but most disturbing of all, the hangover is moral. we start seeing that behind many of these great fortunes, in the 1980s is the old cliché: a greed crime. good morning and welcome to "street signs." >> these are your headlines. >> britain and eu agreeing to keep negotiating over a brexit deal with the year-end apparent deadline nearing. this will send sterling higher. michel barnier say talks still hang on several key issues. >> will be when we reach an

agreement, both fair and free competition. and under collapses the markets. >> shares in astrazeneca sink at the british drugmaker puts $39 billion on the table for u.s. rare disease firm alexion at a 35% premium to friday's closing price. >> and germany prepares to go into full lockdown, but the work-from-home shares rallying on the news of stricter restrictions from wednesday. and america begins its vaccine rollout, with the first shots expected as early as today with distribution sites across the country receiving their first batches of the vaccine. good morning, everybody. and welcome to "street signs." let's kick off with our main story of today. brexit represents political and

economic madness, according to the french finance minister, bruno la mer. his comments come after the uk and u.s. agree to go the extra mile in brexit trade talks. but the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, struck an optimistic note earlier this morning. >> never have we negotiated a deal like this, in such a short period of time. we've been in talks for only nine months. or previously it would have taken at least five years. we'll give everybody every possible chance. a good balanced deal is still possible. that means a deal with two conditions that have not been met yet. free and fair competition and reciprocal access to markets and goods. this is what we have not yet received, so we will continue to work. >> well, we're seeing a positive reaction in the markets today, starting with the pound, which has basically been the bellwether of brexit discussions over the last couple of weeks. but is a ping-pong here on positive headlines.

a spike on the pound, negative headlines. we dip down. today we are trading in positive territory, just shy of that 134 handle. on friday, we dipped down all the way, broke through 132 support level, ended the day around 132.25, which was the close of last monday. and you can see this morning, we're up a good chunk. 1.3% higher for the pound versus dollar, also putting in a good performer versus the euro as well. let's see how that is impacting the ftse stock. the index in the uk. the ftse 100 is trading firmer, up about 0.3%. some of the stocks that are performing well here are the home builders, all of the names with a domestic bias are performing right at the top of the ftse 100. we've also got the domestic banks as well. let's talk about the banks, actually. and here you can see, you've got lloyd's up 5%, a bit more international exposure for that one, up 1.4%. net west up 5%, as well. very strong showing for any of

the banks that have a domestic presence. barclay's also up 4%. also, ping-pong continues, but worth bearing in mind that a lot of these stocks have a deep value versus stocks in europe and the u.s. perhaps investors are looking for some form of a resolution just to get back involved in this market again and pick up the value, especially in the banking sector. switching to uk home builders, i mentioned we are seeing a good performance. you can see across the board, persimmon up almost 5%. barrett's up 4.5%. another bellwether up 5.3%. it is a positive start to the week for uk assets. across the board, sterling, stocks are also coming off a couple of basis points. but let's get out to steve so we can flesh out some of the details of what we heard over the weekend, steve. and as we've been discussing for the last couple of weeks, there were three issues that were outstanding. it was level playing field, it was governance and the fish, as well. but we're hearing over the

weekend that we are getting closer to some form of a resolution, at least when it comes to the level playing field. so what you hearing on that front and what does the compromise look like? >> i think there are two things going on over the weekend. one we don't know much about, and the other is, we're hearing a lot of the noise. a lot of the noise distracting. there's only one thing that happened this weekend that was worth listening to. it wasn't dominic raab protecting gumbo and cod in the north sea or la mer telling us how britain would lose out in the last hour. a 30-minute conversation between boris johnson that said talks were continuing. that is the only thing we've heard this weekend that had substance to it. progress must have been made to some degree. otherwise, neither party would have carried on these talks given the fact that we were told this time on friday that we had

