welcome. good morning. you're watching "street signs." i'm carolin roth. these are your headlines. the great meeting with china. president xi is set to visit president trump next week as talk of tariffs heat up. we're live at the arctic forum finding out what trump's energy policies mean for development in the region. geoff will speak with russian president vladimir putin and his finnish and icelandic counterparts about the outlook for the arctic. britain prepares to publish details of its great repeal bill as brexit minister david davis

says the era of paying big sums to the eu is coming to an end. good morning, everyone. it's thursday. we got a lot going on today. glad you're with us. we got a jam packed hour for you, culminating later on in the day with the interview that geoff c geoff cutmore has with vladimir putin. markets are trading modestly higher. the ftse 100 up 0.1%. benefiting from the weakness of the pound in the triggers of the article 50. xetra dax up 0.21. cac 40 higher to the tune of 0.1%. a fairly quiet session. let's look at some sectors driving us higher today. what we're seeing is that oil and gas is leading, when it

comes to the sectors, because we're seeing another day of increases for the oil price. the third day in a row. financial services, construction material doing better. on the down side, autos, real estate, and telecoms slightly underperforming. let's get back to our top story. theresa may is set for another battle in parliament, this time to push through her great repeal bill. a piece of legislation aimed at removing eu law from britain's statute book. the government will publish the white paper today, which will be debated, consulted on and very like likely amended over the next few several eu officials condemned theresa may's suggestion that cooperation over security could be hurt if a suitable brexit agreement is not reached. the leader of the socialist block, which is the second largest in the european parliament, said may's comments felt like blackmail and were

outrageous. we've heard from david davis, the brexit minister in the uk, that they did not threaten the uk. he said that on british radio this morning. reacting to the uk's triggers of article 50, the brexit negotiator said the mood on the continent had changed. >> my impression is brexit has created a sentiment in the public opinion. saying we're critical towards the european union, we're not so tup stupid as the brits to go out or destroy it. that's my feeling in a certain way what happened in britain has changed the mood on the continent. let's get out to willem marx in malta. we're less than 24 hours into the start of the official brexit negotiations between the eu and uk, already we're hearing a war

of words when it comes to the brexit bill and security. absolutely. forgive me for the bad sound behind me. theresa may tried so hard -- i will wait for that to finish. there will be one more bell. all right. we're all set. theresa may tried so hard to to give a positive spin yesterday. both to the house of commons and the europeans listening to her letter, but if you listened between the lines, you heard an implicit threat and it goes to show how important messages will be over the next two years of negotiations. both sides will be playing to their own individual constituencies. theresa may will have to face down some brexiters in her party, keep the party happy with the concession she'll have to

make to strike a deal. europeans with elections concerned about not giving too much away to the uk. here in malta, we have seven europeans heads of states, donald tusk, jean-claude juncker, all are meeting here today. this is long planned. but i'm convinced that brexit will be a major topic of conversation for many of them as the european council come up with their negotiations guidelines over the next 24 hours that will be delivered to the european commission for them to start planning quite how those negotiations will go. >> what are the mo one of the most contentious issues is the payment of the brexit bill, the invoice. david davis saying we will fulfill our requirements, we'll pay an invoice, but it won't be the 51 billion sterling everyone is talking about. is there a risk this will take up the bigger chunk of the next

year? >> presumably from the perspective of david davis he wants to avoid major sticking points but also make sure britain is not seen by brits as having a negative deal over negotiations. that divorce bill seems to be one of those issues they will not be ability to easily find common ground. one option is to agree on a number, another is to agree on a calculation. david mccallister said these kinds of numbers being limited within a two-year period are unrealist. they are paying into european budgets long into the future especially during a transition period. >> what will happen then in the next couple days. we know the eu 27 members, it will have to agree to the guidelines. those will have to be approved by all the parliaments? how does that work before the official, official brexit negotiations start in may.

