i am mark barton joined by manus cranny. let's turn to all addicts. 200 -- let's turn to geopolitics. 280 russian trucks said to be filled with food and water are turned back from entering ukraine. >> the convoy left from moscow yesterday. it is getting closer to the border. the ukrainian say it is not carrying humanitarian aid. they believe it has military supplies inside. we do not know because we cannot verify it. it seems like an outlandish claim, but how do we know? forinternational committee the red cross seems to be getting cold feet on this so-called international aid effort. at a listen. >> -- have a listen. >> what we need to have is clarification regarding modalities, practical steps that need to be instituted before we launch and operation. >> there is a of concern about this convoy. i don't think i have heard so many world leaders as gus one convoy. i heard the white house discuss how the ukrainians have a structure, a process in place so they can check the convoy. we have heard ukrainian say they will not allow

i have not heard mark barton this excited about talking about. this early in the morning. rs.is about longer -- lage bitters man. -- barton is a bitters man. sales in western europe are flat. a trend that you would see it western pickup for heineken because the dutch and german team did so well in the world cup. you see a little bit of a world cup affect. they had a pretty good spring in western europe. that did not happen. we can read into that. you can say france did not progress that far, spain did not. those are big markets for heineken. in terms of the world cup affect, we are not seeing a huge impact on that. the weather plays a some impact. weather was not great in russia which is why you saw carlsberg down. it is mostly about geopolitical headwind and currency. in theecast cutting into high digital -- high digit single digits. these are difficult numbers for carlsberg, the world's third largest brewer. heineken is fourth. if i'm wrong, i expect art and rton toect me -- ba correct me because he is a man who knows his beers. >> he does indeed. >> well put. >> hans, we

i am mark barton. >> let's check it off with the dollar. day. is jobs they -- three weeks of gains for the dollar. the dollar isf showing. over the last 30 days, you begin to see the momentum picking up. yen lower. let's check on the canadian dollar. if you think of the growth great, -- rate within canada, and within the u.s., 4%, you begin to understand the difference beginning to open up. this is the third day where you are seen declines in the canadian dollar. breaking some important levels. the 100 day moving average. it is all about dollar trades today. back to you. >> these are the top headlines. a 72 hour cease-fire has started in ghana. -- gaza. violence areng the tentatively set aider today. -- later today. the fighting left more than 1400 palestinians dead. leaked gascaused by in taiwan's second largest city killed 22. policeman and fighters are among the dead. expandedanufacturing at the fastest pace in more than two years. pmi came in at 51.7%. >> after over a century in italy, fiat will be incorporated with chrysler. enlisted in new

i'm mark barton.ur next guest says the current round of sanctions and russia have been priced into this year. now the concern is what happens next. joining us now from moscow is the directingor of prosperity management. >> good morning. >> do you really believe it has been priced in? what will happen if russia invades ukraine? what are the implications of that eventuality -- what are the implications if that eventuality happens? >> it is a very distant prospect, in my mind. i should qualify this statement. i think russia has been pushing for a political resolution to this conflict. you cannot win this conflict militarily. invasion of another country will destroy this process. this is why i think the market will benefit in the absence of further escalation. why do youhink an -- will an apolitical phase happen when so far it is debatable that approach has worked? is in its ownne political cycle. you have parliamentary elections , and working with the enemy in this situation is not going to happen, simpl

i am mark barton. accepted and ukraine cease-fire in talks in berlin last night, no agreement was reached, according to the german foreign minister. hans nichols joins us. was there any progress at all? >> well, the foreign minister of germany says there was progress, but he did not elaborate, and he stressed several points, briefing reporters earlier this morning after the talks concluded that the situation was difficult, it comes at a difficult time, and difficult seemed to be his word. the goal, of course, is a cease-fire. and there are future victims. over five hours of talks last outside ofin berlin, berlin, and yes, they talked about cease-fire and also the humanitarian situation in eastern ukraine. into the meeting, the ukrainian foreign minister, here is what he had to say. now all sides are heading back. steinbrenner wants them to head out later today. hope to get a sense of just where things stand. >> what is the latest on the ground with the convoy? they you have mentioned, want to watch the

i am mark barton.own." nigel wilson is here, ceo of legal & general. get your stage hat on. we're going to fire questions at you. when is the first hike? >> 11 this year. i think the economy is doing incredibly well. i think you will see a jump towards the october-november period unless it is a political decision and they put it back behind the election. >> a fix and monetary poly? >> carnegie is saying this is the new normal. the head of the bank of england, the new normal will be back up around 2.5%, 3%? would you agree? would that be good news? >> we are pretty indifferent. in terms of our business. we would like to see u.k. plc. we would like to see the u.k. economy doing better. a lot of small steps. i am a great fan of the charlie been approached to interest rate movements. it upk he is right, bring bit by bit. we have seen too much volatility in the world. >> how is the u.k. doing? london ticked great but the rest of the u.k. needs to see the light? >> i think everyone should be applauded for wh

