a very warm with welcome to "worldwide exchange." i'm wilfred frost. >> i'm see hema mody and here are your headlines. >> investors eye yet another meeting in brussels over greece. a number of european leaders demanding athens stick to the terms of its bailout. >> one year since the ukraine crisis began and tensions remain high. the u.s. says russian troops are still in the east of the country. >> telecom italia gears up to reveal its investment plan after reporting earnings in line with expectations. we'll speak with the seeceo

straight after their investment release. >> reports that the nsa and british spies stole its da a at that. gemalto says it is investigating but cannot verify the claims. be and welcome to the show. we're gettinging pmi da a at that. the composite number has come in at 53.5. it's higher than the january number which was 52.6 and slightly higher than estimates. we've got the services number which has come in at 53.9. that's higher than last month which was 52.7. the manufacturing number which will have also just come out, let me find that for you, at 51.1 sleetly belowslightly he below.

it follows the jerman and french numbers. both of those echoing similar sentiment. manufacturing slightly weak but nothing too significant as you can see the euro dollar has weakened. >> it has. one of the bright spots was german data. stronger than expected growth in the service providing sector expanding faster in the month of february. but despite that data investors seem to be focused on the headline number here the euro dollar trading slightly lower at 1.13, the seven-year low. >> only against sterling. 1.3025. when we had german ppi data that came in down 2.2% on the year. the euro down 1.1324. the u.s. says it's deeply troubled by reports of fighting

in eastern ukraine as the ceasefire looks increasingly precarious. this as russia says it began supplying natural gas in eastern ukraine in a response to a decision to suspend shipments. we spoke to the ceo and asked him what this meant to supplies for europe. >> it did not have any effect on the supply to europe because the area is controlled by the terrorists, or a as we say far from those pipelines to ship gas to european union. >> the russian central bank said the peak of the ruble volatility is over. however, the governor said it was too early to talk about calming prices and added the central bank would be ready to reduce capital requirements for banks that encountered difficulties.

a look at european markets and we're pretty much bang on flat as we look at things at the moment. yesterday we started down. we then rallied as it looked like we might get a compromise from greece as greece requested an extension which is what they've been needing to do for a long time. germany rejected that extension and that meant the european markets came can off into the close yesterday but they did finish up not too significantly today. we are bang on flat unch. i like it. stoxx 600 is flat. european markets and how that pmi data has affected things. the ftse 100 is just below flat. germany is down and both had decent services pmi, manufacturing pmi was a little disappointing. overall the data not too bad.

the german ppi data produced price inflation what really set the yoreuro he on a downward trend this morning. the russian index is down 0.7%. we've been focusing on the u.s. ten year that started that trend about a week or so to push above 2%. it came off a little bit as the fed was relatively dovish early in the week. back on 2.1%. a sense of positivity about the outlook for the u.s. economy which has seen profit taking in the yields tick inging up. the ten-year german yield remains below 0.4%. we've seen a similar move in the uk to that in the u.s., yields have ticked up as expectations have increased at the margin the last week or so with strong wage inflation. we get public sector finance data at 9:30 for the uk. ten-year greek yield, 9.83%. below 10%. perhaps more positivity but, of course, that moves around every

day quite significantly. the euro as we said has had a slide after german ppi disappointed 4.1%. more volatile relating to the greek situation. no outright fears but the euro moving more in response to that situation in the praef month. the ruble which has strengthened today allthough it's now changed. we're looking at gold. gold price 1,205. at the moment above for wti which dipped below 50 and brent dipped below 60 itself. seema, back to you. let's talk more about the trade in today's action with louis costa. a blesspleasure to have you on "worldwide exchange." i want to start with the situation in russia. despite that ceasefire coming together, the fighting in ukraine continues.

and at the heart of this battle between ukraine and the separatists, how are investors trying to position themselves as they watch this tenuous situation? >> it's very tenuous and it's changing:it's an ever-changing situation. still bias to the negative side. we've been very careful we're not recommending to jump and go and buy ruble assets. i believe in general the agreement was important and pos positive. it's very hard to make a ceasefire work in the long run in all parts of ukraine talking about different factions of separatists, and that maexkes it very difficult to work. as we are saying now over the past 48 hours we had spots of noise had here and it's becoming very difficult to sustain the ceasefire in the long run. and we know the western

authorities will probably react negatively to that. we cannot fully discard the possibility for the sanctions down the road. >> luis, we know the russian economy is struggling in the wake of sanctions. let us know how bad the situation is for the ukrainian economy as well as the ceasefire ceasefire. we had a plan from the imf to help the ukrainian government. is that imf plan substantial? will it help enough? >> it's substantial to keep ukraine afloat. but i have to say that as we go into 2015 and looking into 2016 i still believe that the restructuring deal with ukraine is almost inevitable and to be honest we get the sense that multilateral stakeholders like the imf, for example, are becoming more friendly to the idea given the concentration of the ukrainian debt in the hands of investors and the possibility we could get to friendly agreement here in terms of psi.

the economic background is very difficult. the eastern part of ukraine accounts for almost 50% of the output of the can country and that it has been massively damaged by the fighting. by the way, the prospects of having a rebounding base are still very poor. so it's going to be extremely tough for the ukrainian economy to get back on its feet over the next two or three years even under the imf framework. >> clearly a difficult moment for the country, but it seems like investors have been betting on a resolution coming to place. you take a look at the russian index up better than 25% so far this year. if you are long russian equities, do you think it's time to cut your gains, i guess, and get out? >> i believe you have to be very tactical here absolutely. it's very difficult to establish this as a position.

if you are a more frequency investor you can actually benefit from interesting trading opportunities but the markets are still digesting the positive developments from the minsk agreement unless we do seek further agreements between the western state, the euro authorities and ukraine and russia. >> luis, let's broad en the conversation to some of the other emerging markets you look at. we're often deciding debating the issue of inflation. the economies you're looking at deflation they're experiencing is a positive, isn't it, stemming from low commodities. >> absolutely. it's been probably the biggest trade of 2014 in central europe for example, was to be long in

places like poland hungry or even czech republic because in these countries it's more important. in the third quarter last year the fourth quarter last year we had another kick coming from the lower energy prices. so it's been a fantastic trade. the request question is where do we stand now? and i do believe what we're seeing over the past two and three weeks tells you a lot what the market -- how the market will trade going forward. i think the fixed income will be probably challenged from a few pockets of wealth here in emerging markets. we rally a lot, more than 300 business points in some and now it's going to be a moment for a pause after the qe and let's see it. western pm data prints better numbers or mildly better numbers. this is going to be one more point of pressure here for the

fixed income trade. >> luis, thanks for now. we'll get to some of your specific calls in about five minutes' time. luis costa head of citi for ceemba. are you a male? do you love fashion? if so don't go anywhere we have some top style tips coming up as we mark the start of london fashion week. and apple puts its foot on the pedal to make an electric car. we take a look at some of the more unusual sources of fuel in the testing lab. that's up. plus, it's the niagara falls as you've never seen them. stay tuned for the stunning drone footage of the landmark. the latest victim of the freezing weather.

greece and germany are still poles apart as the ministers meet today in brussels. rebuffing the loan extension proposal calling it a trojan horse as they worry greece is trying to shirk its bailout agreements. let's get out to our reporters on the ground.

an what's the latest? >> reporter: what's at heart here when it comes to language we're hearing from berlin is that we have very tough stance there disappoint ed about the con it tent of the letter. they are saying this letter opens immense room for interpretation when it comes to the details. they want to see a clear commitment to structural reforms, to successfully completing the current program ands also clear commitment or a clear explanation how they are going to pay their bills considering the shortfall in tack revenues. at the same time they have angela merkel speaking to the prime minister of greece and allegedly or reportedly that call has been quite frankly and was quite long also 50 minutes, according to media reports. so we can have both sides here

now but going into that last round, presumably last round of negotiations building up quite a lot of tension. and then also angela merkel taking away a little bit of that tension to get both parties back on the table. bottom line is it won't be easy. there's also sources reports coming out of the finance ministry saying the draft or the offer from the greeks might be actually a good starting point to negotiate but the greeks have to move. they have to present some credible numbers when it comes to reforms, et cetera, pp. the germans won't give away the money for free. that's the general sense here in germany but, also looking at what needs to be done afterwards, after that summit today in case they actually agree on some sort of deal and then that needs to go through parliament and also all these national parliaments have to say yes to it.

so that needs to be credible also for the pay or the nation to actually footing the bill. back to you. >> thank you very much. out to you from brussels. a crucial meeting coming up this afternoon afternoon. >> reporter: absolutely. we've also heard from the austrians today. they've said look greece needs to abide by the terms. the slovak prime minister also yesterday saying that ultimately he's calm about the prospect of a greek asset here so real pressure coming from the hard-liners now. the message i got from the commission, of course, was that progress was made in the talks yesterday but, of course, the greeks as i was telling you yesterday, were quite confident what they put together was something that with be agreed to by all parties right now. so very difficult to them. when i looked at the details there were significant concessions. yes, i hear what annetta was saying you need further details

but how far the greeks have come to reach a compromise at this stage. as negotiation s were going on talks to the government here and worked with the greek government to talk about what the country needs now, what structural reforms are crucial for the greek government going former a form er world bank economist, too, and i asked her about the idea some of the hard-liners want to use greece as an example in the same way when we go back in the financial crisis the belief was they let lehman brothers go because they wanted to make an example and ultimately show the markets that banks could be let go. is this europe's lehman moment for greece? they want to show others that they can't be pushed around. listen in. >> completely i think all this talk about moral hazard goes straight there and the intention is there was a similar truth with cyprus.

there is a concept of a political statement as well as an economic statement of don't be too different. you need to follow the mainstream. instead i would suggest it would be better to embrace that difference because all the reforms and the structural reforms reneedwe need to do need to happen throughout europe. if the three big lenders, the imf, the ecb and the commission come to greece and say we have to open our closed professions, we have to open our monopoly professions, this is not just something that needs to happen in greece. all these monopoly professions exist in all other countries of the european union. we're talking about serious structural, deep changes. it's fine if we start them from greece because we will be the ones benefiting first. it is also more difficult to

have them accepted in greece by those monopoly professions. i'll give you an example. because they have allies in the rest of europe. so it's complicated and at the same time we need to find smart ways of establishing positive incentives so that we can actually change the wave. >> reporter: i'll finish by qualifying one of the things she said, it boils down to a lack of trust, trust greece will fulfill the promises if they are given more cash and time to resurrect their economy. talk of a leader summit even to get this deal down . 3:00 p.m. local time talks with the eurozone finance ministers kicks off. we have to wait and see just where that takes us right now. i'm going to be looking if there's any change in tone overall as the finance ministers enter in a few minutes' time. >> a total lack of trust. jewelulia

julia, thank you for that report. luis costa, rate strategy at citi and, as we pointed out, the greek drama continues. how worried are you about the prospect of greece exiting or de defaulting on its debt? clearly the germans are playing hardball despite the concessions made by attention. >> we're still working under the assumption there will be a final agreement in the 11th hour. but i have to say that my concerns here go to the greek economy and the fact that will probably continue to drag the real economy down making the situation even worse. only in january reported out of banks. we know it's the story might continue in the meantime as we don't reach any deal. and we know that our fastest week if there's no agreement,

and the ecb or euro authorities might be actually force ed basically to call back the $10 billion euro assistance to banks and that can be quite dangerous and might actually force greece to establish some form of capital control. so it's a very dangerous situation where we don't want to push this into march. where the markets will be more nervous and some pockets are already starting to react to that on a negative way. >> the way they labelled this as a trojan horse makes it spiteful and makes us think whether mrs. merkel and slibchreiber whether they're resigned to a fwrek exgreek exit. >> they're not there yet. we know the government alliance in germany now has to did iffuse

the rising power of some euro skeptical parties, actually now i think the last one was on board. we know there's this rising competition on the political front in germany, and they have to make a hard stance. we know that it shows german households are quite uncome uncomfortable in extending to greece under the current circumstances. so they have to play the political line. and we know that the rhetoric is one thing. what they will actually decide is another thing. so there's a gap between those and we know that they will try to be reasonably risk averse. they will not push greece that's the assumption for now. that doesn't necessarily mean the markets will trade positive or will trade a couple from these companies that as we go

into march, if we go into march things can get a lot more nervous in the global markets. >> luis, thank you for joining us. luis costa head of rate strategy at citi. now this weekend is the 87th academy awards. "american sniper" in the running for best picture. if a tha could the lowest grossing movies in six years. >> so given that oscar contenders haven't released smashed box office sales, do you think award ceremonies still matter? joining in on the conversation on wore"worldwide exchange" e-mail us this friday morning or tweet us. our handle is on the bottom of the screen. what do you think? >> there are too many award ceremonies. >> i love them. >> we've had four already, haven't we? >> the academy awards, the emmys -- >> the golden globes the

baftas. they should just have the oscars and the baftas. >> a great opportunity for these networks to obviously gain substantial revenue when it comes to advertising sales because they do bring in a lot with the award shows. are consumers less excited about these awards shows? i would beg to differ given the amount of media coverage we see around these events. >> when something win ss a big award like that it doesn't maek me see it. i like the blockbusters most people hate. we'll continue that debate. get in touch with us. still to come can on the show former fed chair alan greenspan weighs in to the oil debate saying the u.s. now controls the market. we discuss who the real swing producer is after the break.

a cautious start to trade in europe as investors eye yet another meeting in brussels over greece. a number of european leaders backing germany and demanding athens stick to the terms of its bailout. the euro takes another leg down as the latest manufacturing data disappoints. flash pmi data shows activity is not keeping up with other sectors. >> italia gears up to reveal its plan in the next half hour after reporting earnings in line with expectations. we'll speak to the ceo first on

cnbc straight after that release. >> and hacked off, shares in ge gemal it to sinking on reports that nsa and british spies stole its data. the dutch can company saying it is investigating but cannot verify the claims. let's have a quick look at european markets as we await data out of the uk. as you can see markets are a little bit in the red today. the ftse 100 just below flat and the dax is down 0.16%. italy flat and france down a quarter of a percent. >> just want to point out retail sales coming out for the month of january in the uk. down 3.1% year over year the beg estgest decline on record versus the 2.2% decline we saw year over year in december. let's get some more details. the uk january average store prices falling on year. that's the largest fall since

records began had in 1997. for the u can k january retail sales forecast down 0.8% on the month but still up 5.5% on the year. >> we've also got the public sector net borrowing numbers which have seen a slight improvement in the uk's public finances as income taxes have risen for january. we've got an 8.8 billion pound improvement in public finances versus a 6.5 billion improvement a year ago. the expectation was around a 9 billion improvement. coming shy of that 8.8. a slight improvement in the situation for the chancellor. sterling has fallen with 0.4% off the back of this news. 1.536. a stout rally since late january and particularly against the euro that had a seven day high. it's down against the dollar.

>> somewhat of a disappointing read, looking at the month of january. we should point out retail sales did come in better than expected in the month of december thanks to black free day sales and holiday shopping in general. so that's something to keep in mind context, if you will. sterling trading lower against the u.s. dollar. let's switch over to the treasury space. what are we seeing in the bond market? the focus has been on those very low yaeldz as investors gravitate towards stocks. the quantitative easing will stimulate the eurozone. interestingly enough in the u.s. we're looking it at the u.s. ten year now climbing back above 2%. remember following that dovish statement, we did see the ten year fall below 2% but yesterday clawing back up over that psychological level of 2%. in germany, well the rally continues and that's sending yields lower at 0.38%. gil it ts lower. coming off the highs, i should say, but still yield inging at

around 9.7% below the 10% yield we saw in yesterday's trade. let's look at some of today's biggest individual movers. sanofi is up 0.2%. a muted reaction after the company named a new ceo. this comes four months after citi fired chris weinbacher. his replacement was widely ex expected to take sanofi's top job. telecom italia is either bang on flat despite posting upbeat guidance for the year. this is domestic sales recover thanks to its mobile business. the telecom company did have a drop in revenue for the full year. stay tuned because in about half an hour steve will be speaking to the seeceo of telehe come italia. that's first on cnbc. that will be coming up at 11:30

cet. gemalto is down the best part of 8% after reports it was hacked by the nsa and the spy agency. this according to edwin snowden. the dutch security company says it's taking the claims seriously and investigating further. now danone is down after disa disappointing investors with its guidance. more on that story with stefan live in pear is. >> reporter: for the last year he the stronger than expected growth, 4.7% driven by the recovery of its baby food unit in asia which was impacted by contamination scandal. however, if the ref youvenue was higher suffering another decline, 12.6%, broadly in line with expectations. the economic conditions were quite difficult in many regions of the world in western europe for instance facing deflationary consumer trend. in the emerging countries and in

russia the largest market suffered plus the rising price of milk. in terms of outlook the can conditions will remain difficult had this year and globally unstable. a slight increase of its operation enduring freedom rating marchgin as well as a 4% to 5% organic growth in 2015. according to industry analysts this is a very cautious guidance, and that's the reason why it is one of the worst performers the second down 2. 2.3%. seema, back to you. let's take a look at oil because if you thought oil had perhaps found a bottom, you may have to rethink that trade. light crude trading down 0.3. brent crude, as you can see,

holding on to $60 a barrel. keep in mind former federal reserve chairman alan greenspan has weighed into the oil debate. he says that opec has relinquished power over the oil market to the u.s. because of the shale revolution. but our next guest believes saudi arabia has the potential to retain its dominant position a controversial view. we have the analyst here, oil analyst at barkley's. a blesspleasure to have you on. you say saudi arabia is seeing a shift in policy that could help it increase its market share. help us understand how you came to that conclusion. >> as you've said people are writing off saudi arabia, saying they just relinquished their role to more expensive non-opec suppliers. it's poised to become an

important player in the market because it will be the most flexible on the planet. the reason we say that they have a lot of ro product ex perts that have started ramping up because of the big refineries they brought on spline. also they have stakes in foreign refineries whether it be in the u.s. south korea, china as well. that gives them a lot of flexibility with their crude because they have a captive market for it and, "b," they can play the refined products game which is a very liquid market. to grab market share, they're a low-cost producer. they can provide their refineries with crude. >> who are they exporting to? global growth is a huge concern with china slowing down. >> yeah so when we look at this report goes through the market share erosion that has taken place over the last one year russia got into their market

plan asia also. what we're seeing they can send refined products now increasingly to markets where they can't be undercut possibly because of long-term contracts, et cetera and by providing the fine products the underlining refinery cannot process the competitor's crude. it gives them flexibility and spare capacity changes. the other thing we've highlighted in the report saudi arabia potentially could increase its crude and product exports going into 2015 and 2016 potentially because the market is expecting demand to increase as well and it's a great opportunity for them to get in. >> and so in terms of whether they can grab market share going forward, we have seen u.s. rig counts come down that might suggest you're right on that point, it doesn't necessarily mean that production will follow. >> absolutely and that's why we are still bearish on prices.

when you look at items from a lot of the producers so far and compare them with their production guidance there's a big mismatch there. oil production still for most of these companies are either growing or flat. one of the few companies in the space that have announced a bit of a reaction in their production. >> what you're saying could have profound consequences on the oil market if this does hold true, where do you see oil headed? >> absolutely. it sort of draws to the conclusion that oil is heading lower for longer. >> what level? >> our expectation is $60 a barrel for 2016. but for 2015 for the next few months we do see a lot of weakness coming. a lot of inventories around and suppliers are just not adjusting. at current levels it the recent rally we've seen it's almost

like no man's land. the saudis are not happy with it and no one is cutting production. really need to go lower to actually reduce supplies and balance the market. >> we saw u.s. inventories higher than expected earlier in the week, a pullback in the oil price, is everyone's inven tories high? >> yes. globally they're at 5 billion barrels of oil and that's huge to reckon with in the second half of the year. this is oil supply that can come back and haunt the vote. u.s. inventories and t.i. brent has widened as well. pushing oklahoma is almost filled to its compass>> telly:apacity. we may see it overflowing with kraud and crude. >> regionally how much for the

dynamics of market share, has it pushed russia's exports into countries where it hasn't been exporting to significantly in the? >> absolutely. russia focused east and we see when we look at asian imports, three big majors, japan, south korea and china, russia has managed to increase market share at a time saudi arabia has reduced it so there's been a bit of a shift there and you're seeing russia having its pipeline which delivers right into china's backyard. so that tactical shift has already taken place. now it's time for saudi arabia to get market share and what we highlight it's got the perfect recipe to do so. >> if they do increase market share, what happens with relations between the u.s. and saudi arabia because this will clearly threaten the u.s. shale oil play in the u.s. it already has but even more to an extent. >> they argue that they have lost market share over the last two to three years. this is more of a regaining of that equilibrium. they're not necessarily targeting only the u.s. in their policy statements they

said we don't want to shoulder the burden for more expensive non-opec suppliers thatcanada the u.s. i think they want to make it efficient. what we're say something don't rule out the saudis yet. they have a lot of potential to flex their musscles in a very different way the market has ever known and that's through refined products. >> we will keep an eye on the saudis. >> thank you very much for joining us. miswin mahesh from barclay's. "worldwide exchange," the start of fashion week in london. could it mean that men overtake women in the shopping stakes? we'll discuss with a couple experts after the break.

a terrifying moment for residents in northeastern australia after they were warned to take shelter, quote, wherever they could. this is when a cyclone slammed with gusts of more than 200 kill om tess ankilometers. a drone up over my agniagara falls to capture a berd's eye view of

this spectacular landmark which has all but frozen over. take a look at that. the only time niagara falls stopped flowing was in march 1848. it is on track for one of the coldest februarys on record and the ice is not expected to melt entirely until may. i saw a similar water fall in iceland also frozen. >> that was epic, those pictures. gentlemanjapan welcomes lunar new year. a story leave from tokyo. >> the nikkei 225 closed at 18,332 today. its highest level in nearly 15 years. the market maintained its bullish momentum on economic recovery and strong corporate earnings while exports stocks increase, inbound related stocks such as hotels. grew by 3.3%. holdings up by 8.1%.

much of this is because the lunar new year holidays have kicked off in china and with the weakening of the yen spurred by economics, it is a holiday destination and department stores are not missing out on this opportunity expecting sales up three to six times compared with the same period last year. also with the depreciation of the yen, the number of foreign tourists to japan hit a record high of 13.4 million in 2014 with total consumption reaching $17 millionbillion. 33% more than the previous year. though this only accounts for half a percent of the gdp, tourist spending is becoming ever more crucial and the government is keen to attract even more tourists especially with the olympics in sight. that's all from the nikkei. back to you, wilfred. >> thank you very much for that update. now today marks the start of london fashion week.

the top designers set trends. what are the best ways to promote fashion ideas in this modern social media age and what, indeed, are the latest growth areas. joining us now is rose thomas author of the london blog and erica nielsen humphrey. let's start with you, rose and touch on some of those trends. people now very much using social media, of course to promote their new fashion ideas. which of the social media platforms is the best in the fashion world? >> i think it's difficult to choose the best because they all offer their own distinct possibilities but i think instagram is seeing a huge amount of growth. it's a way for designers to get their clothes right into the hands of their consumers. >> and social media in a way has transformed the fashion week experience. i can now watch fashion week at the convenience of my home by live streaming twitter to get an

idea of some of the latest trends but also being able to buy the products, the clothes, that these models are wearing as they walk down the runway. >> exactly. fashion week used to be so exclusive and closed off to everybody. you would you have to wait three months to read about it in a magazine. whereas now you get it straight away and you can buy it a couple days late wher they put it on their blog and you have all the links. it makes it great for the designer. >> fashion week is traditionally something we think of as dominated by the women's fashion world, but you think that's changing and changing pretty fast. >> it is changing very quickly indeed. just a few years back there was no fashion week for men. now we have in london and new york and milan and the menswear market is outpacing the women's market. >> is it the economy? a cultural change? men having more interest in being fashion able? you see lifestyle magazines, blogs devoted to men. >> i think it's a culture change. the modern man wants to look

good. >> i want to. i'm not sure i can help achieve it. >> the modern man wants to look good. it makes him feel good about himself. this old-fashioned way of, no i don't bother about clothes is changing. then the shopping experience has to change for men. eight out of ten men say they hate shopping. >> tell us about your business model and how you help men to a achieve that desire without the difficulty. >> we aim it to change the way men shop. you have to go to many shops or online sites and the people in the shops don't know you. with our is he advice each man gets allocated a stylist and this stylist will know each guy's preferences, his sizes, his messasure, his previous purchases. she will know, okay, this is what he bought the last time. now he actually needs this. a new shop, they don't know you. >> rose, sometimes people say bloggers like yourselves are personal stylists because you take pictures of the latest

trends but i also wonder do you get paid by some of the companies, the products that you wear are they supported by the companies that pay you? >> often companies will pay bloggers to wear an outfit and talk about how great it is but i think it's important to disclose when it happens. it's important to say when you're working with a brand but also to remain and keep your integrity as a blogger and only sponsor content you usually would have done naturally and organically anyway. >> london fashion week a great battle to be pictured on the front row of these types of events and tra degsally that was reserved for the high-powered traditional fashion journalists at big magazines. people like yourselves and other bloggers are the front of the queue? >> i think so. because it makes sense for designers. they get to have their stuff shown to a much larger audience than with just magazines. being seated on the front row i

don't think should be about fame. it should be about being able to get the best shot to share with your awedudience. >> one of my friend who is an actress is typically always front row at these fashion weeks. she is now in the second row because now there are so many bloggers who have been given the front row so she is getting pushed back because bloggers like yourself have a strong following and providing the best coverage. >> nobody wants the back of the front row's heads in their instagram follow ersers. >> how many followers? >> on instagram, 100,000, something like that. >> how old are you, can i ask? >> 27. >> and more than 100,000 followers. much more than us combined. >> certainly much more than us. fashion week tends to focus on quite the high-end set of items. where are you saying is the sweet spot for what you target? >> we are targeting the affordable luxury market so we're stay inging away. we want to stay away from like the mainstream high street but we're not like the very expensive luxury designer clothes. affordable luxury. >> well thank you both very

much. erika and rose thomas, author of the london blog. now moving on to traditionally british sports snooker and darts. they are becoming increasingly popular overseas. legendary sports barry hearns wants to drive this trend further. i spoke to him and asked how large the sports could grow in asia. >> they are getting a huge following. darts is just beginning in asia to hit some of the figures that we're getting used to over here which so often remind your viewers the peak of for example, the world darts championship on sky this year doubled the peak of the rider cup, bigger than formula one. all after sudden we have to perhaps reapprise what we think is the norm because it's becoming the norm.

>> let's focus in on darts to start with. what is particularly attractive for you? of course when you go along there's a lot about the drinking, about the gambling, more than the sport itself. is that fair? >> quite fair. i think the crowd at european events especially english events, are as much of the show as the players. it takes a long time to explain this but in a nutshell has evolved as a pub game. comes out of the pub and now the standard because of the amount of prize money that's involved in professional darts is so high. players are full time so the standard has gone up. we are better entertained, if you like. the ambiance is a pub party. having a good time on the other. and this is the new audience that's becoming globalized where people are conservative where they spend their money but they

want guarantees of value for money, the man in the street we're still a recessionary market and they want to know that they're going to watch something that will give them something to say at work the next day. we live in a semi reality age as well. they would quite like to be on tv for a few seconds, hens the fancy dress costumes and the messages at home and wrap it all together and suddenly it's no longer a pub game. this is what's happened in england and europe particularly. the message is getting through to asia and it's beginning. it's a long way to get to the levels we have now in the uk but it's certainly happening and that culture of young people and the good night out watching world class sport. >> you've said in the past reading your recent interviews when deciding on which event or which sport to do next, that you're led by the broadcasters. i wonder whether that's changing in your mind.

is it other companies, internet companies down the line companies, are you listening to what they want as well? >> i listen to all my customers. i'm not sure about that because i do listen to broadcasters. when i get involved in the sports, the only person i really listen to is me. and i actually promote events that i think i personally would enjoy on the basis of i think i'm a pretty good cross section of the average working class bloke. where i come from in my background, my whole ideology of lich is a working class normal. but then of course you have the technology has changed so much fundamental part but they are a bread and butter part, if you like. the upside, the future the development side comes from social media, new media opportunities and these are these strange guys that walk in the office when they feel like it, that look as if they've come through a hedge backwards and don't go home. and these are under 25 gurus that you must listen to all the

time because, frankly, they're on another level to me mentally in this world. but sports will be all about the exploitation around social media predominantly the next few years and the mon tarization of that will be the success of those companies. >> a quick look in on european markets before we go to break. it's a mixed section. the ftse fractionally above flat as is italy. germany and france are both down about a quarter of a percent. and, wilfred, you may have an iphone in your pocket, an ipad at your desk, but will you soon have an icar in your garage? that's up next.

thank you for joining us on "worldwide exchange." investors eye yet another meeting in brussels over greece a number of european leaders backing germany and demanding athens to stick to the terms of its bailout. >> the euro takes another leg down as the latest manufacturing data disappoints flash pmi. not keeping up with owe sectors. >> telecom italia reveals its three-year business plan within the hour after reporting they are in line with expectations. we will speak to the firm's ceo straight after their release. hacked off.

shares in gemalto sinks on reports that the data was stolen. they say they're investigating but cannot verify the claims. now yesterday's price action was particularly interesting, wilfred. markets did move lower. you have to wonder if it has to do with the sell-off that we're seeing in oil. does oil need to rally in order for stocks to outperform? >> there was a bit of a disconnect and we saw a little bit of profit taking once again in the bond market that pushed the ten-year back above 2.1% so i agree. interesting to see that

disconnect disconnect. >> of course i'm sure income seekers are welcoming that 2.1% yield on the u.s. tenure. take a look at u.s. futures. today could be a sem lar situation. we're looking at the tech heavy up about two points in premarket trade. the seventh straight before the nasdaq getting close to breaking 5,000. of course a milestone not hit since march of 2000. shares of walmart did weigh on the dow due to disappointing forecast. we'll get you more on that in the next hour. we're down but just ever so slightly, keep in mind a lot of focus not on japanese stocks hitting a 15-year high. a lot of bullish sentiment around the economy and what the boj is able to implement.

it was a mix of disappointing ppi and pmi data weighing on investors sentiment. keeping an eye on greece. retail sales for the month of january did come in disappoint ing. despite that we are looking at the ftse 100 up about four points but down the wall here as a little bit of greece and sha russia. the fighting continuing despite that ceasefire coming together. >> the bond market as well. we have the u.s. ten year just back above 2.1%. the last week or two and shrugged off comments from the fed that brought it down botch the 2% mark earlyier in the week. and we just saw yields tick up

in the uk as has been the trend. which has helped offset a little bit today by retail sales. the ten year greek yield is just below 10%, 9.8%. the focus on sterling has now come off around a quarter percent. the yen is at 118.65. it's off 0.2%. that's where we remain today but they did both dip below those levels earlier in the week on news the u.s. inventories were five times higher than expected. today a bit of weakness.

60.14 for brent. seema? >> the recent move in oil and what that means for stocks with brian needleman at cornerstone financial partners. happy friday to you. >> thank you for having me aboard today. we appreciate it from charlotte, north carolina. >> there we go. represent. let's talk about oil. the sell-off continues. there was an initial thought out there that perhaps oil prices had stabilized but clearly that's not the case. what does that mean though for the u.s. equity trade? some is traders say it's moved lower. >> we're working at cornerstone quite a bit. oil is a commodity and everybody is wondering where are is oil going to bottom where is the opportunity in oil, and quite frankly oil is not going to bottom until we take care of the

supply issue. we have over a billion in reserve. and until we add this up, the realization of supply and demand. i don't see that ending. >> it already has fallen significant amounts. so are there certain sectors that can benefit from that that you would be investing in at the moment? >> certainly. that's what we look for. where do we find opportunity. the profitability is found in refineries. the more the lower the price of gasoline, the more they use. the greater profitability. plastics airlines cruiseships. you look to see are where the opportunity is based on lowering their expense and increasing

profitability. about 2 billion a year but they haven't lowered rates. january comps are very good. >> absolutely. brian, when taking a look we had walmart shares due to a disappointing forecast. facebook also rallying. are there any overlapping themes when looking at these individual stock stories? where would you put money? >> our favorite sector is the currency. basically it's creating head winds for the500 companies. the stronger the dollar the tougher for u.s. large companies to compete internationally and you're seeing that. a lot of can companies are preannouncing revenue and profit are falling.

the euro is falling n. japan 84 on the dollar. they have very much a competitive edge. and that's where moving money right now. can companies in u.s. dollars. >> tell us a couple of those specific stocks you're looking at, those plays benefiting from their own weaker currencies as owe opposed to the strong dollar. >> lpl prefers us not to discuss individual issues but we do like the sectors. i do like consumer discretionary, i.e. the airlines, the gaming companies, are car rentals, a lot of travel for business and leisure, we like technology. specifically components for apple and mobile devices.

they do have nice profits and growth rates. it is a market you have to cherry pick. using a broad s&p 500 will be very difficult this year. who can get growth. >> some call it the year of stock picking. thanks for waking up early with us here on friday. let's get you a rundown on what to watch this trading day, the february market splash report is out at 9:45 a.m. eastern this tracks the manufacturing sector based on output employment delivery times and inventories. deere is expected to see profits fall as they cut spendings due to lower grain prices. >> let's take a look at today's other top stories.

the main sticking point are the union's demands and changes. honda says it would cut production of another 5,000 vehicles due to shipping delays at the ports. those factories primarily make the honda civic. honda is targeting 2020 to begin production of an electric car. industry experts say auto de designers typically take five to seven years to develop a car or a decade if they're starting from scratch. the car is rottedly exeportedly to be all electric but may not reach the market if it fails to impress. we're looking at the stock up 0.3%. that's three months. it's you up 20%. >> is it because you've said in the past a consensus? >> it has been a consensus for a

while. >> edwin was say inging apple is trading at a discount to the s&p 5:00. perhaps that's a reason to stay. >> from fossil fuels to alternative energies one source may have passed you by. whiskey. head to cnbc.com to find out how it could be used to power a car. >> are you a whiskey fan? >> i'm not really. it gives a terrible hangover. >> a little too strong for me. it's an acquired taste, if you will, from what i hear. my dad tells me that. shanrussian anti-monopoly services have launched an investigation into google according to an interfax news agency. we will keep you updated. google is reportedly trying to corral a broad group of smartphone makers, banks and

payment networks to create a new version of its google wallet service. taking a look at shares of google, watching this breaking news from interfax services are launching this. shares don't seem to be impacted in frankfurt. >> now greece and germany are apart rebuffing the loan extension proposal calling it a trojan horse as the jergermans worry greece is trying to shirk its bailout commitments. we have had a flash in the last couple of minutes from a greig government official saying the eurozone have covered 80% of ground and need to agree on a further 20% at today's euro green meeting. julia is live.

as you go in 10% increments, i hope that's the case. it certainly fits with the message i got last night from the commission and that was progress had been made in the talks yesterday. are we close enough now in that 20% in order to achieve some kind of compromise. as you mentioned the trojan horse as far as the proposal from the greeks. they were confident they could do something that all sides would agree to. we've had various levels of commentary, the hard-liners saying there's a glimmer of hope at least to reach some kind of conclusion to today's meetings. but then talk we could have to see the leaders come to brussels to ultimately sign off on some kind of deal. still a lot of speculation right now about what we can achieve. i'm going to be running off to talk to some of the finance ministers hopefully and get a sense whether or not we've seen any softening, any real shift amongst the other countries that could perhaps exert some

pressure on the hard-liners here to a compromise. based on what the germans were saying yesterday it seems they just wanted three lines in this proposal. look, do you want an extension or don't you? will you complete the current bailout? and, "c," where do we go from here? will you negotiate with the troika going forward? very, very difficult for the groex to agree to given the compromises we already saw in their proposal. tough talks to come today. we just have to see whether or not we can reach a conclusion. guys, back to you. >> julia, thank you very much for that update. as we head to break here on "worldwide exchange," let's leave you with pictures from the nbc drone of the niagara falls like you've never seen them before. we'll be back in a couple of minutes.

welcome back. let's give you some headlines. europe takes a hard line against greece as ministers meet again to try and hash out a deal. the euro heads south as

manufacturing data disappoints. and d-day for the west coast ports dispute. a resolution must be found today. and there are some retail names on the move. nordstrom's fourth quarter profit fell missing estimates as the department store spent more to upgrade technology and expand locations. same store sales did beat analyst estimates. nordstrom's 2015 profit is below expectation ss due to higher costs related to expanding in canada. let's take a look at how shares of nordstrom's a trading now up just about 2% in frankfurt. walmart shares were up a move that would hit earnings in the short term. the biggest retailer outlook is lower than analysts forecast. speaking exclusively to cnbc, the ceo he can mrand the decision to raise pay to at least $9 an hour.

>> we want our associates to know how much we value them. training programs and this company, as you probably know, has always been a people bess. it's a people business today and it will be tomorrow. our associates, their pride in the company , the ownership that they take, those things are vital to running a good retail business and today we're investing in them and want them to know how important they are. >> earlier our colleagues on europe he's "squawk box" suppose to randy posner and asked him what this meant for the u.s. labor market. listen in. >> we're seeing more strength in the labor market which is a positive sign and i think this is representative of that. it is a very large firm but it is only one firm. we don't want to take too much from this one action but i think it is suggestive that the labor market is start to go streng strengthen. i think it's great there's more competition for workers.

real wages have been stagnating. it's important to start to get some real wage increases. that's the only way you get income up, get consumption up and recovery. >> wilfred, the question is what prompted walmart to increase its minimum pay? was it a tightening, the unemployment rate has been falling over the past couple of months, or is it because there's rising competition for low cost workers? >> it's a really interesting one and the market took it a little tifl. negatively. he's represented to turn around the company. >> a lot of finish it if i was he has put together. trying to see the fruits of those plans that have been put in place. i guess another thing to focus on when it comes to this minimum pay is if this will put more pressure on other retailers to increase their minimum pay and is it enough for these individuals to increase the quality of their lives. that, of course has a concern. >> something to continue to watch. there have been some flashes coming out of telecom italia that says it targets more than

14 billion euros. the last target was the three-year investment announcement that has followed their earnings which came out this morning. they're saying adjusted net debt is the target 2.5 times by the end of 2017 and the board is inclined to pay dividends only on saving shares. now we will be speaking to the firm's ceo first on cnbc in around ten minutes' time so do stay tuned for that one. >> absolutely. and still to come on the show taking the fight to isis. the pentagon outlines plans to retake iraq's second biggest city mosul. all of those details after this short break. you can't predict the market. but at t. rowe price we've helped guide our clients through good times and bad. our experienced investment professionals are one reason over 85% of our mutual funds beat their

10-year lipper averages. so in a variety of markets we can help you feel confident. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

the u.s. secretary of state has reaffirmed his country's commitment to tackling extremism in the middle east. speaking at a white house summit attended by the arab league john kerry said america would support its allies in the region in the fight against isis and other fundamentalist organizations. >> the arab league obviously is based with its headquarters in cairo, but it is responsible for all of the arab relationships

and has been a sol he had partner in trying to find ways to address violent extremism, to address isil to deal with the middle east peace process, syria, egypt and its transitions. >> now this comes after the pentagon took the unusual steps of releasing plans to retake mosul. iraq's second biggest city was taken over by isis in june of last year. tracie potts is live with us from washington. tracey? >> reporter: hi, seema. more also on the fact president obama is not calling this islamic extremism and that is stirring up a lot of controversy here in the you states. one of his harshest critics former new york mayor rudy giuliani juliangiuliani in private at a meeting with donors rich republican donors called the president -- he questioned his patriotism saying he does not love america. later on camera he backed off that a bit saying that he's sure the president is a patriot but

he questioned some of his tactics. he said that later he has been criticizing the u.s. mo than any other president. president obama at that summit you just talked about made it very clear that fighting terror is not the same thing as fighting islam and there were a lot of muslim leaders there. he got a lot of praise from them. again, a lot of chris sichlriticism from those in the united states who think that stance is soft on terror. what the president did announce are two new initiatives, a new youth exchange program, so young people in this country, they are trying to prevent from being radicalized, can get to know those in other countries. also one person a point person, in his administration who would deal with what this conference has dubbed violent extremism. seema? >> tracie thank you for that report live from washington. still to come on the show, in the last few minutes telecom

italia has unveiled its three-year investment plan. we speak to the ceo straight after this break. the dow up about one point in premarket trade. more on the nasdaq. seven straight days of consecutive games. can it break 5,000 in the near future?

