germany's dax hits a record high. the readings boosts sentiment across europe. >> intense fighting continues in eastern ukraine ahead of this weekend's ceasefire. moscow insists that all parts of the deal will be implemented amid the threat of further sanctions from eu leaders. >> greek bond yields edge lower as the government vows to do whatever it takes to reach a debt deal on monday. negotiations could start as

early as today. >> made of steel. they jump to the top despite a warning that profits will be lower in 2015. it falls to the bottom of the market as strike actions weigh on earnings. >> you're watching worldwide exchange. bringing you business news from around the globe. >> we had italian data which is at 0% and nearly number decline of minus .4%. we have the euro at 1.1427. it did rise earlier in trade. we had earlier data elsewhere. we had a meager .1% growth in the fourth quarter but strong

domestic demand in germany. saw it beat expectations of .7%. a particularly strong read given it has been under pressure. we get the first reading from greece and the euro zone as a whole. let's get immediate action. the italian number we've had in the last minute. christian and mark are with us. good morning to you. i'll start with you on this data. we got at a point in the euro zone for markets where good news is, indeed good news for what investors are expecting given that quantitative easing has already been announced. >> indeed. it would have been much more difficult for the ecb to announce qe after the german release and in that sense they have really hit the sweet spot in terms of timing. now we have got a solid base from germany for the next year.

we've got the cheap oil. so pretty good news from 2015. >> just highlighting the italian gdp data it marks the 14th consecutive quarter without any growth but the question is mark can investors throw out the fundamental data and bet on further central bank interventionment some are calling this year the year of central bank activism given the primary role in term of cutting rates and boosting the currency. >> it's fair to say the markets have been divorced from fundamentals quite awhile now and people are look at europe and the play book of the uchltd s. asset markets go up. if you're an investor that's great but in dollar terms they haven't moved that much. these numbers this morning highlight the fact that one part of europe and germany is doing

fine. france has just about scraped positive gdp numbers so it's very diverse. it's not a european economic number. it's lots of different economies moving at different paces and investors have to participate in the companies exposed to the faster growing bits. >> let's get a market update. but do stick with us. >> it was a strong day yesterday because of the ceasefire agreement we heard about on the russia ukraine crisis. a strong day again today. we have the stoxx 600 up .5%. let's dive in and look at the stocks 50 as well. >> we can see the full story. it's up.7% and jeredny's dax

index did cross. it was a record high that it touched earlier in trade. this follows 1.5% of gains for the dax yesterday. it was a big beneficiary of the ceasefire agreement and strength today up .6% and it's got from 10,000 to 11,000 since january 16th. a 10% gain. i can do that math in my head. italy is up 1% itself. the german ten year has, in fact compressed further even though we're on a drive over the last two days. that stays at .34%. spain here as well below 1.6. the u.k. the other side of 1.6 and italy at 161. we did see an interesting strong move from sterling. it went up cigsignificantly after mark carney gave the inflation

report. he made it clear the next move as we look at things is likely to be up. that meant expectations stayed around where people had them but sterling strengthened off the back of that. 1538. let's also look at the euro because it strengthened yesterday off the back of the ceasefire agreement. this is of course against the dollar two descent gains for the euro. let's look at commodities and the oil price that had a descent couple of days. can it find a meaningful flaw? up 1.3%. 60.1 for brent. that's up 1.4%. seema back to you. >> a currency on the move the russian rouble has firmed slightly versus the dollar following a ceasefire in eastern

ukraine. however intense fighting continues in the region with moscow and kiev still undecided on how to end the fighting. european leaders warned russia more sanctions are possible if the peace deal doesn't hold up. >> we are very cautious because after bad experiences it's obvious you have to be very cautious and our trust and good will of president putin is limited. >> let's get out to our all star panel this friday morning. christian the ceasefire agreement good news for ukraine but let's put this out of perspective. it still had a catastrophic impact on the ukrainian economy. over 5,000 people lost their lives because of the fighting taking place between russia and ukraine since april of 2014. how do you expect the russian leaders to respond to the

ceasefire? >> first of all if they stop fighting and it saves lives then this agreement is already something very very positive. over the longer term i'd have my doubts because putin really got his way in a way. he made these advances and he's confirmed in these and whether that makes him less aggressive in the future or more aggressive will be seen. the west will look at how the implementation goals, what the russians will do next and wait before they give something to russia which will be lifting sanctions. >> when we let the dust settle on this dispute and review it for years to come will one of the biggest consequences be it pushes russia and china much closer together? >> that's been interesting because the rouble has gone down and oil price has gone down which made russia more dependent. china is taking advantage of this. it's also worth recognizing that

china is expanding across asia. it's building awe new silk road of all the surrounding countries and china is keen of breaking the dollar dominance. they want to have the rnb as global trading currency and they'll be dealing with russia and buying oil and gas and there's very big stories going on in the background here as china is integrating with the country surrounding it and russia is key to that. >> we'll come talk about greece later but so far they haven't had much effect on the rest of the euro zone and global economy but the russian prices has. the markets move sharply when the early signs of a ceasefire agreed which is not cemented yet. >> in particular for germany the last year the story was we entered the year strongly in germany and when russia invaded eastern ukraine the economy went from nice growth all the way

back to stagnation and it took until the end of the year for the economy to recover. it is wounded and weak now and we hope it won't lash out but the bear is wounded and has its back to the wall and may become more irrational so in that sense this agreement yesterday is very positive news because it reduces the risk of more russian aggression. >> what do you think pushed putin to agree to the ceasefire? was it the role angela merkel played or perhaps was it putin's realization that it's economy continues to struggle given the western sanctions in place? >> well you would hope it's the weakness at home and the sanctions and the potential for more trade in the future but may also be he simply got what he wanted so far and is trying to consolidate what he has before he makes the next step.

that's why the west will be looking at what his next steps are before they give him something which would be lifting sanctions. >> thank you very much. also thank you to mark. stay with us for another chat after the break. >> coming up on the show we have a jam packed friday. it's tee off time in pebble beach. we'll be crossing live to california for the latest on the game with our squawk box team. and is it game over for zenga? they get crushed after hours but king digital hit the right buttons. all the details on the gaming wars. it's friday 13th in case you haven't noticed. what does that mean for stocks? we'll be asking whether you need to be superstitious on this trading day. that's coming up.

