♪ >> "bloomberg best coming up on that coming up on "bloomberg best," the banks wrapping up record profits. new nominations for lout the powell fed, a meeting in mar-a-lago is one of many geopolitical matters moving markets. frustrationa lot of . >> it is a meeting that isn't going to be fruitful, we aren't going to go. newor: south africa's president speaks about his nation's financial future. >> the reforms that will lead to south africa becoming more

attractive than it is. taylor: investors and economists are paying close attention to conversations from the imf spring meeting. >> things are good, but they are getting risky. keen to ensure that there is no such thing as a trade war. we don't believe there will be one. that is all straight ahead on "bloomberg best." welcome, i am taylor riggs. this is "bloomberg best." the most important business news from bloomberg television around the world. investors were eagerly anticipating a parade of earnings reports from banks starting monday with results from bank of america. bank of america posted a

record profit in the first quarter carried the company reaping the benefits of a lower corporate tax rate, cost cuts and volatility. >> it wasn't a uniformly fantastic quarter, but there were positive highlight. nearly $7 up 30% to billion. revenue of 3.7% to about $23 billion. both those gains were larger than estimated. the trading revenue breaks down like this. 30%, butquities up fixed-income revenue down 13%. it is important to talk about costs when we talk to bank -- about bank of america because brian has been chipping away at it. first quarter expenses were 60% of revenue, that is the best ratio in more than five years time. it is partly to do with the process that moynahan has been going for, trying to free brink --america from entanglements

bank of america from entanglements and cutting cost, some coming become of -- because of regulation. taylor: president trump plans to announce the nomination of richard clarida, pimco's global strategic advisor, as vice chairman of the federal reserve. the president is making some conventional choices when it comes to staffing the federal reserve carried these are not political choices. >> and michele bachmann, who is toinated to be a governor fill the community bank her seat, also very conventional. it is unexpected from a guy who did nothing but rate crockery on the campaign trail and raise economic heck over trade and things like that. you could not get a better resume for the fed then richard clarida has because he has academia,markets, he's an economic researcher and is the perfect fit for the job, also a pragmatist, not

going to break any crockery. china's gdp grew six point 8%, the headline number of the first quarter. robust consumer spending helped buoy china's economic expansion. retail was up 10% and industrial production grew 6%. those are the headline numbers. what the world wants to know is 6.8% sustainable? seem to thinkts we will get a softening of the growth picture going forward for china because you have had this domestic demand being supportive of the picture, but restrictions continue on the -- sector that could weigh on the growth outlook for china going forward as well as some of the priorities that have been a laid out in tackling debt, poverty, and pollution. a strong number for the first quarter, but potentially moderating to the end of the

year. the target they have set is around 6.5%. out withn sachs third-quarter results, killing it on all kinds of estimates. equity trading revenue up 38%, trading revenue all overall up 31%. >> he was a great quarter. if you look at this quarter relative to some of the big reporting, the strong results are a function of the lower bar from last year. they started last year on a slower note, but you are also seeing a little volatility can go a long way. goldman has to do well when volatility picks up. you are seeing the results there and the good news for them is trading represents a bigger picture of the mix. it is moving their needle more than it did for some big banks that have reported. >> morgan stanley posts a record quarter in the first quarter. ined by a surprise jump

fixed-income and equity trading, capping a series of strong earnings from the bank. >> across the board, morgan stanley seems to have really hit their marks, if not exceed them. they past $11 billion in revenue for the first time. that was a record. they exceeded expectations in fixed-income, they exceeded expectations in investment banking. in fact, they were the cream of the crop, the best on wall street. they were up 7%. with m&a advisory, morgan stanley is leading the charge. president trump has confirmed cia director mike pompeo made a secret trip to north korea to meet kim jong-un. the two met to discuss a summit between the leaders. the focus would be on nuclear weapons. the president tweeted that denuclearization will be great for the world and for north korea. >> it is a huge surprise.

