hello, you're watching "worldwide exchange." i'm ross westgate. >> we are ready to respond to whatever comes unto us. it's russia's choice, only russia's choice right now. >> stocks full. money supply grew at the weakest pace in morning a decade last month. investors caution ahead of fresh gdp data tomorrow.

inshestors shrugging off a drop in first quarter sales. they were hit by adverse currency effects. and the italian prime minister shakes up the corporate sector proposing ucos and investors take a dim view. shares trading lower. welcome to today's program. we'll take a look at where we stand with equities. just over an hour into trading. pretty even stephen advancers versus decliners. of course, yesterday it was up 22 points. very strong retail sales out of the u.s. that pumped the u.s. markets up. the s & p was up eight. played a little into today's session.

right now the ft-se is down some seven points. ukraine, just weighing a little bit here. dax is off a third. number of individual stocks that we're looking at this morning, we'll kick off with those. there is a lot going on with this particular stock and shares suspended. they were down 10% at one point. reports that the tuscan lender was planning to increase the hike. trading down nearly 10% before they suspended. the bank now confirmed they're assessing how much capital is needed to pay back state aid. aker solutions up 6% today. the norwegian supplier saying they won an angolan contract. not sabmiller so much.

a warning that currency depression was weigh on earnings when they report next month. their also blaming a slowdown in south africa and europe. and diageo is relaunching a bid to raise the stake in india's united spirits. the world's biggest spirits maker. already holding a 28% stake. they want to acquire another 26%. it is betting on rising incomes in a market that is not necessarily known for high consumption of alcohol. those are the corporate stories. keep our eyes on yields coming up and around in 25 minutes. get the latest inflation. should be slipping. it was 1.7%. could be down to 1.5%. the bank of england stock is around 2%. we'll see if that continues. and ten year treasury yields where they were, the lowest for

about 1 1/2 months. biggest increase in 1 1/2 years in march. that did just give the dollar a little bit of support. it's up against then. take a look at where we stand at the moment. got up to 101.2. below 138 on the dollar. that's the trade right now in europe. let's go over to our man in sin singapore to tell us what is happening there. >> you would thought that the asian markets would have been a bit stronger given what happened on wall street overnight. the data was robust as well. but especially the china markets. very much mired in their own data sets and also their own economic outlook. remember, we have key numbers coming out tomorrow from china, first quarter gdp, fixed asset investment and retail sales.

the sense is that all the numbers already consistent with softer growth in and around the region of just about 7%. but remember this is a shift towards quality as opposed to quantity. that's one interpretation anyway. so some people say perhaps the markets won't be too long even if they see softer growth rates. one thing very clear. lending data was softer. that hit the financial sector stocks on the broader market. and that brought down those two major indices. the other factor i want to tell you about is that the people's bank of china, central bank, they vacuumed up more excess cash from the system. they drained $178 billion during the open market. but interestingly, money market rates fell and traders said that there was enough liquidity to keep the pressure on rates. so this is really the position

they're in at the moment. do they crank up credit creation to try to juice up and support the economy or do they try and take out some of that excess leverage and keep a handle on sloppy lending? the markets will be watching the complexion of that china data. tomorrow, ross, that will be very central for the regional markets. it will be interesting to see if the global markets take the lead if the numbers are surprising on the down side. there is a risk of that happening. back to you. >> yeah. thanks for that. we'll catch you later. joining us with his thoughts. peter garny joins us. peter, we have the fools, of course, we had to deal with. and then a rally yesterday. u.s. data better than we might have expected. still concerns about the ukraine. how does this come out in the mix for you? >> well, you're right. we've had some soft weeks and

equities prior to coming down. but we still feel optimistic about the equities. we still think that they'll outperform bonds. we still think that arias that, looks very attractive. and, however, we just coined our outlook as stock picker's paradise. that's the environment we're going into now with forward evaluations on most of the equities come back now to historical averages. and when we're in such the moment, it's for use to outperform, you have to pay more to the industries and stuff to get the outperformance. it will be a much more normal year going forward. >> yeah. when do we sort of get through this period of -- essentially we're flat on the year, really. of course, with a lot of moves within that, when do we get through this current period of

activity, do you think? >> well, i think we are already in it. this year could actually be quite interesting in the sense it will be an up and down year all along with mixed data coming in and then we could end up in the fourth quarter with a rally and then we'll be up 8% for the year. everyone will just say okay, i got my 8%. it felt very horrible because it went up and down. now we have to change it in russia. we still have the softening, weakening emerging market of china leaving there. that is cause something concern. on the other hand, you have europe that is stabilizing and you have the u.s. that is actually accelerating. you have this mixed picture. i think that will be around for the rest of the year and create up and downs. so that's good for trading. >> good for trading. it could maximize gains and losses as well, i suppose. where do you want to be right now? which section of the market?

>> in terms of countries, we think russia despite all the political noise is screaming by. we think it's a very expected levels. if you're a long term investor that can sort of ride out this political noise, i think you'll do extremely well. in our view, you should be overweight russia. you should be overweight south korea. they're very cheap at this point. also spanish and italian stocks on a country level. greece stocks are looking very expensive and emerging markets like indonesia are expensive and europe and the u.s. is neutral at this moment. in terms of sectors, we like technology. i don't mean the social media and momentum stocks and biotech. i really think the old guys, it's microsoft, it's apple, it's companies like qualcomms and intel, oracle as well in the software space. those type of companies. and then in europe, we're betting on european banks as moving out of the dark ages now and beginning to see the

earnings recover. so we're bullish in that and also european stocks. >> now greek equities very expensive. it's interesting. so your big call is russia is a screaming buy. greece, get out of? >> exactly. we're almost 200% now from the bottom since we had really the low point. if you look at the valuations, greek equities are valued at higher multiples than south korean stocks. to be frank, if you look at south korean economy and the government structure, the companies that you can really buy in south korea, they're so, so superior to the ones you can buy in greece. i think it's a very easy choice here. it doesn't make sense for greece. i don't think that's where you get the value. >> good to speak to you. thanks for that. have a good day there in

copenhagen. he joins us from saxo bank. >> greece's returned to the bond market. peter doesn't like it. but the return to bond market raised the likelihood they'll make a clean exit from the bailout program. does portugal agree with that? we asked exactly that. >> we have to take you to account to the relevant devel . developments as we approach the endst program. the decreasing yields are effective to take into account. so that viewpoint it's true. >> you also upgraded the outlook. you said the credit line would be beneficial though it doesn't necessarily have a rating implications. does that give you comfort, too? >> it's another factor to take into account.

