joe: and i am joe weisenthal.oomberg markets. ♪ we are live in bloomberg world headquarters in new york over the next hour. here are the top stories are coming on the bloomberg and around the world. it has been a largely bright and sunny picture for the u.s. economy, but should investors prepare for more turbulent times ahead. 2018 i'll look with a chief economist at wells fargo securities. is aheadwnturn -- what for currencies as the greenback touches its lowest level this month? we speak with the ceo of exante data. from a decade ago could have major implications as casino mogul steve when battles his ex-wife with more than $8 million on the line. we are one hour from the close of trading. let's get an update with what has been going on with stocks at this hour. little change price-wise as volume remains below the 20-day average. all three major averages higher. the dow gaining the most, just 0.2%. we are seeing a big move in the dow jones transportation average, which recently was trading at a record. many of t

i am joe weisenthal.eleratinglibate job creation. does it pick up momentum as companies digest the benefit of tax cuts? fromus -- truly us washington, the labor secretary under president obama. now that the tax cut or the bill has been passed, the fight will be over the economic impact. where it easy companies moving when it comes to digesting the impact of the tax cuts? they made an initial announcement of giving workers those bonuses, but how will they fold in the in cap -- the impact of tax cuts into their spending plan? >> of -- as you mentioned, we followed job growth but it is decelerating and that -- notwithstanding the president's to be the7 is shaping weakest year of job growth in 2011 or 2012. it is less in my mind about job growth than about wage growth. several companies have given these, which they have tied to the tax bill. that is great. more money and workers pockets is always good but i would rather see wages go up across the board instead of a one time bonus. >> attacks pill -- the tax b

joe: i'm joe weisenthal.t's the relationship between facebook and the markets, it's complicated. concerns have grown over its market dominance. caroline massar interviewed a professor on bloomberg surveillance, asking him who is afraid of facebook and why? >> i think that the first concern of facebook is the market dominance, that is, it is the major social network and i think that it is difficult to see on the horizon anybody threatening that and whenever you add -- >> even regulators? >> they might intervene, but it is still difficult given that the market power that facebook has, it is very difficult is the alternatives. then you are concerned about, how is that market power used? if there are alternatives -- there were a lot of alternatives, it would not be a concern, but there are not. and should we try to break down facebook, i do not think that will happen anytime soon. should we try to regulate, or this is my preferred solution, should we try to make data and thatl media easier, so alternatives might

i am joe weisenthal.: and i am julie hyman cleared analysts turning skeptical on the iphone x, but are they overestimating the problem? gene munster, cofounder of loup ventures, joined daybreak americas, and asked if he is buying into skeptical reports. >> it sounds back, but you need to put it into context. ,very year going into a cycle if you rewind six months, apple will give these reports to their suppliers to build a boatload of phones. and then every year as the cycle starts, typically in december, we will hear about a contraction of orders. think about a coach that is telling a runner to run a three have minute mile, basically. they are telling suppliers to hit the ground running. in reality, apple only wants them to run a four-minute mile. this is normal operating procedure. another quick point -- if you take the numbers at face value for the production in the march quarter, that would imply about 50% of the phones in the next year will be the iphone x. that is the $1000 plus phone. investors expe

with joe weisenthal. datawe have u.s.t it is important to break it down to see if there are trends. core services include -- excluding energy, core cpi in which, the cleveland fed lops off some of the outliers on the top or bottom, core excluding the effective rate. here is the bottom line -- none of them are trending up. at best, they are trending sideways. some are trending down. still no signs of the broad-based inflation pressure that people are looking for. you can see this chart on the bloomberg at g #btv 5229. mark: it could be inflation that forces the ecb's hand when it comes to raising rates. there are outlier views, but at least six banks could it mario draghi will raise rates next year, citing inflation and financial stability. this is a wonderful morgan stanley how many months to the first rate hike index. just after brexit last year, we are at 60. some suggesting the ecb could raise rates next year but the view is no rate hikes until the end of the current qa. -- qe. vonnie: and the winner is -- drumroll --

joe: i am joe weisenthal. welcome to our closing bell coverage.we begin with our market minute. it looked like it would be a bullish day for equities, and then we drifted lower. the dow finishing higher, up 57 points, well off its best levels of the session. the nasdaq has been dragged down by big cap tech names. joe: trump tweeted this morning that this could be a big day for the stock market, but predicting stocks is tough. big day for the wrong reasons. announced a has takeover. that will really phase a test when regulators take a look at it. as we know, the trump administration approach so far industry changing corporate takeovers has been a , judging byukewarm at&t and time warner. in terms of other deals possible, 21st century fox and disney coming up once again. they are in discussions again according to people familiar with the matter. talks with disney and comcast about combining certain media businesses everything's like foxnews and fox sports are off the table. blue apron getting a big top, a by 17% after getting its first upgrade ever.