this is the highest level talk between the u.s. and north korea in almost 20 years, since secretary of state madeleine albright went at the end of the clinton administration. it is a real sign that this meeting is likely on. >> if i think that it is a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we aren't going to go. if the meeting is not fruitful when i am there, i will respectfully leave the meeting. president trump says he and japanese prime minister shinzo abe will continue to work together on trade to reduce what he calls "imbalances." >> it does seem like the japanese prime minister is really forced to respond from the commit -- defensive. he is facing mounting scandals at home, having to deal with a u.s. president who really wants to rectify the trade imbalance, which he and a lot of other very serious people don't think is an actual problem and he is quite

afraid of what trump might do with north korea and how that might jeopardize japanese security. apple and chipmakers sell after semiconductor issued handsetorecast that -- boom is waning. sales will be a billion-dollar less than analyst expectations. shouldd to a report that mark phone shipments declined. a reminder that the best days maybe in the past. i is this having such a big impact on apple shares? is a lot more than a contract manufacturer. they are really the leader in technology,e of outsourcing chips. if you are a smart phone maker, it is likely the main component in your product was created at a tsmcactory -- tcm see -- factory. >> on course for its biggest

day fall since 2014. the chipmaker yesterday forecast sales at about a billion dollars less than the street was expecting. >> it points to the same thing. the smartphone market is at peaked.owing, if not awaity right now is to the next innovation, but also the new drivers of growth for chipmakers, which include artificial intelligent, internet of things, and automotive application. >> crude taking a leg lower after donald trump tweeted "looks like opec is at it again with record amounts of oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea." artificiallye high, no good and will not be accepted."

theirers are scratching head. they don't understand how a deal they struck in 2016, which has boosted global prices and helped the u.s. shale industry -- they don't understand how the president is coming after them. thatwould like to stress -- the market is what sets the price based on fundamental factors like supply and demand and other factors. price is not our objective. our objective remains restoring stability, restoring stability on a sustainable basis. onlye interest of not producers, but consumers. >> fundamentally, despite the tweets, nothing has changed. it still looks like the trump administration is threatening to pull out of the iranian nuclear deal. has beens that, that

sustaining oil prices and we might see a higher price. we have worries in libya, nigeria, venezuela. there is a lot that could go wrong with supply and the market is pricing in early expectations of that. the technical indicators point to a higher price, not a lower one. taylor: still ahead, we review the week on "bloomberg best." we will review conversations from the imf meeting in washington. alan greenspan also weighs in on the pros and cons of the gop tax overhaul. >> cannot cut benefits now. it is the third rail of american politics. week's next, more of the top business headlines. a vote on brexit in the house of lords does not go theresa may's way. >> if i was theresa may and philip hammond, i would be saying things over. taylor: yousef: -- this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ this is "bloomberg best

." i'm taylor riggs. another appointment exchange of trade measures between the world's two largest economies. the latest tit-for-tat began with u.s. sanctions aimed at a chinese tech company. >> chinese telecoms gear maker been barred from the u.s. after the commerce department alleged it made false statements to officials. our china correspondent is standing by in beijing, in front headquarters. tom: this isn't about one single corporate, this is about a by the effort administration it seems, in the u.s. to further restrict chinese access to that crucial u.s. technology and innovation. ofs really goes to the heart

the concerns amongst chinese policymakers who are far less concerned about any tariffs on steel or aluminum and far more like this,bout moves restricting their companies from getting access to crucial technology. ownershipemoving in restriction and will let companies like volkswagen and tesla own more than 50% of local ventures. on the other hand, they slapped a 179 tax on u.s. imports. it is a carrot and stick approach. china is dangling this large market, saying we can let foreign companies rome more freely. on the other hand, they say if you come after us, we have to retaliate. is saying we can do this on a whole range of other product and make it more painful for the u.s.. doubt they want to open up gradually. tozte saying the u.s. ban

american technology will jeopardize the company's future. -- considering using an emergency law to curb chinese investments insensitive tech. >> this is part of the president's move to try and punish china for what the administration views as abuse of intellectual property, u.s. intellectual property rights. the law would allow the president to have emergency , which would allow him to seize assets and bar chinese firms from having transactions with the u.s.. this is a plan they are looking at. sometimes these things get floated and are scaled back, but the treasury department is seriously considering the move. the pboc has sprung a surprise by cutting ratios for