>> let's find out which stocks are worth their weight today. they rose nearly 5% in the fourth quarter beating analyst forecasts. strong demand for its luxury brand offering helped the recovery from a poor third quarter. it's up 1.8%. let's get the latest from stefan in paris. >> good morning, wilfred.

well i guess this huxsegment up 8.5% in the fourth quarter. that's the trooifr. the main driver for the good performance in the fourth wart and still had a good performance with a 3% growth on the basis. in total, sales grew by almost 5% on the quarter. that was stronger than expected. it's confident in term of outlook for next year. they believe they will out perform the global cosmetics market. the ceo is expecting a substantial increase in profit this year as well as moderate increase in profitability. he believes that the weaker euro and the drop in oil prices could trigger the consumption recovery in western europe. before this announcement but after the numbers yesterday after the market closed s&p capital raised their price

target for the stock. loreal is currently one of the top gainers up 1.8%. >> thank you very much. moving significantly in the other direction. down 7% after the company removed $1.1 billion worth of orders orders. it would not complete it because of troubles at the multinational. it's up 1.6% after staging a relief rally and operating profit of $4.9 million in line with expectations. the group warned it was likely to take a charge due to recent declines. finally they're up 1.5% after the company lowered it's 2015 core profit guidance but since reversed losses. it did open down and it's recovered since the early declines. the world's largest producer saw

it drop by over 50% year on year due to weak prices. thyssen krupp back thanks to a weak euro but shares down 3.5% because of net profit missing expectations. let's get the latest on the star from annetta in frankfurt. >> yes profit is a big miss that's one reason we see the shares a lot lower than we have them expected in the premarket trading session. so bottom line is they're still battling against lower prices. and also that demand is not going very strongly as we are seeing order intakes down and also revenues in the last quarter being a little bit lower than in the previous year so

this company is still restructuring and for the first time ever their unit is having a break even result. essentially if we're talking about them they're talking about the brazilian business so essentially debt rose in the last quarter to 4.2 billion euros. the company is also struggling to reduce the debt exposure. just now on the conference call they were reiterating they're not planning another capital increase for the company and also their second quarter should be higher than the first quarter. so it looks like that the future

is a little bit more promising. also the companies of course benefitting from the lower euro exchange rate toward the u.s. dollar and from lower commodity prices but it's not good enough for the markets today. back to you. >> anneta thank you very much. let's look at greek bond yields heading slightly lower in trade today. the ten year is below 10%. 9.5%. this after a spokesperson in athens said his government will do whatever it can to reach a deal with europe. greek officials are likely to meet with international creditors for technical negotiations as early as today. the meeting with the european commission and imf comes ahead of crucial talks between greece's finance ministers and euro zone counter parts on monday but how did we get to this point? seema has the details. >> that's right. there's been so many developments over the past two months. let's walk everyone through the

different stages. first starting with syriza. one month since they went to power winning over greek voters with a promise to roll back austerity and renegotiate the terms of the bailout. however the creditors were addiment that a new government didn't mean new determines. despite winning the confidence vote back home for the mandate, they failed to convince even one european policy makers that athens should be able to change it's commitments. a deal looked unlikely at today -- looks unlikely at today's meeting in brussels but the clock is sticking away from greece. he's given athens until monday to extend the bailout and greece is cutoff from the international lenders

lenders. they face the dilemma of how athens will pay off the debt pile. the clock is sticking. >> still with us is mark and christian. let's come into you on this greece situation. if we hadn't had quantitative easing announced a few weeks ago would the german bargaining position be weaker because of where we imagine other bond yields would be? >> i think qe plays a role. there's hardly any contagion to be seen in markets largely due to qe but even without qe 2015 is not 2012. many countries like spain, like portugal are growing. we had ont which was confirmed, practically confirmed by the european courts in january before the greek elections as well so the ecb could have intervened to protect countries anyway and we have the european rescue fund so even without qe europe has much much better defenses than in 2012 so the greek position would have been

weak anyway. >> and the never ending brinkmanship has been the name of the game over the past couple of weeks but will that come to an end on monday? do you think there will be a change of guard if you will? >> europe is famous for the last minute compromise and the question is when is the last minute? is it really on monday? there's probably still a coup of days even after monday but i think what we need is some sort of signal on monday that we're moving toward a compromise rather than car crash because the most important thing is the support of the ecb to greece's banks and they need a political cover to extend it maybe even beyond the end of the month. >> thank you for that. mark let's bring the conversation around to your main area of expertise and talk a bit about asia and first of all in china there's so many different easing measures that the central bank uses. at the moment would you say the thelythe the liquidity taps are on or

off? >> they're on. huge number of ipos coming through so they're making sure there's enough liquidity in the system. it's not trying to stimulate growth. this isn't about making consumers spend more. it's trying to make sure they as build a brand new infrastructure that the liquidity is in the right place. >> according to a new gdp calculation method india has dethroned china in terms of growth 7.4% gdp. should investors be focussing more on this country in terms of china? >> china is much more developed stage of growth. it's an economy of 300 million people all of whom have as much money as the middle class people of europe do. india is where china was a decade or so ago. it's about using more stuff. more labor, more land more capital where china is now about using that stuff better and more efficiently. so china wants different things

from us now than it did five or six years ago so this headline number gdp, we have to get away from that and look at components of gdp. >> that stage of develop lt, let's -- development, let's talk about that. is in fact the biggest problem they face their demographics which are a far cry from the likes of indias? >> well demographics is a big problem but i like to use the anlage it looks a complete mess but if they put in place the right moves so far quickly it can be fixed. people say where did that come from? i believe that's what happened. they allowed the market to set prices. that's a big thing they started. they're building their financial infrastructure to deal with these issues. they haven't got a social service safety net. they put in that place and the 50% savings comes down and you have two or three trillion more

consumption. so is the really big structural changes going on and people are looking narrow and say i'm worried about the property prices or government debt it's all in the process of being fixed one way or another. >> let's touch on the conwhat they're facing in terms of currency. at the same time the stronger u.s. dollar is putting a will the of pressure on corporates that borrowed either in hong kong or u.s. dollars. which way should they be looking to go with the currency? >> they want to be as stable as possible until they build this infrastructure. they want to have long-term capital investment coming in to price their assets. you don't want highly volatile currency. you want the exchange controls while you build the bridge. you want stability as possible. it's not good for exporters and might not be good for people with dollar debt. that is not to get in the way of

building this whole infrastructure. i think they'll try and focus and keep it as stable as they can. >> to your point on demographics, china is dealing with an aging population. in india, 50% of the population under the age of 25. it's fast nating to see that dichotomy. we'll leave it there. christian and mark. thank you so much for your time. and if you didn't notice it is friday 13th a day that's widely associated with superstitions and bad luck. if you do have a fear you suffered from -- i just butchered that. >> it's harsh that we weren't told earlier about that to practice. >> for markets let's talk about markets. friday 13th isn't that scary. historically stocks are relatively flat posting an average gain of 0.2% or less.

the s&p 500 is positive 56% of the time while the dow and the nasdaq are positive 59% of the time. >> i think that's the only reason why markets are in the green today. it's friday 13th and it means nothing. >> we'll see if history repeats itself. >> exactly. get involved on the conversation. do you have any investing superstitions or any other superstitions for that matter that effect you when looking at financial markets? join the conversation here and get in touch with us by e-mail worldwide at cnbc.com or via twitter and our personal handles are on the screen now as well. >> all right. still to come on the show we're going to talk more about the international news coming out. saudi arabia is playing a game when it comes to oil prices. that's the view from the new ceo. we hear why he thinks so in a special interview with cnbc after this break.