. >> i mark barton in london and these are the top headlines.can and british officials are inc. an online chase for the killer of james foley. he was beheaded by a video -- in a video made by the islamist state. they have analyzed the audio to help identify the killer. israel is bowing to target more hamas leaders after killing three commanders. the raid was followed by a barrage of rockets and a wage of israeli attacks, the defense minister says forces will continue to hunt down and attack hamas leaders were ever they may be. set tota governor was become indonesia's next president. the court rejected the allegations of fraud. the verdict in the most vices leadership contest since their return to democracy. leaders are stepping up diplomatic efforts to ease separate --kraine, celebrating a second anniversary tradember of the organization. charles, welcome to "countdown." before we get to the diplomacy of where we are with merkel and poroshenko. they joined the world trade organization two years ago. what was it supposed to do and did it deliver?

welcome to countdown, i'm mark barton joined by manus cranny and caroline hyde. a russian convoy is on the way to ukraine tonight. the vehicle is part of are you humanitarian effort, not a military operation. ryan chilcote joins us with more. >> this is a curious strategy. the way to the southeast of ukraine. that at thissay point humanitarian aid can't wait. situation in the southeast of the country is so tragic. they should get there this evening. the question is, what happens next echoed international committee for the red cross says that there is going to be an international humanitarian aid effort without any military convoys. what is russia going to do when they get their? will they wait for other countries to join in? there are some practical details that still have to be worked out. this was something that was very discussed yesterday between president obama, president poroshenko of ukraine. i think the devil is in the details. could be a real interesting watershed moment where this turns into a diplomatic effort with the russians on board, or this could

i mark barton. we have breaking numerbers. beatenquarter has estimates. analysts were estimating 2.5 billion. that is for a target operating euros of 9.5-10.5 billion . last year was 10.1 billion euros. this is the big insurer. it is involved in asset management. it is all about pemco. >> the biggest in the world. >> bill gross has been under scrutiny team. his management style. >> they are not the most harmonious. >> and now he is chief economic advisor. they are all intertwined. has had withdrawals in july. the smallest monthly redemption since they began in 2013. the redemptions have lasted over a year. i yesterday afternoon, tweeted a pimco tweet to buy bonds. someone said when you have long bonds there is one thing to do with the market. >> they get teased about that. >> it is their business. >> outflows of pimco continued to slow. yes we have had outflows but they are continuing to flow. >> particularly in the united states it has been a volatile investment. >> it includes the global business, allianz as well. down it is better than expected. they h

mark barton. they were giving me a very hard time in that commercial break.et back to markets. >> it was warranted. >> absolutely. >> let's give france a hard time. >> p.m.i.. >> we don't like french much. >> i don't think people like french data. the bar is low. will they trip? the forecast coming in at 49.6. everybody positioning the france situation versus germany. they have dropped their budget deficit targets. growth this week. >> for me it is not about france vs. germany. it is about france vs. the e.c.b. everybody is taking this bad news and good news. draghi has been talking politics as much as he has been talking monetary policy. >> italy once again and france saying you need to make the structural move. > draghi barely talked about monetary policy. 60% to 70% of his speech was about politics and reforms. if he felt so strongly about that, hardly doing himself any favors. it is a real stare down now between monetary policy. >> the last couple of days -- >> listening to some of the noise coming out, hearing some nobel laureates talking about the break

i am mark barton. let's take a look at your fx check today.serve interest rate at a record low. it also expects a period of steady borrowing costs amid below trend growth. the overnight cash rate held at 2.5% for a 12% -- a 12th consecutive month. all the economists addicted no ctedge -- related -- predi no change today. they are trying to rebalance towards residential construction as the mining investment boom wanes. confidence is being hit by the government spending cuts announced in may. that is weighing against rising house prices and faster inflation. cents.sie dollar, .93 once again, was mentioned by governor glenn stevens in the meeting and of course, he is eager to talk it down. these are the bloomberg top headlines today. the palestinians have agreed on a three-day cease-fire in gaza. the truth started a short time ago. under the of fighting egyptian-brokered accord. the world bank and the african development bank have wedged $216 million to emergency funding to help fight the ebola outbreak in south africa. the money will be used to