a very hard sunday deadline. and we would not be going on beyond that as well. just another false set of statements from one of the parties or others as well. it was a bad start to the weekend, of course, when the prime minister was rebuffed in his effort to try to speak directly to the principles of the likes of merkel. and it seems almost inconceivable that you aren't talking to someone who is very close to merkle can be given the fact that she was frau merkle's defense minister in the merkle government. but it started off pretty badly for the prime minister and seemed to get better around midday yesterday, when it looked like the talks were continuing. are we still far apart? yes, indeed, we are. let's listen to the uk prime minister. >> all i have to say is that i think the uk should continue to

try. that's what the people of this country would want me to do. we'll continue to try. and we'll try with all of our hearts and we'll be as creative as we possibly can. but what we can't do is compromise on that fundamental nature of what brexit is all about, which is us being able to control our laws. it's very, very simple. i think our friends get it and we remain willing to talk and will continue to do so. but in the meantime, let's get ready for the wto option. that's what i told the cabinet. >> you asked me a question, and that is, are we moving somewhere on level playing fields, as well. let me start off with the other playing field, even though it seems bonkers to the outside world. with full flight on something that's 0.1 of an economy compared to what could be a $1 trillion trade deal between the uk. you asked about the level playing field and it seems like

some progress may well have been made in that. we went into the weekend with the british bemoaning assimilym and indeed the fact that there would be a ratchet clause, which would basically mean if they changed their laws, the british would have to follow suit as well. it seems both of those have been a bit of movement as well. and a couple of issues within it, what would be a new mechanism for solving the level playing field problem and the governance of it thereafter. with the role of an independent a ash trer being brounght up as well. what is the level of proof required on both sides, so it's not just accusatory towards the british. it could be a two-way process. and how extensive tariff retaliation would be. would it be on a sectorial basis or across the board. so we believe developed some type of mechanism that is palatable to both sides. we'll wait and see. what seems very clear is that the press here in westminster and the press in brussels are

very much in the dark about what is being said within what is a very tight-knit group of negotiators. back to you. >> makes sense. >> and you've got to think if they do come to some sort of a compromise, then tish will have to follow suit again. but remains to be seen and no doubt something we'll continue to discuss over the next several days. let's bring in our first guest, mimi rushton. great to have you with us. today we are seeing the pound react quite positively on back of, i guess you could call them encouraging comments. coming out yesterday that brexit discussions are still continuing. but the scene this year for the pound has been one of remarkable resilience. let's not forget that pound, sterling, got at low as 115 back in spring. so around april, we got to the lows of the year. since then, it's going from strength to strength. who has been buying and who will the marginal buyer be in case we do get some resolution of deal right now? >> good morning and thank you

for having me. i think the most important thing is to remember where we came from when it comes to sterling. yes, absolutely, it's been resilient during 2020. but it's a far cry from where we were at the advent of the referendum a few years ago. in terms of who would be buying, clearly investors have always liked sterling, sterling has been a safe haven currency for a long time. it seems highly investable, in terms of how it has international relationships. and that's really why i think it will remain popular, provided that you can get past this brexit hurdle and remove some of the uncertainty that still remains as a consequence of this challenge. in terms of the marginal buyer, clearly, when you think about sterling assets, it's a broad brush. it's not only equities, but clearly there are real estate and infrastructure angles here, as well. i think once you've adjusted for the fact that there was significant sterling under investment for a long period of time, it becomes completely logical that you're seeing this

rebound in the pound, overall. and we expect that to continue provided that you can get past this uncertain hurdle. >> when you talk about the potential upside from the pound, if we do see resolution on brexit, which is the upper bound that you're thinking of? give us the trading range if we do get a deal or don't get a deal come january 1st. >> our research anticipated that we would break through the 125 barrier that would be there, and be ascribed higher in sterling dollar terms, certainly. so that's broadly what we're thinking about. on the contrast, it feels as if there is potential more room to the downside, if we don't necessarily see that deal come through. that's a pbit of a change from what we saw last week, where things felt very asymmetric in a positive sense. a bit of a change, but clearly 135 is important and grinding higher thereafter. >> back in the day, for fx