germany's dax hits a record high. they boost sentiment across europe with struggling off weaker data out of france and italy. >> intense fighting continues in eastern ukraine ahead of this weekend's ceasefire. all parts of the deal will be implemented amid the thet of

further sanctions from eu leaders. >> greek bond yields edge lower as the government vows to do whatever it takes to reach a debt deal on monday. negotiations could start as early as today. >> made of steal. they jump to the top despite profits being lower on 2015. on the other hand falling to the bottom of the german market as strike actions weigh on earnings earnings. and we just had portugal gdp data joining the slew we have been having throughout the day. q-4 gdp at .5% quarter on quarter plus .7% year on year. it is the forecast for a little bit higher than that on the year on year number so slightly below forecast. so it comes in a bit better than we have seen from france and italy earlier in trade but much

worse than germany which is the big story today beating expectations. the german print at 1.6% year on year and .7% quarter on quarter which is when we saw the jump earlier on trade. not really moving off the back of that data. >> that kecan be reflected in the equity markets as well. helping fuel the market higher. yesterday the europe 600 index hit a new multiyear high and today the rally continues. we have better than expected gdp numbers. investors also cheering that russian-ukraine ceasefire despite reports about further fighting taking place in ukraine. there's hopes the negotiation will lead to perhaps at some point western sanctions being lifted and europe a big trading partner with russia. that will be good news for the markets. xetra dax up about .5%.

it did hit a record high in today's trade. central banks are the big part of this discussion but first let's look at where bonds are. >> indeed. equities going up would see bond yields tick up as well but bonds remain well with the announcement of qe around about a month ago. the ten year in germany is incredibly low despite the strong gdp print. >> quite the come back for the ten year in the u.s. 1.67% last week and thanks to the better than expected jobs report since then we have been seeing the sell off in bonds, equities moving higher. >> indeed we're around 2% as you just said. there's quite a lot of auctions and bonds as well this week. so mainly the strong fundamental data changing interest rate expectations but also a lot of supply coming on to the market this week. >> yeah of course a different story when looking at european bonds but of course central bank activism a big part of the story.

dow's fed president spoke to cnbc and said the fed should begin raising rates this year in an interview on cnbc's power lunch fisher said the central bank was running the risk of waiting until there was full employment and then hiking too quick quickly. >> if you look at the december numbers we saw a fall off in houston, midland, a pick up in dallas ft. worth, arlington. arlington is larger than st. louis. so it depends where you are in the state. but with the rig count having dropped the production levels will stay the same and be carried on for quite awhile because they're more efficient but the employment effect will be negative. we'll have a bit of a head wind. we estimate through our own models if this were to hold for a year or more we'll lose about 140,000 employees that we had before jobs but we pick them up elsewhere. >> so there's a positive effect

unless in the production state from low oil prices as well? >> well we're like everybody else in america we're well diversified. you'll see gas at $1.71 a gallon. it's a huge tax cut for texans. for the united states we had a long discussion about that. it's a plus depending on the models you'll use. 70% of america is consumption driven. >> you're leaving the fed next month after ten years or ten plus years in the chair. >> dog years, seven years. >> what is your policy? do you expect a rate rise this year? and are you concerned about the disinflation that seems to be in the united states and around the world? >> you have to take that into account. now we at the dallas fed like everything else look at things differently. we use a calculation that's been very steady and great. for the decade i've been in service the best predictor for

inflation. it's different than the headline ecb and the core. we think that should be the best guidance of where we are. we're below the 2% target but we have price stability in the united states. >> what would you do with rates then. >> you know what i would do with rates. i would have liked to have seen us begin to slowly raise rates. i was in favor of an early and slow approach. there's counter arguments to that out there in the economic community. larry sommers saying see the whites of the eyes of full employment and to me that means we run the risk of doing what the fed has always done. you raise rates too rapidly. every time it happens we raise rates and we have driven the economy into a recession. my best guess is i won't be on a committee going forward, march 17th is my last day. it's a going away dinner for me but here's the point, i believe rates will be raised in 2015.

the question is timing and that will be decided by other people on the commit see. i want to start in march but i lost that argument. >> the debate continues over whether the fed should raise rates this year. other countries are looking at cutting their rates. after the bank cut it's main policy rate to .01% yesterday. the bank also announced a quantitative easing program adding it would be prepared to expand it at short notice. speaking to cnbc the governor of the bank explained the reasons for the move. >> there's two parts to this. first of all if you look at the growth number and our growth projections they're actually pretty good. so growth is back to normal and next year on the high side. on the other hand at the same

time inflation is too low. inflation has been too low for quite awhile. and at the same time a number of things have happened around us when it comes to what other central banks have done. what's going on in financial markets but also the political situation in terms of greece rush wra, ukraine has created much more uncertainty than in the past and to do what we did now is a precautionary measure to ensure that we can get inflation up to 2%. >> let's talk more about the surprise move from sweden yesterday with thomas global head of ficc research. i was speaking to an investor last night that said introducing negative rates seems desperate but perhaps extreme measures are needed to avoid this japanese style inflationary trap. >> it's quite expected what they did. i think we're going to see more -- we expect them by minus

10 basis points again within a relatively short period and we're also looking for more sovereign qe in sweden. obviously to some extent it's comparable to what we see in denmark where we have the negative rates now at minus minus .75%. >> it's comparable of course to what happened in denmark but-a difference between what happened in sweden and what's happened in denmark and switzerland because the latter two had a currency peg to protect. sweden don't have that. how indicative is this from other native banks that have to respond from the ultra loose policy from the ecb? >> you're completely right. in denmark's case you can say ecb has done qe. they want to defend the peg and of course we have to remember denmark has had a pick since 1982. and then against the euro. they'll do whatever it takes to defend it. sweden's situation is different

because they need to cut interest rates because there's no inflation in that economy. you're right. it's very different. we think that norway is going to cut rates in march. that's because of concern about the oil prices and ill pact on the economy but the situations are very different but no matter what it's -- the interest rate in general will continue to fall especially in sweden. the denmark's case we think we reached the bottom in term of rates but obviously intervention is going to continue. >> but negative interest rates they were almost unknown until recently. do these extreme measures could that result in inflation rising too fast? >> i don't think that's the risk here. if you look at risk bank they have been until recently probably not been calling too aggressively but they're clearly doing that now. i don't think it's a risk of massively high inflation in sweden's case for example. denmark we have flight deflation. norway has relatively light inflation. that's one of the reasons they only caught interest rates one

time and they're supported by oil prices stabilizing later this year. >> risk on the banking sector let's talk about investment funds. if you're not earning interest at the bank wouldn't you take your business elsewhere? perhaps to the u.k.? >> in general that's some of the concerns some of the central banks would have around financial stability. that's one of the reasons they would focus going forward. i think sweden as you said they don't have a peg. so only because they want inflation expectation to go up and we think that would happen but it will take time but we're not likely to see the same kind of interest rate cuts in sweden as denmark. >> it's an investment trend we'll continue to watch this year. global head of ficc research thank you for your time. >> now asahi is moving to expand it's wine business. let's get more on that live in