and what we have been doing is that we have been speaking to all relevant stake holders, observing the market, looking at the size of our cash and considering the different options, the costs and benefits associated so that we can have the best possible, informed decision. we'll announce that before the exit. >> why has portugal succeeded with the program where reforms are concerned, other countries like france, for example, even italy to some extent have failed? >> in our case, the reforms were discussed and the trigger to have the reforms implemented was the program. we found ourselves in a situation where we had to control it. we had the benefit also of having an environment and population that understood the needs to consolidate, the need to push for reforms even if there were difficult moments as there always are. in general, people understood

and were helping the whole country make this process. and it also was proven that the portuguese economy is actually flexible and able to react well under difficult circumstances. so in our case, the outcome turned out to be positive sooner than had been initially anticipated. so we always expected it to turn out well. we were pleasantly surprised by the fact that it took place somewhat earlier. >> strange as it sounds, the catalyst as far as the straitjacket of a program actually facilitated and allowed the country to make crucial reforms? >> some reforms are politically difficult. so it's many countries are able to do it without the push of a program. especially now that europe has reinforced monitoring mechanisms if in the european commission

are able to put more pressure where it is needed. in our case, it was the trigger. but the diagnosis was there before. so we were already aware that some of the reforms were necessary and that we would have to do them sooner or later. >> you can't escape it, the country has steep, high refinancing needs over the next few years. you've got a debt to gdp shy of 130% and now we're looking at two successive readings of negative prices. how concerned are you? >> a scenario of very low inflation or even worse deflation would be a serious concern. so we were glad to hear that the ecb is considering using unconventional measures in order to prevent this risk that seems to be on the rise. we're not overconcerned about deflation. but, indeed, having a very low inflation for a prolonged period of time does not help in our

adjustment process. >> okay. that interview with julia. shows you where they stand right now. in terms of comparison with portugal with some of the other peripheral countries. kind of similar to where we stand with ireland, $208 billion. unemployment rate, 15%. ireland is down to 11.8%. preferable to greece's unemployment rate to 26%. the unemployment rate in spain, 26%. we know all about that. youth unemployment is very high levels of over 50% as well in italy -- in spain as well. portugal, kind of comparative with ireland in terms of the economy. slightly better employment rate. worse in ireland as well. that's where they sit. now still to come for your sales for swiss pharmaceutical company roesch have taken a hit. we'll have the latest out of

zuric. carolyn is there interviewing the ceo this morning. wholesale hit a three month high. will this hamper the country's reserve bank? mexico has the dubious honor of being known as the drugs and kidnapping capital of the world. later, we'll ask the country's finance minister if mexico can get to grips with its violent crime. and it's a big earnings day on the cards as coca-cola and johnson & johnson both report. we'll talk stocks and reporting season all coming up at 11:30 ct. "worldwide exchange" continues right after this break. ♪

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moscow faces further cuts and does not deescalate the crisis. they have so far shown few signs of laying down the arms. they moved to trump both of the nation's currency by raising the benchmark rate by 900 basis points to 9.5%.

where do you still think the end game here is? is this russia trying to just make sure that ukraine doesn't fall into the eu if we have an independent federal ukraine? is that what they still want? >> they've been quite clear about that. that is how they see ukraine's future. at least militarily neutral. you create a situation at least within constitution where you have regions that have more autonomous rights in case there is a decision by the central government to pursue europe-atlantic integration. integration with nato. then this region in the future potentially could have a right to make this decision. >> so is this russia keeping up the pressure through to the elections? is that's what's going on? what is the danger of this spilling out into something i think nobody wants to go which is a greater conflict within

ukraine itself? >> i think from russian perspective, this is my indication, that they're trying to make sure that india coming constitutional changes, the current government reflects and provides more rights to ethnic russians who are predominantly in southern regions. this is the whole point. i don't think that russia is intending to invade the new ukraine, for example, unless there is military escalation in this region. so i think it is more of an exercising muscle and showing that real muscle that russia has and pushing the central government in kiev to admit that after all, russia is a major stake holder in this country and they have to take into account its interest. >> where does this leave us with the elections? what is likely to happen? >> i think in terms of the elections, ukrainians are pretty

much free to go and make their choice. of course, the argument is that if you have this sort of tensions in the east, it will be very difficult for many ukrainians who live in eastern and southern regions to exercise their right. i think ultimately, this will be a free and fair electoral process by some of the troubled regions in the east. >> thanks so much for joining us. >> first quarter sales for roech below expectations. inve investors don't seem too worried. what kind of mood is the firm in? >> he was in a pretty good mood, actually. he said that the underlying performance in the first quarter was actually quite strong. yes, we have that major fx

impact especially because of the weakening of the emerging market currencies and strengthening of the swiss franc. we saw continued growth in the cancer blockbusters. and then if you look at recently launched products like the breast cancer drug, that also performed very, very well. but, of course, you can't deny the impact of fx, also with regards to the rest of the year. i asked him what the biggest risks are for the rest of the year. here's what he said. >> certainly exchange rates are volatile. we have seen strong swiss franc in the first quarter this year. strengthening against major currencies such as the u.s. dollar or the japanese yen. and we expect this effect to continue for the full year. >> there you go. that was the ceo of roche.

the company as expected confirming the outlook for 2014 based on what they saw in first quarter. and analysts say well, no major surprises in that set of numbers. really a solid set of numbers. and what we now are looking forward to is the conference that is the world's biggest ecology conference. we have numbers from nestle today, one of the biggest food producers in the world. slightly underperforming this marng. that's despite the fact that numbers weren't too bad really. we got the organic growth number. that is the key metric we want to look at. slightly higher than expected. having said that, though, once again, huge impact from fx that, was an impact of around 6% in terms of the top line. we saw 5.1% drop and first quarter sales at $20.8 billion swiss francs. why was the firm suffering in the first quarterer? why is it battling with the weakest sales growth in almost

five years? well, here's why, it's because easter is a little bit later this year. secondly, we had a slow start to the year in the u.s. obviously, because it was so cold. and then the chinese new year that had a bit of a down effect. but overall, no major surprises from nestle either. back to you. >> thank you. that is the latest on roche and nestle. demolition man tactics go to a corporate center. he is proposing new ceos. here are the changes -- >> and google is taking to the skies buying solar powered drone maker titan aerospace. the purchase could help the

search giant ramp up the efforts to deliver wireless web access to remote parts of the world. they launched a small network of balloons designed to provide internet services to the southern hemisphere. titan's drones can fly to 6 ath -- 65,000 feet and stay up for five years. facebook has talks to bite company. google stock, down today. stay with google. they also updated the terms of service by saying that the incoming and outgoing e-mails are being analyzed by software to target ads. going sl violating privacy and wiretapping laws by scouting messages. google argued that users consent. it is part of the e-mail delivery process. so we want to know, has google gone too far?

are you angry that e-mails are being analyzed? would you consider switching to another e-mail user who wasn't going to target you for ad? join the conversation in "worldwide exchange." e-mail us or tweet us. what do you think? >> also still to come, just how alone might the inflation print come in the next few minutes? we'll get the latest data out of the uk. could it be good news for the bank of england?

