good afternoon from new york where it is 1:00 p.m., 6:00 in london 2:00 a.m. in hong , kong. i'm matt miller. welcome to bloomberg markets. here are the top stories we are following from around the world. fed chair jay powell just wrapped up his testimony before the senate, reaffirms the central bank is on track for a hike this month but says policymakers will move carefully. we will cover the moves in commodities as oil pullback after nearing a hundred point dollars a barrel on brent. jp morgan analysts say the benchmark could end the year at $185. and we have an exclusive interview with toto wolff, the mercedes amg petronas f1 team to, part owner. we will discuss the controversial and to last season as well as the turmoil in global sports as organizations react to russia's invasion of ukraine. let's get a quick check of the markets right now,. we have had

ups and downs throughout the day. investors are seeking safety in treasuries right now, pushing the yield down a little bit. not huge moves,18542. you can see crude oil here turning lower. crude had been nearing $115 a barrel, now trading at 109.68. brent approached 120, now coming back down. let's turn back to jay powell's testimony, intense exchange with richard shelby. the fed chair said he would do whatever it takes to protect price stability. >> you are prepared to do what it takes without any reservation

to protect price stability? chairman powell: yes. >> that would be a departure of what you've done. matt: joining us now is simona mocuta of state street global advisors. the fed chair could not be in any more of a difficult position. first of all, many people thought they were behind the curve, and now the curve has completely changed. simona: and the policy trade-off has worsened for the fed and many other central banks around the world who are looking at the stagflationary shock, the second impulse in the global economy, omicron, and now the worried ukraine. i think this does not change the near-term trajectory. that is well confirmed. the bank of canada has hiked, the fed has committed to hiking in march. what struck me today in testimony was how many questions

got to this core issue of how much of the current inflation can the fed actually control? i think that's a very important question and one that the fed is really grappling with. matt: absolutely. what kind of inflation do you expect us to see? a lot of people were talking about an 8 print which is difficult for people already earning less money. how quickly does that come back down? simona: i think it has gotten harder. in the short term, we are higher than where we are, but the underlying narrative is still moderation, substantial moderation in the second half of the year. of course, energy throws a wrench into this projection, but even so, that is why chair powell talked about how persistent is this shock, it is not about how acute, short-term oil prices, but how durable that

proves to be. he was asked specifically, can you do something about energy prices? he said very little at the margin. can you do anything about supply chains? no. can you do anything about housing? housing inflation is impacted with a very long lag. the fed is fighting a battle that is very well-positioned to win in the medium-term, one or two years out, but not in the next six months. matt: what do you expect in terms of the growth picture? we were already concerned that growth would slow to the end of the year, now we have this incredible volatility. how does it play out? simona: wrote was going to slow irrespective of the ukraine situation. the good news is consumers in the aggregate still have a lot of accumulated savings. if there is one silver lining,

perhaps we only need an immediate sharp demand response to higher prices. you can still finance consumption by drawing down those excess savings. but there is no question, this is a gross negative impasse. inflation in and of itself is a demand instruction mechanism. -- destruction mechanism. matt: in terms of the demand picture, the u.s. consumer still looks pretty strong. ism services coming in a little bit less than expected but still an expansion. is the u.s. consumer continuing to spend, switching from goods to services, is that picture still bright? simona: i think that picture is still relatively bright. we are looking at solid consumption spending this year, close to 4%. that is actually an extra ordinary number. i think consumers softening

process is underfoot but will not become very obvious until later in the year as some of these excess savings get drowned out. for the time being, on average, this year will be a high-growth, high inflation year, a repeat of 2021, but increasingly we have to look at what is the trend. the trend is one for slowing in 2023, and it could be a different picture. matt: let me ask you about the war in ukraine, what kind of wrench that throws into the global machine. the human cost is extraordinary. i have seen the reporters on the border keeping track of the million refugees that have already come across. it is horrible to think about. on the other hand, i spoke with carlos ghosn, and exile in lebanon this morning, and of

course, he has a lot of exteriors working in russia having gotten renault involved there years ago. they say they are not big enough of a player in the supply chain -- we see some closures here and there -- but not really big enough to hurt the global economy. how do you see it? simona: i think it is a more mixed picture because it depends where you look. if you look at the industrial sector, i would agree, this is not the make or break for the supply of chips and semiconductors. but those countries are large agricultural exporters, energy exporters, so there are parts of the global economy where they do cause disruption. both of those impasses will be inflationary for the world economy. the issue is can you secure alternative supplies?