joe: i am joe weisenthal. julia: we are 30 minutes to the close of trading in the u.s. the s&p 500 is on track for another record close. joe: the question is, "what'd you miss?" scarlet: bitcoin has landed on wall street. the futures delivered a wild ride. we break down today's moves and what to look ahead to. plus, it is crunch time for tax reform as we near the end of the year, but will the middle class notice the tax relief if and when it gets it? the labor market is set to end of the year on a high note. chiefk ahead with the officer at indeed. julia: the s&p 500 is on track for a record close. how long will investors be able to keep riding the bull market? it all depends on what stage of that bull market we are actually in. here to answer that and give his outlook for 2018 is the chief market strategist at counter fitzgerald. great to have you on the show. you said in 2016, the theme was going to be central-bank accommodation, and that feeds through to 2018. is different this year, and to what extent is that accommodation and the growth it is producing? >> there are

i'm joe weisenthal. highs for u.s. the republicans make progress on the tax cut, the tax overhaul. it could make it to the president's decks by friday. joe: it's looking pretty good. it continues. scarlet: we're looking at gains for at least 0.5%. record highs all around here. lister with one of those tech names -- let's start with one of those tech names. theisclosed a 6.5% stake in internet performance company, says it sees numerous operational and strategic opportunities. we will be hearing about that in the days and weeks to come. twitter, as we were talking about earlier, up 11% come a getting another upgrade, this time from j.p. morgan. speculation this has been going for years now, that twitter is the target of some kind of acquisition, so we will wait to see how that shakes out. twitter has been delivering this quarter and this year. , snyders and&a amplify, both in the crosshairs. campbell soup is acquiring snyders lance. so they will get snyders pretzels and pop secret. brands is the owner of jiffy pop and her

joe: and i'm joe weisenthal. the question is "what'd you miss?"enator bob corker makes a 180 and says that he is a yes for the tax bill after initially opposing it. as a cryptocurrency take steps towards going mainstream, concerns over an initial offering grow. meanwhile, another hedge fund victim. a $6 billion fund shut down as another struggles to reboot. julia: "what'd you miss?" the republican caucus singing a different tune. bob corker, one of the last holdouts and the only republican to vote no last time is knowing yes on the bill. the legislation now looks like the senate. through also joining corker, marco rubio who changed his vote after the child tax credit was expanded. yesterday we were saying marco , whatever he says, would vote yes. bob corker, we expected to be an no. today a very different picture. was a bigthis surprise. corker has been the lonely deficit hawk among the senate republicans. he is the only one who said he would not abide by the new deficit that is expected to trillion, perhaps more if these cuts are extended as part

joe: and i'm joe weisenthal. julia: all we have to talk about is bitcoin. e: but the question is "what'd you miss?" where is the wage growth? across the pond, theresa may managed to secure a late-night break the deal, but that does not mean it is smooth sailing. brexit deal, but that does not mean it is smooth sailing. from the west bank to jakarta. "what'd you miss?" added 228conomy thousand jobs in november, more than expected. all of this before the fed's expected rate hike next wednesday. so, let's bring in deutsche bank's chief international economist torsten slok. sten, i know you slaughtered this is your number one risk. we have been waiting for this for so long. s as know you slotted thi your number one risk. we have been worried about inflation for a long time. the wolf has not arrived. we do think the most important factor is the unemployment rate should be at 4.1%, which came out this morning, the same number as last month, but it has been coming down constantly for the last few years. that ultimately by the laws of economics will show up as wage

