good morning. breaking overnight, the bank of japan holds policy steady but warns of a more negative view of the economy. up next, the fed starts its two-day meeting. decision 2016. voters in five key primary states heading to the polls today. will today's contest seal the deal for front runners hillary clinton and donald trump, or will rivals make a last stand? and new this morning, sony strikes a $750 million deal to buy michael jackson's stake in the world's largest music publisher. it's tuesday, march 15th, 2016. beware of the ides of march, and "worldwide exchange" begins

right now. good morning and welcome to "worldwide exchange" on cnbc. i'm sara eisen. >> and i'm wilfred frost. sara, welcome back. >> missed you yesterday. came back, though, for double day. fed meeting, boj, super tuesday too. it's getting exciting. >> we sort of missed you. i don't want to be too clear on it. we don't want to make you think we have to have you back every single day and you can't enjoy some holiday once in a while. let's have a look at u.s. equity futures this morning. of course, yesterday we sort of lost a bit of steam. we had the lowest volume day of the year so far. we're looking at a little negative again today. the dow called lower by 84 points. the s&p by 13. the nasdaq by 27 points. a quick look at the ten-year yield as well. a good gauge of risk sentiment the last few weeks. the moves have been clear. we've been ticking up closer to 2%. however, the last couple days

we've been treading water. we're back down to closer to 1.9. nonetheless, seeing a little bit of risk-off sentiment to start the week. today's top market story, the bank of japan keeping its monetary policy steady as expected. the boj offering a bleaker view of the economy though, attributing recent weakness in exports and output to a slowdown in emerging markets. the central bank removed language from its statement that it would cut interest rates further into negative territory if needed. the japanese yen is strengthening on the back of this. dollar weak, yen strong. 112.98, so it just broke through that 113 level. interestingly, the japanese yen is up more than 14% since the bank of japan went into negative territory at its last meeting on january 29th. here's the story in asia. the nikkei falling about 0.6%. in shanghai, they managed to

close with a slight gain. the chinese currency weakened, perhaps fueling this risk aversion and global market selloff we're seeing overnight. >> indeed. you mentioned the move to the yen in response to negative rates. of course, the moved in the euro has been pretty similar. the net move, at least, since a further move to negative rates last week. the euro strengthened a little by friday. let's have a look at european equity markets. red across the screen. similar to the vibe in asia. we've lost a bit of steam today. we lost a bit of volume too. it's as if there's no conviction out there. and what conviction there is, it's a little soft. >> maybe it's all in anticipation of janet yellen here in the u.s. we've got a heavy data load. inflation, the consumer, and the fed taking center stage today. first up, february retail sales out at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. forecast to have slipped last month due to cheaper gas prices. core sales will be key. they are expected to rise. also at 8:30 a.m., we get

february producer mi er price i wholesale prices. they're expected to dip after edging higher in january. and the federal reserve begins its two-day policy meeting today. the decision is due tomorrow afternoon along with all that accompanies that. the members' latest economic projections, janet yellen's news conference, and of course the famous dot plot, which is the forecast for where the fed expect rates to go. v valeant reports its long-delayed results. >> we mentioned stocks. now to the broader markets. oil prices have been so key for equity market sentiment. we had four weeks of gains. we started this week a little more softly, as you can see. down another 2% today. wti, 36.38. we had started to flirt with that $40 level late last week, but we're away from that at the moment. let's have a look at some of the main currency pairs. the euro climbing fractionally today. it's at 1.11. most interesting, though, is the yen, which has bounced a little

bit. 112, pushing on to 113. the pound is down 1.42. let's have a look at gold prices as well. decent start to the year. coming off its highs recently, but still that chart looking pretty attractive. now to today's top morning story. the bank of japan. a recap of what we've learned overnight. >> good morning to you, sara. we've certainly seen asian markets fall broadly across the board on that news out of the boj. although, we've seen some bright spots at the shanghai composite. the nikkei 225 falling back into negative territory, about 0.7% down at the close. after the boj downgraded the outlook for the economy in japan. the boj and governor kuroda's decision today essentially saying let's all pause this negative interest rate policy, take a deep breath, then digest the impact on the markets on a

