actually incrementally negative. after eight straight days of gains, we fall. anchor: we fall and we fall big. care,and health everything else is down, telecom off by 1.7%. off by 11% for the dow and s&p 500 20 day average. anchor: it was down yesterday as well. earnings season kicking off for friday. series ofwe've had a days, most of them down, but very light volume. anchor: the s&p 500 the first

down day in nine. what i really want to point out is the last two times above that range back in january of last year and all-time highs, at that point, it really overextended volatility and last september back above that range, not quite as high. in fact, a series of lower highs last year, right now we are back above the range. whether something has changed, there could be a pullback for the s&p. anchor: i was taking look at the s&p 500 transportation index, one of the worst performers.

today, concerns about global , dropping close to 4% earlier. the company out today with a ,eaker than expected forecast saying you cannot quantify the cost of the 737 max 8's. also surprising is that delta is down today. in the first quarter and have been insulated because they simply don't operate any of the models. sure investors are hoping it will give back for something of a lift. anchor: shares down about 4.6%

today. showed it fell behind a lot of competitors. fallenr has essentially behind nike and plymouth, saying that this trend is not very encouraging. ofcourse, there are a lot ebbs and flows. right now, you can see under armour still up about 15% on the .ear great perspective. thank you so much. still what thus is aaron vance. we had told you about the breaking news earlier. the demand was so strong that it allowed the company to borrow more yields than the kingdom itself.

reporter: this was a large deal, massively overcrowded, so i think there is a lot of benchmark exposure before taking on the credit risk. investors shows that are there. we are still in an uptrend, but just in next cadillac from on. is it going to be earnings you think? anchor: a potentially -- it potentially could be. most people you speak with are saying we are not really expecting any surprises. the last one was a surprise. what are the odds we get another

one? -- last week for the quietest of the year. this week, said to be even quieter, so clearly there was something needed to really excite investors because it is difficult to get investors in and out. we have levi reporting and it is the first report coming out, first quarter revenues up 7% across all regions. comparedd net income to a net loss the prior year. remember, we have no sales, analysts from the banks giving us know estimates, but it looks like it is coming up higher.

they did last six consecutive quarters. perspective and that are internationally exposed such as levi question mark -- levi? >> i think this is the calm before the storm. you have the reporting tomorrow and that will kick off in earnings season where investors will get a look into revised expectations. i think that is a big risk. there has been some progression as the quarter when on and it was mainly positive. risknk that is the biggest . i think that is the markets concern. we talk about cpi and one thing that is notable is

oil. really been on a tear. i will point does it catch people's attention or have more ramifications for the market? >> i think we have been here before. trump has pulled the rug by issuing the iranian sanctions. i think the opec group is going to be very wary of pushing back their plan to remove production from the market. i think locally, we have a group of companies being told. i think the alliance to grow dramatically will come down and we will see a more restrained growth rate. that will affect production in venezuela and potentially issues

and iran depending on how the administration handles that. i think it will put pressure on oil processes. it is the first time we are sign -- [no audio] you are starting to hit driving season. i'm worried more about this ring an issue for the market going forward. anchor: we will watch oil, inflation and a parade of bank ceos heading to capitol hill. what do you think you will get as you look into the markets? anchor: we start to get taking about the banks to mark -- tomorrow. there will probably be questions surrounding executive conversations, things of that sort, but i thought that he had a really interesting point. we are also going to get a bit of insight, should democrats actually one -- wendy 2020

election. we could get insight into what that could look like for the financial. if we see any weakness, may want to step in, but maybe getting an idea of what it could look like down the road. >> perhaps gaming out scenarios. thank you. that does it for the closing bell. this is bloomberg. ♪

anchor: from bloomberg headquarters in new york, here is what happened with stocks. until today. gains the eu and china come together on trade and what about taking money from china? what are the risks? levi reports for the first time since going public and a revenue boost. demand. a look at what is behind aramco's irresistible debt. less help-wanted. u.s. job openings decreasing by the most since 2015, still exceeding the number of unemployed americans.