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we are ready to respond to whatever comes on to us. it is russia's choice. only russia's choice right now. >> stocks are dragged down by bank stocks. they grow at the weakest pace in morning a decade last month. they're cautious ahead of fresh gdp data tomorrow. >> healthy performance from

roche shares. they say they were hit by adverse currency moves. and the italian prime minister shakes up the corporate sector proposing new ceos for some state run banks. investors take a dim view on his appoi appointments. it's the lowest rate since october 2009. it was forecast at around 1.6% as well. there were some who thought it might dip down to a rate of 1.a%. core cpi also came in at 1.6% on the year as forecast as well. rpi, running at 2.a% 5% on the month. we'll see some input prices

down .6% running at decline of 6.5% over the year. input prices are still going low as well. that suggests that those inflation pressures continue to ease output prices .5% on the year. that is the lowest as well since october 2009. we also have february house prices. the annual house price inflation is currently running at 9.1% year on year according to the oms. that's the fattest since june of 2010. but the key measure there is the annual rate of inflation in the uk, 1.6%. the lowest since october 2009. as forecast low the march is 1.7%. james joins us with his response as well. still going down, james. how much lower might that annual

rate become? >> you know, i think it can go there, possibly 1.4 or so. we're looking at the key components and food prices, the supermarket price war going on. inflation is the lowest for a considerable length of time. that will weaken further. prices excluding food are at record lows as well. so that's going to continue weighing. petro prices at the pump are trending lower. so, yeah, it is all pointing to lower headline rates. >> are we -- the euro-zone exporting a bit of disinflation to us? >> possibly. that's certainly strengthening as well. that is helping to limit the input price inflation, too. they could be factors, too. >> you got the latest average earnings coming out tomorrow. now the annual rate of pay could tick up to 1.8%. how significant is that going to

be? the first time in a long while, if you average annual rate of pace pays higher than the annual rate of inflation. >> yeah, that's right. if you look at the single metric, it's a three-month moving average. we've had 1.7 in december an january. it's looking as though we could see that benchmark move significantly. that's going to make people feel like they have more money in their pockets. we have income data services which has the pay war deals coming through. you have the minimum wage rising 3%. so we'll see the wage rates push higher. inflation is trending lower. so people are going to eventually start to feel it in their pockets and feel wealthier. >> when does that feed through to the economy? is it enough to keep the economy growing at current levels for a while? >> yeah, i think it is. the pool of available labor is

shrinking. employment has risen over the last few years. that means firms have to get workers. pay is going to bid up. i think that real wage story could help fuel consumer sentiments and sending. >> so put that into policy action then, jam. we saw this annual rate of half price growth here. what's the timing at the moment, do you think of an interest rate rise? and what is the timing, do you think, of the financial policy committee coming out and using their box of tools before any action from the mpc? we're still suggesting peb of next year. they could move earlier. i wouldn't be surprised to see them move even in november given that i think the market slack at the bank of england is focusing on it and shrinking. employment is rising. wages are picking up, too. i think that's clear evidence that the slack is eroding and

that will eventually feed through to higher inflation. i think they skew to an earlier movement than we're suggesting. we're already seeing them take action to move the fupding for lending scheme to move to corporate sector sending. we could see them kbo down to the likes of canada or new zealand where they make lending much more strictly prescribed on availability or affordability. so i think that could am in the summer time. there is the ris they can do take more aggressive action. there is no supply coming through. it is very much demand led story. prices are only going to go higher at this rate. >> james, good to see you. thanks for joining us. james knightly at ing. >> european equities are down.

bull markets, yields are mixed this morning. sterling has gone higher on that number. on the currency, take a look at sterling. excuse me. 1.67 is where we stand against the dollar. president obama president obama urged putin to withdraw troops from the ukrainian border. during a phone call, the u.s. told his russian counterpart that moscow faces further costs if it doesn't deescalate the crisis. pro kremlin separatists have shown few signs of laying down arms since the passing of the deadline laid down by kiev. this comes as ukraine central banks moved to try to bolster the currency. they raised the benchmark to

9.5%. they lost 2/5 of the value since january. earlier the ambassador at large at ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs says any further conflict is russia's decision. >> psychologically, we are ready to respond to whatever comes unto us. and let's hope that it doesn't come to a full fledge -- ful full-blown aggression and war. it is only russia's choice now. >> joining us, nbc's reporter joining us. what is the situation and state of play today? >> things are relatively calmed this morning. there are unconfirmed reports and pictures circulating on

twitter of ukrainian military vehicles in the region alongside the roads in those towns where city administration buildings and police have been taken over. yesterday we went to one of these towns some 40 kilometers away where a police station was taken over by pro russian militia. they raised a russian flag. they said this action was not coordinated but it was actually done by the people there. now later there was youtube video of a russian colonel, a man whoint deuced himself as a russian colonel, who had in fact taken control of the police there. it seems that the pro russian sentiment is very strong on the ground here. but there is no violence this morning that we can see. >> thanks very much for that. that is the latest. >> now blame it on the weather, at least that's what rio tinto

is trying to do to justify the falling shipments. down 8% in the quarter due to the previous. they say it was due to weather disruptions in canada. they are still on track to meet the target. production up 16% compared to a year ago. they are boosting production at its australian mines to meet what it says is growing chinese demand. >> talking of china, key money rates dropped today. dealers ignored a massive $178 billion drain to the system. that is the biggest single day drain since february. china's money supply is the weakest in more than a decade in march. money supply grew 12.1% a year ae earlier. the growth rate is the slowest since may of 2001.