unfortunately in both of these areas the ability to do so is quite limited. matt: thanks for joining us, simona mocuta. coming up, an exclusive conversation with toto wolff, the team principal of the mercedes amg petronas f1 team. more on the controversial end to last season, and also the fia's decision to allow russian drivers to compete under a neutral lag. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is bloomberg markets. i'm matt miller. after a dramatic upset in the championship last year, the most watched sports league in the world now faces a several changes that further threaten the total dominance of mercedes amg. and recently, formula one have been drawn into the geopolitics situation surrounding the war in ukraine with russian drivers banned from competition in britain. they will be able to raise elsewhere under a neutral flag. for more, i'm happy to welcome the team principal of mercedes amg petronas, toto wolff. great to have you here, i'm a

big fan obviously of formula one. the war situation has now overshadowed everything. what do you think, first of all, about a russian athlete not being allowed to participate in a race in britain? clearly the tragedy of what is happening in ukraine is large, but how can one athlete in formula one be responsible for it? toto: i am austrian, vienna is 400 kilometers away from the ukraine border. who would have thought it is possible to have a war in europe? formula one and sports appears so minuscule in the context. we have decided to not raise in russia, and i think formula one has given a robust statement that aligns with the many other industries in the world. i am in two minds. he is a guy that merits to be in formula one, he can drive, you

can see some of the sports leagues have decided to allow russian athletes to compete. others have been stronger in denying them access. as an athlete himself, it is difficult, but in no way, to support the robust sanctions that have been implemented you can understand what it has gone in either direction. matt: you are from a diverse family. i think one of your parents was from poland, the other from romania, growing up in vienna. your team must also be incredibly diverse internationally. how does this affect -- obviously, the viewership is very global. how does this affect the sport? toto: i think this is the overwhelming topic today. it allows us to reflect on all of the little annoyances we have in the sport, but there are so many more important things than this.

you can see europeans are right in there. we have ukraines, russians on the team. suddenly not easy for individuals with families over there. it is tough times. certainly from a personal perspective growing up in vienna with parents with a slavic background, it is close to my heart what is happening. matt: a couple of things i think have contributed to a rebirth of f1. on the one hand, i think the diversity that was so desperately needed, the sport got with lewis. hopefully also behind the scenes it is growing in diversity. then you have the popularity of the netflix " drive to survive." how do you think those things play into each other? how are you building on that for growth in formula one? toto: the sport has been a white

dominated sport. you come into the paddock, we didn't have a great diverse team. matt: and it was mailed-dominated but that is changing. toto: it is changing, and we are trying to change things in the team, lewis at the forefront. saying that we wanted to have 25% coming from a diverse background, not only gender but culture, minorities. this is absolutely necessary to make a point there. matt: i just had a daughter, 16 months old, i hope she will become a moto gp champion one day. toto: hopefully not. you will suffer. matt: will we see female drivers? occasionally you will see one or two that are successful, but you don't really see them sticking around too much. toto: my wife susie was the last woman to race the formula one

car. she suffered all her life from grassroots for, go carding, to the other races to make it to the top echelon. women are possible to compete competitively in a race car. but we have to strengthen is grassroots motorsports. i looked at the european go-cart championship, 150 participants, the youngest around 10 years old. three girls out of 150. this is where we need to have role models. this is where susie is trying to be that. excite for the sport. whether it is drivers, engineers, other marketing functions. i think we are starting to see those successes. matt: we all wish you the best with that. let's talk more about the business of the sport, your involvement in it. how did you get your start? i know you were in finance before, speaks to our audience,

and then you went into life sport. what drove that? toto: i was a young racing driver back in the day, realized that i didn't have the means or the background to make it all the way to the top. you need to budget, and that was not there for me. so i spent 20 years of my life in finance, from venture-capital to private equity. in a way, i started in my late 30's to invest in racing sports entities, a touring team, williams, and then i got the opportunity to buy one third of mercedes. that is where i am today. if i had to give advice to a young person were to go, either go to media because content is king, live sports. that is a unique proposition. or tech. i am not an engineer, and i ended up in live sports. matt: and you don't want to go back into vc, private equity? toto: that part of my business

