rosalind: coming up on "bloomberg best," the stories that shaped the week in business around the world. the u.s. faces a trade deficit. >> the u.s. trade deficit has risen more than $100 billion. gdpland, china scales back projections. >> that is the weakest target china has set itself for growth. rosalind: investors await a deal that will free both economies from the pressures of a trade war. >> it is not making us richer. rosalind: huawei tries to mend fences in europe. >> huawei will say we are not a

company that does any of the allegations put forward by the u.s. rosalind: carlos ghosn and a battle in court. the ecb gets back into the lending game. >> stimulus will continue to be provided. >> will this get inflation towards target? rosalind: larry fink in an exclusive conversation. >> i would call this a goldilocks moment, not so bad, not so good. rosalind: plus, bill gross reflects on bond trading as he bids farewell to the business. and his successor explains how he is reshaping the fund. >> the philosophy and process will be the same. the risk profile will be slightly different. rosalind: it is all straight ahead on "bloomberg best." rosalind: hello and welcome.

i am rosalind chin. and this is "bloomberg best," your weekly review of the most important business news, analysis, and interviews from bloomberg around the world. let's start off with a look at the top headlines. on monday, reports of progress towards a trade agreement between the u.s. and china had investors feeling optimistic. >> the u.s.-china trade deal could result in lifting all tariffs if china buys more american products and commits to protecting intellectual property rights. what is china willing to buy? >> china has made it clear they are willing to come to the table. they are willing to buy agricultural products. we're expecting more in the energy area. >> what are we offering china? >> we are offering a return to something close to normality, it looks like, and that is a lifting of the largest piece of the tariffs imposed on $250

billion in chinese imports last year. we are in this uncomfortable limbo stage of the negotiations because of the npc, because of the chinese political calendar, but are setting up for the end of this first round of negotiations. >> china has lowered growth target this year and announced a major tax cut, saying the country must brace for a tough economic battle. it does look the priority is stabilizing economic growth. >> that is right. >> the 3000 delegates are filing out the hind me. the premier went through this document that outlines the policy priorities for the government for 2019. that speech has wrapped up. we had this gdp target cut from 6.5% to 6% to 6.5% in 2019. bloomberg economics pointing out

that is the weakest target china has ever set itself for growth. we have tax cuts as well, vat cuts of 3%, that morgan stanley says could be valued around $90 billion. 0.6% of gdp. there was a policy initiative to raise the amount of special government bond issuance. it was a somber speech by the premier, talking about the challenges, rising insecurities, instabilities, saying there were hidden dangers and risks. and saying china has to be prepared. >> the u.s. trade deficit is widening hitting a 10-year high. president trump says it is a sign of poor trade policies, as he looks to reach new deals. is it china or europe that ceos and companies are most worried about? >> the thing that people are most worried about is the trade

wars extending. the next battlefront you can really see is something blowing up with the e.u. over cars. that seems like a much more real and immediate threat than things escalating with china. if you look at the broad picture, the trade deficit, the u.s. trade deficit in goods and services has risen more than $100 billion, or 20%, and donald trump's first two years in office. that is a confluence of factors, but it is the big scorecard he holds out for countries winning or losing, and by his own metric, he is not doing so well. >> the ecb announced rates on pause for 2019. the central bank giving a support package, saying it will offer more cheap loans and keep interest rates low for longer. >> significant monetary policy stimulus will continue to be provided on the key ecb interest rate, reinforced by the

investments of acquired assets and a new series of debt. >> is this panic from the ecb? >> it is more extreme than the market was expecting, but the n we know that mario draghi doesn't like to disappoint. he has delivered by pushing out the time horizon for the ecb keeping rates at current levels. also, announcing now rather than waiting. >> this is the latest in the line of central bankers trying to react to the slowdown in global growth. we have had a number of these over the economic cycle. he is trying to push the message the ecb is there to support, but the doubt in markets is will this get inflation towards target. is the ecb really credible here? >> a fourth day of declines for the s&p and dow, the seventh drop in eight days.

