welcome to "street signs." i'm willem marx. >> i'm gemma acton these are your headlines the euro surges to a two-year high against the dollar after ecb president mario draghi hints at when the central bank could shift its policy away from easy money. >> we were unanimous in -- in setting no precise date for when to discuss changes we simply said that our discussions should take place in the fall

pay safe shares rocket to the top of the stoxx 600 after a consortium by blackstone bid for the payments firm. mediterranean delight for vodafone the mobile operator calls in with forecast topping numbers on the back of a strong performance in italy and spain, sending shares higher. dimming down on sales. philips lighting posts a 2% decline for its professional lighting arm, despite a beat on core earnings. the company's ceo tells cnbc that growth will return. >> we were declining by 2.4% for the full year of 2016, we have been declining by 1.3% for the first semester of 2017 we will go back to growth in the course of the second half of 2017 it's a choppy start to trade today in europe with mixed colors across the board. some red, some green,

remembering that yesterday was really a currency movement that was driving stocks a stronger euro took its toll on european markets we're seeing euro stoxx 600 not down too much, only by around 0.07%. ftse 100 is in the green but just holding on to gains there. barely above zero. looking at all of the euro-driven markets, xetra dax, cac 40 and ftse mib all down not seeing tremendous amounts of movements here let's look at which sectors are driving the markets. telecoms largely on the back of strength from vodafone strong numbers seen there. still less than a half percent autos are leading the weakness down 0.72% let's look at 4x it's such an important topic

given the central bank focus we saw the euro surge to a two-year high against the dollar picking up more gains against the dollar today cable also pushing higher. we have seen not quite piercing the 130 mark, which is keenly watched by investors let's look at how some individual stocks are trading today and what's driving markets. vodafone was partly responsible for driving telecoms up towards the top of the sector this morning. 1.17 on the back of strong q2 results. reported better than expected revenue growth of 2.2% in the first quarter. it says that was driven by robust performance in italy and spain and accelerating demand growth in turkey there hasn't been a lot of growth in the uk where vodafone says the market is still recovering let's look at philips lighting, which has beaten expectations in the second quarter with core

earnings better margins making up for falling sales there. ebita roase 8%, sales dipped 2% earlier we spoke to the ceo about the latest results >> all of our businesses are continuing on their profit improvement journey. our sales are growing 14%. again, double digits that represents 63 represent of what we are selling. if i take a bit of distance because growth is the matter of the question, we were declining by 2.4% for the full year of 2016 we've been declining by 1.3% for the first semester of 2017 we are confirming that with this improvement of our growth profile, we will go back to growth in the course of the second half of 2017. >> remember when we looked at the sectors, autos were at the bottom of the stack, partly due to valeo the french auto parts company

reported a 20% increase in profit in the first half of the year, boosted by strong demand for fuel efficient engine systems and l.e.d. lights. revenue fell short of expectations that's what we see reflected here earlier the ceo of valeo says there is huge growth potential for the company. >> we have created a joint haven't chooventure with siemenl with that market of electrified power train. we hahave 3 billion intake, whih is huge potential that we can have if we look at the details of our product approval for our power train division, when we go from traditional engine to pure electric cars, our content per car can be increased by seven times. that's a huge growth potential for us as a company. >> it's been a busy week for

mergers and acquisitions in the payment space. pay safe is up 8% because of a bid from blackstone. they returned to the table for a sweetened bid for this payments firm they are offering 590 pence per share in a deal that would value the company at 2.9 billion pounds old mutual global investors, the largest shareholders, has recommended the takeover let's look quickly at some of the construction firms spanish builder acs is considering a bid for abertis after atlantia made a bid for the company valuing it at 16 billion euro this is according to a report from expansion newspaper which says acs could use the german subsidiary to launch the counter bid

the uk and eu end their first full round of brexit talks this week with few compromises david davis said the negotiations have been robust, but he insisted both sides needed to show flexibility the chief eu negotiator, michel barnier called on the uk to clarify its position on citizens rights and the so-called brexit bill >> translator: this week it's a time for presenting. the third position must be that of clarification we need this clarification on financial regulations, the rights of citizens, on ireland, and the good fighter agreement on other subjects of separation, which the experience of this week simply proves that we progress better when our vehicletive positions are clear. >> all in all the second round of negotiations have given us a lot to be positive about they've highlighted the need for both sides to demonstrate a dynamic and flexible approach in