joe: and i am joe weisenthal. scarlet fu and julia chatterley are off today.ut the question is "what'd you miss?" trump suggestst that the post office should charge more to deliver amazon packages. and we have the chart that you cannot miss about next year's big moves in the market. california has- legalized marijuana january 1, but citizens in two of the biggest cities may have a bummer. when the senate gets back to work january 3, democrat doug jones of alabama will be sworn in. things will shift into full gear when the house returns on january 8. both chambers will have to tackle another government shutdown deadline and president trump will give the state of the union address january 30. joining us to set the stage, it and the adjutant in washington edgerton in washington. i want to look at the reform of the welfare system. it seems that paul ryan and mitch mcconnell are not necessarily on the same page there. reporter: that's putting it mildly. i think there is broad disagreement between what house republicans in senate republicans want to do or recognizes

joe: on joe weisenthal. lia: stocks nearing session lows as marquette -- small caps leading the losses. joe: the question is, what'd you miss? scarlet: internet service providers one today's tug-of-war. delivering a blow to content providers. michael beckerman, ceo of an industry group that represents netflix, google, and amazon joins us in the next hour. another shakeup in the media world coming from disney's allocation of 21st century fox'ss. they gained the movie studio and a remarkable stake in sky. wo senators threaten to throw the gop tax overhaul into the lurch. susan collins and marco rubio worried it could break an agreement between republicans. julia: what'd you miss? in. retail sales rose more november, and the previous month was revised higher. that's according to figures received -- released today. boston playing of consumer demand as -- broad strengthening of consumer shopping. neil, great us is to have you with us. >> things are good. joe: thank you for coming. [applause] -- from new york, this

joining us is joe weisenthal. black to kick it off with . having the tax overhaul, do you want to become versus an llc to attract investors but your taxes go up? joe: it is fascinating. all these companies that are public traded are the same, but because of the different tax treatment to get, as our reporting shows, it is complicated for funds because you get the k-1 filing. it is an interesting dilemma. deeply ironic, because this is supposed to simplify taxes. you do not want to change people's behavior for no good reason. there is no difference in the economic affect. alix: but if you are an eye and isn't that rate 40%. david: they -- joe: it is going to be really funny, because this sort of broad philosophical outline of the tax reform, republicans have been pushing it for so long, but there are all these details we will not know about the ramifications of for a long time . lawyers will be mulling through this stuff. all kinds of weird treatment. none of us have any clue of what kind of distortions it will make. alix: the juicy topic of

joe: i am joe weisenthal.loomberg markets. " ♪ scarlet: we are live over the next hour. here are the top stories we're covering here and around the world. something to be concernedhere 'e ? or another buying opportunity? the head of m&a this year was disney buying stock. take a look at the companies on the target list for 2018. was it a merry christmas shipping giants like fedex and the you -- and ups? a big boost to their bottom line? markets closing in two hours. let's check on stocks trading with them a. it is just a lower. >>

. >> on joe weisenthal. welcome to "bloomberg markets." bloomberg world headquarters. here are the top stories where covering on the bloomberg in around the world. two to go until the -- hours to go until the end of trading for the year, the s&p 500 have its best year since 2013, and michael o'rourke of jones trading tells us the potential risks that could be real. says it willachs take a 5 billion july 1-time hit, citigroup could face a charge as well, but will the benefits outweigh the charges? and a reduction of the property tax reduction could have homeowners fleeing high tax states to places like florida? not all fun and games in the sunshine state, we will explain. obviously, i need the year to

joe weisenthal spotted one of them. it's a company called long fin that just came public.he company has rocketed. you can see the two-day gain in the shares 1400% although it was positive number of times for volatility. that is why you get that choppy looking chart. the company issued a press release on friday saying it -- launcheding something that is a global micro-lending solutions provider that transaction only in cryptocurrencies. some of these companies have a very firm connection to cryptocurrencies. some mention it in a press release nec activity like this. david: just a wild world out there. coming up, almost two decades after nestle mandela -- nelson , his favoriteown successor is finally poised to reach the summit of power. we will have the latest. live from new york, this is bloomberg. ♪ shery: this is "bloomberg markets: balance of power." i'm shery ahn. david: i'm david westin. let's check on lon bloomberg first word news with mark barton. of: there are a number unknown fatalities after an amtrak train derailed this morning. several injuries were reported aft

joe: i am joe weisenthal. welcome to "bloomberg markets." york.new here at the top stories on the bloomberg and around the world u.s. markets close in a couple hours. we have been watching what has been going on with them. not much movement in today's session, but we are to get what is going on right now. all three major averages trading slightly higher. typicals well below levels for the s&p 500. belowe seen it about 40% the 20-day average. the dow doing the best among a percentage races among the three, but we are not seeing much of a percentage gain at all for the major averages. some gains within technology, specifically the semiconductors.

