joins uss vamvakidis from bank of america merrill lynch.see a little weakness in the currency today. it showed itself to be resilient to political turmoil. does that remain the case under this kind of pressure? this news from spain should be affecting the euro but as you suggest that it did not have a sustained impact so far. i think this will remain the situation. the situation in catalonia is extremely, wicked. the genie is out of the bottle. but the main issues for the euro has to do with the ecb policies thethe ecb is considering strong euro zone we have this year. spain remains at ease. we should keep this in mind. if the situation gets worse and effects the debt in spain, this will make things much more complicated as the ecb support is weakening down the road. but for now it's ok. anna: i'll bring up the bond markets. we have catalan on deals here. biking durings the challenge to madrid in october. then it came down. putting into one side, is there a risk the market has been too complacent around the story? any input nations -- and t

think he so much, from the bank of america merrill lynch here.orts of sub demand for the iphone x. could some of the skepticism and appleby unfounded? next. -- of apple be unfounded? next. ♪ are back with bloomberg markets. reports of soft demand for the iphone x have prompted skeptical calls on the new smart phone. reports of shipment protections have been weighing on apple shares this week. the cofounder of luke ventures joined daybreak america to ring us his take on the prospect. >> it sounds bad when you need to put in some context. every year, going into a cycle, apple will rewind six months and give these reports to their suppliers. every year as the cycle starts in the month of december, we will hear about a contraction of orders. the reason why apple does this, think about a coach telling a runner to run a three minute mile. apple only wants them to run a four-minute mile. we always hear this back. take these numbers for face value and the production in the would implyr, it about 50% of the phones in the next year will be the iphone x. ex

and what was your job at merrill lynch?irst job was to run marketing, and then it was to run the sales organization for the brokerage business. you were doing that, and then somebody calls you from morgan stanley and says: "you're doing great at merrill lynch, why don't you do an even better job and come over here?" is that how it happened? well, they had a business that they needed fixing, and i had some expertise in that business. actually it was a very struggling business at the time. it was the old wealth management business. and john mack called me when he got recruited back to morgan stanley in 2005, i think, and asked me to be part of the team, which i thought was a very exciting challenge. so i did that. so when you came over to run the wealth management business, did you ever think you'd be the ceo of something like morgan stanley? i did not. i told john actually when he was interviewing me for the job, i said, you know, "we can fix this business. i'm pretty confident about that." i knew a lot of people in the mark

we get the view from bank of america's merrill lynch.berg. ♪ ♪ kathleen: this is "daybreak asia ." i am kathleen hays in new york. paul: i am paul allen in sydney. foreign exchange reserves increased for 10th month in november, as the yuan remains relatively stable. the stockpile climbed over $10 trillion.o $3.12 here is malcolm scott in hong kong. what is the outlook as the interest rates in the world start raising? >> the great fear is that the wind down in the fx reserve is gone. it is very stable now. last month, valuation figures came into play. that helped the dollar value of china. but talk is of the fed tightening, what will that do to the differentials and the yuan. china has into that with a pretty significant yield gap with the tenure curve. it is about 160 basis points of difference now between the 10 year treasury and tenure china bond. even if we do see the three fed rate hikes, it will take a while for that to a road back to a level where it could lead to yuan weakness. fxthat is the picture, reserves should fare well. pau

so much tonk you robert wood of bank of america, merrill lynch.e: president trump at the fbi national academy in quantico, or genia. speaking right there, right now to new members. he says it is an honor to be with law enforcement graduates. earlier, as he was leaving the white house, he vowed to rebuild the fbi and said that "people are very, very angry" about the conduct of the fbi. president trump speaking right now to new fbi members. pres. trump: totally underappreciated. except by me. [applause] pres. trump: -- ♪ nejra: live from bloomberg european headquarters in the city of london, i am nejra cehic. i am vonnieew york, quinn. time for our stock of the hour. h&m, theshares of worst performer in the stoxx 600. the shares are on pace for their worst day since 2001. abigail doolittle joins us now. i know this has to do with ugly sales. abigail: the worst quarterly sales drop in a decade, down 2% versus consensus expectations of 2% up or 4%. the company below their own expectations. raymond james is saying it is one of the ugliest quarters the

