the cdu seems to be in a precarious spot. about the plight. >> we have entered the critical stage of the campaign. five weeks to go and we are seeing everyone get into the core of this campaign really wanting to put out their message. the cdu have lost is an the space of weeks or than 10 points. they are pulling 22%. the spd is also at 22%, they are running neck and neck. the numbers become more problematic when you look on an individual basis. the cdu candidate has been plummeting. olaf scholz has been climbing ever since. when you ask germans, who do you want the next chancellor to be? around 30% would be olaf scholz. we did see the cdu bring out the heavyweights including angela merkel at a campaign event saying we have the right plan, we are a party that is solid, a tagline that did not go well with some. we have not seen that momentum pickup for the cdu. the trend continues to go down. mark: good morning. a two coalition was the base case. what is the base case now? >> that is a good point. at one point, merkel was almos

the cdu.ery open and you could tell at the cdu over the weekend that there was a lot of nervousness. manus: do you think we are moving further away from a two-party coalition to something broader? maria: yes, certainly. i was almost the best case scenario. the market at the beginning was positioned to the idea that the cdu woodwind the election but we were heading into a cdu-green two-party coalition. the greens cannot reach past 18% according to the polls. they have not been able to sustain momentum beyond that. to form a government, it looks like you will need a three party coalition. the question is, if we do get the 22% for both the right and the left, which way is germany going to go? this is an election that is more volatile than anticipated and a race that is more open then and he thought it would be. manus: the fx markets could go into schizophrenic mode. thank you. let me get back to my guest. lucy macdonald. you were a buyer of europe about 10 months ago. are you still a buyer of eur

the latter is what the cdu wants to choose. after all the years of the grand coalition, we need a reset button to press now if there is no social democratic coalition partner. >> reporter: the collection campaign looked like the next four years given that the situation is so difficult now? >> translator: we need to gather ourstrength for the challenges ahead and push for a conservative government. germany has a big responsibility for the european union and cohesion as well it is right to find the personality to help the eu and help further diff deagradationdn everybody is getting picked on in this campaign that is normal to a certain extent it is crucial now we push the conversation toward things and policies and not just specific people what do we have to say about internal security and withhere we stand on energy we have a green party that keeps setting new goals, but does not talk how to achieve them we need to push the debate in the election campaign to not only talk about how we want to live, but also how we he can ar all

he spoke with maria tadeo at the cdu economic summit. maria joins us now.du able to reset the agenda so people start talking about them instead of their main rivals? maria: the reality is we have been here the whole day at this economic event in berlin and have not heard a lot of argument from the cdu. what we heard is this repeated line -- that the party is pushing -- the social democrats are leading in polls. someone who is moderate and someone who can lead a government, has done a fine job until now, but he will not be chancellor himself. he will need to bring a coalition and that will be a radical turn to the left, so the fear card that they are betting on, turning this into a binary choice. i cdu government, you know what you will get, but if you vote for him, a radical to the left government, a hike in taxes and the usual line on left politics in europe. that is striking, not about arguments coming from the cdu, but a very to the left coalition. whether that translates with voters remains to be seen. francine: the cdu is on the attack. what role do th

this also tells us a bigger picture when it comes to the cdu.een process for liking a vision for germany. when you look at modernizing the economy, going green and going digital, this is the same old traditional germany. angela merkel is not really on the campaign and we don't see her publicly anymore, and that is taking away the shine from the cdu. they are hoping to regain momentum, but when you look at polls, the trajectory is clear. down for the cdu as a party, but also for the individual candidate, really taking a beating on a weekly date -- weekly basis. manus: what does the cdu's decline mean for possible postelection coalitions? what with the coalition numbers look like at the moment if we went to the polls today? maria: that is the question now. perhaps the fundamental issue where markets have not come to terms with the fact the election is more volatile than it looks. the best case scenario is we will see a two party coalition between the cdu and greens. if you look at the polls, especially yesterday, the finance minister gaining momen

