julia: welcome to "bloomberg businessweek." i am julia chatterley. we are inside the magazine's headquarters here in new york. in this week's issue, the flooding of houston's energy corridor, u.k. prime minister theresa may's delicate balancing act, and the bloomberg annual business school rankings. all that to come on "bloomberg businessweek." ♪ julia: i'm here with editor in chief megan murphy. let's begin with the european cover story. perhaps the safest woman in european politics right now simply because no one wants to replace her and voters don't know who they want to replace her with, theresa may. megan: this is the story that keeps on giving. you really do have some sympathy for a woman who has not only faced an extreme series of internal political challenges, including a sexual-harassment scandal in parliament, ministers leaving, but also overshadowing all of this is not only her own inability to lurch from crisis to crisis to crisis, but this fixed timetable on brexit and all the challenges they face over that in terms of securing a deal wi

i'm julia chatterley. listen on the radio at sirius xm channel 119, 106.1 in boston, am 960 in the bay area. in london on mux 3, and in asia on the bloomberg radio plus app. they may not be the biggest cybersecurity firm in the market, but it is the pentagon's favorite. i spoke to the ceo, nate fick. nate: endgame builds a protection platform. we protect customer's data from attack by preventing breaches on the endpoint and by detecting and responding to breaches and automating the hunt for attackers that may already be inside our customers' networks. julia: how do you stop it spreading? nate: there is an enormous amount of math behind it. algorithms involved in the detection process. this is a credit market. we have to put a lot of emphasis on independent third-party validation. not us saying how good our stuff is, but others who are seen as credible and independent verifiers in a market where there are many companies claiming to be the same thing. julia: what about your model making you different? hacker

julia: the supply. is not uncommon in the western world, where people have jobs there are not enough affordable houses to support them. rents have gone up incredibly high, it is not just whether you can afford to own a home, it is whether or not you can afford to rent a home. it is a serious problem. jerry brown has been one of the fiercest advocates to change this, to bring down, he has made climate a huge priority of his. he was in germany this week talking about it. again, it is an interesting fact that we do not connect. low gas prices, unaffordable houses, and climate. julia: 180,000 a year needed, 100,000 being built. this is a painful problem. megan: you need to incentivize house builders, whether through tax reform or promise some subsidy. that is politically unpopular right now. it is seen as a transfer of wealth into the corporate sector. julia: from the californian climate to the story that opens up the magazine this week and that is what is going on in zimbabwe. megan: we have seen extraordi

julia: i am julia chatterley.h us on the radio, 106.1 in boston, 99 .1 fm in washington, d.c., and a.m. 960 in the bay area. carol: and in asia on the bloomberg radio plus app. bruce springsteen and jon bon jovi have signed up with irving azoff in hopes of earning more money every time their songs are played. chris: irving azoff is a legendary manager. he got his start in the 1970's with the eagles, and he has always been one of the toughest guys negotiating in a difficult business. he is now tackling radio because he sees the format is being updated. the compensation for artists was really has to out in the 1930's and 1940's, and that has not changed at all. that is his push lately. carol: what is his push specifically? chris: he has a group of artists -- some of the biggest names in the business, pharrell williams, bruce springsteen, bon jovi -- and he says this is a key part that radio stations play, this is where you are generally advertising, instead of the 4% you are collecting for songwriters, we want a lot

julia: and i'm julia chatterly.us on the radio on sirius xm and in new york, in boston, in washington, d.c., and a.m. 960 in the bay area. carol: and in london and in asia on the bloomberg radio plus app. julia: in the retail section. carol: internationally renowned artist jeff koons talks about his collaboration with louis vuitton. reporter: jeff koons, the superstar global artist whose works have sold at auction for more than $58 million, a record for a living artist. a form of retail, but recently he has been doing a bit -- going a bit down market. if you call louis vuitton down market. several thousand dollars for a purse. he has been doing collaborations involving leonardo da vinci and so on. monet. carol: they are interesting, aren't they? >> they certainly are. as somebody who goes to art fairs, you see collectors carrying them around. carol: you are going to dig into why he did that, it is a more mass appeal, versus his artwork. or is it? >> that is the question that i have asked him. he maintains that two t

