telecom but bouygues decided to reject that offered. at the time that there was too many hurdles, regulatory hurdles, antitrust hurdles and job losses. but it seems now that bouygues is willing to be part of the consolidation. francine: thank you so much. in paris, with the latest. this is a story will will keep an eye on. german inflation missed estimates slowing in december. the result is a sign that price growth in the euro area may be weaker. the cpi is due at 10:00 a.m. u.k. time. hans, why do we spend so much time on inflation? this is the only mandate the ecb has. hans: this is a one metric we have on whether or not draghi is meeting his targets. and he has missed for three years and it looks like he will miss for four. belowthey are going to be 2%. there is a raging academic debate on whether or not quantitative easing actually has the firepower to go ahead and increase inflation. you look at what they have done, for half a year, they increased it back in december for another 360 billion in assets purchases. we will see if that

reports say that a potential bouygues at 10 billion euros.nemployment in germany dropped more than expected in december. they expected jobless numbers to drop by 7,000, but they got 14,000 instead. the jobless total remains at 6.3%, the lowest total since 1990. is expected icture to improve further in 2016 in germany. this year's edition of the consumer electronics show is opening its doors in las vegas this week. it belies warnings of a gloomy outlook. stall g is expected to by around $19 billion this year. here are some orange concepts. what ting to grips with is being forecast as a challenging year. they are facing an uphill struggle in 2016. the consumer technology association says a slow-down in china and the strong u.s. dollar will limit average consumer spending. it is forecasting a drop from $99 billion last year to $950 billion. that hasn't stopped some companies going all-out. they have a vehicle that has 900 horsepower. >> apple didn't just redefine the phone. it transformed the way that we communicate, organize and enjoy our lives

french rivals orange and bouygues trading after confirming they are in preliminary merger talks and signed a confidentiality agreement but they're not tied to any particular outcome. all the providers are surging. we're seeing even bigger advances. why? it's because people are hoping that this price war that we have seen taking place the last couple of years would finally come to an end but i believe there might still be regulatory hurdl hurdles. >> telecoms up by 2-thirds of 1%. meantime, they received more than one preliminary third party proposal to buy the travel company. it is evaluated all of the strategic options but there's no guaranteed offer at this stage. the statement follows an overnight report that the swedish buyout group is eyeing a bid. they hired morgan stanley to investigate breaking up the company amid tough competition in the travel space. >> still to come on the show, shares in gun companies are soaring as president obama takes action over gun violence. we'll get a look at what to expect from the president's speech right after this break. >> european stocks bounce bac