still exists, is run by my partner in vienna, but i would say 98% of my time is in sports. not only because i love the sport, i love the honesty of the stopwatch. you could have plenty of explanations where things have gone right or wrong, but you are good enough or not. you can see that on track. i like following the investment that we do but i'm not actively engaged anymore. matt: i was lucky enough to go to college in germany when schumacher was at the top of his game, really got into f1, got to go to a race in hoffenheim. i will never forget feeling it in my chest, the visceral experience of being at the race. turn me into a fan forever. is that going to be the case in 10 years, 20 years? is formula one going to go electric, are we going to lose that? toto: motor racing is an audiovisual experience.

i think the perception of speed is also transplanted by the noise. our generation, we like the loud exhausts. the question will be, what would be for your 16-year-old daughter? i think electric cars will still have a perception, as fast cars. matt: only a couple bit is left. i have to ask about this coming season, the rule changes. how will you deal with that? you, lewis have been so dominant. i don't even need to ask about abu dhabi last year. what will next season look like? toto: i think we were lucky to have a run of eight consecutive world championships. how the rules are now panning out with the cost cap, similar to the salary caps that exist in the u.s., it is going to level the playing field.

today we have three teams that compete with each other, for ari, red bull, mercedes. in the long term, all of the other people come out, it will create less predict ability, which is good for the sport. still our ambition is to win every single one of those broad championships but we don't feel a sense of entitlement, nor do i think it is realistic long-term. matt: what is george's role going to be the season? toto: equal roles for both of our drivers. no role b, junior driver. he will learn from lewis. matt: this leads me to a great question about best practices. harvard business school is doing a study on you, which is why you are here. how do you deal with, as a manager, two competitors that are so driven, george and lewis, in the past, nico and lewis.

you want to drive their competitive urges but you don't want them to damage each other or the team. toto: this was one of the emphasis of the harvard study. management has no superstars. there are no two superstars. every individual is a superstar. myself included. the drivers know that. i think that approach has worked in the past. matt: it's been a great pleasure having you here. we wish you the best of success. toto wolff, ceo, team principle of mercedes amg petronas. eight times world champion. unbelievable record. fans around the world, 1.5 billion fans will be watching to see if he can continue that success. coming up, we will hear from another auto giant. some of my conversation with the former ceo renault nissan,

carlos ghosn, in exile in lebanon. he says he has no regrets of creating the venture with russia. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is bloomberg markets. i'm matt miller. let's get to something that caught my eye. earlier today, i spoke with carlos ghosn, the former renault nissan ceo who escaped to lebanon after being arrested in japan. renault made their big move into russia under his leadership. he says he has no regrets about creating that venture. carlos: we were here on a mission to modernize the car industry in russia. all the benefits of the russian users but also for the benefit of the company and rhino itself.

it made a lot of self, we worked hard, we modernized the company, and everything was going well. this present situation has nothing to do with the industrial strategy. this is more of a political situation on which the present leaders of the company should make statements. i am very surprised that they are not saying anything. matt: speaking after a court in japan found the former director guilty of helping him underreport compensation in 2017. he was cleared of charges for the other years, got a suspended sentence. you can see the full interview on our website at bloomberg.com. quick check on what is going on in the markets. it has been a volatile day but we have not seen huge moves. right now, the s&p 500 is gaining .2%. you can see that investors are in treasuries, pushing the yield

down. 1.8577. the bloomberg dollar index is also bid. crude has come off of its highs. nymex crude approaching 115 dollars a barrel as brent got closer to 120. the two have turned around to some extent. seems monday, tuesday, wednesday were the more volatile sessions. coming up, with european gas prices swinging wildly amid the war in ukraine, we will discuss the impact of its -- europe's dependency on russian gas. this is bloomberg. ♪

mark: welcome to the bnn bloomberg audience. i am mark crumpton with first word news.

the european commission is talking about that possibility with member states, according to a commission spokeswoman. ukraine has called on the debbie to to suspend russia from participating in the geneva-based trade body. as refugees from ukraine or into surrounding countries including poland, polish officials say they want to raise their nation's defense spending to 3% of economic output in 2023, and start a program to expand and rearm the military over the next five years. the plans were laid out in parliament in warsaw. customs officials in france have seized a giant yacht owned by the rosneft ceo. the seizure is a part of european union sanctions against russia. according to french authorities, the yacht was docked near marseilles, be prepared for urgent departure.

