juliette: well, a third session of gains here in asia. not as strong as what we saw yesterday but importantly as we alluded to it loose like the asia pacific index is on track to close the seven-month high as they are at the highest level. you have a bit of weakness coming through in currency markets in asia today. we did have a pretty strong print, though, in terms of australian building approvals. and you're asking are yields coming back? bonds being sold off. just a little bit higher after that big tumble in global yields last week. of course, we are also waiting the australian federal budget. treasurer expected to return the nation to a surplus. we've seen commodity prices

really help out the overall australian economy along with a hiring bonanza. you have fairly stagnant wages growth. all of this is happening on r.b.a. decision day in just about half an hour's time. rishaad: breaking news. china naming a new chairman for its 941 billion dollar sovereign wealth fund. this according to people with knowledge of this matter. not wanting to be identified. the chairman of the bank of communications will become chairman of china's investment corp and what we have at the another replacing chow who is retiring. pentagon chun has become -- new chair has become of the investment corporation. exclusive interraoux with the chevron c.e.o. mike wirth coming to you live from l.n.g.

2019. in shanghai. moving now to a warning coming, how i should say -- caution coming out of japan's banking industry to the central bank there. let's get the first word news. >> the new head of japan's main banking lobby has warned against deepening negative interest rates saying they could spur riskier investment and put further pressure on renders' profits. japanese banks faced with thin margins. returning to risky investments to get return. they urge to keep flexible. >> the bank of japan has a history of making flexible policy shifts accordingly. i expect they will make necessary policy adjustments when necessary going forward. >> former malaysian leader is dismissing allegations he missed tax payments following reports. "the edge" said he was given an

extra tax bill of $368 million from the period of 2011 to 2017. on facebook najib said he paid personal taxes every year and said this is propaganda. the corruption trial starts tomorrow. he denies any wrongdoing. u.s. aviation regulators say a fix for the grounded boeing 737 max is unlikely to win swift approval. the safety system linked to two fatal crashes since october is being reworked by boeing to make it less aggressive and less likely to malfunction. it was due to be shown to the f.a.a. last week but the schedule has been pushed back and the agency says boeing needs more time to carry out additional work. and india has taken another giant step in the space program sending up 29 satellites in a rocket launch that's the first of its kind to the country's space agency. the largest satellite is a 400 key low unit that will carry -- kilo unit that will carry out

electromagnets while in orbit. the others from lithuania, spain, and switzerland. global news, 24 hours a day, on-air and @tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2,700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. juliette: well, china is making a gesture of good will to the u.s. ahead of this week's round of trade negotiations. beijing is tightening regulations on the opioid fentanyl. two moves which should contribute to a more positive atmosphere. when the vice premiere resumes trademarks in washington. on his last trip in february he extended his trip by two days with both sides seeming optimistic about reaching a deal. rishaad: let's look at how china figures in there to the investor universe. joining us is head of asia

equity research. raymond, it's getting more and more pressing, i suppose, to get a deal done. there is another part which is being ignored. dealing with your clients, what do they say to you? what are the questions they are asking about this? raymond, well, the -- raymond well, the trade deal. rishaad: how are they thinking in terms of the conflict to get that rally, give that rally another leg? raymond: very important. we think the valuation has to be rated over 20% year to date. a lot of it has to do with the sentiment improvement as a result of constructive trade dialogue between the states and china. so we think that we need a partial trade deal to be struck in this quarter in order to continue with this upward momentum for the stock market. rishaad: ok. but the thing is, where do people invest? goes as been a -- nothing

in a straight line effectively. where do you actually go to get value, if you will, or even growth if you're looking for it? raymond: you would think so but we think china is composed of different indexes and we at the moment like on-shore asia represented by c.s.i. 300 partly because of value and momentum. in terms of value, the index valuation is at just around 12 times 4-p. the average is 16 times. rishaad: what about earnings? raymond: we start to have a realistic earnings outlook. it is 13% to 14% earnings growth for this year which we believe is reasonable given stimulus measures that's been announced over the last couple months. also, in terms of the momentum, we think the msdi inclusion

