tv Bloomberg Best Bloomberg September 22, 2019 3:00pm-4:00pm EDT
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juliette: coming up on "bloomberg best," the stories that shaped the week in business around the world. the fed delivers a rate cut, but members disagree on what comes next. >> k more extensive sequence of rate cuts could be appropriate. >> i am disappointed with what the fed has come out with. juliette: oil markets whipsaw after an attack on saudi facilities. >> the trump administration wants to put the blame squarely on iran. >> all things considered, i don't think that was a severe reaction. >> they are working around the clock to try and get these machines and infrastructure back online. juliette: the u.s. announces a trade deal with japan.
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>> for the president, it was very important to get a win. juliette: the boe stays cautious as the brexit outlook remains uncertain. >> if you look at the details and negotiations, there is still such a long way to go. juliette: plus, a special bloomberg series highlights climate change with expert insight and analysis from every angle. >> the average global temperature is going to go up a lot. >> we have to fight global warming and have intelligent climate change policy. >> policy shifts being made are creating new markets. juliette: it is all straight ahead on "bloomberg best." hello and welcome. i am juliette saly. this is "bloomberg best," your weekly review of the most important business news, and
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interviews from bloomberg television around the world. let's start with a look at the headlines. the week began with a geopolitical shock that jolted global oil markets while raising tensions across the middle east and beyond. >> saudi aramco oil facilities hit by an attack over the weekend. strikes have cut saudi arabia's output in half. it hit the world's biggest oil production facility in the kingdom. rebels in yemen claimed credit for the attack. but the u.s. is blaming iran directly. >> just on a company basis, what we are hearing from saudi aramco so far is supplies are continuing. they are meeting customer commitments and are able to do that from oil in storage. >> no one expects saudi arabia to respond with a military strike against iran.
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even if it does believe iran is behind it. >> president trump said they are locked and loaded based on who actually did that. if saudis come out today, they have not blamed anyone yet -- if they come out today and blame iran, that is basically the end of it. >> saudi arabia, the press agency, speaking of iranian weapons being used to attack oil facilities. what is notable is what they did not say, direct blame on the islamic republic for instigating the attack. >> what is clear is the trump administration wants to put the blame squarely on iran and marshall international support to present a unified front. to confront iran. the international immunity, even u.s. allies, not willing to go that far. joe: oil surging the most in a decade after an attack highlighted concerns about instability in the world's most important crude producing region. >> all things considered, i don't think that was a very severe reaction in the market.
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i think there is a sense there are a lot of stocks out there, inventory, strategic petroleum reserves. the administration wisely mentioned the strategic petroleum reserve early, which is a message to traders and so forth. it is what comes over the next few days. two things. one, is it iran fingered by the saudis and clearly by the u.s.? the other is how long does it take to bring the supplies back in? caroline: saudi arabia's plan has restarted and is processing about 2 million barrels a day, restoring half the output lost. the facility was damaged according to aramco's chief executive. the kingdom expects it may take until november to restore full production capacity. >> by the end of september, the production facility will be at capacity. >> you were able to meet shipments to international customers? >> we are able to meet shipments to international customers. >> the overall message is one of
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reassurance by saudi aramco. the goal was to get across to the market, yes, we have suffered. yes, there is some damage. but as for customers, we will deliver what was promised. that is one of the things we took away from the minister's press conference. which was we are going to deliver the full contracted amount. we may not get it from the fields affected, the oil processing facility that was affected. what we are going to get it from some of the stockpiles we have on hand, but we are going to make the customers whole. i think the market was not too freaked out but there are larger risks. shery: money markets have been ravaged by funding shortages, causing lending rates to soar and forcing policymakers to step in for the first time in a decade. the new york fed injected $53 billion into markets and said it would conduct another repo operation wednesday.
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what is this telling us about the fed and its control of short-term rates? >> well, if you ask a lot of people in the markets they are telling you the fed is losing control. if you look through a lot of their communications, minutes, statements, everything is about controlling short-term interest rates and they are slipping. people are getting nervous. because when the fed loses control of interest rates in the short term, that is the ballgame. that becomes a credibility issue. it is going to test the efficacy of their policies. whether people believe it is going to work. >> market affected, 25 basis point cut from the fed today. investors will be focused on the potential signals of future easing. fed very divided fet -- cuts its benchmark rates a quarter percentage point cut and appears to go on hold. three voters to dissent.