julia: and i'm julia chatterly.ind us online at businessweek.com. in the politics section, a look at what president trump's 2017 may tell us about his 2018. carol: here's matthew philip. matthew: it has been a failure. when you look back at the campaign promises he made, drain the swamp, building the wall, infrastructure, repealing obamacare, getting taxes done. none of those things have been accomplished. this is to say nothing of the russia investigation. so it has been a historic bad first year in the oval office for president trump. when you look back over 200 plus years, you can probably put him in the top three. carol: you highlighted big things like obamacare and infrastructure. i made a list. pointing on the sir step to get the job done, did he do it? matthew: no, i don't think so. part of this is also the unanswered phone. i have said recently it is a part of this strategy in kind of draining the swamp and limiting the scope and size of government in american business. but -- but but but -- when you don't a

julia: shaping decisions. carol: this is "bloomberg businessweek." ♪ >> we are here with the editor-in-chief, megan murphy. it is all about the year ahead. you talk about it in your editor's letter. can you believe we are done with 2017? megan: are we? [laughter] carol: not quite. megan: so much is going on. having come from washington to be the editor-in-chief. the political year, around the world. so many things in 2017 that we would not have predicted. in 2018, people doubled on -- and will predict things. the most interesting thing -- in 2018, we are going to double down and predict things that may or may not happen. regardless of where you stand, you have seen tremendous destruction, tremendous populism, things we might not like to see sometimes. an underlying label about economic growth, lifting cards, we are on a bit over a rising tide. whether that will be screwed up we have yet to see. things might be better than you think. carol: is that what you want readers to walk away with? megan: i want readers

julia: and i'm julia chatterley. we are inside "bloomberg businessweek" magazine headquarters in new york. carol: the republican tax proposal. who gets what. julia: saudi arabia. what is at stake. carol: gifts for the holidays. [laughter] julia: all of that and more on "bloomberg businessweek." ♪ carol: we are here with "bloomberg businessweek" editor-in-chief megan murphy. you have a big focus on tax reform this week. in the business section, you lay out graphic. megan: we took a close look at the house plan. it is a serious attempts to implement major changes to the u.s. tax structure. but also there is so much at stake politically. it is fascinating that a year after the election, we are now getting to what republicans universally say is the real thing that they have to get, tax reform. when anyone tries to get this done, there is a reason why it has failed in the past. the u.s. tax code is so complex and there are so many vested industries and people and and special interest groups that relied on parts of the tax

julia: saudi arabia, what is at stake? all that ahead on "bloomberg businessweek." ♪ carol: we are here with the editor in chief, megan murphy. you have a big focus on tax reform this week. in the business section we had a graphic evidence of the house plan. megan: it's a credible, serious attempt to implement major changes to the u.s. tax structure. also there is so much at stake with this politically. it is fascinating a year after the election we are now getting to what republicans universally say is there real thing that really have to get done now, tax reform. when anyone tries, there is a reason why it has failed traditionally. the u.s. tax code is so complex and are somebody vested industries and sectors and people and special interest groups that for so long have relied on a lot of parts of the tax code that in a normal system you would not have had. what is fascinating about the house plan is number one how much it raises the deficit. carol: the second is and how to make the numbers work, how much they looked at s

julia: a little bit.eter: we still want more but the projection is if things keep going the way they are, we will go past that 2% margin. julia: creating a cover image for the year ahead with the job of our director alexander shoot this. talk to us about the front cover and how you wanted to grab the reader. what message you wanted to send here. alexander: we basically wanted to get everyone a feel for a wide range of topics in the issue. what people can expect for the year ahead and what we are looking at now and projecting forward. covers cover the topics of technology, politics, economics. the full breadth basically. carol: it reminds me of already being inside the magazine, but having read the stories there is so much that will be going on in 2018. alexander: i think we have an idea of what we are looking at. carol: after a busy 2017. alexander: we want to know we are thinking about this. julia: take us through some of the themes. frexit, china, cybersecurity, space travel -- obviously my favorite. al