>> we came into today with anxiety about global growth, weaker chinese and european data over the last few months. in that context of anxiety, the ecb came out, panic is too strong a word, but i think the markets are reading this as desperation. euro weak, and dollar strength is negative for u.s. corporate earnings. >> chinese trade slumped, exports and imports falling. stocks fell the most in 2019 today. >> the trade data was worse than expected, even allowing for the distortions over the china new year. it is a poor set of data, also reflected in the german factory orders. there is a clear link towards

weak imports and production figures in germany. there are people that want to take money off the table. >> the big story today is the payroll report, 20,000 the top line in terms of workers added. that was well below estimates. wages continue to push higher. >> robust january, february lousy. the underlying trend is 190,000 jobs per month. seespect we will unemployment in the mid 3% territory by the end of this year, and consumer inflation above the fed's objective, so we should not be overly bearish on a temporary payroll stall. >> are you confident the u.s. is well insulated from the slowdown abroad? >> i am. i am not saying we live on a complete island. but we are the hottest economy in the world because we have made progrowth reforms, lower tax rates, deregulation, opening up energy and so forth, good attitudes. there is no war against business here.

that is good. >> the chinese story, there is a feeling on wall street that the president wants a quick deal, and he wants it because he's worried about the markets. >> that is just not true. that is just not true. he has to do what is best for american technology, for american workers, american manufacturers, american farmers. if these things are not in america's interest, whether a security deal or a trade deal, if they are not in america's interest, he will not accept it. >> still ahead, as we review the week on "bloomberg best," larry fink, bill gross, and michael worth, plus an exclusive conversation with the e.u. trade commissioner. next, more of the week's top headlines. president trump complains about fed policy and the strength of the dollar.

presidentely is the to get his wish for a weaker dollar? >> not very likely. >> this is bloomberg. ♪

rosalind: this is "bloomberg best." i am rosalind chin. let's continue with the report on global growth prospects from the oecd. >> it has cut its global growth outlook again, saying trade tensions and uncertainty are weighing on the global economy. >> an economist saying global growth has started to bottom out. the oecd says they are cutting that to 3.3%, the euro area only growing 1%, and the u.k. less than 1% as they face a host of uncertainties from brexit. china as well downgraded to 6.2%

in 2019. this means the u.s. versus the rest of the world, the trade of last year. it has been the trade of the last two years. 18% versus the mscix u.s., up 6%, so three times the outperformance. we will see if that trend continues as the u.s. is the only one that will have growth revised higher in 2020, u.s. versus the rest of the world. >> the huawei cfo is under house arrest in vancouver, now suing canadian authorities, alleging she was wrongfully detained in search. -- and searched. her claim was filed the same day the canadian government began the process at the request of the u.s. for extradition. what is she alleging here in the suit? >> she is alleging that the way she was taken into custody was

-- constituted an unlawful detention and interrogation in search of her property. she was taken into custody by border security, not formally arrested, which would have triggered protections in canada, including getting a lawyer and being able to not answer questions. it is not clear where this case will go from here. >> huawei on the charm offensive in brussels, scrambling ahead of to get ahead of allegations that it has enabled industrial espionage for the country's authorities, so opening a securities lab in brussel in a bid to reassure the e.u. will the e.u. be assured by this? >> huawei will tell you we are a company that does not do those allegations put forth by the u.s. the europeans are not naïve. they know about some of the practices in china. they are aware of the hacking and intellectual property, but say we have to keep an eye on

