well, that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> welcome to street signs. we are live this. >> morning from london. >> paris. munich and dubai. >> i'm julianna tatelbaum, and these are your headlines. >> european leaders try. >> to find common ground on the possibility of sending troops to ukraine. >> as us officials meet their. >> russian counterparts in riyadh to discuss the war. >> this is. it is completely premature and completely the wrong time to have this discussion. now, i'm even a little irritated by these debates. i have to. >> say the.

>> stoxx 600. >> hits another intraday record as european talks give a boost to some defense names. french finance minister eric lombard calls for the bloc to take a common stand. >> europe now has to put its act together. to answer, and. totally confident that europe will be at the level of the challenge. >> capgemini falls toward. >> the bottom. >> of the stoxx 600. >> after annual sales dip. >> amid concerns over the health of the manufacturing sector. the french it firm ceo tells. cnbc he remains optimistic about ai. >> opportunity in ai. an ai engineer has. >> always existed. >> i think deep tech is part of the evolution. we know that some of these lighter models are going to come, which i think is a good thing because it allows us to be able to deploy them at the edge. >> and germany's top candidates for chancellor. >> are grilled in. >> a. >> town hall. >> just days. >> before the country. >> goes to the polls. >> investor and kristen achleitner tells cnbc the business sector has lost its way. >> if we're lacking in vision. >> we have been good for such a.

>> good time that we somehow got used to it. apart from being ambitious again, i think what we need is speed. you know, we have become too slow for various reasons. >> a very good morning to you. our top story today. senior u.s. and russian officials are meeting in riyadh for discussions. >> over a potential. >> ukraine peace deal. >> ukrainian officials. >> were. not invited. >> to be part. >> of. >> today's talks. >> but president. >> zelenskyy says he will meet with saudi officials. in riyadh later this week. let's get out to dan, who's covering everything in the region for us. dan good morning. who is meeting today and what is the goal. >> of these. >> talks given zelensky is not part of them? and we of course know that the europeans have also been left out. >> indeed, julianna. >> what we're. >> seeing right now is senior us officials. including secretary of. >> state marco. >> rubio and the us.

>> national security advisor mike waltz. >> in riyadh. >> right now, sitting around a. >> table with russia's foreign minister. >> now, there's. >> certainly a lot to. >> unpack in these talks. >> the optics. >> alone are. >> very important. >> but essentially what we're seeing here is a meeting of the minds. this is the united states. >> acting unilaterally. >> here to try and bring about an agreement that. >> will eventually. >> bring together donald trump and vladimir putin over what could be peace. talks and a. way forward, laying the groundwork for a ceasefire and broader negotiations. i mentioned last hour that beyond ukraine, this. >> is. >> also really important. >> this marks a moment for us russia relations as well. >> a very. >> public reopening. >> of what. >> have been. >> really fractured. >> diplomatic ties between. >> washington and moscow under the biden administration. it's also a very significant moment for saudi arabia. what you see right now is saudi arabia's foreign minister. escort escorting the us secretary of

state. >> into those talks. >> and of course. >> riyadh here really. >> emerging as a. dealmaker and a mediator, really reflecting the work that saudi arabia has done in the. >> last few to become. a key ally. >> to. both russia and the united states. and really, a moment for mohammed bin salman, the crown prince. to come out of the cold when it comes to diplomatic relations with the us. so what can be achieved. >> here, though? >> that is the. >> ultimate. >> question, because. >> what we. >> also know is that ukrainian and european officials were not invited into the room and not invited to take part in this conversation. so perhaps this is the trump administration working to get to the bottom of some finite details, trying to determine and establish exactly what the russians need to consider this a win on their side, and then also laying the groundwork for a potential trump-putin summit that would open the door for broader negotiations with kyiv and with european officials as well. the

challenge, though, is finding a way forward, a way forward that would end the war without handing total victory to moscow or without weakening ukraine. and as i said last hour, that way forward looks very unclear at this point. >> dan, thank you for such a comprehensive overview. >> really appreciate. >> your insights. >> let's continue with this story. european leaders remain split on whether they would send troops to enforce a potential ukraine peace agreement. after a meeting in paris convened by president macron, france and the uk have expressed a willingness to deploy military resources in a peacekeeping effort. but leaders from countries including germany, poland and italy have shown skepticism. uk prime minister keir starmer said the us would need to be involved in any guarantees offered to ukraine. >> we're at. >> the very. >> early stage. >> of the process. >> europe must. >> play its role. and i'm prepared to consider committing british forces. >> on the ground alongside

others. >> if there. >> is a lasting. >> peace agreement. >> but there must. >> be a us backstop because a us security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter russia from attacking ukraine again. >> speaking to reporters after the meeting, german chancellor olaf scholz expressed his frustration with questions over potential troop deployments. >> this is. it is completely premature and completely the wrong time to have this discussion. now i'm even a little irritated by these debates, i have to say. people are talking here about possible variants of outcomes over the heads of ukraine, about the outcome of peace talks that have not taken place, and with which ukraine has not said yes and has not sat at the table. this is highly inappropriate, to put it bluntly and honestly, we don't even know what the outcome will be. >> now, french president emmanuel macron said he spoke to us president trump and ukraine's

president zelenskyy after that meeting, calling for strong security guarantees for ukraine and increased defense investment. let's get out to charlotte, who joins us now from paris. charlotte. macron clearly trying here to take a lead in aligning europe in its response to calls for more support for ukraine. but after more than what sounds like a three hours of discussion at the elysee, it doesn't seem like the europeans are any closer to agreement on what they're prepared to offer. >> well, not just yet, because, you know, it was a meeting that was called at the last minute, but at least it was a symbolic element just showing that there is trying to be a unity and trying to come up, have the discussions of where europe stands. and here again, you know, talking about president macron, talking about strategic autonomy of europe. that's something that he has been talking about for a very long time. you know, before the pandemic, before the war in ukraine. there's something that he's been talking about. there was any moment where this, you know, he needs to push for this once again is now, you know, feels like it's a very crucial

