welcome to "street signs." i'm louisa bojesen. >> i'm carolin roth. these are your headlines. hsbc suffering a selloff after pretax profits fall by more than 60% on goodwill charges and a weak core market, dragging the banking sector into the red. bhp billiton rallies on a solid set of results after the miner swings back into profit on an iron ore rebound. we speak to the ceo first on cnbc. fellow miner anglo american also benefits from a recovery in raw material prices, posting a

25% jump in earnings and vowing to restart its dividend. happy holidays for intercontinental. shares rise as the hotel group increases its dividend on higher full-year profits. the ceo tells cnbc the impact of sterling weakness is muted. >> it had marginal impact on us on the year, it reduced our overhead cost on sterling, but we had an impact on revenues because we're dollar-based, report in dollars. as far as the rate, very little amount. good morning. let's kick things off with a bit of data for the eurozone, that looks to be stronger than forecast. market february flash composite pmi came in at 56 versus a reuters pole of 54.3. this 56 print, that is the highest since april 2011 that

follows upbeat data from germany and france this morning. in germany, private sector growth the fastest in three years, and in france, the composite pmi at the highest level since 2011. interestingly enough, also prices rising. that obviously could crimp growth going forward. now by in large it looks like a healthy eurozone. >> it does. or healthier eurozone. despite that, money still apparently flowing out of the eurozone and into other pockets, despite the fact we could be -- >> investor floors. >> exactly. some of the latest data. just moving on, we are slightly mixed at the moment. a bit more red than green out there as reflected in some of our main european equity markets. ftse, crack, ftse mib trading lower. the xetra dax hanging on to slight gains. in the sectors, basic resources

leading the way. banks having been lagging this morning. by in large that has to do with what we're seeing from some of the big ones out there, like hns hn hsbc. >> hsbc shares significantly short of expectations. they posted a pretax profit of $7.1 billion, down 62% on the previous year. hsbc attributed the fall to impairment charges related to its private banking unit in europe along with restructures costs. the bank said it may need to relocate 1,000 jobs from paris to london over the next two years in the wake of the brexit vote. share price fall we're seeing today is the biggest fall since august of 2015. the second biggest in more than five years. i can't help but wonder, yes, earnings were bad, disappointing, but isn't it a bit of profit taking, too? this stock has done incredibly well since brexit.

up more than 55%. the best performing stock in europe at least in the uk. people saw it as a brexit hedge. they have the dollar exposure people liked. with the rising dollar, that's why investors kept piling into the stock. they increased their capital strength by 200 basis points in more than one year. they're at a level of 13.6%. i feel profit taking is the name of the game today. >> a lot of that sponginess has precisely come from the exposure to asia as opposed to europe, where they had this buffer there. one thing i would say, i think a lot of people might be asking is this the last time that we'll see numbers that are dominated by these big one-offs, by the reorganization, by the restructuring or the write-downs of assets. they announced as well that they're shutting another 62 bank branches in the uk in 2017. that's on top of the 223 that they shut in the uk last year. so definitely going through the

moves to reorganize and bolster a tougher environment in europe. not sure how long that will continue. the outperformance for sure. >> definitely. also some disappointment over the level of share buybacks. ubs looking for 3 billion pounds in share buybacks, we got 1 billion. sorry, looking for $3 billion. they say the 2017 outlook is more of the same. so wow. again, down 6%. >> and they added that little line that they're worried about further protectionism essential essentially. a lot has do with the u.s. administration. they did highlight that. in other news, putting the banks aside for a american, anglo american posted a 25% increase in annual core earnings and a 34% drop in net debt. the mining company said it will resume paying dividends by the end of the year after a suspension in late 2015.

