welcome to "street signs." i'm joumanna bercetche these are your headlines italy's lega is forced to deny a government draft including the request for the cancellation of the country's debt pile from the ecba report which sends yields higher. a dramatic u-turn from north korea as pyongyang cancels a planned meeting with south korea and says its landmark u.s. summit may be under threat ban ki-moon tells cnbc he's concerned. >> i suspect that this may be

part of their game play to influence and give some impact to the united states to lower down the expectations. >> full steam ahead for alstom shares as full-year net income jumps 60%. we'll teak to the ceo at 10:45 cet. and burberry beats estimates as steps to revamp the brand are showing promising early signs. good morning let's check in on markets.

the major news overnight was that of north korea softening its tone and looking to pull back with respect to the upcoming summit with south korea and the u.s. that's been weighing on asian sentiment overnight. also japan gdp showed a contraction for the first quarter. that has hit asian equities. this morning in europe, the picture is more mixed. we're seeing a broad distribution between red and green. stoxx 600 is trading up slightly higher at 0.16%. let's not forget that one of the big catalysts for equities getting hit in yesterday's session was the move higher in ten-year yields, making new highs for the year on specific indices, i want to draw your attention to ftse mib. the italian index is down 0.3% all of this on back of a leaked

memo coming out of lega and five-star showing some platform priorities, many of them were at odds with the eu and did show they would be requesting things like a cancellation of 250 billion euros worth of debt. that's one way to bring down the get to gdp ratio, but not something we expect the eu to swallow. other markets are trading in the green. the ftse is also up.europe, in time, final inflation numbers for the month of april the focus of the oil market switched from fundamentals to geo politics in the wake of america's decision to withdraw from the iranian nuclear deal. latest oil market reports, the iea lowered its 2018 global demand growth estimate as prices continue to rise as always, neil atkinson from ia

joins us from paris. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> one of the major updates we've seen is that of the u.s. decision to withdraw from the iran deal. i wonder how much of a disruption are you factoring in from the supply side given the disruption we could see in production coming out of iran? >> we have not factored anything in yet it's very, very early days it's only a week or so since the decision was announced as far as the oil market is concerned, customers for iran's oil have 180 days to make other arrangements, if that's what they decide to do. so we can't be sure how much lower iranian exports will be. last time around the cut was about 1.2 million barrels a day. we're not suggesting it will be that much this time. we don't know. we'll have to wait and see how the implementation of the u.s. decision works out over the next

few months for the time being we have not factored in specific volume. >> are you reassured by some comments out of saudi arabia that they may look to offset the disruption by increasing production from the opec community? >> if there is a large shortfall in iranian exports that will have an impact on a market that is already quite tight so the statement that was made by saudi arabia a few hours after the announcement by the u.s. government is reassuring from the point of view that the iea's main mandate is to ensure security supply and to help stabilize markets. so the saudi statement was welcomed from that point of view >> venezuela is also featured in your report. venezuela's production is 550,000 barrels a day lower than the target under the vienna agreement. how much of a pressure is this

causing to the price of oil? >> well, it's already had an impact on the price of oil clearly because the other opec producers have been -- and russia have been largely sticking to their commitments under the vienna agreement everybody has been watching to see how fast the situation in venezuela deteriorates what seems to be clear is that the situation is definitely getting significantly worse. as we say in our report, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that by the end of 2018 production in venezuela could be several hundred thousand barrels a day lower than today as we say in the report, if that short fall in venezuela coincides with a large short fall in iranian exports, as the sanctions are implemented, that potentially poses a challenge to the stability of the market. that's one of the key messages we're trying to put across in the report >> sir, i would like to ask you about some figures released

earlier in the week. they show inventories in the developed world are 9 million barrels above the five-year average, down from 340 million barrels in january 2017. significant decline there. do you see supply anding out ang into deficit >> we have the oecd stocks falling. ever so slightly below the five-year average. slight difference with opec's numbers. stocks have been falling continuously in the oecd since may of last year that's something we've been pointing out regularly the market has been tightening before our eyes. the fact that we have oil very -- brent very close to $80 a barrel as a result of the fact that demand growth has been strong, adherence to the vienna agreement is strong, stocks have been falling regularly also.