policy that's largely been unpopular. the boj removed language that says they will cut rates further into negative territory, but they didn't back down from it. mr. kuroda speaking to reporters after, saying the policy has worked to push down borrowing costs and strengthen the impact of qqe. he says there needs to be more time to find out the effects of the policy. the boj did make some adjustments to the policy, essentially fine tuning it, for one, responding to criticism and exempt money reserve funds. this is essentially cash individual investors have parked to trade stocks. those were exempt from negative interest rates. the boj also moved to lessen the burden of negative rates on commercial banks if they buy from central bank special loans. now, when downgrading the outlook for the economy, kuroda said expectations had weakened, but he was sticking to the 2% target, perhaps hinting at more easing at the policy meeting next month. wilfred and sara? >> thank you very much for that.

sara, i have to say, if we look at market moves back end of last week and the start of this week, it was meant to be all about the central banks. clearly on thursday last week and friday, we got a bit of a response to ecb. i still think oil has been the dominant factor in the last, you know, three or four weeks as a whole. and yes, central banks are relevant, but again, i think we're off today because oil is off. we were off yesterday because oil was off. >> nobody was expecting anything from the boj, right? they didn't surprise. >> no, so i think it was in line with expectations. >> so the 2% slide in oil could be more important. what's also interesting here is that markets are having opposite reactions to what central bankers are intending. mario draghi unleashes a bazooka of a stimulus package. yes, they got a lift on friday, but not quite the reaction he might have intended. the euro stronger. the japanese yen stronger. these central banks are easing partly in an effort to weaken their currencies. it's going the opposite way.

that's why it'll be so important to see how the market reacts tomorrow to fed chairman janet yellen. >> absolutely right. but of course the fed is in a different position. if it does take action, it's in the opposite direction. i think the reason when we saw negative rates in japan, as you said a few weeks ago, and again further into negative territory from the ecb last week, that they're having less effect because they're chasing a move that's already happened around the rest of the world. when it cut rates quickly, it was so much more significantly than when these central banks are doing it at the last moment of the day. if we did get action from the fed, which nobody is expecting, it would have a huge reaction because it's in the opposite direction. so it's a first mover advantage. but that's the issue kuroda and draghi has. they're embracing qe when their currencies have already fallen. >> it's managing expectations. that's why tomorrow is so key for janet yellen to late out her path without spooking the

markets too much. >> she doesn't want to spook the market, but she must be feeling quite happy that confidence has come back a little bit and it's not all this doom and gloom and she can slightly embrace, yeah, we're going to hike, but not now. let's switch focus. big day in the race for the white house. republican and democratic primary elections will be held in five states. florida and ohio are both winner take all states, meaning the winning candidate for both parties gets all of the state's delegates. and in corporate news today, jpmorgan reportedly wants to sell new securities that would pass along most of the credit risk on $1.9 billion in mortgages. this part of the debt market has been for the most part left to the government since the financial crisis. "the wall street journal" reporting the bank is expected to price the residential mortgage backed deal over the next two weeks. stocks to watch today. general electric announcing that three of its board members would

leave this year in what it calls a refreshment. the firm also saying ceo's total compensation fell nearly 12% last year to 33 million. toyota is report dpedly set agree to a monthly base wage increase for workers to 1500 yen. outerwall, the parent of red box, says it will explore strategic and financial alternatives and also doubling its quarterly dividend. a few more stocks to watch today. viacom shareholders voting to re-elect the company's directors. they also rejected a move to extend rights to all shareholders. express scripts announcing u.s. drug spending rose by more than 5% last year, helped by specialty drug sales. and amphastar fapharmaceuticals

set to have its biggest gain after earnings that beat estimates. still to come here on "worldwide exchange," today's trade of the day. where to hide on dollar strength. plus, a key legal deadline for apple in its fight with the u.s. government. and lyft and gm rolling out a car rental program. those stories and much, much more are coming up on "worldwide exchange."

