more concerns on trade and brexit >> jc deco shares jump after

they reportedly rise in full year net profit. the flench advertiser also upping its dividends >> and hugo boss shares struggle despite the german fashion house forecasting the profits will rise faster than sales thanks to strong momentum on line and in asia mark langer tells cnbc china is a bright spot. italy's ten-year bond yield had diepd to a five-yeek low while the two-year touched a seven-month trough ahead of today's ecb meeting. that's ahead of expectations that it could signal a new round of cheap bank loans. as can you see beside me in temz of where the yields are trading, the german ten-year currently flat on the day.

over in italy, the key mover this morning, we did see those two-year yield drop to the lowest levels since the coalition formed right now the ten-year is currently trading about seven basis points lower in terms of price at that 1 01.66 level. it will likely keep guidance on interest rates unchanged we are joined now from frankfurt with more in terms of what we can expect from today's ecb meeting. anetta >> well, actually, that's probably all we can expect some more information about what they think about a new round because the current is expiring, and the big worry is that a

peripheral banks need to get it refinanced, the amount of loans they currently have from the central bank, and that could cost them a lot of money or could actually even be impossible for some banks in the periphery. it's most likely we get some sort of information about it in the form of a bridge financing, and clearly, it would make sense to also get an updated forward guidance given that the guidance on rate currently is completely out of sync of what the market is expecting and also what the economy looks like i think the most interesting part will be whether the ecb and especially mario draghi and peter -- are thinking that the economy is not only going through a temporary dip, but that we see a downward trend

also for a longer period of time for europe and not just for, like, you know, a couple of months i guess this is the question also and when you think about trading strategies going forward, when it comes to the central banking policy of the ecb, we are seeing that that yields are actually even coming back from very low levels to even lower levels, especially in the periphery, and that's clearly an anticipation of a more dovish ecb today. the ecb especially mario draghi, they have sofr a legacy of being rather on the dovish side, but given the economic deceleration of the recent months, they have upheld their stance, quite surprisingly, stubbornly almost, to kind of give a story to the exit scenario. if mario draghi today will acknowledge that the economy is heading south more than he had

expected warranting perhaps some further easing, that could actually be a very dovish surprise for some of the markets, so this meeting could actually really be a market moving meeting today at the ecb. as we all know, press conference starts at 2:30 cet back to you with that. >> anetta, thank you so much for setting the scene for us we'll be back out to you later on with more also, make sure you join willem and i for a special decision time program for now i want totake you to the european equity markets. we had a look at bond markets just a moment ago. right now as you can see beside me the stock 600 is currently trading down about 29 basis points, and investors seem to be in risk-off mode this morning. we are seeing preference for those defensive sectors while the cyclical sectors have fallen out of favor in early trade. just to remind you, this follows a soft session yesterday state-side more of a mixed handover from asia overnight, and the main event as we just heard from

annetta is the ecb meeting later today. let's get into the different regions and see how the split looksz it's pretty negative picture across the board, as can you see. the ftse 100 is the worst performer of the bunch down about 43 basis points the dax just behind them, down about 38 basis points, but across the board we are looking at a pullback so far in europe let's get a look at the sectors. i think that's the most interesting part of trade so far today. quite a split. as you can see at the top, we have telecoms, utilities, food and bev. those real defensive sectors suggesting that investors in terms of equities anyway are not looking to put on extra risk today. at the bottom we've got basic resources, autos, and industrials. those ig cyclical sectors. basic resources, you may remember, the best performer yesterday. giving back some of the gains. autos, on the other hand, extending yesterday's losses autos with the says worst performing sector yesterday dragged down in particular by the auto suppliers after the warning. that weakness is continuing today. willem >> thanks.