this, but the business reality is that huawei can do a good job for less money. a lot of ceo's here in brussels will tell you if we are banned from using the technology, the cost will go up. balance the geopolitical tensions that is the reality of it. >> huawei hitting back, suing the american government from barring its equipment from certain networks, saying it is unconstitutional to punish it without a fair trial. >> the u.s. accounts for 20% to 30% of the global communications market. so it is very important. we look forward to an opportunity to precipitate the we lookticipate -- forward to an opportunity to participate fairly in the u.s. this lawsuit is a last resort. >> the crucial thing was confirmation from huawei that they will be suing the u.s. government over this section 889 of the national defense appropriations act 2019, that

section effectively bans huawei from being purchased, it's equipment by telecom companies in the u.s., effectively bans them from operating in the u.s. that is what they are challenging. it was pushed through by congress last year. huawei saying it is unconstitutional. >> president trump's attempt to blame federal reserve chairman jay powell for a hiccup in the u.s. economy has made a comeback. he says the u.s. dollar is too strong and criticized jerome powell "likes raising interest rates." how likely is the president to get his wish for a weaker dollar? >> not likely. the data is stronger here than globally. it should speak towards a stronger dollar. the thing that could weaken the dollar would make president trump and jay powell happy because that would be a stronger performance in places abroad

that are impairing the global economic outlook. if you see the slow down take hold in germany and china turnaround, you could see a weaker dollar and everyone would be happy about that. >> president trump is trying to counter what he believes are unfair trade practices. yesterday, the u.s. president notified congress he intends to terminate key trade preferences for india and turkey. what does it mean for india and turkey? >> it is a surprise, because the various protagonists in this debate have been talking for some time. i think the talks with india go back to april last year. what appears to have happened is mr. trump lost patience with the negotiations and has decided to raise the stakes by announcing that he would withdraw india and turkey from this system of beneficiaries under the trade

agreements and the imposition of tariffs. there is now a 60-day countdown to the point where the existing arrangements are done away with. >> indonesia has signed a free-trade agreement with australia, one of several deals it is pursuing as trade tensions hit exports and threaten its current account deficit. it finally happened. what is the latest? >> indonesia is pursuing a bunch of trade deals. in the last hour, they finally inked a deal with all straight -- australia that has been years in the making. it is not chicken feed, but they are good numbers. 99% of goods going from australia to indonesia are tariff free and offered preferential treatment, covering 94% of indonesian goods going to australia, so good news for both

countries. >> australia's central bank has held its nerve in the face of a credit squeeze. it is keeping its interest rates unchanged as it waits to see how consumers respond. still slow, slow, slow as we go? >> that has been slow as we go for years. all economists surveyed did not expect the rate to move, so no surprise still parked at 1.5%. the rba noted a stronger job markets, a drop in house prices continues, sydney prices off 13% below their 2017 peak. on the one hand, this does give the rba the ability to ease rates without igniting another house price bubble, but there is a concern these easing prices are crimping spending and consumption, and therefore growth. >> with the march 12 deadline looming to put a brexit deal to

another vote in parliament, may, the british prime minister, is promising a $2.1 billion boost for poorer towns. her pledge was quickly labeled as a handout. trying to get labor lawmakers to vote for her brexit deal. >> theresa may will come back and try to cobble together a majority. that is what her offer to particularly the north of the country, to offer them more subsidies, more government handouts is. the government is cut dramatically in terms of local government budgets. something like 36%. so this is not making up, or only barely making up, for the cuts that have been made to local government budgets. some of the labour mp's representing these towns are saying this isn't enough. >> financial stocks dipped to session lows at the end of the u.s. trading day on the report

the volcker rule could face a do -over. that rule prohibits banks from trying to make a profit by using customer deposits. >> the criticism about the volcker rule was banks with their massive compliance departments could not figure out what was a banned trade or not a banned trade, so that was something regulators were trying to address, let's make it clear what is allowed under volcker and what is not allowed, but when they came out the proposal and banks had time to pour over it, the reaction was, well, you have made it easier to understand what is bad but this will capture more trade and a lot more stuff will be banned. now they are going back to the drawing board, and who knows win the match to criticized, very controversial volcker rule will be revised. >> more european banks are being drawn into the russian money-laundering allegations. initially centered on danske