week for the european security overall. and of course, donald trump coming back to the white house, the recent comments around ukraine, this talks over ukraine, that happening without ukraine or without europe, happening today in saudi arabia between russia and the us. the recent comments in munich of jd vance, all this, you know, might be constituting what he calls the electroshock moment for europe when they have to kind of decide and take action going forward. and what key element of this is defense and defense spending. and so europe and european leaders are discussing how to unlock more money for defense and increase their capacity. so this question, france is very much behind the question of joint borrowing, for example, to finance more defense as well, change some of the fiscal rules so that defense spending is not included in deficit numbers. so this all these proposals that france is looking at as well. so i had a chance to catch up with eric lombard, the french economy and finance minister in brussels. he was meeting with his peers there to discuss all this, and asked

him what was france's position on all this? >> the world has. >> changed drastically in the. >> last three. >> years. >> by the way. it has started with the invasion of ukraine. >> by the russians and also now. with different policies. >> put forward by. president trump. the answer for. europe is very. simple and straightforward. we have. to seek strategic. >> autonomy and. >> strategic autonomy. >> means also autonomy in terms of defense. >> and to have. >> our own. >> defense industrial base. for that, the. >> commission will make proposals. and of. >> course, we will. >> take that into account. let me remind to people who. >> are listening to us. france is. already doing a significant effort. >> more important. >> than many european countries in terms. >> of defense. >> we have. >> a strong army. >> we have a. >> heavy defense spending. >> so i think. >> the first. >> step maybe. >> would be to be.

>> more balanced. >> between european countries. >> but also, again. >> we will see the. >> proposals of the european commission. >> it is. >> important that. >> we share the burden. but again. >> with a view of. getting to a strategic autonomy. >> where we are not yet. and stability and growth, of course, necessary to geopolitical relevance. burisma also talking about an electroshock coming after trump, coming back to white house after everything we heard, we heard during the munich security meeting over the weekend. the comments from jd vance. do you see your european peers ready for action now? is the electroshock freezing people or actually, do you feel that there's a new sense of urgency among your peers? >> yes, the. >> electroshock is now. we had the election of donald trump. we had the speech. >> of. >> jd vance at the munich summit. by the way. >> president macron. is gathering. >> european leaders. including

our british allies. >> in paris today. >> and europe. >> now has to put. >> it acts together. >> to answer and totally confident that. >> europe will be at the. >> level of the challenge. >> because it is a historical challenge. it is a historical. turnaround and we have to change the way european. >> union is. >> managed, and that. >> is the responsibility of politicians. >> around the table. >> and we will be. >> up to the challenge. >> that was eric lombard, the french economy and finance minister. president macron was hosting several european leaders here in paris to talk about ukraine and basically show that, you know, they want to be at that table to potentially negotiate a peace deal for ukraine. before that, they need to give some guarantees to ukraine and to the us when it comes to, you know, defense spending. and they want to be around the table in the discussions and they talk about a peace through strength, you know, being guaranteed that if there is a peace deal, it's in the long term and on ukrainian terms as well, not just the

ceasefire that would then allow russia to, you know, gather strength and launch another attack further down the line. so it's all these that they want to come to an agreement with and have a common line on the european front that kind of also be positive in the conversation with the us and with nato. so that's what at stake at the moment. so just a show of unity yesterday, but still a lot of concrete actions that need to be taken, some proposals. president macron was saying yesterday that there will be more meetings and more talks going forward. >> charlotte, thank you for bringing us that interview and wrapping up what we heard from the leaders summit yesterday or that that meeting rather. now, leaders did discuss ways to increase defense spending at that meeting, including a proposal backed by president macron for common eu borrowing and a suggestion from commission president ursula von der leyen for a temporary easing of deficit rules to facilitate defense spending. and we have seen quite a reaction in european defense names this week to all of the pressure that has been laid on europe in recent days to ramp up that defense spending. here's a look for you at where we've traveled over the

last week. you've got bank shares up nearly 30%, hensoldt up more than 18% week to date. now this morning rank up another 10%. so contributing to that near 30% jump on the week and hensel up 4% this morning. so the strength we saw yesterday is continuing today. investors are putting more money behind these defense names not taking profits. so that is significant in terms of the conviction that seems to be building around these defense plays. as for us defense names, here's a pre-market check. you've got lockheed martin looking to open about 1.6% higher. boeing and northrop grumman also looking to open modestly higher. but the real reaction has been in these european defense names. analysts at citi have tipped a number of defense stocks they expect to benefit from a ramp up in european defense spending. check out the full list on our subscription service cnbc pro. still ahead on street signs gemini shares sink near the bottom of the stoxx 600, with some investors expressing disappointment over the french

it firm's outlook on track for its worst day in months. we'll be right back. shopify's point of sale system helps you sell at every stage of your business. with fast and secure payment. card readers you can rely on. and one place to manage it all. whatever the stage, businesses that grow grow with shopify. our laundry. we just pick a date, pick a cleaner, and enjoy a spotless house for $19. >> some people. >> like doing things the hard way. >> like doing. >> their finances with a spreadsheet instead of using quicken. quicken pulls all your financial info together in

for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big. xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half vs. t-mobile, verizon, and at&t for your first year. plus, ask how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us.