mark barton. they come from the minds. carolina will take you through the numbers. -- carolina will take you through the numbers. u.s. dropped a little bit. we are going on holidays but not in france. no, not in france. one of the largest hotel andators there rose by 15% they are going to digital solutions as a way of engaging. it is all about digital solutions. they dropped. you are seeing a little bit of a juggling act going on. the real guidance was 590 million euros by the end of the year. they have trimmed it back. a shade lower on the day. very interesting guests. >> thank you. that is your market open. the ftse is by 0.5%. let's get some perspective. we have mark and mark. thanher, they managed more $2 trillion of assets. welcome to you both. >> good morning. >> look at the equity markets, a big rally. the s&p 500 as record numbers. everybody calling dead the most -- call it in the most unbull market for the is there a reason for it or a reason to love it? >> the backdrop is pretty challenging. you have tensions. yo

thank you very much, mark barton. let's go to russia now.flot scrambled its low-cost units after notice contracts following -- after nulled contracts following sanctions. did this local unit start flying to crimea? was it told to by the kremlin and what are the implications of that? >> certainly, there is suspicion. it only started operations this year. it is a new local airline set up by aeroflot. and the kremlin has been wanting to promote tourism, russian internal tourism into crimea because the tourist sector has since theremendously province was annexed. ukrainians have stopped traveling to crimea. it is not the only russian airline traveling to crimea. it is low-cost, it is providing a cheap way for russians to visit crimea. of the specifics of why it is not able to fly, what are they? does it mean it is a short-term problem or more longer-term problem western >> it would appear as though the airline is no longer able to operate. madennouncement that was yesterday said the european companies which had been providing services leasing an

i am mark barton. we are 30 minutes into the trading day. let's see how things are shaping up.cks have opened lower. two days of gains have come to an end. the kleins in the european benchmark, the ftse 100, the cac 40 and the dax. let's dig deeper. who is better at digging? standing at the touch screen with her three stocks to watch -- >> i will raise you a pun. building. balfour beatty, the worst performer on the stoxx 600 as well. off more than 5%. it says the third time isn't so lucky. i do not want to merge. why? the risks. they want to retrench at a time when construction is buoyant. you still want me to sell my u.s. asset that i don't want to. balfour beatty rejects and fails to extend the takeover panel deadline that comes friday at 5:00 p.m. will karelian go hostile about balfour beatty? it looks like investors aren't expecting that. balfour beatty off by almost 6%. another big follower is luxottica. this is the company that makes in there is some concern the italian press that the chief executive might be asked to step down by the company's founder. this is all specul

here with the details is mark barton. we were expecting some significant private sector involvement. we seem to have a hybrid of both. backs they didn't want to involve the state, but the state had to get involved acres they couldn't get the money from the private stakeholders. essentially the central bank has taken control. they have pumped almost 5 billion euros into the bank as a result of the resolution fund set up a couple years ago. it is going to split it into two. you get this new company. it will own it out right. it will finance the rescue with the treasury loan to be repaid. the bad bank is where they come into place. they are going to take the hit. they are going to be left with the most problematic assets. they will get the assets which include those loans through the other part of the group and lend a state to operations. it was the other loans through the other part of the bank os. joe santo -- banco espirito santo group which got them involved. >> this morning i think there seem to be a little bit of relie

. >> i am mark barton and these of the top headlines. the russian-led customs union. between poroshenko and vladimir putin. the unitedcome as states accuses russia of sending a column of tanks. poroshenko dissolve parliament. a new team today. the move comes after yesterday. the dismissal exposes a wider risk. and, breaking bad captured the highest honor. the run last year. the show took on a massive viewership. the largest hotel operator. there are new business models putting pressure. we are joined now by the ceo of the company. the business week called it the rich man's airbnb. the cofounder and ceo joins us now. interesting times in business week. what do i get? it is the un-hotel experience. what is that experience? to be rich.t need if you want a guarantee because you are in town for business or for a precious family vacation, we supply a hotel experience in isrivate home setting and it high thread count linens and nice toiletries. we can even lend you the iphone. in-home experience. >> that sets you apart. airbnb, there are similarities that you do not get. >>

welcome to countdown, i mark barton. >> and i manus cranny. >> 7:00 you're in london.lder is called persimmon. number one. the pretax profit for the first half up by 57%. home completions in the first half. every up by 33%. it is operating -- its operating margin rising to 17 point 7%. /a 22% ahead of last year as well. let's cut to the chase. company,k to of the persimmon's ceo. this is a bloomberg first interview. good morning, sir. thank you so much for joining us. the metrics are all good. karen forward sales by 22%, what is this slowdown in the housing market we are reading about? >> we seeing good levels of demand, plenty of visitors to our sites and we are busy trying to build houses to meet that demand. >> can you elaborate on what i , the survey evidence which seems to show predominantly in london but nationally as well that the housing market is coming off at a boil. what is your take? slowdowning is slight through the summer but that is a usual seasonal situation. we are more than comfortable with that. the volumes we're seeing through our business are incre

