blackstone group is no longer in talks to buy a $5 billion stake in essence owned by energy transferowers. the discussions fell through after the wall street journal reported them last month saying if i percent jump in energy transfer partners shares in the wake of that report hurt the economics as a potential deal. carlyle group is preparing to fund inu.s. real estate the first half of this year. they say the washington-based private equity firm is planning to target $5 billion. it would be part of its plan to in the00 billion dollars next four years. a representative of carlisle declined to comment. that is your bloomberg business flash. manus: thank you. ok, it is all about brexit. reiterated heras position on the future of the u.k. within the european union. in her first tell speech of the year she said aiming to maintain good relations with britain does not mean caving in once brexit talks get underway. we need to be clear that the entry to a common market can if the four freedoms of market access are adhered to. otherwise, you need to settle for less. negotiations cannot take t

blackstone group, no longer in talks to buy a $5 billion stake in energy transfer partners. has been interested in shoring up energy properties, but according to those close to the matter, the deal fell apart 30 days ago when there was a public report on discussions. it caused the share price to rise, and that alone put the deal in jeopardy. that is the story. energy transfer equity is the parent company of energy partners. yvonne: the world's biggest fast food chain managed to get citigroup and carlisle to buy that franchise in china. mcdonald's is no small fry. thisl is here with more on . rachel, first off, why is mcdonald's selling? well, mcdonald's is taking a look at its global business and trying to take a step back from a very complex and massive market like china. mcdonald's is facing lower sales in the u.s.. market but note number one, i think they are trying to take a step back from intensiveive resource work of expanding outlets and catching up to the market leader, kfc in china. they have two partners that are taking 80 percent of the stake for $1.7 billion, and

priority equity fund blackstone group and carlyle group plan to extend passporting rights and luxembourg business in european union after the u.k.'s exit. people see it's administrative and more about preserving access to european investors after brexit. earnings of spain's biggest bank thatd analyst estimates said fourth-quarter profit rose to $4.7 billion. it rose from higher income on fees and its business in brazil. the bank chairman told bloomberg that she is counting on business in emerging markets and consumer finance to offset low interest rates in europe, growing regulatory costs, and weak demand for credit at home. we have more of that exclusive interview ahead. that is your bloomberg business flash for this hour. mark: i want to take a look at where european markets are trading five minutes away from the end of the session. stocks are off to a bit of a rally. there are no record highs, but still the stoxx 600 is at its highest of the year. highest since december 30. the dax is that highs it has not seen since may 2015. have a look at the currency board today. sterling's highes

fannie mae has agreed to back a $1 billion mortgage loan to blackstone group invitation homes.ime the taxpayer supported housing giant has supported a company with a focus on single-family home rentals in the u.s.. the deal is designed to cut borrowing costs as it plans to go public. the fixed rate loan made by wells fargo is expected to be packaged in bonds. deal to buy right age is still ago but they cannot say that the companies will extend the deal three days from the agreed deadline. the merger would create the largest drugstore chain in the u.s. by store count on friday. but the deal has not received antitrust approval from the ftc. currency trading fell across mabel glow -- major global centers including london, new york, and tokyo, according to surveys from the world central bank. k, it was down 2% from april. trade in north america fell to about $880 billion. under mounting pressure to split up, bob edmunds has agreed to sell his restaurant business to for thee equity firm assumption of network capital liability. the stock is soaring in late trading on the news. that i

you know who he is, chairman and ceo of the blackstone group. we do and that is a great interview. we enjoyed it, going through a number of topics. rector wasaging speaking earlier on our panel, prices of the middle class. >> the middle class is growing and shrinking. the middle class is growing on a global races, if you look at numbers, the middle class over the last 40 years has gone up to 13% todayy 7% on the global basis, the middle class is defined as an income between $10 and $20 per day. the middle class is shrieking if you look at the u.s. numbers. the middle class in the united states has shrunk from the 60% -- 60-ish to the 50-ish as a result of more will at the top and more people moving below as the result the middle class has been treating. -- has been shrinking. in this panel we are focusing on the advanced economy where the middle class has shrunk and a lack of trust and a lack of hope, and disenchantment with many of the principles. -- christinearde topic, wes a side will get to that later on bloomberg "surveillance." robert smit