welcome, everyone, to "worldwide exchange" on this friday morning. i'm seema mody. >> and i'm wilfred frost. >> let's start with markets. a cautious start as investors eye another meeting in brussels over greece. a number of european leaders backing germany and demanding athens stick to the term of their bailout. >> the euro takes another leg down as the latest manufacturing data disappoints. flash pmi shows activity is not keeping up with other sectors. >> telehe comecom italia reveals its three-year business plan. we will be speaking to the firm firm's ceo. shares in digital firm gemalto sinks on reports the nsa and british spies stole its data. they say they are investigating but cannot verify the claims.

and if you're just joining us here on wore"worldwide exchange," thank you for joining us. take a look at futures pointing to a higher open but just marginally higher at this time. the nasdaq up just about seven points and yesterday the nasdaq it steal the show once again. we've seen seven consecutive days of gains for the tech hetchy nasdaq. it's now less than 100 points from breaking 5,000. seen as a milestone given that it's a level that has not been traded at since march of 2000. now oil still the big part of the story. wti crude down 4% over the past two days. there was some talk that perhaps oil had hit a bottom but clearly the sell-off continues. however in today's trade we're looking at slight gains across the board. wti crude trading higher 8 cents. brent crude, the international gauge for oil right now trading just above $60 a barrel. taking a look at european markets, another crucial day for greece after germany rejected

its bid in an effort to extend its bailout by six months. that of course happened last month. markets responding today so that lack of negotiations taking place between greek leaders and european policy is makers continues to dominate. the tax down. we did get a whole dose of disappointing manufacturing activity that has been weighing on investors sentiment. in france a loss of around 25 points. remember the ceasefire over the weekend, fighting continues. the micex index, the russian equity market down about half a percent. wilfred? >> seema, thank you very much. let's move on. telecom italia unveiled its new three-year investment plan after a drop in revenue for 2014 broad ly in line with analyst expectations. let's get out to steve sedgwick

who is standing by with the ceo. >> the shares coming out a little bit. the people say they've had a good runup in advance of this 2015-2017 announcement on the numbers as well. to the ceo of telecom italia really good to see you, marc patuano. what you are doing and not doing, tell me why this set of numbers underline the need for reinvigorated strategy going forward. >> one year ago we did an important turnaround of our strategy because we were so much focused mostly on the debt and our strategy on infrastructure was lagging behind. now one year ago we decided to change the strategy to start focusing on new infrastructure as fast as possible, both in italy and in brazil. and the results are there.

so we are very satsisfied with it. it went the way we expected. so the results are there and so this has room for improving. >> the strategy today talks of a whole host of ishsues on a stand alone basis. i think what a lot of people also want to hear from you is how you're going to grow that infrastructure of your operation given the debt constraints you had. moody's and s&p have you at 26 billion euros plus worth of debt as well. how do you grow the business with that debt profile and can you do it without acquisitions? >> we -- even though we accelerated the investments, we've been able to have a recurring of about $1 billion. then we bought spectrum which is always good. both in brazil. we were in argentina at the

time. we want to deliver a good can company, so we brought in ar jen argentina which counts more or less for 900 million euros. it's important that our recurring operating is extremely solid. so this gives us the possibility to increase the complex and focus it. of course not to ask to deleverage, we launched a very important new efficiency plan both on owe pecks and traditional so efficiency will pay half of the bill. and a part of the operating will dedicate it to new investments. >> just to con ferm in terms of your relationship with the ratings agencies and what they want to see from you and what you want to do in terms of getting back to investment grade, that's not the priority now, though.

>> i think that the capital structure is just one portion of what the rating agency looks at. the other parties worries the stabilization of your financial results. this plan, having that acceleration of investment we target not only the stabilization but rebound. having a rebound, what we assume is that the level of our debt will be watched from a different perspective, from a different angle. >> in terms of growth of your company, you're making big investments in both europe and brazil as well. the latter point as well on a standalone basis, 4 billion euros you'll be investing in brazil. you can correct me if you like. that's investing in the current operation rather than any expansion towards tie-ups and what have you. >> we invest in brazil per year

which stands in the previous plan for more or less 12 billion. we're doing exactly what we're doing in italy so accelerating and increase the level targeting around 14 billion which is a very significant number and focusing on the organic growth. we strongly believe that brazil, that the profile of the population which is at the same time younger and with a growing middle class that is starting now, the allocation of their resources will be more on the mobile than the more mature

convergent products like we see in europe. focusing on the mobile will be a good strategy. >> i wonder if that's an answer to offset my next question are you going to buy oil. you talked about conditionality, the complexity of it, the regulatory issues. are you going to buy oil? >> at this moment we are 100% concentrated on the organic situation of our company. there has been quet a the lot of speculation. we made oo analysis. we are working on an organic. >> is the holdup the brazilian government? >> the brazilian government there is a process of the new government, the new parliament is in place.

of course it is extremely important continuing in something that we started some time ago. we are talking with the brazilian government on a daily basis. >> are you going to buy metro web? >> it seems that our life depends on m&a. >> not necessaryily. let me answer that for you in a way. it doesn't. you want to become a multiple player, whatever it may be, in order to have that you are the best fiber, the best access to fixed line which is why i asked those questions. >> yes, i agree. we are going to invest half a billion in tth. 3 billion in access fiber in the next three years which means huge coverage. we're going to grow up to 75% of the population which is amazing, believe me. it's an incredible work for our engineers, about 2,000 to cover, 40 cities to cover with tth.

if there is something that we can do in order to accelerate something could be interesting. we can't wait. if there is a big discussion, a big debate and, you know, it means it takes time and we have to rush. >> ten seconds left. how good a job is mr. renzi doing? is he leading out of the crisis? >> the answer is yes. thanks to the job we can change the age profile of our company, we can hire 4,000 people because it will be possible to manage a change of mix in the population. so i think he's doing a good job. >> i could go on and on but thank you indeed marc. colder than when we last saw each other. marc patuan for tellecom italia. >> steve, great interview. we are looking for telecom

italia. more about the space, t-mobile beating expectations on the top and bottom line sending shares higher. the firm that is two-thirds owned by deutsch telecom over 2 million new subscribers turning around years of losses. the always outspoken ceo told cnbc about his plans to focus on growing the customer base. >> i was accused in the second hatch of last year of thinking more about customers than shareholders. which, by the way, you know you can judge we've shown profitability will follow. we gave huge guidance, which is the news coming forward. one by one taking all the things that everybody hates about wireless and eliminating them structurally. >> gemalto is trading lower after a report they were hacked by an nsa spy agency. the dutch security company says

it's taking the claim seriously. it's down the best part of 7%. now this weekend it's the 87th academy awards. "american sniper "and "whiplash" in the running for best picture. it's a prize worth fighting for since the winner gives a big boost to box office sales. this year's best picture nominees are the lowest grossing movies in the last six years. >> i wonder if that has to do with more entertainment firms are foecused on investing in tv dramas versus movies. >> the ones that win the awards? >> or the fact we're seeing lower grossing sales. >> overall the industry is not doing much worse, it's just particularly this year is the worst one in terms of best picture nominations. >> plus the pivotal role that online streaming can companies like netflix is playing when it comes to entertainment. do you know how much an oscar gold statue is actually worth? >> i don't. i'm going to guess.