>> bhp billiton has someone back into the black. they posted a net profit of $3.2 billion, up from a $5.7 billion loss in the same period the prior-year. paul rankin from vsa capital joins us around the desk. bigger than expected dividend from bhp. anglo looking at reinstating the dividend. for a long time investors were buying into these stocks because of capital returns. are we back to the miners being a capital return story essentially? >> i hope so is the answer. the institutions are certainly hoping so as well. just having some restraint on the capital spend in order not to get the large companies back into the same situation they were before 2014 and 2015 where they were spending lots of money on mines to produce material

that wasn't really needed in the market at that time. finally getting back to the situation where the capital restraint is allowing returns now for shareholders. >> to what extent is this just down to windfall profits coming from the huge rise in copper prices and iron ore prices. iron ore up 28% in 2016. nobody saw that coming. are these profits sustainable? >> the profits are sustainable but i would bring issue with the phrase of windfall profits. they are definitely not windfall profits for these firms. the actual prices being received by the companies are a return to where we were in 2014, for instance, as far as prices on the commodities themselves. it has a lot to do with the efficiency these companies are being able to bring through as far as being able to produce more with less. >> how about the shifts slightly into -- not shift, pbut expansin into the oil and gas segment. is this going well?

will they do more of it? >> bhp had success in this particular situation, having a significant component of oil and gas. most mining companies on the other hand don't have success doing this. they are a significant variance from what is the normal thing. i don't see that mining companies will be taking up that particular situation to be in the oil and gas business. >> we were talking about protectionism, some comments from hsbc about the environment is very dependent on protectionism. how will more protectionism impact a company like bhp? >> the interesting thing is that protectionism actually helps commodities. the reason being we were back in the 1990s where the countries were essentially opening up their markets to trade. as such, then the people who were consuming commodities had much greater number of producers that they could ask for bids from in order to get commodities

from. now we're in reversal of that particular trend, the anti-globalization, as it were. so the actual pricing power becomes -- with the producers, because there's less alternatives for the consumers to come to, so negotiations will be higher. >> let's talk about china. last year we did not see the hard landing, we did not see a china implosion, that's in part why iron ore and other commodity prices have rallied. this year we're seeing profits in the industrial sector increasing again. seeing the property market going into another cycle. we don't know where it will ewi up. i guess china is still determining the business model, it's not trump or the u.s., or western europe, it's china, isn't it? it is china. it will always be china. as far as global usage, china is taking about 50% or more of virtually everything in terms of

raw materials. that won't change in the near-term. regardless of what happens with trade, with things like new negotiations on various deals between the trump administration and others, we'll have some regional changes veavailabiliti concerned. >> what would your outlook be for bhp? >> will be good. the actual earnings they earned in the iron ore section were based on a price average of $55. the actual price right now is $90. there's still a lot of upside left as far as what we can expect in the next interim term for their situation. and we have other materials which have not rebounded as much but ought to things like nickel, names like rio tinto and glenco glencore, they will benefit. >> paul, thank you. we will be speaking to

andrew mckenzie, ceo of bhp billiton coming up. stay tuned for that. the michelin guide awarded one of its coveted stars to a restaurant in france. but one restaurant was particularly surprised when she found out that her restaurant had been awarded the star. she employs one part-time cook to help her in her restaurant, where the set lunch menu costs just over 12 euros. the michelin guide it turns out got the wrong restaurant. the name is the same, though. the award was intended for a restaurant with the same name in another town over 100 miles away. >> talk about windfall profits there. >> exactly. she shouldn't have said anything. just kept the star. have people coming. >> people believe the food is good just based on that michelin

star. >> there's a lot of placebo effect going on there. how many times do you go somewhere where it's a small place, nothing special, but the food is amazing. you think if this was served in a dark room with candles, a fancy name -- >> some of the fanciest names in the world are overhyped. >> totally. e-mail the show, if you have experience with michelin stars or anything else you want to address, the address is streetsignseurope@cnbc.com. and you can find us on twitter, you can tweet me directly at @carolincnbc or at @louisabojesen. higher profits and increased dividend from intercontinental hotels. we'll hear from the company's ceo after this break.