welcome back to "worldwide exchange." a very good morning to you, if

you're just etting up, let's get you up to speed on the market action. predominantly red across the screens today. asia, as you can see, pointing down with japan and hong kong down about 0.7%. the bank of japan kept everything on track, no change in interest rates, no change in the qe program. that was broadly as expected. nonetheless, a bit of negativity. negativity that we're also seeing in europe today, despite no real news flow there. one of the reasons we're seeing this negativity is because oil prices are down 2%. that's also weighing on u.s. equity futures. let's have a look at those. we're expecting to open down by about 70 points for the dow. four weeks of gains for oil. today that's losing steam. >> now to today's trade of the day. tomorrow's fed announcement could cause the dollar's rally to resume, especially if the fed hints at more interest rate hikes on the way. our data team crunched the numbers to find out the best and worst performers when the dollar strengthens. here are the results. historically, goldman sachs,

caterpillar, american express, and jpmorgan rally with the dollar. on the flip side, home depot, mcdonald's, walmart, and nike are all vulnerable to dollar strength. for more, go to cnbc.com and check out cnbc pro. makes sense that mcdonald's and nike would get hurt. the multinationals doing business overseas. when other currencies weaken where they're doing business, they bring it back home, it's worth a lot less. it's interesting to note some of the banks do well when the dollar strengthens. >> or i suppose of course if it's strengthening because interest rates are going up. >> that ep hhelps their busines too. tech news. apple's response to the dv department of justice is due today. authorities say unlocking the phone of one of the san bernardino terrorists could provide more information about the shooter and the plot behind the deadly attack. apple claims this would breach the promised protection of the privacy of all of its users. both parties are due in california for a court hearing

next week. >> and what's so interesting about the timing is on march 21st, that's where their invitation for a launch went out. a lot of people expect them to launch a new iphone se, special edition. one day before the court ruling. >> it is good timing. >> se is for special edition, not for sara ooe eisen? >> correct. although, it's not clear. >> you might get your own branded iphone. that would be cool. amazon will launch a cloud migration service today. the technology will let companies shift data from their own computer servers to data centers run by amazon. microsoft has a similar program. aws has been one of the key drivers of revenue strength for amazon and one of the reasons people say the stock was the second best performer on the s&p last year. up, what, 120% or something. >> not as good a year this year. recovered some ground. >> some of those stocks haven't been doing well. though, facebook has come back a little. more corporate news. valeant pharmaceuticals will

release its long delayed quarterly results today. the ceo is back at work after a two-month medical leave. he's promising to update investors on the company's outlook for the coming year. >> he is incredibly, incredibly driven, incredibly smart. he's a great problem solver, and we're solving problems as we speak, as the model changes and shifts. he's about, you know, 80% back. he really was sick. he's finding his energy as we speak. it's surprising how quickly he's attack attacked and having come back and really being as determined as you can be and solving problems. we think mike is the right guy for the job. >> valeant's market cap has more

than halved since october. lyft launching a new rental service with gm this week. the lyft co-founder talked about it on "closing bell" yesterday. >> in the united states alone, $2 trillion is spent every year on car ownership. so there's a massive opportunity as more and more millennials and others in cities switch over from car ownership to transportation as a service. they're picking lyft. we want to stay focused on that big opportunity. >> of course, lyft is fighting to take market share from its larger rival uber. what i think is so interesting is general motors and the other automakers are finally getting on board with this idea, which ultimately could be very costly to its business if people aren't selling cars. better to join them. >> what i find fascinating about this, we talk about how the internet has transformed these types of businesses. the biggest media company in the

world, facebook, doesn't produce content. the biggest travel company in the world, uber, doesn't own its own set of cars. taking this a step further, even the employees don't own their cars. it's just leasing left, right, and center, and trying to make small margins. >> sharing. >> it's the sharing economy. a nice spin on it. just amazing how this has transformed the industry. uber is a great example. >> maybe that's why these auto stocks have been stuck despite the fact we are seeing near record amount of auto sales every single year. >> right. still to come, we'll hit the campaign trail. five big primaries today, including contests in the key winner take all states of florida and ohio. we'll talk about the high stakes there next. but first, here's today's national forecast from the weather channel's jen carfagno. >> wilfred and sara, good tuesday to you. not quite as cool in the northeast today but still a couple of showers out there. the big story when it comes to the weather will be the risk for severe weather across the midwest. storms with hail, damaging winds

likely for the chicago area sometime around the dinner area. there is the risk for tornadoes, especially across eastern iowa and western illinois later afternoon, early evening. the system diving into the west will be the weather maker for the end of the week. the other huge story is the heat. record high temperatures are likely again today. record highs in texas yesterday, close to 90 in houston. we'll be up there again today with the warmth all across portions of the south and the south and east. i'm meteorologist jen carfagno with your weather channel forecast. "worldwide exchange" continues after this.