>> please do. >> $5,000. >> he see, this is interesting. i thought it would be worth are more. if you melt it down it's only $400. not as much -- >> if you melt it down. but if you saw it on ebay it would go for more than that. >> sure. >> given the oscar contenders haven't smashed any box office sales, do you think the awards ceremonies still matter? join the conversation and get in touch with us by emaim or via twitter. our personal handles are on the screen. do you know what the highest grossing show of all time is? >> i feel like i'm on a quiz show. >> the phantom of the opera. >> that's one of your favorites? you're always humming that song. >> don't tell everyone that. moving on, starbucks is getting out to the music business sort of. the coffee giant will stop selling physical cds by the end of march. starbucks will offer digital music. they started invest inging in 1999

and generated $65 million in annual revenue. several artists released their albums exclusively in their stores. cd sales it in general have dropped off falling 15% last year. >> coming up apple inching even closer to getting behind the wheel. we saw through the reports of the iphone maker's ambitious plans for a poe tension electric car coming up next. ♪ help brazil reduce its overall reliance on foreign imports with the launch of the country's largest petrochemical operations. when emerson takes up the challenge it's never been done before simply becomes consider it solved. emerson.

welcome back. take a look at shares of deer.e. berkshire hathaway doubled its stake now owning 5% of deere's total shares boosting it to its highest levels since may of 2014. this does come ahead of the construction company's earnings. >> i wonder if we'll see them facing threats from the likes of apple. it was unlikely automakers would face a threat. a week about apple's plans to build its own electric car. the latest from cnbc hq. apple's project is still

official ly officially secret but it's been widely reported on. they plan to start production by 2020. industry experts say it typically takes five to seven years to develop a vehicle and up to a decade if they start from scratch. the project may never reach the market if it fails to impress apple executives. it would compete with tesla and gm that could have a range of more than 200 miles per charge. the times says apple has assembled a team of about 200 people both from inside the company and potential competitors like tesla and battery maker a-123 systems, suing apple for approaching employees. apple's venture is being called project titan. apple has been getting more involved behind the we'll.

a system that lets drivers link with the car's infotainment system. the question here is how long would you wait in line for the icar? >> thank you very much. >> from fossil false to al alternative energies there's one source which may just have passed you by, whiskey. it could be used to power everything from a car to an airplane a. very interesting story here. >> certainly an interesting one, one i'm going to read. i haven't read it yet. i don't like whis at this, i have to say. maybe i'll use it as fuel. >> do you have a choice? i'm a vodka girl. >> maybe beer wine. >> all right. before we go to break here are your headlines this hour. europe takes a hard line against greece as ministers meet to try to hash out a deal.

the euro heads south and d-day for the west coast ports. the labor secretary says a resolution must be found today.

opportunities aren't always obvious. sometimes they just drop in. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances.

let's have a look at what european markets are doing. a mixed session. just below flat. the ftse 100 is up 0.36%. germany and france just below france and athens is managing to stay in the green today. the euro dollar we had a strong day yesterday and then today we have sold off. down a quarter of a percent. following that we had german

french and eurozone pmis which saw service sectors beat. that has led to a bit of weakness in the euro dollar. it's now currently down a quarter of a percent. when we look at u.s. futures pointing to a higher open we have picked up steam here over the past half an hour. up about 21 points. the nasdaq up 11. the nasdaq has seen seven straight days of gains getting a little bit closer to breaking 5,000. the s&p 500 despite hitting an all-time day high failed to close at a new record. let's also get you a rundown what to watch this friday. the u.s. pm ireport is due. based on new orders and

inventories. earnings report deere, expected to see profit fall as formers cut spending. >> and joining to us discuss more is the seennior vice president. scott, great to have you here. >> are we in a risk on or off moment? we have different signals coming the last few days from the equity and the bond markets. >> i think it depends on which side of the aisle you're talking about. after the last minutes we got, depending if you're a hawk or a dove, you liked what you heard. i think really ultimately we can't raise rates this year. i would like everybody to take a look at the citi economic index that will tell you how we are missing on every major economic number that we have except for that last payroll number. ultimately we'll need to see the other numbers come in line so

the fed can raise rates this summer. i don't think they're going to. but with what was said yesterday in the fed minutes, they lacked as though they were dovish but there were some things in there if you're a hawk you'll like too. we'll continue to argue this point. oil tells me it's not firing on all cylinders. we have to keep an eye on the smaller numbers. >> greece continues to be a big concern for the markets. 1 billion euros amid jitters over the three-day weekend. how closely are you watching the situation with grease? not a big concern or yes, it is? >> well it's a concern because it's going to show us how fracturous the auer pen union is. i was there in 1997. i don't think it makes a lot of

sense. i think they're going to struggle and the european union is really in trouble. this is a good example. we're delaying the inevitable. isn't it funny how there's a bank holiday in greece after all the turmoil that we've had all weeklong. some folks will take a little bit of cover here. i think today it will dampen down while guys run for cover waiting for what happens next tuesday. >> germany continues to play hardball with ait thens. thank you for joining us this friday morning. >> for now that's all we have time for here in london with worldwide exchange. >> "squawk box" is next. have a great weekend. we'll see you monday.

good morning. a ticking debt bomb. it's a critical time for greece, even more critical in recent weeks as the country quickly is running out of money and the global markets are on high alert. the tech turning out to be the toughest of the markets. the nasdaq on its longest winning streak in a year and closing at the highest level in 15 years. oh, yes, 1999 and 2000. that's right. and is this new york's hot new address luxury condos could be coming to the top floors of the iconic waldorf astoria . it's friday, february 20, 2015 and "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ i'm back back in the new york groove ♪

live from new york where business never sleeps this is "squawk box." good morning, everybody. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm becky quick along with joe kerr nan and and kernan and andrew ross-sorkin. take a look at the stunning aerial views we've seen. we have some video of frozen niagara falls. even florida is bracing for record lows. and in kentucky last night it was colder than antarctica. we will have a live report from our friends at the weather channel in a bit. first, things are heating up for the bulls on wall street. joe mentioned the nasdaq's big run back to 5,000. andpple a huge part of the story. shares rising more than 60% in the last 12 months. as are for the broader markets, the s&p right now is right around break even for the holiday shortened week. the index is trying for its third st