we read into it? this is a number from february. it is not as exciting by some people. explain to our audience and to us how significant we should look at the biggest drop in job openings in several years. reporter: it is one month of data, so there could be volatility and this is from february. , job postingsand have increased by 8.5%. while there could be a deceleration, that is coming down from a hot 2018. -- could you give us insight into what we learned today? >> you can see workers are quite

confident. the same level for about nine straight months. that is near historic high levels, but the unemployment rate and other measures is relatively lower than what you expect. meanwhile, we are seeing small business optimism looking pretty good. perhaps there is a shortage of qualified workers, but where do we look? i think it's important to look at jolts. according to some data, about 50% of all job openings are from firms that have more than 500 employees. if you are looking at just in a five the, just half of the labor market. anchor: what else do you see in the report?

some interesting angles onto to the labor market they do not get. what else stood out to you in this data question mark -- what else stood out to you in this data? uptick inas been an certain industries such as accommodation and food services givenat is interesting that it is a low-paid industry. you are seeing some confidence. anchor: is the labor market tight in your view? >> given measures of labor market slack like the unemployment rate, we are approaching full employment. we are not quite at the level we expect with 3.8%, but it is getting there. when you look at the report,

what does this tell you about wages? did we learn anything today that would give us any insight? report is this beating into the steady acceleration of wage growth. we're getting back to levels we have seen prior to the recession in 27 -- 2007. the question is, can we get a little higher. i'm a bit skeptical that that will happen or at least set off a large uptick of inflation. >> coming up, saudi arabia's aramco debt debuted. that story is next. this is bloomberg.

♪ anchor: a look at what stories are trending across the bloomberg universe. a chinese woman breached trump's of president mar-a-lago resort in florida and had a large cache of devices. cards, nine usb drives and thousands of dollars in cash. bloomberg.com has a story on the measles outbreak which has caused new york city to declare a emergency -- an emergency. the virus has afflicted 285 new yorkers since october. saysc on twitter showtists -- scientists responses to their names by

perking up their ears or moving their heads. on thethese stories tictoc terminal or on twitter. aramco issuing 12 billion -- $12 billion of bonds. is get to the latest. brian, i assume you have been following this like the rest of the world. what does it say about the amount of demand versus the market? you have to ask her self how this came to be, so you have the banks that have a real vested interest, so they really drum up a lot of demand, but you also have to buyer basis. you have these emerging markets and the great credit buyers who

see it as achieving exxon and that is how you get one of $2 billion in order and yields that are lower. spread, itfrom that is the ig credit briars -- ig credit buyers? lot was that saudi arabia had been blacklisted from the market and i think there was a realization that ok, we can go in now. it is not necessarily the political risk that it was before, so i think that commanded a lot of money coming in and even saudi arabia's own sovereignty fell as a result. interesting to see if we get further issuance coming. what do you make of the fact that also the bankers were not afraid to go all in on the political risk. it was only six months ago that

they were backing out and suddenly last week we had jamie dimon. >> i believe there was a blacklist of 16 saudi nationals like this happened in between the initial pricing and the renault pricing. clearly, they have been pushed to the back burner for now as far as political risk is concerned. it is a brand-new name in the market and they have a great command of the oil market, so i think all of that outweighed the politics, at least for now. thisr: talk to me about $100 billion number that gets bounced around. i remember a few days ago it just kept going up and up even though we knew the offer was not rising. the supposed to believe demand will the -- demand level was realistic? reporter: you are supposed to

believe that, but it is sort of anyone's guess. only people taking out the orders no -- know. ultimately, it means the initial pricing was very cheap and you saw that at the end when the yield came down 20 basis points across the curve. anchor: obviously, lots of interest in this and that goes without saying, aramco sitting on tons of oil, incredibly profitable. are there any risks that are unique to this company because of its relation with the saudi government? >> 20, 30 year debt. is the energy market going to look like in 20 years, 30 years. i don't know. it is sort of an open question. you bite now and it is a good spread -- you buy now and it is

a good spread. reporter: how will this affect what we see in treasury markets? we know that these deals, you have to have some sort of hedge off of that wanted to billion dollars or whatever. are we going to see any affect short-term? >> i don't think so. a lot of times the treasury market raises cash in an attempt to buy these investment great deals, so you result -- usually see a pop when the pricing comes in and ultimately, the market settles back in. i think the treasury market is too big to be affected, even by saudi aramco. anchor: great to get your take on what was a pretty phenomenal debut. a quick check on the latest business flash headlines. have given up talks