continues to adjust upwards waiting for on-shore asia. so later this year we're going to see it quadrupled for msci china and asia pacific. we think china asia will continue to see momentum as a result. juliette: raymond, that call you had a couple months ago, that's great you're sticking to it. what about in terms of specific sectors, is it broad base, financial, tech, where is it you're looking? raymond: we prefer financials and consumers and also communication services. these are the sectors we believe are policy beneficiaries. the chinese government is very focused on loosening monetary policies and that should be a positive for the banking sector as we see lone growth to the private enterprises continue to revaive from here on. in terms of consumption, i think this has been a big

driver behind china's g.d.p. growth and we think stimulus measures in the form of tax cuts and also corporate social security contribution reductions will continue to translate into employment gains and as a result more consumption growth ahead. juliette: i want to get your thoughts on the rebound that we have seen in the overall economy. i know you touched on the top there. we did have that p.m.i. to the upside. i have this chart on my terminal showing new export orders at six-month highs. we expect all of this will bode well for the equity recovery. raymond: we think so. we believe earnings outlook needs to look better from here on in order to sustain upward momentum in the stock market and we started getting good news from this past weekend where we saw p.m.i. trending above 50. taishei p.m.i.

upward. what is also of note is the fact we saw strength beyond s.o.u. to the small and medium-sized enterprises and that's very important because that has been the focus for president xi. juliette: in terms of what we heard from earnings, there has been positive upside. are you expecting any sort of negativity, head winds we can hear from certain sectors or certain companies? raymond: well, we continue to some head es and winds facing select sectors. some of the policies have continued to tighten. we see gaming approval starts to resume but at a slow pace in my view and also the banking sector may continue to see

rather modest earnings just because some of these smaller banks will continue to have to increase positioning for nonperforming loans and also long growth will continue to stay modest. juliette: all right. raymond, stay with us. more from jpmorgan private bank. emerging asia and who's missing out on the trade of the decade? rishaad: plus, worst crash in a decade could be looming over l.n.g. we're posing that question to chevron c.e.o. mike wirth with an exclusive interview a bit later. this is bloomberg. ♪

juliette: well, china factory activity shows signs of stabilizing and the fed may even cut rates this year. both should be great news for stocks around the world but emerging markets are missing out on the trade of the decade.

rishaad: let's bring back raymond. also, welcome bloomberg opinion columnist. i think the essential point you're making in the latest opinion piece is how emerging markets have really at the moment been missing the trade of the decade. that's what it is because china has done really well but they are not showing the love. >> that is correct. so to be sure msci is up 10% but we haven't called it a bull market whereas s&p is close to record high and china as we know is doing so well. one reason is back in 2017, if you recall, emerging markets, they had a major bull run because of the commodity rebound. thanks to china's so-called supply side reform which basically is about shutting down old factories and steel mills and coal mines but right now the chinese stimulus is more about boosting consumption

rather than choking on raw material supply so that's why emerging markets, which are low end exporters of raw materials, they're not benefiting. rishaad: raymond, what do you make of this? raymond: i think it's an interesting observation but we do think that msci emerging markets have underperformed china mainly because it's underrepresented by the on-shore issues. as you know msci has just arted to check on a shares and at the moment is still lightly represented in the emerging market index. and c.s.i. 300 is the one notably outperformed yesterday, 30%. you need higher weighting in the emerging market index in order to correlate the trading pattern. in the meanwhile, we also think that partly because of the trade sentiment improving,

southeast asia has also underperformed as a result. because previously people would view emerging asia, primarily southeast asia would be beneficiaries. should the trade continue to deteriorate. >> raymond, i absolutely agree with you that emerging markets is underperforming because of lack of -- from southeast asian countries' viewpoint, they feel the investments are taken away by china, asia. and also the bond index. so in a sense, basically like some countries such as indonesia and the philippines, they may think it's becoming a zero-sum game where china is taking away foreign money. everyone else is not. raymond: it's true china is trying to attract capital in

flow in terms of capital markets and partly to offset the upcoming increasing commitment of importing from the u.s., right. so we do think the upcoming deficit potential leads to this emergence of china trying to attract more capital inflow into the economy. but we do think rising tides would lead should sentiment improve. i think that would benefit the rest of the asia pacific region. juliette: raymond, there is a piece of investors becoming choosier. where do you think they would be looking? what's your best pick in southeast asia? raymond: well, we like indonesia, southeast asia the most mainly because the fact that they have underperformed. valuation is trading at more reasonable levels now in the mid level. growth is at a solid pace.