the way we approach these challenges we conducted this round constructively and at pace i hope this is a model we can continue going forward to join a phrase, the clock is ticking. >> mr. davis' colleague, liam fox, said that a brexit on wto terms would not represent the end of the word. speaking at the wto headquarters, dr. fox said britain is aiming for the best possible trade deal with the eu but warned it may not be possible before the 2019 deadline for the end of brexit negotiations i'm happy to say we're joined by a man who knows a fair amount about negotiations, the deputy secretary of the united nations, lord malik brown, the chair of the business development commission thanks for joining us. >> pleasure. >> i think we've seen david davis flying to brussels yesterday for one of these fleeting visits. it's the end of the second flurry of the brexit negotiations it sounds like there's been some

movement on citizen rights the european side saying they want more clarification on this brexit bill. is that reflective of a division within the top echelons of british government about how that bill should be approached >> i think so. we have just gone through a prolonged period of negotiationing with oursenegoti i negotiating with ourselves as a government westminster has been notioning with the cou negotiating with the country the one thing we're not gone is engage with europe the first few weeks has demonstrated that once we get into that conversation, people are approaching this from very different ends i think the way the europeans look at this is that the uk is asking for sort of satellite economic status with europe, which means they expect european laws, european rights for citizens to be preserved

the uk thinks it's getting its sovereignty back what you saw in those two statements was the beginning of the fact that the channel is not a wide place but my goodness, it's -- it's as far away as mars in terms of the attitudes the two sides are bringing to the conversation >> you wear a number of hats at the moment, but you are a career diplomat you sit in the house of lords, you're a cross bencher, that means you have no party affiliation. you have served under labour government in the past when you look at the fact that the conservative party in the uk does not have that straightforward government majority, they're relying on a deal with a small northern ireland party, do you think the house of lords has a greater role to play in brexit >> there's a tricky situation, which is this precedent or understanding that if something is in a government manifesto, and it gets elected, you don't challenge it the problem is that the argument

that it's a minority government, you know, really doesn't completely hold because labour adopted a similar brexit proposition in its own manifesto. so arguably you have got the biggest two-party majority in favor of a hard brexit that we have ever seen but behind that apparent reality is a country shifting away from brexit back benches of both parties shifting away from a hard brexit. that may create the space where exactly what theresa may feared when she called this election is realized we' where not just the house of lords creates the trouble, but that public opinion will start getting mobilized in a way that we have not seen before on this issue. >> do we really have a choice about whether there's a hard brexit or a soft brexit or anything else? is that or is our negotiating power so

weak that we have to accept what's been given? >> we have some things we bring to the table our share of the european budget is equivalent to 20 smaller european countries so we leave a great hole in that budget when we go. really we should be offering some sort of financial inducements by continuing to pleat so meet some commitments under that budget to get the best deal. the difficulty is, as is so often in campaigns, there was a certain number on the side of a bus which said that we were going to get 350 million a week back it was going into the national health service, which made it a completely toxic issue for negotiators to say we'll pay to get a better deal. >> earlier this week, cnbc was told that brexit could be good news for the european project. you work on things like

sustainability, wealth inequality at the division, i wonder if you think this backlash to populism that we've seen over the last 12 months sor in countries like holland, whether that will help reduce inequality across europe whether the european hierarchy will focus on that more. >> i think it's really -- working with a lot of business leaders, you know, it's fascinating to see the way they're feeling a need to step up and take responsibility for issues that they were traditionally deferring to politicians. they're doing it because they don't see the long-term strategic internationalist political leadership that they had grown used to. who else feels the same? younger people on other issues it's the same kids who voted socialist for jeremy corbyn but they're closer to my ceos on global issues than

they are to corbyn and theresa may. i think in some strange ways you will see around issues like climate change and inequality some very surprising cole lig as of interests >> the ecb survey has been released the overall picture is that eurozone inflation may slow more than earlier expected in the coming years, but economic growth and the drop in unemployment could exceed past prediction just looking at some numbers here 2017 gdp growth seen up 1.9% versus 1.7% seen three months ago. 2018 and 2019 gdp have been revised upwards, inflation forecasts cut by 0.1% point for 2017 to 2019 with the longer term projections unchanged >> we will take a quick break

quite soon coming up on the show, microsoft turns its eyes to the skies as the cloud business boosts earnings we'll discuss that shortly after the break.