so that's all combined together. now, of course, the new iranian policy added to that to help drive prices up to levels we have not seen since the end of 2014 so stocks have played an impoant part in that >> i'd like to ask you about the oil demand outlook i see you revised it slightly downwards. how much of that is on back of the fact that simply the price of oil is higher than it was >> that is the main reason the early part of 2018, i think in april as well, we have actually seen quite strong demand because we had a colder than normal northern hemisphere winner season. as we point out, oil prices are close to levels we have not seen since the end of 2014. they have risen well, 70% since the middle of last year. that must have a dampening impact on oil demand growth to some extent. we acknowledged that in the latest report by reducing slightly, not by a large amount,

our estimate of demand growth for the latter part of 2018. it remains to be seen exactly how consumers respond to higher prices one key point we make is developing countries, when prices were low, they cut subsidies or reduced subsidies this time around with prices rising strongly, consumers are more exposed to rising end user prices than a few years ago. that's something we need to watch out for as 2018 progresses >> neil atkinson, thank you very much for joining us. one of our top stories today, italy's lega spokesman says the official government draft never included the request for the cancellation of 250 billion euros of debt. earlier reports indicated the five star and lega parties had asked for forgiveness as part of coalition talks. according to drafts of the

coalition program, the two parties are also discussing mechanisms to leave the eurozone five-star and lega reported that the text is old and that different proposals are now on the table. let's look at how italian markets have reacted to that for once, we're seeing a reaction with all of the italian yields trieding higher what is interesting today is that we don't have ten-year bunds up, but ten-year germany has rallied despite the selloff in new york. that tells you that the market in europe is somewhat concerned about this leaked memorandum which would set italy at loggerheads with the rest of europe clearly not something that will be embraced by italy's counterparts within the eurozone let's look at how italian banks

have responded this is the broad index of italian banks. that's down on the news. down almost 1 % in trading there's a strong link between italian yields and the banking sector that's manifested in today's trading. at this point i'm happy to say i'm joined with james athey from aberdeen standard investments. let's start with italy up until today, there had not been much of an impact this morning we see we sold off about 6 basis points do you expect that move to continue if the likes of these types of memorandums and announcements coming out of italy continue in the future >> that's a big if what we've seen from the huffington post this morning looks dramatic at least one half of the government has come out trying

to dampen down expectations that that forms part of their policy framework. that being said, there are things that the market has been largely ignoring lately. the elections in march show that things were not right and given the rhetoric we heard from those two parties and given some areas where you can see there would be horse trading that's possible if not necessarily compromise, a trading off of policies against each other they are areas that are likely to be expansionary on the fiscal side or bring them into conflict with eu rules. >> you would not touch them here >> i've been short for a while >> outright? >> outright versus germany the outright trade you get two trades for the price of one. you get the duration element, and if things are okay, you

expect bund yields to rise and that would drag italian yields with it. >> fixed income yields in general, we had a big selloff in fixed income yesterday i feel silly because i have been telling my colleague that it's difficult for the rates to break 3% >> the focus on 3% is largely nonsensical. economically there's no significance i find it a bit strange at the same time there's a thought out there in the market that the flat curve tells you there's a recession coming, but if ten-year rises from here that that is a harbinger of doom. as far as yesterday, retail sales were a bit better. revisions to the previous number were significant that seems to trigger off what was just probably a capitulation of further positions the market has been somewhat

reluctant to accept and embrace the new reality for central bank policy, liquidity and treasury supply this year >> one thing i thought was interesting was the fact that the curve steepened yesterday. the en-year moved more than th front end, which is bucking the trend of flattening. going forward, do you think we can continue to see steepening of the u.s. curve? >> there's been a battle out there about the flatness, steepness and it reflects a real money versus a fast money split, which is probably a longer term, more doubtful approach from real money as to how far the money can go versus guys who say the curve is steep i think that's the trade it depends on what is driving yields higher if we steepen or flatten. if we talk about the fed being on the move and upgrading near-term expectations, that probably still flattens the curve. yesterday was more of a duration