election is coming up and postelection we think infrastructure spending is going to resume and that should benefit domestic consumption going forward. and also i would highlight bank indonesia has actually raised rates by 175 basis points last year and it has a lot of room for rate cuts this year. partly because inflation is now remaining in check both the 2.5% and 4.5% range. rishaad: ok. what are people saying about the trend? is it their friend or the enemy? >> well, china is increasingly becoming enemy. like what raymond said, china is becoming rapidly deficit country. surplus ment -- even 4% on the g.d.p.

china needs portfolio money. rishaad: your reaction to that, raymond. raymond: we think it would be complimentary. china would immortgage more from the u.s., they might import the next layer, les sophisticated technology from southeast asia. after all, it's becoming a global economy. and we think that china would not count on the u.s. alone in order to get all the key components. southeast asia countries like vietnam, would still be a main market for a lot of the chinese factories to locate down the road. in order to feed into the overseas markets. >> that's right. vietnam is considered the next china, right? last week i was just in vaurm and my understanding is all the hedge funds in vietnam a year ago, they have already left. a lot of it is because of a

weakness. and they think mainland china, asia is an attractive market. that's the flow of money, i guess. rishaad: that's all we have time for, guys. thank you. i will tell you what we have coming up on the program. if there's one thing united britain's parliament, it's indecision. we're having a look at what may come. that's next. this is bloomberg. ♪

rishaad: this is "bloomberg markets," in hong kong i'm rishaad salamat. juliette: and in singapore i'm juliette saly. all the options that were put forward to replace theresa may's unpopular deal were rejected and that's causing increasing irritation in brussels.

>> nobody knows where we're going. we now know what the british parliament does not want but we have not heard what it does want. sphinx is an open -- a is an open book. rishaad: 11 days until the u.k. could crash out of the european union without a vote and recent attempts to get something on the table here as we've been hearing, ending in stallmate. what is next for theresa may? jodi: well, she may well try keeps ven though she getting defeated. a little less time than 11 days because the e.u. will have a summit on april 10. if she can't get a deal before then she needs to come up with another option. and at the same time there's

increasing pressure from the economy. we saw yesterday the british chambers of commerce came out and said that the investment and continuations by u.k. firms to invest more in the u.k. were at their lowest level in eight years and that was just part of the report. their businesses are starting to feel the crunch and everybody wants something to get done and yet the stalemate is still there with just 11 days. juliette: there's a lot of concerns about what sort of options she faces but also gela merkel has been getting increasingly worried about ireland if brecksis goes wrong, -- brexit goes wrong, jodi. jodi: that's right. there could be a general election. there could be waiting -- having a delay but that could be a long day. that could be two years or more and of course brexit proponents don't want to see that because

a lot could happen in that time and then the other is to crash out without a deal although parliament would likely stop that and as you say, there are others that don't want that and the e.u. is not necessarily for that. there would be a lot of potential economic chaos that could really affect everyone, so at this point it, a lot like -- it looks like the long delay or perhaps a general election are the two options that are more likely. theresa may will be meeting with her cabinet in what's expected to be a long, contentious session in the next day, a political meeting will be part of that session, which is leading some to think perhaps that's why a general election may be called. it would be the second in two years. juliette: yeah. as you say, if you don't try, try again. jodi, thanks so much for joining us in hong kong. a quick check at the latest business headlines. b.h.p. is warning of a falling production after a sigh lone hit northwestern australia last

month. iron ore output will be cut. and reviewing the guidance, production and cost. the forecast total output in fiscal 2019 at around 280 million tons. rishaad: u.s. environmental protection agency, e.p.a., it's l over hazardous waste violations in california. tesla is set to pay a penalty and will buy some $55,000 of .quipment juliette: ryanair was one of the biggest polluters in europe last year according to an environmental group in brussels. it's the first time that they have entered the top 10. airline pollution has risen