joining us are lisa abramowicz and joe weisenthal. let's start with the risk off. what is going on? joe: good morning, i have no idea. it feels to me like the themes are international enough such that it is hard to point to one thing, except that a lot of things that have been working very well this year are not working now. in the u.s., it is most notable in the underperformers in tech. we are also seeing emerging markets, which have had a stellar year, significantly underperforming, leading some of the way down. the industrial metals getting slammed the last couple of days. that is possibly china related. you can point to individual things anywhere and say, there is concerns in europe because brexit is a mess and there is concerns about taxes. there is concerns in industrial metals in china, but it feels like there is a systemic shift going on in portfolio allocations that may be bigger than any specific story. lisa: i do not think this is an accident after we get a clear sense of what the tax bill will be. there is some concern that they multinational companies will not benefit as

joe: i'm joe weisenthal. julia: the s&p, a brief tech rally. e: the question is a what'd you miss? >> why the inclusion of the alternative minimum rate was going to leave many tax firms with higher bills. conference,media mark thompson joins us. and wall street banks on the wrong side of the law? whether jpmorgan and others have played a crisis to attract business from hedge funds. what'd you miss? many are trying to read the tea leaves on the economic outlook. bank of america and merrill lynch says the big story will be over inflation. that it is further tightening in the labor market. joining us to discuss, the head of u.s. economics. great to have you. talk about the rebound you are expecting and where does that put us versus the market pricing of what it does next year versus what the fed hopes. >> our review is pretty simple. it is not going to be dramatic. trend,going to see a that we think it comes amid labor market tightening, unemployment having it handled by next year, even though the relationship has flattened we think it is relevant.

joe: i am joe weisenthal. scarlet fu and julia chatterley are off today.e tuning in live on twitter, we welcome you to our closing bell coverage every weekday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. eastern. julie: we begin with market minutes, with stocks limping along, but limping higher. s&p 500, 41% below the moving day average. not surprising the tally for the year for the s&p remains 20%. 20 5%, and the nasdaq, 9% higher on the year, as we have seen the push ever higher for the major averages. individual stocks we are watching, we were watching tesla today. that is going down 2% after brad erickson, an analyst at keybank said fourth-quarter checks indicate model 3 deliveries are tracking 500 units below the estimate. although as joe highlighted, it is still accepted on the buy side, which bid up the tesla shares. and we're watching energous. wireless charging technology gives them a first mover advantage. interest inso short the stock, back at help account for the pop. canopy growth corporation, a canadian marijuana stock. stocks seen we'd -- weed rally ahead of the

joe: and i am joe weisenthal.e tuning in live on twitter, we want to welcome you to our closing bell coverage. scarlet: we begin with our market minutes. whether you love it or hate it, a historic day for republicans on capitol hill. the first step toward passing tax reform has gone through. the house passed their final version of the tax bill. this is what happened in the stock market. joe: it is tempting to say it is it would be funny if we got a selloff, i'm using. julia: it is christmas time. scarlet: things are slower than usual. let's look at individual names moving. restaurants up almost 7%. forroni grill filed bankruptcy, ruby tuesday closed locations, forced into the arms of high that equity market. all of her garden -- all of garden doingve well. 2%,ival cruz lined up despite the turbulent hurricane season. a bit of a relief for investors. we wanted to add apple. it is not too often you get a downgrade for apple. downgrading the stock after that iphone x sale. csx, this stock has been in the news because

. >> and i'm joe weisenthal.e're 30 minutes from the close of trading here in the united states, not much investors asor stocks swing between gains and losses. >> the question is "what'd you miss?" trump takes a controversial step and a major change to u.s. foreign policy. jerusalem as israel's capital, ignoring warnings from foreign leaders would spark fresh violence in the region. in washington, the senate is voting to go to conference with tax bill butthe house conservatives are ringing spending.on federal we'll have congressman jim jordan join us and both beyond numbers, broadcom will report fourth quarter results after the bill but investors are eyeing their next step. "what'd you miss?." [inaudible] in the coming years as it focuses on profit margins over sales volume. according to a presentation delivered in new york today. it to theg to send presentation at the new york stock exchange with more. >> i'm here with -- let's get it.t to you said that if you guys had to, you would bring on excess capacity to k