event. this was people who had lazy longs in all markets, assuming 3% was a significant level to lean against as it became obvious there wouldn't be a raft of buyers there, the success of the treasury auctions suggested that those who wanted to go in duration did so. >> do you think you can make money being short u.s. fixed income here? can you beat the forwards and what is priced into the forward curves >> you would say it's difficult to short the front end because of the notion of shortening coupon and it's a steep area of the curve to short if you look to the back half of last year, you could be making money shorting the front end those gains will be more difficult now, but you can structure portfolios where you have bearish exposure in the u.s. and you're not bleeding all that carry and still exposed to a treasury driven bear market. >> james, thank you very much

for joining us that was james athey elsewhere, bank of england deputy governor ben broadland says the boe won't spoon feed markets meeting by meeting on future rate rises. he said in an interview he has no time to address complaints from the city. he says the bank's message is aimed at the wider public. the mpc did come under criticism at the last meeting with forward guidance and mismanaged expectations. quarterly disclosures of hedge fund stock holdings or 13f filings show berkshire hathaway piled into shares of israeli drugmaker teva pharmaceutical and monsanto in the first quarter. berkshire more than doubled its stake in teva and added 7.3 million shares of monsanto

the company also loaded up on apple. the disclosure reveals buffett sold out of his stake in ibm stanley druckenmiller is betting big on chipmakers. his hedge fund bought 2.5 million shares of intel, 2.2 million shares of micron and 410,000 shares of qualcomm they are all new stakes on the fund appalossa management dissolved its share stake in apple and nbc universal owner comcast. david tepper's hedge fund declared a stake of 7 million shares in ubs and 2.9 million in wells fargo. later we'll have more wall street whale watching and where over hedge funds are putting their cash. burberry shares rally after beating profit expectations. a close look at the luxeury

sector coming up next. of unpred. of unpred. crohn's, you've tried to own us. but now it's our turn to take control with stelara® stelara® works differently for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before or during treatment, always tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop any new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion, and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. we're fed up with your unpredictability. remission can start with stelara®. talk to your doctor today.

janssen wants to help you explore cost support options for stelara®. the first survivor of ais out there.sease and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. ♪ with expedia you could book a flight, hotel, car and activity all in one place. ♪

welcome back geox shares are falling after issuing a cautious outlook for full-year revenues the shoemaker posted a sharp drop in first quarter sales citing poor weather but still expects growing profitabilities for the full-year. and burberry opened higher after reporting a better than expected full-year adjusted profit steps to revamp the brand are showing positive early signs same-store sales increased 3% in line with expectations joining me now is the director of strategy and resight at wgsn. good morning >> good morning. >> looking at the consensus going into today, it looks like sales were expected to be flat burr buberry had some strong numbers. despite all the changes in management where is the strength coming

from >> there's been a lot of change that's going on at burberrburbey the core of burberry has always been a strong brand. it has benefited from a revival of the luxury sector that's one reason why it benefited a bit. also the new ceo, though he's been in place a year, put in place a lot of measures. he did want to revamp burberry and take it more to an off-market destination, revamp in leather goods some of those changes were implemented middle of last year. that's where we are seeing the changes and growth coming in top-line sales, top-line revenue has been stable as expected. they have been making a lot of changes especially towards the digital portfolio. so they have talked a lot about improving the experience of digital. that's something that burberry has massive strength in. >> before we get into the digital side of things, one big core part of strategy is moving

towards hard luxury. do you think that will pay off >> it's an interesting strategy. burberry always had positioning in accessible/contemporary luxury it's never been a true luxury brand. however i understand where the change in strategic direction has come from like i mentioned, luxury has had revival there is no other true luxury brand in britain so there is this idea that there's a space for british luxury there's more of an idea that luxury needs to be -- the position of burberry needs to be clarified. that's where the change in direction is coming from >> it's interesting that you say there's a demand for it or a space for it in the uk market, because everything we read about the uk consumer is pretty negative retail sales dropping off a cliff. i wonder whether or not this is

the right strategy given the health of the consumer in today's market >> yes so british luxury has been a little bit dampened as compared to global luxury however the strength of positioning burberry as a luxury brand with british heritage will pay off in international markets. it's something they started to see in the aipac region really well this is something we should expect to pay off in that market let's not forget the middle east markets, taking that heritage and super charging it can pay off. it will have to be done strategically. it will have to be done in a considered manner. i think it's a long-term goal. it can't happen over the next year or so those changes will need to happen very, very gradually. >> we've also seen a big evolution when it comes to the luxury markets embrace of