microsoft shares rose by 4% after the company reported its fourth quarter earnings. the stock flattened out when the company offered guidance for the next quarter the company beat estimates on earninging per sha ins per shar. azure revenues rose 97% year-on-year arjun joins us around the set. tell us exactly what's going on here why did the stock rise, fall, and what should we look forward to >> the initial excitement was around cloud that was a successful performance from microsoft revenues were significantly higher

it shows microsoft successfully transitioned into a business where it has recurring revenues from cloud businesses, from its suite of products, that's something it has not had before and it struggled with in 2015 and it has done a good job to bring that back. there are big competition in the area, the likes of google and amazon one of the weak spots in the earnings was the personal computing division, which is the hardware products. surface revenue, their series of tablets two in one computers were down 7% they released a new version of the surface laptop and the surface pro, there's hope that could revive some revenue. the fall in the stock after hours really was about the guidance going forward concern perhaps about more competition in cloud, and whether the hardware business will revive. >> there's a few more tech stories on the agenda. i have one more, shares in sears

closed more than 10% higher after amazon agreed it would sell the u.s. retailer's ken mothekenmor appliances on its website and they said they would integrate the brand's smart gadgets into the alexa voice platform news of the deal sent shares in home depot, lowe's, whirlpool and best buy sharply lower this is an interesting one what's the broader sector theme? >> for me a bigger win for amazon than for sears. it's very ominous sign, the fact that the only reason sears shares popped is because of that reliance on amazon that's not good for the rest of the bricks and mortar retail stocks we saw drops in whirlpool, home depot. whirlpool is an appliance maker. there is a sense that amazon is eating up in different areas, even companies like whirlpool which have their own online retailing channel, if people are

not coming to those, if amazon is the default area where people shop, that's a scary sight, not just for retail, but food, groceries, fashion and even farm si pharmaceuticals. >> i'm curious about the fact that amazon felt the need to buy whole foods, instead of a partnership. >> they have allowed third parties to retail via that platfo platform that's become a successful business for amazon, but with whole foods, they are jumping into a new category. this is trying to disrupt a complete market in the food category >> arjun, thank you very much for that update on stories in the tech sector. let's talk about the rise of protectionism which created new challenges for sustainable businesses i sat down with the unilever ceo and asked about the balancing act between achieving sustainability goals and

satisfying shareholders. >> we also have to invest in sustainability if we run out of fish stock, you won't selfish. if we keep cutting down the forests, we won't be able to live decent lives. we see well-being being stressed we see more need for sustainable, responsible product, that's an important part of our operating model. any business should be there first and foremost to serve society. businesses that may not traditionally focus on shareholders are businesses that don't have very long lives, increasingly we can show by doing the right thing for all of our stakeholders, it's the right thing for shareholders >> we are joined by lord ma mark malik brown just wondering, unilever is an interesting case study they came under bid this year by

a private equity consortium led by 3g. there seems to be a growing amount of money in outfits who don't want to be long-term investors, they get in for five, seven years, turn a company around and get out weat complet odds with the sustainability theme you're discussing here >> paul pulman, one thing he did before the commission was stop quarterly -- reporting quarterly results. he made a real effort to be a long-term investment proposition for his shareholders his results being good enough, he can get away with it. they equipped him with the predator take over because he was able to position that as somehow short-term and profit gouging, the rest of it. actually what we talk about in the commission is the massive amount of value creation out

there in the areas of development which previous i will have really not had business solutions applied to them so infrastructure in the big cities of the world, the move to modern agriculture, feed a growing global population, provision of healthcare to people who currently don't have it or the switch to renewable energy and, you know, these can create profit really quite quickly. so there is not a complete conflict, if you'd like, between the impression always of sustainable business, that it's some kind of long-term social impact thing with lower returns, therefore just for charitable families to do or family offices to do. we've tried to position this as the next big global business opportunity. and in that sense capitalists big and small, particularly for business innovators, we think it's an area of huge opportunity, not just social

worth. >> your financial partners include governments. given the rise of nationalism essentially in many parts of the world including the u.s. where we hear a lot about reducing spending on foreign aid, looking at slashing the state department budget by a third, is that a challenge for a commission like yours to get government buy-in and financial support? >> i think we frankly see most of the government buy in about being a regulatory friend of this thing to encourage the overcoming of obstacles towards investment to give you a sense of it, we estimated that to achieve these global sustainable development goals, it's going to take 2 trillion to $3 trillion a year of additional vinne einvestment the total aid is 160 billion it's essentially less than 10% of the need and it's not available because it's already committed to things. so we're talking about a massive mobilization of private capital. part of that will be in

partnership with public capital. this so-called blended finance, where you put in a dollar of public money and people hope it can leverage $10, $20 of private money. that's going to be part of the formula. but this is not actually about government aid, it's about private investment >> thank you very much that's lord malloch brown. coming up, russian wrangling. we'll fill you in on why it is exxonmobil, the world's largest mobile company, is suing the united states government stay with us your brain is an amazing thing. but as you get older, it naturally begins to change, causing a lack of sharpness, or even trouble with recall. thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory.

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welcome to "street signs." i'm gemma acton. >> i'm willem marx these are your headlines bunds hit a new high on the back of a dovish ecb survey and the euro climbs as mario draghi hes at when a decision on tapering will be made. >> we were unanimous in setting no precise date for when to discuss changes. we simply said that our discussions should take place in the fall

pay safe shares rocket to the top of the stoxx 600 after a consortium led by blackstone bid for the payments firm. mediterranean delight for vodafone the mobile operator calls in with forecast topping numbers on the back of a strong performance in italy and spain, sending shares higher. dimming down on sales. philips lighting posts a 2% decline for its professional lighting arm, despite a beat on core earnings. the company's ceo tells cnbc that growth will return. >> we were declining by 2.4% for the full year of 2016, we have been declining by 1.3% for the first semester of 2017 we will go back to growth in the course of the second half of 2017 let's look at how u.s. futures are shaping up this morning. we're seeing the dow jones is set to open around 21 points

higher let's focus on the nasdaq. that notched up its tenth consecutive day in the green yesterday. so, up around 5 points according to u.s. futures. looking at the s&p, up around 1.7. let's remember it did hit a record high during the day and then it really receded after we saw increased concerns over trump's presidency let's look and see how european markets are trading. again, we're seeing a bit of a mixed picture. the key four indices are all higher, following a close lower yesterday on the back of renewed euro strength. the euro notching up a two-year high against the dollar. markets are recovering from that, but we're seeing weak trade. very, very little movement, all hovering around the zero mark. let's look at how the currencies are looking this morning really important this week we've seen so much focus on the central banks.

the euro which yesterday hit a two-year high against the dollar made further gains this morning up 0.1%. moving over to cable and other important trade, up around 0.2%, still cannot quite pierce that all-important 1.3. just getting there, flirting with it. not quite. let's head back on talk about -- before i get back to you, the latest survey from the european central bank, which has said eurozone inflation may slow more than expected in the coming years. after the central bank kept its policy unchanged based on responses from 56 forecasters, the ecb said inflation at 1.5% in 2017 and down to 1.4% in 2018 a tenth of a percentage point below forecasts from three months ago the central bank said gdp growth in unemployment could exceed past expectations. mario draghi announced no change to the bank's monetary

policy or the asset purchase program. president mario draghi worked hard to avoid making specific comments on tapering plans during his press conference in frankfurt yesterday. he did not want to upset markets, nevertheless there was a reaction the euro rose two a two-year high against the dollar after mario draghi hinted at an autumn date >> we need to be persistent and patient because we're not there yet. and prudent. by the way, we also say we were unanimous in communicating no change to the former guidance. and also we were unanimous in setting no precise date for when to discuss changes in the

future in other words, we simply said our discussions should take place in the fall. >> bill gross worries that central banks could lead the world into recession investor outlook he warned that tightening policy could be perilous and the central bank should be cautious when raising rates we are joined by ben right now is there any risks that central banks will move too quickly. we've seen extreme caution not least from mario draghi in his press conference yesterday >> it would be foolish to say there's zero risk. i think the balance of the debate has shifted away from quite extreme dovishness within the european central bank and the bank of england to something more balanced. the evidence has already been present within the federal reserve. but i certainly don't think we should start thinking that the

central banks will announce they're behind the curve and they need to act more forcefully so whilst these things can have an impact on the day-to-day, our general message would be the -- the core view is they'll proceed cautious cautiously >> do you think enough people in the market are paying attention to inflation, especially when it comes to central bank monetary policy >> inflation has been surprising to the down side of late and central banks have -- certainly the federal reserve announced that was a temporary factor they're looking through it but we'll have to see. wages and cpi numbers have been, you know, the pressures have been modest. if they continue, then central banks can no longer say that it's a temporary factor. so, yeah, inflation is certainly going to be crucial to how central bank policy unfolds. >> are we in a new paradigm for wage growth? we are seeing it unanimously in developed markets now. >> that's probably the key

question, why are wages not really firing. we could pose lots of reasons, automation, people working longer, maybe just that it hasn't happened yet. any moment now the labor market is so tight that wages get firing a combination of those factors will lead us to conclusion that wages should rise, but modestly and again, wouldn't upset central bankers so much that they'll do anything quite dramatic >> ben, we've been looking at the dollar and the euro. the dollar weaker yesterday. euro hitting a two-year high what about the pound and the impact that has on uk equities >> the pound will have an impact on uk equities, strength will undermine those overseas earnings and weakness will boost those overseas earnings. but very quickly history esson the financial crisis, sterling was weak, equities were poor during the recovery, sterling was strong and equities were strong the returns for equities will be determined by how the global economy is unfolding i think we're still in recovery.

sterling strength will be a modest headwind on a relative call uk equities should still make money given that the global economy is performing well >> how are you feeling about bonds? we have seen yields gradually move higher, but we feel the amount of caution yesterday out of the central bank or mario draghi suggests that perhaps yield rises will be capped >> i think the inflationary pressures are so modest that yields should not rise much higher i'm a fund analyst, i meet bond fund managers all the time, i'm yet to find anyone excellent at calling where bond yields are going. it's difficult to know where bond yields are going, you need some bond exposure as a diversifier in portfolios. we're underweight, but not zero weight >> one last question, we've heard a lot about the italian

banking sector what do you see as the political risks going forward? >> we have to have general elections by may next year currently five-star movement polling second likely to run on an anti-euro ticket so many hurdles for italy to take itself out of the eu and out of the euro. five-star movement polling nicely, polling well and perhaps being the -- winning the plurality, we would expect building political risk into european equities. europe is a good trade but something we're cautious about >> ben, thank you very much. switching now to the u.s the investigation into allegations that russia meddled in last year's u.s. presidential election could be expanding. the "wall street journal" reports that robert mueller is investigating possible money laundering by paul manafort, president trump's former campaign manager trump has denied there was collusion between his campaign and russia russian authorities repeatedly

denied they meddled in the election we're joins by sarah dollof from washington thanks for getting up so early paul manafort's property purchases are under scrutiny >> a lot of things under scrutiny right now that's one of several stunning headlines. people have been waking up to that here in washington. there are also, this morning, new reports that the president's legal team is now investigating aides on robert mueller's team to look for potential conflicts of interest in a possible efsht effort to undercut this investigation. robert mueller has been tasked with investigating possible collusion between trump's campaign team and russia during the last election here in the u.s. the president issued a warning to mueller via the "new york times" in an interview just two days ago cautioning mueller against investigating trump family finances.