the weakness may have slowed capital inflows. and so that is approaching awe crucial may 7 election. a growing public backlash against the ruling african national congress. last week the imf revised down the growth forecast of the nation citing political uncertainty. we sat down with a finance minister an began asking him what he thought were the biggest fail use ov failures over the last two decades. >> the biggest success is after being the capital of the world, south africa is marvelled at in terms of the nonviolent way in which we introduce democracy. the manner in which people like nelson mandela inspired south africans and people all over the world. and we're very proud of the 20 years of achievement that we've actually had. now the moving hundreds of years of discrimination and inequity

won't happen in 20 years. so our successes are many. millions are lifted out of poverty and look at any number around the economy and on the fiscal side or in terms of investing growth and so on, we've done very well. perhaps the most disappointing thing is the issue of unemployment. that has been a structural feature for our economy that we understand we need to do a lot more. we now have better plans and clearer objectives for the next five to ten years. and those have already started being implemented. >> when i asked a number of south africans if they agreed with you, they said poverty, inequality and corruption, are you doing enough to address those things, too? >> again, the recent numbers that they came out with showed that we lifted millions of people out of poverty.

and in an environment where the structure for our economy is not what it used to be. so for a much longer process, we'll get more small businesses, we'll have more entrepreneurs. we'll find both government and nongovernmental ways of actually supporting them further. secondly, we'll have a better vocational training system. we have elements of it now. it will be enhanced much more. more money will go into that system. so the young people are trained better and have better opportunities. thirdly, we have all sorts of plans and incentives in place, special economic zones, employment tax incentives because the key is not about welfare. or about dispairing about unemployment. it's about putting some initiatives in place so people can work and people have the dignity of their own wage and are able to determine their future with the kind of support we have to offer.

inequality today is not just a south african issue. this is a global issue. so in south africa, that is a tough conversation. >> gold may grab the headlines. there is nothing better than going platinum. we'll find out why. 'll find out.

a 2.2% drop in sales demand slowing for mass market products across north america. we have more reaction first and analysis in paris. not quite worth it so much then. >> the reaction is it's not really worth it in first quarter. that's the reason why they're trading well on the french market. they also suffered the negative currency effects which took almost 5% of its reported sales. revenue dropped by 10% although

they were up more than 9% on the light basis. they meet expectation in the fourth quarter. they are confident that things will improve gradually this year. the company is confident that business will be back on track in the second quarter and it will post a steady growth at the end of this year. in a conference call, the ceo said that the economy context remain uncertain especially in terms of exchange rate. he believes the sales will accelerate in china and that market will recover in the southern part of europe, especially in spain. disappointing first quarter. the market is positive. >> yeah. thanks for that, stefan. we'll talk to you a little bit later. the italian prime minister has taken his demolition man

tactics to the corporate sector by proposing new ceos for the banks. here are the changes -- >> g4s is back in the spite lite. there is a 20% pay package increase of the ceo. they're involved in a scandal after the company was found to have overcharged the government for tagging offenders. they received a payout of $1.2 million pounds.

barclay's is to appoint a new panel today after days ahead of the agm according to reports. there is going to be a nonexecutive director to take over the current head later this year. the appointment is seen to fend off anger. what executives got paid most in the united states last year? the new highest paid ceo list is out. mary thompson has the details. >> some familiar names at the top of the list, legendary names in the world of media and technolo technology. we'll start with number five. that would be emerson electric's david farr. he was paid $25.3 million and perks up 264%. this followed a year of record

revenue. honeywell's david cote earning a hair more, $25.4 million up 56% after his company racked up a 47% total shareholder return in 2013. a perennial on the highest paid list, rupemurdoch. his salary of $1.8 million is the largest among the top 100. disney's bob eger checking in at number two. $34.3 million fell 7% even as the media giant's total return rose 29%. and topping the list as he's done in the past, oracle's ceo and founder larry ellis son. his $77 million option award made up most of the $78 million in total pay he took home last year. the software giant ignoring shareholders who say no raise in pay for two years.

the average pay among the 100 coming in unchanged at $14.6 million. the rise in medium to be paid to be expected given the 30% rise in the stock market last year, keep in mind about 56% of their pay is tied to the performance of their stock. one notable name on the list is larry page, co-founder and ceo of google. he was paid least among the companies. his salary, $1 a year. keep in mind, this is not the list of the highest paid ceos of all companies. regardless of size, that list is coming out in the summer, published by "the new york times." back to you. >> marry thompson with the details. ukrainian tensions and chinese data a few reasons why investors are bidding gold higher. the south african mine is going through the 12th week of strikes. platinum is also causing waves.

thanks for coming in. let's talk about gold first before we get into platinum. it's sort of -- it is lackluster time. there has been risk aversion. is that going to last? >> well, we don't expect gold to rise to extreme highs. but we do think it will continue to be supported by heightened risks there. so the results are a possibility of a slowdown in the u.s. in a way it can only grow in the u.s. also at the beginningst year we saw how a potential emerging markets sell off. if investors are looking at gold as a potential safe haven and insurance -- >> the biggest hurdle for gold is going to be if we see

stronger u.s. economy, rates going up and that becomes the biggest hurdle. >> yeah. >> but there are also possibilities that expectations may not be met. and, therefore, ib investors are looking at gold as potential insurance. >> this 1300 level is a level we're swinging around a lot. >> yeah, it's been swinging in between 1300 and also 1400. at the beginning of the year there was a potential crisis in the emerging markets. and now that we saw the ukrainian crisis might actually deteriorate. we saw the gold price rising yesterday. >> and what about platinum? we talked about platinum. is this a supply story? >> it is supply and demand story. platinum is a precious metal. so they're used in cars. as we know, there is a demand

for cars increasing. so on the one side, they're all very well positioned. south africa is the biggest producer of platinum. we have the potential sanctions to in russia due to the crisis with ukraine. and russia is the biggest producer of paladium. so those two metals have seen their prices increase because of the supply and demand. >> you're talk ug about just -- >> they've been weighed down by the disruptions. they could actually be potential

strides. it's not the first strike that happened in south africa. producers are having accumulating stockpiles in case these things happen. but they're now depleting. >> good to see you. thank you. >> thank you. >> google is updated the terms of service telling g-mail users that their incoming and out going e-mails are going to be analyzed by software to target ads. g-mail users say going sl violating privacy and wiretapping laws by scanning messages to compile secret profiles. they say that they consented recognizing it is part of the e-mail delivery process. so we want to know, do you think going sl going too far? would you be angry that e-mails are going to be analyzed and then used to send you targeted

ads or is it just part of the mad earn world? would you give up google mail if you join a service where you know it wasn't going to happen instead? let us know. you can e-mail us worldwide at cnbc.com. is that an invasion of privacy? think about that. we take a short break. still to come, the u.s. president warned his russian counter part of further costs if troops do not withdraw. do not .

