commodities. the hottest commodities and smartest voices in the business. we look at the top market stories of the week, first up, the reopening trade. a global lng imports have jumped the most plus, china's new pipeline to guessers should bidders. also, a huge proportion of imports come from the u.s.. the orange line, 30%. stay in the u.s., take a look at president biden's tax plan i wants to eliminate subsidies for oil companies. here are the list of the companies that may be hardest hit the estimated benefits from 2018, the idea is you go ahead with drilling costs, but carry

losses for 20 years and it helps you financially. next up, bullish on copper. we see a once in nearly 20 year opportunity for major refined coffer inventories to drop. that creates the biggest call on copper scrap in history. this is their estimated out cap which would put prices to about $12,000 a pound. now, let's get the latest with iran. u.s. iran kicked off talks this week and will meet again tomorrow. the white house press secretary says this will be a long process. >> we expect that to my a big part of the conversation will be how iran can come back to compliance and what would be required of the united states. we have been clear that we are not anticipating any steps at

this moment. we will allow negotiations to continue. alix: both countries jacking for leverage as the clock counts down to iran's election in june. bill, what is the state of play? >> we had talks earlier today in vienna. not direct talks, the u.s.-iran negotiators did not meet with each other, but that with intermediaries, sometimes russia or china or u.k. or france. there was no big breakthrough, and as the secretary indicated, there is a low bar of expectations for breakthrough. there are reasons to think that perhaps something will happen in the next months. perhaps having the two sides talking is a good start. there are rely -- there are realizations that deadlines may

raise a deal or framework to be reached by that unity of may. alix: i talked about the iranian presidential election. bill: the current government, which by iranian standards seems more moderate than its opponents heading into the election. the current government would like to see some sort of a victory or conclusion to this because they are the ones who negotiated the original deal in 2015 when barack obama was president. they would like to have a win, but are sensitive to the idea that they are giving anything away. after punishing sanctions, they would like to see the u.s. takes steps. republicans and democrats in congress largely oppose the 2015 deal that obama made. there is a lot of skepticism over whether ron can be trusted. time now for commodities and

chief where we talk to the commodities world. today, the u.s. ceo of -- here's the deal, no -- solids are lactose, fat, minerals and protein. at play are the two proteins in milk. -- makes of 80% of the milk breakdown. there are two types of the basic case and prototypes, -- new zealand says only al two proteins. australia and new zealand make up the bulk of the countries revenue, followed by china which has been a huge force of growth for the country early -- the

country. now, the business has struggled with covid era travel restrictions as well as others turning to homegrown formula instead. a2 is turning to commerce sales at the expense of margins. then there is the u.s. which comes in a distant third with over $42 million of revenue in 20 -- the company afforded affordable premium pricing mechanisms and now has 22,000 sources over the country. i caught up with the ceo to ask how the scale up is on business. asta we've brought -- >> we brought a lot of companies into the franchise. we think that over time we are going to continue to see more and more people buying into the franchise. the u.s. milk consumption is a

repertoire purchasing. u.s. consumers have three to four different milk alternatives in their refrigerator at any one time. if you are a brand, it is key to be part of that repertoire purchase. alix: you have been expanding in coffee creamers, i am wondering if you have any other tentacles out. >> we have spent money developing awareness of the it two proto--- protein. we have built up significant awareness, and that was the best way to start in a new market,, and and develop rns of a category that has 90% plus high-frequency consumption. now, we can capitalize on that in multiple categories. the a2 the company is a dairy nutrition company, not one you would necessarily see go into traditional adjacencies.

you see us looking at a lot of dairy nutrition opportunity that has leveraged the benefit structure of this nationally -- this a2 protein. alix: give me examples. >> there are examples you can think about of the a2 protein that can stand well on a nutrition standpoint. the a2 protein produces a strong consumer benefit and has -- is easier on digestion. alex karp how many -- alix: what of the goals you are looking at? >> we have recently come out over 22,000 doors. five years ago, we started as a test marketing california, now we are national. we have seen as many different companies have, online sales have start to build as many

consumers are purchasing product online. consumer -- is harder, but overall we see there is wide spacing distribution, but it is not dramatic in order to bill to the scale we are looking to. yet, there is still upside. alix: how much more? what do you look like in six months? >> i think you will continue to see us build our presence. it is mostly about building the independent channel of trade, building our proposition and taking some nationally. there are a few thousand more doors to get into, but broadly speaking, 22,000 plus doors, we are in a solid position once you drive your philosophy. alix: the margins and australia are better than the u.s.

when do you think you get to the point where margins serve to improve? >> we have not spent -- set a specific timeline of when we begin to be profitable in the u.s. our next goal is the scale of $100 million plus revenue. revenue at scale is important. a fluid milk business is important in your margins. refrigerator products are an expensive -- scale helps with that. alix: that was blake waltrip. from got milk, to where's the beef? there's a. --. what happened to the bovine? they never existed. millions of dollars for

purchasing and fattening cattle, but in 2010 a ranch owner decided to see the movement. instead of trading cows, he lost big in corn. the failure of his losses are scheduled over $200 million. they can to -- tyson continues bogus invoices. ♪ . alix: catch mary --. .