since 2005 with the aviation industry on course to be the single biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the next 30 years. rishaad: with regards to the chinese markets, we head towards lunch break in shanghai. turning tail a little bit here. we have a situation. .1% fallback here. shanghai market is still positive. and we have a slight gain if you can call that, flat right here in hong kong. we do have stocks, according to some people, consolidating after the huge rally we've seen so far. treasury yields, meanwhile, on the way down once again after we did have better than expected data out of the u.s. and on top of that china as well, jewels. juliette: yeah. and we are just minutes away from the r.b.a. announcing the rate decision. budget tuesday, no change though expected. hsbc chief economist and global

commodities paul bloxham will be joining us from sidney next for his take on what we can expect from the r.b.a. and of course the federal budget today. this is bloomberg. ♪

juliette: it is almost 2:30 p.m. in sidney and we're counting down to the r.b.a. decision. it's the first tuesday of the month. a bit of a vitally overcast there in sidney. we'll be watching the commentary closely. no change to the cash rate of 1.5% where it has been for quite sometime now. but the r.b.a. did move to a neutral stance this year and they have this concern of weakening house prices and employment strong. we could start to see cuts coming in july or august. in fact, some economists think the cash rate could actually get to 1% by the end of this

year. not our next guest, though. he will be joining us shortly. that is paul bloxham in our sidney studio. i'm juliette saly in singapore and, rishaad, we're counting down to the r.b.a. decision. rishaad: yeah. .71. we head into -- predicted by virtually everybody out there. that's the situation. any movement for the currency. that cash rate is unchanged. 1.5%. they say underlying inflation will pick up over the next couple years. that's a hint that perhaps neutral bias is intact at the moment. not going away of a dubbish bias we had from the fed and also the neighboring new zealand central bank as well. that's currently the position, 1.5% predicted by the 30 of 34 economists bloomberg has been talking to and talk about and ss and joblessness

the australian dollar within the narrow range of recent times. jewels, r.b.a. supporting low -- supporting the economy. juliette: yeah. it was interesting that you can see it's starting to get negative but it did have a shootup immediately on that decision. also interesting to watch those yields on the 10-year which hit the record lows last week. up by three basis points today. let's turn to monetary policy in as you trail why. our guest expects the r.b.a. to be on hold throughout this year and the next move is more likely to be up than down. albie it not until mid -- albeit not until mid 2020. paul bloxham, hsbc economist. in charge of global commodities there. paul, great to have you with us. what are you seeing in terms of what others in the market are not in county fact it's not starting to price in rate cuts and you're saying we could see

a rake height, albeit in a little bit of time. paul: we are much more focused what's happening in the labor market than anything else. we think the labor market has positive momentum and we're seeing that today in the statement from the r.b.a. as well. i think the r.b.a.'s view is the labor market is giving them a clearer rate on the economy. it is at an eight-year low. job vacancies are at a record high. we have indicators telling us the labor market will continue to remain quite strong over the next few months and then into the second half of this year we're expecting a combination of factors to support australia's growth. firstly, we're expecting the budget, which comes out tonight to deliver some fiscal stimulus. tax cuts and some spending which we think will support local growth. secondly, we have the view that china's growth will pick up pace in the second half of this year as well and of course that will feed to some support for australia. all in all we think the r.b.a., which seems very reluctant to consider cutting interest rates as we've seen from today's

statement. it's looking fairly neutral. all in all we think the r.b.a. will remain on hold this year and into next year we think the hikes more likely than cuts. juliette: yeah. just looking at the function because it has changed somewhat in the last couple minutes and now suggesting by the end of the year potentially 75% chance of a rate cut but very interesting to get your thoughts. now, we were talking earlier in the break. you were saying the other major factor or major factor for australia is this budget. saying we have the housing concerns. but we will have a surplus and that's positive news for the scott morrison government. paul: that's right. if you think where the australian economy is at the moment, income growth has been quite strong. it's been picking up pace. it's been driven partly by rising commodity prices and iron ore prices. it's showing up in the budget.