julia: i'm julia chatterley. carol: the republican tax proposal. who gets what? julia: all that is ahead in "bloomberg businessweek" carol: we are here with the editor-in-chief, megan murphy. you have a big focus on tax reform this week. in "business week," in the business section, you guys layout graphic. megan: we took a close look at the house plan. it is a serious attempts to implement major changes to the u.s. tax structure. but also, there is just so much at politically. stake with this politically. , and it is fascinating that a year after the election we are , 2016, giving to what republicans universally say is the real thing that they have to get it done now tax reform. ,and its tax reform. when anyone tries to get this done, there is a reason why it has failed traditionally in the past. its because the u.s. tax code is so complex and there are so many -- vestederest trees industries and sectors and people and special interest groups that relied on parts of the tax code that in a normal, system, you would not have had in there. what is fascinating about

julia: i'm julia chatterly.merkel says she would prefer new elections to leading a minority government. it comes after coalition talks collapsed. david westin spoke with u.s. ambassador to germany, former ambassador to germany, -- >> i think there is a chance that a coalition can be formed. even the former jamaican coalition. i think there is a 40% chance of new elections and a 20% chance of a minority government. david: go to the 40% chance you think there might be of putting together a coalition one way or the other, who will have to give on that? there is bad blood between angela merkel on the one hand and the head of the ftp at this point. robert: i have seen the reports. what i would say is, do not underestimate the role of frank -- the german president. the german presidency, like many presidencies in constitutional democracies, is largely a figurehead role. it is really the voice of the nation, but at this critical point the german constitution has put together in 1949 - that was put together in 1949, req

julia: i'm julia chatterley.tick with china, where alibaba kicks off with it and singles' day shopping bonanza. the online retailer racked up billions of dollars in sales in the first hour, expected to top last year's record. shoppers from 190 two countries scooped up discounted items. we spoke with alibaba's president, michael evans. michael: this year's singles' day is boosting efficiency by implementing a whole lot of new technologies and capabilities as part of our new strategy. that yound pop stores just referred to are very small haves, but typically they a capability in a small, local market. with the benefit of technology and digitalization, we are expanding their capabilities to deliver their products to a larger group of consumers. billionsa had invested into off-line retailers, like grocery stores and department stores several years before amazon announced its acquisition of whole foods. if china had the u.s. when it comes -- bp u.s. when it comes to merging online and off-line retail? michael: we do n

julia: this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ julia: welcome to "bloomberg markets." i'm julia chatterly.m scarlet fu. abigail doolittle talking about retail. abigail: we are going to take a etf,at the consumer staple walmart one of the top holdings, and we see it soaring today at 1.6%. it is on pace for its best day since january of this year. walmart is a big reason for the rally on the day. over all for the major averages today. a see this, the s&p 500 imap, good way to look at what is happening from a broader standpoint. juste top, telecom skipping ahead of consumer staples. consumer staples was on top for most of the day, but this shows the rally we see today on the tax reform bill day. the house passing that bill. let's take a look at the movers beneath the surface. sincet up 10.4%, best day 2008. sales growth was the best since the recession, growing by 54% online. project and gamble up after the bid for a board seat. it happened with a recount, so that -- won the proxy fight. up 10%.ave -- tradinng they put out a full year, adjusted earnings for smucker. campbell soup up 4% after

julia?ulia: it has to do with the chip industry and a big deal within that industry. our deal team reporting that broadcom is exploring a deal to qualcomm. this could be the biggest ever take over of a chipmaker. walk-on shares are spiking, up a 9%, and we are talking combined company that would have a market cap of around $200 billion and around $35 billion in annual sales. broadcom's shares, which have been rising on a halo effect from apple, sort of volatile now. they are still gaining by about 1.6%. if you recall yesterday, broadcom has it was changing its domicile from singapore to the united states. it made that announcement with president trump as part of the gop tax proposal. brooke sutherland, on bloomberg gadfly, had a piece out on why she believes broadcom would be moving to the united states in any case and reasons why, and now potentially taking over a chipmaker.-- there are other implications as part of this as well. qualcomm is trying to close an acquisition of $47 billion to