♪

>> welcome, i am matt miller. we have a stellar lineup. fed chair jay powell shared his thoughts on the u.s. global economy. vanguard launches its first active bond etf, we talked to rich bowers who heads the etf giant business. and, food for thought. how the pandemic hits supermarkets and suppliers. what happens after the vaccine rollout is finished? ceo of the food industries association joins us. first, a quick check of markets, and other record achieved on the s&p 500. right now, just under 4100. but c contends -- ftse continues to gain. the pound is also up against the dollar, typically the two have inverse relationship. right now, u.k. stocks powering

higher. gold up again, 17.56. the dow index lower. something that caught my eye, process selling stock in tencent. it is the world's second-biggest block trade of all time. $14.7 billion. basically, a giant chunk of tencent. the biggest block trade ever was a 21 billion dollar trade of aig in 2012. this comes in the wake of the archegos collapse. speaking of that, let's go to bill wang. he lost a whopping $20 billion fortune in two days.

you can read the full story in "bloomberg businessweek." joining us is erik schatzker who wrote the story. eric, let me first ask about why we did not know this guy. we sort of heard about him in the tiger days and after insider trading, but he basically left with a charlie brown walk and $200 million, then made a fortune before losing it all. eric: simple answer, he formed a family office which is quieter than a hedge fund. when he bet on stocks, he used -- agreements. one of the things that swaps allowed was -- he is effectively using brokers, banks that he

deals with, as a front. they gave him leverage. that is we gnash that is why we never saw his name appear in securities filings. we had no idea he was the single largest holder of viacom and another -- a number of others before it exploded and the financial equivalent of a supernova. matt: the interesting about your story is that -- the dichotomy we see in his character. on one hand, he lists family and charity as one of the top things he cares about. you saw max abelson's interview of julian robertson, absolutely love to the guy, on the other hand he seemed to care very little about massive losses. losing seemingly $2 billion,

julian tells him it is no big deal, he got a settlement, just think of it as a tax. in an interview, he said he does not fear money or debt. what is the deal with this guy? eric: there is a dichotomy. on a personal level, based on everything we have been able to establish, bill wang is a pillar of his church community, he is a family man. he cares deeply about his philanthropy, in 2018 it had $591 million of assets. he gives away millions of dollars a year. mainly to christian causes, but also korean causes. he helped to liberate north koreans and bring them to safety. on a personal level, a highly

synthetic character, and maybe admirable. the viewer needs to be the judge, or the reader. not only was he using swap agreements to conceal the size of the positions he was taking, he appears to have had a gambler's addiction to risk. going to the casino and always -- if you will. as opposed to, after a few winning hands, maybe setting chips aside so that you do not get destroyed when the river turns against you. this is the almost inexplicable asset -- aspect of his character. why would anyone take such extreme risks and make himself exposed to the smallest of

market moves? that is what happened when viacom come started to trade down. eric: that -- i mean along with the size make this a fascinating story. this is a guy that has such a low profile, he flies under the radar and manages to put together a -- you managed to put together such an industry piece that makes me wonder what is next? born again -- no pun intended. you can check out bloomberg businessweek by erik schatzker and his team. they broke this story weeks ago and have been doing fantastic reporting. vanguard launches its new active bond etf in three years. active, vanguard, yes. why investors are shifting from

mutual bonds to exchange traded bonds. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ matt: vanguard, the $7.1 trillion investment giant is announcing an etf bond. the first active etf to launch since 118. here to talk about this is head of etf product management, rich powers. talk to me about why now and how etf works? rich: we have offered etf's for 20 years. we have had a long-standing offer in the index space, but as

you probably are aware, we have a history of active mutual funds. we have about $1 trillion in active mutual funds. we have heard increasingly from our investors that they won one of the vanguard actives available in the etf structure. the ultrashort fund is us extending us something more for future investors into target -- investors. matt: was this spurred in any way by the take that tick up in rates we saw -- tics we -- no one rich: we have looked at this product for a number of years. certainly it has been on the top of the list. our clients that use etf's have been looking to us to offer, so as we went through the process, we found a mutual fund version of this strategy.