digital sales and also e-commerce there was a 130,000 pound watch sold through watts ahatsapp eventually >> yes >> but more and more people are feeling comfortable using different forms of transactions. so it's not just going in the store, you're doing it on whatsapp, online websites, people are delivering things to you. do you expect this segment of the market to continue to grow >> digital is the way forward for luxury we talk about the transformation of digital, how it's changed the retail sector overall, but in luxury it's been slower. especially in hard luxury. true luxury goods. now this is where i expect the change to happen for burberry and for the wider luxury goods market we must not forget that a big part of the digital

transformation is driven by millennials. they are now transforming into true luxury customers. the definition of luxury also changed. people don't feel pressured where they buy it. >> do millennials have that spending power >> they will increasingly have that spending power. they expect access throughout. whether it's whatsapp, wherever. i think burberry is well positioned to deliver that >> thank you very much novartis says its general counsel will leave the company over his role in a 1$1.2 million payment made to trump attorney michael cohen. announcing the move this morning, the swiss drugmaker said the contract was legal, but an error, and that it is working to rebuild trust speaking about the outlook for the company, the ceo said it is well positioned to deliver sales

growth and margin expansion through 2022 and that its strong-struggling unit alcon is returning to strength. coming up, demonstrations break out in cities around the world. we'll be live on the ground after this break - i love my grandma. - anncr: as you grow older, your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

welcome to "street signs." i'm joumanna bercetche these are your headlines italy's lega is forced to deny a government draft including the request for the cancellation of the country's debt pile from the ecb, a report which sends yields higher. a dramatic u-turn from north korea as pyongyang cancels a planned meeting with south korea and says its landmark u.s. summit may be under threat ban ki-moon tells cnbc he's concerned.

>> i suspect that this may be part of their game play to influence and give some impact to the united states to lower down the expectations. >> full steam ahead for alstom shares as full-year net income jumps 60%. the french firm says it should outperform in the medium term. we'll teak to the ceo at 10:45 cet. and burberry beats estimates as steps to revamp the brand are showing promising early signs. all right. let's check in on u.s. markets they did close down yesterday following the move higher in yields with ten-year yields breaking 3%, almost as high as

310. today is seen opening higher, but nothing major to speak of. up about 3 points or so. the main action is occurring in european markets italy is the major market that people are focused on after that leaked memorandum. we've seen that in the ftse mib. it's underperforming, down 130 points, down 0.53% the print is coming out in a half hour's time the fer caorecast is for 1.2%, u 1.4% let's talk about foreign exchange yesterday the theme was one of dollar strength with dxy hitting a new high for the year. at one point we touched 97.46. euro/dollar is almost in the green, around the flat line.

dollar/yen at 110.20 that's an interesting one to watch. we had the weaker q1 gdp print coming out of japan showing a contraction in economic growth there. so, not good numbers for mr. kuroda as far as the bank of japan is concerned cable is one to watch. still hovering around that 135 level. palestinians began burying their dead on tuesday, a day after israeli troops killed 60 protesters in gaza two more were shut down as they marked the nakba or catastrophe when over 700,000 palestinians were expelled or fled during the 1948 war surrounding israel's creation the u.s. was the only country to defend israel's actions. >> this tragedy cannot just be disassociated from despair among

the people of gaza, that's why besides the need for deescalation, which is an immediate imperative and an urgent humts enhumanitarian res it's important to work towards a lasting prospect for gaza and two states >> we're deeply concerned by the sharp escalation and violence that we witnessed in gaza yesterday. this has resulted in a high number of prialestiniane es kild and injured. we expect israel to respect the fundamental right to peaceful protest and the principal of proportionality in using force >> moscow is deeply concerned by the escalation of tension in the occupied palestinian territories. it reached a dangerous level in the background of the ceremony which symbolized the beginning of the american transfer to tel

aviv and coincided with the day of catastrophe, nakba. >> i ask my colleagues here in the security council who among us would accept this type of activity on your border. no one would no country in this chamber would act with more restraint than israel has in fact, the records of several countries here today suggests they would be much less restrained matt bradley joins us on the line yesterday when we spoke, we were talking about more demonstrations, but it seemed like a more subdued day in terms of demonstrations. what is the mood on the ground today?