julia: thanks so much, abigail. this is bloomberg. ♪ julia: welcome back. u.k.ed the annual budget. we were warned about weakness in the u k economy, but there is solutions. >> we will not build it overnight, not in this budget -- but in this budget today, we will lay the foundation. allocateeady to further funds if and when needed. no one should doubt the results. they revised the outlook down for productivity growth and gdp growth across the forecast. one of the best ways as we build the future is to make early progress in delivering the visions. gdp growth is now expected to in 2018, 1.3%1.4% in 2019 and 2020. 1.5% in 2021, 1.6% in 2022. the government will make progress the top priority. scarlet: 1.6% it is now time foe bloomberg business flash. proctor and gamble is being criticized after the billionaire when a board seat by a fraction of one percentage last week. trian said the consumer giant soft -- suffered from a suffocating democracy. suspending flights to north korea through the month of june. saysovernor -- government the decision is business-related

julia: rule them out.el: it's not a judgment on the policy, more of a judgment on the market impact. scarlet: is this tax overhaul or tax cuts? michael: it is tax reform. it is tough to put these things in different buckets. they are changing, eliminating and softening the individual provisions but not nearly to the kind of cleanout degree that people would like the that is where the lines get blurred. if you're an individual, the tax code is getting more complex. for most people because the standard induction is going up, more people will be able to file more simply. julia: michael zezas, great to chat with you. this is bloomberg. ♪ julia: welcome back to "bloomberg markets." shares of abercrombie & fitch are soaring. the rio grande is finally catching up with consumers -- the rebranding is finally catching up with consumers. >> this company has been struggling in recent quarters to put up a good quarter. 5%. beat by 30%, sales by a big relief. comp beating as well. up for the first time in eight quarters

julia: i'm julia chatterly. julie: i'm julie hyman.isenthal and if you are tuning in live on twitter we will have closing bell coverage every weekday from 4:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. eastern. julie: we begin with the stock market today, pretty dramatic comeback may even for the nasdaq which was slumping yesterday, finishing the day by about three quarters of a percent up. and the dow and s&p 500 at records, the nasdaq not quite making it there, but the dow jones having its best day since march. remember yesterday, the narrative was all about rotation at of technology and into financials. financials initially today where leading the gains, but then finished the day of only .5%, so carrying the gains considerably were industrials and energy, finishing in the top three spots. and as for individual stocks, really spectacular day for kroger, although it finished down off of the highs of the session, the supermarket chain has been battered for months over concerns over amazon getting into the grocery business, especially with the acquisition o

[laughter] scarlet: what julia says every day. julia: troy gayeski, thank you.lines in "first word" news with mark crumpton. mark: i'm sorry i'm getting in the way. as we just mentioned, the ways and means committee began work on a republican tax overhaul plan. committee chairman kevin brady called it a monumental challenge, but added that legislation will help spur job growth and boost the economy. brady: from top to bottom, the tax cuts and jobs act is the most transformational tax reform bill since president reagan reform to the code in 1986. >> legislation have to solely by the majority party behind closed doors, which would definitely is not made public until late last week, puts the well-connected first while forcing millions of american families to watch as their taxes go up. mark: the ways and means committee is expected to spend 40 finalizing the bill that the full house. asked before thanksgiving. campaign officials paul manafort and rick gates cannot travel internationally even under revised bail terms. today, ahearing federal judge also said she woul

. ♪ julia: live from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, i'm julia chatterley.carlet: i'm scarlet fu. joe: i'm joe weisenthal. equity is little changed in the dollar adds to its losses. joe: the question is, "what'd you miss?" borish, we have peter the quite group chief strategist -- the quad group chief strategist joining us. murkowskiator lisa has agreed to kill the obamacare individual mandate. what does that do enough to pass the measure? issue guaranteed yes vote? and retailers pull out all the stops in an effort to survive. friday will be a make or break day for struggling brick and mortar chains. we have breaking news. broadcom is said to be considering a higher bid for qualcomm, according to reuters. this is just days after qualcomm rival broadcom's takeover bid. make thee deal could world's largest chipmaker. the original bid was valued at $105 billion. we have been talking this week about whether qualcomm investors would accept something around $70, perhaps pushing the $80 share price. qualcomm'sroubles .facing right now any further headlines on that,

julia: thanks, mark. fresh off the busiest shopping weekend of the year, we will stock with -- we will talk with someone who says apple's growth may slow down. what it means to apples strategy, next. this is bloomberg. ♪ julia: this is "bloomberg markets," i'm julia chatterley. scarlet: i'm scarlet fu. the iphone x may be all of lists this year, but it doesn't mean that momentum last. has concluded there will be an iphone super cycle this fiscal year. joining us now is steven milunovich from ubs, they have a price target of $190 a share. let's talk about the super cycle. why were the not be one this year -- why will there be one this year? mr. milunovich: the survey is finding good growth in physical fit -- physical 18. that we think it will be tightly we saw with the iphone six. the primary reason is that the mature countries like the u.s. and countries in western europe will grow, but probably not at the rates -- is not 20% and probably not the rate of physical 17. on the other hand, we think china and

julia: not yet. great to chat with you. a crackdown in saudi arabia over the weekend and the arrest of several senior princes. including prince alwaleed bin talal. we will renew the latest on this story. this is bloomberg. -- bring you the latest on the story. this is bloomberg. ♪ news crossinging the terminal. priceline shares declining in revenue trading after beat analyst estimates but earnings per share for the fourth quarter will miss consensus estimates. eps will be as much as $14. 1556sts were looking for -- were looking for $15.56 a share. trip advisor also moving lower, down about 6.5%. third-quarter revenue coming in lighter than what analysts had been looking for. in the meantime, let's get you to mark crumpton for first word news. mark: in washington, a federal judge says she is inclined to remove two former trump campaign officials from house arrest. paul manafort and rickie gates will stay confined at home for now. the judge says she wants more information about their finances before deciding. they are accused

i am julia chesley.u are tuning in on twitter, we want to welcome you to our closing bell coverage every weekday from 4:00 to 5:00. >> julia talked about record highs. it looks like a tale of two markets. the dow is barely higher. the laggards, ibm, financial names. the s&p in the nasdaq are up. the nasdaq the big winner as we've got word of more potential megamergers between some big chip companies. at aould mention the vix record low. 9.02, round about it session lows. could we see a change to the vix? joe: it could happen monday morning. torlet: let's get you individual names. i mentioned the megamerger deal. bloomberg is reporting that broadcom is interested in qualcomm for $70 a share. qualcomm is just under $62. broadcom $273. to move theing corporate headquarters back to the united states. a lot going on for broadcom. shares moving higher, three percent, on reports cbs may buy a health insurer. this is according to lawyers. at now would be valued at $200 a share. the interesting thing, in addition

julia: this is where he comes in.he management strategy. >> when i heard that this morning and when it all comes together, what do private equity firms do? they love putting their own guys in and shaking it up. withrus has a history these messy sorts of situations. they were in investor in chrysler. they got into the gun business. this is one of these firms that really does traffic in some very interesting situations. to that point about management, you have to think they have some strong opinions there. -- they arecan see not seeing it at the top line in terms of revenues. the opportunity here for these here inat is the break the system that we can unlock and fix? it's highly exciting. >> what private equity promises its investors in the pitch it makes to companies they are investing in, this is a public , whatment, not a takeover private equity firms purport to do is get under the hood and solve those processes. scarlet: let's talk about the guy who will lead the unlike in -- unlocking. how does he tend to approach