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i'm here! customer care can work better. with xerox. wait i'm here! mr. kent? now to politics. call it mega tuesday. voters from five states going to the polls to help choose the presidential nominees. tracie potts joins us live from washington with what to expect. tracie? >> reporter: hi, wilfred. good morning. good morning, everyone. we are watching both the democrats and the republicans today and watching the polls as well, although it's the voting by the voters that really counts today. but hillary clinton saying that she doesn't really trust the polling anymore after what happened in michigan. donald trump is hoping those polls for him will lead to a clean sweep in these five states. donald trump's hoping for an upset in ohio today by portraying john kasich as an absentee governor, comparing him to trump's own friend, new jersey governor chris christie. >> i hated to do that, but i had

to make my point. >> reporter: mitt romney's defending kasich. >> unlike the other people running, he has a real track record. >> reporter: trump's under fire for violent rallies. three more protesters tossed out in florida. >> we don't have time for all that petty, punk [ muted ] stuff that's been going on with these quote/unquote protesters. >> reporter: ted cruz was interrupted in illinois, but unlike trump -- >> i'm not asking anyone to punch you in the face. >> it's so unfair. it's so unfair. >> reporter: marco rubio's hoping to pull off a miracle today in florida. he's 20 points behind trump in his home state. hillary clinton's up 20 points there, but told msnbc last night after losing michigan, she no longer trusts polls. and she had some strong words for trump. >> a demagogue, a showman, an inciter who is actually fanning the flames. >> reporter: bernie sanders also

ignoring the polls. he's 20 points behind in ohio but much closer in illinois. so the big picture today, there are more than 1100 delegates at stake. that's why this day is so important. while we focus a lot on the republican race, most of those, the vast majority are going to democrats today. >> interesting. tracie, i'm just looking at the cover of my hometown paper "the cincinnati inquirer," they're clearly endorsing the governor. i'm just wondering, if he takes ohio and trump takes florida what the race looks like from there. >> reporter: so if that split happens, it makes it easier for donald trump to get to the nomination, but it does slow him down a bit. that's what both kasich in ohio and rubio in florida are hoping for, either one or both of those states falling for donald trump. it will not stop him from getting the nomination, but it will slow him down. either one of those states goes to anyone but donald trump, and we may well be looking at a contested convention, where they

have to figure it out this summer in cleveland. >> what are you hearing? if rubio loses his home state of florida, does he drop out? >> reporter: well, you know, rubio was asked about that last night, saying, well, i never said i was pinning this whole thing on one state. but clearly the numbers just don't work for him if he doesn't win florida. he may hang in for a little while longer, but the math makes it, as ted cruz keeps pointing out, almost impossible for him to get to the nomination. >> tracie, great stuff. thanks very much for joining us this morning. >> long day for you. >> yeah, long day ahead for tracie. >> a top nfl executive is acknowledging for the first time a link between football-related head trauma and the brain disease cte. at a congressional hearing monday, jeff miller was asked about a connection between hits in football and the disease. his answer was, quote, certainly, yes. cte can only be detected after death. among the players found to have

cte in their brains was a junior seau. michael jackson's estate striking a deal to sell its remaining stake in a lucrative music catalog to sony for $750 million. that gives sony sole ownership of the works by the beatles, bob dylan, eminem, taylor swift, and others. the agreement does not include rights to songs jackson wrote or his master recordings. it's yet another blockbuster deal for the king of pop. his estate has already erased his massive debts through a combo of new music, movie ventures, and re-releases of his popular albums and songs. coming up, this morning's top stories, including reaction to the bank of japan decision overnight. plus, today's top trending stories and why contestants on "the bachelor" are quitting their jobs and refinancing their mortgages. >> this is your favorite tv show. >> it's the best tv show of all time, besides "worldwide exchange."