matt: what else is there to look forward to? this is an asset class that has had huge growth in the u.s., in europe has gained a foothold. rich: there is reason to believe that more etf's will happen. there is a range of investment cohorts that will be adopting that in greater ways. the individual advisor, that helps our retails investor preferably appeared only about 20%. the thinking is that most portfolios are holding a 20%, but typically that investor has a lot to grow in terms of active etf's. if you think of individual investors, they are barely getting started. you look at adoption tree etf's to continue to be strong in the future, given the low cost and

distribution. companies you may be saw years ago were brokerage -- brokerage by -- investors who would have considered etf's of four, now that cost is off the table and we believe that is part of the acceleration we have seen. matt: i think it is cool that the firm started by passive investment pioneer jack vogel is now on this new avant-garde. do you see the younger generation of investors using fintech to deal with their whole portfolio in an etf way? rich: etf's have advantages and subways. -- financial technology to build portfolios, the ability to have dominate focused platform. the attractiveness of a low entry point into a single etf,

this product, the usb share price is up $50. that is the entry point into buying exposure. plus, mutual funds may have a $10,000 minimum. it is not surprising that more and more offers are increasingly using etf's. matt: thanks for joining us to talk about etf's. rich runs the etf business at vanguard. it is great to get your insight. rich powers. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> first world news, the number of migrants in the u.s. increase

to its highest level in two decades. the number of children and teens without parents jumped to record levels. officials apprehended more than 172,000 in march, up 71% from previous months. president biden pledged to create a more humane immigration system and offer a citizens pass. u.s. companies taking a more forceful role against voting restrictions after a conciliatory approach failed to stumble on georgia. american airlines and delta technology have come out against the bill that would make it harder for poll workers -- -- calling on lawmakers to reject new early voting requirements. jerome powell says disparate efforts to vaccinate people globally is a risk to progress. the fed chair urged people to get vaccinated and encouraged

social distancing during the spring meeting of the imf. powell sounded an optimistic tone about the -- overall. >> what progress would look like with the employment report, plus the one million jobs if you add revisions for january and february, we want to see a string of months like that so we can show progress. the recovery here remains uneven and incomplete. >> fed officials have repeatedly stressed the u.s. economy continues to need aggressive monetary policy and support. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. ♪

>> welcome to "bloomberg markets." matt: we welcome bloomberg audiences every at this hour. here are the top stories we are following. inflation, we take a look at why does hit hardest by the pandemic are seeing the biggest price increases in terms of their monthly spending power while the highest earners see the least amount of inflation. speaking of inflation, we take a dive into how the food industry is handling higher food prices. leslie sarasin, food industry association ceo. and, jay powell says he has a handle on inflation. we will discuss that. amanda: markets quiet again today. we were looking to see whether

jay powell had anything to say that might be market moving. we have come positive action here. tech leading the way, but we are also seeing health care and industrials. energy is a weak spot. that is a weight on the market. you can see at the bottom of your screen mode 163 on the 10 year yield. the volatility in the yield is worth noting. for watchers of this, many expected it to track higher as inflation concerns continue. but as the intraday moves, it has been interesting on the yield, you do not often see the -- we have seen. for what it is worth, one of the reasons there is fear of whether they yield might go is because cpi is showing pricing pressures. we know the fed looks at -- stripping out volatile segments,

unfortunately most of us do not avoid food and energy. you can to that when you leave them in, you are running about 4% on inflationary pressures. your core is true, well below the 2% jay powell is worried about, but we are not going to stop eating bacon. we will certainly not stop putting gas in our cars. when you factor those presses in, was as you are about to show, the poor were you are, the less likely you are to avoid them. matt: of course. it has always been a problem. as one reporter said to ben bernanke, i cannot eat my ipad. bernanke was extolling the virtues of cheaper and cheaper technology. of course, rich people have more money to spend. they are not hit as hard, but they also buy different stuff.

bloomberg did a study of how inflation is hitting the top 10% compared to the bottom 10% and median earners. the top 10% are doing a lot better. if you spend a large portion of your income on yachts and helicopters, they have gotten cheaper. i actually found a bloomberg index of german both send yachts , and i am telling you, now is the time to buy. those presses have seriously come down. coming up, we discussed the key takeaways from jay powell's remarks, as well as earlier today the economy with a chief economist who is going to go through all of this and more. i had the pleasure of speaking to her earlier, it is a great sent to get her thoughts on what we should expect from the fed going forward as the markets

start surprise in a rate rise.