. ♪ julia: live from bloomberg's world headquarters in new york, i am julia chatterley.e are 30 minutes from the close of trading in the united states and opec uncertainty is weighing on energy stocks. louis: the question is, -- oe: the question is, what'd you miss? scarlet: elizabeth warren joins about ther take agency she helped to create. and shoppers are expected to spend $840 million online by 10 a.m. today. tells us more about the e-commerce players. julia:. what'd you miss? $840 million worth of deals, just before breakfast. mobile is up 21%. overall web traffic was up 12%, with a total of $840 million worth of transactions. all of this before 10 a.m. eastern time. $6.6 billion is expected to be reached by the days and. -- day's end. we are joined by the ceo and chairman of saks 5th avenue. we have talked about the transformation within the retail sector before, but i want to talk about the shocking season we have seen so far. how optimistic are you? are looking at 4%-5% of total retail. we're off to a good start. are the connected retail sales to how people are f

. ♪ julia: live from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, i am julia chatterley.carlet: i'm scarlet fu. joe: and i'm joe weisenthal in washington today. julia: we have 30 minutes from the close of trading in the united states. the s&p 500 hitting the 2600 mark earlier in the session and inching towards again. joe: the question is, "what'd you miss?" scarlet: president trump's tweets setting the stage for the legal battle between at&t and the justice department. his open criticism of what he calls cnn's fake news puts the network at the center of the proposed acquisition of time warner. the challenge of passing attack still hangs over capitol hill. givesordham of citigroup us her scorecard on washington. angela merkel faces an impasse. first, though, let's get a check on where markets stand right now. abigail doolittle is here with the latest. julie was telling us about the critical 2600 level. abigail: indeed. it is a big rally day for the stock. look at the s&p 500, the dow, nasdaq. we are looking at big gains in a week, not only did the s&p 500 theier above psyc

julia: big bank.ethink of the risk moment something big happens, a terrorist attack, and they find out the funding channel was bitcoin. you have to consider the risk and the legal ramifications. did you see the value of bitcoin in zimbabwe this week? that was incredible as well. that was my chart of the week. i thought was incredible with the zimbabwean stock market. scarlet: just give yourself a shout out. joe: the key thing, in dollar terms. coming up, what you need to know to gear up for the week ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪ scarlet: "what'd you miss?" little bit of volatility in u.s. stocks with stocks ending lower on the day. for theill be watching fed minutes throughout wednesday on 2:00 p.m. eastern. also wednesday, philip hammond makes his budget statement before parliament. scarlet: that does it for "what'd you miss?" julia: "bloomberg technology" is up next. joe: a lisa: i'm a alisa parenti in new york, and you are watching that contract has since been canceled. after escaping house arrest in

julia: i am julia chatterly. shares of ge continue to slide. company hopes radical research will turn around the worst-performing stock of the year. joining us is director of u.s. research. he manages 130 and -- $130 billion and is a top ge shareholder. great to have you with us. i know you were just at the shareholder meeting, but you spoke specifically to the ceo. what did he say to you that convince you they are now on the right path to turn this business around? >> ge is a great collection of businesses. we're always looking to acquire ownership states at great prices 1 -- run by great executives. flannery is great for this job. he has turned around ge health care and started to change the culture at ge. the ceo and cfo is gone. ahead of power is gone. they're person board, going to be removing nine board members. i think he is on the right track. it will take a little while, but the power business should produce a lot of cash flow once it is fixed. abigail: been picking up on toia's question, help us understand why john flannery is not get

julia: but slowly. julia: let's check headlines with mark crumpton.binet priti patel has resigned. she stepped down after failing to inform prime minister theresa may or the u.k. foreign office of her meetings with the israeli prime minister in august. on tuesday, it was revealed she suggested giving british aid money to an israeli army project and held additional unauthorized meetings. you are looking at her leaving number 10 downing street a few hours ago. she is the second heaven it minister to resign this week. secretary step down in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. president vladimir putin writes at this week's asia-pacific economic cooperation forum in vietnam is values.g russia he continued, "i am confident that acting together, we will find solutions to the challenge of supporting the study, balanced, and harmonious growth of our shared region and securing it's prosperity." expected totin is meet with several world leaders at the apex summit. the kremlin is preparing for possible meeting between presidents putin and trump. defense se