. they frame -- they blame premature disclosure of preliminary discussions. in china, car sales fell 48 10 straight month. .ales were down 12% in march an industry group is calling for more demand. snap[indiscernible] thanks -- thinks snap is back in the game. year, the price has more than doubled. fourth-quarter results blew away estimates. the number of analysts have upgraded snap and looking at the new android version of the app. >> this is the private company

public.ends to go a bunch of deals being reported, said to reach $26 per share. this is based on people familiar with the transaction. >> they are basically copying spotify, going directly to the market. it is amazing just how much jockeying you are seeing. there must be a lot of confidence. $16 billion, this is an enterprise software company, but one of the few that went viral, became a cultural phenomenon because you don't hear workplace software as something people talk about excitedly. you can see they translate into how enthusiastic they are.

anchor: and notable given lyft has not had the did you many thought. a lack of be confidence about ipo strength after that? theor: people love recurring cloud revenue. that is what people crave and pay top dollar for. i would expect to see enthusiasm. anchor: we will be watching to see when it does list. coming up, levi's releasing its first earning summer's since going public. the first quarter revenue at $1.4 billion. we are breaking that down ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

mark: i am mark crumpton with bloomberg's first word news. the attorney general will release a redacted report on robert mueller's russia investigation. he testified today that he had a general sense of the russia investigation's findings weeks before the blue -- probe concluded. >> the -- [please stand by]

>> thinking of the special counsel. >> i must say it is extraordinary to evaluate hundreds of pages of evidence, legal documents and finding based on a 22 month long inquiry and make definitive legal conclusions in less than 48 hours. even for someone who has done this job before, i would argue it is more suspicious than impressive. barr says he worked closely with rod rosenstein on the letter he wrote to congress. the white house is discussing a new job for the secret service director.

although he was asked to resign, president trump likes him, and he could be offered a position with u.s. customs and border protection or in another at homeland security. -- nnounced he would global news 24 hours a day, on air and @tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. after going public, levi's has announced its earnings. the shares are trading higher after hours, currently up a percentage points. let's get a debt side of the equation. you have been looking at levi's debt for years now. looking at how the dollar bond has been trading above par, 103 basically. from a bond perspective, they do

well, from a share perspective, they do well. did anything change your outlook? >> no. they are income -- years ago they embarked on a strategy to grow and diversify the business and they continue to see that on a global basis in every market, every product. you can see they are growing immense business but also diversifying into tops and the direct to consumer business helps them continue the momentum. joe: talk about that because obviously everyone is inundated with new brands these days. getting advertised some jeans company or men's apparel i have never heard of selling to me on instagram. how much does the levi's brand hold up these days against the onslaught? >> it is working really well

because one of the best things about growing direct to consumer, you have an iconic brand -- selling direct allows them to take control of the brand offering and a look and feel of how it is sold. as they look to become more of a lifestyle company instead of men's jeans -- they are bigger in women's and tops. morehead to tell, the presentation in the stores, the way they -- more head to toe, the presentation in the stores, the way they market has built momentum. the learnings can be carried into wholesale customers as well. >> when you look at the brand as it stands now, it is still somewhat singular with regards to jeans and denim. i know they are trying to expand. how much further does it have to go where they can diversify in a way that will provide a little

bit more insulation against any shift in trends or demand? some of the concerns, ,t is largely one brand, levi that, while being iconic over 100 years, other brands have come in and take share, you see the fashion risk with jeans we have gone through, leisure wear, total brand, one brand can be hot and the next it is not, diversification, for them to get to the next level, expanding product categories, things of that nature are really something that you look for. looking at investment grade, some brands are more diversified, #brands and even in more categories. -- have more brands and even in more categories. consumer we note

sentiment is slowing down. how can they make inroads and grow at a time when perhaps usa -- the usa isn't looked on with much love? michael: china has tremendous opportunity for them. if you look at a lot of other brands, there is a lot of white space in that country and region for countries -- companies to grow. levi's is underpenetrated more so. there is a lot of space, big iconic brand, while being american. it is an iconic brand that people globally have shown that they would like to buy. >> definitely a brand will be watching and a stock we will watch. thank you very much. roadng china's belt and initiative, how should countries the evaluating infrastructure projects financed i beijing? -- by beijing?