tokyo. >> thank you wilfred. asahi groups is acquiring the wine company. it will purchase all shares from the private equity firm. now japan's overall alcoholic beverage market is shrinking in line with it's demographics but the wine industry has been an exception and it has actually grown. they're building on the growth opportunity. the beverage giant saw 20% revenue increase for the 2014 business year from the last. reaching about $125 million. and with this purchase they're seeking to leverage the exclusive distributor right it has from many of the worlds premiere wineries and thux expand the market position. it would also mean they could sell their line-up of high end liquor and wine through channels. and as for the results it's been a goodyear overall. it revealed it's fiscal 2014 financials yesterday which

showed a net income increase of 12% marketing the 14th consecutive quarter of growth. it was up by 9.2%. the company stock price has also done well rising roughly 30% from last year. that's all from the nikkei. back to you. >> thank you very much. seema i enjoyed some of that there. i didn't even know asahi made wine. i do now. i like their beer. >> i didn't know that as well but the beer is quite good. especially if you accompany it with good sushi. >> absolutely. >> what will you be drinking this weekend? it's a special weekend. >> we'll see. a little bit of both probably. >> okay. sounds good. i will be sticking to my extra dry virgin martini. one olive. >> as if. >> moving on they're usually reserved for camera hungry tourists however the selfie stick has a new high profile backer and that's barrack obama. the leader of the free world recorded a skit for buzz feed and used the smartphone attachment to promote his

obamacare legislation. how tech savy of him. check out the president's selfie stick efforts. >> the deadline for signing up for health insurance is february -- febr -- >> not like any other wednesday. wed-nes-day. >> february 15th february 15th. in many cases you can get health insurance for less than $100 a month. just go to healthcare.gov to figure out how to sign up. february 15th.

saudi arabia is in the middle of the game when it comes to the recent oil price declines. that's according to the new ceo. speaking in a special cnbc conversation interview he was very vocal about his view on the world's biggest oil producer. >> with the decision to leave the oil price going down he's

back in the middle of the game. >> are they actually playing a game of chicken now having changed their policy. a game of chicken with nonconventional producers in the united states and not opec for generally? >> there's a big difference between the oil cycle in 2014 and what's happening in 2008. in 2008 the price went down only because of lack of demands it was a lack of demand. the world economy went down so there was a huge drop of demand and then opec could react quite easily because when you have a cycle based on lack of demand if you lower your production then it will recover. this is what happened. today in 2014 small complex. there is a lack of demand but you're also out of supply so the

cycle where one is demand and the other is supply. it's a debate and saudi arabia is another issue but in 2008 it was mainly driven and two or three or four countries it's discipline inside opec and outside opec. i think it was between the opec countries but also russia came to vienna with mexico. i'm convinced the countries would have reacted differently. >> i was there at the meeting. >> i'm sure of that but then they offer nothing. why should we care? we have the lowest cost production. my piers lookeers look to me to do

most of the effort. they stieddecided it was not up to them to lose market shares which is the truth and they decided to let the market go. probably the price went down very quickly and i think they expected it and that is what he recently said for everybody. >> $70 barrel. >> but there again it's complex for them because it's not only a question of demand it's a question of supply. >> it was really a tough time for everybody and people still speak about it but life continues as you know. >> you can watch steve's full interview by tuning into the

cnbc conversation tonight. well worth a watch for your nshlg energy positions. we must hold our ground. this is the warning of talks lead to a ceasefire deal on thursday. angela merkel said officials are busy preparing fresh sanctions in case the truce doesn't hold as other european leaders are skeptical. >> it was not implemented. we'll see what will happen with this one but the main part of solution is the control of the boarders was not agreed and was not solved. that means that it's open for any military entrance. any military equipment entrance. that means the solution is absolutely weak and we'll see how at least this partial agreement will be implemented. >> we're joined by the senior analyst. thank you very much for joining us this morning.

of course initially great enthusiasm when this ceasefire was announced and then over the last 24 hours or so we had various leaders coming in to temper that enthusiasm. does the ceasefire change anything meaningfully? >> i don't think so at this point or doesn't in the grand scheme of things frchlt the german and french side this was a last throw of the dice. an attempt to demonstrate to the rest of the eu that diplomatic avenues have been fully explored. perhaps beyond the limits of expectations of any reasonable outcome and that was very much evident in the comments after the negotiations. from the russian side this strikes me as nothing more than a faint, an attempt to provide an excuse for further fighting saying well kiev hasn't stipulated to this point of the bargain and kept it's side of the deal or simply an attempt to sew confusion while forces on

the ground consolidate gains they already made. >> there's been talk that the western leaders may try to keep the western sanctions in place for a couple of months despite the ceasefire agreement to basically teach putin a lesson but their economies are also hurting given that these trading relationships have been stalled given the western sanctions in place. >> that's true. particularly when you look at a government like greece where there's a movement just taking power. already has close links with russia. has never been fairly favorable toward nato and is already very much in the sanction skeptic cap and when you add to the agriculture trade which is important by greece and hit by the antisanctions put in place by russia. the sanctions in place at the moment are due to expire in june and july. those will require unanimity and they're putting real damage on

the russian economy. so other people want to see these kept in place. they'll have to do a lot of work to keep that coalition together. >> a lot of reasons despite the poor economy is ukraine's economy has been in poor estate. the imtf announced a bailout program for ukraine. >> it's gone a little larger this was announced yesterday. it does stave off the moment of complete economic collapse. it does provide a lifeline and a way for the ukrainian state to keep going. the problem is whether the government can address the deep seeded corruption at the heart of the ukrainian state. there's a lot of soviet area hold overs that most western

budgets would just never even think of touching. >> thank you very much for joining us this morning. >> and let's talk about gaming stock. it was the tale of two gaming makers. they missed forecasts as releases such as new words with friends failed to excite gamers. the first quarter outlook disappointed investors and is closing the office in china. now king digital's profit fell 11% but still beats estimates thanks to the launch of the candy crush sequel. king also says games outside of candy crush make up more than half of the revenue. take a look at how the stocks responded on the backs of the earnings report. zynga down about 14% and king digital up better than 21% and when you look at the high growth social media gaming names if you will investors look for three

things. they want profits, sales but user growth and they clifred on all the three points but they also announced a buy back and 94 cent per share special dividend so things are looking better for king digital. >> they also of course look at what tech experts like yourself are playing regularly. which do you play the most? >> reason i was a candy crush user, if you will. but i had to delete it from my phone because it was too addictive. i'm not the only one. many others that are big gamers just talk about how it's so addictive you can't get away from it. >> i avoided starter so i don't go. >> what do you do? lacrosse? things british men do? >> none of those at the moment but when it comes to summertime. rocket internet shares are trading lower as investors worry about the country's rapid rate of cash expenditure. they raised under 600 million euros in the largest capital

hike to fund global investment plans. they spent nearly all of the 1.4 billion euros it received four months ago. it's off the best part of 6% today. >> many of us may fear friday 13th as the day that brings bad luck but let's hope the misfortunate does not go on past midnight since tomorrow is of course valentine's day. what would you be doing to spread the love sf paps? perhaps you might like to impress your partner with a fancy restaurant. we have you covered. >> you can of course also have a look at some of the most enjoyable films that are out there this weekend as well. we'll be back in a couple of minutes.