julia: what about their online offering?, we can see them talking about focus but when they are talking about double digits grossing online, they are been doing that for many quarters they have been doing it for 33 straight quarters. when the ceo talks about double-digit growth in terms of online offering, or is no doubt -- we would like a bit more clarity about what is the plan. what do you make of what their plans are? can you explain them to us, because we are hazy on? online is doing well, but if you look at their store base, it is a small proportion of their sales. they have to really make the brick-and-mortar either shrink it to the right side level or start to drop them are in their. -- start to draw the consumer in there. they will doubt a new loyalty program. in the meantime, there focuses on customer loyalty. getting them to make more purchases and make higher price point purchases.in the long run , they have to start getting more customers into the stores, new customers, and that is a big challenge when you have o

>>julia whitehead: kurt loved his time at lake maxinkuckee.miles long and two and a half miles across at its widest. its shores are a closed loop. no matter where i was on its circumference, all i had to do was keep walking in one direction to find my way home again. what a confident marco polo i could be when setting out for a day'adveure. the closed loop of the lakeshore was certain to bring me home not only to my own family's unheated frame cottage on a bluff overlooking the lake but to four adjacent cottages, teeming with close relatives. >>jeff kenney: lake maxinkuckee is the second largest natural lake in the state of indiana. it's 88 feet at its deepest. in fact, not far off the vonnegut area, off the point here, is actually the deepest part of the lake. >>narrator: and young kurt vonnegut junior swam across its two-and-a-half mile breadth. >>jeff kenney: it's a significant swim. and again, he describes actually swimming it naked, with family members kind of cheering him on in a boat as he went, which was sort of a family tradition. and

julia: nice work.g up, one of the world's biggest tech investors, one of the most valuable unicorns. softbank and uber with a 30% discount. this is bloomberg. ♪ oomberg. ♪ scarlet: "what'd you miss?" softbank and a group of investors are trying to buy a stake in uber and a major discount, to the company's $69 billion valuation. billion,offering $6 30% lower than the valuation it fetched in its most recent round of fund raising. joining us to discuss is bloomberg editor at large, cory johnson. didn't softbank invest $1 billion in uber? invested one billion dollars, at a $69 billion overall valuation of the company. buy $6y are offering to billion worth of shares from existing uber shareholders, at a lot lower valuation. scarlet: what happened? >> that is a great question. joe? [laughter] uber is not worth $69 billion anymore, and softbank knows that, so why would they pay that? the answer may be, that it -- those are the conditions. would they be allowed to then go in and make an offering of the shares?

julia: live from bloomberg headquarters in new york, i'm julia chesley.u, -- i'm scarlet joe: i'm joe weisenthal. what'd you miss? meanwhile the house ways and means committee has advanced its tax plan. paid in high-yield and spreading after disappointing earnings, aakness and telecom justify rollback. we will bring you the numbers and instant analysis. what'd you miss? and are to tax reform. the house ways and means committee passed a tax plan. senate republicans have failed their own overhaul of the tax from the t differences house bills. what should be a big day for senate republicans is becoming overshadowed by controversy. let's go to capitol hill where we have the latest. let's talk policy. i'm looking at the differences between the senate version versus the house. the only area i can he where they correspond is doubling the standard deduction. issues is one of the they have similarities. restores thel adoption tax credit they contemplated taking out. there are a number of differences. the top rate is 38.5%. the house bill does not eliminate state a

julia: very big.nd never syndication potential, the gains, maybe perhaps have a western influence could re-energize. peggy: it is true. we saw some merge in london just this year. so that is a prime example of how they said, we will have a stake in one area of the world, and sell our products more easily. in an asseta stake manager in china it could be easier to do that. scarlet: you talked about pimco and the interstates -- intricacies of china. have you heard other ceos are companies saying that they want to tackle china? peggy: yes, and the reason is because of the growth and wealth in china, they are on track to become the second largest area of access in terms of people who are wealthy. they have an emerging middle class as well as more wealthy people to sell products to. and the other question is whether or not chinese homegrown companies will have a good head start, by the time they actually really get there and get in the door, that it will be too late. alibaba has the largest money market fun

