germany, germany's 10-year bund fell below zero so it is actually a negative rate. so what happened? charles: essentially if you buy german bonds you have to pay them to hold on to your money? >> correct. when it redeems at the end of 10 years you write them a check more than par, basically. which is kind of a crazy concept. charles: i think we have rico provisions against that. >> i think probably, but think of it, there is $10 trillion worth of treasurys of sovereign nations around the world that have negative yield. charles: you say we look at this because the rest of the world has been so weak that money is flowing into our treasuries? people see it as a safe haven. that is what is driving yields down? >> let's define people. there are send is trillion banks of foreign countries buying u.s. treasurys. they ran to them today. caused the yield curve to invert. listen it could be a structural problem over time, but today it is sort of a flash. it is probably a good problem relative to the economy. charles: not a good problem for the banks, rob. financials are getting absolutely hammered today. with do you make of it? the fact that lower yields makes it tougher for the margins? is there something else going on here? banks have been perennial underperformers going on two years now? >> yeah, they really have, charles. the banks have not been able to get out of their own way. you talk about net interest margins. as we see the spreads start to collapse, it will be harder and harder for banks to make money. obviously as investor, thinking big talk about the economy slowing down, there will be less lending. potentially defaults could be going up, the banks don't seem like a natural place to park your money right now. like your other guest is talking that is going on around the world. charles: right below the financial crisis, bunds and trading below 10%. bunds have not been made it out of the recovery. what we see in europe we'll see that play out and the natural place is the u.s. charles: europe has problems that go back a few decades, right? slowing economies, welfare states. they had large migration issues because the birth rate went to zero. we have less than a minute. hit a couple things. nike, not a bad number, stock is getting hammered. first quarter earnings estimates are going down. people think not necessarily bad because of a low hurdle, if you miss this environment it will be hell to pay. >> theirfied dance is strong dollar back to the top. segment. you saw and more of that. more companies being conservative with the guidance. they don't want to make the mistake. charles: rob, real quick, thoughts on reaction to nike eearnings? >> i think it's a bit every done. they beat expectations. they beat on the bottom and top line this extremely innovative company that is growing -- charles: no doubt about it. pulling back from all-time high. because we're going into earnings season if they miss in this environment, there will be hell to pay. rob, mitch, always appreciate your expertise. >> you bet. charles: meanwhile president trump says that trade negotiations with china actually progressing. in fact telling our very own maria bartiromo that a final agreement will quote, probably happen. >> the deal is coming along very well. we'll see what happens but we're taking in billions and billions of dollars for the first time ever against china in the form of tariffs. i'm very happy with that i think the deal will probably happen. i think they need it very badly. charles: well he also added his call for tariffs to remain on chinese goods, did not mean that the talks were in trouble. this is trade representative robert lighthizer and treasury secretary steve mnuchin are set to travel to beijing next week. i want to bring in the author of the coming collapse of china, gordon chang. what do you make of this new part, that came in this week, even if there is new deal, president wants to keep tariffs on in a way to keep the chinese honest? >> that real good on our part, charles. that means we'll not give up tariffs on mere promise from beijing that they will stop what they have been doing for the last three decades. it is important to keep the enforcement mechanisms in place. this is something the chinese don't like. they will have to accept it if they want a deal. charles: are you feeling more confident china is in such a position now that they are really willing to sign a deal that's better than perhaps, certainly will be better than a year ago? they were still bragging, pretty rambunctious. but something that perhaps could be close to, something that you would have not have thought? you've been pretty critical of the whole process because you understand history. could we actually be making history? >> you know it is really possible but you got to remember that if you look at the objective factors, you know the chinese should be rushing to an agreement with president trump because from december through february that three months, the numbers out of china were gruesome. imports, exports, manufacturing pmis, car sales which are a bellwether, all of these numbers were negative an that really means that the economy can't be growing in the middle 6s. if it is growing, maybe 1%. that has to force the chinese to some accommodation. the thing we don't know, charles, the politics within the politburo standing committee the apex of political power. they are bizarre. xi xinping is in trouble. that means he might hold out. if he gets to a deal other people can criticize, he may very well say it is not worth it. charles: there will be criticism no matter what, right? with any deal with america, if you build up the whole thing, i am peerism imperial i've, 100 years, boxer revolution -- >> opium war. charles: people in china think about these things and it drives their resolve. >> the problem for xi xinping he is responsible for anything that goes wrong. 