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good morning. global market alert, the bank of japan holds policy steady but warns of a more negative view of the economy. now the focus turns to the fed. super tuesday 2.0. make or break primaries today in the race for the white house. and the price we'll pay for

love. why contestants on "the bachelor" are quitting their jobs and refinancing their mortgages. it's tuesday, march 15th, 2016. you're watching "worldwide exchange." good morning. welcome to world world on cnbc. i'm sara eisen. >> and i'm wilfred frost. let's get to the top story today. the bank of japan keeping its monetary policy steady as expected. the boj offering a bleaker view, though, of the economy, attributing recent weakness in exports and output to a slowdown in emerging markets. the central bank removed language from its statement that could cut rates further into negative territory if needed. first up, the yen has strengthened somewhat against the u.s. dollar. it's at 113. that doesn't usually help the nikkei. it hasn't today. the nikkei has slid by just over

1%. the hong kong market also down a similar amount. both just shy of 1%. shanghai comp manages to eke out slight gains. >> yeah, the mood is downbeat across global markets. commodities are down. equities are down. let's show you u.s. futures this morning. also pointing to a lower start after pretty much unchanged session and low-volume trading yesterday, which actually led the dow to its highest close of 2016. giving some back today. down 67 here in the early action. s&p futures down 11.5. nasdaq futures down 20. the early action in europe tells a similar story. risk aversion. vulnerability here to swings lower and questions about central banks. it's hurting the dax, down about 0.3%. france down half a percent. bigger losses with the ftse 100. red across the board. >> let's have a look at broader markets. oil prices are a key factor in that red we've just seen in equity markets. as you can see, wti down 2.2% at

36.4. we got close to 40 late last week. we've given up some of that ground early this week. that's been a key reason for why the gains in equity markets have aba abated. let's have a look at u.s. dollar boards. against the yen, saw the yen strengthen. more broadly, the dollar is mixed today. the ten-year note there, 1.94%. let's have a look at gold, which had a great start to the year, but in recent weeks it's just paused for a breath. gold just losing a little bit of steam today at 1233. >> two reasons seem to be driving the selloff that we're seeing. number one, you mentioned the weakness in commodities prices. another 2% slide in oil. yesterday's slide was pretty sharp as well, down more than 3% at one point. this idea that the central bankers just don't have what it takes. post-european central bank decision, post-boj decision,

which nobody expected anything, but there are still questions about the efficacy. the question is, can janet yellen, in her managing of expectations and walking the fine line tomorrow, help restore some confidence in their power. >> i don't think we should overdo the fact we've seen markets in asia selloff. nothing crazy. certainly last week with the ecb, extraordinary intraday moves. in the end, the market deciding what mario draghi released was positive. no doubt about it, we would have expected more overtly clear positive response. >> the yen is up 6% this year. that's what you need to know. that's a risk averse, safe-haven trade. with all of this easy money out there, it might be somewhat surprising. >> although, i think we have to be clear how we define it. the yen moving traditionally is a safe haven, but against the dollar, not necessarily. the dollar has lost its safe haven status. i think it's an unwinding of the trade we saw late last year. it's a belief that no longer is going to continue to run.

but again, oil prices absolutely key. we had four straight weeks of gains. this week, about 2% of losses today and similar moves down yesterday. that's meant we've just lost that conviction we had particularly in a week when there's so much to focus on. >> we'll see what it does for the energy companies and the banks, which were some of the weak links in yesterday's session. also a big day in the race for the white house. republican and democratic primary elections will be held in five states. florida and ohio are the winner take all prizes. residents also of missouri, illinois, and north carolina will be casting votes in the primaries. we have it covered for you all day here on cnbc with the results later tonight. we'll be the first to report them on "worldwide exchange" tomorrow. very exciting. >> could be the day, of course, when clinton and trump start to wrap things up and cement positions. also, could -- florida, ohio, crucial, crucial states. stocks to watch as well.