foreign banks. is00 basis point cut effective from the 25th of april and reduces the amount of cash the bank will need to hold reserves. does this suggest the concern over liquidity in the system is behind this? >> the idea is that it will channel the liquidity to businesses and what is going to thectively replace is bank's borrowing or use of the medium term lending facility fund. that, song to replace it is a tweaking of the liquidity scenario. most economists don't expect a benchmark rate rise in 2018, but this move is certainly a question of liquidity but probably not a change of stance significantly from the bbs he -- pboc. >> talk of sanctions on russia promoting a string of mixed messages from two top officials. on sunday, nikki haley saying sanctions for russia were on the way. will betary mnuchin

announcing those monday if he hasn't already. >> but then the economic advisor saying nikki haley got have the -- got ahead of the curve and that there would be confusion about that. nikki haley responding, i don't get confused. the trump administration telling russia it has no sanction plans for anytime soon. that is according to a russian official. >> there is a lot of frustration that is helpful and has bubbled over in the last 24 hours between ambassador haley and president trump. there is frustration amongst some in the administration that the united kingdom has not followed suit with tough sanctions. and that any sanctions imposed by the u.s. benefit some other countries such as the u.k.. -- carol massar taylor: -- the slowest and year since march. you are also seeing a selloff in the gilt market as investors buy

in. is the downturn in inflation sustainable or is this an idiosyncratic month? >> the big picture is inflation is coming down in the u.k. and that is as the effect of sterling appreciation feeds of the and pass out inflation measure. this month in particular, there is some idiosyncratic stuff happening. the weather has been dreadful in march and all of the shops are full of the wrong clothes. this has led to some discounting which otherwise wouldn't have happened. my guess is you will see a rebound next month and you see that in the european data more broadly as well as the eurozone. fiduciary rule was something wall street spent years fending off. the obama administration went ahead with it and now trump appointees are looking to dial the regulations back. tell us what is going on. >> the fcc is going to propose a new -- sec is going to broker

conflicts of interest, one of the most controversial things done at the end of the obama administration. the sec will come up with a lighter approach, there won't be the same requirements that brokers are legally required to put their interests first and that is a big win for the industry. u.k. prime minister theresa may's brexit vision suffered a blow yesterday when the house of lords voted against government plans to leave the eu customs union. content to hundred 25. the contents have it. >> it was staggering last night. if i was theresa may now and philip hammond, i would be saying games over, we've got to get a deal around the customs union. let's try working-class party. -- across party. >> the government doesn't have to change its policy on the back of it, but the scale of it shows the strength of feeling across the upper chamber and

potentially reflects the makeup of the votes in the house of commons. that is where the big fight is going to come in the next few months when this bill, the eu withdrawal bill comes back to the commons. the people who want the closest relationship with europe are feeling more emboldened after last night's vote. mixhat do you get when you harsh u.s. sanctions against -- with more expectation of some coming for other major minor -- mining companies? you get an explosion in industrial metals. is the rally we are seeing in aluminum and nickel sustainable? >> these are traded markets and fundamentally driven markets. it is hard to distill what is driven by russian sanctions or other things of that nature versus the fundamentals. >> -- posted its first loss in four days and it speculates russia could come to the aid of rusal after the u.s. sanctions

sent prices to a near seven year high. >> there is so much speculation as to what is going to happen with rusal. no one wants to touch their can the russian government step in and that would bring them off the board for the sanctions? there is also the report overnight from asia that reported russian officials with rusal had been meeting in china about possible offtake there. it is a very speculative market. endoday marked the formal of an era in cuba. cuba's national assembly elected endingd is to -- diaz, six decades of rule by the castro family. the new president will still have to answer to raul castro, who will be the head of the communist party still. >> he comes from the belly of the revolution, even though he was born a year after fidel castro took power in 1959, he has risen through the ranks.