traders, people would watch very closely what was happening with the space of the current accounts, particularly in the uk running these twin deficits. you've got the budget deficit and also got a wide account, which actually sends brexit, what we've seen of the current account, has actually tightened in. i just wonder how significant that is for the trajectory of where the pound goes from here, particularly given those dynamics of the current account tightening in, though. >> yeah, i think that, you know, when we think about the uk economy overall, what's been interesting in the last year or so is that brexit has obviously become a much smaller component of how we think about, you know, whether we think about the current account, the twin deficits, and the overall promise of the economy. and covid has played a much bigger role in how the market is viewing the go-forward. so when you take all of that in the round, you know, at the moment we're very focused on the fact that we have this uncertain bridge that we need to get through. but as soon as you get passed this, and this is one of the

reasons why we're talking about this potential selling of appreciation in the medium term, is you start to focus on the broader economic backdrop for the uk, which actually is very positive on a relative basis. >> mimi, what we've seen in the last few weeks has been increased focus on sterling versus the euro, or as opposed to sterling versus the dollar, given the dollar has so much of its own forces driving that currency and trade. talk to us about what you're seeing an investor perspective. are people putting more effort into trading that currency pair versus sterling dollar, which they typically would focus on? >> it's really interesting, and i think many have asked whether the euro and how the euro will react to the consequence of some of the -- you know, some of the negotiations that are happening at the moment. and over time, i think investors have adjusted to not only look at sterling dollar, but look at this through the euro as well. i just think it's less obvious in terms of what that potential

move will be. and the two economies are intrinsically linked, albeit that truly for the uk, it has much less diversification than the eurozone does in terms of trading partners. over the last few months, we definitely have seen more politicians articulate their view through euro sterling, rather than just through cable. and over the coming couple of weeks, i would expect that to continue, particularly as people start to anticipate what the overall economic backdrop will look like in the two countries and which potentially will stand to either benefit or suffer more. >> mimi, one final question on applied volatility. overnight, short-term vol has shot up as you would expect given we still don't have a resolution on brexit sp. have you seen any investors come in and look to sell volatility here as a positive way of expressing some form of resolution in the next couple of weeks? >> for any seller of volatility, it's obvious that sterling here

provides some potential value, particularly when you compare sterling vol to the rest of the complex, where volatility remains relatively depressed. i think it's very difficult for investors to navigate the binary nature of this event. and maybe actually that's what's taken off the table over this weekend, in the talks will be around the fact they will continue to negotiate until it's completely not possible. that then means we're less concerned with specific deadlines, and really for people who are looking to articulate this in the vol market, it's very difficult to. it where that event should be and where it should be priced. it wouldn't surprise me at all if we saw activity more in the vol space. but as we approach the last few trading sessions of the year, liquidity is difficult as well. and that will be a key consideration, too. >> definitely worth bearing that in mind, as well, as we head towards the very slow end-of-year trading days. mimi, thank you so much for coming on. a real pleasure to have you on "street signs" today, the

co-head of global fx sales from barclay's. coming up, we'll be talking about big pharma

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welcome back to "street signs," everybody. astrazeneca has agreed to buy u.s. biotech group alexion in a $30 billion u.s. cash disease. the takeover comes after activist investor eliot management pressured alexion to sell itself back in may. so this is a huge deal in the pharmaceutical space, a huge deal for astrazeneca. from a strategic point of view, analysts are focusing on two aspects here. one, the financial implications of this deal, and two, what this means for astrazeneca's portfolio. from a financial point of view, the bulls on astrazeneca are pointing to the fact that this will accelerate the company's cash generation profile, improve their near-term cash generation,

and from a portfolio perspective, this will deepen astrazeneca's planned expansion into immunology. so they are viewing this in a positive light. from a dividend perspective, it could potentially add a sweetener with astrazeneca, saying they plan to delever very, very quickly and are considering increasing their dividend as a result. so the analyst community here in new york seems to like this deal, by and large, from an astrazeneca perspective. >> i guess from a medium-term perspective. but i'm looking very close at what the stock is doing today, down 6%. it's seen as a bit of a roller coaster ride for astrazeneca, ever since they published the phase iii results of the vaccine, a bit of confusion at the time, and now it's wort this announcement of alexion, the shares are down 6%. what do you think that's due to? >> i think it's the price that astrazeneca is paying for these assets. the deal values alexion at 13.5 times p\e. so they are paying a hefty 45%