also this morning a new "washington post" report saying the president is beginning to ask about his pardoning powers when it comes to his aides, family members and even himself. his legal team so far has declined to comment. going back for just a second in that interview to the "new york times," trump not only had sharp words for mueller, he also had them for his own attorney general, jeff sessions, who has long been a backer of trump here in washington. he was one of the first -- or he was the first senator to support trump's campaign now he -- trump said that if he had known that jeff sessions was going to recuse himself from the russian investigation, he would have never appointed sessions attorney general in the first place. sessions responded saying he plans to continue serving as attorney general as long as it is appropriate willem, back to you. >> thanks. it seems like there's no one who is safe under president trump in terms of his scrutiny, but even

his own legal team right now sort of being shuffled around i understand >> they're keeping busy. you heard right there, they are not commenting there's a lot of changing guard right now here in the white house. his legal team, all of these players coming that play, even this morning they are expected to announce a new communications director he has previously served on the transition team. sean spicer will continue to serve. this was a position that was open for some time sean spicer had been filling in in a dual role >> sarah, thank you very much. exxonmobil is suing the u.s. government for what it calls an unlawful fine for a joint oil venture with russia. the government says exxon acted with reckless disregard of u.s. sanctions in its dealings with russia rex tillerson, the current u.s. secretary of state was the oil

company's chief executive responsible for approving that deal exxon has been given the maximum $2 million fine, which the company says it fundamentally unfair >> what's interesting, $2 million as a fine, this company made 7$7.8 billion amazing they're appealing that >> when you think about the oil gyrations in any given day interesting story. paul ryan says consensus on tax reform is close that as republican members of congress work to cut corporate rates and close loopholes. ryan says there's a need to level the playing field for u.s. companies, and he says he's confident his party with pass reforms this year. coming up on "street signs," the man walking free at the center of the notorious trial of the last century, o.j. simpson has been granted parole. more after this break.

. welcome back to "street signs. o.j. simpson is a name you have not heard for a while and he's been granted parole after almost nine years in prison the normaler nfl and tv star will be released in october. nbc's joe fryer has tiar. >> mr. simpson, i do vote to grant parole when eligible that will end this hearing. >> thank you >> reporter: relief washed over o.j. simpson as a nevada parole board voted in dramatic fashion to set him free the unanimous decision reached after the former football star made his case. >> i've done my time you know, i've done it as well and as respectfully as i think anybody can. >> reporter: at times combative. >> it was my property. i wasn't there to steal from anybody.

i would never, ever pull a weapon on anybody. >> reporter: at times contrite >> nine years away from your family is just -- just not worth it. >> reporter: appearing in front of cameras for the first time in four years, simpson looked thinner. >> i've basically have spent a conflict-free life >> reporter: he has served as commissioner of the prison softball league, started a baptist church service and took classes like alternative to violence. >> it gave me so many tools how to use it to, you know, try to walk these guys through, you know, not throwing the punches at one another >> reporter: supporters at the hearing included his sister, shirley baker, and daughter, arnelle, who testified >> we just want him to come home so that we can move forward for us quietly, but to move forward. >> reporter: simpson is serving time for the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers today one of the victims, bruce fromong, testified that simpson should be released >> this is a good man. he made a mistake. >> reporter: even offering to pick him up from prison. >> juice, i'll be here tomorrow

for you. i mean that, buddy >> reporter: friend tom scotto met with simpson after the hearing. >> came out yelling, "i'm going home i'm coming home. yeah coming home. hugged us all. we'll be making plans. >> reporter: it's the latest legal twist for simpson who in the '90s was accused and acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, nicole brown, and her friend, ron goldman, but in a civil trial he was found liable for the killings the parole board says those cases were mentioned in many of the opposition letters it received from the public >> these items will not be considered in this case. >> reporter: christopher darden author of the book "in contompt" was one of the prosecutors in simpson's murder trial >> he is the same o.j. i saw in 1994. he's still a narcissist. he's still a very manipulative person and he is still inclined to blame other people for his conduct. >> reporter: but a state assessment deemed simpson a low risk to reoffend, paving the way

for his release. >> there's nothing normal about o.j. simpson, but this was a normal decision, and that's a good thing for the justice system >> visa posted third quarter profit above expectations and raised forecasts for full-year earnings results were boosted by growing consumer spending in europe and the u.s. visa is forecasting annual net revenue to rise 20%. blackstone posted an increase in second quarter profit but has fallen short of expectations in another key income measure the buyout firm said economic net income was at 59 cents a share, below the 62 cents per share analysts expected. turning to next week, alphabet is due to report results after the bell on monday shares and the owner of google have had an impressive runup this year but the jury is out on whether the group will deliver

an earnings surprise it only missed estimates once in the last four quarters we're joined by mike bailey, director of research at fbb capital partners, joining us don't line from washington would love your take on what we can expect to head for technology stocks. nasdaq up almost 20% do you think there's more upside left >> absolutely. so, you know, if we had to think about the markets in a way it's been moving up on the shoulders of giants. in this case it's been the tech giants, the big tech companies driving things we've seen some results this week we saw visa, microsoft had a good quarter, you mentioned alpha beth cobet coming up next. we're comfortable these companies will continue to beat and raise. we've seen longer term themes are a part of that the companies are doing a good job following up making sure they're driving growth, driving revenues, margins. we would expect these companies to continue to rally into next

week >> so you feel that most of the upside we've seen is independent of any of the reflation trade which propelled u.s. equities higher in the wake of president trump's election last november >> that's right. we would view sort of this tech rally separate from the trump bump, if you will. a lot of that was more policy driven so sort of investors thinking of economics, tax cuts. really tech is kind of off in its own world. they're really -- we can go company by company, just a lot of big themes, online advertising, artificial intelligence, things growing nicely and companies are capitalizing on that gaining share, growing profits i think in some ways it's happening independently of what's going on in d.c we do expect that to continue. >> mike, it's willem marx. how significant is the weaker dollar we saw yesterday and over the long-term when it comes to u.s. equities? >> i think it's just sort of one

upside driver, if you will we can talk about minimal wage pressures, sort of not a ton of commodity price pressure but a cheaper dollar, i think, is helpful in general. a lot of u.s. exporters out there, it's getting easier certainly easier comparisons for them we wouldn't say that's the key theme, but certainly that's helpful for a lot of multinationals based in the u.s. over the next quarter or two >> mike, let me turn to a more traditional sector we've seen telecoms at the top of the sector lead in europe they've had a dreadful year. they've done worse than energy overall so far do you think they've been oversold at this point >> a bit, yeah so we do track those we own a couple of big telecoms and we try to think about fundamentals on one hand and pricing on the other it feels like sentiment and price hag gotting has gotten a t oversold we think they'll turn around the fundamentals are worse in

telecoms for sure compared with traditional tech companies it feels like investors are assuming the worst case in this situation, whether that's additional deals, sprint, t-mobile throwing a wrench in the works. but we do think telecoms will come back a bit. you could look longer term as rates go up that could put pressure on telecoms over the next year. >> let me broaden this out it's been a rough month so far for the trump presidency at what point do you think politics might have the power to step in and destabilize the economy and therefore companies? >> great question. if i had to sort of simplify the market these days, and oversimplify things, you could argue it's a don't worry be happy rally, if you will part of that, the don't worry piece, i think really is investors thinking about what's going on here in d.c. and sort of putting it aside. really just saying the key sort of economic and market

implications are fairly minimal when you boil things down. but your question is a good one. if we think about what could happen to throw markets off, perhaps if investors say there's zero chance of a tax cut, if we get comfortable with that, that may be something that depresses markets a bit. but really at this point investors have given that a low chance of success. it's a fairly attractive risk return when you think about the upside and down side coming out of potential policy moves here >> mike, thank you very much for your views that was mike bailey from fbb capital partners. you heard of boaty mcboat face i know you voted for that name online there's a swedish rail operator that agreed to call one of its trains trainee mctrain face. it beat names poseidon, hakim and miriam it got half the results.

the company said in a statement that trainee mctrain face would be received with joy by all swedes t despite getting the most votes, the boat was named after wildlife expert david attend field. >> that's it for today >> coming up is "worldwide exchange." they'll be up next our colleagues in the u.s. time's up, insufficient we're on prenatal care.es. and administrative paperwork... your days of drowning people are numbered. same goes for you,

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good morning the teflon tech rally. the nasdaq has just did something that it hasn't done in more than two years. microsoft shares surging to an all-time high after reporting blowout results. instant analysis straight ahead. and why the internet is buzzing over jeff bezos' first instagram post it's friday, july 21, 2017, "worldwide exchange" begins now. ♪ good morning a very warm welcome to