isrlet: power it next guest also bullish on emerging-market bank of america merrill lynch.. you are bullish on it. brazil cut its interest rate by 50 basis points. it has hinted that it is near the end of the cutting cycle, but you still super of for loosening of monetary policy there. >> yes. the mix is still favorable for brazil. ofre are some clouds because the upcoming presidential elections have the end of next year, but still a lot of pressure on markets. we have seen that in the last few months already. we expect another 50 basis the first quarter of next year, so there is room to go. the discussion will be when the central bank starts hiking rates. that is the story of the second quarter of 2018. joe: if i can talk about political risk and have the market digest political risk. when things are bad economically and the cycle is down, people find a lot of political risk stories everywhere, and now when conditions are favorable and money is loose, it is not too big of a deal. do political risk drive the show, or does it become a story after the fact explained by econom

a and merrill lynch. he said the u.s. get more aggressive and we were lulled to complacency last year, but there will be fireworks in 2018. others have the same view of 2018 when it comes to u.s. and china trade relations. very complicated picture for the chinese. pauline: yes, it is. earlier, it is a very complicated picture because trade is not just one thing, one item. for instance, the trade relations and services -- everyone talks about the goods deficit. if you look at services, the united states -- it has been in the united states' favor. it is a matter of trade. what are you willing to give up in order to have something else? when this comes down to the nitty-gritty of negotiations, it is going to be a little more an all-out trade war. i'm convinced china will do everything it can to prevent a trade war, so to speak. there will be negotiations, different takes, and china will try to play it so the united states will feel that it is getting some benefit from all of this. woulden: president trump feel the united sta

bank of america merrill lynch to -- sterling versus ing groups, the currency region one dollar 40 nextear. that is adopted by an increasing number of strategists. said it would rise to 150 by the end of 2018. breaking news. irish border, should i say, the only outstanding issue. it is getting tense over here. vonnie: i'm dying to know what the disagreement is. we don't of the details but it will be fascinating to see. u.s. politics, president donald trump will meet with congressional leaders from both on aes as lawmakers work spending measure to avoid a government shutdown saturday. house and senate republicans are also trying to hammer out a tax bill to sign before the end of the year. joining me now is kevin's really. what makes it through a vote today? >> the house of representatives will pass a short-term continuing resolution or a way to fund the government through december 22. they have to pass something before midnight tomorrow euros there is a government shutdown pier 1's this gets to the house today or early tomorrow, the senate will pick it up tomorrow. a partial government s

overs for the firstthe fear of a time. 3382.look at g #btv is on the up and down days for the merrill lynch fang index. it is up nearlyis on the up andr the merrill .9%, and on the year, up more than 50%, but it has been almost a month since we have seen this index at record highs. ,aybe some profit taking, nejr : after the big gains we have seen this year. nejra: yeah, interesting. we are about 90 minutes to the close of equity trading in europe. let's look at where equities are trading. if we look across the region, we have a second day where we are trading sideways on the stoxx 600. thin holiday trading means we not going and were too far. the ftse 100 hit a record yesterday. it is flat in today's session. the cac 40 off slightly as well. more concentrated losses. the stoxx 600 pretty much unchanged. when it comes to the fx base, you are seeing broad-based dollar weakness. earlier we saw the dollar index hit a three-week low. the dollar headed for its first week in a decade. most of the currency is gaining against the greenback, and the euro is one of them. it has hit a 14-week high. thi

bank of america merrill lynch says these growth stocks remain cheap relative to the value.ou're looking at the price-earnings ratio of the russell 1000 growth versus russell 1000 value. still seeing growth, at least for bank of america relatively attractive on a value basis. shery: julie hyman, thank you. kevin: will they or won't they? as marco rubio changed his tune on the republican tax bill? will talk with his former communications director next. this is bloomberg. ♪ kevin: this is bloomberg markets. shery: let's check in on the bloomberg news with mark crumpton. mark: president trump is calling on republican roy moore to can see his loss in the alabama senate race. the president told reporters, "i think he should. he tried." mr. trump endorsed more in the race against democrat doug jones this fight the allegations of sexual misconduct that shadowed his campaign. moore has been discussing a possible recount. united nations security council met today to discuss the situation on the korean peninsula. the secretary-general at this blunt assessment. >> the situation on the