premium for these u.s. assets. but if they can justify what this means for their cash generation prospects and also from a portfolio perspective, astrazeneca has a much bigger global presence, so the bulls would say that they can take alexion's assets and expand into markets like china, which alexion wouldn't do as well on. >> you know what's interesting, all of a sudden, we've been having a lot of chats about health care and people -- you know, we had a guest on the show last week, he wants to be positioned in health care, typically a defensive sector, but actually, he sees decent opportunity particularly in biotech. i just wonder how much of this deal making that's going on now is a function of anticipation, going into 2021 and the extra regulatory scrutiny that could be coming, particularly with the biden administration in the u.s. remember, there's been a lot of talk about the pricing power that these pharmaceuticals have had. are we going to see more deals ahead of this potential regulation to put these traditional pharmas in a better

position? >> i thought that was a really interesting conversation. and i know you asked this portfolio manager about, you know, within health care, the different opportunities. and he made the distinction in answer to your question that there are biotech companies, smaller ones that are focusing on certain high-value assets are much different investment propositions than the big pharma giants like astrazeneca, like novartis, like roche, many of which are participating in the covid-19 fight. but from a commercial perspective, doesn't actually mean a whole lot when it comes to earnings potential. so a company like alexion seems to be more attractive to investors. and then the risk for regulation, which is always a major risk for these pharmaceutical companies, but in particular with a new administration coming in. >> and just to obviously round up the conversation, one very important key factor for astrazeneca going forward is what does happen with the approval of that vaccine. they published the results saying that they do -- they have found that the astrazeneca oxford vaccine is efficient at

immu immunizing against the virus and stand by that 90% efficacy. it's quite positive on the covid-19 trends as well, something to watch quite closely if you are following the astrazeneca story. all right, switching to germany now. germany's economy minister, peter altmire, has warned the virus is out of control in the country and if the spread continues, hospitals will be overwhelmed. this comes just days before germany goes into a full lockdown over the christmas period. so let's take a look at how some of the german work-from-home stocks are doing. and these are most of the food delivery, retail, ecommerce, and lufthansa, a bit more of a cyclical stock, surprising to see it doing well today. and some of the home food companies also trading around the flat line. but let's get out to annetteta. just looking at some of the comments coming out of the various ministers in germany, it doesn't look like they're going

to be easing up on this lockdown anytime soon. that really doesn't bode well for businesses, as we head towards the end of the year, and even beginning of january, as well. >> yeah, exactly. that's the case. the minister of the chancellor is even saying there's not a lot of hope to get easing measures in january, given that the normal flu season, which runs normally from january at least until the end of february. so i guess the outlook is pretty grim, especially for the service sector in germany. already a warning that some 250,000 jobs might be in danger, because of the lockdown measures. and they're calling for more id in november. [ inaudible ] to the real economy to sort of bridge the situation until they

can reopen again. essentially, all shops apart from supermarkets and beverage stores will be closed. also, there will be no schools open until at least january 10th, but the government is also saying the first thing, which is going to reopen our schools and kindergartens once again, in order to make people able to work from home, as well. so the advisory is for companies to also shut down or go into home office mode wherever it is possible over that three and a half weeks' time frame. now, we are having that lockdown across germany. there are no curfews nationwide, but in regions and cities where the infection rates are above 200 per 100,000 inhabitants, there will be cuews.