(888) 710-0554. >> get tested. >> join the club. >> as a woman, i. >> wanted to experience. >> financial independence and become financially. >> independent in my retirement. >> join the club. new members save with a special offer for a limited time at cnbc.com. terms and restrictions apply. >> welcome back to street signs uk. employment rose by just over 100,000 in the three months to december. double. analysts, analysts forecast. wage growth also accelerated, with private sector pay excluding bonuses, rising by 6.2%. you can see their sterling trading slightly weaker versus the dollar this morning. we're on 126. bundesbank president joachim nagel has warned that germany's strong export orientation makes it especially vulnerable to us tariffs. nagel said that based on current tariff threats, both germany and the us would suffer with german economic output to be 1.5 percentage points lower

than forecast for 2027. meanwhile, in the us, fed governor michele bowman says said that while monetary policy is now in a good place, she wants to see data reflect more progress before cutting rates further. philadelphia fed president patrick harker took a more upbeat tone on the us economy, saying monetary policy is well positioned and expects rates to continue falling in the long run. his comments mirrored fed governor christopher waller, who argued to keep rates on hold for now until inflation falls again. elsewhere in the monetary policy world, australia's central bank has cut rates for the first time in over four years as softening inflation allows room for easing monetary policy. the rba cut borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 4.1%, but signaled it remains cautious on further policy easing. let's get a check on european trade. we have turned slightly weaker in the last 20 minutes or so. the stoxx 600 now trading just below the flat line we had opened higher this

morning. the level for that main benchmark about 5.55. breaking it down by region. here's the split. this morning we are looking at a bit of red on the board for the cac40 in france, as well as the xetra dax down 3/10 of a percent and 2/10 respectively. footsie in italy holding on to the early gains, up about 3/10 of a percent as investors continue to eye the geopolitical world. with developments happening very rapidly around what happens next with ukraine. now from a sector perspective in europe, here's what we're looking at this morning. you've got banks out in front up about 8/10 of a percent or three quarters of a percent. rather industrials up 4/10. media and basic resources. on the downside, the laggards in europe we've got technology down 8/10 of a percent. this is despite a further rally in asian tech stocks. overnight we saw the hang seng gain driven by some strong moves higher in the tech sector. not translating to europe though this morning capgemini perhaps part of what's weighing on that sector.

chemicals down 8/10 of a percent. travel and leisure and household goods. now on to us futures yesterday. we saw markets closed for the long weekend. so this is our first glimpse of how wall street is poised to open this week. you've got the dow, the s&p and the nasdaq all looking to open higher after the presidents day holiday. dan kemp joins me now cio of morningstar. dan, great to have you with us this morning. we've got a lot of focus on the geopolitics. and i wonder from a market perspective how you bake the geopolitics into your market view. >> well. >> julianna, hello. >> it's good to be here. >> i think we tend to start with trying to avoid baking geopolitics into a market for you, because everyone naturally comes to geopolitics with some sort of bias. and if you let that bias break into your analysis, then you start ascribing very odd outcomes to what could happen in the in the market. >> so of course, it creates. >> opportunities when there's volatility. >> and there's. >> opportunities to pick things up more cheaply and sometimes to sell things that become

expensive. but i think when it comes to geopolitics, try and get away from all the noise. look at what's happening at the individual companies and at markets, and try and put the rest in the background. >> it does. >> feel like there is a top down view that's taking shape over the last couple of days, that defense stocks are worth buying here on the back of this push for more spending from europe. and the rally is looks like it has some legs. we saw a massive step up yesterday. again today we're seeing, you know, 2,030% gains over the course of just one week in some of these european defense names. what do you think of the rally. do you think this is sustainable or would you be taking profit in some of these defense names here? >> well. >> when you're looking at whether rally sustainable, of course you're you're really focusing on two things. one is whether these are high quality businesses, whether they have economic moats. they can sustain earnings growth over the long term. and what the current valuation is. and although we've seen these leaps in valuations over the last couple of days, are equity research team did a. >> big. >> report on the global defense industry over the last couple of weeks and still see good value

in that part of the market and very good quality companies. we've heard how europe needs to increase its defense spending. that seems to be a consensus that supports earnings, but you're starting from a good place where valuations are pretty reasonable across the sector. so still good opportunities there. >> you know, part of the reason that perhaps there is value or perceived value in the defense names is because a lot of funds have steered away from investing in defense over the last few years on an esg from an esg perspective. how does that play in? are we seeing a, you know, some softening in terms of the attitude toward investing in defense names because of the opportunity? >> well, there's really two things we need to think about in terms of esg. one is risk. so esg risk is really focused on what are the additional risks that are presented by climate change or changing consumer tastes or government regulation. and so that can be baked in. and that impacts defense companies because of their carbon footprint, typically their big

industrial manufacturers. and so they have quite a big carbon footprint normally. but secondly, there is the preference of investors to invest in line with their values. and that's where defense names tend to be excluded because people didn't want to be involved in in military systems. but of course, following the invasion of ukraine, then some of those attitudes are changing. people are seeing defense as being a good thing. and so you're having a change in that in investor attitudes, while at the same time, of course, any companies with big carbon footprints still have those broader esg risks. >> i think that is just a really interesting, you know, thematic change to be aware of. that's why i brought it up. let me ask you about germany. we've seen a massive rally in the dax. year to date. it's been an outperformer hitting record after record. it feels like the investment community is making a play, making a big bet that the election outcome is going to be favorable to german business. do you think that investors are being complacent about the risks in germany here, or do you think that that's justified? >> well, i think we need to look