investors shrugging off weaker data out of france. >> intense fighting continues after this weekend's ceasefire. all parts of the deal will be amid the threat of further sanctions from eu leaders. >> zynga gets crushed. fourth quarter results disappoint while king digital

the big winner here thanks to its new soda saga gain. >> a trio of food companies are struggling as they see their business hit by the strong dollar and a change in consumer's tastes. you're watching worldwide exchange. bringing you business news from around the globe. >> a slightly better than expected read from the euro zone. the estimate of 0.2% for the year. the economy grew by 1.9% which is smaller in the fourth quarter then than the first quarter of 2008 peak so that seems to be the number. better than expected at 0.3% versus the forecast of 0.2%. the big mover in terms of gdp data today. this morning has been germany which did come in well above

expectations that results in a record high in today's trade. >> we also had the greek number come in at minus .2% quarter on quarter and the annual number at 1.7%. of course surprisingly coming in in negative territory. as you can see the euro dollar is at 114 and up .23%. the big move you saw earlier came off the back of the german gdp number which came in much better than expected. >> let's take a look at the markets. they did end higher yesterday. the s&p closing at its highest level this year trading within.2%. so despite the fears around russia and ukraine and uncertainty around greece u.s. markets continue to move higher. having to do with better than expected earnings and stronger than expected data but that

raises the fear of whether rates will be hiked sooner rather than later. the dow indicating a higher move in premarket trade. the nasdaq has been on fire. much of that having to do with the out performance of shares in apple and s&p indicating a higher move by around four points in premarket trade but as we were discussing the global 300 index fractionally higher. of course a lot for investors to keep in mind. this week we had the russia ukraine ceasefire agreement. that does commence on february 15th which is this sunday and of course the greece uncertainty continues to be something that weighed on investor sentiment but here in europe the story has really been on that gdp numbers coming out of or across the euro zone. take a look at how we're trading at this point, the ftse 100 up about 51 points. they did hit a record high in today's trade. germany the best performing developed market so far this year now up better than 10% in

2015. the cac 40 despite the weaker than expected gdp read. france still seeing a gain in athens as we were telling you before up about 5.4%. now our attention turns to the next crisis meeting on monday where euro zone leaders will meet with greek leaders to see if they can come together with this solution. >> absolutely. all the green we've got behind us coming from the ceasefire. it hasn't moved bonds in europe. they remain very well bid in the core of europe because of the quantitative easing we had around about three or four weeks ago so despite around over 2% of gains for the dax over the last two trading sessions we still see fields incredibly low. .34%. we have seen yields tick up and the stronger data in the jobs market is seeing a little bit of profit taking in the bond market

but also some auctions so there's enough supply to keep them on the edge of 2%. and greece is at the moment where yields remain very high. they're below 9.5% so they have come down a little bit over the last 24 to 48 hours but still of course remaining at elevated levels. let's have a quick look at rates and then we moved on to have a look at commodities and as you can see crude is having a descent day. it's had a descent couple of days where we'll see however if it really makes a meaningful bottom which it's struggled to find of course in the last couple of days. wti 52. up 1.6%. brent 60 up 1.5% itself. seema. >> all right wilfred. of course investors keeping an eye on the russian rouble which firmed slightly following the agreement of a ceasefire in eastern ukraine. however intense fighting continues in the region with moscow and kiev still undecided on how to end the fighting which

did start around april of 2014. european leaders have warned that more sanctions on rush wra are still possible if the peace deal does not hold up. >> we have very cautious because after bad experiences it's obvious that you have to be very cautious and of course our our good will of president putin is limited. joining us now is chief global strategist at citi. i'll kick off with russia. that's been a focal point of investors and investors want to know companies that have high exposure to russia when will they be able to see perhaps a pick up in business in russia given the news that came out yesterday?

>> it's very early days. anything is clearly going to help. but our political analyst you've had on the show before remains pretty cynical. we're a long long way away from the situation in ukraine getting better enough to help the russian economy enough to help those companies you've been describing generate better profits again coming out of a very difficult economic backdrop as you know. >> russia has been having an effect on the european economy because of the sanctions and size of it as a trading partner. the german gdp print in light of that incredibly impressive. >> you have to balance off the bad news coming out of russia against the good news particularly coming out of qe and ecb driving down the currency. the dax is a big exporting stock market. weaker currency is clearly going to help it. it's going to help german gdp as

well so that's why they're making this. >> i'm fascinated by the performance over the last couple of days despite the worries around greece and russia and ukraine they're trading within 0.2%. what's fuelling the rally over there. >>? the s&p is an unstoppable beast. it had a great year last year. it sort of got forgotten a little bit in the first month of the year as my clients have been much more focused on qe in europe but it's starting to come back on to the ball now. the numbers coming through are pretty good. there's problems with the currency. you're seeing that in terms of companies but in general we think the s&p can make a descent 8, 9, 10% gain this year. >> despite the normalization of rates which is expected. when we see a rise in rates volatility increases. >> volatility is picking up. we can see that. it doesn't mean the bull market and s&p is over. >> where would you put money? europe versus the u.s. this

year? do you think there's a stronger out performance? >> if you were looking at the indices in local market terms we'll be overweight relative to the u.s. that's where we are right now. if you were to bring the currency into it euro has been pretty well flat in dollar terms this year. it's mostly about the devalinguing euro. >> in particular your call for high yielding equities. that was the chief global strategist at citi. back with him shortly. >> let's take a look at the other top stories at this hour. it's been a tale of two mobile video game makers. releases such as new words with friends failed to excite gamers. it is also closing it's office in beijing. a different story though for king digital. it's fourth quarter profit did fall 11% but it still beat forecasts thanks to the strong launch of the candy crush sequel

soda saga. games outside of candy crush make up more than half of its revenue. take a look at the stocks zynga falling about 2% in after hours trade and king jumping about 21%. >> aig missed forecasts on lower interest rates as the insurance company refinanced expensive debts. premiums also dipped. they plan to buy back up to $2.5 billion in stock. it fell around about 1% in after hours trade. it's down more than that. down 3% in frankfurt today. >> kraft reported a fourth quarter net loss on a charge to retirement benefit plans. higher food prices helped to offset rising costs. they're shaking up management as a cfo and two other senior executives are leaving the country. it's the first major chain since the chairman took over the job in december. now kraft hasn't moved fast

enough to address change in consumer eating habits. kraft fell nearly 2% in after hours trade. let's take a look at how it's trading, down around 1.5%. >> conagra is cutting it's out look. they also blame the u. s. west coast port dispute for lower exports of some products. the maker of chef boyarde has named a new ceo. campbell is also cutting it's forecast citing the strong dollar. sales growth will fall below long-term targets. conagra down 6.5% and campbells down 4.5. >> can the u.s. ever become energy independent? after the break why he thinks that will never happen.