andas hand-picked by raul fidel castro and has kept a low profile. ofouldn't expect a lot change except the economy because he will be forced to make change whether he wants to arnott. the cuban economy is sputtering. it only grew by .5 cent last year. something will have to be done to attract foreign investment and meet the needs of the people who are becoming more frustrated. ♪

♪ taylor: you're watching "bloomberg best." i'm taylor riggs. among luminaries attending the imf spring meeting in washington with -- was alan greenspan. he sat down with tom keene, who asked if he would have approved the tax bill that congress enacted in 2017? the tax legislation was not

bad in and of it self. moving the corporate marginal .ates down was very important as ireland demonstrated in 1998. tom: does it skewed to a new gilded age? >> the route they did, where they cut and the regulatory structure they changed has been quite positive. but they have not attacked the issue of entitlements. you did this 30 and 40 years ago, is that the immediate task, that we must revisit social security legislation before the 13 years are over, where that becomes a real problem? alan: we are long overdue on that issue. cutting social security or i would saythink,

the most inconceivably -- i'm trying to find the appropriate word to describe how important this is. you cannot cut benefits now. it is the third rail of american politics. , what want to get this in does the republican party need to do to get back conservative debt policy? reread ronald reagan, make a major amendment to it -- do spending cuts here -- first before you do tax cuts. taylor: coming up on "bloomberg top company news, including an earnings beat from x and another -- netflix and another challenge for text luck. plus, more comments from the imf meeting in washington, d.c. >> still, an affirmative step to

structural reform to improve the growth prospect. taylor: this is bloomberg. ♪ welcome to the xfinity store.

i can tell you about... streaming the most free tv shows and movies on the go. yeah, and... xfinity internet. it's so fast! and you can save by... by getting up to 5 mobile lines included. whoa, you're good. i'm just getting started. ♪ simple. easy. awesome. come see how you could save $400 or more a year with xfinity mobile. plus ask how to keep your current phone. visit your local xfinity store today.

♪ taylor: welcome back to "bloomberg best." the imf issued its latest world economic outlook this week. it expects global growth to continue for the next two years, but expresses more pessimism in predictions for 2020 and beyond. we got perspective on economic issues at the imf world bank spring meetings in washington, d.c. ♪ >> what everyone is saying this week, one way or another, is very simple. things are good, but they are getting risky. our message, of course, is in that kind of setting, while things are still good, it is time to try to prolong this recovery in ways that will be

sustainable, and prepare for those risks. lesson the risks and be in a better position to deal with them if they materialize. >> in the blue book, your world over to thetlook, brown book, you say that growth will be there for every unique story, including the united states. >> we would like to see people, countries, all of our member tontries, try to take steps improve growth in the medium-term, because this is a cycle, and you have to look over the hill to see what will come. we believe that potential growth will be somewhat slower this future than it has been in the past. there will have to be affirmative steps through infrastructure and structural reform to improve the growth prospects. that i would say there are new wildcards on the horizon. >> give us an example. >> the three subjects,

nontraditional subjects, that are on everyone's mind this week are the three t's, trade, technology, and trust. ♪ >> as far as trade is concerned, we are all together -- the commission is responsible for negotiating on trade. my colleague is in charge with that. i met steven mnuchin, i saw people in the white house, and i think we need to get down on the tone of that. trade war is not every war. it is bad, nobody wins, it is lose-lose. we need to fight protectionism here. we will be in the g20 meeting, and there, we must say protectionism is not a solution, it is a problem. but that is not enough for europe. for europe, we need to integrate more where it is necessary.

i'm not asking for a federal europe, but i am saying there are items such as migration, which monetary union, on we must make decided progress in order to ask more investment, better and stronger growth relationship. >> secretary mnuchin also give you the gift of a trillion dollar deficit, it feels like chronic trillion dollar american deficit. >> they are positive since the american growth is picking up, and with a booming american economy, it is good for the rest of the world, because we are partners. there's no trade war for the time being. always,medium-term, as when you have high debt, you need to watch that carefully to this is balances, and not only for europe, it is worldwide.