well, hugo boss shares are trading lower after the company missed analyst forecasts for full year profit the german fashion house expects operating profit this year to rise faster than sales, and has pinned its growth hopes on strong momentum in asia and on-line. ceo mark langeard said the company has seen a positive performance in china despite concerns about a possible luxury slowdown in the region >> we've seen very rebust growth numbers from china in the fourth quarter, but also now with recently chinese new year. we are confident that we are enjoying a strong momentum in the mainland child in need of assistance market. we expect this trend to continue into 2019. >> hugo boss ceo also discussed his firm's expansion as an on-line retailer >> we're seeing more than 40% growth in 2018 we pa we passed an important threshold with our on-line business. we see it from a regional

perspective, alluded on the importance of china, but we're seeing the first strong reception of bringing our partnerships to our partners we are building concession models in europe and north america, and also for the years to come in an important growth potential in the eveningon business >> francesca is focused on luxury at deutsche bank. thanks for being with us >> good morning. zoo do you think results like these and the results we've seen in the last couple of weeks give you hope for continued strong demand for luxury in china >> the short answer is yes, although there is a lot more color around this answer we have seen extreme polarization in demand, and as a consequence, companies see results over the past couple of years, and this polarization is becoming more and more evident some brands manage to score double digit growth rates, high

20s, double digit teens. other brands struggle to grow single digit this reflects different brands, but also probably different levels of execution, and this also reflects the fact that some brands are blessed with far deeper resources not just in terms of financial resources, but management, best practice, strategy, forward thinking, and this is coming together dividing the performance significantly. >> i think it's interesting to see hugo boss shares are down about 1.8% at the moment, despite what was a pretty encouraging set of results so far as commentary on china is concerned. without talking about hugo boss specifically, what does this tell us about investor positioning in the luxury sector >> it's a strange time, i would

say. the secretary of stator was down significantly. it rebounded back on risk on mode again some companies have, in fact, shown that the trends of the chinese and it is other luxury consumer has remained healthy. you know, the stock was up very strongly into these results and, therefore, let's say that expectations were played out correctly, and that's what i would say. >> now, you had a great chart in your weekly luxury piece on eps momentum in the sector, and are investors concerned that the eps momentum we've seen over the last several years is going to come off is that what the big concern is for luxury stocks? >> the performance of the luxury sector is strongly correlated with sales growth, and with

earnings momentum. this is one of the explanations which can underpin the volatility or the indecision in the sector expectations generally are not very aggressive across the board, and i think the companies which have reported so far and have given an indication on current trading are actually coming across as generally quite constructive, so i think, you know, for the sector to relate, we really need to see the eps upgrades come through again as they did last year >> companies that are seeing that sales growth and that earnings momentum specifically as it pertains to china, what are they doing in order to make that happen from your perspective? >> you know, it's execution. execution, execution is the keyword. it used to be retail, retail, retail today execution is a little bit more than just retail. i mean, the right stores

of course, it's having a very hot brand, the right products, the right pricing architecture it's also having the right marketing techniques, the right and very competent salespeople on the ground. and, you know, a very strong position is also coming from a long -- from a long position of investments over the last few years. it's not just improvising. brands have gained trust, and brands have the recognition of the local customer, and, you know, they are really focussing on making local customers loyal, repeat customers, and, again, this goes through execution. selling clintel and techniques are on-line presence, social

media presence this is all coming together to discriminate, you know >> we've seen a number of announcements this week from chinese authorities, and they seem to be quite representative of an ongoing effort by the government there to retool the economy to try and stimulate and encourage more domestic consumption. what does that mean for foreign luxury brands who want to continue to see their sales grow in mainland china? >> so this is actually what has been happening over the last 12 months there has certainly been a trend of repat yags of spending from overseas spending into mainland china. this trend is expected to continue we do expect mainland china to outperform the overseas portion of the chinese spending and mainland china today is probably closer to 50%, and the journey has been long. mainland china was probably less

than one-third ten years ago of the overall chinese demand split. >> and we've started to see chinese groups looking to foreign brands as a way to access the upgrade trend that we're seeing in china. do you think this is going to continue, and what specific sectors do you think are most attractive to chinese companies in terms of those foreign options for them >> that's a very interesting question i think it's a way for chinese players to get exposure to the international brands, where the chinese consumers seem to be still inclined to be willing to spend much more. it's also an easy way, a good way to access talents, a different way of thinking, different ways of looking at businesses and strategies. and i think, you know, luxury is -- i wouldn't really say leather goods more than jewelry.