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for the first time in three years, bullard wanted a half point cut, others want to know -- who wanted no cut at all. the dot plot shows no cuts, no reductions through the end of 2020. however, seven of the 17 members still think another cut is needed this year, while five think no cuts should have been made at all. >> and if the economy does turn down, then a more extensive sequence of rate cuts could be appropriate. >> i am disappointed by what the fed has come out with. >> why? >> well, because the market is priced for substantially more action. >> what a recovery we have made in the last hour of trading. the fact that we were significantly off, this offset of the press conference, now it feels as though the market is not quite so worried about what can be deemed a hawkish cut. >> intensifying trade conflicts have growth momentum tumbling towards lows.
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governments are not doing enough to prevent long-term damage. that is according to the latest outlook, cutting the global growth forecast. are we heading slowly towards a recession? >> what we are seeing we are heading toward slower growth. beyond that number you have quoted, it is a very low level of growth. our message is to hold this uncertainty. low rates remain visibly low, to invest and get us to lift the world out of this low growth danger. >> the fed will be injecting taxes and the money markets today, a third day in a row. tom: what is there to learn about the repo market? 1, 2, 3, is this now a
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permanence to the new york fed? >> i think the new york fed will eventually have to implement a full allotment repo facility. a daily liquidity buffer they will have instead of these one-off operations which are of a set size, but it worked the way one would expect. we have some balance street -- balance sheet constraints. the fed is the only balance sheet elastic enough to fund the entire dealer community and this -- in this time of a little bit of stress, and it has worked, quite frankly. >> chancellor angela merkel coalition polls and all-nighter -- polls an all-nighter in negotiations to secure landmark multibillion euro package to get climate policies back on track. she says we need to do more on climate. she also winds up talking about the -- about that we will be potentially looking at some green bonds. >> that's a reasonable spend.
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let's see how it plays out. and let's see if this the first of several physical things germany is going to do to stimulate the economy. as it stands now, the german economy has had a rough couple of quarters. and the risk of recession is real. so let's see whether this fiscal package is something that will be able to stimulate the economy. >> oil prices had a wild ride. the hunt for fuel is on. there are reports saudi arabia is looking to buy super light oil condensate. the saudi's in the u.s. are blaming iran for the latest around -- latest rounds of attacks. iran is continuing to deny involvement in the attacks. >> we are speaking to officials on the ground, and they have made it very clear they are working around the clock to try and get these machines and the infrastructure back online. pres. trump: we have just sanctioned the iranian national bank. that is their central banking system. and it is going to be at the highest level of sanctions. >> the president himself said he feels like he has a range of military options with iran.
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the actions to date suggest they are looking for a diplomatic way out of this. >> the new york fed will continue to conduct a series of overnight and repurchase agreements through october 10, that amid signs of investor apprehension about funding levels. can we trust they have figured out the right level? or are we still in a danger zone here? >> today was an important today. because not only are they going to continue going over the 75 billion they are doing daily, they are going to do some 14 day long repo, which will put more money, and it will be three overlapping allotments, so a total of 90 billion at various points of new money coming into the market. it is quite a step up from where they have been until now. juliette: still ahead as we review the week on "bloomberg best," conversations from a week
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long focus on climate change including thoughts from bill gates. plus, blackstone's tony james the in -- weighs in on fed's repo operations. and an exclusive conversation with malaysia's prime minister and waiting. he said investors should not worry. he will take over as promised. >> there is clear definite decisions being made. juliette: up next, more of the week's top business headlines. the election leaves israel more politically unsettled than before. >> we could see a national unity government. there is even a chance we go to a third round of elections. juliette: this is bloomberg. ♪
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negotiations, the most recent data from beijing continues to show the trade dispute is taking its toll. >> the data from china shows more weakness in the economy. that governments stimulus may not be enough to offset the effects of the trade war. industrial output on the way up. 4.4% last month from a year ago, way below estimates of 5.2% gain. retail sales also missing, and expansion of 7.5%. we were looking at an increase of almost 8% according to the economist's we have been talking to. >> it was quite a weak across the board. industrial output, the worst single month's reading since 2002. we saw softness in retail side of things. confirming even though a lot of it is due to a slump in the car market, there is a feeling consumers are starting to crack, that is a key pillar of china's economy. in the fixed asset investment side, we saw the private sector