this is worldwide exchange, i'm ross westgate. >> the ambassador hits back against kiev's toothless response. >> we are ready to respond to whatever comes unto us. it's russia's choice, only russia's choice right now. >> chinese stocks fall dragged down by bank supplies. money supplies have grown at the weakest pace in a decade. investors caution ahead of fresh gdp figures tomorrow. there is a healthy promise for

shares. numbers were hit by adverse currency moves. and the italian prime minister shakes up the corporate sector proposing new ceos for banks. investors take a dim view of his appoi appointments. plus, investors may be listening to janet yellen. she may try to clarify remarks about when u.s. rates will start to rise. we kick off with the latest investor sentiment survey out of germany. 43.2 points. down from the 46.6 in march. so we thought it would weaken.

we thought it wouldn't be quite as weak as it is. the current conditions index, 59.5. it was 51.3 in march. expectations were for that to be 51.8. so they're substantially stronger. expectations are likely to be caused because of the ukraine conflict. current conditions are the highest level since july 2011. joining us for the next part of the show today, head of global equities. thanks for that. it's interesting. very strong current conditions. highest for nearly a couple years. expectations dented by fears about ukraine. how do you put those two things together? >> that paradox for data, it makes complete sense. you look at economic data in germany and around the world, it's better. it's been improving more consistently. you touched on ukraine.

there are other on going conflicts and this shakeout occurring. >> as far as germany is concerned though, as an investment destination, how does it shape up? >> i spent a lot of time in germany last month. and the outlook for germany, i'm told by most of the ceos is good. industrial production is favorable. consumer confidence is relatively strong. opportunity for export and big opportunity for the german economy is increasing. >> despite the euro? >> despite the euro. i think there is lots to be encouraged about. the survey out seems to be where we are right now. >> all right. president obama urged putin to withdraw from the ukrainian border. the president told his russian counterpart that russia faces further costs if they don't

deescalate the crisis. separatists have shown few signs of laying down their arms since the passing of a deadline laid down by kiev. at the same time, the ukraine central bank tried to bolster the nation's currency by raising the benchmark rate by 300 basis points to 9.5%. ukrainian currency lost 2/5 of its value since the beginning of the year. earlier, alexander sherva told cnbc that any further escalation is russia's decision zbchlt we're ready to respond to whatever comes unto us. and let's hope that it doesn't come to a full fledged, full blown aggression and war. it is russia's choice. >> we have a member from "the

wall street journal" joining us. he's on the telephone line from the ukraine. we've had the deadlines. they've come and gone. what's the situation now where you are? >> well, i'm about 100 miles from the russian border. now the town is completely in the hands of a pro russian militia. they set up checkpoints and controlling the local police. this town is at the center and has slipped from kiev's control. ukrainian president this morning said that the forces have launched a military operation in the area. there has been no sign of that in the town this morning. the governments have threatened to attack but there has been little evidence of ukrainian forces here for several days. the government buildings in a lot of the towns are seized by military looking men with weapons. they say these are russian agents. now the barricades are mounted

mostly by locals. civilians with arms. so military action would end up pretty bloody. i saw some of these melt professional looking guys this morning so they're definitely still around. and after they walk past, another guy in a jacket came up to me and a photographer i was with and told us to get out of the area. the situation is very tense. there's no indication of the ukrainian army attack at the moment. >> yeah, have you had a chance to speak to many of the locals there? is there a view, a general view amongst the populous about what they want and how they feel about russia and a federal ukraine with more autonomy for their region? >> yes. i've been speaking with a lot of locals in different towns around the area the last few days. of course, there are many views. the main view is they waunt more

autonomy for their region, more power. does doesn't necessarily mean they need to be a part of russia. they want to be able to take control of their region. and some say if ukraine won't give us that, then we'll look to russia. >> james, good to speak to you. thanks for that. james marson joining us from "the wall street journal" in eastern ukraine. >> here's a look at futures after the gains we had yesterday. the dow up 146 points. that's .9% this morning. just six points below fair value at the moment on the dow futures. boosted by retail sales coming in better than xpeked. biggest increase in 1 1/2 years. the s & p is up 15 points yesterday. about .8%. it is currently, what, unfair value. i think we can call it that. and the nasdaq up .6%.

down around that 4,000 mark. it is just about five points above fair value as well. they were both briefly negative the dow and nasdaq yesterday. as far as the ft-se is concerned, it is down .1%. european stocks have been marginally negative during this session. the ft-se yesterday was up 52 points. it is down 16. off .25%. by the way, inflation in the uk, annual rate down 1.6%. that is the lowest since october 2009. so we still have inflation both trade going the right way as far as the bank of england and the chancellor is concerned, average earnings for the first time in a long while, starting to outpace the inflation numbers. so that should also give a boost to the economy. feel a little better about the money in their pockets. down 1% as well. that's where we stand right now

here in europe. we have the latest from asia. >> hi there, ross. this should have been a stronger session for the asian markets given the strength we saw of wall street and also given the stronger data state side as well. it wasn't. and the weakness is really coming from the greater china markets. so perhaps they are trying to factor in some run and the data that comes out tomorrow. the key one numbers, gdp, fixed asset investments and retail sales. we have a big day. broad expectations suggest that these will be emblematic of a weaker growth, consistent with numbers in the region of 7.2 or 7.3%. the other factor here that really brought the financial sector stocks lower tes eer ser

the hang seng is credit growth in march was softer. we saw weaker than expected numbers there. another worry factor is that me shoe of shadow financing in china more than doubled in march. that is one of the big catalysts for the hang seng and shanghai. and we also got the people's bank of china, the central bank vacuuming up more excess liquidity, excess catsh from th system. they drained $178 billion. this is the biggest drainage since february. money market rates fell because the traders perception is that there is still a lot of liquidity really sloshing around in the system to keep pressure on rates. big day tomorrow, ross, with the data dump coming out of china. the big question is whether the markets are already starting to front run weaker data or if it does significantly surprise to the down side whether we could see some further selling on these regional markets with the emphasis on the shanghai market

and also the hong kong market. >> thank you for that. have a good evening in singapore. that's where asia closed. on the agenda today in the states, we have march inflation cpi out at 8:30 a.m. eastern. we get the monthly survey from the national association of home builders and several officials today speaking including the fed chair janet yellen about his remarks about the anl you'll financial markets. coca-cola, johnson own and johnson, charles schwab reporting results before the open. intel, yahoo and csx are out after the close. go through the earnings. those are the companies reporting. we go through the earnings season, have we but down our forecast enough to justify the level of valuations, do you think? >> i don't think earnings estimates per se have changed particularly in recent weeks. i think expectations certainly

have. you go back to the start this year. it is about multiple expansion. it's in advance of earnings growth. very carelearly, certain earnin multiples contracted a little bit. expectations are lower. i think we're in a wait and see game to see what they're about to deliver. you could argue that they're even more important now given the jitters and nervousness that exists in certain stocks and certain sectors. >> yet, the -- there is that momentum trade, tech and biotech as well. would you be in favor if we had a slightly bigger correction? you know, people talk about the correction. i want to get in. i want to have a better entry point? >> what is interesting to me, we talk a lot about tech and biotech. i think it has a reversal of pricing the winners.