bank and sweden swedbank, allegations of suspicious transfers involving dirty widened this have week. remind us how this story has developed over the last few days. >> it just keeps going. monday morning, investors learned of fresh allegations around money-laundering due to be published by finland's main broadcaster that afternoon. the shares tanked 6.5% as investors panicked. when that report came out about 4:00 local time, there was relief among investors that it did not seem as bad as feared. at the same time, there was a larger report by occrp that made clear this is not just a nordic and baltic issue, but a european issue. suddenly other banks were all drawn into the same story. ♪

rosalind: welcome back to "bloomberg best." what is going on with global markets and the world economy? erik schatzker posed that question to the head of the world's largest asset management company. they sat down for an exclusive interview. >> china is slowing to 6%. that is not so bad. >> that is what they say. >> ok, 5%, actually the cities are growing nicely, it is the outer regions. china experienced the same two -phase type of economy where one part of the economy is going well and one is slowing down. they will experience populism

and unrest issues in the future. that is another story. japan is growing at 1%. southeast asia is growing very nicely. you are seeing supply chains moving from china into the southeast asian region. you see europe, which compared to where we were january or march of 2018 we were much more , pessimistic. i am very worried about europe. that does not mean it will be in a recession in 2019, but, just maybe it is a 1% growth, probably closer to zero. the u.s., we had the sugar high from the tax reforms. we all anticipated that the economy will slow down, and that is what is happening. where is u.s. economy? 2.5%, 2.7%. it is not so bad. consumer confidence is still good, and i would almost call this a goldilocks moment where it is not so bad and not so good. central-bank behaviors are more

on the governor's side from -- more on the dovish side from where they were in the fourth quarter. i would say it is a time for investors to be more relaxed. i do not think we are going to go much higher than we are today. >> you mean stock prices? >> we will be fine. what i worry about is rising populism which, from what we are witnessing, we are seeing shorter-term behaviors by governments. i talk quite a bit about long-term behaviors, and it is harder when you see governments are becoming more short-term. rosalind: coming up, more conversations about markets. bill gross says alpha is getting harder and harder to find, and we hear from the man who took over management of his bond fund. plus chevron sets a course to , pump more oil. and the ceo says he is not

worried about driving prices down. >> shale delivers strong returns at low prices. ♪

>> i think the u.s. has done fine. say front management you ignore the u.s. at your parol. it continues to do the stocks that continue to do well. >> you said last year, equities are the best investment for 2019. we have seen such a healthy correction, and do you still stand by that call? >> i think we will go back to more to what i would call normalized markets now that quantitative easing has almost finished. i think that brings back stock

pickers. business like ours which is all , about stock taking style, more tending towards value rather than growth and quality. they had a tough time the last few years until the last quarter of last year. the markets are, i hope, turning back to active rather than more passive style of management. >> that was standard life aberdeen ceo, mark gilbert, speaking exclusively about the investment landscape in singapore. global trade was the hot topic this week at the geneva motor show. matt miller spoke to executives from several auto companies about the threat of u.s. tariff increases. >> we have been talking to the trump administration and the european administration, to berlin. it is really a threat and would

cost us workplaces. america is a very important market for our premium brands. we are trying to really avoid this clash. i think it is possible to avoid it. we have to understand that between tariff negotiations not only covering the automotive market, but an area, so we can only facilitate an contribution a small amount. and show goodwill. >> there are many different tariffs, but they are focusing on the 10% tariff on e.u. cars. you be happy to get rid of that? >> i do not think we have to protect our european companies and the 10% tax on american cars. it is not necessary. we are competitive. you have to understand, in the whole scheme between different

products and this is not in our patch. we would be open to that kind of discussion. >> it is obvious, that in our interests, we talked to the stakeholders and explained the benefit from our point of view. i think they are listening quite a lot, and we have asked with them to come up with a deal where we can live with it and continue to grow. >> one of the biggest concerns is the 10% tariff that the e.u. slaps on u.s. imports. do you even need that? does it help you to hold back u.s. competition? >> no. i think we could come here to an agreement that leveled out or taking it away completely, and it would be fine for both sides. >> how concerned are you about a u.s.-e.u. trade war? >> the market in the u.s. is very important, so that is a serious topic. we are watching what will happen, and different scenarios.