at where we've come from with germany. so we've been talking about germany for a long time. it's a really attractive market. last year it's probably our favorite market around the world now. well done. and it's well, you know, but then it becomes expensive and then it's annoying. i'd rather have a good value for long period of time, but. >> you got. >> to. >> keep it quiet. >> well that's the problem. so. but anyway, so germany has done really well as you say. it's no longer looking great value. but it certainly doesn't look extremely expensive. i don't think that's a political view. it just reflects where the market was six months ago. >> okay. and what about autos mean within germany? it's obviously a key sector here. on the one hand, it's facing this massive threat from a tariff perspective and getting caught right in the center of this trade war. but on the other hand, you could be looking at a much more supportive german government. so how do you how do you tally those two forces? >> well, again, be careful about trying to build in too much political view, whether it's tariffs or what's happening in german government, because politicians don't always do what they say and they don't always get what they want. and so when we think about the impact of politics, try and set that one

aside. we still see value in german autos, european autos more, more generally. and so again, from a from a valuation perspective, there's some there's some opportunities there. but of course those, those political issues could create noise. it could create better buying opportunities. but it is still looking pretty good value for the long term investor. >> okay. a contrarian view i think of sorts to be positive bullish on the auto sector. let me ask you about the mag seven. in the us we've seen fairly mixed performance among the tech leaders. year to date, we haven't seen the kind of outsized and unified outperformance that we've seen over the last several years. do you expect this to continue? do you see more opportunity in some of those value sectors in the us that have underperformed over the last few years? >> we absolutely do. it's just a sign that markets are working. when you get some stocks that look very expensive where they're priced to perfection, as we say, that they expect everything to go right, then you normally have some pullback there. there's been tons of momentum in those stocks that

they've been in the news. people have loved those companies. and so that momentum has carried on for a long time. but yes we're seeing really big gaps in expected returns valuations in the us between the some of the mag seven and the rest of the market, large and small growth in value. and so when you get those gaps opening up, then independently minded investors are going to find some of those gaps. but even in the mag seven again they're not universally overvalued. so meta doesn't look as overvalued as a group like nvidia for example according to our our equity analysts. so there's still there's still opportunities there. but more broadly this is a year to dig a little bit deeper and find the individual stocks and sectors that can do well. >> all right. well it's good news for single stock pickers out there. dan thanks for joining us dan kemp cio at morningstar. cap gemini shares are trading near the bottom of the stoxx 600 this morning. that's despite the french i.t. firm reporting a slightly better than expected result on the top line, with full year sales falling by 2%. however, the outlook is weighing on the stock, with analysts at jp

morgan describing the guidance as slightly less optimistic than previously estimated. speaking with cnbc earlier, the ceo of capgemini described some of the headwinds at play. >> in europe. >> the manufacturing. >> sector has been. >> pretty subdued in the second. >> half of the year. >> investment have decreased quite a bit and. >> clients are. >> really scaling back in. >> terms of their investment. >> i mean, we are. >> highly exposed to the auto sector, which is. >> really. >> under pressure, you know, in europe. but i see manufacturing in general and france, the level of activity. has decreased quite a bit in the second half. >> instability. >> you know. the fact that. >> we didn't. >> have a. >> government. >> not a budget, i think it really. >> weighed quite a bit. >> on people's investment decision in the second half. and of course, we saw it in some of the economic activity and the investments we expect from our clients. >> ihg has reported 3% growth in annual room revenue, beating expectations. the hotel group, which owns the holiday inn

chain, among others, said it's seen a pickup in demand in the united states. the group also announced a $900 million share buyback program. its shares are trading lower by about 3%. ceo elie malouf told cnbc that despite economic jitters, the firm still has confidence in the chinese market. >> we recognize. >> some aspects. >> of. >> the. >> chinese economy aren't doing very well, like the residential. >> real estate industry. >> however, it's a $22 trillion economy. some sectors are doing pretty well. experienced sectors are doing pretty well. >> healthcare. >> travel. >> restaurants and. >> we happen to. >> be doing pretty well. >> i spent time with nearly 100. >> of. >> our owners and investors in china. >> that own our hotels. they're excited. >> about growing with ihg. they look at the long term where you have still growing gdp. a middle class that's. >> forecasted to double over the. next ten years. >> rooms, hotel rooms. penetration that is. one fifth to one seventh of what it is in the united states. so we've. been there 50 years. >> you know, we've. >> seen highs and.

>> lows, but they're higher highs and higher lows. and we're. >> optimistic about the future. >> in china. >> antofagasta has reported full year revenue of $6.6 billion, in line with analysts expectations. the mining firm, which is a major international copper copper producer, said it is encouraged by the demand outlook for the metal. ceo even walked cnbc through the potential impact of trump tariffs. >> there is an added uncertainty coming from, you know, the tariffs that. >> have been discussed. >> and i think that. >> considering this. >> is a market. >> which is. >> constrained, puts another element of uncertainty in in production. >> if you look at the arbitrage. >> between comex and lm. >> as you. >> were saying, the price. >> you know. has sort of. >> increased in comics, around 10%. >> which is. >> what the market. >> there will be. >> factoring in. >> as a. >> tariff component. >> but we yet have. >> to see i think there. >> is more uncertainty. >> around this. >> if i think. >> of chile. >> as the main copper producer, a. >> very reliable. >> trading partner. >> to the us. >> the tariffs in chile, to. >> us exports are actually very. >> low.