we think tonight the government will say they are in surplus and they will be able to project surplus going forward. what we haven't seen is that boost to national income flowing through the household sector. household income growth has been quite sluggish and what we any will happen is there will be a redistribution of that income. we think the government will deliver tax cuts, increase payments to households and see the income go to the household sector and that underpins we think the economy will get in the second half. the short version, we don't think there will be monetary stimulus. we think there will be fiscal stimulus instead and we think that will be enough to keep the r.b.a. from needing to cut further. rishaad: paul, tell me how concerned are you about the housing market? just said in that statement, r.b.a., they see sidney being s.o.s. and melbourne soft. is it getting worse, the housing situation? house prices are down, particularly in sidney. paul: well, certainly house

prices are falling in those two major cities but we have to keep it in the context sidney house prices are now down 14% from their peak 18 months ago but they rose by 75% prior to that. so you're only back to where you were in the early part of 2016. melbourne is down 12%. so you got to keep it in that broader context. i think the other thing to keep in mind is the labor market is far more important than the housing market for thinking about the direction of monetary policy and in both those states, the labor market is actually tight. vacancies are near record highs. the unemployment rate is at a 40-year low in victoria. i think the labor market is a whole lot more. house prices -- the house price declines being ash absorbed without having much of a broader impact. jobs growth is still strong. rishaad: paul, tell me about this pre-election budget? what will we get here?

will there will be -- how can i put it here? a degree of caution, etc., as well -- i think there is a word that doesn't come to mind at the moment. sorry, paul. will there be lots of giveaways? paul: well, i think what we got at the moment is a rather lucky term in the sense the budget is back in surplus for the first time in a decade in australia. they are cashed up. of course, there is an election that's got to happen sometime in may. this is the opportunity for the government to deliver further tax cuts and additional spending which we think will come through but also still continue to project budget surpluses in a reasonable -- reasonably credible way because the budget's already back to surplus. i think we're going to get a combination of what you're describing which is budget surpluses still projected but the government with the opportunity to provide support for growth through tax cuts and

increase spending measures. juliette: paul, just finally, i wanted to get your thoughts on what we're seeing in the bond market. you can see yields have ticked up four basis points but we saw yields on the 10-year last week hit record lows after the inversion in the u.s. paul: it's very interesting. i think it does reflect a lot more global forces going on. the weight of money in the global deme and what's going on in the u.s. and what's going on in that global story. more than necessarily just the local story. i think global investors are also looking at australia and looking at the housing market and they're worried and my view is that actually you shouldn't be quite as worried as that because actually the labor market is probably more important than the housing market and the labor market is actually doing very well. the unemployment rate is very low. there are a lot of -- there's a lot of job creation going on in australia. to my mind, i think the bond market has -- is not quite picking up that story of labor market being the really key guide to what's going on mostly. juliette: all right. paul, grate to have you.

thanks for joining -- great to have you. thanks for joining us. that's paul bloxham. hsbc chief economist australia, new zealand and global commodities. >> thanks, jewels. well, sterling fell as u.k. lawmakers failed to agree a plan b for brexit. rejecting all options put forward to replace theresa may's unpopular deal. the comments debated four policies yet none came out in the majority making the e.u. split further into crisis. no clear idea on what to do next. she will host the cabinet tuesday morning with a no deal brexit just days away. >> nobody knows where we're going. we now know what the british parliament does not want but we have not heard what it does want. a sphinx is an open book in direct comparison with the british parliament and we must now get the sphinx get to talk. enough of the silence. >> struggling to reach trade talks with the u.s.

a delay that may further irritate washington after the block already included agriculture in the discussions. e.u. ambassadors meet in brussels wednesday and we're told france is expected to push back to eliminating industrial tariffs. algerian leader has agreed to step down before his term ends after weeks of mass protest across the country. he'll go before the 28th of the month while taking what's it's called important steps to ensure smooth running of the state. bouteflika had a fifth term as president. business conference in brazil fell to the lowest since the president won the election on a pledge he would revive the economy. he vowed to shrink the size of the state, simplify taxes, deregulate and improve the ease of doing business. however, growth forecasts for this year have been cut for five straight weeks to just

under 2%. global news, 24 hours a day, on-air and @tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2,700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. ♪ rishaad: all right. up next, a topic we don't cover often but liquified natural gas. it had a 49% crash, the worst in a decade. going to be talking exclusively to one of the sector's biggest players, chevron chairman and c.e.o. mike wirth. he's live from the l.n.g. 2019 conference in shanghai. this is bloomberg. ♪

juliette: we are awaiting the market open in india. still at a 40-year high. that's the record high. highest levels we have seen since the -- since they opened in april, 1979. you can see a little bit of strength coming through in the rupey today.