matt: i am matt miller with amanda lang. i feel like i cut you off for a moment, were you about to recommend better assets on which to spend if you were a higher earner? amanda: i was going to point out that the germans may not be the best example of what people are doing the pandemic. in north america, but sales have gone through the roof. it was not a super important

point, though. matt: but germans are savers. if you spend the majority on asset, or condos in toronto, those prices are going up so maybe inflation is hitting the rich in ways we did not measure. let's talk a little about what is going on with jay powell. he has been speaking over the last hour and saying, frankly, a lot of things he said in the minutes. he has been dovish and wants to continue to communicate that message to the markets. >> we've got a taste of what progress will look like with march employment reports. close to one million jobs, especially if you add january. we want to see a string of months like that so we can see progress in our goals. the recovery remains uneven and incomplete. matt: all right, so he has also

talking about the point amanda was making, lindsey piegza joins us. even with the big jobs number we got last week and the pmi number, the best march ever in services, the best march for the ism, manufacturing numbers, since 1983. we have seen a jump in jobless claims again, and as amanda points out, the real problem is people who lost jobs the most and got hit hardest are getting hit hardest now in terms of food inflation. how can the fed deal with this? lindsey: the fed is trying to acknowledge the recent improvement we have seen. many of the data points you pointed out, particularly the hedge lined payroll number. they also want to analyze risks

and improvements that need to be made. while the fed is complementary of moves put in place to get the economy at this point, these big steps we have taken in the right direction, you also make sure we don't say all right, grow recovery is complete we need to move accommodation. he has been vocal that we continue to need support to keep the economy on this track. he also recognizes there is a lot of uneven pressure across different sectors of the economy. as we look into the labor market, we can see some individuals across racial, gender, regional and income levels that were disproportionately impacted. not everyone is benefiting as much now as recovery begins to take hold. he says this is something we need to keep an eye on. amanda: jay powell has been clear that he wants to see

inflation -- he does not want expectations or forecasts. if you are a hiker, by the time you see a mountain lila and -- mound line, it has been following you. is that had behind the curve in a way it cannot control? lindsey: not with the new framework the fed has adopted to address inflation. i would agree, back in the day when fed said 2% was our target and we are going to act in anticipation to get ahead of the rising price pressure. now, the fed says we are looking at inflation from a longer-term perspective. we are looking for an average of 2%. with inflation averaging 1.3% since 2006 -- 2015, the fed can allow inflation to run hot above 2%, near 3% and still not exceed

a long-term average of 2%. this new framework is giving the fed additional wiggle room, or a longer runway to allow inflation without feeling the pressure. amanda: what about this issue, inflation hits different segments differently. we are already worried about the case shaped recovery. -- the k shaped recovery. lindsey: that is always true with inflation, it is not even across the board. the fed chair wants to be mindful this k shaped recovery. it is sitting different factions of the labor market, but when we talk about recovery, it is big business that has been able to rebound, having larger access to labor markets, access to supply chains and credit markets. it is the little guys, the small

businesses that have been left behind we see small businesses that thought they were closing temporarily and have now been forced to permanently close. really, this recovery we are champ hearing that championing -- it does seem to be very uneven and on balance and tilted towards larger big businesses. matt: it strikes me that the last thing jerome powell wants the market to think he is is a hiker. nonetheless, we have seen markets price in a rate rise at the end of 2022. which simultaneously feels like it is very siouan and also a long way away. when you expect the fed to move? lindsey: given the fact the recovery is going to be very uneven and bumpy, coupled with

the fact that the fed has now adopted this new framework not only for inflation, but in terms of how the address for employment, there is no sense of immediacy for the fed to remove accommodations. i would buy into their line of thinking that they will continue to keep rates on hold through 2023. amanda: in terms of what is coming, there is focus on the infrastructure bill. we know because -- will change a lot before becomes a bill. how important is it that it stays roughly the size and shape that it began? lindsey: when we are talking about trillions of dollars being flooded into the economy, regardless of whether it is 1.8 or 2.5, this is a substantial increase of money supply. we are looking at this from a near-term expected -- perspective, stimulus or relief aid does create the perfect

equation for near-term growth. we see expectations forecast higher for 2021 gdp. longer-term, this is where the concern comes in. when we have this increased reliance on artificial support from the federal government, will this create unsustainable rise in inflation? or, unsurmountable barriers to organic growth as we attempt to revert back to reliance on private sector activity. near-term, absolutely. stimulus, spending, this will help improve the growth profile but my concern is the longer-term implications of retarding recovery. amanda: great to have you with us. lindsey piegza, i appreciate it. speaking of inflation, growing cost pressures on the nation's

largest groceries. we will look at what that means down the road. this is bloomberg. ♪

amanda: this is "bloomberg markets." time for stock of the hour. ritika gupta is with us. riddick echo -- riddick echo testament >> the maker of slim jim's, this is how -- 8.5% year-over-year. it is down to some of those retail segments, people comfort eating at home it with comfort foods. frozen foods in the midst of a

renaissance, whatever that means. the pandemic has most certainly had its challenges for this stock, particularly in fruit service. inflation is what is going to be the wild card over the next few quarters. ed is already facing elevated costs. produce is the highest in decades. meet and dairy rising as well. food packaging, you name it. they managed to bounce back impressively. they were down some 30% at the march low, but managed to make a comeback during the year, still trailing the s&p 500 significantly. amanda: -- on matt: -- matt: we are focused on food. the inflation we talk about that we can see is clearly coming from the packed -- the fact that so many of us, rather than going

out to eat are going into grocery stores and making it a part of our lives in the way that i do not think modern people have done for probably 20 or 30 years. i think it is interesting, but it is to be expected. if everyone wants her grow -- when i go to the grocery store, it is jampacked. more demand is going to be -- going to mean higher prices. amanda: it is interesting because as you know the profit margins for groceries are razor thin. i think of my grow shirt -- it is good for all of us. we have new data now on the costs as well as the volume, but the cost to stay open was very high. employee costs, cleaning costs, so many things that made this an essential service. we've got data from the food

industry association ceo. it does paint a picture of just how much additional spending went on here to keep the doors open and keep the supply chains running. yet, volume did help, but help people understand if that offset the increase in cost. lindsey: unfortunately, it has not offset the cost in a manner that some might expect. in fact, the study we have just concluded at the food industry association suggests groceries invested $24 billion in their businesses over the crows -- over the course of the pandemic so far. those expenses have related to making sure the stores are as safe as they can be both for customers and employees and has involved personal protection,

plexiglas partitions, increased numbers of employees in the stores, and the changes in the way the customer is shopping. less brick-and-mortar to more online. all of this has required investment. matt: if i look at the stock prices of kroger, i grew up in ohio, so i went to kroger for everything. stock prices are doing fantastically well. investors are betting on these supermarkets, on the other hand, restaurants start reopening and more people get vaccines, i think a lot of people are going to go back to eating out, maybe not as much as they used to. but certainly more than they did in january. how does -- how is that going to

affect business? lindsey: we are watching that to see how it is going to affect our business. the truth is, we believe there has been to some degree a culture shift. we have become less of an eating culture and bar of a cooking culture. we think to some degree that trend will continue. of course the opportunity to be out and about and attending restaurants and other events away from home are things we will engage in. but the truth is our customers tell us they have enjoyed being able to be home and learning to cook. while we are certainly not expecting the kind of business we have had over the course of the past year, we are certainly expecting that we will continue to eat at home more than we did prior to the pandemic. matt: -- amanda: can we expect to see

additional inflationary pressures? will prices be going up as we head into recovery? i imagine that food retailers and suppliers have tried to keep a lid on increased prices in the middle of a recession. lindsey: -- leslie: certainly we have tried to keep a lid on price increases. obviously that is going to continue. the investments we have had to make, the -- the increases in cost of goods that we are settling, transportation increases in cost. access to transportation enter drivers, all of these things affect the price of the product when they hit the shelf. these are issues we are going to continue to debate as we move forward. matt: thank you very much for joining us. ceo of the food industry, leslie

sarasin. investors here in the u.k. are obsessed with their grocers. i have learned to cook stuff that is not on the grill. i have learned to use the oven. [laughter] amanda: good for you. happy. -- happy to hear it. matt: i will have to bake something for you. ♪

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develop a strategy on climate risks, according to a draft document seen by bloomberg news. it represents an early step in the administration's efforts to reduce the risk posed by climate change and to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. new york city schools are changing the rules about when they will close. bill de blasio says that if a school has four or more cases in a week, that school will close for 10 days. the earlier roll had drawn criticism from parents. 1.1 million students are still learning remotely. the u.k. has granted asylum to a hong kong pro-democracy activist , a move that is likely to inflame tensions with china. the former elected politician in hong kong fled to london last year after china introduced its national security law.