>> and there is a trade. >> balance which is in favor. >> of. >> the us. >> so. >> you know, we have to. >> see what will happen. it's another element of uncertainty. but what the price is, is of the market is pricing. >> today as judged. >> by comics, is about a 10% tariff at some point. >> coming up on the show. germany's main candidates for chancellor face questions from the public as business leaders call for more ambition from whoever takes office. anita has the details after this break. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or

visit coventrydirect.com. everything from our kitchen to our bathroom, all our laundry. you just pick a date, pick a cleaner and enjoy a spotless house for $19. >> they are trying to shut down this legal loophole to get 100mg generic viagra, or 20mg generic cialis, delivered to your door for just $0.87 in less than two minutes. do this first, scan the qr code to go to get friday plans. then you select if you need generic viagra or cialis, the quantity you need, and the dosage. i'll pick 100 milligram. thank you very much. and then their system will see if you qualify. give it a second to find the best deals. and boom look at that $0.87 for each

100mg generic viagra tablet 20mg cialis is the same price. the prescription and shipping are free. scan the qr code to go to get friday plans and see for yourself. don't wait. scan the qr code or go to get friday plans.com now. overtime is. >> about understanding what. >> just happened. >> in the markets that day. >> and preparing for tomorrow. >> i'm looking to talk to all investors, sophisticated investors. beginning investors. i'm always learning. >> closing bell overtime for eastern cnbc. >> welcome back to street signs i'm julianna tatelbaum and these are your headlines. european leaders try to find common ground on the possibility of sending troops to ukraine as u.s. officials meet their russian counterparts in riyadh to discuss the war. >> this is it is completely

premature and completely the wrong time to have this discussion. now, i'm even a little irritated by these debates, i have to say. >> defense stocks outperform for a second straight day as european leaders discuss boosting spending. french finance minister eric lombard calls for the bloc to take a common stand. >> europe now has to put its act together. >> to answer, and totally. confident that europe. >> will be at. >> the level of. >> the challenge. >> cap gemini falls toward the bottom of the stoxx 600 after annual sales dip, amid concerns over the health of the manufacturing sector. the french it firm ceo tells cnbc he remains optimistic about ai. >> the opportunity in ai and ai engineer has always existed. i think deep tech is part of the evolution. we know that some of these lighter models are going to come, which i think is a good thing because it allows us to be able to deploy them at the edge. >> and germany's top candidates for chancellor are grilled in a town hall just days before the country goes to the polls. investor and kristen achleitner

tells cnbc the business sector has lost its way. >> if you're lacking ambition, we have been good. >> for such. >> a good time that we somehow got used to it. apart from being ambitious again, i think what we need is speed. you know, we've become too slow for various reasons. >> german chancellor olaf schultz and cdu leader friedrich merz seemingly ruled out the possibility of both men serving in the same cabinet, no matter the outcome of this weekend's election. speaking in a moderated town hall in which the four main candidates face live questions from the public, mertz called the scenario unlikely, with schultz adding i want to remain chancellor. he wants to become it, and the voters will decide. a so-called grand coalition is a post election possibility. schultz has previously said he will not serve in the new government if his party is defeated in the polls. business leaders have called for more ambition from

germany's new government, no matter the outcome of that vote. anita has been speaking to some of those business leaders and she joins us now from munich. anita. good morning. >> good morning. yes, indeed. >> i think if. >> you look. >> at all. >> these four parties. >> who are actually debating. >> and have. >> a chancellor. >> candidate. >> the likelihood is. >> very high. >> that the cdu. >> will be. >> first. >> according to any. opinion poll. >> we have seen in the. >> last month. but the key. >> question is. >> how to form a government. and here i think the small. >> parties will. >> play a pivotal role. >> especially if. >> the liberals. >> and the. >> ssw party. >> will make it above the. >> 5% threshold, because only if. >> you top 5%. >> you are allowed to. >> enter the german parliament. so i. guess it's. still very. >> uncertain and the. >> race is wide. >> open how that future government might look like. >> and of. >> course that will very much. then determine how friedrich

merz can push through his economic agenda. but despite. the general. >> assessment of. >> the german economy. >> being so. >> bad, and we see economic. activity contracting, one. >> sector of. >> the economy. >> is actually. >> doing. >> quite well. and that is startups in general. we've seen a rise in new business. applications during the course of last year, and especially here in munich. >> but also in berlin. >> it's a very vibrant scene. munich, the ecosystem, how they call it the. >> startup ecosystem. >> with the incubator called tomb, which is very closely. >> linked to. >> the university. >> here in. >> munich, is the biggest ecosystem. >> for startups. >> in europe, and it. has seen a lot of funding as well, coming in from outside europe. investors. >> especially us. >> investors. >> very, very strong here in the in bavaria with the. >> the startup. >> scene concentrating. >> especially in tech. >> related companies such as

spacex but also deep tech. ann-kristin achleitner, who was a member of the tomb center, a professor and also an investor, has been speaking to me yesterday about what is needed for the country and. >> how the startup industry. >> is actually doing. take a listen. >> i feel we're lacking ambition. we have been good for such a good time that we somehow got used to it, and we got a bit. a bit careful now in choosing the word, but you know what i mean. i think we have to have that again, although this startup scene does have that, i think we need to have that as a country. and apart from being ambitious again, i think what we need is speed. you know, we've become too slow for various reasons. so i think that speed and intensity are the things that we need now. >> and do you think that. >> might change with the upcoming elections and then the new government? will that be. enough of an. >> impulse to. change things? i

think that it is very clear, independent about who will form the new government, that, you know, we've waited so long that we have a crisis now. you know, these structural changes that we have been talking about, you know, that would have been necessary. we should have worked on them the last ten years already. we have the energy situation because of ukraine. we have the russian situation now. we have the new situation with the us. it's perfectly clear, i think, to everyone that now we really have to get our act together and move. >> so one of the biggest concerns for. >> of business leaders here in germany is. >> actually red tape bureaucracy. and what happens. >> if. you deregulate and. let get sort. >> of entrepreneurs set up companies. >> is a. >> good example here as well. in munich with flix. flix is a company which is operating busses all over the world, also in the uk. and the founders of