welcome back. germany's dax reaches new highs as the country's gdp comes in much higher than expected. fighting continues in eastern ukraine but all parts of the deal will be implemented and greek bond yields edge lower as the government vows to do whatever it takes to reach a

teal on debt. the u.s. will never become energy independent. this according to the new ceo of the french oil major total. speaking in a special interview patrick said that major economies would always have to rely on the middle east for energy supplies. >> the u.s. are still waiting on oil from the middle east. they'll be independent. yes the production of the u.s. has increased from 6 to 11. and part of the oil is coming from that. so i think that's true but as soon as you speak about the oil, people imagine politics. in middle east. we need the oil.

it's something we cannot avoid. relationships are going up and down. but maybe it's these people defending u.s. but we're more looking back and it's true and no matter what is happening today we have the decision of saudi arabia to leave the oil price going down. it's back in the middle of the game and people are going through -- to go around that. so back in the middle of the game, and by the way, once again the price has dropped but globally speaking for the u.s. economy it's good news. maybe the u.s. independent producers and u.s. investors of oil and gas but globally speaking for the u.s. economy. >> so americans are not at all obsessed about energy independence. there's plen anyty in washington.

do you think they're wrong to be obsessed about energy independence. they're never going to get there are they? >> no we not get it. that's true. so unless -- there's only one way which would be good for the world. the consumption of oil in the u.s. should drop dramatically and still a lot of energy efficiency. but when you're becoming a producing country, what you would make to reduce your energy consumption are going lower. it's a surprise to me. the suv sales in the u.s. in december, two months after the drop of oil have doubled in one month. so you know people have a memory

which is -- >> no for me i think the world today everything is energy independent. designed so that you could be independent especially when you're the u.s. and you have many world companies and it's benefitting most of the group opposition in the world. it's just something which is french for me. i don't believe in that. >> and european viewers can watch steve's full interview by tuning into the cnbc conversation tonight at 23:00 cet. think about your oil positions in your portfolios. >> we'll be back in just a couple of minutes. asing performance can mean lower returns and fewer choices in retirement. know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement.

know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience with personalized guidance and online tools. visit a branch, call or go online today.

>> will data change the story? let's get you a run down on this trading day. january import prices are out at 8:30 a.m. eastern. they're expected to drop as falling oil prices and a boom in u.s. shell gas production lead to excess foreign oil supplies and pushed prices down. just before 10:00 a.m. we get february consumer sentiment. this will be important. it is expected to hold at an 11 year high and as for earnings we'll hear from transcanada, the

owner of the keystone pipeline and red robin gourmet burgers. >> a couple of flashes coming out of greece according to a senior eu official. it's not crucial to extend the current greek program at the end of february and he says there's a distinct possibility that the current greek program could expire and be replaced with another one. so slightly positive knewnews on the on going debate as to whether middle ground can be found and they have been coming off the recent highs. the ten year is at 9.468% the stocks performed were very well in recent months but is there further to go? we're joined by robert and his global cds adjusted did i havevidend

yield. high yielding stocks is where you're suggesting investors will be. tell us what criteria you search for to make sure you avoid the value trends. >> we have capital coming into the stock markets wanting the three, four maybe 5% type yields you can get in shares. the risk you're running when you buy a big dividend yielding stock is they can cut the dividend. that's a hot debate in the oil stocks right now. we use the credit market to try and cross check against companies which might be at risk. >> the question is how attractive will they be in some parts of the world? like the u.s.? >> that will start to make them a little bit more competitive as a yield asset but the numbers are still very low. they're going from super low to pretty low. they're not going to competitive. so i think the theme is here to stay. >> on the other side of the

panel you have negative yielding bonds and corporate debt as well. where does that tell us about where we're headed? or is it a bet on the currency it will be worth more tomorrow as today. >> there's a little bit of all of that. they continue to appreciate. there's fears about deflation. if you have minus 2% deflation and then suddenly zero on a bond starts to look quite good in real term. all the factors are kicking in to drive bond yields down to the super low levels. the final element is that central banks are enormous buyers of the asset class which is squeezes prices up and down. >> will dividends will cut. we're seeing most of the major players cut capex but maintain their dividend. they're trying to protect their share price in the short-term. should they be cutting dividends as well? >> i think the first thing they go to is to cut capex.

they will try and avoid cutting the dividend if they can but if the oil price stays low or goes lower the risk are they'll have to cut dividends as well. >> any other situations that your analysis points are the best ones to be placed at the moment. >> the classic dividend fielding sectors at the moment are utilities and telecoms and there are risks of dividend cuts in oil. we would probably emphasize the sector which you could buy at 4.5% globally. pay out ratios are less stretched so they're not spending as much of their profits on dividends. >> you mentioned yuleutilities in the u. s. this was the best performing sector in the u.s. what's the reason we're seeing a sell off? is it a rate sensitive sector and we're expecting rates to rise? >> there's an element of that. remember when you look at the utility sector it's mostly dominated by stocks here in europe and asia.

so when we point people toward the yield opportunities and utilities it would be more that part of the world but if i was going to go for a relatively boring i'm buying it because it's a bit like a bond type sector i go for telecoms. >> final question of course. 2008 and 9 highlighted these. would that not suggest that's at least part the reason people are hiding in bonds and we do have the relative gap because they fear it. >> that's always the risk that super low bond fields are not just telling you about central banks buying them. they're telling you about the out look for the economy. for now we think it's more about the former but there's clearly risks it might be more about the latter and if they are telling us the economy is going to be weak that's bad news for the stock market. we don't think that's the case right now. >> thank you for joining us. very much enjoyed it. chief global equity strategist at citi investment research.

>> it's a day your partner has been waiting for. valentine's day but are you at your witts end about what to do? well or online team has pricey ideas that might impress your other half. the details coming up. >> before we go to break let's have a quick look at how u.s. futures are trading. they're pointing to a positive open mirroring the strength we're seeing in european equities at the moment which are up strongly. we'll be back here on worldwide exchange in a couple of minutes.