and there is an old country curfew from 9:00 at night to 5:00 in the morning. so it's going to be a tough time for retailers and for people here in germany for the next three and a half weeks. so back to you. >> all right, annette, thank you for giving us the latest on the german lockdown. it comes at an interesting time across the continent as a whole. because they're all in the same situation. we've got the medium-term positivity of the vaccine, potentially prospering second half of next year, but the health crisis is looking particularly alarming. for investors and for anyone trying to trade these markets, it is a tricky time. because right now, we're faced with ever more restrictions and probably even more restrictions than london this week, too. >> it's pretty extraordinary looking at germany, given they are poster child. >> we'll take a quick break, but the u.s. begins rollout of the

pfizer and biotech vaccine after it gains emergency use approval. we'll have more details after the break. last night's sleep, interrupted by pain? tonight, silence it with new zzzquil night pain. because pain should never get in the way of a restful night's sleep. new zzzquil night pain. silence pain, sleep soundly.

welcome back to "street signs," everybody. >> these are your headlines. >> britain and the eu agree to keep negotiating over a brexit deal with the year-end deadline nearing, sending sterling higher. eu chief negotiator michel barnier say the talks still hang on several key issues. >> will be when we reach an agreement, both free and fair and under access to the markets. >> shares in astrazeneca sink as the british drug maker puts $39 billion on the table for u.s. rare disease firm alexion, at a 45% premium to friday's closing price. >> america begins its vaccine rollout with the first tri

distribution sites across the country receiving their first batches of the dose. and germany prepares to go into full lockdown. work-from-shares news rallying on the news of stricter restrictions from wednesday. the vaccine rollout is now underway in the united states after the fda granted an emergency approval for the pfizer and biontech vaccine. the u.s. government plans to deliver up to 3 million doses in the first 24 hours. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest >> reporter: tonight, the first doses of pfizer's coronavirus vaccine are on the move across the u.s. applause marking the milestone. d-day. >> some people assume i meant day of distribution. in fact, d-day in military designates the day the mission

begins. >> reporter: this is an historic moment, the first trucks carrying the vaccine carrying out of the pfizer plant escorted by u.s. marshals. it's the moment so many americans have been waiting for after such a devastating year that's taken the lives of nearly 300,000 people across this country. the urgent wok inside the plant began before dawn. this a rare looking at the painstaking process. hundreds of subarctic freezers holding the potentially life-saving vaccine. then trays of vials, carefully packed into box and shipping containers filled dry ice. the vapors, a searing reminder of just how tough this mission is. gingerly rushing a medical marvel to all 50 states at 80 degrees below zero. michigan teacher pamela ide looked on with her family and fought back tears. >> because it feels like there's finally a beginning to the end of this. >> the rollout comes as the cdc

director signed off on ae disagree panel's recommendation to use pfizer's vaccine for people 7 and older. mike mcdermott of pfizer compares this to the space race. he says a half million doses rolled out today, roughly 2 million more by the end of the week. right now the u.s. has a contract for 100 million doses that should last through early next year. >> we're in discussions with the u.s. government and we look forward to another 100 million doses. >> reporter: tonight, the largest, most ambitious vaccination effort in u.s. history is underway. the mission just beginning. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, portage, michigan. >> so this is really an historic day for the united states, with the rollout of this pfizer/biontech vaccine. and the cdc issued their recommendations a couple of weeks ago saying the first doses of the vaccine should go to front line workers and long-term care homes much like we have in

the uk, but beyond that, it will remain up to the states who to vaccinate first. >> there was a bit of controversy over the weekend. there was a report that emerged suggesting that some white house staffers would be first in line to receive the vaccine. but overnight, president trump has tweeted saying that people working in the white house should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless necessary, i have asked this adjustment to be made. he also said that he himself is not scheduled to take the vaccine. coming back to that conversation, many people were alarmed with that report over the weekend suggesting that white house staffers would take precedent over health care workers or the elderly. but it looks as though the adjustment is going to be made and is there any reason for us to expect that the rollout of the vaccine in the u.s. will look any different than it has in the uk? >> it's a very different process to start, meaning the vaccine will first be made available at hospitals because of all the complex logistics involved in getting this vaccine to other