the stocks that went up the most last year are coming down the most this year. especially stocks that rallied at the end of last year. the gains of last year became very powerful. that has gone through this year. i think it is more than technology and biotech. what are the underlying growth rates? can companies justify the underlying growth rates? the cycle is very important. also the debate over sentiment is very important, too. that gives people ammunition to feel comfortable in this time. >> i'll come back to you in a little bit. another day, another multibillion dollar tech deal. motorola's enterprise business is on the sale block. we'll find out how much it could be worth.

recapping the headlines. president obama warns putin there will be further costs if troops do not pull back from the ukrainian border. investors take caution ahead of china's gdp reading tomorrow. investors will be looking for any clarity on interest rates that we might get today from janet yellen.

some other stories today as well. the ge ceo may call it quits sooner than is expected. "the wall street journal" reports that em eliminate had discussions with the board about shortening the next year's run between 10 and 15 years. that led ge for 13 years and still has strong support from the board. they expect him to step down before he reaches the two decade mark of 2021. the adjourn also says possible candidates to succeed him is the person that runs the oil and gas unit and the gentlemen that runs power and water. there has been a deal to buy motorola solutions for $3.5 billion in cash. they make bar code printers. the deal could be announced today. the enterprise business makes rugged lap tops but they delayed

orders and cut spending. >> juniper networks is exploring the sale of the mobile security unit. the network has been under pressure from activist investor to restructure. it comes after an extensive review of june iper's businesses and reports say a deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. june iper lost more than half the market value since 2011 hurt by lower capital spending by customers. in earnings news, roche is reporting strong demand for the new cancer medicines. that doesn't stop sales dropping. speaking earlier to cnbc, they blamed currency headwinds. >> certainly exchange rates are volatile. we have seen strong swiss frank in the first quarter this year. strengthening against major currencies such as the u.s. dollar or the japanese yen. and we expect this effect to

continue for the full year. >> another swiss giant missed first quarter expectations. nestle is also posting a slowdown in sales the first quarter. currency issued here with nestle saying a strong franc impacted on the numbers. they posted a 2.2% drop in first quarter sales. demand slowing from the products across north america. the ceo says he expects the firm to return to sales growth in the second quarter. the shares are trading higher as a result up 2%. now bar brawls no more. could every sports fan's worst nightmare be over thanks to goal line technology? we've been investigating how the tech might help. >> sports fans can celebrate or stop arguing over a questionable play thanks to new technology that is quite literally game changing. this disputed goal at the biggest sporting event in the

world with hundreds of millions of fans tuning in is exactly why you'll be hearing this term more and more. goalline technology or glt. i'm talking about england's disallowed goal against germany at the 2010 world cup that was almost universally shot down as a bad call. now fifa is working with the goal control to bring glt to the world cup for the first time ever. this summer, 14 high speed cameras will capture 3-images. referees get that data within one second on a wristwatch. >> fires, scores! one sport that is pioneered glt, hockey. the national hockey league has been using this technology for three seasons now in games like this boston bruins versus new jersey devils face-off from sunday. leading into the playoffs. video tech company makes that system, 60 gigahertz wireless cameras.

>> there is almost bullet proof domes on the device, top and bottom. here is the camera end. and the radio end. you can see it's very well padded. so it won't hurt the players. and the players won't hurt it. >> other sports teams and leagues adopting glt including england's premier league which uses the hawk eye system. still, not everyone's onboard. the german football league just voted down glt thanks in part to the 500,000 euros per club cost. so the tech is becoming more mainstream but still too steep a pricetag for some. back to you. >> the latest on goal line technology. still to come, google takes to the skies snapping up a solar powered drone maker. more details on that as we go. you can see we're now down the session lows in europe. decliners currently over the advancers. advancers. ♪

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google's taken to the skies buying drone maker titan airspace for an undisclosed

amount. that could help them amp up the delivery. at the same time, it is also updated the terms of service telling g-mail users incoming and out going mail is being automatically analyzed by software that then creates targeted ads. the practice spawned several lawsuits. g-mail users say google is violating privacy and wiret wiretapping laws by scanning messages messages to compile secret profiles. they recognize it is part of the e-mail delivery process. we've been asking you to day has google gone too far? are you angry that the e-mails are being analyzed? would you switch out of g-mail to another user if you knew that wasn't the case? are you happy to have those analyzed to then be sent targeted ads? let us know your thoughts. u.s. futures are dipping down.

we're flat on the s & p 500. just up a point for the nasdaq. final thoughts with matthew. we have interesting pricing assets here. we're worried about the cost of funding going up. yet, treasury yields are down. growth outlook is better. peripheral european assets are more badly hit. what is going on? >> the only common thread we can really see across the world right now is this profit taking mentality that is impacting the market. as you point out, we'll worry about rising rates and growth stocks. at the same time, yields have come down. as yields come down into higher growth, then why is emerging markets worrying about rates to rise. why are european assets also

rising? there are a lot of no, ma'anoma that don't reflect the positioning right now. with cost of funds likely to rise, you're seeing lots of leverage investors and the amount of leverage exposure and obvious place to start is with the stocks where they made profits. this is very important because it can quite quickly draw a line under some of the stocks where fundamentals will be called into question. stocks have risen in anticipation of earnings growth. but that earnings growth comes through. that could be demonstrative in stopping this. >> thank you for joining us. matthew beasley from henderson

global investors. still to come, tech shares and yahoo results may buck the trend. we'll find out more. 'll find ou. [ children yelling ] [ telephone rings ] [ shirley ] edward jones. this is shirley speaking. how may i help you? oh hey, neill, how are you? how was the trip? [ male announcer ] with nearly 7 million investors... [ shirley ] he's right here. hold on one sec. [ male announcer ] ...you'd expect us to have a highly skilled call center. kevin, neill holley's on line one. ok, great. [ male announcer ] and we do. it's how edward jones makes sense of investing.