france's altice posting a rise in profitability. the company is buying cable vision for $10 billion. it's up 4% today. industrial equipment maker dover warns its quarterly results will be, quote, well below expectations, hurt by the energy slump. the company says it will push deeper cuts this year. it's down 2%. and amphastar pharmaceutical set to post its biggest intraday this year as it topped earnings. other stocks to watch today, three aig units will pay $9.5 million to settle allegations they steered clients to more expensive mutual share classes in order to collect more fees. viacom shareholders voting to re-elect the company's directors. outerwall, the parent of the dvd

kiosk creator red box says it will explore strategic and financial alternatives. the firm also doubling its quarterly dividend to 60 cents a share. the stock is reacting quite favorably here in the premarket. blackstone is selling strategic hotels and resorts to china's insurance company. known for owning some iconic hotels like the del coronado in san diego. landon dowdy joins with us the history behind the essex house. >> good morning. that's right. a little bit of a history lesson. construction on the 44-story luxury hotel began the day after the 1929 stock market crash. doors opened in 1931 during the depression. you know the essex hotel for its art deco rooms, prime location on central park, and the iconic red rooftop sign. it's also known for its big price tag, as it's been passed around to foreign buyers.

it started in 1985 when japan airlines bought up the essex hotel for $190 million. in 1999, as asia's economy fizzled, japan airlines sold the essex to u.s. based strategic hotels and resorts for about $250 million. and in 2006, dubai investment group paid nearly double at $434 million and spent $90 million renovating the essex. dubai sold it back to strategic for $362 million, which brings us to today. paying black rock a whopping $6.5 billion. once again, a foreign buyer sees value in the iconic american hotel.

that was a history lesson. you will be tested later. >> everybody knows that sign. it is on the central park skyline. that was interesting. >> my dad used to have an apartment in that building. i don't think he would have known who owned it. landon, thank you very much. now to today's top trending stories. the 20th season of the "the bachelor" wrapping up last night. we're not going to spoil it for you, or for me, because i had to go to bed early. although the future bachelorette is paid more than $100,000 to be on the show, the 30 contestants are not compensate. many saying they've had to quit their jobs, refinance their mortgages, take out loans to afford being on the show. wardrobe is a big part of the story. it's apparently one of the biggest expenses, with one of the ladies telling the writer of the article she had to spend $40,000 of her own money on the wardrobe just to be on the show. >> can you believe it? i mean, i have to say sara

adores this show. i haven't watched it yet. i feel i need to for the research. >> for the research. >> it sounds awful. >> it's really good. it's well edited and well produced. >> it sounds like all the worst aspects of the human condition being revealed on reality tv. >> it's so well done. just watch it and get back to me. >> anyway, that's sara's favorite tv show. >> we'll talk about what happened tomorrow. the cast of broadway's "hamilton" visited the white house this week. the musical's creator performed a freestyle rap alongside the president in the rose garden. >> a perk of being president. this president has admitted he likes rap. >> looks like he's getting into it there. >> he's doing the cue cards. >> i like that. he should join in. looked like he was about to. in other news, american airlines is exploring other options for its in-flight wi-fi service after passengers have been complaining about the high cost and slow speeds of the

current provider gogo. american is considering a competing proposal from viasat. >> at least they've already got wi-fi. british airways don't have it yet. >> not at all? >> extraordinary. even on london to new york flights. >> they have to figure out a wi-fi that allows streaming video. none of them too. it's not powerful enough. >> it's a big ask. >> that's what people want to do on planes. >> right. going viral, shots of 6-year-old jaylee's basketball skills are captivating the internet. she's got more than 60 million views on youtube. i haven't seen that. that's pretty epic. >> it is pretty amazing. >> 6 years old. steph curry, watch out. >> who's 28 years old. >> he's achieved so little for a 28-year-old. >> and something that's sure to be trending later today, it's free cone day at dairy queen. customers are being offered a free small vanilla cone and

being asking to donate to children's miracle network. last year each store handed out an average of 1300 cones. >> lots of fun trending stories today. coming up, today's must-read stories, including what a day in the life is like with trump on the trail. everybody is diving into this angle. wait until you hear what dana millbank of the "washington post" found. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. ntury. born with a hunger to fly and a passion to build something better. and what an amazing time it's been, decade after decade of innovation, inspiration and wonder. so, we say thank you america for a century of trust, for the privilege of flying higher and higher, together. ♪