medical venues like pharmacy or small primary care settings. so much like we see in the uk, it's going to kick off with hospitals. i think the other major challenge for the united states, perhaps even more so than here, and this is a topic we've discussed many times, is going to be uptick of the vaccine, with polls suggesting that half of americans don't want to take the vaccine or are nervous to take it. the next challenge beyond the low j logistics is going to be getting them to take it. >> and what that all-important immunity threshold is and how long it will take to get there. that's what we were discussing before the break. many companies are still very much in lockdown modes or heading toward more restrictive lockdowns, that is clearly having an impact on businesses as we await for the rollout of the vaccinations. but what's crucial here is we need more. it can't just been the pfizer vaccination that's going to save businesses, save the economy, save the world and get us the herd immunity. and key here, there are a number

of other vaccines in the pipeline that we're watching out for. if we get some positive approvals in the next couple of weeks, surely that would be another positive impetus for markets in the first coming weeks of january, as well. >> we're going to get more news this week, for sure. we have the fda panel of experts meeting on thursday to discuss moderna's vaccine. so expect the process to unfold much like we saw last week with the pfizer/biontech vaccine. two days before that meeting takes place, we should get a rash of data published, made available for all to see from moderna on that vaccine. and again, it will be public for all to see, you can stream it online. the fda panel of experts debate this vaccine on thursday. moderna is on track to produce 20 million doses at the end of the year. and to your point, every incremental dose is crucial h e here. >> and we've still got johnson & johnson to look forward to.

okay, let's switch and take a look at how bond yields are trading today. remember, the big story of this morning is that brexit negotiations are continuing so the ten-year is off around three basis points. three basis points higher. still trading at record low levels, though, up 20 basis points. remarkable given how much issuance we've seen out of the uk market this year. ten-year treasury notes in the u.s. trading up at 91. we have seen a sell-off on stimulus expectations, replacing expectations for next year. and the bund in germany stuck in negative territory at minus 63, up slightly higher today, 1.5 basis points higher, but essentially still stuck at very low levels. unicredit likely purchasing an amount exceeding all new net issuance. that is quite remarkable. >> the deputy head of fixed income tragedies joins us now. and i'm really interested in

delving a little bit deeper into some of these numbers, because we saw a record amount of issuance out of eurozone. some saying beyond 1.3 trillion euros. and yet fixed income yields have been nothing but declined, namely because the ecb has been very active in the market. how is that looking as we head into 2021? and how important is the ecb pet purchase and the contacts of keeping yields where they are right now? >> we are heading into 2021 looking very much like 2020. in 2020, we have calculated that pretty much all of our supply has been taken up by the ecb. and we look at 2021 very much in a similar way. there will be a loss of financing, having to be covered in the market. we expect the net issuance in the market to be around $800

billion. only slightly lower. and we expect the ecb to pretty much cover at least all of it. so now the ecb is bigger than this. and the path has been expanded into the first few months of 2022, but it's a very flexible instrument and can be adjusted according to market conditions. and that's what we expect the ecb pretty much to be in 2021. >> there's also funding coming from the eu. the short program for unemployment and the next skbrerngs for grants and loans. which countries stand to benefit the most from those eu funds, because we finally had an agreement towards the end of last week on the release of those funds. >> i think in terms of how much relief to funding will come,

probably in spain, less, but italy, first and foremost, will be probably benefiting the most. i want to be clear about the fact that nb general, we don't expect much relief in funding to come from new sources next year. we expect issues to be in 150 billion, 200 billion, but of this, we expect the release of single government in the eurozone to be about 80 to 90 billion. and this of course depends on how much of these funds are used to be between 80 and 90 billion. >> one of the questions for the ecb moving forward is how

they're going to judge when the crisis is over, given this is one of the parameters they've set forth when it comes to winding down p.e.t. how are you expecting the government to think about this and what does that mean for the duration of the program? >> we actually look at this, as the economic crisis will end, we reach an end, when gop level, we reached pre-crisis level. we expect this to happen in the eurozone towards the end of 2022. the ecb is likely more bullish view. and they expect gdp to reach the pre-crisis level somewhere in mid-2022. but in our view, the timing of the conclusion should correspond to gop level reaching pre-crisis level. for us, pep will probably remain resolved until 2022. >> lots of people have been