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lagging government spending. a soft reading. it sets up the economy for a slow end to the year and puts pressure on the government. >> president trump says the u.s. and japan have reached an initial trade accord which will be finalized in the coming weeks. the president also told congress the government will be entering an executive agreement with tokyo on digital trade. trump made no mention of the fate of the threatened duties on japanese cars and he is set to meet prime minister abe next week. >> the u.s. and japan have been in talks for quite a while now. it appears this is headed to the done stage. this is removing quite a fair bit of uncertainty that was hanging over the entire u.s.-japan relationship. for the president, it was important to try and get a win. it looks like he is going to sell something and say he has negotiated a trade pact. >> apple told in european union
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court it was unfairly painted as a tax dodger. in luxembourg, and apple lawyers said the company is the world's top taxpayer. apple is urging the eu general court to overturn a ruling a decision that it pay or team billion dollars in back taxes to ireland. apple says they pay the most tax in the world. they actually claimed the decision lacked logic or sense. they also believe the numbers were tweaked in a way that presented apple in a bad light. essentially the goal was to portray the company as paying no taxes. when you look at the european side to the story, they will tell you they still believe they are right. they say it is obviously that -- it is pretty obvious that apple has set out to pay the least amount possible. they do believe if the arguments are validated and vindicated by the court, they can continue to get tough on american tech companies. >> the u.k. prime minister boris
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johnson meeting with european officials in luxembourg. the prime minister ended up skipping a press conference with luxembourg's leader, as you can see. noisy protesters were nearby. the brits apparently wanted to have it inside. the luxembourg ian said no, we will do it outside. >> what you have is an empty podium for the united kingdom. by himself, taking questions, venting against the u.k., saying, this is your mess. we should not be held responsible for this. >> the european commission president jean-claude juncker thinks a brexit deal could be reached by october 31. the irish foreign minister warned a brexit deal isn't close. who do we believe? >> of the two of them, i would trust the irish foreign minister, to be honest. if you look at what jean-claude juncker said, he is not saying very much. he says that eu wants a deal and he thinks a deal is possible. when you look at the nitty-gritty of the negotiations
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and meeting the chief negotiator, if you look at the details and negotiations, there is still such a long way to go. >> in israel, prime minister benjamin netanyahu's gamble to hold a second election this year backfired with deadlocked results. >> there is uncertainty about who's israel's next leader will be. netanyahu did not get the results he hoped for. he sent the country to a second election this year, hoping to strengthen his hand. the best he can hope for is return to office. badly weakened. that means now we turn to political gamesmanship as parties work to build a coalition and secure the president's nod to lead the next government. there are a lot of possibilities here. we could see a national unity government. there is even a chance we could go to a third round of elections. >> the bank of japan, the last of the big three to make a rate decision this month. they held, as many were anticipating.
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governor kuroda saying he and his team are paying even closer attention to inflation. not a cut is expected but could we argue the change in guidance, long-awaiteda acknowledgment, their movement toward the inflation target, is all but a mirage? >> there is no doubt the impact of the trade war has been heavy on japan. exports down nine months in a row. this is an export-dependent country. the labor market is still strong. gdp is still growing, and yet there is still a loss of momentum. they are acknowledging it. now they are talking about re-examining the economy and prices, what is happening, to be ready for the next policy meeting. >> norway's central bank moving further away from the pack. in a decision many were not expecting, they raised the benchmark rate.
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it is the highest level in almost five years. this is really going against the wave of what everyone else in the world is doing. is the norwegian economy immune to the global economic downturn? >> it is not immune to a downturn. overall, that is the background for the decision of increasing policy rates further, is that overall growth in the economy, unemployment is very low. inflation is at the target or slightly below. so there is time to make one further step towards a more normal policy rate. >> the boe is on hold. but, if brexit uncertainty persists, inflation likely weaker. there were no dissenters.