our situation is not the same. we have a high debt, we don't have the privilege of the dollar, so we must still be careful about our public and private debt. debt is still a problem for the future. ♪ >> do you worry that a u.s. that turns ugly will hurt? >> it well, there's no doubt about that. there was a summit a week ago, the presidents from the region talked about this. this is a main concern for many reasons. one, the u.s. market. the u.s. market is very important for many of our economies, including colombia. any increase in terrorist in the u.s. will be a cost. also, the fact that there will be a trade war response from other countries might also mean

protectionism in other parts of the world. and where is all this going to end? most products coming in to our markets have lower prices. >> do you think this will be a trade war? or is this just the president that wants a deal this is just a president trying to rattle the cage? >> we don't know where it is going to end. we don't know what the ramifications of this could be. it could begin between the u.s. and china, and the world economy will be affected because they will see more that cannot enter the u.s. or chinese market if there's protectionism in china that will end elsewhere. ♪ >> you are so heavily dependent on china being your biggest export country, and you are very dependent on the u.s. >> indeed. no such thing as a trade war, we don't believe there will

be a trade war. some issues have been put on the and issues will be withdrawn. i'm very confident that things will work themselves out. >> the u.s. is in, the u.s. is out. what will happen? -- we havestralia pursued a very ambitious free trade engine. we are very committed to policy supportive of this free trade. when we pursued the transpacific partnership, we provided leadership that suggested to the other countries that it was a good idea for us to keep going, and it made the transpacific partnership -- it has been signed on by the 11 remaining countries. it is good for us, if the united states decided to join, we would work with that. >> do you think they will rejoin? >> well, it's entirely up to the

united states. we would welcome them if they decided to reach on. ♪ rising to the presidency of south africa, bringing hope of reform and greater stability in africa's third-largest economy. he spoke exclusively with guy johnson this week about how he is marketing his nation to investors. ♪ be, wepitch is going to are open for business. we are backing reforms that will lead to south africa becoming even more attractive than it has been. we will have incentives for various sectors of the economy, weending on which sector, will have well-crafted incentives that will attract people. some of them will be a tax incentive, some a general industrial incentive that are

given by particular sectors. that pitch will be we are serious, we are creating a good climate for investments to come into our country, we will give you good incentives, good security, and we will make sure that the concerns you have will also be addressed. we'll ensure the infrastructure stays in place, we will remain a well-infrastructured country. we have a strong framework. all those things, a combination of all of them, will give people a really good package and offering for them to come in. factors as the level of the rent. bit about a little whether you are comfortable with where it is now. is it a reflection of international sentiment toward south africa, or would you be

more comfortable with the cheaper rand that could make the investments you are talking about easier to make? >> well, it's a double-edged sword. it's a double-edged sword in that the rand where it is now reflects a level of confidence that the world has in south africa, because they can see that south africa is going somewhere. but for exporters from our own country, the stronger rand is not so positive for them, because they are bringing fewer. so we need to find a balance. >> is it balanced now? >> it is near the balance. there, but ituite is near the balance. but it's a double-edged sword. ♪

♪ taylor: you are watching "bloomberg best." i'm taylor riggs. let's resume our global to her of the top business stories, first by digging into more earnings reports, beginning with a solid b from netflix. ♪ ♪ >> shares of netflix are searching on better-than-expected subscriber growth. as you look through the release, what else said he picked up that is worthy of mention? >> one of the things is the price of power that netflix now has. netflix got in, a lot of trouble when it split its dvd business and streaming business, which amounted to a price increase for customers. this is the last time they faced real problems, the stock price plummeted. it has been all growth since then.