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a recap of the headlines from around the globe. separatists take more control of the eastern ukraine. the country's ambassador hit back against criticism of kiev's toothless response. >> we are ready to respond to whatever comes unto us. it's russia's choice. only russia's choice right now. >> chinese talks brought down by bank stocks. money supplies growing at the weakest pace in more than a decade. investors cautious ahead of tomorrow's fresh gdp data. it's a healthy performance from roche stock. the drug giant saying numbers are hit by adversity and currency moves. italian prime minister republicansy shaking up the corporate sector. he is proposing new ceos for state banks. investors are taken a dim view on his appointments. investors may be listening to comments from janet yellen. she may try to clarify remarks

she made last month about when u.s. rates might start to rise. >> more welcome to you. welcome to the trading day here on cnbc. after the gains we saw yesterday, the nasdaq and s & p are briefly negative. to date, futures indicating pretty flat start. undecided is really where it's gone. that vigt on fair value. s&p 500 is now two points below and the dow at the moment is also 26 points below fair value. dax is off 1%. down off the lows of the session. we did see the expectations index about half an hour or so ago. it is below expectations. current conditions are very strong. inflation in the uk is down at

the lowest levels since october 2009. the annual rate of inflation 1.6%. we should see average earnings tomorrow coming in above that rate for the first time in a long while. average earnings above inflation in the uk. paris is down .5%. in italy, down 1.5% as well. quick recap of asian markets. a little bit nervous ahead of the gdp number we're going to get out tomorrow in china. shanghai is down 1.4%. china central bank also draining a massive $178 billion from the system. it is the biggest single day drain sense february. 12.1% from a year earlier, below the forecast of 13%. the growth rate was slowest since may 2001 according to the national bureau of statistics

data. g gdp number is going to be key tomorrow. here are thoughts we already had on the channel today. >> it is a search for come what may. and not responding to the portuguese government. let's look at greece for a second. look at the phenomenal demand of that bond the other day. yet, we're still talking about it. so in that situation, if people still want to buy the dax or euro, they're in a hugely difficult position. >> last year was such a low volatile environment. people just don't expect it to come through. you see a spike in the vix index last week. this is a lot of concern about what is happening in emerging markets and possible deflation in europe, what might happen in china? there is enough out there to create volatility. and that's exactly what we saw the first quarter of the year.

>> it should remain quite low. financially companies are in fantastic shape. debt levels are quite low. cash flows are strong. and, again, if you're searching for that income, people are grabbing. people are searching for yields. >> now, earnings to look at today. first of all, we're going to get tech giants yahoo with investors ahead of that ipo. intel follows suit shortly after. their optimistic about the chipmaker as the company finally starts to make the transition to tablet and mobile. and wednesday, the focus is shifting to google. shares split and ibm and these shares defy and are up 8% in the last month. joining us with her thoughts, hillary cramer, chief investment officer at aig.

what do you think about yahoo? this is a company going through a major transition. they're turning into it in a content company. the value of the stock is less than the value of the stake in the rest of the business. what do you think? >> the issue with yahoo is that the business just hasn't been able to make the end roads and grow the way they have laid out the strategy. there have been too many distractions, too many management changes and too many purchases. baba will keep yahoo strong and growing because the cash is going to be there. that is really the savior for yahoo. there are so many other plays out there that are going to be much more valuable. and that's what's so important. we see google's earnings this week. i mean they're 54 companies that will be reporting this week.

we're not even going to be working on friday. so yahoo will not necessarily be a good proxy to what is going on because of their own specific situation. >> you say that there are plenty of other opportunities. you talk about blackberry is on your radar. >> right. right now, here's the macro view. when it comes to finding stocks where you're going to have a 30% to 50% upside, it's all over right now. social media stocks, 3-did t printing, so where do you want to look if you're an investor and you want to do as well in 2014 as did you in 2013. look for the fallen angels. look for blackberry that everybody thinks is a hardware maker, the $7 stock. it's on the mess efrpging and operating system that has applications so broad from medical equipment to casinos,

automobiles and even to home appliances. there is value in blackberry. the problem is no one wants to buy blackberry because it's deemed as the untouchable companies the way google acquired motorola and for a while the bane of their existence. wall street is like a bunch of kids. there is popular companies and there are not. a company like what's app can be bought for $19 billion, but blackberry, you know end roads in these areas on the software side and, of course, the hardware side where blackberry continues to grow especially in countries like indonesia i've seen very promising numbers. this is where you're going to make your money going forward. >> yeah, it's sort of interesting. it's interesting thesis as far as that is concerned. you talk about the -- what do you think is behind all the selling of the big names? look at the names where we've seen the 30% gains. is it just people have said

that's it. >> what it is, you have some hedge funds that, yes, they made their money and they are concerned about selling in the down turn and taking the profits to the table. let's get real. what we know on the street is there are a lot of really aggressive amateur hedge fund types that just pile in to these companies the 3-d pirinters, twitter, tesla, some of the bioteches that are too frothy and they had margin calls. they had to retrace on the strategy that they had put in place. individual investors are much smarter these days. they were burned twice in 2000 and 2008 and 2009. they got their toes wet. but we need to understand is that there still is an opportunity for some companies to come back. now, of all of those fast momentum players, i really think

that biotech is the place to go. i'm not an etf analyst. my expertise is picking stocks. however, i love the etf for the biotech stocks. the reason you want to be there and there's a lot of concern because there are only ten stocks that make up the ibb, either by call options to get it up on the ibb is that companies like intermune, some smaller players, the neips, they have upside in them that's going to come back. these stocks are down 7% to 10% plus. and the market will come back. there is a lot of good data, a lot of conferences. watch some of the big conferences that come in june. and that's where investors can come back. some of the momentum players, they're gone. >> yeah. i hear that. we'll look out for that conference. get a cup of coffee, a tea,

whatever is your cup and we'll come back to you fairly shortly. thank you for now. president obama urged putin to withdraw troops from the ukrainian border during a phone call. the president told his russian counterpart that moscow faces further cuts if they don't deescalate the crisis. kremlin sources are showing few signs of laying down the arms since passing the deadline. at the same time, ukraine central bank tried to bolster the nation's currency by raising the benchmark interest rate to 9.5%. the currency lost 2/5 of the value since the beginning of the year. earlier, ambassador at large at ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs told cnbc that further he escalation in the region is russia's decision. >> psychologically, we are ready to respond to whatever comes unto us. and let's hope that it doesn't