the reality is the cdu has lost more than 10 points in a matter of weeks.na to come in and try to were work -- and try to reverse that looks like mission impossible. you do not want to run an election and last-minute that will make things more chaotic. it is better to wait it out and run in the next one. that may be his ballgame. even of the cdu does not make it into power he is thinking in terms of the long-term picture. guy: great stuff. will be spending a lot of time with maria over the next few weeks as we count down to that election. talking of marcus serta, we will be holding a webinar with the bavarian premier. it'll be interesting to hear what he has to say. this is the cdu's sister party csu. serta competing with laschet earlier this year. is it still possible, or as maria suggests maybe next time around. these are the final numbers for european equities. momentum into the close carrying on. alix: indeed. china reported no new locally transmitted covid-19 infections while the u.s. the death toll now topping 1000. what it means in terms of the boost

mark: what are the main issues for the cdu, csu? personal polling, or what are the main issues for voters? maria: to say this is all about the candidate would be, perhaps, and exaggeration. there are a number of issues that are problematic for the cdu. any germans say this is a party that has not convinced them when it comes to the potential -- the future of germany. going back to the one-on-one we did with markus yesterday on bloomberg, he said the focus would be on substance and the cdu would prove that they have a plan. that's take a look at that. >> the election campaign has been occupied the whole time with trivial matters. it is also very unfair for the public perception, and now it is the case that in the last few weeks, it has gotten worse, but i am sure the polls will increase again, and even if it is not going to be a giant leap forward, i believe we can still manage to remain number one. maria: that is marcus odor -- markus soder. another thing worth highlighting is that the cdu says it will be about substance, but they a

it comes to substance, that's where the cdu will win back voters.. >> the election campaign has been occupied the whole time with trivial matters. what is also in part very unfair for the public perception. in the last few weeks, it has gotten worse. i'm sure the polls will increase again. even if it's going to be a giant leap forward, i believe we can still remain at -- manage to remain number one. >> of course, that's the expectation. whether or not that translates with the german public opinion remains to be seen. tom: great stuff as ever. maria tadeo on the ground in berlin with the latest on the election campaign. coming up, goldman sachs led the way on returning to the office. now they say they will require all employees to don masks and prove that they have been vaccinated. more on that story next. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ tom: -- >> i think this market is priced to perfection. if i look outside the window, life is not perfection. my team just started getting nervous about the equity market in the last couple of weeks. it doesn't mean we are go

. >>> germany's cdu and are level in the polls with just five weeks to go until the general electionpport for chancellor angle merkel's party wanes in the largest drop since 2017. >> translator: remaining 35 days, every hour to ensure the csu is strong every hour to ensure we shape germany well and lead it into a good future and that we do so, of course, with our future chancellor >>> nato secretary general tells cnbc the organization is working around the clock to get as many people out of the afghanistan as possible blaming the failure of afghan leadership for the taliban takeover >> the speed of the collapse of the afghan government and security forces, but we also need to look at nato and our engagement ♪ >>> good morning again, everyone welcome to "street signs." we have a lot to get through on this show, but first i just want to bring you the eurozone flash pmi data for the month of august that we're getting just to tell you that the comp sit number has come in at 59.5, just a smidge below the consensus expectation of 59.7. but still, very small dip from the very high number th

alix: even if we do still get some kind of spd cdu coalition, it still would be this spd leading thathich is the first time they would've done that in 16 years. is that like a pro olaf scholz thinking or is it just armen lasch it just does not have it, he made some gaffe? >> it is all about personality. the old western world germans worked for politicians, that is all gone out the window, olaf scholz, his strategy of waiting for his moment which seems to have come now, when that germans needing to take a hard look at the three top candidates, and then they decide who is the most chancellor material, who is the closest to angela merkel. they seem to have gone with all of schultz to be the closest. he has a message which is reassuring, which basically tells germans not that much will change, and you can rely on me to steer the ship. that is quite remarkable. francine: it is pretty incredible that angela merkel after 16 years remains the most popular politician in germany. when people go to the polls and they have to do that take on what they are getting in terms of the voting ballot, wh

a cdu led coalition, what would that mean for germany's fiscal response?ll, the cdu again going into this with what is your very typical, traditional, orthodox central rate manifesto of the german government, saying we want to put public finances back on track, we want to go for the debt break in germany, no new debt and putting our fiscal stance on a path to reducing our debt and deficit after coronavirus. the issue is if this is a party that doesn't want to increase taxes, they also say we don't want to borrow more money. they are betting everything on runaway growth in germany. that has not been the case in the past few years. the economy is still very much dependent on china. the other issue they are facing is that they say we don't want to take in new debt for the future generations, we don't want to do that. when you look at the demographics, it is the young germans that actually say they want to spend money. that means a greener, more digital, more modern economy. tom: bloomberg's maria tadeo keeping us up across the important german election. let's