joe: i am joe weisenthal. scarlet fu and julia chatterley are off today. julie: stocks are higher this afternoon. the dollar touched its lowest level this month. joe: the question is, "what'd you miss?" julie: who is afraid of amazon? apparently everyone. we have a chart that shows you what happened attack sector in 2017. sticking with tech, uber are looking to sell a sizable stake to softbank. wants tois a year uber forget. italy's prime minister wants to dissolve parliament. we get the latest details from milan later in the show. "what'd you miss?" nirvana is tax cut running into local problems -- underfunded retentions. what does this mean for markets -- higher tax collections usually go into credit funds forcing -- focusing on corporate distressed debt or leveraged buyout commandant meets next year could end up looking a lot like this year with the debt-fueled stock buybacks, m&a, and tighter spreads. here to find this, brian reynolds. think you so much for joining us. -- thank you so much for joining us. explain to us what is happening on the local lev

joe: and in joe weisenthal. julie: john mack in washington ways on investors. e: but the question is "what'd you miss?" nationalousted security adviser michael flynn pleading guilty to lying to the fbi. he admitted to communicating with the russian ambassador, directed to buy a very senior senior member of the trump transition team. that number was jared kushner according to sources. in allublican tax plan would cost over $3 billion over 10 years. let's get a check on where markets stand. abigail doolittle -- no, i am doing it -- abigail is here with the latest. abigail: we are having an interesting day. the dow, s&p, and the nasdaq all sharply lower. -- lower i should say. they had been sharply lower. the s&p in the nasdaq down .5%.en .3% and the dow at a low, shutting to do points. the s&p 500, a 45-point range. the largest drop since brexit, uncertainty around what those michael flynn headlines could mean for president trump. and of course we also have tax reform and played. , the small 2000 down cap down more than 2.5%. , it is the worst since may. there had

joe: i am joe weisenthal. julia chatterley is off today. scarlet: we are 30 and it's away from the close of trading in the u.s. and stocks are modestly lower. oil surging to its highest in a year-and-a-half. joe: the question is what did you miss? scarlet: bitcoin rallies past $15,000 as traders of the digital currency look to draw a line under the recent slump. apple having a not so merry christmas, with regular splitting on expectations iphone x sales will fall short of expectations as holiday season. profound differences between house and senate republicans may play as big of a role as the fights with democrats on how the legislative agenda rolls out when lawmakers return to work in january. bounce. with bitcoin's after a slump, the world's largest digital currency rallied past $16,000, currently about $53 above the level. is the recent selloff over? let's bring in the president of the mechanism to for economic research and a professor at trinity college. put into perspective for us the recent slump we saw in bitcoin? edward: the main th

joe: i'm joe weisenthal. if you are tuning in live, we want to welcome you to our coverage.: u.s. stocks closing lower but we should make clear that they are still near record highs. this is perhaps the best joe: example joe: of buy on news. it's really modest. we did a little bit of it yesterday, but it feels like directionless late your holiday trading. 5 exactly -- scarlet: exactly. trading volume, lower than average. a lot of action in the bond market that we will get to shortly, but we want to highlight individual names here. the highestg to levels since october. what's interesting is that it is praising congress and the president for its tax cut will saying that 200,000 workers will get a bonus to celebrate. the backdrop, here, of course, is that at&t is trying to convince the department of justice to let it go ahead with its time warner acquisition. perhaps the skeptics in the interpretation of this is that it is opportunistic. joe: that's a very cynical interpretation. scarlet: well, that's one way of looking at a record high for fedex shares, citing solid demand tre

joe weisenthal and jay pelosky is still with us. $102about tim cook, making million.lieutenants averaging $5 million, pretty good pay. jay: good to be in a high-margin business. [laughter] you can pay a lot of people a lot of money. i think this says that big tech is starting to come into the crosshairs, and not for the right reason. tech has been the leading sector and at the big tech is under spread globally, so one thing i'm looking for next year is i need to start moving away from technology. david: we want to do a comparison, because there was a survey today about ceo pay compared to the average workers. i just pulled three at random. the u.s., number one. the you could at think -- the at the think is number four. and india, 21. this is in terms of nominal dollars. if you do it compared to average workers, india jumps to number two. 1 in india, which really stuck me. joe: those are breathtaking numbers. i think it speaks to the ratio of ceo pay to average workers, it will just be a corollary of any quality as a whole. and -- inequality as a whole. when you think