i think luxury brands are appealing because of what they offer to or european or foreign luxury brands are appealing. therefore, what they offer as a package to potential chinese acquirers. >> francesca, thank you for coming in and sharing your views with us. she's a research analyst at deutsche bank. british insurer aviva has posted a 2% rise in full year profit thanks, in part, to gains in its life insurance business the company reported and adjusted operating profit of 3.12 billion dollars in the year to december. that's up from 3.7 billion in 2017 aviva says it ames to update the market on strategy plans in the second half of the year. >> and, meanwhile, germany's peculiar murk has blamed currency head winds for a 1.3% dip in fourth quarter adjusted core earnings. that was below estimates, and off set strong demand in the firm's lab supplies unit the company did see net profit

rise thanks so strong growth in its health care, life science, and performance terlgz division. >> elsewhere in the corporate space, jc deco reported a sh% rise in full year net profit and upped its dividend for 2018. the frerchl advertiser also said it expects strong performance in chooirn and north america to boost its adjusted organic revenue growth in the first quarter of this year the firm has separately hinted at its appetite for acquisitions it said it would "pursue external growth opportunities" as they arise. coming up on the show, the 2018 u.s. trade deficit has hit a ten-year high. we'll have more details on that after the break. plus, huawei fights back with legal action against its u.s. hardware ban. more from our exclusive interview with the tech giant's top lawyer next. in't easy.

12 hours? 20 dogs? where's your belly rubs? after a day of chasing dogs you shouldn't have to chase down payments. (vo) send invoices and accept payments to get paid twice as fast. (danny) it's time to get yours! (vo) quickbooks. backing you. i can customize each line for each family member? yup. and since it comes with your internet, you can switch wireless carriers and save hundreds of dollars a year. are you pullin' my leg? nope.

you sure you're not pullin' my leg? i think it's your dog. oh it's him. good call. get the data options you need and still save hundreds of dollars. do you guys sell, other dogs? now that's simple, easy, awesome. customize each line by paying for data by the gig or get unlimited. get $250 back when you pre-order a new samsung galaxy. click, call, or visit a store today.

>> we'll be speaking with ceo elme elmar. zpliefrmts the u.s. trade deficit spiked a ten-year high in 2018. president trump once promised it would sh rirpg according to the u.s. census bureau, the goods and services shortfall for last year jumped more than $68 billion, or 12.5%. data show that china represented the largest part of theannual trade deficit.

huawei intends to sue the united states for its hardware ban. it will block federal agencies from buying the chinese teleco's giant's gear they argue the law unfairly singles it out and is based on false allegations. at a press conference the chairman says u.s. authorities had no proof of beijing's interference >> the u.s. government has never provided any evidence supporting the accusation that huawei poses a security threat. still, the u.s. government is sparing no effort to -- the company and mislead the public about huawei >> our colleague had the pleasure of being at that press conference he joins us now with more details from shenzen argen. >> i just want to lay out the

actual arguments huawei's lawyers told us in the press conference today they say that this section, which you mentioned, 889, specifically names huawei and bans any government agencies from buying equipment from the company. they say that this particular law is unconstitutional, and the reason they say that is because they say it amounts to what is known in legal terms as a bill of attaineder wherein a company or individual is punished without dueprocess as part of legislative act. secondly, they say that huawei's right to due process, the right to appear in front of a court to have their side heard has not been followed through, and, finally, they said that congress via this law has also attained the powers of a judiciary. therefore, there's not sufficient division of power between the executive, the president, congress, and the courts as well, and they say all of this is against the constitution of the united states i had a chance to catch up, and

to ask him what he hopes would come out of this lute, lawsuit let's hear what he has to say where. >> this law is hurting the customers in the united states it's damaging huawei's reputation, and it's limiting the amount ability of huawei to provide its innovative products, including 5g, to consumers in the united states. and what we're hoping to have come out of this lawsuit is to have the particular provisions declared unconstitutional, that congress hasn't followed the procedures that it's supposed to follow for enacting a constitutional law this is a russian cyber security software firm that was later ratified in law the company claimed it was unconstitutional it then filed some lawsuits though are have that overturned

using the same argument, ie the bill of attaineder argument that huawei is going to be using in its lawsuit as well. those lawsuits that followed were actually thrown out by the courts last year their appeal was also dismissed, and they lost that case. huawei faces a tough battle. again, i asked him about this press zpent what it means for huawei's attempt to the legal system let's listen to to what he had to say >> the point in the case made the point in the 2018 national defense authorization act only regulated what government agencies could buy, and it went out of its way to say it wob have would be a different case if the government was trying to interfere in the private marketplace. of course, huawei doesn't sell to the united states government. what huawei is trying to do is to sell to private companies in private transactions, and that is the huge difference between the case and this case

it's that fundamental difference that huawei is chal epging through its constitutional clapz. >> huawei hab under huge political pressure all the way through 2018 it's now trying to fight back against some of the allegations made around it, around espionage, for example, for the chinese government it's gone on a huge public relations push now it's gone in a massive legal push trying to take the fight to the united states government guys, back to you in london. >> thank you so much for that report as you say, huawei says the u.s. lawsuit is unrelated to the charges against menwan jo. her lawyers have recent recently filed a suit against canadian authorities that was focused on the details of her arrest.

>> she is due back here on may 8th, and this sets off a process that could take months or even years. it also has the potential to be politically explosive. ultimately, u.s. prosecutors want her to stand trial in new york for wire fraud, bang fraud, and conspiracy related to sanctions in iran. despite outcrews from beijing, canada is moving ahead with these extradition proceedings. meng, though, is fighting back her lawyers have filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was unlawfully detained and questioned when she was arrested in canada in december while transferring planes. now, president trump is the wild card in all of this. he is, of course, trying to cut a deal on the trade front between the u.s. and china, and he has said that he would

intervene in ms. meng's case if it helped his position the lopger that this goes on and the broader fight against huawei, the higher the stakes become still ahead, it's decision day at the ecb we'll bring you all the latest from frankfurt next.

>> welcome to "street signs. time to tl tro the ecb is expected to trim its growth forecast and signal a fresh round of cheap loans as italian bond yields touch their lowest level says in months. autos and basque resources lead declines in european stock market after the oecb slashes amid concerns on tratds and brexit jc deco shares after a rise in full year net profit. the french tirs also ups its

dividend hugeo boss shares struggle after the german fashion house forecasting that profits will rise faster than sales due to strong momentum on-line and in asia we are told china is a bright spot >> we've seen robust growth numbers from chooun in the fourth quarter, and also now with the recent china chinese new year it's a strong momentum and demand in chinese market european markets are got top of ady ail -- we are seeing negative moves this follows a soft session yesterday stateside. more of a mixed session overnight in asia. overall it appears as though investors are in risk-off mode this morning in terms of sector performance, we're seeing the cyclicals and basic resources, autos underperforming on the upside. the more defensive sectors, you

auto tilts, telecos, health care, are performing more strongly the main event of today, the ecb here in europe are just a couple of hours away from mario draghi's press conference, and, of course, this statement. let's take a look at fx markets and see how the euro is trading ahead of this meetings we're seeing a little bit of strength in the euro up about four basis points at the moment. it was a soft trading day yesterday for wall street. we saw all major indexes trade lower, and now, again, we are looking for a difficult start for trade there. s&p, the dow, and the nasdaq looking at a lower open. perhaps profit taking taking place after the strong rally we've seen since christmas eve >> thanks. well, the eocb has cut its economic growth forecast again

it blamed trade tensions and brexit the organization revised global growth down to 3.3% in 2019, and 3.4% in 2020 for germany europe's biggest economy, the organization slashed it's 2019 gdp forecast from 1.6% to 0.7%. the oecb warned there are further signs of european decupping and to diverge ebt gdp growth, particularly between the u.s. and euro area the eo kre b's chief economist outlined concerns at a press conference in paris. >> global growth is slowing, and europe is slowing much more than we expected.

its ae ten-year bond yield had dipped to a five-year low while the two-year touched a seven-month trough that comes amid expectations that the central bank could signal a new round of cheap bank loans. as can you see beside me at the moment, yields slightly hire on the day, but interesting to see those moves in italian bonds across the curve earlier today, and that two-year yield did hit its lowest level sense the coalition came together. all eyes will be whether they announce a further program as well as attempt to return a downturn by propping up bank lending. the central bank is expected to cut both growth and inflation forecasts amid continued global uncertainty and with will likely keep guidance on interest rates unchanged. now, anetta joins us once again from frankfurt

looking at recent commentary from ecb councilmembers, it seems as though even the hawks have become less optimistic. is there anyone left in the ecb camp that is truly hawkish at this stage >> well, actually, funnily enough, no even against the biggest hawk on the council seems to acknowledge that the economy is heading sou south. especially germany we were just hearing from the oecb, but also the german government has revised its growth outlook tremendously down as did the bundas bank itself. the trade between the united states and china has one big victim especially. it is germany, at least in the euro zone. clearly germany has always been a play on global free trade, on experts, and the moment that sore trade machine doesn't work anymore, germany is over

proportionally burdened, and clearly even though the ecb is not doing monetary policy for one single country about the euro zone overall seems to head south more than they had previously expected. the interesting point today will be how badly they will revise their growth and inflation outlook down and what that means for policy action from the ecb if we were to see a serious downward revision also for the inflation forecast not only for this year, but also for next year, then i guess there is more in store in terms of policy action from the ecb. clearly, the -- it's just some sort of bridge financing mainly for peripheral banks who would need to refinance the current teletro, and it could be difficult for them to tap the markets. in order to avoid tensions there in the banking sector, most

likely it will be renewed, a third round, but that should mainly be a grichb, but what can they do else mario draghi is always stressing that they have an abandoned sea of instrument reft to actually, yeah, implement more easing when this is needed, so it will be interesting what he is going to say about, like, his sort of ammunition when it comes to counter potential prolonged weakness in the euro zone economy, and that's also in the inflation outlook. there is a lot of pressure on them, i guess. perhaps there's room for a dovish surprise, but there's a lot of price in in the markets already looking at the bond markets and also the euro exchapg rate back to you. >> anetta, thank you for that update i want to bring in sir christopher, professor of economics, london school of economics.

snoo trade tepgss have nothing to do with monetary policy germany being the main export country in europe being affected more, doesn't have much to do with it. brexit has nothing to do with monetary policy. if you look at the list for example, the oecb has revised the growth forecast down, it's not really about financial markets. they did mention briefly that -- and he was right at the tail end. i don't think that the way i see it is that the

ecb, they must be getting increasingly concerned about what the implication for the slowdown would be for financial markets, but quite honestly we don't know enough to take any action the problem is when you take action, the signaling effect of what you think of what's going to come in the future is as important and sometimes we are more important and guidance is sometimes called this is really not the time to signal what they might be doing forward through action it is your right position to not only hold off on rates, but also to hold back on any strong signals about what the next move might be >> i think so. i think that is what they should do, and this is what they're expecting to do, because we know mario draghi has been there a long time. he has experience about how to -- how not to confuse markets, if you like, when the other side isn't doing so well the other side being the real

economy. this is really a job for the fiscal authorities this is especially germany the european commission as well, which of overseas fiscal policy and generally how the euro zone economy is doing there's really nothing the central bank can do to influence that side of the economy >> don't make any major signals. what actions do you think the ecb can take, though, to try and help some of the economies across europe that are facing some challenges, like italy.

usual systems like greece, for example, need that kind of money. but interest is already so low that it's difficult to see how they would be doing that for those in particular anden affect the whole of the ecb, but if you ask me, am i 100% sure that they will do nothing, or is there some small uncertainty i would say that that's where it is make sure that the cost of finance for companies in those countries, especially countries of the south, is not high end. invest to bring up growth to more reasonable levels >> stay with us. we will be back momentarily for

further conversation remember, you can head on-line to find out which country could win the race to the ecb's top job after mario draghi steps down later this year a spokesperson for the european commission says the latest round of brexit talks between british and commission officials has failed to make any breakthrough yesterday the u.k. attorney general and steven barclay were, again, in brussels where they've requested legally binding changes to the irish backstop, an insurance policy that's proven unpopular with some british lawmakers. the european commission spokesman said discussions had been difficult and insisted that no solution has been identified at this point. despite that apparent deadlock, downing stream e street has insisted a feeling e finingful vote on the prime minister's brexit deal will still go ahead before or buy tuesday. meanwhile, the british chancellor, phillip hammond, has said that britain will likely

have to delay if mp's reject theresa may's brexit deal. he told the radio that leaving the deal with no e.u. wob a bad outcome and said parliament would probably vote against such a scenario vis fer is still with us he is the professor of economics from lsc nothing new there from mr. ham hond, and i'm just wondering as we get closer and closer to this deadline, could we broaden this conversation out beyond just the immediate threat of no deal. has that been an opportunity cost, economically to the u.k. from the endless political wrangling? >> there's been a massive one because investment has been affected new technology i mean, the u.k. ministers often like to say that the u.k. is leading technology country, but, in fact, if you look at stat it'sics, it's not.

it's way behind other major economies. if you see the performance offer the whole of europe, european euro zones e zone, those countries outside since the financial crisis, it's a session following 2007, the worst performance are greece and britain. things are just not good the worst thing that businesses fear when planning for the future and making business is uncertainty because you don't know where you are going to go if you know that they are going to be barriers crossing into yierp, then they would plan business on the basis of those barriers if you know there aren't and we're going to have free access into the european single market, they're going to plan on that basis. if you don't know what's going to happen, you wait.

>> is there anything more to your mind than anecdotal evidence is think ai very clear course rather than just correlation between brexit uncertainty and those decisions? >> well, we can now -- it's been two and a half years, so statistics are emerging of what's happening, and we can see it happening in terms of productivity, for example. if there was -- if there were investments that that were not picked up or they are there ask it's those who are -- they are then, you know, you should be able to see some impact in the productivity productivity has been disastrous in the u.k.

you know it's there. i mean, when -- err since theories in the 1930s we know uncertainty is bad. >> if i look down the line post-brexit, are there some

settingors or parts of the u.k. economy that could become more afrktive and potentially off set those investment loss that is will come with brexit? >> that's precisely what we don't know because we don't know what kind of deal there's going to be. we know many regions will be badly affected because they rely on exports and on foreign investments. in fact, those regions are identified by the prime minister when she gave aid recently if there are any sectors that would benefit, they're bound to be in london in the southeast. the answer we don't know maybe final there and maybe not and that's what europeans do once britain is out, and that's why we're waiting. now, britain is a country with

high educational standards it's a good regulatory framework. it has a good legal system you would think it would come out of it. don't think it has a quick recovery from a major shock. for example, look at how long it's taking the formerly planned economies to join true capitalist markets it's now being, what, 20, 30 years. it takes long for an economy for a completely new regime. of course, for them it was a major, major change. that's why it was much more extreme, i hope, than with brexit and it brings the u.k., ask it cob a major one if the u.k. doesn't stay in the european single market >> well, thank you very much for joining us really appreciate your thoughts.

christopher professor of economics. >> coming up on the show, the president and co-founder of the women's equality policy, catherine mayer, tells cnbc trz a backlash against feminism. more from that interview when we come back. plaque psoriasis can be relentless. tremfya® is for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin... ...and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. ask your doctor about tremfya®. tremfya®. because you deserve to stay clearer.

janssen wants to help you explore cost support options. tremfya®. because you deserve to stay clearer. your digestive system has billions of bacteria, but life can throw them off balance. re-align yourself, with align probiotic. and try align gummies, with prebiotics and probiotics to help support digestive health with who we are as people and making everybody feel welcome. ordering custom ink t-shirts has been a really smart decision for our business. i love the custom ink design lab because it's really easy to use.