john studzinski, vice-chairman of the blackstone group.f the coverage throughout the morning and the day. a lot of news coming out of the world economic forum. a lot of things making noise in the world economic forum. stuart gulliver, listen to what he had to say about brexit and his bank. >> activities covered by european legislation, at the end numbers, that's 20% of revenue. jonathan: thinking about putting a number on things. alix: saying specifically that that would translate into 1000 jobs. yes, looking to move people away. the corporate tax rate, though, will that play ball? just the beginning. 26 minutes into the session, let's wrap things up for you. equities are open lower on the dow. in a bond market, treasuries are off with yields higher and a stronger dollar. from the bloomberg team, thank you. up next, bloomberg markets. ♪ vonnie: 10:00 p.m. in new york, 3:00 p.m. in london. i'm vonnie quinn. barton.m mark welcome to bloomberg markets. ♪ vonnie: from washington dc to devils, switzerland. s switzerland. erik schatzker is stand

blackstone's byron wien is issuing his ten surprises for 2017. joining us here on set is byeon wien, vice chairman of the multiasset investment group at blackstone.ew year. >> good to be here. >> your very first surprise of 2017 has to do with politics, which is surprising, considering your first surprise of 2016 was wrong on many fronts. >> i never get them all right. >> democrats control the senate in november. that didn't happen. >> neither one of those were one in three. those were conventional wisdom, that hillary wins and the senate. >> 2017, what's your big political surprise? >> well, in 2017, the big political surprise is that trump isn't as extreme as he appeared in the campaign. that he softens his stance on almost everything, particularly on domestic policy, that he focuses on his growth agenda. he concentrates on reducing taxes, dismantling regulation, and spending money on infrastructure. as a result, the market does well, the economy does well, corporate earnings do well. >> do you feel like we've seen dpl glimpse of this kinder, softer trump from the e election to now and that's part of the reason the markets have gone up so much?

blackstone, cbs news, hollister, california. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group access.wgbh.org dramatic scenes of storm damage from around the bay area. and the wet weather isn't over yet. >>> water invading homes, boats stuck in mud. flooded farmland. dramatic scenes from around the bay area of storm damage. it's not over yet. good evening. all this rain is helping fill up our reservoirs. chopper 5 in the south bay tonight over lexington reservoir near los gatos. you can see just how much water is flowing down the spillway into the creek right there. at last check the reservoir was already at 112% of capacity. we're tracking all the damage left behind in the storm's wake. kpix 5's joe vazquez leading our team coverage tonight from guerneville. joe? >> reporter: here comes the rain again. it just started as if on cue a few minutes before we went on the air here [chuckling]. this is niely road behind me. that's not the russian river, but you know what it might as well be. it's over taking many of the roads in fact area and starting to get into some homes. >> norm

blackstone. always bet on black. you have to like what private equity guys are doing here. apollo, kkr, earlier last year they were trading along with energy. that broke down as the group moved sideways. those are four ways to play this trade. you want to get in to the banks, not out of the banks. >> we invite him back. >> what? are you kidding me? >> come on over, rich. >> nick will bring the chair in. >> lthank you for having me. >> bet on black. to me consolidate here and break higher is that what you're waiting for. >> i think the stock and the chart are in a very strong technical position. we just have to be cautious or cognizant of that very well defined resistance of that all time high in 2007. so i think there's room for those stocks to catch up and also room for goldman to break out above that critical inflection point and move higher. this group is in a very strong position and the action in the face of the decline in yields from 265 to 235, that tells you people are buying these stocks. >> rich, how do you feel about the bank stocks in a pullback of say, you know, 3 to 4%? not a massive pullback but maybe inauguration disappointment. do you feel the same abo