we are counting on our counterparts in the u.s., and i think at the end we will find a solution. >> are there any way the porsche 911 could be built anywhere else? >> it has a lot to do with the image of the car, our customers worldwide love the engineering in germany. we will keep producing the car in germany. >> e.u. trade commissioner visited washington this week for talks with u.s. officials. she helped to head off higher tariffs on european goods and hammer out a translated trade agreement. she spoke with bloomberg on thursday. >> are you worried that the u.s. will impose a 20% or a 25% tariff on imported cars, and what would be the impact of the global economy if that happens? >> we have not seen the report headed to the president, and we

hope that he will not recommend tariffs on cars for the european union. it would be very harmful for our economy, and the global economy, and the u.s. economy. many cars are produced in the u.s. with car parts from europe. as a whole, european trade and investment supports 7 million jobs. we have a strong relationship and do not want to jeopardize this. as i understand, nobody is asking for these car tariffs in the u.s., so if that were to happen, and i hope that will be the case, we will have to impose rebalancing measures, and our relationship on other areas would be difficult. >> we heard about mario draghi citing protectionism as a contributing factor in investment slowdown, and a lot

of european companies sell a lot to china. to what degree would you say that trump's trade threats and actions, vis-a-vis china, has contributed to the slowdown in the european economy? >> most international organizations, and many think tanks have warned that the escalating trade war and protectionism is bad for the global economy. tariffs are not making us richer in any way. of course, we are so interlinked with each other, the big economies. it has an effect on all of us. it didn't deteriorates the situation it would affect jobs in the u.s. >> from trade to oil. this week chevron announced , plans to sharply increase production in the largest shale basin. flooding markets with new supply as demand growth is slowing.

michael joined bloomberg -- ceo michael worth joined bloomberg daybreak america to discuss the strategy and the impacts on the markets. >> we still see demand, very strong despite the concerns about the state of the global economy. we have seen opec have to move into a different posture than they have previously had. opec and russia have had to come together, so the non-opec countries have said we may hold production back to stabilize oil markets. the u.s. is a market driven economy and you have hundreds of companies trying to make it even. shale is a marginal producer making a marginal investment that is challenged to make the decision whether to invest in that production. >> you and exxon together laid out significant growth targets. are you going to hurt yourself

because you will have all of that supply in the next few years. there is a question if demand will be holding up. lower oil prices? >> shale delivers strong returns at low out prices. we will get down into the 30's and 40's and still have returns. it is not a matter of the shale being noneconomic, our cost of production has gone down and our returns are at the lowest price. >> that is sustainable? in the 30's you can sustain that? for how long? >> years. week, legendary bond investor bill gross retired from his position as group portfolio manager. the bond king and his successor talked about risks and returns on bloomberg television. let us start with eric's interview with -- erik

schatzker's interview with bill gross at his california office. he made his name by beating benchmarks and says the era of outperformance is largely over. >> there are things to look at that will generate outflow, but the probability of generating historical output in the same way are much less than they were. >> the era of outperformance is not over? it is what? >> it has diminished. if only because the bonds, it is harder to save in the stock market. it is easier to say that 0% interest rates that bonds can do no better. a 10 year treasury yield over