hi everybody, good morning. welcome back. you're still watching "street signs." let's talk about stories coming out of asia. toshiba is looking to raise at least a trillion yen. and they are looking to raise that from the sale of majority stake in its flash memory chip business. pauline is in singapore with more on this. pauline, good to see you. >> good morning, good to see you, louisa. 1 trillion yen would be $8.8 billion, it's more than the $6.3 billion writedown that toshiba has to take for its u.s. nuclear banks. and creditor banks are pressuring toshiba to raise more money, because they're afraid of more write-downs down the pipeline. investors are not warming to this idea. off the back of this news, toshiba corporation ending the session down 1.4%. it's a different story with the nikkei as we saw the pulp and

paper sector rallying today. that's after a big paper company announced that it's going to raise printing paper prices for the first time in two years. so we saw the paper and pulp sector up 3.8%. the nikkei up 0.7%. look at what happened with hsbc after it reported its earnings. it ended down on the hang seng by 5%. dragging down the hang seng three quarters of a percent. by now you know the story, full-year earnings disappointed with pretax profit down 62%. because of slowing growth in both hong kong and also in the uk. and that $1 billion share buyback didn't sit well with investors. it didn't alleviate them. we had one guest earlier today saying that was stingy. that's what happened there in hong kong. and let's look at what happened on the kospi, which ended up 0.9%. even samsung was higher. seemed like investors were saying the political turmoil and the samsung scandal may be

behind them pretty soon. so we saw some positive sentiment there on the kospi. the asx 200 ending flat, just under the flat line because of disappointing earnings. bhp billiton did end higher ahead of earnings release which ended up quite strong. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> pushing on with earnings, intercontinental shares are higher after reporting profits slightly above expectations and announcing it will return $400 million to investors through a special dividend. the company said revenue per available room has risen by 1.7% year-on-year in the three months to december. earlier we spoke to the ceo of ihg and asked if he was concerned about the performance of his company in europe in light of last year's terrorist attacks. >> revenue was near 2%. if you took out the impact of france, turkey, some of those unfortunate incidents it would have been higher.

so it's a good, solid growth market. quite a big market for us. continental europe is about 10% of our business. uk about 5%. we're looking at long-term growth in these markets they may not be as high growth as china, our fastest growing market, our second biggest market. but they're important markets, they're profitable. and what we try and do is focus on priority markets. that's where we put our efforts in uk and germany, both very high priority for us. a new poll has manuel macron beating marine le pen by 61.5% of the poll. the poll has le pen winning the first round of the poll with 26% of the votes, but in the second round runoff, macron is seen winning with 61.5% of the votes. t an investigation is looking into whether le pen an other party

leaders used funds to pay party staffers instead of eu parliamentary assistance. the national front said the probe was a media operation whose goal it is to disturb the course of the presidential campaign. we spoke to the ceo of pubcist and asked if he was concerned about the french elections. >> most investors are worried about brexit, trump, italy, and now about france. they like to be scared, and they are a bit scared. i don't believe that marine le pen has the slightest chance to be elected. now, who knows. the people of uk, u.s., italy have made a lot of surprise decisions which is not the polls but at the end of the day the votes. tell fon efonica agreed to p to 43% of its stake in telxius

for $1.3 billion. now, u.s. markets called to open just a little bit higher. all three major indices closed at record highs on friday. closed yesterday for sell prayings of preside celebration of presidents' day. the implied open pointing to the upside. tom liden, president of global transinvestments is with us. good morning. >> good morning. >> great to have you with us. >> great to be here. >> basic question, first this run we're seeing to the upside in u.s. equities, for how long can it continue? how much elasticity is there in the trade? >> i know folks are not a big fan of trump but when you look at gdp in the u.s., small and mid-sized companies run the majority of sales, production that goes on. if you ask the average business

owner in the u.s., they're happy with what's going on. maybe for the first time in a while they'll hire that next employee or put more money into their business where they have not felt as confident before. you can see the move in small to mid-sized companies where large companies, multinationals have been the leaders in the last three years. as we look at etfs, the flows are really starting to pick up. >> they're happy unless they're importing. >> yes. >> where it could get tricky. also we keep hearing wage growth. wage growth will not follow this euphoria that we're talking about now. >> some degree already it has this last year compared to prior years. that's really one of the big things. employment numbers in the states look great. wage growth is picking up. we're seeing inflationary numbers kick in as well. when we start talking about that, yes, banks are really looking good. so one of the big etfs we really like is the xlf, the state street spdr financials etf,