come to a full fledged aggression and war. it's russia's choice. only russia's choice right now. >> joining us for more is our reporter. these deadlines have come and gone. what is the situation today? how tense or relaxed are things? >> it's quite quiet but tense still. we just heard about an hour ago from the ukrainian president that in effect he's given the go ahead for an anti-terrorist operation going on in the north of the region. there have been unconfirmed reports of tanks and armored vehicles in that region. there have been some twitter activity reporting this. there's been some photographs. but in effect, we have not -- we

cannot prove that this is happening. now the tension is still there. there are reports of violence in some of the taken over towns where buildings were seized by armed militia. the russian flag was raised. and people there have been saying that they want a referendum. they want an independence but they would also welcome russian forces. they feel that kiev is not listening to the region. it's not here to protect. europe is not able to protect either. and the russians, perhaps, are the ones who can somehow stabilize the region that is very much in need of some support at the moment. >> thank you for that. that's the latest from there. will reforms help rev up mexico's lagging economy? find out what the finance minister has to say next. has t.

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for clarity and interest rates today potentially from fed chair janet yellen. it's already been a active day. you might add two more deals to the list. we have the latest. good morning. >> good morning, ross. they have struck a deal to buy motorola solutions enterprise unit for $3.5 billion in cash. the financial times says the deal was signed in the past few days and could be announced today. it would create giant company for tracking auto parts to groceries. they help amazon keep track of the inventory and technology. micro chips for lift passes at ski resorts. motorola's unit make bar code scanners for retailers and tablets for corporate use.

the combined company would have 7,000 workers and generate $3 billion in annual revenue. checking shares of zebra, up better than 2%. same for motorola solutions. juniper networks is exploring the sale of the mobile security unit. the network gear maker has been under pressure from activist investors to cut costs, streamline operations and return cash to shareholders. juniper has outlined a plan that includes a stock buyback and dividend program and is cutting 6% of its global workforce. reuters, of course, the company has ird ubs to help find a buyer for juniper. they lost more than half of the value since hitting a peak in 2011 as it struggled with lower capital spending by customers and failed to gain traction in the enterprise unit. checking shares of juniper networks, up about 1.9%. global m & a activity dominated by the telecom, media and tech

sectors this year with $174 billion in deals in the first quarter. that's about a third of the overall deal market. ross? >> all right. good stuff. thanks so much indeed for that. latest on a couple more deals that are being done. we have some news coming out surrounding sergio belasconi. he has to perform community service. he's going to have to perform kpunt service. now the mexican government is hoping for a bounce back after growth slumped in 2013. they brightened the growth picture for the third biggest economy. we asked the finance minister if he thought the measures had put mexico in a stronger position than other emerging market

nations. >> there are stronger fundamentals. our debt to gdp ratio is slow. we are in a better position in terms of our micro management. if you look at the market prices over the last three months, it looks differently. that has a lot to do with the prospect of growth. >> you think they'll make a differentiation as far as mexico is concerned if we do see a pickup in return? >> it is already happening. if you look at the difference at how interest rates and how they evolved over the past 15 months, if you compare mexico to indonesia and turkey, that should be the case because we have stronger fundamentals and

good growth prospect. >> that's the finance minister. still to come on the program, yahoo, johnson & johnson and coca-cola are on the agenda today. we'll preview some of the reports. reports.

on the agenda today in the united states, we have march cpi out at 8:30 eastern. prices are forecast to rise at .1% at ten. we get the survey of home builders. several fed officials speak today including janet yellen. u.s. futures after the gains yesterday suggesting we'll have

a slightly more negative tone to the start today. the dow is some 14 points below fair value. the s&p 500 on it as is the nasdaq. hillary cramer is still with us from a & g capital. hillary, you worried too much about discussion about the fed and when rates will rise or not? we might get a little clarity from janet yellen today on that. >> we have two fomc meetings in this quarter. bond buying will probably drop to $35 billion a month. it's not going to make a difference as we had expected it ordinarily would. that is simply because we see the yields still stay low. they're still strong interest in treasuries. so i think that janet yellen also has been very good job in walking into her new position and not riling the markets. so there is no concern there.

>> what one particular are you going to be trying to pull out? >> i want to see, for example, how intel reports. intel will be so important because, of course, it's a proxy for how so many hardware systems are doing around the world. because that's intel's brains. that shift is going to be a very important proxy. another one i'm really looking at is general electric. ge is going to be important for many reasons. but especially because they really have been strong in energy, these large finance projects that have focused on energy globally. so it's going to give us a sense of how ge is going globally and if the expansion is driving growth and we can stop seeing some flat lining there. the other one is google.

i have to go back to google. we need to see how online searches are doing. it is also online advertising. google is going to tell us, yes, of course, how they're growing. we're going to hear about their strategy. we'll hear more on google glass. i also want to know about consumer discretionary. and if some of the consumer discretionary companies are doing well, we're going to see increased advertising revenue. and, of course, youtube is really important. youtube part of google, we need to know how searches are doing there. that is seen as the new era. that is the wild west of the new land of online searches. >> good stuff, great to have you on the program today. that it is for "worldwide exchange." coming up, squawk box. we hope you have a profitable day. good-bye. good-bye. mine was earned in korea in 1953.

afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

go good morning and welcome to "squawk box." coca-cola and johnson & johnson are set to report before the bell. ukraine starts to take action against pro russian militants after president obama and president putin of russia have another phone conversation about the troubled region. and google glass goes on sale for a limited time. and think of pairs making its way to the set later this half hour. i already won the contact lens with the camera. it sounds like can you do some evil things. it's tuesday, april 15th. it's everybody's favorite day on

the left! 2014! it's tax day! who cares about july 4th? this is the real day. "squawk box" begins right now. good morning, welcome back to "squawk box." we're celebrating, of course this tax day. joe kernan and they're not celebrating as much. becky is off today. she'll be back later this week. let's tell what you is going on. we have a huge lineup including ko coca-cola's ceo and robert shiller and nhl commissioner gary bettman ahead of the stanley cup playoffs and we'll also be paying a visit to the squawk set. also two more heavy weights about to check into earnings central this morning. coca-cola getting ready to turn in its first quarter results. that's going to happen right before