the australian continent is open to taurus and workers after western australia reopened its borders today. it comes after nearly two years of strict travel bans. the move brings western australia in line with the rest of the world, leaving hg kong and china with effectively closed borders and strict quarantine regimes. 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 mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> welcome to bloomberg markets. matt: i'm matt miller. here are the top stories we are following for you from around the world. it was a wild day for gas as european prices roared to a

record before slumping just as quickly admitted europe's continuing dependency on russia. sanctions are punishing russia's wealthiest business people, including the country's leader, and could mean an end of the oligarch era. plus, kroger stores after reporting its full-year etf guidance, showing an increase in demand for groceries due to the pandemic despite the surging prices. all that and more, coming up. jon: quite to move in kroger. as for the markets, it's been a day of fluctuation. the tsx is higher, the nasdaq is negative. we have talked endlessly about the high price of oil. the pullback in crude based on those iran headlines seem to get some into the market but i sent due to leaving investors mixed. safety has been one of the keywords today. central banks are having to navigate all of this now.

i do want to talk about what we're doing here in canada, what we are seeing. the bank of governor -- the governor of the bank of canada talking about raising interest rates for the first time since 2018. >> this broadening in price pressures is a big concern. is making it more difficult for canadians to avoid inflation no matter how patient or prudent they are as shoppers. inflation control is our number one job at the bank. jon: of course this is a country that is knee deep in commodities but the reality is, commodities have been in chaos since t war in ukraine, especially natural gas. european futures remitting volatile as europe's dependency on russia persists. let's get some perspective from the ceo and cofounder of gas vista, and intelligence firm

cover gas markets. thanks for being with us. so many commodities and focus right now. what are you watching on the ground in ukraine, the influence it is having on the gas market? >> thanks for having me. in the short term we see a lot of volatility on the stock markets for gas. just in the past 10 days, we have seen the benchmark in europe rising 130%. and it is not over. that will have major consequences for importers, not just in europe but globally. especially emerging markets such as india and others which may not be able to pay those skyrocketing important deals. matt: how dependent is europe on russian gas? if nord stream 1 were blown to

smithereens, what would happen to the european economy? leslie: at this stage, your remains highly dependent on russian gas. there is no way other suppliers could step up in the very short term. the question is whether there would be a full disruption of russian gas or not. right now, we have seen the flow of pipelines relayed reliable -- remain reliable. it remains to be seen whether russian lng will continue. we have seen some european ports, the u.k. have been banning russian ships. russian lng has represented a big share of the imports of lng in the markets this year, around 14% according to data. so this is something to watch. jon: in terms of the volatility

that we are all watching, given everything that you are saying, what should people will be thinking about when it comes to the swings in the short-term? leslie: i'm watching a couple of things. the short-term trades of liquefied natural gas, whether there will be some political moves from state owned companies like algeria, qatar, that could help on the margins. we can also potentially expect some asian buyers to help. every target will matter in the that of a disruption, full or limited disruption. we are also looking at the weather. it has a huge impact on the european gas market. the good news is the good news is that winter is almost over, so the heating season in europe will get weaker. then there will be long-term consequences for the european

energy industry, policymakers. matt: how is the gas market different from the oil market? it doesn't seem to be quite as fungible with huge variations in prices of contracts, for example europe and the u.s.. leslie: there is an area where both are connected, the long-term contracts. the fact that oil prices keep on rising, we will have a huge impact on the long-term oil index gas contracts with a little lag, but it means globally, prices weather on the stock market or long-term, will rise, will contribute to energy inflation, will contribute to the rise of prices of many goods. gas is still highly used in the industry sector, transportation,

not just in power, heating and cooking. jon: if traders and shippers are shying away from dealing with russian suppliers, do you have a sense on how long that could last? does it last as long as sanctions, for example, are generally in place? what creates more willingness on the part of those shippers and traders to think differently than they have the past few days? leslie: i think we already see an impact in the trading area, with the russian-affiliated groups. i think many traders have been held back either because they could not access the financing they wanted or because counterparts have been shying away from trading with those russian affiliated counterparts. so it is less transaction on the stock market, less liquidity in the market, wait and see

