bob parker is the senior adviser at credit squeeze. s heating up, isn't it, in terms of battle? bob: the first observation you can make is this is one of the ugliest american presidential elections we have seen. probablyhe rhetoric gets worse. what does this mean? for the american economy i think -- mean for the american economy? i think the concern is there is clear weakness. despite fed policy, investment spending contracted and investment spending has been contracting for the last two quarters. one has to ask the question, is political uncertainty going to one a negative impact investment spending and will that constrain the growth in the u.s. economy? whereas i like the u.s. consumers sector and the data on trend in the consumer sector remains strong and consumption in the states could grow by 2%-plus, but if one looks at the headline gdp numbers for the second half of this year, low capacity use, negative investment spending. they will all be a constraint on growth and the american economy with growth probably coming out less than

parker of morgan stanley. coming up, we talk more about the olympics. later today, bob west," at 6:15 p.m. in new york, 11:15 p.m. in london. this is bloomberg. ♪ francine: "bloomberg surveillance." the bloomberg business flash. taylor: valeant surprised investors by reaffirming its full-year guidance. the pharmaceutical company posted second order sales and profits that missed estimates. is another sign that china's economy is stabilizing. factory gate deflation eased for the seventh straight month. 1.7%ser price index fell in july from a year earlier, the smallest inclining klein in china in almost two years. there is growing skepticism that formal talks the between opec members will lead to any production cuts. that has a price of oil dropping from its highest close in two weeks. futures fell 1% in new york after rising almost 3% yesterday. opec members are meeting in algiers next month. that is your "bloomberg business flash." tom: it is olympics time in brazil. give is a book that will you perspective on the surreal nature of brazil. riding -- alex cuadros writing