>> the mood on the ground is the same as yesterday. we are talking about people who are decembspondent and the death toll has risen to above 60 people i was told they're planning on continuing these demonstrations for the next several weeks through ramadan, hopefully in the same format that they were used before, or he hoped every friday with protests and continuing encampments along the border he said the next time he expects to see a major protest will be on so-called naksa day that's different from nakba day. naksa commemorates the arab losses in the 1967 six-day war on june 5th he expects the next make procedure test but he hopes they will continue this protest movement until then, but the move here is despondent.

people here are so disappointed in what happened on monday they're feeling that it will be hard to rally the numbers and get them out to the fence and to charge that fence once again in the same way on what monday looked like a suicide mission. it's hard to see where it goes from here. but hamas, various other people hoping to sustain this protest movement >> what's interesting is that there does not seem to be inclination from both sides at all to negotiate a cease-fire or end to this. what is needed does the u.s. need to step in and be the adult in the room and put both sides to the table? as we discussed yesterday there are also questions about whether or not the u.s. is an honest broker in the situation. >> yeah. i'm not seeing a lot of trust being put in the u.s. administration here. remember the u.s. kind of leapfrogged ahead of several well-agreed upon, well-established steps in a

well-established peace process by recognizing jerusalem as the capital of a jewish state. that removes the u.s. from the equation in certain ways it's no longer seen as an honest broker if it ever was seen as an honest broker by the palestinians this is now in the hands of the egyptians. the egyptians have their own blockade they sustained for several years along the southern border of gaza and they've been trying to negotiateindirectly with israe through the egyptian, the head of hamas in gaza strip and outside. so it rests on the egyptians and some more indirect talks to see if they can ease the blockade and meet some demands or meet the palestinians halfway in terms of relieving the dire humanitarian situation in the gaza strip >> is the perception on the ground that perhaps with the u.s. pulling out of the iran nuclear deal, and with the events in the last couple of days, that the u.s. is more or less siding with israel, and

that this has emboldened them and we could expect to see more offensive measures coming out of israel and also in syria >> that's unclear. this move by donald trump to move the embassy to jerusalem, that's put a lot of wind in the sales of benjamin netanyahu and some far-right elements of the israeli government who were already on the ascension before this happened. now with the optics around this, israel has come in for a lot of criticism for their reaction to the protests here. the united states is the major ally behind benjamin netanyahu and israel benjamin netanyahu has seen a surge in popularity in israel, especially among the right wing. it doesn't look like his ability to maneuver, his ability to crack down on the palestinians here in the gaza strip and in the west bank has been in any way restrained by the events of this past week it doesn'tlook like there's an

incentive for either side to come to the table. >> thank you for that, matt. that was matt bradley in gaza city europe is seeking a quick solution on iran's nuclear deal, that's according to the eu foreign policy chief mogherini said they were talking about european banks still operating there. and north korea threatened to withdraw from the upcoming summit with the u.s. after pulling out of high-level talks in seoul meant to take place today in a statement pyongyang said it would need to reconsider the summit if washington insisted on a denuclearization program. peter alexander has more >> reporter: tonight, a momentary summit setback, or more north korean state media reporting the north is threatening to back out of kim's joint meeting with president

trump next month blaming joint south korea air combat drills under way. kim blasted military exercises he canceled talks with south korea, notifying them by fax hours before a scheduled meeting where kim jong-un and south korea's president met last month. the announcement catching the president off guard. the pentagon confirming the long-planned exercises are routine. the state department insisting north korea hasn't notified the u.s. of any change >> we will continue to go ahead and plan the meeting between president trump and kim jong-un. >> reporter: the north's dramatic shift in tone coming days after it released three american detainees and began dismantling a nuclear test site, the path forward expected to be the primary topic discussed when president trump hosts his south korean counterpart one week from today. >> i can see this being part and parcel of north korea's cycle of