coming up, merkel's cdu struggles in the polls.berg. ♪ anna: welcome back to the european market open here rid three minutes into a lackluster session. the markets a little underwhelming today. the top brass of merkel's conservative bloc is handling their annual summit in berlin. is a strong suit for the cdu, and this is an opportunity to put credentials on display as they slide in the polls. maria tadeo is in berlin with details. sliding in the polls, will they be able to convince german voters about their economic credentials today? maria: that is what they are hoping, and that is what they are clinging onto. the cdu saying they are the party that works for the middle class and the german industry, and they want to continue the success story for the german economy going into the future. the problem they have, while they say they will not increase taxes, they will cap corporate taxes, going up against the finance minister who to some extent has taken credit for the stimulus. he has been the lead of the furlough scheme that worked

cdu/csu are still leading, but not enough to clinch the outright majority.ll german politics look like at the end of september >> they were looking for the first time of combination of three parties. greens and cdu/csu and together with the center right liberals as long yas you don't have enouh for two parties, you have a third one. they can design to join the center right or center left coalition. they are not like coarse liberals in france that could mean cdu/csu with the greens if you look at the polls, this should be the baseline scenario. >> karsen, thank you for joining us. >>> turning back to deal news. we got fresh lines on the british inhaler maker. vectura with the bid to 4 billion pounds that's the context now the takeover panel for the vectura group updated us on the auction procedure. it will commence at 5:00 p.m. on tuesday, august 10th the established auction procedure and determined day 46 shall be tomorrow. each of the vetura and philip morris agreed to the terms of the auction. the board of vectura feels appropriate to withdrawal the carlis

francine: it is all happening at cdu headquarters.d they are trimming the hedges. well done for powering through the noise behind you. is there still a chance that the greens make it into power? maria: for them, they have had an election campaign where so far they have not really been able to regain the impetus. germany was definitely turning green we said a few months ago. one of the issues is that the candidate has become problematic for a number of reasons. and the idea of climate policy and climate change which was the big win. this is something every major political party in germany is clinging onto good if you look, it is unclear if they would be the junior or senior partner but it does show that they will have a role to play in the next government. that is for sure. what is still to be decided is whether this will be a more right-leaning or left-leaning coalition. polls show this is an election that is much more open then we saw a few weeks ago and much more volatile on the numbers. francine: thank you so much, maria tadeo in b

the pfd moves beyond the cdu in the first poll.rance's health regulator backs calls for booster shots ahead of approval by the ema. spot commodities are leading the charge. that is a big driver in europe. brent crude up by nearly 3%. alix: big part of that is the dollar. the bloomberg dollar index down to session lows. in theory, what we saw over the last one you for hours is really a pboc pop. the pboc said they will extend credit. they will not be withdrawing credit as may some thought before. that really helps support the beaten-down tech names, and that really spread to europe for a bit, and then picked up steam here in the u.s. the s&p up either a .3%, led by the cyclicals. just to highlight the china support, this is the golden dragon china and asked that monitors chinese adrs listed in the u.s. that is pumping nicely, up about 7%. just to have it off of the commodity rally, iron really getting that nice lift higher. irrespective of the pboc and what is happening with the dollar is the 10 year yield, yields up by about two ba

the other political story is a meeting with the cdu chancellor candidate.trying to get something out of the politicians but in this case, you could argue that it is the opposite. the politician is seeking the meeting with elon musk. we want to look into the future of the german car industry. it is always -- it is also a way for him to revive his campaign. he has been slipping in polls for the last few weeks. they are trying to build momentum into the campaign. the latest polls show a very complicated picture. for they german potential successor for angela merkel. he has polling as an individual candidate but it has taken a big beating, down three percentage points this week. tom: i wonder if there is any risk of him tying himself to this project. what have we been hearing from executives from the likes of vw? or do they see tesla as an opportunity to build out the supply chain? maria: it is a very good question because on one hand what the cdu and every politician in germany will tell you is they want to invest in the industry for the future. they want to g

it is with the chancellor was looking at -- looking for to balance out the cdu, young, ambitious womanrom the east. merkel's journey to germany's has not been easy. she has been tested by the global financial crises and negotiating a stimulus package to counter the great recession. her mantra is if the euro fails, europe fails. in may 2011, she lauded the end of nuclear power in germany in the waco fukushima. -- the wake of fukushima. the debt crisis rules on and merkel comes under fire over europe's refugee crisis. if that is not enough, vladimir putin invades crimea. the u.k. votes to leave the eu. and then there is donald trump. if postelection talks dragged into december, merkel will become germany's longest-serving leader. battling covid a very well be her toughest hand yet and it is far from over. how will germany's next chancellor play the cards dealt by angela merkel? >> angela merkel's consequential legacy mapped out as german chancellor. as we count down to the elections taking place at the end of september, the three front runners vying to take over have faced off in the fir

pulling third, which is a real change from two weeks ago when they were competing directly with the cdu doesn't seem this is a fight between the social democrats and the christian democrats -- it does seem this is a fight between the social democrats and the christian democrats. the greens will have a big say. pulling 19% is not enough to win the election, but it is significant. francine: it certainly is. maria tadeo in berlin. coming up, oil -- we discuss that and more with the chief executive of maersk drilling. we look at futures, a little bit directionless, maybe trying to find their foot with the tech rout in china. concerns about the delta variant and growth prospects overall. the ftse pre-much flat. dax futures also flat. ♪ >> welcome back to the open. you can see futures trying to find direction with the ftse 100 raining 0.3%. we are dealing with a big tech rout in china putting pressure on asian stocks. 30 minutes to go until markets open, so what is on your radar? mark: today i am going to draw attention to what everyone else is talking about, the delta variant. it has taken f

they could leave the cdu, angela merkel�*s party, out of negotiations altogether which would be extraordinary european recovery fund doing the pandemics, billions of dollars�* worth and also $150 billion into the german economy, and he is a very steady figure, he has brought forward a vision of germany does make something armin laschet has criticised for not expressing clearly enough — so a very steady hand and of course opinion polls can change and people�*s campaigns can come a copper very quickly but if this is, if this trend is seen to be true, it will be truly transformative for german truly tra nsformative for german politics. truly transformative for german olitics. a ~ truly transformative for german olitics. ~ ., ., politics. mark, for the moment, thank yom _ stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we look at the life of reggae legend lee �*scratch�* perry, who�*s died aged 85. archive: she received the nobel peace prize for her work with the poor and the dying in india�*s slums. the head of the catholic church had said mother teresa was a wonderful example of how to help people in

this is a very difficult campaign for him and for the cdu.he problem is that that meeting has backfired. there was a moment in the press conference in which they were joking around and he said we need to figure out what the future of cars will be and perhaps it will be hydrogen. at that point musk said it was a waste of time. it is electric. this came -- this came as yet another car crash. so the meeting did not go as planned and the take on this was to get this halo from elon musk is not really working as they had hoped for. guy: thank you very much indeed. now focusing on the european auto segment. oaks wagon -- volkswagen is seeing a drop in sales thanks to the global chip shortage. have eight lamborghini launch later on. -- we have a lamborghini launch later on. let's try to answer some of these questions. how significant will the final up and running status of tesla in germany be in terms of reshaping the german auto industry? volkswagen is starting to get into gear in terms of production. >> that is exactly right. what we have seen is t

the pfd moves beyond the cdu in the first poll.or backs calls for booster shots ahead of approval by the ema.

he will be meeting the cdu chancellor candidate here. tom: great stuff.e coming back to you throughout the morning. that is maria tadeo in berlin for us outside of that tesla factory being constructed. elon musk, the ceo of course, will be on the ground in the next few hours with some of those german politicians. let's check in on the markets as we lead up to break. in asia, the msci asia pacific down. in mainland china, csi 300 on. bigger losses when it comes to technology. once again, it is tech leading the selloff in hong kong, down about 165 points currently. in korea, concerns about semi conductors and the delta variant. blockbuster results for disney as consumers subscribe to its streaming service, disney plus. shares rally in after-hours trade. we are going to give you the details next. this is bloomberg. ♪ (announcer) back pain hurts. you can spend thousands and still not get relief. now there's aerotrainer by golo. you can stretch and strengthen your core, relieve back pain, and tone your entire body. (man) and you're stretching your lower back o