our twitter question out today on facebook and twitter, today is super tuesday 2.0. so will front runners trump and clinton lock it up? give us your vote. so far some votes are coming in. a lot of yeses. but there have many surprises so far in this election. we'll bring you the results at the end of the show. that brings us to today's must reads, the stories catching our attention this morning. i went to "the washington post." d.a. inana milbank, a day with s true believers. there's no opinion here. it's just milbank observing a trump rally. t-shirts and caps said they were gun owners, veterans, marines, and harley riders. i heard nothing racist or paranoid in their conversations. once trump arrived, that i become ominously transfixed and aggressive. after the events on friday night in chicago, which really sort of took center stage, we were glued

to those images of the protesters and the whole thing getting canceled, what it was like inside. i suggest people read it just to give you a sense of how this campaign is something totally, totally different. >> but i agree. it was a very interesting read, this one. i think the most fascinating thing from my point of view is aside from any of these violent arguments, the writer made it clear once trump was on stage, everyone was utterly captivated by him. he does have this draw. >> visibly trembling, i think it said. >> you can't stop watching. my pick is from "the financial times." it's titled "the unraveling of angela merkel's power." here's a quote. the chancellor's loss of authority in both germany and europe are feeding on each other. her failure to deliver a workable eu deal on refugees has eroded support at home. with german voters turning against her, the chancellor's authority will be further sacked at the european level. i think the results of the weekend's local elections weren't as bad as they could be. yes, we're looking at 20% votes

for afd, but they weren't as bad as some people feared. nonetheless, the story of the last nine months, eight months, has been one of falling approval ratings for her. i think that is crucial for europe's future. she's been such an important figurehead of keeping coalitions together in germany and thus around europe as a whole. this article goes into the details, saying how in the euro crisis, the greece crisis, her approach was defined by deep concern for public opinion in germany, whereas with the refugee crisis, she's gambled on the tolerance of the german public. those differences have led to falling approval ratings. it's something to keep an eye on. >> but she is in trouble? >> her approval ratings haven't been below 50% for most of her time in office. late last year they fell below that and continue to slide. >> more political upheaval in the world. >> indeed. another must read this morning, andrew ross sorkin's

deal book column. unpacking a chinese company's u.s. hotel buying spree. andrew is getting ready for "squawk box" and joins us now. what did you learn about this potential deal? >> just that it may not go through as quickly as you think, on two fronts. one is here in the united states, even though the prior transaction with waldorf did go through, there might be a little bit more pressure this time around. also, by the way, could be pressure from some chinese regulators, who i think are starting to get a little worried about companies in terms of what their financial models look like. a couple things to look for later today on our show, we're going to talk valuations. mike jackson, we're going to talk politics. florida very big. then we have william h. macy on the show, the actor from that great show called "shameless," which is a lead in for another show i've heard of called

"billions." >> i'm a huge fan. >> we're excited for that. and my favorite subject of the morning which is possibly the greatest musical investment in history, which is michael jackson and their estate selling that atv business. i don't know if you guys talked about it. $750 million. bought it for $41 million. was worth $2 billion. he had to sell half of it. would have been worth about a billion and a half just to him if he hadn't been in so much debt. right before he died, he had to sell half of it. >> turned things around seemingly much quicker than we expected. andrew, thank you. i finished "house of cards" last night. time to move on to "billions." >> "billions" and "the bachelor." >> which one? >> watch "billions." >> so "the bachelor" isn't the only thing. still to come, the great rate debate begins again today. when will the fed hike rates

next and by how much and how many times this year? our next guest says it may be more than markets expect. and head over to cnbcmakeit.com. it's a new desation launching today, a platform to flern the world's most inspiring self-made entrepreneurs. how-to guides, testimonials, and success secrets. unparalleled access, putting ceos, entrepreneurs, and celebrities all in one place so you can get a little help along the road to your dreams and make them come true.