julia: absolutely.took years to put together the 1986 tax reform and a coalition of democrats and republicans, and a real sense they were broken things in the tax code. by the way, we are highly indebted and staring at a widening deficit just on --tom: jeff is the perfect person to talk about the raging debate. the dream here is you have to get 3% gdp. can blackrock frame that when you're having coffee with larry ink? jeff: you can break it down in terms of components. the big pieces come from investment and productivity. they can be linked. you can create better incentives for more investment, more investment can bring better technology, better equipment to workers who can perhaps contribute -- we have a huge productivity mystery. if you get investment back up to its historic averages, you are at 3% growth environment. it is not out of the question. scarlet: is there more risk of an underwhelming or overwhelming fiscal policy? jeff: i am a bond guy and i'm very skeptical, sometimes to skeptical. i thin

julia: it makes sense. well done.nifer epstein at the white house, some of the joys of being out in the field when somebody is talking way letter then you are in your ear. julie: we are bringing in the senator from my home state, maryland, joining us from capitol hill. senator, thank you for joining us. i want to dive into it and talk about what kind of comes next. the tax plans, if they do pass, they could trigger a provision, which according to the cbo, 15 signed, that being congress would have to cut medicare by $20 billion, congressional spending by $111 democrats do the decide to waive it so that is not happen? >> good to be with you. the best way to make sure we do not reach that point is to not pass a big tax cut that primarily goes to corporations and will increase the federal debt by $1.5 trillion. the good news, even at this late hour you have a number of republican senators who still care about the damage of increasing the national debt by $1.5 trillion. that is the way to avoid triggering that statutory pr

in june 1884, they were sitting out on the pl as a and julia serve tim a plate of peaches gas julia serve to him a plate of him as -- julia served and he bit into a peach and he said it stung me. she thought maybe there was an insect or something that kind in it and literally stung him. it was the first that he relies to had the cancer. he tried to, at that moment, rinse out his mouth. he thought that would remove the sensation. this is a very, very excruciating form of cancer. he made the statement that swallowing a glass of water was so painful that it was like swallowing lead. anything that he ate or drank was difficult to swallow and digest. he was on the shore in new jersey. his next door neighbor had a doctor visiting and he examined him and told grant that he said consult his physician at home. grant's doctor was traveling so he did not go to his doctor for four months. it is really rather amazing. i wonder in the book and to you right now, was this a case of stoicism? endure grant was able to and enormous amount of pain throughout his life without complaining. was this more of a c

julia: i'm trying. just a lovely bonus, because you didn't have that in the last quarterly report. if we have a concern with apple, it is such a beloved stock. sometimes the history of these darling stocks doesn't always end so well, but it's hard to one is going to end one is going to end up continuing to be very -- a very good story. it is truly a beloved stock. joe: it's interesting. when people thought they needed watch -- the julie: those products are doing ok. joe: there flagship -- their flagship business is crushing it so hard that all those old stories about how they needed to get a second business -- we are not even talking about that. what do you think? do they need to get a big second moneymaker like that? , i think ityeah would be helpful. but again, that's all about expectations. when the iwatch came out, there were tremendous expectations that it was going to be something jetson like. but it is improving. there's no question about that. i think that will continue to improve. i think you w

also julia grant.roucho marx began to feel sorry for the guests he would have on his show. he said, let's ask a question everyone could answer. it was about grants tomb, and to peoplezement, have the got it wrong. who is buried in grants tomb? a fellow atve been mississippi state, where the new grand library is. the great library at mississippi state? mr. chernow: it's an interesting story. it did not get as much complicity as one might imagine what happened. starting in the 1960's at southern illinois university, it began to create the first edition of grants papers. in 1967, iished think the 32nd and final volume in 2012. they are fabulous. this is a great scholarly fee. they say in the acknowledgment havee book, i wish i could fangs, -- have thanked, if i and my other biographers look good, it is because of john wayne simon. university decided to shop the papers. it is 220,000 grant related documents. one of the people on the board of the great association who , anrvises the papers emeritus professo