insurer.s biggest mark barton is here with us now. tell us the story behind this.uch fun with constant exchange rates versus actual exchange rates. because a lot of the business is in asia. constant exchange rates gives you a better underlying feel. >> in the real world. >> in the real world, it is bang in line with estimates. the constant exchange rates, you -- at actualumbers profit -- exchange rates, it is up by 7%. but asia, at actual exchange rates, 2%. the u.s. is up 18%. u.k. life is up by 10%. all divisions are showing gains. they want to sell you the constant exchange rate story. it is still a good story. >> let's talk more about the u.k. march allannounced in to do with annuities and pensions. >> if you are a retiree, george osborne, hey, you can buy an annuity, pension provider by prudential -- today, prudential has risen above the share level of march 18. that is significant. what are they doing? they are providing bulk annuities to companies. that is upsetting the decline in individual annuity. annuity sales fell, but that is being offset by bulk annui

can't wait to see mark barton in north london at ikea.p, they say too much of anything isn't good for you. we will tell you why too much fed up a miss and hurt equities, next. -- too much fed optimism might hurt equities. ♪ >> welcome back. we are closed in london, but the rest of europe is trading today. the dollar extending its gains post jackson hole, or is the euro expanding? most of our stories lead with dollar strength. the euro is declining. traders are the most short on the euro. it is the 25 month high in terms of short positions. policy divergence is the theme. druggie moving into easing. you are at an 11-month-old. i am looking at the relative strength is whether the currency is overbought or oversold. good advice on the market. let's have a look at the swedish kroner. the swedes cut their overall growth target for the second time in two months. this year's growth will be 1.9%. that is below the two and a half percent originally targeted. next year you see about three percent growth. the lows of 2012 for swedish kroner. >> thes

the reason i go from data to that is because i turned around to mark barton and said what does ratesll you, and he said well, it tells you three things. one, the inflation, expectations, they must be pretty darn low. there you go. >> yeah, .4%, no change. >> two, if you get q.e., what typically has happened to bonds? they've gone. dying. is it an indication? >> the market may be assuming we're going to get something more dovish from the e.c.b. coming through. that could be the exception. >> i talked enough. i let the other voices n. >> yes, let's bring in other voices. thank you very much, manus. let's go out to hans, who's in germany. germany, of course, one of the powerhouses, the powerhouse of the european, certainly the eurozone growth story over recent years, hans. a little bit of a wobble in the numbers today, and as manus would have said, that's a technical term. as manus was telling us, reminding us that yield dipping below 1%, fairly significant developments, hans. >> anna, it's a technical wobble, to use your phrase. it's also a psychological wobble. the question that expor

marking the much mocking military leaders during wartime. washington immediately offered to exchange prescott for lee. barton refused. he had not received word on whether lee should be treated as a traitor. the king recognizing lee did resign and cognizant of the policy to impose retaliation allowed lee to be treated as a regular prisoner that could be exchanged. andook some time for howe washington to clear the air regarding the difference of prisoners generally. finally, the generals were exchanged in 1878. lee arrived back at valley forge in may. i spent most of the chapter explaining how lee returned as general, second-in-command to washington, how he opposed fighting the british army because he did not think the army could win. how he commanded the american army and was accused of unnecessary retreat and insulting washington, how he was convicted of the same at court-martial and suspended for one year, how the court-martial was unfair but unintentionally got it right. here is a nice drawing of lee called "the suspended general." he is in a boot. he did have a large proboscis as well. lee died of disease in phila

eagles have a major question mark at that position, alex henry struggling with accuracy missing a 31-yard shot in the fourth quarter of the thursday preseason game. then codey bartonarlier in the week. >> we have to make decisions based on the amount have of time we have codey in here with alex and that is it. instead of us sitting here how i can do this and. that we necessity how many times we see get to get out on the practice field from new until thursday night and one more game with officials under the lights where we get a chance to play and then we will to have make a decision. >>> we have sad news to report about the the phillies, front office announced team owner sally buck has passed away. she had been part of the ownership group since 1981. she was 83 years old. >>> switching gears now the sixers finalize aid three team deal that sends thaddeus young in minute so the a in return sixers get two players with expiring contracts and first round draft pick in 2015. minnesota gets andrew wiggins and anthony bennet. the cavilers get kevin love. >>> there has been talk about the taney dragons lately but philadelphia area is celebrating another local team, on fri