this type of negotiation, they try to build up leverage by engaging their opponents but also making their opponents guess about what the next move will be. >> speaking to cnbc, former u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon expressed concerns that talks with north korea could be in jeopardy >> i was deeply concerned and worried about what north koreans have suddenly canceled this morning, the high-level talks. to me, to implement the agreement which was made on april 10th i suspect that this may be part of their game play to influence and give impact to the united states to lower down the expectations all in all, this is not good

they are portraying strong support and excitement which has been shown to them and to south korea. this is against the whole international community. they sincerely hope that this time, by successful summit meeting between united states and north korea here in singapore, they should come out with the bold and concrete agreement to dismantle nuclear weapons, and to denuclearize north korea. he added he can't say he trusts kim jong-un >> i cannot tell that i trust north korea and kim jong-un, because i myself, as one of the negotiators with north korean side, and also have been directly and indirectly involved in this process during the last 25 years, we have seen enough

examples and cases where north korea betrayed this agreement. at least four times during the 25 years >> for more on this stunning turnaround from north korea and why president trump will remain a failed president according to system, head to cnbc.com. let us look at some of the worst performing currency pairs for the year some remarkable moves there. you can see the dollar/argentine peso is the largest underperformer weaker to the tune of 30% on the year-to-date basis that's dollar/argentinean peso at the right turkey also in focus, 18% weaker dollar brazil and dollar ruble other names we're looking at

a lot of this move has happened in the last couple of weeks as we have seen the strengthening of the u.s. dollar and those countries coming into focus, particularly argentina with its request to the imf and turkey as well on turkey specifically, the lira hit a fresh record low today after president erdogan said he plans to take greater control of the economy after next month's election his comments compounded concerns about the turkish central bank's ability to curb inflation amid erdogan's push for lower interest rates i asked paul thompson about the economic situation in turkey in light of the recent euro devaluation. >> our advice to turkey is well known. we think the turkish economy has been growing strongly. we think it's been -- that it has been growing well above potential. in part because of stimulus that were provided then in '16 and

'17. we think it's time we withdraw some of the stimulus, to have some fiscal tightening and we think given that inflation is well above the target it's time to tighten monetary policies. this is longstanding advice of the fund and i think that advice remains very appropriate >> that was paul thompson essentially saying turkey needs to start bringing back fiscal spending and start with monetary policy tightening. full steam ahead for alston after it reports higher salessp. we'll have more with the ceo coming up. ahh... summer is coming. and it's time to get outside. pack in even more adventure with audible. with the largest selection of audiobooks. audible lets you follow plot twists off the beaten track.

or discover magic when you hit the open road. with the free audible app, your stories go wherever you do. and for just $14.95 a month you get a credit, good for any audiobook. if you don't like it exchange it any time. no questions asked. you can also roll your credits to the next month if you don't use them. so take audible with you this summer... on the road... on the trail... or to the beach. start a 30-day trial and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime, and your books are yours to keep forever. no matter where you go this summer make it better with audible. text summer4 to 500500 to start listening today. no matter how much you clean, does your house still smell stuffy? that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. so, try febreze fabric refresher.

febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. make febreze part of your clean routine for whole home freshness.

welcome back to "street signs. quarterly disclosures of 13f filings show that bill ackman's pershing square bought nearly 2 million shares of united

technologies ackman said he was building a stake in the company noting that he thought it was great. the regulatory filing shows ackman sold more than 7 million shares in mondelez and third point raised its stake in united technologies as he pushes to break the company apart. lobe also bought stakes in wynn reso resort the hedge fund increased its position in facebook and sold out of healthcare provider admon. green light capital has taken on substantial takes in office depot and abercrombie & fitch. it added iac interactive and pay pal to the portfolio they sold stakes in under armour, best buy and nordstrom a cold snap in the u.s. in april helped push down consumer spending on home and outdoor supplies but as cnbc's courtney reagan reports t did not dampen may