flix are actually headquartered here in munich. and i had the chance of speaking to them because clearly their business could only thrive because germany started to deregulate the market in which they're operating in. so take a list of what you said about the future of regulation and what he wants to see, and also what needs to be done in order to spur economic activity. >> of course, germany. >> has its complexities in terms. >> of how you run a company, how you start a company. >> but i think. >> the most important thing is that on the one hand, the mindset has changed over the last couple of years. so in germany, more and more startups come up. but what we also see is. >> to have really a global perspective. >> and at. least for. >> the start. >> of european perspective, we. >> run into. >> a. >> lot of. regulatory barriers. we don't. >> have. >> a unique. >> unified single market. >> so this. >> is. >> really stopping us from. >> building these global market leaders. >> and that's a big. >> challenge that we in germany have. >> to solve. >> are you hopeful.

>> that this. is going to change at some point in time? because what. >> you are. >> saying. is that. essentially every country has its. national regulations. and if you want to scale up a. >> company in. >> europe, that's a. >> problem, right? >> absolutely. >> and there. >> are two aspects. >> one is. >> if you look at europe, there are obviously. these small regulatory hurdles. >> how is tax. >> treatment. >> how was. >> labor law. >> and so on. so there is of. >> course complexity of running a pan-european business. but the. >> prerequisite is that we have one single market that you. >> have really. >> the opportunity that you. >> can. >> sell your product or. >> offer your service. and every market. >> irrespective of national regulation. >> and that's a. >> big hurdle. >> and our. >> success was possible. >> because germany. opened the. >> market. >> then france and italy took an example and opened the market, and now others are doing it. >> as well. but still there are markets where. >> people say, no, we. >> don't participate in. >> the unified market. >> and that. >> obviously stops many companies in. >> being a real. >> pan-european and then a global player. >> so i think the key message.

>> which i actually gathered. >> here in. in munich is. >> that the startup scene is thriving and especially. >> there's a lot of innovation taking place. >> and one. thing i actually found. >> really amazing is that if. >> you look at. >> talent coming into the country, is that ever since trump did win the election in the. >> states, the applications for people. >> or for talent coming from the states. >> have actually tripled coming. >> into that startup. or or new tech. >> environment here in bavaria. >> so they are especially dedicated. >> to space investments. >> so satellite. >> related companies, but also deep. tech when. >> it comes to the overall i of course, that race is mainly dominated by the us. and also china. but i think the future or the innovation field is wide open. being at quantum computing, as i said, or satellite space related investments, all that is. actually thriving here. and that

ecosystem. >> in munich. >> and that's a really interesting stat around the ramp up. a tripling of visa applications in the wake of trump's election in the us. super interesting and great conversations with those business leaders. i want to flag to viewers. you don't want to miss our special coverage of the german election results live on monday from 6 a.m. london time. we're going to have all of it covered for you from carolyn and anita. let me bring your attention now to the bank of england governor, andrew bailey, who is speaking at a fireside chat in brussels. he's saying that we are in a period of heightened uncertainty. we're facing a weak growth environment in the uk and on the choice of the word careful. in the last statement, the last bank of england statement, he said the language was chosen to highlight increased uncertainty. you are seeing a pullback in sterling now. so interpreting investors, interpreting these lines potentially as being dovish for the bank of england. certainly they are. he is trying to temper

any optimism. it would seem so. sterling is trading down by about 15 basis points now to one 2606. facing a weak growth environment in the uk. and that language of careful was used and chosen to highlight increased uncertainty. and just to put this into context, we also recently heard bailey playing down that unexpected, unexpectedly positive growth reading that we got the unexpected rise in gdp at the end of 2024. he did play down that positive figure. there's a look for you at uk. yields were higher across the board coming up on the show elon musk unveils grok three as competition intensifies in the ai chatbot space. we'll be back. no, no, no, no, no. 100,000 orders confirmed. ooh! you got cirkul! let's hydrate america! let's go! adam devine ordered 100,000 bottles, so we're delivering all across the country. you got cirkul! you got cirkul. wow! wow! just dial it up for more

flavor. i don't like drinking water, but this is really good. hey, guys, we got cirkul! we got cirkul! apparently y'all got cirkul. honey, we have a problem! >> their finances with a spreadsheet instead of using quicken. quicken pulls all your financial info together i the way i approach work post fatherhood, has really trying to understand the generation that we're building devices for. here in the comcast family, we're building an integrated in-home wifi solution for millions of families like my own. in the average household, there are dozens of connected devices. connectivity is a big part of my boys' lives. it brings people together in meaningful ways.