there were concerns about a price increase, it affected their growth a little bit, but not a tremendous amount. that they rolled out price increases all over the world, and not only has it not slowed their growth, but they placed the biggest fourth-quarter ever. ♪ >> ibm shares tumbling in after-hours trading, the company's first-quarter gross margins missing analyst estimates, coming despite ibm not seeing another win in its campaign to reverse years of revenue declines as it reported its second straight period a failed growth. walk us through the main weaknesses here. >> the biggest issue is gross margins. this has been an issue for some time. we have written about it, that even this year we should see a slight decline, although the pace will not be as bad as last year. that remains the number one concern at this point, which we believe is driving down the stock. ♪ >> general electric releasing quarterly earnings, maintaining

its 2018 profit forecast, defying wall street expectations of a cut. up, but down 20% this year, the worst performer in the dow. part of what was so helpful for ge was that they reaffirmed their forecast. at some point, you may have to cut it? >> it will be interesting. users also much better than expected -- these results were much better than expected. they got a lot of good profit growth. now the guidance is a big question mark. they reaffirmed it, that they have had some setbacks. they took that big charge, they have that $15 billion reserve shortfall, they have restated their earnings to comply with this new accounting world change, but what that meant as you are starting off the lower earnings base, and the growth hurdles to me that 2018 outlook are tough now. so it's going to be a challenge, but they got a good start. we will see. ♪ >> moving out to amazon, shares

rose in late trade after the ceo published his annual shareholder letter, touting the growth of prime. he announced the number of paid amazon prime members had topped 100 million worldwide. until now, the company had kept the number of subscribers a closely guarded secret. >> investors have already known that prime membership is extremely strong in the u.s., and helps make customers loyal to amazon in the u.s., or amazon dominates e-commerce. the significance of this announcement is that it indicates that prime membership value proposition is getting traction overseas, and it hints that amazon will be able to replicate its success in other markets europe, japan, and even india, with its big investment there. all that means is that there's a lot more revenue for amazon to bring in through this prime membership program. ♪ >> tesla is shifting into overdrive for model 3 production

problems. after earlier reports that the manufacturer was temporarily halting manufacturing, we are now hearing it will begin around-the-clock production at its three-month, california auto pay -- fremont, california auto plant. what do you make of it? >> that plan is to have the shutdown and then ramp-up. we saw a similar shutdown followed by a ramp-up a few weeks back, which allowed them to hit this 2000 unit milestone that we saw at the end of last quarter. is plan now, he is saying, they want to the end of the second quarter. he says in his memo, which is a fascinating look at the psychology of elon musk, that the idea is to build a cushion, so even if they fall short of 6000, which tesla has been wont to do, they will probably get 5000, which is what they have in promising all along . ♪ >> wells fargo agreed to $1

billion to settle u.s. probes into the mistreatment of consumers, which included forcing unwanted insurance on customers who took out carloads. >> we have expected this to be coming. there was a lot of talk in washington. >> what you have seen in the consent orders is a recognition that they want to put this issue behind them. much if not all of this activity took place under previous management. they have agreed to dramatically increase their compliance and oversight capabilities. we will continue to watch them, as all the regulators will, to make sure they continue to follow the law. ♪ >> it's a milestone for larry fink, the ceo of the world's largest money manager is now a billionaire. more than half his fortune as an blackrock shares, which have soared more than 3600% since the company was listed in 1999. on the one hand, you want to say, wow, what a milestone. on the other hand, what took them so long? >> that has to do a lot with the

way he built the business. first of all, i think i can relatively confidently say, he wasn't in it for the money. of course, he was in it for some money. he's a wall street guy, he came out of credit suisse back in the day. but what i mean by that is that he hasn't been as much in pursuit of dollars as some of his compatriots. blackrock is a growth machine. if you look at its stock performance since it went public, it is up 3800%. amazon over the same period of time is of 1900%. ♪ >> the hunt is on for a successor at wpp. the chief executive and founder has left the group. it from a wider shop manufacturer to the world's biggest advertising company. 's exit comes amid allegations of personal misconduct, claims that he has denied. wpp's board and its

investigation, saying the accounts were not material. whoever takes up the reins has a good chance. what person and what is their priority? is talk and evidence of pressure from the consultants the way advertisers are buying, so this has to be somebody that angle,as the creativity much stronger data and technology focus to reshape the business. ♪ >> let's turn to the story of a startup that is scaling up. the boston-based retailer specializing in green, non-toxic peter products. the company has been three years strengthening its digital platform while it moves forward with plans to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint. the founder and ceo explains how they are going from small to big. ♪ ♪ the idea came about in 2009,

when i was making a personal shift to a healthier lifestyle generally. i realized when i was looking into nutrition, and all of these any products contained a lot of problems. there was a real opportunity for clean beauty retail stores. our entire goal is to shift in mindset around the products you buy each day. i needed to learn a lot about business and about the beauty industry. i worked on a lavender farm, i was a skincare developer, i got an mba or a focused on the business plans. doors fore opened the our first store. i was in there every day talking to customers, figuring out what it needed to be. i raised a few hundred thousand dollars that lasted almost three years, old way through 2016.