the cdu in particular, angela merkel not keen on restricting freedoms before the election in septemberthat is maria tadeo. manus, when it comes to allowing for into the country, the u.k. making what might end up being a controversial move. they will allow diplomats in without having to quarantine even if they do not have their vaccination yet. manus: this may come as a shock to you but i am not the irish ambassador to the united arab emirates. i know be ambassador. i will see him in a couple weeks. we are having a get together. i did a trip a couple of weeks ago. five days away, four covid tests, three locator forms, and bloomberg spent about $500 on my covid test so that is the reality of travel. dani: it is much more expensive and there's a lot more admin, as you know probably better than anyone else, manus. manus: there's also the price of soundbites. coming up on the show, it was expensive -- coming up on the show, after a volatile start for global markets, we assess the outlook for gold, oil. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> we run mining businesses for the long-term, or we should, and the

we're watching the political polls closely with cdu, the center right party, angela merkel and center left party now neck and neck in the polls the elections are five weeks away keep an eye on how that one evolves. and just a very quick look at the sectors. the sector breakdown you see we have a couple of sectors trading in the red, but up at the top we have retail up 1.3% and nice rebound in oil you can see, after that big, big drawdown last week with commodity complex down 8%, 9%. >> yeah, joumanna, the u.s. dollar has been very strong and that hurts things like oil priced in dollars. before i let you go, i want to turn to something you know by heart, basically, the country of your birth, that is the growing crisis in lebanon. i see your tweets about it, you talk about it. over the weekend, lebanon raising fuel prices, gasoline by more than 50%. literally overnight. what can you tell us about lebanon right now where the currency is effectively worthless and the country's economy is in just tremendously a sad state. >> yeah. you know, thanks for asking the question, brian. i think th

there is not a massive difference in policy outlook, whether it is the cdu coalition or spd coalitionok at that are fiscal stimulus on the spd side. we have the beginning of the eu recovery funds with funds dispersed over the next three years, 50 billion of that has been dispersed to eight countries in august. the idea of further fiscal stimulus, there is not much difference in terms of the government beyond the election. there could be some market disturbance, volatile reaction, would be a narrow election result that results in a weak uncertain coalition government, and that at the heart of europe would be a concern for investors. tom: with stability of angela merkel no longer there in german politics. what you make when it comes to these comments from the chief economist at the ecb about being prepared for spillover effects from the fed's stance? derek: very interesting. it is definitely a nod to the new monetary policy framework were financial conditions is now a specific determinant on the monetary stand, and the appropriateness of the monetary stand. that was a big part of what w

been said across european nations furd we heard it from the germans, the french the head of germany cduparty has said this is the deathknell for nato. it is remarkable to hear him sa that. frankly, it's bizarre because not only does it give no solace to the allies in the left, it gives zero solace to the in afghanistan. to the tens of thousands of afghanistan's many who we've spoken to in the last few days, they will still be cowering in their houses, terrified in knocked on the door is coming they're way with no idea how to get help. the idea that the french in the british are going outside the wire in bringing people in in the u.s. isn't where that's going to be a huge difference. president biden just said they were giving overhead support to the french so they could go int kabul in pulled people out, but they weren't doing so because they thought it might lead to a escalation. clearly they're not terribly afraid of president biden he's more afraid of them attacking him. at the moment they are relying entirely on taliban goodwill allowing people to get inside that airport. it is. >> b

the command authorized rapid response blah toons to respond to the capitol including cdu 42.he last thing i remember hearing over the air before departing for the capitol grounds was confirmation that our explosive ordinance team had discovered a device, again, being associated with the device i immediately realized mpd discovered a bomb of some type near the capitol. this thought was never far from my mind for the rest of the day. we ran back to our vans and got on our hard gear as quickly as we could. navigating alternate routes to avoid the foot traffic we drove as close adds we could to the capitol, disembarking at the northwest side of the capitol grounds. we gave our gear a final check and marched towards the west stairs. the crowd was thinner the further out from the capitol you were, so as we marched the resistance that we initially met with was verbal, a man yelled here come the boys in blue, so brave. another called us on us to remember your oath. there was plenty of booing. a woman called us storm troopers, another woman who was part of the mob of terrorists laying