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michael flanders had been a dissenter in the past. that did not happen. any surprise for you? >> no. they kept in that point about rates potentially going up. if you have a smooth brexit, this is an economy close to potential, if not past that point. we are seeing wage growth. we are not seeing productivity growth to back that up. pressures are rising. we are expecting to see that coming through. at least the bank of england is expecting to see that come through. before that, we are focused on this brexit date. they reiterated that if you had a no deal scenario, rates could could go either way in that case. of course no one in the market thinks that. everyone assumes in the end, they wouldn't mind the rise in the pound, every one assumes that in the end they would cut rates to support the economy. ♪
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juliette: you are watching "bloomberg best." i am juliette saly. malaysia's prime minister took office last year after forming a political coalition with a one-time opponent. the people's justice party leader. the 94-year-old said he would eventually step down and give him the top job, but the timing of the transition was not set in stone. he spoke exclusively with bloomberg's haslinda amin this week in kuala lumpur and said the plan for him to become p.m. is still on track. >> i don't think i should be to petty about the exact month. there is an understanding he we will resign at the appropriate time. haslinda: investors need to know, they are waiting to invest
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in malaysia, but without any clarity, is it difficult to make long-term decisions? mr >> now let me be more assertive on this. firstly for the investors, the fundamentals are strong. a clear economic direction and policy, after such initial turbulence. the issue of transition is also quite clear. i have met many asking whether it will happen. i said there is no reason to think otherwise. so there is clear, definite decisions made in i think we -- and i think we should move on. we are not talking about a new government. we are talking about the transition to a new leader, observing the same policies, but more assertive on certain issues. haslinda: before we talk about the policies, can you categorically say you will be prime minister 100%? there have been names floating around, your deputy, also his son.
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can you categorically say you will be in power? mr. ibrahim: as far as the leadership, the decision of leaders, the consensus reached by the coalition, they are settled. there is no sign of any party introducing or promoting or lobbying for other reasons. it does not stop individuals with ambition, with their own designs. this to me is irrelevant. juliette: coming up on "bloomberg best," more compelling conversations. howard marks says it is getting harder to find opportunities. plus, the repo rate problems can be solved. and bill gates is among our many guests discussing climate change.
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juliette: welcome back to "bloomberg best." i'm juliette saly. time now to revisit some of the week's most interesting interviews on bloomberg television. oaktree capital founder howard marks had plenty to say about distressed debt. his hedge fund has been scooping up nonperforming loans in china as dozens of companies struggle. -- struggle to repay what they've borrowed. mark spoke exclusively to bloomberg's lisa abramowicz. mark: everything is risky if you can't figure out what you're doing and you are paying too much. the other thing is when there is too much demand, you can't get
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great bargains, and if you succumb and participate and pay too much, it is risky. lisa: let's talk about where we are. do you expect to see another 2008-type opportunity, which is one of the years i imagine you're talking about, in the next couple years? mark: i don't think we are in a bubble. i don't think we are going into a bubble comparable to 2008. there's no reason to think we will have the panic in the 4th quarter of following the bankruptcy of lehman brothers, another global financial crisis. but there has been a great deal of debt issued. there has been a battle to be the person who buys that debt. the battle has taken the form of bidding down the quality and safety, so there is a lot of risky, aggressive debt that has been issued in the last 5 plus years, and when that collides with a weak economy, i think
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there will be great opportunities. juliette: that was oaktree capital's howard marks on bloomberg's money undercover. the show puts the spotlight on the world of alternative investments with a new episode every week on bloomberg television. the fed's decision to inject billions of dollars into u.s. money markets this week sparked lively discussion on wall street. the blackstone vice chairman tony james appeared exclusively on bloomberg daybreak asia, and says he doesn't think the intervention is a big deal. tony: i don't think the repo market is broken at all. this kind of things used to be common. they haven't had to do it in a long time but it is important to remember that the rate spike looks very scary but it is only overnight. the actual cost to the system is not high. it is more of a concern, a technical problem in the short-term that the fed is addressing. i think the fed wants stability above all else, so i'm not surprised they stepped in.