the past 30 years, it has an information ratio, or a sharp, to be simple. 30 or 40 basis points holding it. in a bull market, and having it roll down the yield curve to the nine year produced structural alpha. 10 years do not roll down the curve anymore. 10 years only yields 2.70 instead of 14% or 15% right now. information ratios, charts, and alpha generation, which in the past 30 years was generated simply by the market itself. that was from no brilliance at all. the opportunities are diminished. >> i started my career at pimco in the late 90's, starting it from capturing capital, and we

retired in mid-2015. this product is an extension of -- we were acquired by janus in mid-2015. this product is an extension of the product we run now, which will look to take advantage of local diversification, income generation, high levels of liquidity, and low volatility. >> what are the benefits to shifting to absolute return? >> it is a name or synonymous -- more synonymous with how we manage money. we are much more of a team approach. while we have an open mandate in terms of assets, it will strictly focus on fixed income. it will be a risk reducer. more times than not, you are seeing more managers taking more risks. these funds are looking more like equity strategies and behaving like them. bonds are supposed to be defensive, they are not there to be a huge return enhancer. that is for equities, which

still plays a significant portion in people's portfolios. >> it sounds like the marketing has changed radically. >> it is the same in the sense that we are going to go anywhere to get our returns. that is one of the key mandates that bill subscribe to, and we subscribe to. the philosophy will be the same, the risk profile will be different in the sense that we will be focusing on bonds. ♪

>> you are watching bloomberg best. a roundup of the top business stories. as earnings seasons blinds down, investors were cheered from a sunny forecast from a major u.s. retailer.

>> target announced its fourth-quarter earnings, meeting expectations and beating them on same-store sales and giving encouraging guidance going forward. >> two years ago i invested $7 million to reimagine our stores and our brand, to invest in new fulfillment capabilities and to invest in our team. at that point, there were a lot of questions. people were concerned about our direction, people were closing stores and cutting costs. today, i think we proved that that strategy is working, and we are delivering great sales. we grew our digital business by over 30%, and stores grew almost 3%. we said that 2018 was a good year and 2019 will be better. >> after 108 days in detention, a man has walked out of prison in tokyo. the former car titan was

escorted from the center where he had been walked up. he can now start mounting his defense. what does this suggest about the ghosn?ainst carlos >> first of all, it suggests that they have not obtained a confession. he issued a statement declaring his complete innocence, and vowing to fight these charges. that seems to be what will take place here. it also suggests that they had, perhaps, run out of new allegations. for week after week, it was drip of new allegations about misdeeds. as we can expect now, they will focus on the indictment itself, and what he has been alleged to do, and the case will narrow down to those and his defense will focus there. >> the tussle between newmont and barrick has taken a dramatic turn. barrick says it plans to proceed

with a takeover bid despite the board rejecting the idea out of hand. you just spoke to ceo mark bristow what was his response? , >> he says it is progress and that newmont will give barrick 55% of the joint venture in nevada. the two sides have tried in the past to come to an agreement, and it has been along 50-50 lines. he sees that as progress. what he does not like is the proposal for a joint governance strategy. >> you proposed a 45-55 split and a 50-50 split in operations. >> the 45-50 five was based on consensus and av numbers. there are things that do not make sense and they are, and we need to work through and we are more than happy to work through them. in terms of how it gets managed. we would both appoint key

operating people. at the end of the day, the voting on how things operate is the person who ends up owning the majority economic interest, in this case barrick. ,>> deutsche bank employees learned of their bonuses and learned of deep cuts. >> it looks like people are still getting a little bit of money. deutsche bank is still paying out 2 billion, which is not much. we heard already in january that the bank is making more selective payoffs to keep the talent that they care about. certainly, there are some people who will get a nice paycheck. >> germany's two biggest lenders are stepping up talks. that is after the german government pressure on the firms. >> the government is looking for

that national champion. they are concerned about the performance of both banks. pushing them together, they hope it will help create that national champion that they are looking for. there are a lot of critics who do not believe that this is the move they should be taking, that putting together two struggling banks does not make one national champion. these talks are intensifying, and we hear it is in part because the government is pushing for it. whether that will come to fruition remains to be seen. >> the appetite for private equities still haunts. -- still hot with blackstone group expected to raise $20 billion for flagship funds. give us some background and how you will manage to carry out this big fund raising. >> they managed to do it because investors have an anonymous -- an enormous appetite for these long-term, private equities investment.