they have customer service that you can reach anytime. t-shirts help us immediately get a sense of who we are as a group. from the moment clients walk in, they're able to feel like part of the family. - [spokesman] custom ink has hundreds of products for your business and free shipping. upload your logo or start your design today

zpleed we'll be looking at women and politics the co-founder and president of the women's equality party in the u.k., catherine mayer, has told cnbc that gender ip balances disfiguring society in an interview with tanya briar, she also said there is a backlash against feminism. >> this is a power imbalance, a power imbalance that disfigures politics and a power imbalance that disfigures businesses organizations in the economy we have seven core objectives because we understand that you can't reach equality without

tackling all these things that intersect with each other. >> now, willem and i are joined around the deflk by tina fordham, chief global analyst by citi first, tina, thank you for joining us i want to ask you, international women's day has now been around for quite some time since the 1970s really why does it feel like it's taking off now >> well, it's actually -- it was kind of formalized in the 1970s by the united nations, but it's been around even longer, and it actually started out as a labour oriented holiday in commemoration of what women were going through in the sweat shops. in fact, there's also some suggestion that women in russia during the revolution had a peace march. it has become a corporate holiday, though, much to my surprise in the former soviet union, the 8th of march was an important holiday. women got flowers. it was something special now it's been commercialized

we'll be talking about gender equality if we're going to get anywhere >> on the gender equality point, you are a political analyst. how committed, how substantial is the political support for gender equality? >> well, one of the things that we highlighted last year at international women's day is some survey research that we did here in the u.k. where, and i confess i was very surprised see, there was a real disconnect between high levels in fact of public support in britain, which was the only country we surveyed, but i suspect it would be refrusd for issues of gender equality such as affordable child care, tax credits, and this kind of thing compared to what you hear from politicians, and i interviewed the prime minister last year for our international women's day celebration, and i raised this

disconnect, how the public, men and women, and especially men who are, you know, have families today, are more supportive of this agenda, and she laughed and said not in my lifetime will we see efforts to basically support families in a way that we know does more for growth and for the economy as well as for all of us working parents. >> let's talk about some of the barriers, then, to gender equality in the workplace. i remember a couple of years ago it was top of the agenda for ivana trump to try and encourage child care tax credit. shended up doubling the child tax credit as part of the tax reform i'm wondering based on that, is that kind of even slight tweak to a tax code one of the elements that can be helpful and what are the other elements that governments can do and companies can do to try to address this? >> there's a lot to say on that. i try to be concise. i think a very useful way, especially as an american who has been living in europe for a

long time, to think about these ooingz issues is to compare the united states with canada. canada being more similar to the u.s. in lots of ways a few years ago canada made some relatively small tweaks to the labor code this ended this so-called second marriage tax penalty, introduced affordable child care and some other benefits, and was that just a cost to the economy no it actually directly translated into growth benefits that speaks to very important argument that we need to make. we need to reframe this discussion away from being more entitlement spending to something that generates revenue. >> well, tina, we'll have to leave it there thank you so much. tina fordham, chief global political analyst from citi. that's it for today's show

with tough food, your dentures may slip and fall. fixodent ultra-max hold gives you the strongest hold ever to lock your dentures. so now you can eat tough food without worry. fixodent and forget it.

i can customize each line for each family member? yup. and since it comes with your internet, you can switch wireless carriers and save hundreds of dollars a year. are you pullin' my leg? nope. you sure you're not pullin' my leg? i think it's your dog. oh it's him. good call. get the data options you need and still save hundreds of dollars. do you guys sell, other dogs? now that's simple, easy, awesome. customize each line by paying for data by the gig or get unlimited. get $250 back when you pre-order a new samsung galaxy. click, call, or visit a store today.

is . here are your five at 5:00 breaking news. the latest growth numbers out of europe just crossing we'll take you live to london straight ahead chinese tech giant huawei is suing the u.s. cnbc cameras caught up with the company's lead lawyer. we'll bring you his comments just ahead the fed is taking big steps to ease bank regulations we have the full details and hitting the skids. the dow transports just did something they haven't done in more than ten years. and what's in a