where it's mostly banks. and now in the last couple weeks a lot to of people are look at the fed, they may have another move in them in march. if that happens, again, banks should continue to take off. >> tom, multibillion dollar question. what could derail this exuberance in the stock markets and in the overall economy? is it a policy misstep by donald trump? to be honest, we've seen a lot of policy missteps from him. would it be a policy mistake from the fed? >> could be if rising rates too quickly start to hurt the overall growth. i think a couple things. first, a lot of promises are coming from the trump administration. deregulation, lower taxes, if he doesn't step up and make those things happen quickly, there could be disappointment. here in europe we're hearing a lot about elections. some disappointments in election for sure. they could surely affect the markets as well. i think overall, as we are here

looking at markets hit all-time highs in the states, and, yes, granted, a lot of folks are looking at the u.s., they're disenchanted by what's going on with the trump administration, but global markets also like what's going on. so when you look at some of these global etfs, they continue to garner new assets, and now just today new record levels of $3.7 trillion in etfs worldwide. it's something -- it's a number to be reckoned with. >> you made the case for financials. what about the renewed case for small caps? small caps have done well. they're not exposed as much to the strength of the u.s. dollar, not exposed as much to protectionism. should we see small caps continue to outperform? >> i would. the biggest russell 2000 etf is the idm traded here and in the states. that's something to pay attention to but what's happened, a lot of people are highly correlated to large caps in the portfolio, make sure you

have some small caps and mid caps in there as well as we'll continue to see growth in those areas. >> how much of an impact do you think european elections could have on the markets, in particular the french one? >> in the states as you're looking to see what's going on overseas, we're looking at europe as well. the key is we have to separate the political environment and it's very, very difficult. right now, as you look at earnings worldwide, as you report today, there are a lot of companies that continue to impress. and from a realistic standpoint earnings expectations are very much in line. valuations are in line in the u.s. and fairly inexpensive in europe. i would expect we're going to see greater growth in europe, the big thing that u.s. investors are concerned about is currency devaluation compared to

the rising dollar. some great etfs hedge against lower euro or lower yen when you can get some participation in those areas, too. >> interesting. thank you very much for being with us this morning. >> great seeing you. >> happy travels. tom lydon. president for global trends investment. we need to take a short break. loads more to come on "street signs." in the meantime, world markets live, check it out. it's our blog that runs throughout the trading day. lots of good stuff on there. we'll see you in a couple minutes. anyone with type 2 diabetes knows how it feels to see your numbers go up, despite your best efforts. but what if you could turn things around? what if you could love your numbers? discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lower a1c.

a pill taken just once in the morning, invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. in fact, it's been proven to be more effective at lowering a1c than januvia. invokana® works around the clock by reducing the amount of sugar allowed back into the body, and sending some sugar out through the process of urination. and while it's not for lowering systolic blood pressure or weight loss, it may help you with both. invokana® can cause important side effects, including dehydration, which may cause you to feel dizzy, faint,lightheaded,or weak, upon standing. other side effects may include kidney problems, genital yeast infections,changes in urination, high potassium, increases in cholesterol, risk of bone fracture, or urinary tract infections, possibly serious. serious side effects may include ketoacidosis, which can be life threatening. stop taking and call your

doctor right away if you experience symptoms or if you experience symptoms of allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. do not take invokana® if you have severe liver or kidney problems or are on dialysis. tell your doctor about any medical conditions and medications you take. using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. it's time to turn things around. lower your blood sugar with invokana®. imagine loving your numbers. there's only one invokana®. ask your doctor about it by name.