thoughtful living. >> therma get vested. >> join the club. >> jim kramer is an excellent teacher. i don't have the time to do this full time for the value that we get. the investing club is very much. >> worth it. join the club new member save with a special offer for a limited time at cnbc.com. terms and restrictions apply. >> now back to the program. let's get a check on european equity markets which have been bouncing around the flat line

this morning searching for direction. we're now trading just below the flat line seven basis points at 555 as investors digest the latest on geopolitics, with washington now kicking off those bilateral talks with moscow in saudi you've got defense names continuing to outperform in terms of the bourses. here's the look at this morning. we are looking at some losses for the xetra dax down by about 3/10 of a percent. the cac40 down about a quarter of a percent a little bit of green on the board there for the ftse mid that italian benchmark up 3/10 of a percent. now in terms of the sectors this morning i did mention the defense names. they are continuing to gain ground after an incredible day yesterday, as well as a sector on the whole banks are out in front up 8/10 of a percent. basic resources also doing well, oil and gas and media. the laggards in europe. here's the here's the picture. you've got technology down more than 1%. capgemini shares down nearly 10% this morning after

delivering results a conservative outlook for 2025. that seems to be the read from the investment community. and this pullback in tech comes after a further rally in asian tech stocks overnight. so just interesting to see the divergence there. we've also got chemicals underperforming down 6/10 of a percent. real estate and travel and leisure. as for wall street we're reopening today after the long weekend. we are looking at a positive start to trade, though we have come off the early highs of the morning, the tech heavy nasdaq looking to add about 80 points at this stage, the dow jones and the s&p looking to gain as well. from a data perspective stateside, we've got the us empire state manufacturing survey to look out for and some housing market data as well in the tech space. samsung in focus today, it's set to cancel just over ¥3 trillion worth of its own shares that it had previously acquired. it comes after the tech giant's november announcement that it would buy back 10 trillion won of shares, the company's first buyback since 2017. you can see samsung

shares up 1.6% in overnight trade. chinese tech giant baidu has posted fourth quarter revenue of $4.7 billion, a 2% decline overall. but still, that was ahead of expectations. the firm said it is navigating near-term pressures, but is optimistic that its ai investments will pay off this after the stock had $2.4 billion wiped off its market cap on monday after the company's founder, robin li, was not seen in attendance. as xi jinping met business leaders at a symposium in beijing. fascinating to see what an impact that symposium has had on the stock market. you've seen a major rally in a number of the tech names, but here's what it means to not be a part of that symposium, which investors have taken, by and large, to mean that the xi administration is going to take a more warm view toward the tech sector and toward private sector in general, and the expectation being that that will spur

reinvestment from the vc community, which has taken a back seat in recent years. and that seems to be translating to the public markets as well. now, the hang seng tech index hit a three year high this morning at the rally that i mentioned. it comes after weeks of bullish sentiment around chinese tech stocks following deep six ai breakthroughs. so seems to be multifactor here. what's driven the rally in asian tech. you've got deep seeks breakthrough and putting what this means for putting china back on the map when it comes to the ai race. and now president xi putting a spotlight on the private sector with this symposium that he held at the start of this week. now, elon musk's artificial intelligence company x ai has launched its updated chat bot, grok three. musk's team hailed the technology, claiming it beats openai's chat. gpt four, deep v3, google gemini and anthropic's claude models on coding and science benchmarks. grok three includes a new smart search engine called deep search, which expresses how it

understands queries and its planned response. the model is available to x premium plus subscribers immediately. the xai team unveiled the chat bot in a live event on x, with musk saying it is still a beta version and to expect improvements every day. >> watch out for the name. >> grok free. >> in the app. >> dead giveaway. >> yeah, exactly. that's that's the giveaway that you have. and if it says goku, then goku hasn't quite arrived for yet. but we're working hard to roll this out today, and then to even more people over the coming days. >> yeah. >> make sure you update your phone app to where you're actually. >> going to get all the tools we showcased today with the thinking mode. >> with the. >> deep search. >> so yeah, really looking. >> forward to all the feedback. >> you have. >> yeah. i think we should. emphasize that this is kind of. >> a beta. >> like, meaning that you should expect some imperfections. >> at first. >> but we will. >> improve it rapidly. >> almost every day. in fact, every. >> day i. >> think it'll get better.

>> so if you want a more polished version, i'd like. >> maybe wait a week, >> but. >> expect improvements. >> literally every day. >> josh korin joins me now, founder and ceo of musketeer capital partners. josh, always great to have you with us. thanks for waking up early. let me just get your take on how grok three. these new models stack up to the competitors. >> of course. >> well, thank you so much for having me back on the show. always really appreciate it. so we're. >> really impressed. >> with. the grok three. >> release tonight. >> so on all. >> of the benchmarks, particularly the ai mathematics and. physics benchmark, you know, the outperformance. >> versus the other models. >> that. >> are. >> out there. >> was just really impressive. >> and if. >> you think. >> about what grok. >> three is. >> in the data center, there's 200,000 nvidia gpus that. train grok. >> three, right. >> that is more than ten x ahead of. >> grok two and ahead. >> of the. rest of the industry. >> so it's a really. >> powerful ai model. >> and what. >> we also like. >> is that it's. >> really. >> a family. >> of models. >> so if you think.

>> about. it within grok three, you have grok three mini, which is basically the think mode. and then there's the big brain mode. >> within the grok. >> app, which is the reasoning mode. and on the reasoning mode you could. >> ask grok three to really do. >> deep thinking, which is. >> quite impressive. >> so we think. overall it's, you know, very beneficial to the industry that this came out. it's another western alternative to openai's products away from deep seek, which we think is attractive. and it's clearly very beneficial to nvidia also because 200,000 gpus will all need to be replaced going forward in the future. so, you know, we were impressed. >> with the release. >> the interesting implications that you just highlighted. josh, what are musk's ambitions for xai? >> yeah, i mean, so first of all, with x's premium subscription, now you're going to have access to the super grok app, which basically gives it's synergistic across. >> musk's platforms because it. >> gives people the reason to. to buy that x premium subscription. >> which basically. >> reinvigorates x, where we all know advertising revenue.