these firms do not invest in companies, they invest in real estate, and credit, and what investors are finding is that the firms are delivering returns in the times that hedge funds are struggling and assets are not making the money they would like to see. investors are going where returns are. >> tesla's downward turn. shares have been sliding after elon musk made a surprise announcement to shift exclusively to online sales. the ongoing conversation, but he did seem to spook his workforce. >> a lot of these employees found out when everyone else did that the stores were closing and they were probably out of a job. we are talking about hundreds of stores around the world and last quarter, tesla touted their retail store strategy. they open several new stores, more new stores than any time

last quarter. >> norway's government has given the go-ahead for its trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund to divest petroleum stocks. climate activists have been pushing the idea. the norwegian fund argues it makes little sense for western europe's- western biggest oil producer to be doubly exposed. >> this is a risk that the norwegian government is taking in norway. and, we are moving these companies from the government pension, and they will be a better attempt to reduce are allocated risk. >> these are stocks that have not worked for a wild. -- worked for a while. this is a secular problem in the energy space, not a component of the portfolio that is working and climate change is a huge issue. es g generally is a huge issue of among europeans and u.s.

investors. really, it impacts the invest ability of certain segments of the market. oil and gas is one of the segment. ♪

>> jay powell saying the fed can be patient has change the outlook and markets if we go into world interest rate projections, there is no chance according to traders of any kind of rate hike. the highest you get all year is 11%, and at this white line, around people saw two rate october hikes. now, zero chance seen this year. >> we hop into the bloomberg and use the financial function, we see in 2016 and 2018, ge put up negative three cash flow, but we are looking up a turnaround, so analysts have been estimating for positive cash flow.

-- positive free cash flow. >> there are about 30,000 functions on the bloomberg, and we always enjoy showing you are our favorites. maybe they will become your favorites. here's another function useful, quic , which will give you important information and insight into timely topics. here's a quick take. >> they can litter sidewalks, e pedestrians and endanger the writer's lives. electric scooters popped up in cities around the world, inviting a public to hop a ride. local governments scramble to regulate them. it may come as a surprise that scooters can be what traffic choked cities need. this is your quick take on e scooters. download an app, ride a scooter,

unlock it, and go for a ride. when you are done, leave it behind. rides can cost less than two dollars. >> there are lime, uber and lyft have scooters. they are new. essence they are all over the place. if you are not using them they get in your way, and because people are learning how to use them, they tend to ride them in obnoxious ways and a lot of places become a symptom uof the -- a symbol of the technology sector. >> san francisco capped the number of scooters allowed. byrd and lime offered scooters to more than 40 cities. despite the controversy, they have their defenders. in dense, urban areas, cars are not the best way to get around. many cities have turned to bike share systems and dedicated bike

lanes because they save on carbon emissions and he got less space and cars. some urban planners also ce -- and take up less space than cars. some urban planners also ce scooters as part of the future of transportation. >> the hope would be that you eliminate car trips that would get a lot of cars off of the road and create more protective lanes, and that would broaden the demand for scooters. it would be a virtuous cycle. >> despite each being valued at more than $1 billion, it is too early to tell if they will become viable businesses. >> it is how long it takes to pay off a vehicle and how long a vehicle stays on the road. we do not know how much this is, but it seems like you can pay these things off quickly. they are relatively inexpensive, but they get completely trashed quickly. you will take care of your own bike and car, but no one ever washes a rental car. >> that is just one of the many quick takes you can find on the bloomberg and also at bloomberg.com, along with all of the latest business news and analysis. that is all, thank you for watching.

this is bloomberg. ♪