>> yes. so they'll, as you say -- forgive me again for that loud noise here at the congress. i think it's calling people from the pan-european party to this congress in the hotel here in malta. those guidelines will have to be set out over the next 24 hours. that will be passed to the commission, they will turn the guidelines into specific negotiating points. they will then give the mandate to michelle barnier in malta. he's been given the trust of the european union and commission to take those negotiations to britain, one of the big question marks besides where the negotiation positions will be, is where the exact negotiations will take place. no one knows if that will be in london, brussels, other parts of europe. that, again, has not been clarified. >> willem, thank you very much for that. maybe you want to go to that panel, too. you've been called several times.

thank you very much. e-mail the show. the address is streetsignseurope@cnbc.com. you can also find us on twitter, streetsignseurope@cnbc and tweet me at @carolincnbc. coming up, breaking the ice, energy leaders and diplomats meet to discuss development of the arctic region. we'll hear from alexandra novak after this short break. so you're having a party?

how nice.

i'll be right there. and the butchery begins. what am i gonna wear? this party is super fancy. let's go. i'm ready. are you my uber? [ horn honks ] hold on. the biggest week in tv is back. [ doorbell rings ] par-tay! xfinity watchathon week starts april 3. get unlimited access to all of netflix and more, free with xfinity on demand. president trump said he is ending the war on coal with his rollback of obam mraaobama's environmental policies, some say this could open up oil drilling in the arctic. the international arctic form in russia brings together heads of

state to talk about that issue. joining us now from the arctic form is denmark's foreign minister. thank you very much for taking the time, minister. i appreciate it. it is unique to see the foreign ministers of norway, denmark and iceland traveling to russia for this specific forum. you all have been staunch cri c critics of russia after the annexation of crimea. does this indicate there's some softening of the tensions? >> no, it's just a follow-up on the strategy that we think it's the right strategy, dual track strategy, on one hand firm on sanctions and criticizing russia because of sanctions in ukraine and crimea, because they don't fulfill the minsk agreement, on the other hand we have a dialogue on areas where we think it's appropriate and where we also have interests. arctic is a low tension area, as

we see it, we have common interests and a lot of things to talk about. >> it seems like a diplomatic balancing act you're trying to strike. you said the arctic is a low tension area for you. in the talks you held with the russian foreign minister yesterday and today, you are also talking about other issues, potentially also russia's plans to lay more gas pipelines through danish waters, for example? >> no, not that particular agenda. that didn't -- we didn't talk about that. we have not got the letter from an official, an official letter yet. we will wait and see what's in that letter. we talked about a lot of different things yesterday. talked about the western balkans, syria, libya. and we talked about ukraine and demonstrators around russia and so on. so it's -- it was a good opportunity to have an open

dialogue on other issues than the arctic. >> how much talk was there about brexit given that yesterday we saw the official triggering of article 50. you set a brexit task force out after the vote. you have major interests in the uk given that it's such an important trading partner for you. as a small and open economy, how worried are you about the fallout from this? >> well, of course it's a big question back home in denmark. how we're going to deal with the situation where we have to recognize that the uk will leave the eu and will be eu 7 that have to work together after that we think we should be able to find an agreement where everybody, perhaps not as happy but can live with the new situation, and as you also just talked about, we have big interests in this area because we have a lot of fisheries going

on there. we have a tradition of delivering quite a lot of foods also to the uk. on the other hand, we know that uk, of course, also is quite dependent on the rest of eu, regarding their ability to also have a functioning society. we have a lot of danes in the uk, au uk, and the uk has a lot of people staying in the netherlands. at the end of the day i believe we'll find a good solution. >> i know you applied for the european medicine agency to relocate from london to denmark. could that be a win-win for you? >> of course we think that we have everything that is needed

to have the ema placed in copenhagen. we have a long tradition in the pharmaceutical area. we have very big airports. you can quickly get around. we have good condition force families living and staying in denmark. we think we're quite attractive. we're working hard on that. that's also, on the other hand. just a part of the divorce situation. we have to find a new residence for the ema. we think that it would be very good idea to -- based on criteria, it's a good idea to put it in denmark. >> if i'm not mistaken, mr. samuelson, your prime minister is meeting donald trump today. we know that other meetings with european leaders have been somewhat ice yeah to put it mildly. what realistically are you expecting from that meeting today? given that, again, you have

strong trade links with the u.s. but also openly criticized policies like the travel ban. >> yeah. >> we have a long tradition of having strong ties to the u.s. i think we'll -- that will be underlined today from both sides. at the time we are up front when it's needed that the danes and troops support in different countries around the world. we have lost quite a lot of lives in afghanistan. and i know that everybody in the u.s. recognizes that denmark really is into the game when it is needed. therefore i also think the two -- president trump and my prime minister, they will have a good meeting today. they'll have an open and frank discussions on where we differ in perspectives. of course hopefully we will also

know more of how u.s. sees the situation and the president sees the situation after the election. because there's no doubt that we are concerned every time that the u.s. steps back or indicates that they will step back from the very, very good warm relations in the transatlantic, that we value so high in denmark. >> mr. samuelson, i appreciate your time. thank you very much for that. now, geoff also spoke to the russian energy minister, alexander novak, at the conference and asked his thoughts on the current oil price volatility. >> translator: in my opinion we're seeing a gradual stabilization of the market. an increased in market demand after the winter decrease. currently we see reserve growth is falling with each week. this is an indication of an improvement in the situation in

the market. there's little doubt that the main factor influencing this is a reduction in production by the countries that signed the agreement on the 10th of december in vienna. opec members and countries not members of opec. currently there is a reduction of approximately 1.5 million barrels a day coming on to the market. the overall compliance is fairly high at 94%. we will be following this compliance as we move forward. >> when will russia achieve 100% complian compliance? >> russia is reducing its oil production in stages. in accordance with the plans that we worked out voluntarily with our production companies. in addition, i can tell you, the decrease in production in january and february was ahead of the tempo with regards to our initial plans. currently in march, we have already reached a reduction level of 200,000 barrels a day.

we anticipate complying with the figures set forth in the agreement by the end of april. this will be a reduction of 300,000 barrels. >> i believe you already said that you won't talk about extending the agreement until the ministers meeting in may. what is it you most need to see to feel comfortable about an extension? stability in price? good compliance by other countries? pick up in demand? what's the key variable for you as the minister here? >> of course, first and foremost is the compliance with the agreement by those countries that are party to that agreement. undoubtedly, this could be a more important factor, is the situation on the market linked with the balance between supply

and demand and the situation with regards to the development of the situation with oil reserves and oil product reserves in the oecd countries and with the countries in the world as a whole. we will be following this closely. it will be important for us to know what's going to happen in april. the forecast for may and june and for the second half of next year. the objective that was set during the signing of the agreement, why we all reached the agreement, firstly was because the terms to achieve a balance in the market with regards to supply and demand were shorter. we saw that over the last three years supply has been greater than demand. and that had a negative influence on the market and on investment. therefore this is a key issue. what figures we will have after fing things have been balanced out after the first half of the year. the possibility of this agreement being extended for another half year are embedded

in the agreement itself and the mechanisms. the countries have this capacity, but we will be taking this decision later. i think it will be in may. an extension can only be applied at ministerial level between countries of the agreement. not only countries of the monitoring committee but all 24 countries as a whole. >> later on today, geoff will be moderating a panel at the arctic forum with the russian president, vladimir putin as well as the leaders of finland, iceland. make sure you do catch that coverage from 12:00 cet onwards. the u.s. environmental protection has been given vw the go-ahead to sell diesel vehicles in america again. they have been sitting on a backlog of unsold vehicles in the country since the emissions scandal came to light in 2015. shares in toyota are trading

lore after t lower after the automaker said it is recalling 2.9 million vehicles because of faulty air bags made by takata. we're joined by the head of equities at mfm moranti. great to speak to you about some of your stock picks. one of your picks today is autoliv. this has to do with the takata recalls. what is behind this stock? >> they are the leader in pass serve security which includes safety belts, and also air bags. but what is interesting -- that's what's happening with takata. takata had the recall of 42 million air bags, and now we think key system will buy takata and that will concentrate the market further. auto domingu

autoliv is gaining market share which is positive, but what we also like is we think they will increase their margins, maybe even raise prices. now it's almost becoming a monopoly on the passive side, but we like the active side, what they need for self-driving cars. so a big play on that trend. they've been investing heavily in r & d, and were rumored to also buy takata's assets, so they won't do it. so they'll have money for share buybacks and to give back to shareholders. that's interesting. they don't have the great capital structure. we think they have too much cash. >> another thing you like is ralph lauren. stock is down 50% in the last two years. why do you think now is the right time to get in? >> the margins fell from 16% to 7% during the last five years. it's a value stock. wall street consensus is

bearish. the ceo left in february. but we like the restructuring plan. they have a plan called way forward. they want to create leaner inventory, close 25% of point of sales. we believe in the brand. we think it's a cheap stock. the enterprise value is 6 billion, trading at 0.8 times sales. we think it's a cheap stock and the brand is not dead. they have a big opportunity also in asia. only 10% of sales are in asia. we think it's an interesting con tearian play. >> what about broader asset allocations, specifically when it comes to equities in the aftermath of the triggering of article 50 and the failed healthcare bill. where do you want to put your money in light of the european elections. there's a lot at play. >> for brexit, we think it's very difficult to play. article 50, almost a call on the pound. are you bullish or bearish? we think it's difficult to know the impact of brexit.

for the french election, we would say we're relying more on the side it's a positive catalyst for europe. that probably the far-right will not make it. for the u.s., we lie on the cautious side. we think the debt ceiling has a much higher risk of not going through than the market is pricing. wall street has been pricing a strong stimulus within stocks. a lot of stocks trading at high valuation because of tax hopes, many different aspects. those might be under pressure if you see the fraction within the right party, without the republicans, and that might not go through with the tax issues that are coming this week. on the 28th of april, we have the debt ceiling again. if the debt ceiling is not going through, it might question all those stimuli that are currently

priced in you might see a correction in the u.s. market. you've seen that already -- >> you have, over the last week. >> we've been short u.s. steel companies since the beginning of the year. some parts of u.s. infrastructure sectors because we thought it was too expensive. this trend is starting to has. >> seems like the trump trade is starting to happen. thank you very much. we'll go for a quick break. check out world markets live, our blog which runs throughout the european trading day. we'll be back with more "street signs" in two minutes.

welcome back. you're still watching "street signs." i'm carolin roth. these are the headlines. the great meeting with china. president xi is set to meet president trump next week as talks of tariffs heat up. at the arctic forum what do president trump's energy policies mean for development of the region? cnbc speaks with russian president vladimir putin and his finnish and icelandic counterparts about the outlook for the arctic. britain prepares to publish details of its great repeal bill as brexit minister david davis says it's time to end the

supremacy of lawmakers in brussels. all right. a quick look at u.s. futures a mixed day on wall street yesterday. the dow was slightly lower falling about 40 points. the nasdaq and s&p inching higher. seeing green across the screens. the s&p 500 seen up by two points. the dow jones seen up by. the nasdaq up by seven points no major moves expected there. in europe, plenty of gains. but the gains at this point moderate. ftse 100, up by 0.1 %. still dealing with the aftermath of the triggers of article 50 and the weak pound pushing up shares. dax up 0.2%. autos under pressure. and the cac 40 flat. in the fx world, a lot of action happening in the euro/dollar. it was as high as 1.09 a couple days ago. this is on the back of a roirts

report sayi reuters report saying ecb policymakers will be careful about language going forward. we have seen some unwanted tightening on the backs of their tweaks to commentary. that caused a bit of volatility in the euro/dollar pair. samsung has released the samsung galaxy 8. >> samsung's long awaited galaxy s8 smartphone was unveiled today at a splashy event in new york and live streamed to a london audience. it comed with a wrap-around curve screen, iris and face recognition, a home button moved to the backside and samsung's new virtual assistant, bixby. >> we have a different view of intelligence than most other companies. we see it as a deep, integrated experience. we see it as a vehicle for a new

type of interface that learns, evolves and adapts to you. meet bixby. >> the stakes for samsung were sky high today as it unveiled its latest flash ship phone. a fact that samsung's d.j. coe eluded to off the top. >> it has been a chamgi ichalle year for samsung. >> after the galaxy 7 fiasco, the galaxy 8 could be the comeback or inflict more damage. it will take time for customers to trust samsung again. >> maybe there will be no problems, but given the history not only with the phones, but with washing machines exploding, some other things, i think there's a quality control culture issue they're working very hard to convince people they've changed it. but i would wait. >> samsung may have to win

customers back quick as apple's ten-year anniversary iphone gets ready to hit the market later this year. cnbc business news, san francisco. we're joined by the corporate vice president from samsung electronics europe and arjun is joining us as well. is this the most important launch ever that samsung is doing given it's coming after the galaxy note 7 fiasco? >> it's an important launch for us. it is an important milestone in the evolution of smartphones. we have completely reredesigned the phone to break with the barriers we had with the design of the phone so far. a bigger screen, infinity displa display. >> how much time did you invest on building this new phone making sure it was absolutely

safe? was this launch delayed because you wanted to make sure everything is right? >> we did take the time we needed. developing a phone takes years. the project started months and months ago. but we did implement in this launch and in this product and all other products all the learnings we took from what happened with the note 7 to make sure that first of all this never happens again. but also all the technology that has been makeing success of the s7 and s6 to make the s8 the best ever. >> there are reports of a saturating smartphone. what is the outlook for the growth of the s8, do you think it's going to perform better than the s7 series?

>> was a challenge with smartphone manufacturers with people being tired of the design. this is why we came with the s8 breaking boundaries, the t traditional conceived ideas that phones should be a rectangle with buttons on the side and a home button. so we redesigned the smartphone in what we think is the biggest smartphone move, biggest innovation in the industry for a decade. what about sales for the phone. >> we're confident. we received positive and enthusiastic feedback from all the partners. at the event also the feedback of all the attendees was extremely positive. we're very excited. >> this smart man next to me has written a great piece about how home is the next battleground. that's what he's talking about a lot. this new phone what you going

against things like the amazon echo and so forth. why do you think voice is so important going forward, it's not just about the phone but the ecosystem. >> voice is just one of the possibility means of interaction with the phone. when we introduced bixby we wanted to show that voice can be better implemented in a smartphone than just interacting with voice. you can start by interacting with bixby by your voice, then with your finger because it's quicker and then go back to voice to do things that are more complicated. not only with this, but things like samsung connect, you will be able to interface with the smart objects in your home, such as the refrigerators, that is also connected. you can see inside your fridge on your smartphone thanks to this application. it's a new world of opportunities opening up now.

>> it's 2017, that's ten years after the iphone first launched. we will probably see a much bigger relaunch, a new phone this year. how worried are you about apple eating more of your pie and brand loyalty after that galaxy note 7 fiasco? >> so, we took the lessons from the note 7. and it was definitely a challenging time for us. i think there is a time when companies have to learn. we took the learnings. we developed new things. we are now coming to the market with fantastic smartphone that we believe responds to the customer needs. we're very, very focused on customers, learning what they want, what they give us, what feedback they give us to implement in the next galaxy. so this is the next galaxy. we think it will fulfill most of everybody's needs. >> one of the things you're pushing with the s8 is about software, the improvement in software with bixby, the interaction with the camera, the

other software ecosystem. this is important for hardwa hardwaremakers to do well with software. how do you ensignavision samsun making money off of all this software you're bringing forward. >> software is important because of not only what the phone can do but what you can do with the phone. what the phone can do is amazing, but what you can do with the phone search more important and amazing. we have, for example, developed a software capability together with a piece of hardware, samsung dex, you can transform this beautiful piece of technology the s8 is, to a laptop application, you can run it on a big screen with a mouse and keyboard. that is thanks to optimized software. >> we'll have to leave it here. thank you very much. best of success with this model.

let's get back out to wille willem marx in malta. take it , we're joined by forme head of the state, the swedish prime minister carl bilt, also former eu member of the balkans. i wanted to ask about russia and europe. we're talking about a range of issues in maltmalta. but what about the noise coming out of the balkans now. >> that's an added concern. the primary concern with russia is ukraine. there's virtually no movement, no russian movement there. so what we've seen is increasing russian meddling in the balkans. that is a new source of worry that's on the radar screen.

the president meeting with a range of european leaders, what message will he have with russia not only to the european allies but also to the united states. >> keep up the pressure because we need a solution on donbas, and what he's saying is if you start to give in now, pressure on russia there will never be a solution. we'll be left with an open scar in the middle of europe. >> you were in washington the last few days before you came here. what is your impression of the way the trump government is dealing with its congress and also based on the last few hours we heard the travel ban, the latest version of it has been upheld in terms of the court ruling on preventing that travel ban to be enacted. >> it always takes some time for a new administration to settle in. in this case it's taking a long

time. lots of uncertainties. lots of empty holes, to be quite frank frank, in terms of personnel and policy in washington. we see that in the travel ban where they have not worked through the details sufficiently. also in the foreign policy theme where there's an element of confusion or a lack of attention. >> yesterday a lot of eyes were on brussels, westminster as theresa may triggered article 50 of the lisbon treaty. i wanted your reaction as a former head of the european nation to that decision, and where you see it going over the next couple of years. >> well, i hope there will be constructive talks on the divorce settlement. that will be tricky. the money and so on. one can then do the transition about the talks of the long-term relationship. i think that would be a central free trade agreement. i would have wished it to be a much closer arrangement, that's where the uk government is. of course, we will have the new

battle of britain shaping up with scotland, ireland and those issues. that's for them, not for us. >> talking about sequencing, final question. i'm interested to hear your take on this the brits want these things to run concurrently, where the departure and trade agreement and relationship is discussed at the same time. the european side not so keen on that. as someone who has done a lot of negotiating in the past, do you think the brits are being too ambitious, the uk government trying to get that done in a two-year period? >> i think it will be virtually impossible to do everything in two years. at best, when you're ready with the divorce settlement, then you can do the transition. an element of overlap to look at the principles of the long-time partnership. there will be an element of overlap. the details of that free trade arrangement, that will take quite some time. we will need to have, i think,

some sort of interim arrangement as well until everything is in place. hopefully within two years we will have the divorce settlement there, and we will know the principles, the main outlines of the long-term relationships. >> thank you very much for your views on that. that's the former swedish prime minister, carl bilt saying he expects there to be a transition period at the end of the two years of negotiations over brexit. back to you. >> willem, thank you very much. let's focus back on the u.s. paul ryan says he does not want to work with democrats on healthcare as president trump has proposed. in an interview the house speaker said he feared the republican party is pushing trump to the other side of the aisle after last week's bill collapse. ryan also told reporters yesterday that he will continue to work on reforming and repealing obamacare and that progress is being made to bring the party together. >> i don't want us to become a factionalized majority. i want us to become a unified majority. that means we'll sit down and

talk things out until we get there. that's what we're doing. we saw good overchtures from members to get there. president trump's approval levels have dropped to new lows. according to the latest poll, 35% -- only 35%, i should say, approve of trump. his disapproval ratings jumped to 59% in the wake of last week's failed healthcare bill. the approval figure is much lower than haven't presidents at this point in their first term who gallup says have had approval ratings of 53% or higher. through go. donald trump still blowing his own horn. do you work out with a friend or partner or exercise alone? find out which is most effective from the co of virgin sport, mary wittenberg coming up after this short break. stick around.

welcome back to the show. clothing retailer lululemon appears to be falling out of fashion with investors. the stock dropped sharply after full-year guidance indicated consumer demand for athlete sure wear could have peaked. >> reporter: investors looking past lululemon's fourth quarter and focusing on the disappointing guidance for the first quarter and full year. shares are down sharply after they posted earnings and revenue guidance far shy of the street's forecast. for a quarter that's already two-thirds of the way over. so even though lululemon has a history of conservative guidance, this looks like a long way to go to make up the difference between the guidance of the company and the analysts consensus. the ceo notes the year has gotten off to a slow start.

on the earnings call, executives said the slowing sales trend in the first quart serer is a resuf soft traffic in stores and weak e-commerce results. retailer prices are solid, but it's the traffic in the stores that's the problem. and then when it comes to the online issues. there wasn't enough color or depth of assortment and items were not presented in their best light. the ceo gave one example of a jacket explaining when changing the way it was presented visually online, the sales performance of that jacket improved. the explanation did not help the stock move higher after hours. so in the quarter just completed, comparable sales did increase 7%, marking the tenth straight quarterly increase. earnings coming in a penny light. revenues did beat expectations. within the comp, women's bottoms grew 14%. and men's saw its comp grow 20%. margin also improved. this is an important metric that

we look at for lululemon, it also beat wall street's estimates. looking forward, the ceo also spoke about growing the brand outside north america in its recently opened stores in asia and continuing to lead in innovation and design as key pillars to continue growth. but wall street has other ideas with the share direction today. courtney reagan, cnbc business news. staying with sports. a new study by virgin sport found that exercising with a friend is a key factor in achieving one's fitness goals. 61% say that working out with someone helps to motivate them, over half of londoners prefer exercising with a friend over a loved one. we're joined by mary wittenberg of virgin suppoport. interesting findings, but not entirely surprising. we know about virgin active, virgin pulse, what's the difference between all of these? >> we're on a mission to help

people overcome the barriers that stop them from getting out, getting fit, getting active and being the best they can be and want to be. we will be doing events, participatory sport events starting with festivals of fitness which combine all kinds of events starting with running. 30 days from today is our virgin sport hackney. half marathon, married with yoga, high-intensity fitness, boot camp, all day long in the hackney marshes, then a 5.5 k run with your mate fun, sprint style. the whole idea is right size challenges for everybody, surrounded with music, fun, culture, a real feeling of a festival, and a sense for all your friends and family of i have to be part of that. we have something for you in it. this is a business channel. how do you make money from this? >> first we take a long-term view at virgin. part of the virgin family we lead first with how will we

create value for the customer? how do we help them overcome barriers? how do we have people walk away and say i have to do that gagai. if we can do that. sponsorship, companies wanted to associate with people who dream big and want to live their best. that is a big part. story telling. broadcasters, video. all the content players out there want to be able to have access to the stories of the human potential and the personal stories that you see among our participants and then ultimately to entry fees. it can be a solid business but has to start with purpose. >> you bring up a couple of interesting points. i did a panel on sports marketing and how to make it work in the digital age. the tenor from that panel was that you have to do it through content. just pure visibility, branding outright advertising, that's so '80s and '90s. >> this is real stuff. the chance here is what we're

selling is the chance for somebody to be who they want to be. so, it's giving people what do they need? what kind of support do they need? how do we be a cheerleader for them? how do we bring support around them? how do we give them a reason to get out and move? how do we connect them with other people that they wouldn't otherwise know. we do that, and they'll know it's virgin sport. and the value will come. but it's got to start as real and be a feel and an experience, not it's our name, so please come. >> so you're kicking this off with a number of running events. that caters to your experience. you're the chief executive officer of the new york roadrunners, you also parti participated in the new york city marathon a couple times and saw the oversaw the new york city marathon and several other races. how does thex peer yens play into what you're doing at virgin sport now? >> it's very similar in the following way, the magic of these events, that are in our city parks and city street stre

there's a community around them. in new york, the success of the new york city marathon and making something special, all the new yorkers came out and people from around the world came to participate. here in hackney in july in westminster, in the fall in oxford, it's about the community. you will see the streets of hackney, those people come out and celebrate. the participants, that's what the magic is. it's similar in that way. >> do you still run? >> i do. i do i do a bit more yoga and pilates, and learning to round it all out. >> thank you very much. mary wittenberg, the ceo of virgin sport. that's it for today. "worldwide exchange" is up next.

good morning. u.s. equity futures pointing to a mixed open on wall street. new this morning, a federal judge extending a court order blocking the enforcement of president trump's revised travel ban. plus lululemon shares are getting slammed today. we'll tell you why a lack of bold colors could be to blame. it's thursday, march 30, 2017, "worldwide exchange" begins right now. ♪ good morning. welcome to "worldwide exchange." i'm sara eisen. >> i'm wilfred frost. very good morning to you from me as well.