welcome. you're still watching "street signs." i'm carolin roth. >> i'm louisa bojesen. your headlines this morning. hsbc suffering a selloff after pretax profits fall by more than 60% on goodwill charges and a weak core market, dragging the banking sector into the red. bhp billiton rallies on a solid set of results after the miner swings back into profit on an iron ore rebound. we speak to the ceo first on cnbc. fellow miner anglo american also benefits from a recovery in raw material prices, posting a 25% jump in earnings and vowing to restart its dividend. happy holidays for

intercontinental. shares rise as the hotel group increases its dividend on higher full-year profits. the ceo tells cnbc the impact of sterling weakness is muted. >> it had marginal impact on us on the year, it reduced our overhead cost on sterling, but we had an impact on revenues because we're dollar-based, report in dollars. as far as the rate, very little amount. all right. let's take a quick look at the markets. u.s. markets are back online today after they were closed for presidents' day yesterday. we are looking at a fairly positive picture when it comes to the futures. the s&p 500 seen up by 2.5 points. the dow jones set to extend recent run by 36 points. the nasdaq seen higher to the tune of 12 points. this is after all three u.s. indices closed at a record once again on friday. in terms of the european

picture, we did have a fairly sluggish start to the day. weighed down by some earnings like those by hsbc. we had improved somewhat. the dax up by 0.5%. and tentative gains for the cac 40. the ftse 100 weighed down by the fact that hsbc seeing its biggest fall after almost 1 1/2 years. want to talk about the fx markets where the euro is on the defensive given the tug of war after the political risk out of europe. euro/dollar at 105.43. seeing a bit of dollar strength today. this is obviously in anticipation of the fed minutes later this week. let's come back to french politics, let's come back to the government bond markets what we're seeing is the gap between the french and german two-year yields topping 40 basis points today. that is the widest since the 2012 debt crisis. this is as we saw a poll that sees le pen, the far right

leader lead leader in france narrowing the gap with the centrist party candidate macron. >> thank you very much. let's switch gears and talk about commodities. in particular oil. saudi arabia is reportedly leaning to a new york listing of saudi aramco according to the "wall street journal." saudi officials have talked to london, toronto, singapore, and tokyo, but they're said to favor the american exchange. saudi arabia expects the aramco ipo to be valued at $2 trillion. oil prices have been edging higher as investors continue to bet on tighter supplies after opec's decision to cut production. this happening after data revealed that last week net loan positions in brent hit the highest levels since records began in 2011. we have the head of commodity

research from commerzbank. what do you think is driving the price of oil at the moment? >> when i'm looking at the current situation on oil markets, it reminds me of some kind of magic show with a magician doing some things with the hands, everybody is concentrating on them. in fact, the action is taking place somewhere else. so while the market is so obsessed right now with the compliance rate of opec, and whether they're sticking to the cards, the real action is taking place outside opec, probably in the world's largest oil producer. >> they're going to dominate via shale? >> yeah, so shale oil will recover this year. and opec must at some point recognize and understand they're not anymore the marginal producers. the marginal producers will be coming from shale oil, which

will be coming from massive pressure once investors recognize that oil supplies are not going to disappear. if we look at positioning, we're seeing speculators with long positions in brent at a record last week. to what extent are we at the risk of a snap back? >> that's what i'm looking at at the moment. i think the market is too much obsessed. the market is too overheated and is expecting too much. definitely there will be some cuts, less of production from some opec countries. more production from other opec countries. production also from russia. so in the end it's not a zero sum game and opec will lose. i think the prices are 40, $45, not the prices of $65 to 7 $0. >> i love your line about how

opec compliance of 93% is an alternative fact. because saudi arabia, its opec oil exports remain stable. i guess that's also because domestic consumption is low. >> for the world market is doesn't matter kts rig, right? whether it's due to low domestic consumption, maintenance at refineries, the world is awash with oil at moment. it's continuing to have endless supplies. so i don't see reason for the prices to rise above $60 or $70. what is opec betting for in the coming months. so i'm seeing risks of the prices falling below $50 for a considerable period of time and even touching the levels of $40, $45 during this year. why? because investors, they tend to overact. they overact to the upside. they overact to the down side. >> what do you think is the most

interesting commodity? >> every commodity is really interesting. oil is interesting. iron ore is interesting. gold is interesting. >> what stands out? >> this year oil is one of the most interesting ones due to expectations and the situation right now on investor front. >> okay. >> also gold is a commodity which is one of the least favorable from the investors point of view an might snap back and increase this year unexpectedly. >> you read my mind. i don't understand gold at the moment. i don't understand how i'm supposed to think about it. as a protection hedge? follow it via the dollar correlation and the fed expectations? am i supposed to look at supply/demand issues out of asia? >> supply demand doesn't matter. if some mine doesn't produce anymore in south africa, the effect on gold prices will be the same if some machine doesn't function in london.

the reason for the increase and decrease is real interest rates which are likely to stay low or decrease this year, and the other reason is the nervousness of the investors, which is likely to be coming at the market the market seems to be complacent, looking only at the bright side of things. things might turn ugly this year due to political situations, economic situations of financial markets. >> you think gold could have another run-up to the french elections? >> i think it's not expected at the moment, nobody is counting on gold this year. this is why i think gold might increase this year to maybe 1400 during the next year. >> 1thank you very much for tha. moving on, president trump has revealed his replacement for general mike flynn as national security adviser. he has tapped prominent military strategist and army lieutenant, h.r. mcmaster for the role. the 54-year-old is a highly decorated iraq and afghanistan war veteran and the announcement

received bipartisan praise. kristen welker has all the details. >> reporter: in a made for tv moment, president trump announcing his new national security adviser. >> general h.r. mcmaster will become the national security adviser. he's a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience. >> reporter: a senior administration official tells nbc news the president chose lieutenant general h.r. mcmaster because he's both a warrior and a defense intellectual. at 54 years old, mcmaster is highly decorated, having served in both iraq wars and in afghanistan. also hailed for his military book "dereliction of duty" about officers who refused to tell president johnson at the time he was wrong about vietnam. now mcmaster is in a position of having to weigh if and when to speak out to the president and while some in foreign policy circles question his national security expertise, the announcement was largely received with bipartisan support. >> i don't know if h.r. ever sleeps at night.

>> reporter: the former u.s. ambassador to iraq, ryan crocker, praised mcmaster's leadership over an elite counterinsurgency team in 2007. >> he was precise, he was focused, and gave us just what we needed to develop a plan that actually worked for the next two years. >> reporter: lieutenant general mcmaster beat out three other candidates who the president interviewed this weekend and replaces former national security adviser michael flynn, who was fired for misleading vice president pence. on a diplomatic trip in brussels, the vice president was pressed on the shakeup. >> i was disappointed to learn that the facts that had been conveyed to me by general flynn were inaccurate. >> reporter: tonight the white house insists mcmaster will choose the team he'll now lead. >> the u.s. senate is expected to vote on wilbur ross's nomination for commerce secretary later this month.

he's been critical of china stealing american jobs but ross also faces questions over his business ties to china. and at least one of his companies outsourcing jobs there. eunice yoon is in beijing. so he's criticizing with one hand and benefiting with the other, eunice? >> that's right. the likely next commerce secretary, wilbur ross, like trump, has taken aim at china for what he describes as unfair trade practices and taking american jobs. but as it turns out he himself has benefited from china's manufacturing might. for years, this is just what we found out when we went to the manufacturing town in china. >> this is about a two-hour drive from shanghai, over there is a factory that u.s. commerce secretary nominee wilbur ross invested in. the factory opened in 2007. it produces jean fabric for an american company that at the time was owned by a group

controlled by wilbur ross. the factory was build as part of an effort to save costs. production in the u.s. textile industry was moving overseas. so the company, as it was building up this factory if china, simultaneously was downsizing staff in the main facility in north carolina. so much so that the u.s. labor department offered trade adjustment assistance to the american workers. wilbur ross sold out of the operation only weeks before the u.s. presidential election. his office and the denim company declined to comment to cnbc. >> the irony is that as ross and the trump administration criticize china for stealing jobs, factories on the ground are battling rising costs and people in manufacturing towns like this one are increasingly worried about production moving to places even cheaper than

her here. >> i'm curious in general what your impression is of the chinese reaction to some of these latest comments on china from trump and also the mixed messages that we also seemingly are getting from the u.s. administration with regards to the threat of china. >> well, in the early days, the chinese reaction was much more cautious. a lot of people here had been believing that perhaps trump would withdraw from -- or have t america withdraw from the region. so when i talked to people here there was a bit of gleefulness because there was a belief that the u.s. would withdraw. now it looks more likely that the trump administration will take a much harder approach. not only in terms of trade, but also in security and so that's been raising a lot of eyebrows and haggles over here,

especially when you look at the state media, over and over they have been critical of specific trump administration cabinet nominees or other advisers, even calling up peter navarro, one of the economic adviser deaf and blind when it comes to trade. so there's a lot of push back from china, from the trump administration and a lot of the hawkishness and noise coming out of there. >> eunice, thank you very much. eunice yoon joining us live out of beijing. thousands of demonstrators lined the streets outside the houses of parliament in london to protest trump's state visit. this as mps debated a petition signed by 2 million people calling on the government to postpone trump's visit to the u uk. alan duncan defended the decision saying it was right to build common ground with the

president. greece -- greece, again. >> every year. >> has now agreed to work with international lenders on a new set of reforms to unblock further loans this comes at the eurozone finance ministers gather in brussels. the greek two-year bond yields have hit a three-week low. and portugal has now also reimbursed half of their imf bailout with their early payment of 1.7 billion to the imf. this is to combat the money given to portugal during the financial crisis. a lot of focus this time around, nancy, on greece. >> that's right, louisa. confidence is key here in brussels. the message coming at the conclusion of the euro group meetings is that leaders are confident enough to send a mission back to athens to get on the ground and work with the

government on further reforms. there was a lot of talk about a shift in the reform push from austerity to more pro growth structural measures that won't require the government to bring forth any additional cuts in austerity, but i have to say the details were vague on how they would bring the imf to the table when it comes to convincing them these debt levels are sustainable. for now they're declaring this good news. a sign of progress that these missions will be going back on the ground as soon as possible. when it comes to a timeline, both the euro group president and the eu commissioner were hesitant to put a date on the table. investors and economists, analysts alike were hoping that perhaps we would get a green light on the disbursement of the next bailout loans for grease ahead of the crucial election dates starting march 15th in the netherlands, then france later on in april. however that was not the case. we are simply looking further into the reforms, agreeing to

continue the talks. so i had a chance to ask pierre moscovici whether these loans could have a knock on on growth in itself. >> it's an important step. the conclusion and review of disbursements by billions euros which are due to greece and also a sign that we forms are being implemented on the ground. we'll meet now with the mission to conclude its review an define the fiscal measures necessary to reduce the deficits and the tar gets defined, but also positive measures to sustain growth and further reforms. it's clear that the spirit today was very positive. it is a major step towards conclusion of the review, and this will prove that the third program is already a success. >> eu commission moscovici

stating there was no talk of brexit. they will not let it get to that scenario. and that liquidity with greece is not a problem. these are important distinctions to draw because these eurozone finance ministers have no shortage of issues they're facing. i already mentioned the election risks. a lot of discussions on the sidelines of this meeting about the french election risk in particular. you mentioned there some moves in the bond market, taking a queue from concerns over ma lean le pen's rise in certain polls for the first round of elections. i had a chance to speak with the french finance minister about this issue, and i asked him what his message was to investors who may still be worried about a surprise victory from marine le pen in the final round. >> translator: people in markets making bets against france thinking maureen le pen are mistaken. they will lose a lot to of money. it's pointless to speculate on marine le pen seizing power in france. >> a very strong message coming

from the french finance minister, not to worry about a marine le pen victory. he said investors betting on that will lose a lot of money. we've seen the polls prove wrong before. you can bet that leaders standing back in brussels will continue to be anxious as we get closer to election day in france. >> nancy, thank you very much for that. coming up on "street signs," buckle up and prepare for takeoff. we'll hit the skies with the founder of vista jet after this. we'll be back in two.

welcome back to the show. vista jet completed its 100,000th flight as the charter announced a 25% year-on-year

surge in 2016 flights. we have johave been joined by t founder of vista jet. i have to ask you, the trump effect, are you feeling it with the super rich? >> a lot of people are asking about the trump administration. i see the united states with a solid economy. we're benefitting from that. when i look at the trend in the u.s. marketplace, it's the change from ownership to a flight solution like ours, where you don't have to buy the asset. u.s. businesses are strong, and we are feeling it and we see good growth prospects for 2017. >> so you are not seeing impact from the immigration ban? your clients would not be the right target for that. >> no impact. we've seen through those days end of january and early february strong traffic into the u.s. and outbound.