2017 when things were going right for china he got all the praise. come 2018 and 2019 when things are going south he is in a very difficult position. so, for him he may decide to do nothing is better than doing something. charles: that is a heck of a political calculus. >> that is a political calculus. we don't know what is going on that. is the biggest black box. even toe they think there should be a deal, maybe we don't. charles: because of all the prosperity enjoyed in china over the last two decades i always said it is tough to take someone off a bicycle, put them in a car to think they will ever go back to a bicycle. folks in china expect and anticipate more prosperity. >> people do not there know concept of recession. last time there was a downturn, end of 1990s, it was really mild. it only lasted a year-and-a-half. so right now you have most people thinking, what is a recession? i never heard about it but right now what they're seeing the economy turning down and that's causing all sorts of assumptions people made about buying homes, traveling, all rest are being questioned. charles: yesterday big news, italy red to sign at the bottom line, the dotted line for the belt and road, the new silk road which is interesting because it is named after marco polo. >> italian. charles: exact opposite route, not sure if he is turning over in his grave or not. a lot of people are concerned, these are debt traps. some even call them a form of modern day colonialism. is italy that desperate, does it make it harder for us to negotiate? >> this will make it a little bit harder for us but these are only memorandums of understanding. right now i don't think italy will go for a lot of this because this really assumes the belt and road there will be a lot of trade going out, with china's exports going down that is not necessarily a good assumption. the route china will use to send good to europe will not be the silk road through central asia up through italy. probably across the northern coast of russia. as ice caps recede, shipping companies are doing trial runs. when they do that shipping will be cheap and fast an bypass italy. charles: wow. maybe that would be good news even though they need the money. thanks a lot, gordon, appreciate night thanks, charles. charles: a big announcement today from general motors. it is great news in fact for all of americans. and the details, you're going to hear from the gm ceo herself, mary barra coming up. we're all over the slide on wall street today. the market erasing the week's gains. we'll go more in depth with that. stay with us. ♪ (bird chirping) lots to do, hope you fuelled up. sure did. that storm sure ripped through. yep, we gotta fix that fence and herd the cattle back in. let's get at it. 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"all sites are green." all of which helps you do more than your customers thought possible. comcast business. beyond fast. it's a revolution in sleep. the sleep number 360 smart bed, from $999... senses your movement and automatically adjusts on each side to keep you both comfortable. and snoring? how smart is that? smarter sleep. so you can come out swinging, maintain your inner focus, and wake up rested and ready for anything. sleep number is ranked #1 in customer satisfaction with mattresses by j. d. power. save $500 on select sleep number 360 smart beds. only for a limited time. charles: big news today from general motors. largest u.s. maker of automobiles announcing plans to invest $300 million into suburban detroit plant that builds electric and self-driving cars. jeff flock spoke with gm ceo mary barra earlier today. he joins us with you will at details. great stuff, jeff. reporter: i'll tell you if you like snowstorms it's a wonderful thing here today. it is just this is the orion township plant, it is snowing jobs apparently, charles. that's because a car, an electric vehicle that was to be made in china, jobs going to china, instead they're coming here to orion township. i hope people know it will be snowing when they get here. the obvious question for mary bear ray the president tweeted and made clear his opposition to the lordstown plant closing. here is what she had to say bloomberg said you're throwing the president a bone. is that true. >> that's where general motors and i think the president are very aligned. we want to create jobs, good-paying jobs. when you look having a strong economy, we're making decisions to make sure general motors continues to be a strong company. that allows us to make announcements investing in the future with all new electric vehicle. reporter: you're making the chevy blazer in mexico. the president might say, why don't you just bring that one lordstown? >> we have to understand that about half of the components on the blazer and all of the power trains are built in the u.s. there are significant number of u.s. jobs that go to that product. what is really important to understand we moved a product, you just about a year-and-a-half ago, we moved the cadillac st-5 to the united states. its predecessor was in mexico. so that was a move we, a product that we moved here that has potentially higher volumes. so if you got to look at it as a system. reporter: charles, i don't know who we ticked off out here but somebody is not happy with us. but they're happy here, i'll tell you. very happy workers at the plant, make the chevy bolt and the, the chevy sonic. they will soon making an all-electric car, 400 new jobs, $300 million worth of investment. charles. charles: great stuff, jeff. get inside, buddy. we'll talk to you again soon. we want to bring in the car coach, lauren fix. i think it is remarkable news. i don't like when people belittle it, bloomberg says she is throwing president trump a bone. we're talking about american jobs here. i think it's a wonderful bit of news. >> it's a wonderful bit of news. gm is trying to bring jobs back to the united states. they want jobs here as well. if you have tariffs, you will sell vehicles in that country, vehicles sold in the country of china, they don't own that country. a piece owned by the chinese government. would be nice if they bring the blazer back here. i don't think moving a job, all the tooling, is saying i will sign a piece of paper. it is done. it requires some effort. charles: face it, lauren, it is not just the white house. when you have fiat announcing $4.5 billions investment in detroit. that creates 6500 jobs. toyota, committing 13 billion through 2021, that is lot of public relations pressure. ultimately the consumer, also wants to know that some fellow americans are benefiting from this. >> absolutely. i agree. toyota is working expanding plants