comparable sales at home depot unseasonable weather kept consumers from spending on garden supplies and outdoor merchandise during a time when spending on those items is high. that makes up about 20% of home depot's first quarter sales. the weather hit hardest in april which the company said was one of the coldest and snowiest aprils in 20 years >> i don't think it's nearly as bad as this looks. we had a slow start to spring. and this is coming off of two years where there really wasn't much in the way of a winter. once the weather turned sales picked up. >> in fact, home depot said many comparable sales are up double digits just a little bit more than 2% in april good news, may is the most important month for gardening. home depot executives express confidence that sales lost in the first quarter will get picked up in may, june and july and as a result reiterated its

full-year forecast while outdoor categories missed the mark, the rest of the store did well sales of items $900 and above grew 10% sales of appliances increased double digits including now higher priced washing machines because of tariffs, and th company tells me consumers aren't changing their buying behavior as a result of those higher prices. lumber is still selling even with prices at historic highs. perhaps most important to home depot's continued outlook is the continued strength of the u.s. housing market even as mortgage rates move higher, the national average is still below the historic average and the affordability index accounting for local housing market differences remains well above the level home depot considers a red flag. >> home depot's one of the best run companies out there. i think it's very well positioned in a growing sector. >> while investors may have been disappointed with today's results, many analysts are looking past it and see longer term growth. courtney reagan, cnbc business news

it's full steam ahead for alstom after it reported higher annual sales and profits adjusted earnings grew 22% to 514 million euros and sales surged 9%. it has announced a 40% increase in its dividend. the french manufacturing group is forecasting it wiwill outperform market growth in the medium term. shares are up almost 6%. i'm happy to say the ceo of alstom joins us from paris it looks like it was a strong quarter for you. where is some of that strength coming from? >> yes good morning it has been particularly a good year and a good quarter. we have traded large contracts in particular in the middle east the two most buoyant projects we're dealing with today are in riyadh and in dubai.

more generally this deserves in line with our global strategies who are benefiting from the global positive market trends. and we are taking advantage of the growth of the world. >> last year you signed a deal to enter into a joint venture that will build metro and railcar raj rai rail carriages in iran do you expect that to continue now that the u.s. are pulling out of the deal? >> we have continued discussion on the market, which is a traditional red market of course we are reviewing all our projects, depending on the evolution of the regulation. we have no activity as we speak today. there were projected activities, these have to be reconsidered. >> have you had any reassurances from the french government at all? >> early days.

no, we're not discussing any of these matters with the french government >> one other thing out of your statement today, you're on track with the merger with siemens, that's subjected to regulatory approval when do you expect the full merger to go ahead >> so we are totally in line with our plan. we are satisfied with the way it's going on with siemens the project is to reconfirm what we see in the market, and we plan to have this merger being completed by the end of 2018 in line with our previous announcements. >> finally, one last question for you, on a forward-looking basis, how is the pipeline of orders looking in the future and expected synergies from the siemens deal nfrn >> in terms of pipeline we are entering with have good

momentum you have seen we've been awarded the metro line in montreal, the next generation of train in france, so the line is very good so this will fuel our future growth in terms of synergies with siemens, we talked about it at the announcements, there is no further details. we still target 70 million euros of synergies in the coming years coming from stabilization platforming. >> thank you very much, sir. that is it for today's show. i'm joumanna bercetche "worldwide exchange" is coming up next.

♪ tired of wrestling with seemingly impossible cleaning tasks? using wipes in the kitchen, and sprays in the bathroom can be ineffective. try mr. clean magic eraser with durafoam. simply add water, and use in your kitchen for burnt on food, in your bathroom to remove soap scum, and on walls to remove scuffs and marks. it erases 4x more permanent marker per swipe. for tough kitchen and bath messes, use mr. clean magic eraser with durafoam. brand power. helping you buy better.

sure. mom,what's up son?alk? i can't be your it guy anymore. what? you guys have xfinity. you can do this. what's a good wifi password, mom? you still have to visit us. i will. no. make that the password: "you_stillóhave_toóvisit_us." that's a good one. [ chuckles ] download the xfinity my account app and set a password you can easily remember. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around.

i'm seema mody it's 5:00 a.m. at cnbc global headquarters north korea threatening to call off talks between president trump and kim jong-un. japan's economy sha ririnki for the first time in eight years. oil is on the move after warnings that supply disruptions could cause prices to rocket. starbucks opening 3,000 stores in china over the next few years. and a red alert in hawaii as