positions from many different actors. matt: thanks so much for joining us, leslie palti-guzman of gas vista, talking about the gas market and the volatility that we have seen, due to the war. that was a run-up that we saw before the invasion. the same is true of oil. the question is how high can we go, is that it? do we start coming down now? today we saw oil and gas both turn lower. jon: i think the challenge has been, in a week where you saw some high-profile efforts, opec-plus nations committing to getting more oil onto the market, the iaea talking about dipping into the strategic reserves. and felt like oil traders shrugging that off. the first moment of pause seem to be earlier today where you saw some iran headlines. people do the math on what a

juggernaut russia is in delivering global supply and what can offset that. maybe supply coming out of iran, but even that has felt short-lived and we are seeing the market bounce around here. it does stilleel like oil has plenty of support based on these current levels we have been seeing for crude. matt: so many moving parts here. we will continue to keep an eye on that, as well as the equity market reaction. one stock in particular has done incredibly well today, and that is kroger. the u.s. grocer. after unveiling a profit forecast that signals new games on top of a two-year surge in demand for groceries and despite the incredible inflation that we have seen in prices. kroger is our stock of the hour, next. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is bloomberg markets. i'm matt miller. with jon erlichman. it is time for our stock of the hour, and for that we go back to the heart of it all, in ohio, where people are normal. kroger has figured out the right mix to keep people coming as profits are growing 60% since the pandemic began -- 16% the pandemic began despite food inflation. abigail doolittle has a look at the results. >> its best day since 1993. they put up this tremendous quarter, great outlook, so despite the fact that you have

the input costs surging, you have the company performing. it has to do largely with the pandemic, the trend of staying at home to eat, people becoming cooks and foodies at home. they are continuing that as opposed to going out. matt: they found out it was fun. abigail: maybe they found out they were talented. we have profits surging, they are using technology the right way. matt: i have a recipe for spaghetti carbonara that you would not believe. i'm telling you, if you use cream, you are not doing it right. jon: both of those things are not good for my waistline. i try to keep the carbs to a minimum. i do understand what abigail is saying, and you see this reflected in the results, the fact that there was more time in the kitchen, less time in restaurants. i wonder if the investments kroger is making in the online

business, which certainly started to get turbocharged in the pandemic, allows them to keep some of those consumers even as the opportunity to get out and go to restaurants becomes more of a reality going forward. abigail: that is probably a piece of it in terms of making the user experience more user-friendly, easier to cook at home. something that stands out to me, despite the fact that costs are more expensive to eat at home, people are still doing it as opposed to going out to the restaurant. i can never imagine another time when it would be cheaper to eat out, and right now that is the case. over the last year, food inflation to eat at home, up 11.4%. eating out, 10.5%. it seems like folks really want to stay home. matt: the inflation is everywhere. i went to haiaku last night, which was delicious, and it was $47 for a crispy chicken and dried beef. abigail: two entrees for $43?

. that seems cheap to me matt: i am from ohio. abigail: i am from new york, so that seems cheap. matt: matt bosler, who writes about the fed for us, has done a study looking at wage growth versus inflation the beginning of the pandemic. for decades weed growth has not caught up with inflation, but if you look at just during the pandemic, wage growth is actually still quite ahead. that is the wind in kroger's sales. the fact that people are getting raises to keep up with the price increases means they can keep fighting. abigail: in terms of the inflation surge we are seeing right now, over the last couple of months, it will take a while to get through, for that person to affect what we see at the supermarkets. the question is, if food inflation at the supermarkets, if it goes up 50%

year-over-year, one year from now, will consumers still be one to pay for that? something to keep in mind relative to the wage inflation, according to larry summers, that is what you need to be scared about. how can you make? away? companies can lower prices but bringing wages down seems much less likely. matt: they never lower prices. the price of an f-150, it doesn't lower when things get better. abigail: if they wanted to lower the prices, they would have that flex ability. as with wages, it would be much more difficult to years from now to bring that back down. that kind of inflation, according to larry summers -- matt: he knows more about the economy than i do. jon: we can agree that what has gone up is kroger's stock.