♪ ♪ ♪ tigers, both of you. tigers? don't be modest. i see how you've been investing. setting long term goals. diversifying. dip! you got our attention. we did? of course. you're type e* well, i have been researching retirement strategies. well that's what type e*s do. welcome home. taking control of your retirement? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*?

happy friday everyone and welcome to worldwide exchange. >> here are your headlines from around the world. >> let's start with markets. the german dax hitting another record high as the country's gdp comes in well above expectations. the reading boosts sentiment across europe with investors shrugging off weaker data out of france and italy. >> intense fighting continues in eastern ukraine ahead of this weekend's ceasefire. moscow insists all parts of the deal will be implemented amid the threat of further sanctions from eu leaders, zynga gets crushed. shares of the maker of words with friends tumble with king digital soaring thanks to its

new soda saga gain. >> a trio of food companies are suffering from a bit of indigestion as they see their business hit by the stronger dollar and a change in consumer's tastes. >> you're watching worldwide exchange. bringing you business news from around the globe. >> and another positive due for u.s. stocks. the s&p 500 closing at its highest level this year. now trading within 0.2% of its all time high. you can see futures pointing to a higher open so the rally could continue. the dow up about 34 points in premarket trade. the nasdaq which has been on a run thanks to the out performance and shares of apple. s&p up about 3 points and s&p up about 3 points in premarket trade. there's a lot going on in europe. uncertainty in greece. a ceasefire between russia and ukraine which will commence on

february 15th. we also got better than expected gdp numbers out of germany. that's fuelling the rally in europe. the stock 600 index which is seen as a good gauge of stocks across the euro zone is trading at a 7 year high but look at the individual markets. you can see investors keeping an eye on the xetra dax. it did hit a record high in today's trade. it continues to trade higher by around 65 points. let's talk more about whether the rally can continue with international investment analyst at s&p investment advisory services. help us understand why european markets are higher today. are investors putting the worries around greece to the side? >> temporarily yes they are. it appears that with retail sales having improved rather dramatically over the last couple of years in the euro zone that investors are showing greater confidence. also the stabilization against the dollar is also another indication that investors are

showing increased confidence in the euro zone. >> so far to date european markets performed pretty well. is that ecb driven or hard data driven like we're seeing this morning, strong gdp? >> it's a combination of both. quantitative easing is going to lend stronger support to economic growth as more and more funds become available to businesses via the central bank lending more and more and pumping more money into the economy and certainly the data coming out is showing some improvement. certainly dependent upon action and upcoming negotiations starting monday. >> and of course another part of the story is the weaker euro which is expected to boost exports and also to drive european corporate profitability. how much of a lift do you think the euro will have for european

earnings going forward? >> oh it's going to be a huge lift on the exports side. it's a tremendous increase in competitiveness, especially with the swis and u.k. but also against the u.s. industries as well. the fact that it's stabilize though at these low level has confidence to euro zone investment as well. >> let's bring the focus to talk about russia of course. markets reacted pretty strongly to the news of a ceasefire despite the fact that the ceasefire is still very very fragile indeed. how important is it for the economy going forward that these sanctions are lifted and that progress is made? >> pieces of great significance there. many countries who are continuous to russia or are one nation away. the last thing that they need on their board is given their levels of development especially

in eastern europe is aboard a skirmish with russian forces or in any case all out conflict. so the sooner that the issues with the ukraine border are resolved the better for western europe and eastern europe. >> doesn't the better than expected data we're getting out of the u.s. raise the prospect of rates rising sooner rather than later? tell us why u.s. stocks continue to out perform. >> it's -- even though the multiple at 17 odd is a -- looks pretty high and pretty expensive at this time the market seems to believe that it has more room for expansion. we do believe that rates will probably rise in and around june or july and if that's the case it's still from a safe haven point of view one of the best markets to be invested in going forward. >> despite the stronger dollar

weighing in on corporate earnings. we'll leave it there. s&p investment advisory services. thank you for your time. >> let's get everyone caught up on today's top stories at this hour. the white house is hosting a cyber security summit today at stanford university. apple ceo tim cook and president obama are speaking. the summit will have panel discussions on sharing information and payment security technology. report sas the president will announce a new executive order on sharing data between companies and the u.s. government about hacking threats. >> internet shares are trading sharply lower as investors worry about the country's rapid rate of cash expenditure. they raised under 600 million euros in the latest capital hike to fund investment plans. they spent nearly all of the 1.4 billion euros it received four months ago. it's down 5.3% today. >> let's talk tech and start ups. lift is looking for a new funding if you will. the new york post reports the ride sharing app is looking to

raise $500 million as it steps up competition with uber. lift is currently valued at $2 billion and reports say revenues are up 40% quarter over quarter. the three-year-old company has raised $332 million in six round of funding from investors including venture capital firm. now many of us may fear friday 13th as a day that brings bad luck. so let's hope the misfortune doesn't go on past midnight. since tomorrow is of course valentine's day. what will you be doing to spread the love? perhaps you might like to impress your partner with dinner at a fancy restaurant. head to cnbc.com to see a slide show of the priciest valentine's day menus from around the world. >> or of course you can have a look at some of the steamy products that have become best sellers on the back of the best selling novel 50 shades of grey. the movie is of course out this weekend. one to watch if you're up for

some awkward moments i imagine in the cinema. >> it's romance, come on. >> well i don't know. we'll see. now of course it is friday 13th as we all know and we want to know, do you have any investing superstitions or any other superstitions for that matter? join the conversation here on worldwide exchange. get in touch with us by e-mail at worldwide cnbc.com or via twitter. >> there are usually reserved for camera hungry tourists. however the humble selfie stick has a new high profile backer. though u.s. president barrack obama used the smartphone attachment to promote his obamacare legislation. check out the president's selfie stick efforts. >> prune. >> the taeddeadline for signing up

for -- the deadline for signing up for health insurance is february -- >> not like any other wednesday. >> that's not right. >> wed-nes-day. >> february 15th. february 15th. in many cases you can get health insurance for less than $100 a month. just go to health care.gov to figure out how to sign up. february 15th.

xñ

>> let's get you caught up on the big earnings movers after hours. it was a tale of two gaming stocks. let's start with king digital. fourth quarter product fell 14% but zynga's fourth quarter results missed forecasts as releases such as new words with friends failed to excite gamers and king digital was up 19% in after hours trade and today we're looking at zynga down about 14% in premarket trade. so definitely the tale of two gaming stocks here. >> it's not all fun and games for the investors. >> it really isn't. >> investors may want to reach for antacids today.