pointing out that ten-year spanish yields are now trading negative. we've got ten-year portugal also trading negative. italian-born yields are still up at a positive, very juicy 50 basis points. do you see, also foresee that italian bond yields can slip into negative territory next year? >> we have actually a view where the spread at the long end remains pretty much at around current level. so we have a forecast for 115 basis points of ten-year bond spread. so we don't expect them to move much from the current level. and of course, there's a lot of support, first and foremost for the ecb, but it's also true that spreads have been lower than the current level than in the past. and in the past, if you look at 2015 or 2016, the ecb was buying

double the net supply, which is not what we expect in 2021. we expect a similar amount compared to supply. or they were lower than the current level at the beginning of 2018, when there was a situation of global strong coordinated growth, which is not the microenvironment we are looking at now. so overall, we don't expect the spread to stay relatively table. and because we expect to reach moderately next year, this should also take long-term of the ecb next year. >> makes sense. so stays stable on spreads, but higher-end yield terms. thank you very much for joining us this morning, the deputy head of fixed income strategy at unicredit. how companies are adapting to the pandemic

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welcome back to "street signs," everybody. well, we are monitoring brexit dwopt developments for you and got fresh lines from michel barnier. he says it is our responsibility to give the talks every chance of success. barnier says never before was such a comprehensive agreement trade, nrnenergy, fisheries, transport police, and judicial cooperation been negotiated so transparently. he also adds that fair competition and a sustainable solution for our fishermen and women are key to reaching a deal. so fresh comments out of the eu's michel barnier. >> it's pretty remarkable that something as tiny as the gdp of fish has hit the air waves so much. i want to remind viewers that in total, fisheries represent 0.12% of uk gdp, 0.1% of the total workforce. yes, that is 24,000 people, so it is on absolute level quite a

big number of people. but in terms of overall economic gdp impact, it is minuscule. it is tiny. all of this here is about the political symbolism of the fish and what the uk can extrant from the eu and specifically from the french rather than the overall lasting impact it's going to have on the economy. >> it certainly seems like it is being used as a bargaining chip here. it's interesting to see the market reaction today, looking at assets across the board. we are seeing a bit of a relief rally, what i would say, come through this morning. the rhetoric turning a little bit more positive than where we left last week. but of course, we have less than two weeks until the actual deadline of december 31st. >> and i think as we were discussing earlier, the bigger issue here is level playing field. essentially, that is what it boils down to. the uk wants the ability to determine their own regulations, to regain sovereignties. and the question is how much divergence from eu regulatory rules from the eu are going to allow and what would happen in a case of a massive distinction? so that is really the main

sticking point. and it is encouraging that the two are continuing their discussions. because hopefully we will get some compromise on that front and one that is amicable to both. that is why uk assets are reacting quite positively this morning. >> we got some fresh comments from a cnbc source, talking about michel barnier, an eu official saying that barnier has admitted that there has been some progress in level playing field when debriefing the eu ambassadors. that is coming from an eu source for cnbc. barnier saying there is some progress there. >> and that's the key point. that's what people are looking at very closely. level playing field. >> all right. we'll leave the brexit conversation there, but we will keep an eye on all of those headlines if and when they come out. after a year of disruption caused by the pandemic, europe heads into holidays against the backdrop of record infection levels, renewed lockdown restrictions and economies on the brink of a double-dip recession. on cnbc this week, we'll be speaking with business owners from several key industries,

including retail, travel, and entertainment, to see how they're adapting to a not-so-festive season. mark lynch, partner at ughnot>>

global headquarters here's your top five at five. a historic day here in the united states in the fight against covid-19. as mass distribution of a vaccine gets under way. we have complete team coverage around the country. amid that progress against the outbreak. stocks looking to snap back. in washington d.c., the federal government revealing a data breach of several e