best performer in the s&p 500 today. thank you for the breakdown. coming up, sanctions are punishing russia's wealthiest business people by bringing to a stop 30 years of integration with the global economy. we will talk about the next possible end of the oligarch era. this is bloomberg. ♪

jon: this is bloomberg markets. i'm jon erlichman. with matt miller. customs officials in france have seized a giant yacht owned by the rosneft ceo. the sanctions apart -- according to french authorities, the yacht was docked near marseille and would be prepared for an urgent departure. when you are 280 feet, i don't know how quickly you can get onto the seas.

we have talked endlessly about this coordinated sanction activity by western leaders. whether it is what we heard from president biden or the actions taking place in a country like france, coordination on what feels like putting an end to the oligarch era, is evidence through a story like this. matt: if i needed to do an urgent departure, i think that vehicle would be sufficient. reminds me of the ball of wall street to some extent. we were talking about all of these super yachts, all losing incredibly high value assets being seized, juxtaposed with the tragedy that you are watching in terms of the refugee flow across the ukrainian border into poland. my heart goes out to those people, and i'm thinking, you have to get them clothes, food, shelter.

and a lot of places they will stay there. education, training, jobs. maybe you just need to pass out the value of these assets being seized, or let them live on the yachts. although there are too many. jon: there are a lot. the yacht is the obvious thing to focus on, but when we are talking about three decades of asset collection, the other question out there is what is masked, how far will authorities go? for more on the sanctions targeting russia's wealthiest citizens, let's bring in stephanie baker. we are talking about someone who has run rosneft for a decade, they close ally of putin. this is not the only story that we have been hearing about in recent days. stephanie:: certainly the mos high-profile. there was another seizure of a yacht of another russian

billionaire in hamburg, had been sanctioned by the european union. course, you have property in the u.k., and nothing has happened with that because u.k. has been slow in the acting, to impose the tough sanctions that the eu had. so you are seeing this divergence in the approach that the u.k. is following versus the eu, which is being much more aggressive. matt: you are talking about free-market capitalist countries in the u.k. at least. doesn't that make it difficult under the rule of law to simply take away a person's property because of the place in which he was born, because of his nationality? stephanie: exactly, and that is some of the debate happening right now. they are getting pushback from some of the lawyers working for these russian billionaires, saying they will challenge them

in the courts. of course, the u.k. has a proud tradition of property rights. at the same time, some government officials briefing that they will proceed to seize some of the properties of these russian billionaires, not just freeze the assets, perhaps use some of the proceeds to help those refugees. that is definitely being talked about. it is a weird twist. the bolsheviks seized property in the russian revolution, and now we are seeing it in response to putin's brutal, horrible war in ukraine. jon: in the story you wrote about this, you also talked about a lot of the corporate action we are seeing. seeing a headline that nike will temporarily close stores in russia, already halted online sales.

it's one thing to talk about these incredibly coordinated efforts by european nations along with the united states when talking about sanctions, but all of this business and industry reaction pretty incredible. stephanie: it is extraordinary. i was a business reporter in moscow in the 1990's when a lot of these companies were trying to get into russia. to see them fleeing and ditching these multibillion-dollar investments is extraordinary, a total and dramatic reversal of 30 years of investment into russia. of course, a lot of them are quitting because there is reputational risk involved. matt: absolutely. even beyond the oligarchs, you are hitting people involved. stephanie, thank you very much. this is bloomberg. ♪

if you're a small business, there are lots of choices when it comes to your internet and technology needs. but when you choose comcast business internet, you choose the largest, fastest reliable network. you choose advanced security for total peace of mind. and you choose fiber solutions with speeds up to 10 gigs to the most small businesses. that's virtually everywhere we serve. the choice is clear: make your business future ready with the network from the most innovative company. comcast business. >> crucial moments in the powering possibilities™.

trading day bloomberg markets

the close with caroline hyde, romaine bostick, and taylor riggs. caroline: we are live from bloomberg world headquarters i'm caroline hyde. stocks fluctuate as oil takes a pause. investigators assess the economic all-out from the role -- more in ukraine as we see sanctions across the board. we will get more insight on ukraine with the former you and -- you in deputy secretary general and a worker at the world bank. " how this geopolitical conflict is impacting the world supply chain. john butler is with us. romaine: