alix: i'm alix steel. welcome to bloomberg "commodities edge." focusing in on the companies, the physical assets, and the trading behind the hottest commodities with the smartest voices in the business. look at those top market stories of the week. look at where commodities are headed next year. oil flashed a little bit of a bear signal. brent crude flipped to trade at a discount to the march contract. that is called contango. that is hinting of an oversupply in the first quarter of 2022. maybe we see some software prices. another issue our food prices. ags on the rise today. this is the u.n. food and agricultural food world price index.

earlier, i sat down with the cargo ceo and how he saw prices of all the next year. >> we have had a lot of supply chain issues, a lot of pent-up demand. it depends on the product but i think we will see some cresting and some pricing coming down. in the meat industry, very high prices, but it is a cyclical business. there has been some weather disruptions but i'm optimistic we will see a stabilizing and perhaps reduction in some prices. alix: that is the good news. here is the bad news if you live in europe. power prices hitting a new record. a french company says that two reactors will stop and have unpredicted halts. french prices for the month ahead are looking at 500 euros per megawatt hour. german prices also passing that 300 euro mark.

time to talk to one executive in the commodity world. today it is the continental resources founder and ceo. they donated $50 million to build the hamm institute for american energy at oklahoma state university. this is happening when the oil industry is at odds with the white house, from rumors of export bans to higher fees, methane curves, to higher gasoline prices. jennifer granholm this week pleaded with producers to increase domestic supply. she said we are not standing in the way. consumers as you know are hurting at the pump. i hope you will hear me say, please take advantage of the leases you have, hire workers, get your rig count up. we asked about their conversations with the administration. >> it all has to do with policies handed down by this

administration. secretary granholm needs to review those policies, when they took all the federal lands off the table as far as drilling and exploration, and that includes offshore. no new federal permits, federal leasing. that is where they started. they have backed off some of that. they realized that when you do that, the price goes up. they have had to face the facts on that, but we want to talk with them. they cannot ignore this domestic industry and keep calling opec and russia for supplies. it is just that simple. we have tried to reach out to them, start the dialogue. let's get back to helping america and come back to where we need to be with energy. >> the private companies are

already starting to raise rig counts, starting to produce more. are they doing the right thing? >> let's look at what they are doing. they are somewhat ahead of the publics. i am talking percentagewise. we have to respond to the market. what does the market want? they want a great return to investors, dividends, all of that. we have to respond to that. overall, they have hindered the situation. like you said, they are threatening more punitive legislation. you cannot do that and have supplies go up. >> i know you hate the question, but i have to ask. if you own 81% of continental -- and if you own 100% -- would you have the freedom to run it in the way that you want in terms

of pumping the oil that you need without the stress that public companies can be under? >> we all know there is, you have to do what the market wants when you are public. the freedoms of these privates -- yes, they have more freedom than we do. >> that sets up an interesting question then. i want to ask bill about the macro environment. is that something you are actively thinking about, would you like that freedom? >> it is something -- we operated with that freedom up until 2007. i know how it feels. when the market quits paying you for it, you have to look at the other side. are we sitting here with blinders on? no.

as long as we can operate in a manner that is successful, we would tend to be here. >> bill, final question. the big theme over the last 24 hours has been an admission by the federal reserve that it will start raising rates. we saw that demonstrated by jay powell last night. a, do you think that is necessary? do you think we are in an inflationary cycle that requires a monetary response? what impact do you think that will have on continental and the wider energy story? >> you are sure are seeing the trends out there, all the information coming out that it is clearly describing inflation is back at the highest level we have seen in 30 years. no doubt that is being manifested throughout the whole industry, petroleum industry as well as every other industry. we are a commodity, so we have

to take the cost into consideration of every decision we make. we just have to operate better. the one thing that may play into this, from a regulatory, government perspective can be done? the number one determinant of a company like ours -- i have had the chance to work with lots of different companies around the world. consistency is the most important thing. a regulatory environment where people know what will happen. when there is uncertainty, the petroleum industry is saying we don't know which way to go because we are told to go left today, right tomorrow. we want you to go away one day, produce more today, but we will not support you on that. petroleum products are like commodity products, play a role in inflation, but i think the steps are being taken appropriately. alix: that wraps it up for

bloomberg commodities edge. we will return on thursday, january 6 at 1:00 new york time. happy holidays, everybody. happy 2022. see you in the new year. this is bloomberg. ♪ erg. ♪

matt: i matt miller up even welcome to bloomberg markets. we will cover the deluge of central-bank announcements from the fed, boe, and the ecb. plus, we will go to washington to speak with the white house council of economic advisors

chair cecilia rouse, and then go to the new york stock exchange for a interview with the ceos of delta and american express. a quick check on what is going on in the markets right now. the s&p 500 fluctuating between gains and losses today. it is currently down about half a percent at 4686. tech stocks are leading the way down. the nasdaq off 1.9%. the u.s. 10 year yield is also coming down. investors buying that 10-year paper even after we heard from the fed that they now expect the rate increases in 2022. the bloomberg dollar index is also falling right now to 1181. we had reached 1188 before the fed meeting. it is interesting, this dovish hawkish tilt.

let's turn back to the central-bank news and bring in policy correspondent michael mckee. was there any kind of dovish tilt to this hawkish pivot? mike: not really from the fed's point of view, although they didn't directly tie the idea of higher interest rates to the speeding of the taper, but they made it clear they will get tapering done by march, and then have the option to raise rates, which is pretty much what the market expected. more of a surprise on the hawkish side on the bank of england by going ahead and raising interest rates when everyone thought omicron would sidelined them for at least one more meeting. then right in the middle is the european central bank who did nothing today and said that they would continue with what they are doing. they are changing the name and

nomenclature around their lending program, going back to the old app, phasing out the pep program, but they are not changing interest rates yet. matt: we did see the dot plot indicate three increases for 2022. maybe fewer than expected for 2023. how has that picture changed since before yesterday afternoon? mike: that was a big change because the fed had seen only half a move. they had been divided over moves in 2022. now they are suggesting they would be ok with three moves, so that means the market had to reprice itself, although it had pretty much done it in advance for that. the question about 2023-2024, we have no idea what the economy will look like. jay powell spent time yesterday talking about how a very high reading in the employment cost

index followed by a strong jobs report, very high cpi report got them within the space of a week to change their minds. something could easily change between now and those times. plus, four of the people who submitted dots are not going to be there by next year. i wouldn't put too much stock into what they are saying for those out years. matt: what has the fed said in terms of sequencing? is it going to reduce taper to nothing than shrink the balance sheet, rate increases, or can they increase rates as soon as they are done tapering? boe is doing both at the same time. mike: the fed wants to finish tapering first. as long as they are buying bonds, they are stimulating the economy. you don't want to be removing stimulus with one hand,

adding with another. they can move quickly if they feel they need to in terms of raising rates. they are talking about what to do with the size of the balance sheet, but powell said yesterday they have made no decisions, and the general plan all along was to have that come sometime after they start raising rates. matt: what do we know about where they want to see the balance sheet eventually? what is the terminal rate for the fed's balance sheet? mike: we don't know. the last time they thought they could get to 3.75 from the $4 trillion balance sheet. they had to stop raising rates because monetary policy wasn't working at the market were rebelling. this time we are at $8 trillion. it is not clear how much they need to make monetary policy work in terms of the mechanics of it. that is something they are discussing now, trying to figure

out. they don't need $8 trillion but how much they do need is an open question. matt: thank you for joining us, michael mckee, walking us through the fed decision. still ahead, with president biden's economic plan stalled in the senate, we will talk cecilia rouse, chair of the white house council of economic advisors, on the changes ahead for the economy. we have also seeing headlines across, the senate has passed a bill to take action on china in the weaker situation. that will go to the president's desk. this is bloomberg. ♪

joe: greetings to our tv and radio audiences worldwide. we have an important guest at this time. breaking news at the top of the

hour with regard to the timeline on the build back better plan. i am joined in the studio by cecilia rouse, chair of the white house council of economic advisors. thank you for being with us at this important time. i want to start by asking you about this breaking news and the timeline for build back better, the president's social spending plan. a lot of people saw this moving into 2022 with this endless debate we've been seeing. does this put the plan in any jeopardy, create different than what you were considering this year? how small is the window that you have to operate in? sec. rouse: i am not the president's political advisor, but i will say this. the build back better plan is a really spending bill -- not stimulus, really important investment in our children and families. economists agree it will be important to building economic

capacity. the president have been focused like a laser beam on getting this past. the senate has to do its work, it is a complicated bill, but i have no reason to doubt that it will not be picked up forthwith in the new year. that will get it passed. it is really important for our economic growth going forward, and for ensuring we have the economic capacity to deal with price pressures going forward as well. joe: so you pick up in the new year where you plant? sec. rouse: the president put forward a framework initially, he is focused on these priorities. they are very important for our families, they address important costs for our families. yes, focused on getting it passed in the new year. joe: i know that you and other democrats are concerned about the passage of the child tax credit. what happens in january if this plan is not put in place. is there a plan b, standalone approach to covering any

interruption that may come from that? are you concerned that it may go away? there could be really economic ramifications there. sec. rouse: treasury has said that if it was not passed this month, they would not be able to supply checks next month. this is why it is so important for congress to come back and pass the build back better bill as soon as they can. we know the child tax credit has been so important for families, helping to get food on the table, making investments in their children. it is important that we get it passed. every confidence that congress will do that in the new year. joe: is that your message to families who do not have as much faith in congress? we have seen this debate go on for months, and it has not been a bipartisan issue. sec. rouse: i think the child tax credit has bipartisan support in the main. we know it reduces child poverty, hunger.

we know those investments have impacts later in life for these children, that these are important investments that we can make in our kids. what i would say to those families, let your voices be heard. if this is important to your livelihood, let your voice be heard. the president is committed to this piece of allah see. we know how vital it is to americans. it is important that it is passed in the new year as soon as possible. joe: also central to the president's plan to lower prices. a great debate in washington about what is causing inflation and the best ways to cure it. the administration has said build back better will go a long way to doing that, and the child tax credit will be a part of that. after what you heard from jay powell yesterday following the fed meeting, i wonder if your view on inflation as an economist is evolving with what we have seen. the word "transitory" was dropped in his most recent statement. do you have a sense of how

long-lasting this will be? sec. rouse: it has been our sense since the beginning that the inflation we are seeing is due to the mismatch of the pandemic. this pandemic was a catastrophic blow to our economy, worldwide economy. it generated supply disruptions because the supply chain was highly calibrated. any disruption was going to perturb that system. at the same time, the president was committed to ensuring the people had the funds to buy food, to pay their rent, take care of their families. that demand has outstripped the capacity of the supply chain. it has always been our view that this inflation was tied to the pandemic. that is what we all thought of when we thought of the word transitory. a careful read of chair powell's statement, he didn't change his characterization of inflation. we get that it is part of a supply/demand disruption, but as

the economy knits itself back together, we expect those inflationary pressures to ease. joe: do you think will be having the same conversation halfway into next year? how much of 2022 is an inflation story? sec. rouse: my crystal ball is not perfect but outside forecasters expect inflation at this time next year should be half of what it is now, and will further ease down to the 2% rate that the fed targets. joe: i've been fascinated when i hear you talk about this and the causes behind it, buying goods versus services. you see that coming in reverse. at some point in 2022, it will go back to more services based, less goods. what makes you so sure about that? sec. rouse: this was a pandemic that involves a highly contagious virus, now we have omicron. in order to stay safe, we know that we have to isolate from

each other. services often involve face-to-face contact. as people were told to isolate, that took a particular toll on services. in the process, we do provide families with the means to get through this pandemic, and they bought more goods, which have to be transported. and fewer services. as people get vaccinated, as we work ourselves through this pandemic, people will feel more comfortable, will start to reengage. one of the services that was hit was healthcare services, people not getting the everyday health care they need out of fear of the virus. as that normalizes, we expect to see more service consumption. joe: speaking of the fed, it seems like we're are in for interest rate hikes for the next year, maybe three years. based on your conversations now with the fed in the moment, this is a tricky job, sticking a landing at a time like this when

there is so much uncertainty. do you worry about overshooting, that we could be concerned about potential recession if it goes too far? sec. rouse: that that is an independent agency, full of highly qualified economists who care deeply about the health of this economy. they care about the inflation, so that is where the interest rate hikes would come in. they have a dual mandate even they also care equally about employment. they will be balancing those concerns. we have the confidence that they will make the right call. joe: two that end, when it comes to the job market, something that you study every day, how do you define full employment, do you see that as being a part of next year? sec. rouse: that is a very good question. the one place we know we have work to do, we are working on supply chains so we can get more goods and services transporting. the labor market has come back strongly but we know there are

still people we need to bring back into the labor market. full employment is not just about the unemployment rate as it is measured. we also need to see more people joining the labor market, what we call the labor force for two station rate -- participation rate, also needs to see some healing. as people feel safer, engaging every day, not just occasionally at the grocery store, but every day at the job, we will see more able and willing to take a full-time job. joe: you must get a kick out of being an economist, and seeing everyone armchair quarterbacking, certainly on the hill, democrats and republicans don't ever seem to agree on what is keeping people out of the workforce, never mind inflation. is it a covid story? if that is the case, are you worried that this lapse in the child tax credit could make things worse? sec. rouse: from our analysis,

we believe about half is due to older workers. many of them were going to retire anyway. that is just with our baby boomer generation retiring. many of them are on track to retire anyway. another group retired early. the pandemic was hard psychologically, and we know a lot of people, not everybody saw a tremendous run-up in their asset valuation. so their accountants told them they could retire early. given how hard this was, they said, i think i will just take my timeout. typically, when you see someone retire, sometimes you see them come back. they may have retired from their main job but they come back in another job. we also know that a third are people of what we call the shadow labor force. they don't report looking for a job, so not officially unemployed, but they want a job. as covid receipts -- many are siding covid from keeping them

out of the labor force. childcare is an issue. schools are not reliably open, childcare centers. it is hard for caretakers to go back full-time. covid is part of the mix but it will take time. joe: in our remaining moment, i wonder if you anticipate the president will announce his nominees to fill the open seats on the fed in the next couple of days? sec. rouse: this is an important decision by the president and he wants to make a considered decision. i have nothing for you on that today. joe: would you be prepared if he asked you to fill one of those seats? sec. rouse: i have a fabulous job, thank you. joe: appreciate your time being here. we will have a lot to talk about in the new year as we find our way through 2022. we would love to stay in touch with you on that. sec. rouse: delighted. joe: from here in the nation's capital, that is cecilia rouse,

chair of the u.s. council of economic advisors. i am joe mathieu. matt: that was joe mathieu talking with cecilia rouse. you can hear him every day live at 5:00 eastern on bloomberg radio. he always has fantastic interviews. let's go to mark crumpton with the first word news. mark: welcome to the bnn bloomberg news audiences. a bill aimed at punishing china over its treatment of uighur muslims has passed in the senate and is headed to president biden's desk. it would require the homeland security department to create a list of entities that collaborate with the chinese government and the repression of the uighurs, a predominantly muslim ethnic minority, as well as other groups. the winds that hit the great plains hit with a category two hurricane.

the national weather center reported costs reached in 90 miles per hour in parts of nebraska. the wind does not even include the intense gusts of the upper 20 deadly tornadoes reported across the region. the system was so ferocious, some forecasters suspect it may have been a derecho, thunderstorms that sweep landscapes with devastating force and normally happen in the summer. this comes five days after an outbreak of devastating tornadoes killed 75 people in kentucky and neighboring states. citigroup has told employees in his new york city, jersey offices to work from home. citigroup already requires workers in those offices to be vaccinated. this week, the centers for disease control and prevention estimated the omicron variant could make up 13% of covid infections in the new york city

metropolitan area and new jersey. hotels in new york city had their best week since the beginning of the pandemic, setting covid era highs with an occupancy rate of 82%. leisure travelers who have traditionally mobbed the manhattan for holiday shows and christmas shopping have so far been undeterred despite surging case counts and the emergence of omicron. global news 24 hours a day, on-air, and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪ matt: thank you very much. mark crumpton with your first word news. let's get a quick check of what is happening in the markets. the dow jones industrial average is up, a gain of 93 points. 36,020 is the level on the dow. meanwhile, the s&p is down. fluctuating between gains and

losses today. off almost 20 points. 4690. the nasdaq showing you that tech stocks are leading losses right now. off almost 2%. the 10-year yield is coming down as investors buy that paper. 1.4275. bowlero is the worlds largest owner and operator of bowling centers. it went public today as it makes the sport appeal to the modern customer. joining us now is the founder and chairman, as well as ceo, tom shannon, down on the new york stock exchange floor. bowling is something i've been doing my whole life, but i don't know if the kids are picking it up. what is a like for millennials, gen z? are they getting out there? tom: 70 million americans bowl every year, all generations, all ages.

everyone bowls. matt: what do you hope to do with the proceeds from going public? what will you do with your business with this money? tom: currently we have three hundred 20 locations in north america but the u.s. market is highly fragmented. about 3500 independently operated bowling centers in the u.s. alone. even though we are eight times the number two player in the world, we only have 7% market share in the u.s., a fraction of the family entertainment location based entertainment businesses in the united states. we have a long runway for growth on the acquisition side and building new centers. we have built probably 10 in the last two years, acquired about 30. we plan to accelerate both of those initiatives since we have gone public. matt: what has the covid affect

been like? i wonder especially lately as the omicron variant starts to rear its ugly head in the u.s. how are you experiencing that? tom: we had a total shutdown and then a gradual emergence. as restrictions lifted, we found bowling came back stronger than ever. same-store sales were up versus pre-covid numbers. that has continued up until now. omicron has been a little bit unfortunate in terms of timing. it was announced right on the cusp of the holiday event season. it will definitely cause us some indigestion with the larger orbit holiday events we would have normally booked, but the retail demand is strong. in aggregate, i think we will be up this month, certainly this quarter.

we have never been more profitable. one thing to remember about our business, there is no variable cost to a game of bowling or shoe rental. two thirds of our revenue are stable. it is a brick-and-mortar business with a software margin. matt: is it plain-vanilla bowling? what are the other sources of revenue? i was at a place a couple weeks ago where they had mini bowling, videogames, foosball. most of my money went to beer and wings. i'm guessing a lot of your customers also spend money on food and drink. tom: about a third of the revenue is food and beverage but bowling is the core of our business. that is the highest margin business we have. the average center has 40 lanes. a number of them are traditional, maybe what you are used to growing up with more league focus, but the majority

of our centers are quite beautiful locations. they appealed to corporate parties, special events, appeal to people on dates, going out socially, kids and families out to recreate. for the most part, we have a very upscale product with a lot of content, high quality food and beverage, and of course arcades, but bowling is the core of our experience. it is the highest margin thing that we do. matt: is it centered mostly in the middle of america? do you have bowling centers on the urban coasts, in l.a., new york? tom: great question. our largest concentrations are on the coast. our biggest market is california, over 50 centers in california. we are heavily weighted in the coasts and southern tier. we are big in florida, texas, arizona.

big concentration in denver. we are actually weakest in terms of center county in the middle of the country. we are most heavily weighted to the largest and most affluent msa's. matt: thanks for joining us, tom shannon, ceo of bowlero. i'm a big fan of bowling. coming up, we will go live to the new york stock exchange, where we hear from two ceos -- back at the new york stock exchange. we are going back. ed bastian of delta airlines and stephen squeri from american express. that is next. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: for bloomberg television and radio globally, i am david westin. we're on the floor of the new york stock exchange with two ceos, ed bastian, ceo of delta airlines, and steve squeri, chairman and ceo of american express. we will explain why they are here together, but you have your capital markets presentation today. the question everyone has on their mind is what you report next.

we have the delta research in the u.s., omicron. how does that affect your forecast? ed: thank you for coming down and doing this with us. one thing about the virus is are learning more about it. we have more tools at play, technology. people understand the experience. one year ago, we were only 25% recovered. today we are 75%. we will get to 100% over the next 18 months, but the opportunity for us with omicron, from what i understand, it will move fast, highly contagious, will soon be the dominant strain in our country. but then it could hopefully be the last phase of the pandemic, turning to an endemic that we can then manage on a seasonal basis with the technologies we have. not something we are looking forward to, not seeing it in our

bookings in a material way -- international, yes -- but we hope that we can look back as another step to get healthy. david: international and business is terribly important to you. are you seeing any contraction in the time when people are booking travel? that is one indication that people are getting nervous. ed: we are seeing some cancellations in international markets, not for the holidays, but january and forward, where travel restrictions have been reintroduced. the reason they are canceling, they don't want to be stuck someplace. it is not that they want to -- that they feel unsafe, but they don't want to be stuck someplace. you will see some impact on the business but not significantly. reopening will probably slow down. we had a lot scheduled in january, and you may see that being pushed back. in the grand scheme of things,

we will move through this relatively rapidly. david: we had citi today said that if you are in the new york, new jersey area, stay home for the holidays. apple also saying take time to stay home. how sensitive are you in that return to the office? ed: 60% of our offices are open in our country. business travel is about 60% back, so there is a high correlation. david: from your experience in the pandemic, what is your ability to ramp up or wrap back capacity depending on what happens in 2022 with omicron or other viruses? we cannot really anticipate. ed: we have a lot of levers, and that was one of the focuses of the presentation. i told investors i never anticipated having to take out 50% of our cost structure over 15 months on the dime. we did it. i don't think it will be

anything material that will cause a widespread change in strategy. if anything, it will help us get to the end faster. david: for our bloomberg radio and television audiences, we are here with ed bastian, ceo of delta airlines, and steve squeri, ceo of american express. you had a fireside chat with ed today, you are part of the presentation. you have a long-standing cobranding relationship. stephen: 65 years we have been involved with him and his team. it is a travel, business membership partnership. one analyst and investors are interested in is the 25-year cobranding relationship. you have two premium brands, the number one airline and what we believe is the number one credit card issuer. you have a powerhouse of two

brands putting together what we believe is a tremendous product. two brands that have the same values. we are both focused on our colleagues. during the pandemic, no layoffs at delta or american. we back our customers. that is really important. when you take those brands and those values, and you put together strong value propositions, you have a winner. david: two brands that have been together for quite a mile. -- quite a while. what does american express get out of this, do i use it more because of the cobranding with the delta? stephen: we have many american express cards. when you do cobranding, you take two great brands and put together experiences and values from both and then you get a different value proposition. then you get distribution into the delta base. we have customers that are similar but it gives us another way to access the customer base. when we spend more, not only

does delta make money but american express as well. david: you are pushing platinum. increasing the benefits and attraction of platinum. when you make decisions about your proprietary data proprietary card versus your cobranded card, how do you make that decision? stephen: we manage a wide variety of products, so what you do is you really dissect sort of the target market that you have. it is not as difficult to make those decisions. you are putting together unique value propositions that target unique customers. david: during the pandemic, how badly was this cobranded effort affected? it must have hit you. ed: it did hit us. fortunately, because of the american express relationship, our corporate holders continue to invest behind the brand. even when our traffic levels were down to 20, 40% from what they should be, the amount of spend on the card was very close

to what it should be relative to prior performance. november we just closed. spend on the card is 22% higher than november 2019, even though we are still not all the way back. customers are investing in our brand even if they are not ready to travel. david: what comes next for the card? plans to enhance the card? stephen: we have a long-term relationship, our deal goes out beyond our 10 year which is great. we can invest from the long-term perspective. we don't worry about renegotiation or tomorrow. we look at the medium to long-term david how can we go into the e-commerce path. how can we go after more small businesses? that will be important to growing this portfolio. david: we are in the holiday season and every once and know about spending, whether with retail or travel. what are you seeing? stephen: overall spending is up 11%.

goods and services is up 24%. retail spending from a consumer perspective, 30% order to date. those are big numbers. david: or the bloomberg television and radio audiences, we are here with steve squeri as well as ed bastian. ed, you are running a very big company. just about every company in the country is facing issues of inflation, supply chain challenges, and labor shortages. how is it affecting delta right now? stephen: fortunately because -- ed: fortunately because we are not all the way back, it hasn't really hit our ability to operate. we have hired 9000 people at delta as we brought the business back up again. we have had really no challenge in locating people. have not had increased scales, people want to work with us. including pilots. when you think about where we are headed over the next year,

we are profitable for the second half of this year, including today's announcement of being profitable in the fourth quarter. all the major airline in our country that is meaningfully profitable. i think it is just us and korean air that are profitable in that period. next year is our recovery year, but not a recovery in terms of growth. we will be meaningfully profitable. i put a marker out there for investors. by 2023, we could be fully back. david: final question to both of you. you are ceos of big and important companies. a ceo today has omicron, the pandemic to deal with, as well as inflation and uncertainty in the markets. starting with you, how do you deal with that uncertainty? that can affect your business materially. stephen: you have to be open to making change. the decision you make in the morning may be a different

decision that you make in the afternoon. you have to have confidence in what you are hearing from your employees, customers. ultimately, you just go with your gut. david: same question to you, how do you deal with these challenges? stephen: a lot going on around us. -- ed: a lot going on around us. you have to control what you can control. trust that your people and your company will stand behind you. david: should we cancel christmas given we have the epidemic? stephen: we should not cancel christmas. we should be safe, protect ourselves, be cautious, but it's a great time to see family and friends and get out there and spend and travel. david: thank you so much to steve squeri, chairman and ceo of american express, and ed bastian, ceo of delta airlines. matt: david westin there on the floor of the new york stock exchange. he is the host of "balance of power," talking with ed bastian

and steve squeri. a couple of breaking news headlines crossing the terminal during that interview. the u.s. is pushing the eu to ready russia sanctions that would hit russian energy companies and russian banks. the u.s. has been pushing the eu to stop nord stream 2 for some time, but this could be different sanctions due to the buildup of russian troops, reported buildup of russian troops on the border of ukraine. we also have a report that go puff is set to start preparations for the second half of 2022 ipo. this is a delivery business, apparently a number of products, not just what you are thinking. gopuff has been issued a $1.5 billion pre-ipo convertible note led by guggenheim partners.

the notable converted either to the ipo price or maximum valuation of what he billion dollars, according to people familiar. interesting news. that is a softbank-backed service. time for the bloomberg business flash. morgan stanley is making sweeping changes to its employee benefits in the midst of an intense competition for talent. the firm is increasing parental leave, and will also allow some employees to buy its stock at a 10% discount. u.s. mortgage rates ticked up slightly this week, reaching the highest level since late october. the average for a 30 year loan was a little over 3.1%. borrowing costs are expected to climb further as the federal reserve steps up its effort to tame inflation. u.s. housing starts rose more than forecast in november, two and eight-month high. residential starts were up 11.8% last month to an annualized rate

of just under $1.7 million. that means builders could be making more headway on backlogs. there was a solid advance in u.s. factory output last week as well. the increase was .7%, suggesting and easing in capacity constraints is helping manufacturers ramp up much-needed production. meanwhile, the former ceo of mcdonald's will return $105 million in cash and stock awards to settle a lawsuit by the fast food chain. steve easterbrook was fired over his sexual relationships with subordinates. mcdonald's says the amount represents what he would have given up had he been forthcoming about his actions and been fired for cause. that is your bloomberg business flash eight. let's -- update. let's get a check on the major averages.

the dow jones industrial average is up almost 100 points, 94-point gain. the s&p 500, which had been bouncing back and forth today, has been solidly down over the last hour. down almost half a percent. 4689. tech stocks have been leading the way down, especially those big cap tech stocks. if you were looking for apple to break $3 trillion today, it will not happen. come back tomorrow. the nasdaq is down almost 2%. investors are buying u.s. 10 year bonds. the yields dropping down to 1. 3 292. changing live before your very eyes. i'm matt miller. i will be off for christmas break over the next week. have a great holiday. this is bloomberg. ♪

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♪ mark: a bill aimed at punishing china over the treatment of

muslims has passed in the u.s. senate and his pet -- heading to president biden's desk. it would ban goods from china's region unless companies prove they weren't made with forced labor. it requires homeland security to create a list of entities that collaborate with the chinese government. france is taking steps to fight omicron, restricting arrivals from the u.k. arrivals will have to have a negative virus test less than 24 hours old. they will have to test again on arrival and then isolate for at least 48 hours. u.k. prime minister boris johnson's top medical advisor is warning of a surge in high school omissions from the omicron variant. substantial numbers of people will be hospitalized over the holiday period. the u.k. reported more than