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paul: if we can accept that the fed got into this by purchasing $2.5 trillion worth of treasuries in the wake of the global financial crisis. what is the plan of getting out again? is structural reform needed here? tony: the plan for getting out is the big unanswered question. it is one thing to stop purchasing, but the winding down of that balance is a whole other issue. my view is that will be with them a long time. shery: in the longer term of things, does the fed need to come out with a more permanent mechanism? we really don't have something to address liquidity shortages here in the u.s. do you need to see a standing repo facility? tony: i don't think it's necessary. it may be beneficial but i don't think it's necessary. our banking system is loaded with liquidity in general. there are periods of time, measured in a matter of days, when that liquidity is sometimes stressed. a lot of the banks these days don't carry the inventories or have the liquid capital
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available that they once had precrisis. i think the fed has the tools as it sits today to solve the short-term problems, and i don't think they ripple through into the basic economy. they are basic trading markets instead of the real economy. juliette: this week, bloomberg took part in covering climate now, a global collaboration of outlets to20 news highlight climate change and its impact in the lead up to next week's united nations climate summit. here are some interviews in that series, starting with erik schatzker's conversation with bill gates. he has invested billions into clean energy and other projects to counter climate change. but his latest strategy is not to try to prevent it. gates says he wants to help those hit hardest by climate change to adapt. bill: we are not going to have a year where the world is cooler than it is today. the average global temperature
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is going to go up a lot and in the next 50 years it won't go down. now deciding how much it goes up, does it go up by two degrees or three degrees or four degrees, that is in our hands. if we ignore the problem, you are going to head to something like a four degree scenario, in terms of natural ecosystems, forest fires, days that humans can't go outside. if you live near the equator. it is a pretty extreme case. knowing how seriously people will take it and what types of innovations will come along will determine where in that two to four degree range we are by the end of the century and i certainly hope we don't run the experiment of being higher than two degrees but it will take a lot of commitment and a bit of luck on the innovative breakthroughs to be able to get there. erik: there are a number of
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different ways for fighting climate change. renewable energy is clearly one of them. do you think governments should subsidize global energy, or should take up -- be dictated by should take up -- be dictated by market forces? bill: the cost of wind and solar has come down dramatically. some of that subsidization has helped drive the volume and the prices have come down. now they are not going to come down much more. the tax benefits should be shifted into things that are more limiting, like energy storage, offshore wind, with the huge premium price, lots of places that we need the market to get going. the progress with solar wind is -- solar and wind is very helpful, but the sun doesn't shine 24 hours a day. if you are far away from the equator in the winter you can't get as much. that is just for the electricity
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piece, it's only 25% of the -- of emission. we need a lot of efforts, that accelerated rollout, it is less than 10% of all energy generation. the global economy has a lot of energy generation. but it is one of the good things that has developed. >> is europe prepared for something that could look like a supply shock to energy? >> well, as you know, we have an import dependency of 90% in the european union, and we have primary energy is consumption that's about one third. we are still highly dependent on oil. even if we become a carbon neutral economy by 2050 and our dependency will be much less.
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but we also have directives that regulate supply. i suspect it will become normal, the sooner the better. francine: commissioner, do you see a lesson to be drawn from the european policy mix because of what is happened in saudi arabia? mr. canete: we already have learned a lesson. we have to fight global warming. we have to have climate change policies. that means getting out of fossil fuels, develop clean energies and renewables, increasing efficiency. that is why we have put in action all the legislation in that direction and that is why we are working on a strategy for 2050 to develop sustainable energy. it would require huge financial flows.
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they cannot be met by public finance. we have to deliver the private sector. >> five to 10 years ago, a lot of the philosophy around climate was either take action on climate or promote growth on jobs. what we've seen over the past few years is that is a false choice. that a lot of investment will result in new jobs in new market opportunities and considerable economic growth. you look at china. major investor in renewable energy. you look at germany, doing the same thing. and in no small part because they realize that the policy shifts that are being made are creating new markets around more energy-efficient homes, around more fuel-efficient vehicles. solar and wind. that these are multitrillion dollar opportunities where they -- where countries are seeing massive opportunities to invest. >> i'm glad you brought up germany.
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the auto sector is the primary example. they have all the standards for renewable fuel which is killing the automakers, and having them retrench. that's not a good thing for the german economy. who pays for all of this? >> i think it is important when one looks at the jobs created by a clean energy economy that we look at this both in aggregate and what it means for specific communities. when we look at the united states, there are over 3 million jobs in the energy sector, in the clean energy sector in renewable and silver and wind efficiency. that's three times as many jobs in the fossil fuel sector. the problem that you rightfully point out is for those people that may lose jobs, we need to invest heavily in those types of retraining programs to ensure they are able to capture the benefits of the greater jobs we will see in the clean energy economy. ♪
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juliette: you are watching "bloomberg best." i am juliette saly. let's resume our roundup of the week's top stories in business, finance, and politics. with the latest setback for wework on the bumpy road to its initial public offering. >> wework delayed. the company is pushing back its long-awaited ipo as concerns mount over valuation and business prospects. who is calling the shots? are the bankers saying suddenly let's pull back? is it softbank? is it adam newman? >> we are looking at the timeline and we reported last week that adam is a very observant orthodox jew, rosh hashanah is next sunday and to get an ipo out the door they would have had to launch the roadshow yesterday and go public next friday. the timeline was too tight.