i was really focused on building a brick-and-mortar business. but at the same time, there was so much more going online. we had the potential to become critical. we decided to make a huge shift in 2016 and change to additional first business. first was a digital going to be the only way we could get the content out there and share our unique level of expertise. we raised around $3 million to do that. we needed to build a digital first team, we needed to build a new tech staff. we were very lucky to be in boston, surrounded by engineers, and they are super passionate about this business. we spent a year and a half building it out, figuring out how it should exist online. it will be between 70% to 80% online by the end of this year. despite building a digital first business, you can never truly replicate our experience online. we have two brick-and-mortar

stores, both in boston. we will be opening for more this year. if everything goes well we will open an additional 10 in 2019. we are growing online in a huge way. is weal secret to follain are a highly curated portfolio. we have tested between 800 to 900 brands. we have 75 in the store right now. it's not easy to get on our shelves. we don't carry any full brand portfolios. we carry the best products by brands. it is helping retention. we are becoming now to kn -- we are known as a place to start your beauty journey. ♪

♪ start of in this

earnings season, if you go back to the argument i made earlier, this is the function on the bloomberg terminal -- >> there are about 30,000 functions on the bloomberg, and we always enjoy showing you are favorites on bloomberg television. maybe they will become your favorites, too. is another function you will find useful, to you i see go. takes, take it to quick where you can get important context and fast insights into timely topics. here's one from this week. ♪ >> these are the five most valuable companies in america. notice anything? they are all tech companies, and their dominance is attracting attention from watchdog groups, as a their market power is harming competition in the economy. is a time to break a big tech? you have to understand how tech has exploded. for our purposes, let's imagining them as pac-man companies, except in this game, there are no ghosts to avoid.

those ghosts are u.s. regulators. for the past decade, the u.s. has been mostly hands-off with big tech companies, letting them become even bigger. bloomberg data shows that in the last 10 years, they have made close to 500 acquisitions worth about $140 billion. because consumers like the company's product, amazon, apple, facebook, and google have developed huge market shares. amazon receives about 93% of all e-book sales. google pulls at about 78% of internet search ad spending. similarly, apple is dominant in high-end smartphones, and facebook and social media traffic. but being a monopoly isn't illegal. regulators stopped equating big with battle long time ago. monopoly cases brought by the u.s. of also dwindled. the last high-profile case was filed in 1998, when the justice department successfully challenged microsoft dominance of computers operating system.

at 20 or dry spell in monopoly cases has led some watchdogs to say that enforcement has become too timid. is a big tech is hurting innovation, and some even believe them for a decline in successful startups. in europe, americas back -- america's big companies are being aggressively pursued. the eu has find google for abusing market dominance, and germany is investigating facebook for privacy practices. but the big tech players don't think they need to broken. they argue their dominance isn't guaranteed because new competitors can easily jump in. google point out that competition is just one click away. ♪ taylor: 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 all the latest business news and analysis 24 hours a day. that will be all for "bloomberg best" this week. thanks for watching. i'm taylor riggs. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> i'm mark crumpton in new york. you're watching "bloomberg technology." here's a check of first word news. the dnc is suing russia and wikileaks, saying they interfered with the 2016 election. it also claims russia launched "a brazen attack on american democracy that begin with the cyberattack on the committee." some frightening moments at another florida school today when a gunman opened fire wounding one student before being taken into custody. the wounded student was shot and the ankle. in parkland, florida, the scene of the february high school massacre, students led a nationwide walk out on this, the 19th anniversary of the columbine high school shooting which left 13 people dead in littleton, colorado.