let's get out to landon with the full story from hq. >> wilfred, good morning. several u.s. food companies are serving up grim results as the industry struggles to adapt to shifting tastes and challenges in the global economy. they're cutting the full year outlook citing the impact of the stronger dollar and weak sales of its private brands. they blame the labor dispute for falling exports of some products. they make canned foods and is the largest u.s. producer of store brand foods also named a new ceo. the former co-ceo will take over in april. campbell soup is cutting it's forecast blaming it on the strong dollar which makes overseas sales profitable. they range from the name sake soup to cookies and it could achieve long-term growth. craft is shaking up the

management ranks. list-stoll is stepping down at the end of this month along with two other executives. it's the first major changes since the chairman took over in december. craft also reported a net loss in the fourth quarter on charges related to retirement benefit plans. revenue rose 2% helping to offset higher commodity costs. on the conference call they said it's clear consumers have changed but the company hasn't changed fast enough. kraft says it's hurt by sluggish demands as customers want fresher food with higher quality ingreed wrents. they lost market share in 40% of its business last year. checking shares they're all lower today in europe. back to you. >> landon thank you so much. glennview capital has taking a position in mcdonald's and is suggesting ways they can boost the struggling stock price. at an investor conference yesterday they said mcdonald's

could franchise more restaurants and separate into a real estate investment trust. mcdonald's owns a fifth of its more than 36,000 restaurants. in a surprise move last month, mcdonald's announced ceo don thompson would step down. >> tesla -- general motors story in a minute. >> gm investor harry wilson is proposing the auto maker buy back 8 billion. it could hurt the current rating which is one notch above the junk gm. so far just below flat. now as we go to break let's remind you of our headlines. germany's dx dax reaches new highs. fighting continues in eastern ukraine but moscow insists all parts of the deal will be

implemented. it's a mixed bag for mobile video game makers. king digital beats expectations. >> coming up it's tee off time. we'll head to pebble beach and check in with joe kernen and becky quick live from the clubhouse. that's coming up.

all right. the at&t national pro am teed off yesterday in pebble beach california and joe kernen shot a 69 to leave him 3 under for the tournament. he is paired with pro vaughn taylor for the event held every year to raise money for charity. joining us is joe himself. joe, you're a big golfer. how has your game been holding

up? you know i decided just to say really good instead of trying to go into the whole saga seema. i need you as i think my pr spokesman. so joe shot a 69. that sounds so so good: let's just go with it. i shot a 69 yesterday. >> liar. >> my team shot a 69. >> exactly. i think my pro shot a 70. so i shot a 69. the weather, this is the 30th: never had weather like this. i was thinking we could do a weather report coming from you across the atlantic and then get to new jersey where it's 12

degrees right now and there's wind warnings looks like i'm talking to an angle on my shoulder but you wing your way across 12 degrees expected with high winds. 77 degrees expected today. 77 degrees in the most beautiful spot on earth which is usually interesting in terms of what comes in almost like scottland. a lot of wind and rain. it's been like this every day. i have that going for me which is nice. >> joe you have good names playing along side of you in the tournament. are they sharing any tips with you. not that you need them with your 69 yesterday. >> oh i think he needs them. >> you know what i was on the range yesterday and someone's

caddy came over and was shaking his head and saying listen do a little bit of a forward press. i took a couple of swings and he left. no i'm on my own. it's not as bad as i'm making it sound. we're getting by. you watch these guys play at a totally different level. every once in awhile you hit a good shot which makes you think it's in there somewhere but there's a real difference between what i can do and what they can do and when i sit down here and i have to look at a camera or something i almost feel like i'm a lot more comfortable doing this. if i did this like i played golf i'd be over here or like this it wouldn't work. >> enjoy the sunshine and of course for our viewers, joe will be back in about ten minutes time with squawk box. let's remind you what's happening in european markets and we're in the green across the board today lead higher in gdp. in particular german gdp which

surprised particularly to the upside. that was up .6% and just below 11,000. it did cross 11,000 earlier in trade and hit a record high in the process. it's just below 1,000 and you can see gains including in athens which is up the best part of 5%. >> what does this mean for u.s. futures? the s&p did close at its highest level this year. it's now within 0.2% of its all time high so investors have been of course bidding up u.s. stocks thanks to better than expected data and the russian-ukraine ceasefire also adding to the cheer. dow jones indicating a higher move by 33 points. the nasdaq which has been in rally mode thanks to apple up about 12 points. s&p up 2 in premarket trade. >> let's give you a run down of what to watch in the u.s. january import prices are out at 8:30 a.m. eastern. they're expected to drop for the 7th straight month as a boom in

u.s. shell gas production lead to oil supplies and pushed prices down. we get february consumer sentiment expected to hold at an 11 year high. look for results from smucker, trans transcanda and red robin. >> it's friday 13th and if you have a fear of friday the 13th you suffer from a phobia that's too long to read. can you try that? >> that was wonderful. i'm just going to say that was good. but for the markets what does it all mean for marks? friday 13th isn't all that scary at all. historically speaking stocks are relatively flat posting a gain of 0.2%. the dow and the nasdaq are positive about 59% of the time. joining us to talk more about markets todd the author and founder of average joe options.com. i have been fascinated by the move in u.s. stocks right now. the s&p 500 closing at the

highest level of the year. are investors not so worried now about what's happening in greece. >> good morning seema. good morning wilfred. i think that there's no place to go. going higher the dax, the lessening and cheapening of the dollars throughout the world is bringing more money. especially the u.s. we're the best game in town still. you get the best yield here so there's still money flowing in. we'll probably push through the high today. we're at the upper end of the range in the markets but there's no place else to two with your money so you're basically forced to go to the equity market which has been the theme. >> within that give us some consensus places to put your

money. >> i like the stocks. i think that oil has definitely found a bottom. certainly you cannot argue with the tech sector. i don't think i'd be a buyer of apple here at 127 but certainly if it pulled back i think apple looks terrific. it's just gone up a little bit too far too fast. i think you want to look to the stocks that are going to move again and, you know we look at you know i'm not a player in the autos. i'm certainly not a player in the airlines because the markets -- because i think oil is going to start to go higher again. so i like to be in the oil services and you want to look at stocks related to natural gas again and the last thing i'd like is solar stocks. they went down in sympathy with the oil market and now they're making a nice move up.

i'm still overall bearish in the overall markets but looking at opportunities of play through different areas. >> lastly quick word on apple. does it continue to move higher despite the out performance this week? >> i think apple is great. i don't know. it will go higher in time. it's probably a little bit too much done too quickly although the company looks great. i'd look for it to come back to 125 and i'd like to be a buyer again. >> thank you for joining us on this friday morning. that's it for worldwide exchange. i'm seema mody. >> and i am wilfred frost. thank you for watching. squawk box from sunny california, that's coming up next.

good morning and welcome to squawk box. we're coming to you live from pebble beach as we do once a year. it's a great time of year. the sight of the at&t pebble beach pro am. in just a couple of hours, south of here -- oh san francisco is north of here. we're south of san francisco, i think and that's where president obama is going to be hosting a cyber security summit while several hours south of palm beach the port drama is flairing up as the ships back up heading into a three-day shutdown. >> all of this of course is

happening as the markets close in on the 18,000 point level and the nasdaq stands at a 15 year high. it's friday february 13th 2015. squawk box begins right now. >> good morning welcome to squawk box here on cnbc. i'm andrew ross sorkin. we have a couple of big stories we're watching this morning. here's what's happening. president balm ball as becky and joe were saying headed their way to host a major summit on cyber security. it will be held at sanford university and ceos from american express mastercard visa paypal apple expected to confirm and tim cook expected to deliver a speech. also ports are open today but will be closed the next three days as the labor dispute starts to get ugly. the ports were closed thursday for lincoln's birthday. a day where