states. what is the relationship like and how would you describe the relationship with australia and china? have some of the deals been cautiously taken? the investment that china would like to do in australia was

taking some skepticism. have an important economic relationship with china and we value our relationship with china. in recent times there has been some misunderstanding in relation to some issues in the back of what we believe is untrue media reporting. time,op up from time to but we work through those and we are confident that the relationship in australia and china will be strong. francine: i am not asking to take sides, but if you had to choose between the china and the u.s., is china going to be a global force? the leader of the free world says they are anti-globalization, but china says they are pro-globalization. mathias: we have an important relationship with both the u.s. and china. we have an economic and strategic relationship with the united states and with china --

china's exposure to open markets and free trade around the world has helped china left hundreds of millions of people in china out of poverty. continue toourse see the rise of china in the years ahead. that is going to be a reality that everybody has to factor in. francine: your economy is strong. you have strong employment it is unlikely will win another election, what is that -- why is that? it is risky to predict elections before they have taken place. in australia -- if you look through history, the only thing we know for certain is what has happened in the past, and what

happens in the past -- in between elections, the government was always behind the polls. it was fairly behind the polls, and we continue to do the best -- thecan but australia but australia may fiscal situation. in the election in the first half of next it would present ourselves with a plan for the future, and we will point out why the alternative is not a good idea. will leave it to the australian people to decide. you are right, the economy is in better shape than we found it, employment growth is strong. growth, and to put it in american context, if this in employment growth has been secured in america, it would be 5.3 million additional jobs in america instead of 2.7 that we created in the same period.

how do you benefit from it? is important jobs for households, and we are focused on helping to ensure that families of australia have the best opportunity to get ahead. australia's anre important part of the course of families getting the benefit. beyond that, we are pursuing policies that are progrowth and pull opportunity policies into the future. if you look at which growth in australia, it is starting to pick up. employment growth continues to play out, a stock employment growth and businesses will compete for your workers -- than obviously will continue to strengthen. francine: how concerned are you with the budget? mathias: we are focused and

presenting the budget that is in the gist of australia. we are focused on doing the best we can to strengthen growth and credit more jobs to ensure our country can be secure as possible. francine: do you worry the fed is raising rates and other central banks? states, and the united the rate was at zero for a long time, and australia was quite a bit higher. ed for a long time, and in australia we are in a different part of the cycle. the reserve bank no still you makes its judgment and assessment of the economic data, and it is devised the way it should be. and where constable with the way. lacquahat was francine

australia's finance minister. joe: coming up, what you need to know for tomorrow's trading day. this is bloomberg. ♪

julia: a softer session for u.s. equities, apple and nvidia the

the tech stocks and warnings from the demand over in asia. lisa: general electric reports first-quarter earnings. joe: and i will be looking at oil, opec and non-opec members will be meeting saudi arabia. julie: lots of noise in the oil market. and don't miss the coverage of 2:00 yournference at time tomorrow. joe: have a great evening. this is bloomberg. ♪

mark c.: i'm mark crumpton in new york, and you are watching "bloomberg technology." the deputy attorney general reportedly told president trump that he is not a target in the special counsel's investigation.

people familiar with the matter say rosenstein brought up a molar probe to the president during -- up the mueller probe to the white house -- to the president during a meeting. monday on is to vote the nomination of mike pompeo as secretary of state. it faces opposition from the democratic party. mitch mcconnell says it may be tough to block pompeo after his meeting with north korean leader kim jong-un. the justice department's inspector general has returned a finding that former deputy director andrew mccabe misled investigators. they will now determine whether mccain should face criminal charges for allegedly -- mccabe should face criminal charges. mccabe has disputed the accusations. southwnt