hello. good morning welcome to worldwide exchange. here are your headlines from around the world. greek shares tumble in the open after last week's rally. this is germany's finance minister is skeptical that a deal will be reached. japan's prime minister vows to keep the pressure off the wage hikes as weak consumer spending sees the economy out of recession in the fourth quarter. kiev said attacks are increasing as rebels try to secure the strategic railway. cease-fire is largely upheld across the rest of eastern ukraine. shares trade lower on a

cautious outlook. the ceo tells the program he's bullish on new product launches. >> two new products ss launches. that is going to be very important for the future. and welcome to the show. we're just getting numbers breaking out net loss of 4.6 million euros. compared to reuters for a net profit of 6.9 euros. a significant miss. they plan to keep the dividend at 50 cents per share. consensus expected an increase to 62 cents per share according to reuters. they're saying they expect more paying coming from volatile

currencies moving forward. we'll be giving you a full run down of the numbers tomorrow when we have an interview with the puma ceo. that's coming up on squawk box tomorrow, as you can see, shares down about 1.5% so far in frankfurt today. let's move on and have a look at the greek market at the open. it's down. it's down around about 3 1/2% so far today. this does however, follow the best return since march 1998. greece is up 23% over the last two weeks and under some of that reform the 3.5%. let's have a look at what the bond yields are doing. they're remaining in elevated territory but not the peaks. the 10-year below 10%. 9.5%. it touched 11% in the past few

weeks. the 3 year 18.2%. all of this comes as a crucial meeting over greece's bailout is due to start in brussels within hours. ahead of that germany's finance minister said he's skeptical the eurozone policy makers will reach an agreement. alexis cyprus is more optimistic. let's go live to julia in brussels with the latest. >> reporter: thank you so much. the prime minister said other the weekend he wants a win-win solution. those kind of things take time. the finance minister said he hoped it would comprise deal would come but it might get down to the 11th hour. by my calculation given the start time of the meeting that could take until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. oh, boy. i have to say, the conversations i've had behind the scene here's very little optimism, it seems, again we reach a deal today. more chance on friday given the work that was done over the weekend to try to find some

plight of comprise on the things we don't agree on like the privatezation program. how much they can reduce the surface target over the next four years. if they're allowed to comprise around 1.5% that will see the deficit increase over the next few years. it's not much. it's less than 1 percentage point. if you look at italy, spain, their average deficit set to decrease by 3.5 percentage. it's difficult to see the likes of portugal and spain agreeing even if they agree that some things were done wrong here. very difficult when we've heard from the likes of the slowbacks, the germans. i'm waiting from the finish saying they're in line to see a deal. we wait and see when we get the arrivals in a few hours time. we have heard of a better comprise deal from the center of

economic policy research. greek needs to ask for an extension deal and it will open the door to maneuverability as far as the privatizations are concerned. allow allowing them to increase the minimum wage. as it came down to last week semantics over what terminology we use. whether or not a bailout short term. it's about financing for greece. buying more time to have those deeper discussions. >> and i suppose all the people that must be wishing for a deal of some form to be reached. you must be high up on the list. you've been on the road for weeks. >> yeah. feels like it. it's very few days since davos. i'm hopeful they reach a deal agreement tonight. but as said earlier comprise is not the solution here. and on that point, i have to agree with him. just talking about debt for greece or maneuverability doesn't answer the underlying structure issues that are still

a problem in the greek economy. and, you know, i want to make one final point on this. new europe publications here in brussels pointed out the cartels in action in greece and even though we've seen pensions and salaries come down and we can talk about good deflation in europe, they argue that given the cartels operating in greece right now, we could see consumer prices drop 30% if the cartels were addressed. imagine the demand kick it would be for greece going forward if we could do that. these are the kind of structure efficiencies in greece that needs to be tackled. it takes more than a few days. back to you. >> julia, thank you. let's discuss this further director of european and global economy research at citi joins us. thank you very much for joining us. let's touch on some of those comments we've had over the weekend. i wonder why germany continues to play hardball. because they expect the greeks to cave in to some of their

sides of the bargain or because they're not seeing any kind of financial contagion from the risk from of cigarette psychiatric. >> >> i think it's a concern that the other countries won't be that happy if a genius deal was being given to greece. for germany, overall the most important strategic objective is everybody will continue to commit to playing by the rules, which germany thinks is essential for the long-term survival of the eurozone. and it thinks more important than ultimately keeping greece in. i think somewhere in there is also a sense that the eurozone could probably go on and survive if greece was leaving. >> and let's touch on that point. you said some other countries might be disappointed if any kind is given. what are the noises coming out of madrid lisbon and dublin. would they be in an uproar?

>> i think they would be concerned. i think particularly in spain and portugal. there's a force short term political calculuslculuscalculus. they could lose put to the more leftists movements and parties were to get a further boost from a benign agreement. i think there's a fairly short and political calculus in play here that makes it clear that germany is not at all isolated in this position of standing relatively firm against these weak demands. >> and obviously there's the political risk which we can come to in terms of contagion. is the financial contagion currently understated by markets? >> i think it's a relatively easy statement to make. i would probably agree. now many things have changed in the last few years, but i think having -- getting a sense of what contagion would look like once we're facing that. ting would potentially be problematic.

if not in the near term then maybe an undefined future date where the other countries could be in a more vulnerable situation. >> let's touch on that political fallout. i suppose this anti-austerity the anti-e.u. rhetoric we're seeing in various parts of europe. it's not just coming from the left wing. it's coming from the right in various countries as well. is it simply just opposition parties making populace calls for the sake of their careers rather than believing in things fundamentally? >> i think it's again, probably a mix. of course, offering up alternatives was going to be very likely after these long and deep periods of crisis and con contractions. and those alternatives often come from the extremes on both sides. i think what we see is that particularly in the core certainly the right is a stronger force or the alternatives on the right are a stronger force than they are on

the left. i do think there is a -- there are some intrinsic agreements in there. there is some intrinsic opposition to some of them the europe ideas, i think in general are much closer to what the right is feeling at heart than it is on the left. >> thank you very much. we'll be back with rahbari in a few minutes for a second chance. let's have a look at what global markets are doing in europe. it follows not just a strong week last week but a strong friday. we saw the s&p 500, the dax in germany hit record highs. the week as whole was strong for european equities. and unsurprising we've come off today. we were down earlier. we were down about.05. we rallied a bit. let's look at the individual markets. in particular last week the dax was strong on thursday after the

cease-fire agreement announced throughout russia and ukraine. germany has been heavily affect the by the sanctions on russia and strong gdp prints we got. across all of europe but particularly in germany saw the dax push to a new high 11,000. we're just below that now. the ftse 100 is basically flat today. france also flat and the micex is down 2%. the cease-fire agreement hasn't been enforced in full so far. we'll be discussing russia throughout the show. let's look at bonds. the u.s. 10-year is above 2% for the first time for awhile. of course we've had positive sentiment in the u.s. over the last couple of weeks, particularly following the jobs number. that pushed us above 2% on friday. it is closed today for president's day. in germany we're at 1.35%.

and the 10-year remains at elevated levels but not as high as it has been. it was 9.5%. as a sign of the lack of contagion the euro remains relatively strong over the last week or so. it's at 114. and just after the qe announcement it touched briefly 111 handle. that highlights we strengthened the euro. the yen relatively muted today despite gdp numbers 118.5. and we're seeing the ruble strengthen a little bit today up 1.37%. probably more because of oil. let's look at oil. what is the oil price this morning? it's a little bit softer day. it had a strong run over the last week. it sort of found a little bit of a bottom about 50.

significantly above the late january lows. can it stay there? will it remain in decent territory? let's touch on markets in asia. japan's nikki hit an eight-year high after the rally on friday. gdp data come in slightly under expectations. let's get an update in singapore singapore. >> key if gdp date set was fairly sweet and sour. there was something for everyone here. if you look at the headline 2.2% analyzed in the first quarter. it did signify that japan's economy pulled out of recession in the last three months of 2014. but that number still implied some rate. the economists were looking for 3.7% on the whole. the markets seem to like what they saw in the data. it was really pushed forward. the recovery was driven by the export sector. i was surprised given what the

yen has been doing on the depreciation trend. the first time we've seen a close, as you pointed out, the close above 18,000 since july 2007. implications for the boj it's probably not going to stir the central bank into action this week. so don't expect them to undertake any additional easing measures. elsewhere sixth day of gains for the shanghai and that's on the basis once again of expectations. stimulus for the market we saw some sub par economic numbers recently. i have to say this about the greater china markets and market sentiment activity broadly for our region. activity traded volumes are going to be that much more thinner on the ground as we head into the lunar new holiday. the chinese new year holiday on

the 18th of february. expect to see a slow down in trade volumes and activity and as a result of that potentially some outsized moves. we do see some volatility externally elsewhere in the global markets including in europe. all eyes of course on the finance minister's meeting with greece to renegotiate the debt. the debt agreement where you are standing. that's where we stand now in asia. back to you. >> thank you very much for that update. still to come here on "worldwide exchange." we're live in boston massachusetts. as it counts the cost of a historic amount of snow. also are you betting on a strong dollar? stay tuned to see why it could be a mistake. plus saturday night live celebrates the 40th anniversary. it was a star-tudstudded event.

welcome back. let's look at the movers in shares. and in the red we're down 1.3%. this after the bio tech firm learned the earnings outlook for the year ahead. speaking to cnbc earlier said new product launch would offset

the impact of the sharp move. >> it's very clear that it has an sbaukt on our earnings. only 29% of our expenses are in swiss france. therefore i think the launch of the new products are innovation capacity will compensate for this financial effect. >> online gambler 888.com is after takeover talks with u.k. bookmaker the talks broke down over a price for the key stakeholder. william hill is back up a little bit. let's look in stocks in the dax. the second largest property company has made a 980 million euro take over. it's off about 1.2%. up 8 percent.

let's go to frankfurt for the details. >> i guess the most interesting market reaction right now is that it's trading higher than the offer price. the offer price is 50. we have just seen the shares currently trading at 11.80 or even 12. there's some speculation that actually they might have to come up with a better off despite the fact that the two families who are owning 25% of convert already said they're planning on tendering their shares. they need 50% plus one share of conwert in order make it successful. it makes sense to merge the companies or take conwert over as conwert with a little bit more than 30,000 units. mainly in germany.

some are in austria and central and eastern european countries. it's a little bit small compared to the big players in the market. du du they have more than 130,000 units in germany which makes them number two in the german market after duetch and privately owned by a private fund. the deal -- there will be an offer as soon as march and it looks like, as i was saying looking at the current share price that there might still be more improvement for the share. s a the market is speculating there will be a better offer with that back to you. >> thank you very much. on the russia ukraine crisis the e.u. gone ahead and

published a new list of people suffering from the sanctions. the latest list of 19 people and nine organizations, as i said has been released in the last few minutes. a couple of eye-catching names on the list including the deputy defense minister -- and a famous singer. sometime he's dubbed as russia's equivalent of franc sinfranks santra. now, of course, that cease-fire brokered by the leaders of russia, ukraine, germany france has all but held. they will not hold a truce in the eastern territory.

attacks are reported from mid afternoon on sunday following the cease-fire that came into effect at midnight. with me is director of european and global economic research at citi. we're talking about the greek issue and the fact hasn't had much effect on european markets. a meaningful cease-fire in russia and ukraine, should that see a boost to european equities? >> i would have thought over the past few months even that debt crisis which is much bigger had a fairly localized effect except on the few days. i struggle to think how it would be major boost to markets more broadly at this stage. even though undoubtedly it would be good news of course. >> let's broaden out the discussion and talk about more europe more widely. last week's gdp numbers particularly in germany were pretty decent. are we at the point where qe has been announced and good fundamental news should be good for the markets as well.

does it make it easier to predict where it's going to go for this year >>well i guess, overall given how poorly the economy is the equity market has done remarkably well over the past few years. i personally would be relatively hesitant. one thing that can be said we're at a very benign point for the first time in awhile in europe. qe and financial conditions more broadly improving. we have the weaker euro and the fall in oil prices. it is more benign than it has been. >> is there a clear choice when you look at market a country you like to be long off the markets at all? >> well, i mean, i personally look a lot at the germman economy. the despite the fact the e equity market has been among the better performance. the fundamental performance is still very positive. >> and let's finally bring the

discussion back to the situation we touched on earlier. what are the key dates we need to watch for in 2015? >> i think we have to stick with greece for some time. i think today is an important today. it will probably not be the end of what will probably be extended negotiations. i think the other important days are toward the back end of the year with the elections in portugal and in spain for which we are still waiting for the final dates. but i really think this year will be the start of a long period where political risk will gravitate very much toward the middle of the invest ersors will have to look for. >> thank you very much. director of european and global economics at citi. still to come full break

down of japan's gdp.

after last week's rally. this is germany finance minister said he's skeptical a deal can be reached today. japan's prime minister vows to keep the pressure on for wage hikes as weak consumer spending sees the economy just fall out of recession in the fourth quarter. kiev said attacks are increasing as rebels try to secure the railway. puma shares take a kicking after the surprise loss in the fourth quarter. german maker said it continues to hurt the bottom line in the year to come. let's have a look at what european markets are doing. and we recovered from a soft open to be just slightly below flat on the stocks 600. the ftse just below flat.

germany just below flat. germany was particularly strong crossed into the 11,000 and has a high on friday. just below that level at the moment 10948. we have italy fractionally above flat. having opened more half a percent down. if you look at bonds as well. the u.s. 10-year crossed above 2% on friday where it is closed today for u.s.'s president's day. greece remaining elevated. germany very low yields of course, 1.35%. despite strong gdp on friday which after correlated with a little bit of bonds selling. we haven't seen that. the bond market remains big because of the program that kicks off in march. the euro has been relatively

strong. 114 at the moment. 1.1419. somewhere where it touched after the quantitative ease inging issues. it benefitted a bit last week from the cease-fire agreement coming out of russia and ukraine. we have the ruble rising about 1.25%. now japan is out of a technical recession with quarterly gdp growth 2.2% in the fourth quarter. let's go to the details from the nikke. >> thank you, willfred. it is the first expansion since the last sales tax hike. the growth wasn't as strong as expected. the median market forecast was 3.8% and much of the growth came from strong exports thanks to the weaken of the yen. especially from the u.s. and china. private consumption which accounts for roughly 60% of the gdp was weak increasing by 0.3%.

chief cabinet secretary said household mind sets on spending are cautious. he stated real wages have not yet caught up with inflation. the comment may be aimed at corporations the government has been everyone sizing to the private sector the need to increase wages and last year many large companies did that. for 2014 salaries increased for the first time in four years which was resulted in the largest growth in 17 years. when compared to the rate of inflation, the level of wage growth is still not enough to lift consumer spending. currently major labor unions are negotiating with businesses and the outcomes these talks will have a major impact on market confidence. that's all from the niiback to you. >> we discuss it with head of global asset allocation. thank you for joining us. good morning to you. of course this data slightly weaker than some. but taken the country out of recession.

does that suggest that when we went into recession in the middle of last year it was very much down to the sales tax hike? >> it was. but that said the picture is difficult. there's very little growth really, to speak of. and on the edge between inflation and deflation. i think we should see it in context. it's not quite as bad as it might have been. >> the market has taken it positively this morning. not a huge move but a significant move. what is in the detail? >> the markets are relieved. more than that the other ingredients for the equity market are fairly bullish. because the largest state pension fund is by the government wants to make japanese companies much more investor friendly by boosting their ratios. bond yields are falling. all of those other ingredients are bullish. evaluations are still low

relative to a number of other international markets. all of those add up to a fairly bullish mix. >> and the quantitative easing program that bank japan is pursuing put into perspective for us how big the size of the program is relative to other qe programs. >> relative what we see in europe. europe it looks like a tea party compared to what we see. the share of gdp that japan's qe program is stake of taking on as dwarves other programs. in is a real life experiment. >> and prime minister and saidbe said he hope it is continues. that's part of the economics. it's part of the practice. >> i think it's a way of squeezing bank of japan making sure it doesn't waiver from the expansion. >> and let's talk about the other side of the bargain, if things get worse, if abenomics

fail. what is next? is it total collapse? >> it's tricky at that point. we don't need abemommics. but the economy needs to grow. it needs to fight off the deflation in a convincing way. provided those two hold i think the ingredients for the market are still reasonably good. but if we get a slight back into recession then i think potentially it's a very very difficult time. >> so let's talk bring it back to markets. would you be on the nikke. >> theit's worth something. most of the key evaluation ratios. the equity improvement is likely. profits are growing in japan.

the u.s. is probably alongside japan in seeing some earnings growth. there's not a not a lot of growth out there. japan is one of the few we see growth. >> and what about the yen? of course it hit the 121 handle late last year and recovered from that. there's been different arguments why it recovered. if it's a short bounce or what have you. some say it has been the beneficiary of safe haven trades going back to the yen. does that make sense? >> i think there's an element of that. but clearly the government wants to see the yen still go up. it's a matter of making sure the trajectory is maintained because that has provided a clear boost in the market. >> and so in terms of which stocks or sectors within the nikkei? >> the exporters look relatively undervalued at this point. clearly across the market as a whole, they drop down in ingredients suggests a fairly broad base market move.

>> great stuff. thank you so much for joining us this morning. head of global asset allocation. puma is trading lower after earnings came in well below expectations. the german sportswear giant posted a net loss. and a profit of 6.9 million euros. let's get to annette who is live in frankfurt with more details. >> it's a clear miss what we're hearing from puma and also looking into 2015 it doesn't really sound very promising. because they're also saying that they expect currency swings to weigh on their earnings quite substantially. above all, they're citing the strong dollar as for being one of their major head winds for 2015. but also they're saying they expect slight increases in net

profit despite the fact that the currency situation will probably outweigh the benefits of higher sales in regions like the americas. in talking about regions, it's quite interesting to see that only the americas the region is actually doing very well but the sale increases of more than 10%. europe and also asia-pacific -- asia-pacific is growing at the same pace of europe which is really a minimal at .07%. they're saying they're seeing still a bad situation or a difficult economic environment in europe which is of course is true for loads of consumers outside prosperous markets like austria and germany. but also japan and south korea are doing not very well. in terms of marketing expense,

they had quite an expensive year but they're still planning on spending a lot of money on marketing and in order to yeah position themselves in a better way than the other sport goods makers in the world. the shares today take a dip. puma is clearly trading lower. people are disappointed about the poor earnings over the last quarter. back to you. >> thank you very much. puma shares taking a dip despite the fact they sponsor the greatest futbol team in the world. let's move on. hsbc took out a full page ad to apologize over tax evasion claims surrounding the swiss private bank. after the man at the center of the storm stepped down from i had position over the financial services lobby group. hsbc bouncing back a bit today

up 1%. we caught up with the chancellor and asked him for his thoughts on the incident. >> if the files were handed over to british government in may 2010 and it's the conservatives who had the files and it's their failure to act. it there was any evidence brought to us over illegal action we would have acted. it happened under conservatives. >> weren't you sitting minister. presumably you had some overview. >> the files were presented in may 2010. when you have evidence of that activity you have to act. why were the files were handed over there wasn't action. before that, when laybour was in government -- >> do you think it shows it's not fit for purpose if they found one person in the firing like out of the 7,000 u.k. citizens who have offshore

accounts they haven't disclosed. >> i think there are big questions here. the policy and strategy and resourcing that is political questions. why did they agree to have him as ministers. it's a question of tactics. there's issues of resourcing and operation. why are they being so slow and tardy about getting this sorted out. these are big questions. i think we need some answers. >> a massive storm slammed new england on sunday bringing a foot of snow and sub zero temperatures. miguel almaguer has the report. >> reporter: this was a triple threat nearly a hundred million braced for. blinding snow whipping winds, and bitter cold. >> miserable. it's getting cold. >> reporter: much of new england blasted with whiteout conditions. boston buried again. today 13 inches of powder on top of six feet that has fallen over

the last month. the city getting more snow in three weeks than chicago has ever seen in an entire winter. >> this is the storms of historic proportion. i know, people are frustrated. people just want this to end. >> reporter: the region paralyzed in the blizzard blast. train, bus, and ferry service shut down. power knocked out to at 6,000. at least four roofs crushed in. >> it's amazing. this is even worse than '78. i was here for that. >> reporter: along the coast it was wicked winds. the surging surf pounding threatening to flood mashfield, massachusetts, again. in prelim moth rare blast of thunder snow. jim cantore there for the wild ride. >> we're in the full force of the blizzard. no question about it. winds are gusting over 50 miles per hour. we've had now we can't even see the water. >> reporter: similar conditions

turn the roads dead flip weekend well over a hundred accidents from buffalo to toledo. at least six killed including a pregnant mother on the ohio turnpike. tonight the snow has slowed but the arctic cold is just blasting in. in some regions, will feel like negative 25. >> it's insane. more snow than i've ever seen. we're transplants from iowa and i've never seen snow like this. still to come on "worldwide exchange." russia's economy suffers from the falling oil price. our next guest said moscow is heading for a worse crash than 1998.

danish police say they contained two suspects in connection with the attack in copenhagen. a gunman opened fire and shot people near the city's main synagogue. kooer kooer. >> reporter: candle ls on a cold night in denmark for two more victims two of more attacks in another european city. as detectives investigating the killings raided an internet cafe searching for clues.

this morning amid panic they confronted the 22-year-old lone suspect and shot him dead after he opened fire on them. his body lying in the street. just over 12 hours earlier the shooter had burst into a cafe firing 30 times leaving more than 20 bullets in just the front window. he left one dead and wounded three police officers. inside an event was promoting free speech. >> i could hear the gunshots approaching. i could hear arabic and the shots. >> reporter: the gunman's possible target one of the event organizers swedish cartoonish lars vilks who sketched the prophet mohamed as a dog in 2007. adding him to an al qaeda hit list. last month the french magazine "charlie hebdo" was targeted by islamic jihadists. it had printed similar cartoons. >> it could be that this

individual were a copy cat. he knew how to handle a weapon. he also knew how to kill. we don't know whether there are other people behind it. >> like in paris, the next target was the jewish community. outside a synagogue a 37-year-old guarding a bar mitzvah situation was shot. another police officer wounded. jews here say they will not be frightened. >> i'm born here and i will stay here all of my life. >> the jewish community belongs in denmark. they're a strong part of our community. >> reporter: but israel's prime minister said jews have been murdered again on european soil. israel is your home he told them. while in france, outside the danish embassy in paris, another individualvigil was held today. the suspect was known to security and intelligence services. there's no indication he

travelled to iraq or syria to fight as a jihadist as the paris killers did. >> that was keir simmons reporting. four ukrainian soldiers have been reported killed since the cease-fire. they will not uphold the cease-fire in east ukraine. the eshs u published a new list of people placed under sanctions. they include the russian deputy defense minister. the russian central bank performs loans in 2015 around 8% of all loans. let's have a quick look at the ruble. you can see it is trading up about 1.6% against the dollar today. joining me now is the chief emerging market economist at capital economics. neil, good morning. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> let's touch off with the cease-fire. there seems to be a lot of skepticism whether it's going to

work or not. and we've had more sanctions announced today. >> indeed. i think on both sides of the conflict. from what we can tell it doesn't look like the level of fighting, the level of conflict died down substantially over the past couple of days since the cease-fire came into affect. as you say, in particular fighting seems to be as intense as ever. and, of course the sanctions list has been expanded by the e.u. this morning. i think the critical thing from the perspective of russia's economy, if you like, is that even if the cease-fire does hold we're so far away from both sides being in agreement in terms of a sustainable solution in the region. the sanctions will remain in place for a long time i think, and allies with lower oil prices that is going to add pressure to the economy. >> what do we need to see to have sanctions removed in crimea has pretty much cast off by the

international community. is it real improvement in the do domask region? >> i think so ultimately. there are so many issues that need to be resolved. for example, peace keeping in the region is not done by former troops from the cis countries or is it done by troops from the european union, u.n. nato countries? that's one issue. how are the new borders drawn? what political group is given to the separatist region? what status does that have? there's so many issues that needs to worked through before the sanctions start to become difficult. >> and of course from our perspective from the outside it seems baffling that putin continues on the strike given the difficulties that the

russian economy is facing. i suppose perhaps his rationale for that is ukraine's own economy is in an even worse state. he is expecting that might lead the west to have to concede ground to him sooner rather than later. >> it's important that putin's popularities have been higher. his popularities have risen through the conflict. hid that may start to change as the economy turns down. we've seen the first effects of that. it happened already. inflation has risen sharply in russia. it's going to remain high this year. it's going to eat into the real incomes of house holds. credit conditions small to medium enterprises in particular are finding it difficult to access credit. there's going to be a deep recession this year. that will put it akin to the 1998. i think fundamentally i think the recovery will be weaker than 1998. after the 1998 crisis we saw oil

prices build again. and together with some of the affects of the reforms of the 1990s that took place before the 1998 crisis that paved the way for quite a recovery, actually. i don't think those conditions are in place this time around. the economic lookout is dire for russia. we could be looking at a repeat of the stagnation growth rate of 1% a year or something like that. that's the case over a prolonged period of time, i think that's when we see the political and economic problems. >> thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate it. now french lawmakers have passed a bill that will allow shops to open more often on sunday. it marks the latest efforts to boost national growth. let's hear the latest from stephan in paris. >> good morning. the they approved a bill that will authorize shops to open

more often. not all the time on sunday. up from 5 currently. shops in tourist areas will continue to open seven days a week if they want. they will not be authorized to open until midnight. that's also an evolution from the current legislation. for such an authorization, employees who decide to work on sundays will have the choice to and they will get a double pay. that was one concession made to the extreme left of the socialist party to get the support for that bill. before it comes into effect this bill will need to be approved by the upper house of parliament. as we're seeing it's a plan to revive the french economic growth and also to keep more tourists in the city. because they realize like big cities like paris were unable to retain international tourists on weekends especially coming from asia. they were traveling to london to make their shopping on sunday as shopping is part not of the

activity. it's part the of the package, i was saying with the bill includes other aspects like the deregulation of some specific sector which is were not open to competition. that's part of the bill. hopefully the government wants to raise the gdp growth to 1% this year from 0.4% last year. back to you. >> stephan, thank you very much. now saturday night live celebrates the 40th anniversary this weekend. it was a star-studded affair. nbc's has the wrap up. [ applause ] live from new york it's saturday night! a familiar phrase started a trip to memory lane. >> live from new york it's saturday night! >> one that stretches back to 1975. >> we established the legacy but the people who came after us kept it alive in such a quality way. >> cast members reunited. ♪ ♪ >> and in some cases, teamed up for the first time.

>> good evening, i'm jane curtain. >> i'm tina fey. i'm amy poehler. >> they revisited characters. >> and turned unknowns into stars. >> let's take a look at the score. >> i wouldn't have had a career without saturday night live. >> i can't believe my luck. i can't believe that i'm part in any way of something that i loved so much. >> the catch phrases. the classic moments that have endured. >> the super bassmatic 2150. >> it says a lot about this place. there is nothing like it anywhere else. >> yeah. and everyone wanted to be a part of it. i mean, most everyone is here. >> and an array of former hosts took the stage. so did music icons. as snl wrapped the first 40 years, warren michaels and his cast took center stage. >> i like it. i loved -- >> this man and this group of people has seeded the comedy

landscape for 40 years, you know, and they have given us an incredible gift. >> the anniversary bash marks the 780th episode. almost live from new york. nbc news. quite the impressive there. still to come on "worldwide exchange" despite high unemployment in the growing anti-austerity movement. there's plenty of upside for the european. according to our next guest.

xkç

hello. good morning welcome to "worldwide exchange." here are your headlines from around the world. greek shares tumble in the open after last week's rally. this is germany's finance min stir said he's skeptical a deal can be reached on the bailout meeting in brussels today. japan's prime minister vows to keep the pressure on wage hikes seeing just the economy just fall the our recession in the fourth quarter. kiev said attacks are increasing. increasing. the u.s. northeast is slammed by

another storm. over 500 flights state side have been cancelled. u.s. markets are closed today for president's day. but europe is still trading, of course. at the moment we're just below flat on the stox 600. it follows a strong week last week for markets globally. including record highs sit on friday for the s&p 500, and germany's dax index in europe. finished the week very strongly the dax following the announcement of the cease-fire agreement and germany's gdp print that was strong that came on tried. today we have the ftse 100 just below flat. the dax is down a quarter of a percent. france is flat itself. and russia is up about 2.2%. let's have a look at the bond market. of course a strong gdp for

germany didn't see yields rise as we see in normal circumstances. 1.35% on the german 10 year. looking at 1.65 in spain. 1.64 in italy. and greek yields looking at 9.45 on the 10 year. a little bit up from last week but elevated of course. let's look at the market and the euro is up around 1.12% today. it's above 1.14. when qe was announced it dipped below 1.12. somewhat seen as a surprises a the greek situation continues. we have the ruble rallying about 2% today. news, of course the cease-fire helped it. but oil prices have been strong over the last week or so. sterling flat 1.359.

and the yen at 118.6. and a quick look at greek shares. they have been weak so far today. we're down about 3.6%. it does follow 23% of gains over the last from greece which is the best return since march 1998. therefore, unsurprising that we're down by the tune of 3.6%. a quick look at yields. as i said earlier they're off from their highs from last week but looking at the 80.2%. let's get an update what is happening in greece. a crucial meeting over the bailout taking lace in brussels within hours. for the latest let's join julia chatterly live in brussels. >> thank you so much. the prime minister uncan any understanding of the way brussels works. he said there needs to be a win-win solution as far as the greek negotiations are concern.

he's right. how can all sides come out looking like they scored a victory. there's strong incentives on all sides to keep the negotiations going to be able to make some kind of comprise. and that's what it's looking like now. the more people i speak to the less indication there is that we're going to reach a deal today. there was already talk in the greek press this weekend perhaps we might need a further group on friday. i think in the short term this will favor greece. the clock is ticking on the timing. they're ability to ask for some kind of extension of a bailout program even if they don't want to. in the longer term then they favor stocks to shift back to the euro group when the clock starts ticking as far as finance concerns. that comes toward the end of the bailout deal on february 28th. what we heard over the weekend is the discussions were continuing. trying to thrash some kind of comprise deal on key issues like what to do about privatizations.

we know there's been confuseing signals coming from the government on this. the surplus will be required over the next two years. if they go by what the dwreeks are asking for now, that means a significant increase on the deficit at a time when other countries like ireland, portugal, spain, and italy is seeing a significant drop in the calculations. very difficult for the countries to say greece can get away with it. even if we couldn't. i think that is the negotiationing position right now. germany certainly taking the hard line. they said this morning comprise for comprise sake is not the answer here. as far as greece is concerned. you know, i would agree with him. we don't need a short term solution. we need longer one. that's going to take longer. we'll wait to see how far the discussions will get. that means 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. we'll see. >> julia, thank you very much for the update. joining me now is head of investment strategy at brooks mctold asset management.

thank you for joining me. let's kick off the greek situation. the potential financial fallout being underestimated by markets? we want to take a step back and the context is the conversation has moved on is greece going to exit and greece negotiating. because of that financial markets have slugged off. as you alluded to the big risk market is contagion. if we see momentum growth and anti-austerity movements in the like of spain with the economy it's far larger. it could have a bigger impact on market. >> you said that the debate moved on greek is no longer a risk. surely there's a risk. a small one. if they push back hard on the negotiations that could be where we get to. >> it is but being pushed further out. at the moment even within greece they don't want to leave the euro. there's a lot of political will to stay in. the and the way things are going now they're trying to negotiate. the more interesting question to ask ourselves is spain going to be willing to be able to continue with their austerity measures if other, you know,

debt burdens are being forgiven. you have to think about. portugal and ireland have gone through at lot of pain. their government is going to be in in incentivized to toe the hard line. >> last week gdp data surprised a few in germany. you impressed? >> it mean it's going to be a harder case for greece. one of the reasons yo u may have seen a softening of the rhetoric. the economy itself was deteriorating. it was in their interest to stay together and have more stimulus. it's good news bad news there. over the longer term this is good for european equities. and the reason is evaluations remain attractive. especially if you look at it versus the u.s. keeping in mienld the weaker ground. there are three reasons. first of all, export of oil. that will fall to the consumer bottom line. you can see domestic command grow. that drive inflation and

commodities. banks are starting to lend more. and the weaker euro will help exporters. for those reasons we think it's going to be a rocky past. it's going to be heightened volatility if you can bear it out it will be attractive. >> the second fact you mentioned. bank lending. it quantitative easing works in europe then bank lend will be key. what is giving you confidence? >> it's falling to the bottom line. you had the multiyear deleveraging. you had the paing taken away and the incentive the bank had to keep themselves is fallen to the wayside. it's linked to passing on the liquidity they're a bit more incentivized. it will help them on the bottom line going forward. we think that the extent, i mean, again let's look tat in content. this is one of the largest quantitative easing stimulus pack ajs that we've seen coming out of the u.s. so it is give us more confidence. what are they doing? they need to pass it on. >> the weaker euro.

is the euro already weak enough to benefit the economy or is it going to come down further? >> we think it's an attractive level. what you're seeing is i'll give you a specific sector. the great trade is automakers. you have the double benefit not only will the cars be cheaper to export but lower import costs because of oil. it's an attractive time for those type of manufacturers. >> outside of that what is your top sector? >> we still like technology. we think that health care potentially because the moves it's even though the sector is still attractive. we think evaluations is a little bit of a stretch. tech automakers the industrials in general where we're positive. if you want a high beet to play italian banks. >> thank you very much for joining. a pleasure as always. let's take a look at today's other top stories. apple is reporting planning to take on tesla with several hundred of the employees currently working on an electric

vehicle project. according to the "wall street journal" project tie tan involves the design of a vehicle resembling a minivan. they declined to comment. general motors announced a recall of more than 81,000 cars following concerns about electric steering systems. it expands last year's safety actions when 1.3 million vehicles were recovered. it covers 2006 to 2007 chevrolet malibu and pontiac g 6 cars. a massive storm slammed new england on sunday. bringing a foot of snow. miguel almaguer has the report. >> this was the triple threat nearly a hundred million braced for.

boston buried again. today 13 inches of powder on top the last month. the city getting more snow in three weeks than chicago has ever seen in an entire winter. >> this is the storms of historic proportion. i know, people are frustrated. people just want this to end. >> reporter: the region paralyzed in the blizzard blast. train, bus, and ferry service shut down. power knocked out to at 6,000. at least four roofs crushed in. >> it's amazing. this is even worse than '78. i was here for that. >> reporter: along the coast it was wicked winds. the surging surf pounding, threatening to flood mashfield, massachusetts, again. in prelim moth rare blast of thunder snow. jim cantore there for the wild ride. >> we're in the full force of the blizzard. no question about it. winds are gusting over 50 miles per hour. we've had now we can't even see the water.

>> reporter: similar conditions turn the roads dead flip weekend well over a hundred accidents from buffalo to toledo. at least six killed including a pregnant mother on the ohio turnpike. tonight the snow has slowed but the arctic cold is just blasting in. in some regions, will feel like negative 25. >> it's insane. more snow than i've ever seen. we're transplants from iowa and i've never seen snow like this. still to come on "worldwide exchange." japan comes out of the recession. only just the gdp reading underwhelms the market. we find out why after the short break.

welcome back. give you some headlines. the athens trading sharply low as germany's minister remains crucial. the e.u. names new sanction targets as kiev said flashes continue. and no relief for the u.s. as the historic levels of ice and snow continues to pound the region. japan has exited recession in the fourth guard with gdp rising 2.2%.

the reading came in below expectations with the effects of a sales tax weighing on japanese consumption. let's get out from the full details. >> thanks. all eyes now on the bank of japan. the two-day policy meeting which happens this week remember. date set we saw for the fourth quarter, yes, as he said the japanese economy returned to growth in the fourth quarter of last year as expected. the headline number of 2.2 annualized for the quarter was underwhelming. the market was expecting a number of 3.7, 3.8% expansions in terms of the fourth quarter annualized growth. it probably means the boj won't take additional easing measures this week. the data that was fairly mixed. as you would expect because the depreciation of the japanese yen and the pick up of the export markets in the west especially

in the united states we have seen recovery really being driven in the fourth quarter by exports. a different starker story. you will for personal consumption and spending. so all eyes really on the spring wage negotiations. the big question is whether corporate japan is really going to deliver some meaningful wage increases. that. should hopefully, if it materializes unleashes the animal spirits of the japanese consumer. the nikkei closed above 18,000 for the first time since july of 2007. so eight-year closing high for the index. let's face it it wasn't a conviction mount up in the market or any other markets, really. we all seem to be still very much in a holding pattern until we get some clarity on the debt negotiations at your end in europe between the euro group finance ministers and greece as

well. that's a big risk event. the markets try to get their head around right now. back to you. >> thank you very much. still to come on "worldwide exchange" as major oil giant slash spending. we ask how long the likes of bp and shell can continue paying out the dividends. stay tuned on "worldwide exchange."

danish police say they detained two suspects in connection with the weekend's deadly attack in copenhagen. the gunman opened fire in a cafe holding a free speech debate and shot a man near a synagogue. >> candles on a cold night in denmark. for two more victims of two more aattacks in another european city. as detectives investigating the killings raided an internet cafe, searching for clues. this morning amid panic they confronted the 22-year-old lone suspect and shot him dead after he opened fire on them. his body lying in the street. just over 12 hours earlier the shooter had burst into a cafe firing 30 times leaving more than 20 bullets in just the front window. he left one dead and wounded

three police officers. inside an event was promoting free speech. >> i could hear the gunshots approaching. i could hear arabic and the shots. >> reporter: the gunman's possible target one of the event organizers swedish cartoonish lars vilks who sketched the prophet mohamed as a dog in 2007. adding him to an al qaeda hit list. last month the french magazine "charlie hebdo" was targeted by islamic jihadists. it had printed similar cartoons. >> it could be that this individual were a copy cat. he knew how to handle a weapon. he also knew how to kill. we don't know whether there are other people behind it. >> like in paris, the next target was the jewish community. outside a synagogue a 37-year-old guarding a bar mitzvah situation was shot. another police officer wounded. jews here say they will not be frightened. >> i'm born here and i will stay

here all of my life. >> the jewish community belongs in denmark. they're a strong part of our community. >> reporter: but israel's prime minister said jews have been murdered again on european soil. israel is your home, he told them. while in france, outside the danish embassy in paris, another vigil was held today. the suspect was known to security and intelligence services. there's no indication he travelled to iraq or syria to fight as a jihadist as the paris killers did. >> that was keir simmons reporting. wti crude third consecutive weekly gain. the first time to do so since may. despite the recovery oil is still 50% off the june 2014 highs. as you can see today we're at

52.56 and 61.64 for brent. joining me now is portfolio investor at asset management. the last three weeks oil managed to come off the low it is hit late in january. because we've seen a lot of majors saying they're going to cutback? >> it's the majors but also the small independents. in the u.s. we have the u.s. count down over a third since the october highs. that's just the fastest drop we've seen for many years. >> does that immediately reflect supply will come down? >> we i have a different supply in north america than we used to. it's a manufacturing process that is unconventional tight oil. the fracking you have to maintain the rate which you drill the wells because they decline so fast. so we're expecting that u.s. production is going peak around

now. we're seeing that in the weekly data. so expect we're now up 17% year on year but it plateaued. we'll see it the next few months. by mid year we'll be down to the same level as we were year on year. by the end of the year we'll be significantly lower than the end of the year. >> we'll seen it come down. we've seen the majors cut back. they haven't cut their dividend. i wonder if that was something that was for long-term. protecting their share for short term -- >> i think the whole investment case for the major centers on the dividend and the ability to grow the dividend. so no we don't anticipate they'll cut. we don't anticipate they'll have to. this is all about the oil price having to find a higher level. not just so the majors can start to reinvest but the whole industry. people forget you take the

capital out and you're going see the production coming off so quickly. this is very different from pullbacks we've had in previous decades. we've seen a lot of about comparing today with previous pullbacks. the spare kachtcapital in the system is very fight. we expect the oil price to come back. >> there was a talk that exxon will try to buy bp. to you believe that? >> i believe exxon needs to buy something. the organic reserve replacement is so poor the lack of visibility for new projects. but if you buy bp you have solved that problem for one year then bp doesn't have very good project visibility either. we have a exacerbated problem for exxon. much more likely buy a growth euro company and maybe the bp and the bg, you know could be bg but something that has growth going forward.

so, you know, we see within the european universe the ge. the companies have good visibility on growth going forward. likely to be consolidated within the cycle. >> charles, thank you very much for joining us this morning. appreciate it. that was charles portfolio manager. still to come on "worldwide exchange." record know for boston causing chaos amid treacherous conditions. we go live to the northeast after the break. chasing 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.

d the world. greek shares tumble after last week's rally. he's skeptical of a deal can be reached on the bailout on the meeting in brussels today. japan's prime minister vows to keep the pressure on for wage hikes. seeing the economy just roll the out of recession. attacks are increasing as rebels try to secure the strategic railway. the cease-fire is largely upheld across the rest. the u.s. northeast is slammed by another storm bringing with it a foot of snow in sub accident occurzero temperatures.

over 500 flights state side have been cancelled. a weekend snowstorm with gusty winds pounded the northeast. the storm has shattered records and now the bitter cold that is making life treacherous. now there's another storm right behind it. this time taking aim at the great lakes and the southeast. let's join sara dayllof who is live in boston. >> good morning. people waking up to dangerously cold temperatures. weather this area hasn't seen in years. of course, this is on top of the 13 inches of fresh snow that boston and the surrounding area received over the weekend. making it the snowiest month on record. the third snowiest winter since recordkeeping began here and obviously causing some pretty

big problems. all the fresh snow combine edd with the winds were creating whiteout conditions. authorities believe it may have led to a 20-pileup. also seeing a lot of collapsed roofs. 200 families displaced in new hampshire when an apartment building roof collapsed there. now here in boston the city was virtually shut down over the weekend. it is slowly starting to get back to life. we're seeing a lot of delayed school openings and school closure. public transit resuming after the weekend. the airport starting to let flights in and out. of course, the focus and shifting now to the midwest and the southeast. that storm that is barrelling down on that area. louisville, kentucky could receive up to a foot of snow. other areas looking at big snowfall. also, ice and freezing rain. it does seem there is no escape from this brutal winter that just never seems to end. back to you. >> sara thank you very much.

i hope you can get yourself inside and warm up. let's have a look at european market which is are in the red as we look at things but not too significantly. obvious, this follows a strong week last week in particular that saw the german index hit a record high across the 11,000 mark which were below the moment 10938. and the ftse 100 just below flat. france and italy managing to stay fractionally in the green. let's look at the euro dollar which has been strong over the past couple of weeks. it's just above 114. it's done well since it hit just below the 112 when the ecb announced a quantitative easing a few weeks ago. the bank of england governor earlier this month knew governments could be tiring of regulating reform making. he call on the g 20 to continue in the new efforts. in his new book, our next guest

argues more can be done in terms of far reaching rule making. joining me now is professor of economics and political science at the university of california. good morning to you, barry. thank you very much for joining us. let's talk about regulator reform and what we've seen since the financial crisis. reactive and not proactive. >> regulators tend to be reactive. that's true and they did react to the financial crisis of 2008-2009 with limited reforms. so i'm worried that the crisis went to waste and we didn't do more in terms of financial reform. now the pressure is off. >> and so should we focus on the areas that did cause the dwloebl financial crisis rather than looking at other areas? >> i think we should focus on three. number one substantially more capital for the banks. where we've gone on only a little way.

number two, getting derivative securities created on electronic exchanges. not simply on clearing houses. number three disconnecting the rating agencies. the big three rating agencies from the regulatory process. none of that has effectively been done. >> so this still seems like a very big focus for you on the financial sector as being one of the possible causes for the next big crisis. but would that be a perhaps misreading the situation and it could come from anywhere. >> it could come from anywhere. but number one on my list is the shadow banking system which is still out there. still likely or totally unregulated three weeks ago. we had a small central bank of a small country in the middle of europe, swiss national bank and two, significantly sized foreign exchange platforms. one in london one in new zealand. examples of the shadow banking system circa 2015 went belly up. imagine what could happen if a

big central bank. >> let's talk about about central bank. when we look at various causes of any crisis. the one common factor is too much leverage. were we wrong to respond to the last crisis by making leverage much cheaper? >> i think we have to flood financial markets with liquidity when we did to prevent the complete economic and financial meltdown. i think it was right to let that liquidity slosh around while the economy began to recover, but regulators now have to be more aggressive in their use of macroprudential tools. not raising interest rates necessarily but tightening up with higher value to loan ratios in the house and market and other instruments of that sort. >> and, of course central bank policy is divergent this year across the major countries which has lead many to continue to argue for strong u.s. dollar. all tow you think that argument is perhaps a little overdone.

>> i think the strong dollar is already here. and central banks will have to surprise. the fed will have to tighten sooner and faster than expected or the ecb will have to do even more than what has been done in order to move the dollar euro exchange rate further. your opening made the point that the dollar moved and now stabilized against the euro. >> and we'll talk more specifically in about five or ten minutes about the situation in europe. but i want to finish off on the chat on central banks globally. of course, we've seen the likes of switzerland and denmark and sweden more recently have to be reactive to what the euro the european central bank has done. do you think that can continue and include the u.s. as well. they might have to be reactive to use policy and deep things looser than otherwise they want. >> the fed clearly is watching the extent to which the strong dollar will negatively impact u.s. economic growth. low oil prices have the other

effect. so i'm doubtful that the fed will remain on hold for significantly longer due to the strength of the dollar. >> thank you very much for now. we'll continue our chat with barry eichengreen in a few minutes time. coming up stars line the red carpet for snl's birthday bash. we look back on 40 years on saturday night in a few minutes time.

saturday night live celebrates its 40th anniversary this past weekend. it was a star-studded affair. nbc has this wrap up. live from new york it's saturday night! a familiar phrase started a trip to memory lane. >> live from new york it's saturday night! >> one that stretches back to 1975. >> we established the legacy but the people who came after us kept it alive in such a quality way. >> cast members reunited. ♪ ♪ >> and in some cases, teamed up for the first time. >> good evening, i'm jane curtain. >> i'm tina fey. i'm amy poehler. >> they revisited characters. >> and turned unknowns into stars. >> let's take a look at the

score. >> i wouldn't have had a career without saturday night live. >> i can't believe my luck. i can't believe that i'm part in any way of something that i loved so much. >> the catch phrases. the classic moments that have endured. >> the super bassmatic 2150. >> it says a lot about this place. there is nothing like it anywhere else. >> yeah. and everyone wanted to be a part of it. i mean, most everyone is here. >> and an array of former hosts took the stage. so did music icons. as snl wrapped the first 40 years, warren michaels and his cast took center stage. >> i like it. i loved -- >> this man and this group of people has seeded the comedy landscape for 40 years, you know, and they have given us an incredible gift. >> the anniversary bash marks the 780th episode.

insome ways it may be the most memorable. almost live from new york. nbc news. coming out relating to the russian ukraine story. of course, earlier today we heard that the e.u. announced firth sanctions further list of names to be included despite the cease-fire agreement we heard about last week. we had a response from russia. the russian foreign ministry sant i are they said it contradicts. it won't help find a solution and moscow will adequately respond to the new sanctions. of course, we don't know what that means. clearly that cease-fire greechlt, which has been met with some skepticism over the weekend not the final answer to the dispute. of course ukrainian government forces reportedly been fired on some 112 times in the past 24 hours. despite the start of the cease-fire agreement. the comments from the country's foreign ministry claimed four

had been killed. pro-russian rebels said they will not uphold the truce around the eastern town where fighting has reportedly increased. still with me is barry. professor of economics at university of california. thank you for coming. let's have a quick reaction on the russian issue. we had the cease-fire agreement last thursday. it's been met with skepticism and fighting does still continue. what can the west do to try to make a more meaningful bit of progress? >> i think it's clear that mr. putin will not settle for half a loaf that imagining ukraine can be partitioned east/west is not viable politically. but it's also not viable economically. because the industrial strength of ukraine is all in the east. there needs to be meaningful financial assistance. a martial plan for ukraine for the sitting ukrainian government. i think that would be more effective than military

intervention military support for the government alone. >> and was the imf support plan announced last week which is a separate story coming on the same point of the cease-fire. is that not sufficient? >> i think it's not. it's mainly debt relief. the fund imagines that ukraine holders other than russia will restructure the existing loans. but there needs to be an injection of foreign direct investment. real financial support from the west for the economy. >> how much longer can putin continue with this aggressive stance? i mean, his own economy, of course coming under serious pressure. >> it is coming under pressure. the sanctions are beginning to bite. i think we have learned that the sanctions alone will not turn the tables. there needs to be effective economic and financial resistance coming from the ukrainian government also. >> thank you very much. we'll be discussing greece and the eurozone. let's remind you of the top

headlines. trading sharply low as germany's finance minister remains skeptical of a deal. e.u. names new sanctions targets. and no relief for the u.s. northeast as the historic amount was ice and snow continue to pound the region. stamps.com is the best. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com

you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages. i have exactly the amount of postage i need, the instant i need it. can you print only stamps? no... first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mail man picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4 week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again.

welcome back. let's have a look at european markets doing today. and they're down slightly. the following a strong week last week for equities in general. including in europe particularly for the dax, which did cross 11,000. it hit a record on friday following the news of the cease-fire in russia and a strong gdp print for germany on friday. as you can see, just off across

all of europe this morning the ftse 100 down 1.2%. germany down 3.6. and france flat and micex down. athens was down. it was part of a decent performance last week. it returned 23% over the last two weeks. the best since march 1998. therefore, unsurprising that it is up a bit today down 4%. let's have a quick look at greek bond yields which remain elevated yet now at the peekaks they've been touching. the 10 year 9.45%. joining me now is head of european strategy bank of america merrill lynch. the professor of economics at university of california.

an important meeting happening today between europe finance ministers in brussels. still any kind of comprise seems elusive. >> at least this time they're likely to disagree. we expect they will issue a statement acknowledging they achieved some progress and discussions will continue and most likely determine another day for another meeting. we'll see one of two sides are asking it is important for greece to ask for an extension of program. for the european to bridge without any condition. so the most likely outcome, the most likely end game of the negotiations is an agreement at least discussions on a new program without a new funding for -- but being there to avoid in the banking sector. >> why is greece's credit

germany in particular. why are they able to maintain a tough bargaining position. do they think greece will cave into concerns or do they think there is no risk of contagion if greece were confirm. >> a number of reasons. any new deal with greece would require more money. ur our estimate is $20 billion. they want to make sure that it will be committed reform. i think more about contention than they would like to admit. but they don't want greece to believe the consent about it. even if there are consent without the reforms nothing is going to work. >> professor, i'll bring you in. we haven't seen that much financial contagion so far in the market. is there a bigger risk. is it political for the rest of europe? >> i think it is political. i think there's a worry about

southern european -- the more important risk is financial. i think european policy makers are under estimating the danger of financial contagion. it's not the markets at the moment. the markets are calm in that emergency until they're no longer calm. it could spill over from greece to portugal to other countries. >> does it stem from domestic greek banks or more broadly through the bond markets. i wonder if we hadn't had quantitative easing announced if there would have been significant contagion in the sovereign bond markets? i think qe helped from that point of view. action so far has been first and foremost in theback banks. that's why emergency liquidity stance from the ecb is so important. there is a big meet inging today

between greek government and the european union. there is a big meeting on frankfurt will the ecb will resume the extension. there has to be the prospect of productive negotiations at the end of the for the ecb to continue to do that. >> do you agree to take risk on the short term? >> there is. this is why i think it's important they continue for the ecb and the ela to be there. however, unless we see some progress in negotiations it cannot be there forever. it's only temporary as an emergency program sat some point they need -- >> let's talk about the political fall yoit. what are you hearing from your friends in greece how they're receiving the new government. even though now clear comprise has been made on the debt package. >> what is interesting the vast

majority of the greek public already happy. but also stay in the eurozone. is greece feels so far keeping their own policies and must be something different. something better. so from this point of view there is a deal. the greek public will support it. when we look at the political fallout is it pop list politicians making popular calls. we're seeing ahrendt european anti-austerity sentiment coming from both sides of the political speck tum spectrum. >> we are seeing populism in the form of spain. even outside the eurozone. i worry about the main stream

parties. the new euro government will have to comprise and be reasonable. but berlin will have to comprise and be reasonable. mrs. merkel has to sell comprise to the public. they haven't been willing to do that so far. >> and professor, is there any risk of the euro not continuing or is it very safe? >> we back in 2007 i wrote that the euro was forever and having been out on the limb for a long time now, i'm almost comfortable being there. but the risks are clearly of some kind of disorderly event partial euro break up. capital controls are higher now than they've ever been. >> okay. tell us as we look at the euro itself in terms of where it's trading map is your call the rest of 2015? >> there is the outside following the announcement of ecb and qe.

>> okay. and elsewhere the top conviction in currencies? >> definitely -- here to remain and it's a long-term conviction. thank you very much. professor, it's been a pleasure to have you this morning. that's all we have time for on worldwide exchain."worldwide exchange"." have a great day trading. if you're in the u.s. have a wonderful day off for president's day. see you tomorrow.

what's that thing? i moved our old security system out here to see if it could monitor the front yard. why don't you switch to xfinity home? i get live video monitoring and 24/7 professional monitoring that i can arm and disarm from anywhere. hear ye! the awkward teenage one has arrived!!!! don't be old fashioned. xfinity customers add xfinity home for $29.95 a month for 12 months. plus for a limited time, get a free security camera call 1800 xfinity or visit comcast.com/xfinityhome.

>> narrator: in this episode of "american greed," meet the attorney who swears he can make the dreams of couples wanting children come true. >> these people weren't looking for money. they wanted a family, and he preyed upon that. >> narrator: he promises babies for a hefty price. >> i'm thinking, "oh, my god there's a baby. how are we gonna come up with all this money?" >> narrator: but kevin cohen is actually a merciless con artist, brokering deals that shocked investigators. >> i've never seen anything like this before. he had every angle figured out. >> narrator: and he callously exploits the hopes and desires of people just wanting to be parents. >> it really is incredible that anyone would do this, and, you know, had he stabbed me in the heart, it would have been less