couple minutes until the markets open. quick check of the latest headlines. china has named the new chairman for the $940 billion sovereign wealth fund. we've been told the new head of hina corporate vesks will be chun. he was vice president of the fund for more than three years before taking the role. it will bring to an end two-year period for the fund without a formal leader. rishaad: it's already a bumpy ride for lyft investors after the highest profile -- shares dropped by as much as 12% during the second day of trade falling well before the i.p.o. crisis. $72. nd the possibility of growth slowing down. juliette: wells fargo's credit outlook was cut by s&p global ratings after the c.e.o. stepped down last week. s&p lowered its outlook on wells' credit rating from

negative to stable while the lender's overall rating was at an a-minus. he struggled to revive the bank from a wave of scandals, including charging customers for services they neither ordered nor received. rishaad: deutsche bank hired morgan stanley. we're told the bank recruited citi group while they're working with rothschild, goldman sachs and bank of america. labor union against a deal. some deutsche bank investors are simply unhappy. juliette: all right. we are awaiting the reopen of india's markets. we have, of course, been seeing these record highs coming through. heading into the election period. there has been a lot of foreign money going into that market as well which is holding at the highest levels since the index actually opened in april, 1979,

for sensex. we are waiting for that. also seeing the strength in the currency. let's go to mumbai while they are waiting to take us through what to expect from today's session. as i said, we've seen the fresh record. what are we expecting today? more of the same? >> absolutely we're expecting the sensex moving upwards as the indication. re importantly, they are waiting for the nifty. also move up above levels of lifetime highs. they are opening with gains off a little over a quarter percent, nearly half a percent, actually, and the broader market index, that's the nifty hind, is up by as much as .4%. pe. rd on the ru

69.16 but we are see fluctuations but all eyes on the nifty now for it to move into unchartered territory. rishaad: thank you. now, l.n.g. caught in the worst crash in a decade. the asian benchmark prices tumbling 49% after a mild winter and new supply startups. that's a backdrop for the l.n.g. 2019 conference. this is something that takes place every three years and it's starting off in shanghai today. juliette: well, we are seeing top leaders in the industry from u.s., europe, russia, china set to speak, including our next guest who runs the second largest l.n.g. company in america. joining us exclusively now is chevron chairman and c.e.o. mike wirth. mike, great to have you with us. thanks for joining us. now, we were talking about that downturn we've seen in l.n.g. prices. is this causing you any concern with your projects?

ow are they going? mike: well, gorgan and richstone is going well, producing good and serving our committees mers. most of our contracts are done on a long-term bay sees and they don't necessary -- basis and they don't necessarily -- and what we're seeing in l.n.g. , supply comes online in big chunks. demand grows gradually. and so you can see at a point in time where we have price volatility. i think that's what we're seeing in the market today. juliette: what are some of your prospects you're investing in the u.s. l.n.g. market or even in canada? mike: well, it's a great time to be chevron. we have great investment opportunities around the world. in the u.s., our focus really is in developing unconventional resources in the permian basin where we're seeing tremendous growth. this brings with it oil and

gas, and gas is seeking world markets. last year we produced about 300,000 barrels a day there. by the end of 2020 we will be at 600,000 barrels a day. 2023 over 900 barrels a day. some of that could make its way into l.n.g. plants and around the world to serve a growing demand for liquified natural gas. juliette: mike, the cap still below mid 2010 levels. are there concerns you're perhaps underinvesting? mike: oh, i don't think we're underinvesting at all. we have a robust capital developments and we have a growth forecast of 3% to 4% compound annual growth for the next several years which is stronger than we've seen in the last decade and it's really tough in our business given the decline curb in oil and gas production to deliver steady growth like that. 2/3 of our capital delivers production in less than two years. so the cash flow returns very

quickly. and with disciplined capital and growing production, we have plenty of excess cash to fund shareholder distribution which is a great place to be. rishaad: mike, it's rish in hong kong. i want to take a look at the oil market and a shale producer or whatever. there was a sort of ceiling we had for oil prices, because shale production would kick in at that. how have the dynamics changed of the industry? mike: well, in some ways, the dynamics are the same as they have been and it's a large global market and at the end of the day supply and demand are forward perceptions of supply and demand are really sets price. shale presents a new source of supply and so i think that's introduced a new dynamic and you certainly have seen opec now beginning to try to respond to the steady and growing production out of the united states with some production cuts.