welcome back. futures are pointing to a lower start from wall street with dow futures now down 72 following a selloff in europe and asia overnight. s&p futures down 12. oil downs 2%. joining us from houston, mark vitner. bank of japan as expected didn't

make any policy changes. up next, fed chairman janet yellen, two-day meeting starts today. what are you expecting tomorrow? >> when the fed doesn't do anything, they still do quite a lot. we don't expect them to raise interest rates tomorrow. we do think that they're going to have a lot of messaging that suggests that they're still very close to raising rates and they'll probably raise them in june. might raise them as soon as april. and there's a very good chance they'll raise them two or three times by the end of this year. >> very close to raising rates you say, mark. what allows them to be close? is it because the fundamental u.s. data has been pretty decent in particular the last sort of three or four weeks, or is it because the international situation, the global volatility that has abated as well? >> well, i think it's a relief that the global volatility has abated somewhat, but it's still there. it's still in the background. we've got very negative rates in europe. negative rates in japan. that makes it awfully tough for

the fed to move too aggressively. but here in the u.s., the unemployment rate is below 5%. we're near full employment, and we're in this very odd situation where technically we're at full employment but many people are not fully employed. so the fed can't move as aggressively as they normally would with a 5% unemployment rate. but having rates close to zero is just inconsistent with where the u.s. is right now. they have to take advantage of the opportunities that are made available to them. they can't count on the global financial markets remaining stable. we're probably going to have repeated bouts of volatility over the next couple years. >> i wonder if one of the drivers behind the volatility that we're seeing in global markets is this reaction to central bank policies. have central bankers lost some of their credibility this year? >> well, in some ways, i think that the central banks have become too transparent.

so the financial markets are looking past their next move. i think that's what's happened in europe, where not only did the european central bank take rates into negative territory, but they made it clear that, hey, we don't think we're going to take them anymore menegative. right after that statement in the press conference, we saw the euro turn around. i think that maybe the world central banks have become too transparent. maybe they need to keep the markets guessing a little bit. seems a little counterintuitive if you're trying to quiet some of the volatility that's out there. i really think that when the markets have the central banks figured out, that's probably not where they want to be. >> mark, a massive day today as well for politics. as we look ahead to this race and getting down to the two main candidates, how are you and wells fargo positioning yourselves ahead of what could be a race that goes on right down to the wire, but candidates

that are pretty outspoken? >> well, we don't get too involved on the political aspects of it. at least not right now. i think when it gets down to a republican nominee and a democratic nominee, and who knows, maybe a third-party nominee, when it gets down to the final, we'll begin to look at the different economic packages. when it's in the primaries, it's not unusual to have all this bluster. it's not unusual to have all this talk where you're really trying to appeal to the base. once we decide on candidates, we begin to get more substantive in terms of policy. it would be very hard to try to identify the policies of the major candidates right now because they're really all over the place. >> mark, we'll leave it there. thank you. we'll see how the markets start to react to some of the results of these primaries. >> only about 20 seconds to go. what are you watching today? >> ten-year yield. we have a load of data, including retail sales and producer prices. the reaction will be there. if yields move higher, that's a

good sign going into a fed meeting. >> i'm watching volumes. lowest volume day of the year yesterday. "squawk box" is next.

good morning. central banks in focus. the bank of japan holding rates steady as the u.s. federal reserve kicking off that two-day meeting. results from our exclusive fed survey ahead. also, valeant pharmaceuticals set to report. a lot of pressure by shareholders to report. and a very big day for politics. voters in five key primary states heading to the polls today. it could be the last stand for marco rubio and john kasich. it's tuesday, march 15th, 2016. "squawk box" begins right now.

good morning, everybody. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm becky quick along with andrew ross sorkin and brian sullivan. joe is off today. today's top story, the markets. the bank of japan keeping its monetary policy steady as expected. the bank of japan offering a bleaker view of the economy there, atributing recent weakness in exports and output to a slowdown in emerging markets. the central bank removed language from its statement that it would cut interest rates further into negative territory if needed. check things out for the yen. you'll see this morning after this announcement, the dollar is down against the yen. so the yen is rising. 113.14. the dollar is up against the euro at 1.1075. take a look at stocks in asia. here's how things close. the nikkei ending down by almost 0.7%. same story for the hang seng. the shanghai ended in positive territory but just