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the corporate governance changes they made, it takes time to reeducate investors and get that demand. i think they just came up on a time crunch. the company put out a statement late last night saying they intend to go public by the end of the year and i guess all eyes are on that. >> united auto workers union leading its first strike against general motors in 12 years which means nearly 50,000 workers walked out today. gm has offered $7 billion of investment in 80 u.s. plants and the addition of 5400 jobs. the union says the proposal fell short in key areas including health care, use of temp workers and the length of time it takes shorter tenured members to get to the top scale pay level. >> what gm offered was to a certain degree job security, or $7 billion in investment at eight different plants in four states, up to 5400 jobs coming in and even the battery plant
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would rehire some workers who lost their jobs. but the union still month some -- still wants some of those entry-level workers to make under $20 an hour to cramp up to $30 an hour. probably the biggest issue is temporary workers. the union wants some sort of set path to become a permanent worker. gm wants more temps, because well they have 7% of their workforce, japanese plants have as many as 20%. >> the royal bank of scotland has appointed a new chief executive officer, making her the first woman to head a top u.k. lender. she will take over from the outgoing chief executive. she has been groomed for the job for quite a long time and is taking over november 1, the day after the brexit deadline. >> absolutely. as you rightly point out, this was expected. although it is still one of the top u.k. lender's to have a female ceo and a female cfo, but
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yes, brexit obviously looms large and the bank is grappling with competition in the mortgage market and uncertainties in the small and medium-sized corporate sector. which is heavily exposed. >> the hong kong exchange's unsolicited bid for the london stock exchange hitting another roadblock. china is voicing opposition to the move. the official people's daily newspaper said this weekend that there are persistent worries about hong kong given the unrest. is the deal dead? looking at the share price it is down just a touch today. >> there have been a couple instances in the past that shows the deal is suffering setback after setback. we had the lse offer rejected, a scathing rejection, the most intense than we've seen in a -- that we have seen in a long time, and the official mouthpiece of the communist party this week came out and
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almost solidified that, praising the lse in their decision. i think it is too early to say whether it is dead but it is certainly suffering setback after setback. >> purdue pharma filing for bankruptcy to protect itself from more than 2000 lawsuits accusing it of fueling the opioid epidemic. the maker of oxycontin has a settlement plan valued at more than $10 billion. perdue's owners are the sackler family, they would hand over the company to a trust by counties, states, and cities that have sued the companies. >> i think we have known this was coming for a long time. we have seen the company and the sackler's in talks, and there are certainly some disputes about how much they should pay. i don't think this filing is by any stretch of the imagination the end of this discussion. it will probably be a long discussion in bankruptcy court
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over what exactly happens with these assets if this proposal goes ahead. >> shares of fedex falling in after-hours trading citing worsening trade tensions and a weaker global economy. significant cut here. $11 to $13, that is quite a drop from the previous year. thomas: it is. and it comes right after they reported their yearly earnings in june and brought down expectations quite a bit. they are bringing them down a big chunk. definitely the macro picture is weighing on them, but they have this european operation that is not doing so well. they bought a 20's -- bought a company in 2016 that they are still having problems integrating, and on the home front they are trying to reengineer, so to speak, their domestic ground operations so they can be more efficient for e-commerce delivery. as you know, they pulled back
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from amazon and are doing all kinds of changes that cost money at first, but in the end should save money. >> they call it bud light. ab invev is brewing again, but in a scaled-down version. they are set to raise slightly under $5 billion usd, roughly half its earlier target. >> why are we suddenly here again? >> the market hasn't changed or improved fundamentally since the previous one was pulled. what has changed is that ab invev sold off the australian unit and australia was seen as the slower growth business, more mature market but a drag on faster growing regions like china, which make up the bulk of the asian units. what has changed is that they now have a cornerstone investor from singapore which should hopefully instill some confidence in other investors that they can come in, whether