in states that don't have unions. they don't want to take in that expense. it is very expensive to build a car. much cheaper to build the car in mexico. number one manufacturer in mexico is general motors. other brands are seeing investing here, building most expensive vehicle, bmw $200,000, in alabama plant. mybach in alabama. the building here in the united states there is a lot of benefits. right now the president has in the new budget to remove those incentives for ev credits as well as removing money that would go to manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient cars. if that does go away, manufacturers will want to do everything they can to be in the good graces of this president. charles: let me ask you then about the notion, auto industry itself how it is changing rapidly. autonomous cars, electric vehicles are all the rage. dealing with a notion of peak auto. if you read through, if you read through the filing of lyft, their goal for most americans never to even own a car again. so where are we going? >> i don't think that is going to happen. it sounds great in big cities where people can't afford vehicles because it is so expensive. new york and san francisco where they're trying to go, road diets, pressure to reduce roads, less roadways, slow down speed limits to get everyone on bicycles. that is not working. many cities reversing road diets. companies like lyft have a great service. i use the service in new york. i try to use the subway system. many times you want your own vehicle, especially with a large family, that is the best way to do it. i don't think you will see the auto industry disappear. half the dow jones is impacted by the auto industry. that's a huge number. there will still be cars produced, consumers still want cars. this is just part of the mix. it is important we may not see autonomous cars fora long time. government regulations, insurance regulations. we still have no solution to block all the hackers. there is zero sew uggs loose for the with -- solutions for the weather which impacts autonomous cars of the last thing you want to get into a amusement ride that doesn't get you to your destination. charles: i have a 6-year-old granddaughter. i hope she enjoys thrill of driving. let me ask you, the usmca, i'm thinking a minute we started conversation about the complexities of the supply chain, marry barra talking about parts going back and porth, how it consider call is it for to get passed? >> components from canada are a big the past united states and us supplying components to canada. having all the tariffs in place is not good for any industry. hopefully the president and administration i think it will go away, we're all taking an impact from it but in the end i think it will be good for the north american free-trade agreement for the new pact i think consumers will get best of it. there will be jobs here rather than the jobs going overseas. charles: that is the most critical part of all of this. lauren, fantastic talking to you. thank you very much. >> thank you, charles. charles: occur court taking another victory lap changing policy at big banks. is this young woman more powerful than people believe? speaking of banks they are dragging the markets down, off the lows of the session as the dreaded inverted yield curve happened today. we're live at the stock exchange and with more after the break. ♪ if ywhen you brush or floss, you don't have to choose between healthy gums and strong teeth. complete protection from parodontax has 8 designed benefits for healthy gums and strong teeth. complete protection from parodontax. has been excellent. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? 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(vo) go national. go like a pro. but when i started seeing things, i didn't know what was happening... so i kept it in. he started believing things that weren't true. i knew something was wrong... but i didn't say a word. during the course of their disease around 50% of people with parkinson's may experience hallucinations or delusions. but now, doctors are prescribing nuplazid. the only fda approved medicine... proven to significantly reduce hallucinations and delusions related to parkinson's. don't take nuplazid if you are allergic to its ingredients. nuplazid can increase the risk of death in elderly people with dementia-related psychosis and is not for treating symptoms unrelated to parkinson's disease. nuplazid can cause changes in heart rhythm and should not be taken if you have certain abnormal heart rhythms or take other drugs that are known to cause changes in heart rhythm. tell your doctor about any changes in medicines you're taking. the most common side effects are swelling of the arms and legs and confusion. we spoke up and it made all the difference. ask your parkinson's specialist about nuplazid. charles: stocks are sharply lower after downbeat data from europe fueling more fears of a economic slow down. gerri willis live on the floor of the new york stock exchange with the latest. reporter: charles, it is not as bad as it was. the dow down 299 points. it was down as much as 400 points. s&p 500 down 36. nasdaq down sharply as well. 143 points. the trouble started earlier for fallout friday. we got a lot of negative economic news. germanyustrial production at lowest level in six years. they are the fourth largest economy on the planet. biggest in europe. u.s. industrial numbers not looking good either. we get news the spread between three months and 10-year treasury yields has inverted. that is a technical wonky thing traders pay attention to. signals a recession. so somebody came over to my desk not too long ago what is wrong with the economy? what are the issues here? we don't understand. people are focused on that particularly after the federal reserve met this week, they said hey, we're cutting gdp outlook for the usa. once more we'll sit on our hands rest of the year, no rate hikes. initially traders thought it was good news. eventually they got to the point, they thought, wow, what does it mean what the fed thinks is happening to the economy. those are issues people are turning over in their minds. boeing weaker after news it faced the first order cancellation for a 737 max jet. this we had been expecting but it