this can be, you know, all then accentuated by the announce of sanctions by some countries. the problems we see in venezuela. and so the fundamentals of the industry haven't changed. i think the dynamics of the supply and demand drivers are always in flux and they are a mix of economic and geopolitical circumstances around the world. rishaad: absolutely, mike. shale could come on stream at a certain level but it becomes profitable to do so. my point also is, does that mean we are basically locked in range of oil prices? where do oil prices go from here perhaps in the next six months to a year? mike: yeah, certainly we've seen some strength over the first part of this year. and i think you need to reflect on the fourth quarter of last year where there were concerns about global economic growth and then we've seen opec and russia bring supply back into

the market in anticipation of sanctions on iran that ended up being somewhat deferred. as we moved into this year, those two things have kind of reversed. we've seen encouraging news on the economy, including this week here in china. we've seen some encouraging news, and opec has tightened some of their measures and so supply and demand have been better and you've seen strength in numbers. pridicting future prices are -- predicting future prices are a problem and i don't go on the record. we are in the ballpark right now of what we would expect for full year prices. again, with volatility, no doubt, over the balance of this year. juliette: mike, i just wanted to ask in terms of opec, what's your view on the opec legislation and could it be a threat to the stability of the oil market? mike: well, the opec legislation has been around in the u.s. for a long time and it

never has really been able to get through congress and be signed by the president. it would change the dynamics, i think, in international markets and international relations as it removes certain sovereign immunities and could open up legal actions in the united states and retaliatory kind of actions around the world which has never really gone very far in the united states. i think it's always worth watching. politics are difficult to predict. even more difficult than oil prices. but it's an idea that's never really been able to get all the way through the u.s. system. juliette: all right. thank you very much for joining us. chevron chairman and c.e.o., mike wirth, from shanghai there. well, coming up, wealthy people in taipei don't usually make many rich lists but the city has quietly become one of the most prosperous in the world. how they have grown their fortunes in stealth mode.

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juliette: you are watching "bloomberg markets-asia," i'm juliette saly in singapore. rishaad: and i'm rishaad salamat in hong kong. one place that's home to a greeg number of multimillionaires have done it inarguably stealth mode. taipei is tied eighth. how do they get so rich? >> well, if you think back in the 170's, everything you bought from television -- from televisions to sneakers, they were from individuals, small to medium-sized entrepreneurs and as that industry moved to china and things really exploded they

got really, really rich. it was still taiwanese companies. foxcom makes everything from iphones to gameboys. that's owned by a taiwanese gentleman named terry goh. juliette: frederik, it's interesting in your story you talk about people buying goods and putting it in brown paper bags, for example. this is not "crazy rich asians." people are buying on the fly here. frederik: absolutely right, juliette. they specifically came up with these brown paper bags so people when they're leaving the store you can't see they actually dropped $20,000 on a hand mark or more on a berkin. in addition that the same mall that has the hermes has a private entrance so you don't have to necessarily walk in the store. they will bring the bags to you or if you're trying on a

diamond necklace, you can sneak in and sneak out and nobody is the wiser. the taiwanese definitely like to play things close to the chest and not flaunt their wealth. unlike some of the asians around. rishaad: very quickly. those reports that most of the people -- ultra high network individuals don't fly business, even. frederik: that's true. that could be good old-fashioned entrepreneurial prudence or the fact they don't want to be spotted at the front of the plane. rishaad: all right. great stuff as usual. frederik balfour covers alternative investments for bloomberg news. let's talk about some of the events we're watching out. china returning to trade talks. we have nato 70th anniversary taking place in washington that's on thursday. and data point arguably of the month coming out. u.s. jobs. friday april 5. juliette: we have also an

exclusive interview in hong kong. and with the director general in hong kong 11:40 p.m. this is bloomberg. ♪ the biggest week in television is almost here.

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