>> the growth in the u.s., you had seven planes in the u.s. -- >> ten now. >> ten now. growth is coming from a low-base in terms of the amount of planes you have. i know you've been back and forth with netjet about who is bigger and who has more customers in the u.s. is it an area you're looking to continue to expand? >> absolutely. when we say ten planes in the u.s., it's the end registered planes in the u.s. at any point in time we have 25 planes in the u.s. because we have international flights coming from europe, from africa flying into and out of the u.s. we always look at how many planes per customer do we have. our average deal size is about 150 to 200 hours per customer. that measures our fleet growth and the answer is, yes, we can continue to grow into the united states, invest in the united states. it's the world's biggest market. >> 80% of your flights are one-way pricing.

you just buy a one-way ticket. you charge by the hour, somewhere around $16,000? >> for the global express, that's correct. >> have these prices changed since the financial crisis? you started in 2003. what are we seeing now? >> you see a steady increase over time. like anything, there is a certain inflationary adjustment. though, in some areas there's no inflation, in others there is. o one-way pricing is over 90% of the world's destinations. very much like what corporations want, they don't want an empty flight back. they want to send their executives to regions of the world, businesses are being done in those regions. when those executives finish they have to fly back to wherever they came from or the next destination. one-way pricing is the way to go it's eliminating a lot to of waste. >> that's a high cost for you, that demands a lot of flexibility on your part. you may not always be able to fulfill those legs.

>> this is what 2016 was about. we have 25 aircraft all around the world. if they're equally spread around the world, and you have these regions of customers, flying new york to beijing one-way pricing. then a client somewhere in china probably flying off to india. indian client flying off to the middle east. it's a continuous floating of that fleet around the world. we're doing this more efficiently than anybody else in the world and offering that price benefit to the client. >> we have to leave it here. there you. i'm carolin roth. >> i'm louisa bojesen. "worldwide exchange" is up next. anyone with type 2 diabetes knows how it feels to see your numbers go up, despite your best efforts. but what if you could turn things around? what if you could love your numbers?

discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitor that works to lower a1c. a pill taken just once in the morning, invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. in fact, it's been proven to be more effective at lowering a1c than januvia. invokana® works around the clock by reducing the amount of sugar allowed back into the body, and sending some sugar out through the process of urination. and while it's not for lowering systolic blood pressure or weight loss, it may help you with both. invokana® can cause important side effects, including dehydration, which may cause you to feel dizzy, faint,lightheaded,or weak, upon standing. other side effects may include kidney problems, genital yeast infections,changes in urination, high potassium, increases in cholesterol, risk of bone fracture, or urinary tract infections, possibly serious.

serious side effects may include ketoacidosis, which can be life threatening. stop taking and call your doctor right away if you experience symptoms or if you experience symptoms of allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, or difficulty breathing or swallowing. do not take invokana® if you have severe liver or kidney problems or are on dialysis. tell your doctor about any medical conditions and medications you take. using invokana® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. it's time to turn things around. lower your blood sugar with invokana®. imagine loving your numbers. there's only one invokana®. ask your doctor about it by name.

good morning. earnings central. walmart, home depot and macy's are ready to roll out quarterly results. focus on financials. hsbc profits drop 62%. the market reaction coming up. plus no deal. kraft withdraws its offer for unilever. it's tuesday, february 21, 201. "worldwide exchange" begins right now. ♪ very good tuesday morning. welcome to "worldwide exchange" on cnbc. i'm wilfred frost along with seema mody in for sara today.