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-- whereas there was no cornerstone previously. and investors didn't buy into the previous ipo. >> this morning, india took fiscal measures to revise economic growth from a six-year low. the country is cutting tax on local businesses, the effective tax rate being lowered by nearly 5%. >> it's a $20 billion stimulus, one of those desperate measures to avoid the economic slowdown with one of the fastest growing economies. effectively companies pay about 25% tax rate, setting up manufacturing facilities with -- can opt a much lower tax rate of 17%. ♪
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>> jump into the bloomberg library with me. right in the middle, five officials have said with a are happy with the cut today. there are seven who see one more this year. nobody is arguing for two more cuts, five who were against it. juliette: there are about 30,000 functions on the bloomberg and we always enjoy showing you our favorites on bloomberg television. maybe they will become your favorites. here's another function you'll find useful, it will lead you to our quick takes where you can get important context infested light to timely topics. -- insight into timely topics. here's a quick take that is especially reveling to this week's focus on covering climate now. >> at its worst, beijing's air quality looked like this. in 2013, the air quality was deemed unhealthy or hazardous for over half the year, peaking
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in beijing at 35 times the world health organization's recommended limit. it was so bad that the premier declared a war on pollution at china's annual high-profile national people's congress. five years later, in march 2019, as premier li again open the npc meetings, the smog outside was still 10 times worse than what the who defined as healthy. even as china cracks down on pollution like never before, the country remains one of the world's worst polluters. this is your bloomberg quick take on china's smog. china overtook the u.s. is the -- as the world's biggest source of greenhouse gases in 2006, helping put the globe on a path to miss united nations targets aimed at stemming the rise in the earth's temperature. >> the cheap power from coal and
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cheap factory production powered by coal has helped china turn into this economic giant that has helped produce cheap goods for the rest of the world and help drive the world economy. so in a sense, chinese people are paying a tax in breathing air for the benefit of consumers all over the world. >> the who estimates that more than one million chinese died from dirty air in 2016. another study puts it even higher at deaths per day. -- at 4000 deaths a day. pollution is said to have been the main cause of social unrest in recent years. social media is helping to amplify complaints. on china's twitter-like online platform, people blamed factories for polluting the air and the government for not doing enough. in february 2015, a chinese investigative journalist published a self-funded documentary about the countries -- country's air pollution problem.
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more than 100 million people watched "under the dome" before it was banned from chinese video websites six days after its release. shortly after, president xi jinping pledged to unleash an iron hand to punish environmental polluters. in the last few years, the government has spent billions of yuan tightening environmental regulations and scrapping coal-fired power plants, switching millions of homes and businesses from coal to natural gas. >> the regulations and policies have worked but the u.s. state department monitors particulate matter in the air in beijing. these recordings say that 2018 was the lowest level in a decade and the winter of 2018 was one of the best. as far as air quality goes. it is not perfect but it is much better than the heyday of the pollution problem. >> china is now the world's biggest investor in green energy. it spent over $100 billion in
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2018 which was 56% more than the u.s. initiatives include its support in the electric vehicle industry, providing subsidies for ev buyers and helping build out infrastructure that allows electric cars to charge around cities. >> ev sales are huge in china. it is the biggest market in the world for electric vehicles. it is not just cars. electric buses are a huge deal in china. >> china is betting big on solar energy as well. in 2019, over a third of the world's of solar panels are estimated to be installed in china. but the war on pollution promises to be a long one. four decades of breakneck economic growth has turned china into the world's biggest carbon emitter and it is still going to depend on coal for years to come. juliette: that was just one of the many quick takes you can find on the bloomberg. you can also find them at bloomberg.com, along with all the latest business news and analysis, 24 hours a day.
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♪ ♪ ♪ carol: welcome to "bloomberg businessweek." i'm carol massar. jason: and i'm jason kelly. we are in bloomberg headquarters in new york. carol: the attack on the plant in saudi arabia rattling markets in the exporting region. jason: plus, a look at how trumpcare brought a new era of health insurance that doesn't cover the bills. carol: and we sit down with steve schwarzman, who weighs in on the u.s. china trade war.
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