this is bloomberg. ♪

>> china's five-year-old belt and road initiative. a center of american security out with a new report on drawbacks of the financial infrastructure and how to welcome them. we welcome one of the reporters from the asia-pacific security program at the center for new american security. he joins us from washington. it is understandable why anyone would want to do business with china given size and growth, but if you are the leader of a nation and china comes knocking, what is the main criteria those countries should be looking for to make sure they will get a fair deal? daniel: absolutely, thanks for

having me. i would want to immediately understand the belt and road is a geopolitical vehicle for china to pursue its ambitions. i would ask things like, is this deal something that will uphold my sovereignty or undermine it? will it create debt or be financially sustainable? in myt corrode governance country? is it environmentally sustainable? and transparency, can we do a deal that is transparent or not? i would have questions around the world. we looked at 10 projects that were quite different and not one of them was problem free. joe: not one of them was. we have heard of several that have become bad, the local government saddled with debt, infrastructure didn't work out. what are the best examples where there are problems but it turned out to work out well? what we found is

countries that have strong rule of law that are wealthier -- china had to play by the rules. the countries constrained what china could do. the better projects, not without problems but [indiscernible] which still had issues. ultimately a chinese state-owned enterprise is going to manage a port expansion for 25 years, but you didn't see corruption. given israel is a rule of law society. capacitythey lacked the more you would -- the chinese would play by the local rules and if there were not a lot of local rules, they would engage in problematic practices. >> we know that china is making inroads into europe as we speak. they are doing a handshake deal, getting some document signed with the e.u. to ensure there is a show of unity, despite the united states, that they can

build bridges when it comes to opening the chinese markets to the e.u. they were looking at italy to start belt and wrote investments. -- road investments. where do you see particular areas -- where do you see infrastructure in particular areas going forth? we have seen africa and asia in the past. europe seems to be insight. -- in sight. unknown whether china will fall through on some of its pledges. it is dangerous to kind of overplay a positive outcome here. we will need to give this close scrutiny. in terms of where and what in europe is problematic. i would point to the digital side. there has been a lot to -- a lot of attention to huawei lately. there is certainly a danger of compromising european information and complicating how

the u.s. and europe partner. those are areas of concern. and then looking at ports near european military facilities, we will see where china wants to go. with italy, the number of projects announced is modest. that announcement was much more political. it could result in less actual products. i know you focus on the other countries doing business with china, but i wonder what chemchina do? -- can china due to blunt criticism? to bluntcan china do criticism? myanmar and the maldives, they are getting pushed back now. it has to be concerned on the chinese side -- concern on the chinese side people don't trust them. understand chinese the blowback against built and to negotiatetrying

it. to rebrand the effort and make it look higher quality and positive -- the challenge for china is this is a vehicle for their global ambitions. of these projects are massive and underway already. you will see a cosmetic approach to make it look better but in practice you will see many of the same issues in the report. report will hopefully be read by many more. thank you for being on. all things belt and road. let's get you caught up on the business flash headlines. has a list ofle banks taking a big step back from commodities grew they say they will close its over-the-counter commodities business. this is part of a global move to in 1600 jobs after a slump trading revenue. italy expecting its economy to be stagnant this year. rome cutting its forecast from 1% to .1%. they raise the budget deficit to

2.5% of gdp, more than promised to the european commission. the cofounders of pro--- of interest won't share it -- cofounders of pinterest will not share the ipo equally. the chief creative designer will have smaller than the other. that is your business flash update. story today that can't both of your eyes that the indian car sharing company -- eyescaught both of your that the indian car sharing company is talking with softbank. >> the founders are really trying to reassert some control over their backers, who may be asked -- maybe asked to much of them. --: no one wants to have

other motives because they have other stakes in other companies that might be rivals and have a strategic vision for the company than what about her head. -- the founder had. >> they have to diversify with such a large portfolio and you will have conflicts. joe: they have to be big. they have to invest in big companies, and these will want to compete with each other. they are envisioning grant tieups, tensions will emerge. if you need cash -- you can't say no. if you have cash, you can resist more. >> he pushed back on a further round of funding. softbank wanted to take a 40% stake. suddenly you are not able to wield as much power. made toof the moves he try to circumvent this, raising cash from other minority investors, it is interesting.