>> has been. >> slowing over the past couple of years. you know, we think going forward his ambition is also a bit political. so the way that he has advertised grok three is anti-woke not politically correct. that sounds just like him. and the kind of whole trump platform. right. so it's basically putting out there into the sphere, you know, his influence of kind of this anti-woke vibe, in addition to kind of synergizing with the rest of his businesses and giving him a toehold and probably the most exciting tech growth place going forward. because if you think about it, yes, he had electronic vehicles, but with advertising on x alone, he wasn't really exposed to the most explosive growth. now with ai layered in, he is. and bringing that subscription revenue to x makes it all the more valuable. >> josh, we are going to have to leave it there. we're up against the clock. but thank you so much for jumping on. enjoy the sunshine in miami. we're all very jealous here in london. josh gordon, founder and cio of musketeer capital partners. now turning back to the geopolitics and our top story this morning,

u.s. officials, including secretary of state marco rubio, are meeting with russian diplomats in riyadh to begin discussions on the ukraine war. alice barr joins us now with more from washington, d.c. alice, bring us up to speed with what the latest developments out of washington are. what's trump been up to? >> good morning. >> yeah. president trump. >> sent these envoys. >> they are his top foreign. >> policy advisers. >> including secretary. >> of state. >> marco rubio. >> as you noted. and they are right now. >> sitting down. >> at the table with their russian counterparts. >> the big question. >> has been. >> the decision, apparently. led by president trump to. start off on this with. >> russia, with the russian side. >> and so it was striking. we saw some images from the top of that meeting where you see the us and the russian officials there. >> and notably. >> absent, of course, is ukraine. president trump has said that ukraine is going to be part of these negotiations. and a little bit later this week, there is a trump envoy who is set to be in ukraine and set to

meet with ukrainian president. >> volodymyr zelensky. >> who has made clear in an interview with nbc news that ukraine is not going to go along with any deal that his country. >> it looks like we have unfortunately lost our colleague alice barr, who was giving us an update on on what's happening in d.c. we are, of course, closely watching developments in riyadh. these discussions between the trump administration's team there and moscow's team on the ground, and also keeping an eye on brussels, where european leaders will continue to try to come up with a solution to the calls for more support for ukraine from washington, d.c. we know that keith kellogg has been in brussels meeting with ursula von der leyen, and he, in terms of that meeting this morning, the president of the european commission emphasized the eu's critical role in ensuring ukraine's financial stability

and defense. von der leyen also stressing that the eu is carrying its full share of military assistance to ukraine and stands ready to do even more so. europe, continuing to stand by ukraine. but how will that translate into security guarantees, and what will trump's response be in terms of what they are willing to deliver? you heard keir starmer here in the uk trying to act as a bridge between the eu and washington. and he has said that the uk would be willing to put troops on the ground in ukraine if they get the guarantee of a us backstop. under what conditions will the trump administration offer this backstop? that is one of the key questions and, of course, whether the eu will be able to present a unified front in terms of what more they are willing to spend and what their more what more they're willing to offer comes at a tough time for germany, as we are just days away from the election there. so not a lot that olaf schultz, one of the key leaders in europe, can do, given that his days are

numbered as the leader of that country. let's take a last check on european markets. we have been bouncing around this morning. right now, the xetra dax down about a quarter of a percent, the ftse in italy still hanging on to those early gains up 4/10 of a percent. one area of the market that continues to gain ground is the defense sector. here's a look at some of the key defense names this morning. you've got hensoldt up nearly 3%. again rank up nearly 7%. rank up about 30% week to date hensoldt up about 20% week to date. so really strong demand for those defense names. well that is it for today's show. i'm julianna tatelbaum do stay with cnbc. worldwide exchange is cnbc. worldwide exchange is coming up next. (auctioneer) let's start the bidding at 5 million dollars. thank you, sir. (man) these people of privilege... hoarding the financial advantages for far too long. (auctioneer) 7.5 at the back. (man) look at them — unaware that robinhood gold members now enjoy the vip treatment — a 3% ira match

on retirement contributions. (auctioneer) 11 million sir. (man) once they discover their privileges are no longer exclusive... their fragile reality will plunge into disarray. ♪ for $19. seriously? $19. >> they showed up. >> right on time and did my dishes, my laundry. they even cleaned my windows. you just pick a date, pick a cleaner. >> and enjoy a. >> spotless house for $19. >> i love. >> using home aglow. and i think. >> you will too. >> i can feel. >> the do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our

retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned we could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance.

dave's been very excited about saving big with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. five years? -five years. and he's not alone. -high five. it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit. five years of a great rate that won't change. it's back. but only for a limited time. high five. five years? -nope. comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities. comcast business. the. >> apple app store, android, and mta. >> com for me, squawk box is breakfast with most interesting people in the world. >> it's a privilege to get to talk to them every day. >> it's more entertaining than any other morning show, but you

might get some useful information. >> squawk box weekday mornings, 6 a.m. eastern. >> cnbc to me, ambition is being undaunted by the impossible. being the first woman engineer at google, i got asked all the time, what's it like to be a woman in tech? i didn't feel like a woman at google. i felt like a geek at google. passion is a gender neutralizing force. >> it is. >> 5 a.m. here. >> at cnbc global headquarters. >> welcome to worldwide exchange. >> here is your five at five investors on record. watch after nasdaq's best week since december. >> also intel adding to its. >> historic surge. >> as. >> word surfaces. >> to rivals. they might want to break it up. >> bending to. >> activist pressure, southwest airlines makes what it calls an. unprecedented decision. >> plus, wall. >> street caught. >> between two fed officials. >> split on. >> the central bank's next move. >> and the. doge agenda and one. >> stock. >> strategy that. >> could rise. >> to the occasion. >> it is tuesday. >> february the. >> 18th, 2025. >> you're watching. >> worldwide exchange. >> right her