we will see if it pays off. >> not offending certain parties. i don't visit new dealing -- new delhi in general. read that on the bloomberg and -- joe: drowning in student loans? some units are it -- universities are offering an alternative. how wall street could cash in on your future success. this is bloomberg. ♪ berg. ♪

joe: student loans are not the only way to finance a college degree. grads are looking to wall street for an alternative, giving investors a share of their future. how does this work? more like equity or you get an investment and then pay back the investor part of your income? reporter: if i were a student i would say, i need $10,000 to fund my senior year of school

and depending on my major, that would determine my rate. i wouldn't say anything upfront, then when i graduated and got a great job i would start paying a set rate of my income back to what i borrowed. >> $10,000 isn't going to get you far in this economy, most of the colleges i have been looking at. when we look at the majors and can see the share of income owed -- what is this telling us? claire: what is interesting is in pricing them, they try to guess what are you going to make when you come out with the english degree or engineering degree? these numbers are for purdue university. they have a lot of you ever -- of engineers. they found people who majored in the sciences are making more money. they will pay a smaller percentage than a writing major. english is going to make the less. >> no money in writing poetry.

for one that begs the question of it will change -- if it will change the popularity of certain studies or you are paying less actually to go for it. but how big is this becoming at the end? hugee not talking big, universities offering this. claire: not yet, but it is changing. they are smaller schools, really experimenting with this. biggest name, but the university of utah announced a program, something i have been hearing from a large number of public schools. the idea would be to go for the income sharing agreement after you have taken out your government student loans because it is the cheapest option. what if you graduate and don't want to work? what happens is -- claire: what happens if you

graduate and have a part-time job, your payments go into deferral. if you are not searching for a job and your like, i don't want to pay this, your term would be extended. >> these people are basically pooling students into one fund. are there other outside investors that can buy into this? withe: their funding investor money, small and experimental. we have seen universities take it outside. what they will do is cool these -- pool these students together. it is some nonprofit type entities that might have a few million dollars. est funds are looking at this because it will fix the senate -- student debt problem may be. >> you quote in the story one investor who thinks -- he came about $150 talking

billion -- how big does it need to get to become a sizable chunk of the student loan market? people are drowning. claire: there is $1.5 trillion of standing debt. it has a ways to go before it would go after federal -- it is showing a lot of interest now. >> bloomberg credit reporter claire boston. let's go to bank of america. they are coming out with news that they will increase minimum wage to over $20 an hour. i saw this this morning. we know that the minimum wage is being raised in a lot of places, setting the base of $50 and they say by 2021, minimum wage will be $20. >> interesting timing because they might come under a hot collar tomorrow at capitol hill.

>> there is the idea of livable wages and whether companies are sharing the wealth with the rank-and-file employees. ready to like they are pay around $17, so it is decent. joe: you look at the other announcements with headlines like $15 an hour, walmart somewhere around there. amazon. it keeps going up what they are saying, and early in the show we talked about labor market tightness -- you can't separate this. >> at this point they are competing for talent here. to be able to say, you will get $20 if you go here, 15 here. >> does it make the focus on technology even more fast and furious? we will see the baseline of costs going up? joe: we will see productivity gains as they invest in software. >> here is hoping. joe: at guggenheim, they have

doubled their forecast recession. growing more people concerned about a recession. i have the information here. they see the chance of a recession in the next 24 months is doubled. the next recession says guggenheim partners will not be as severe as the last one but it could be prolonged because policymakers have limited tools to fight the downturn. a lot of view that people have, we will not have another financial crisis like recession that usually come once a century but there is a perception the tools will not be as robust. >> they won't be, but no one can come acession lot faster or they appear faster than people realize. minard has remained a voice saying i am worried about this, now 50% chance, more than 50% chance of recession in the next 24 months. i don't think it is widely

different but he is trying to continue to talk about this. years it the next two is not far from any point the risk of recession. but sort of more alarm bells being raised. >> in a few months we will hit the longest expansion in history. june i believe. so you know, -- >> cycle? said the cycle -- jpmorgan. we will know in a few years. >> the ecb announces its rate decision followed by a briefing by mario draghi tomorrow. joe: and the fed releasing minutes from its march meeting. >> numbers for u.s. cbi at march 8:30 p.m. >> that is all. joe: have a great evening. this is bloomberg. ♪ his is bloomberg. ♪

♪ chang in sanily francisco. this way a broader selloff, tech stocks are within striking distance of all-time highs. we will discuss what is behind the rally. --resentatives from google google and facebook testified before congress on one of their biggest challenges, the race -- rise of hate speech and white nationalism. china inte