not the only victim of the tacteck the conviction of a business transaction with enron and the merrill lynch. that sent people to jail. guess what they were know innocent. that was while the circuit court. weissman accused of intimidating witnesses. making up crimes and with holding evidence that helped to defed and tied to the deal and the obama administration cover up. y. did mull are appoint this guy? he knew his track record and he was in charge of the fraud session. weissman signed the b. plea agreement. an toilet the clear cloor. >> yates denieded a direct order from the president. her boss refused to defend the legal constitutional travel ban in january. weissman's e mail, reads, i'm so proud. i'm in awe. thank you so much, all my deepest respects. pretty unbelievable. shows where his political bias is. also your mainstream media they are corrupt. they spread fake news in an attempt to destroy and damage this president hour after hour, minute after minute. latest involved reports a special council as the issued a subpoena to daoism bank for information about accounts held by trump and

boj and bank of america merrill lynch's head of japan economic joining us with that view.nd next, a look at the year ahead. joining is with his outlook with the banking industry and the economy at large. this is bloomberg. ♪ rishaad: you are back with bloomberg markets. hosting the year ahead asia conference. and important issues challenges. chief international correspondent, she is there. >> that is a big question and it must be the fourth industrial revolution. technology is disrupting every sector there is. and in the banking sector alone, expect 30% of jobs to be lost over the next five years. that is a huge problem for the industry. but the upside for asia is growth. companies are growing between 5% and 7%. and it is benefiting from that growth. it is great third-quarter numbers, record operating profit. the question is if that is going forward. >> and we have definitely benefited from it. it is a very strong nine months for the group. announced some results last week. challenges that we will be facing. if it is sustainable, i think the answer is yes. macroeconomics,

and ice, and the recent acquisition of the b of a merrill lynch business it's the bone marrowion celebrating a 25th anniversary we mentioned some of the big earnings tonight, already have darden out. >> i couldn't believe how strong the same store sales are that's a very good example what i'm talking about, that people are coming out of their homes and they are starting to go and go out at darden darden is middle america i have no pull at olive garden whatsoever it is disconcerting to me but that's all right, i don't need to get in front of other people. it's a miraculous quarter. there's a lot good to like that stock can go higher from here. people are out of casual restaurant plays that they want to own and by the way, i'm shocked that quodoba off the books and jack in the box is up. that's because people felt it would get 300 million. it got a little more than that from private equity. there was a time when people felt when chipotle was on fire that it was going to be worth more some thought more than jack in the box, that didn't happen. pay close attention to bonds because

the business transaction between enron and merrill lynch sent people to jail. guess what?hey were innocent. that decision was reversed by the fifth circuit u.s. circuit court of appeals. weissmann has also been accused of intimidating witnesses, making of crimes they don't exist, as in one case, withholding evidence that was exculpatory, that help they defended, and he is also tied to that corrupt uranium one deal, and the obama administration cover up. why did mueller appoint this guy? he knew his track record. backck then, weissmann was in charge of the doj's fraud section, during the russian bribery scheme. as gregg jarrett points out, he actually signed the s bottom of the plea agreement from the brush and businessman involved in my case. here's the new, explosive information we have tonight. in an email released after a request by judicial watch, weissmann, the guy i am telling you about, he told the former acting attorney general, sally yates, and obama appointee, he was proud of her. what was he so proud of? yates denied a direct order from the president, her boss,

as part of the enron investigation weissmann sent four merrill lynch executives to jail for as long as ayear. guess what they were innocent. that conviction was overturned this time by the fifth circuit of appeals. here's the bottom line, weissmann? guess what? he is a legal tyrant. he has been accuse of doing just about anything to secure a conviction. does he not care about equal justice under the law. he has been accused of intimidating witnesses. making up crimes that do not even exist. and even withholding evidence that would have been exculpatory and help the defense in one case. and weissmann is also directly tied to that corrupt uranium one deal. an obama administration's attempt to hide it from you, the american people. weissmann? guess what? he was in charge of the doj's fraud section during the russian bribery scheme. gregg jarrett pointed out weissmann's signature look there at the bottom of the plea deal at the center of that case. also tonight breaking information about the trump-hating, hillary-loving fbi agent peter struk. he is the guy fired from mueller's team politic

the conviction of a business transaction between enron and merrill lynch, it sent people to jail.lso reversed by the fifth circuit court of appeals. critics have also accused wiseman of intimidating witnesses, creating crimes that do not even exist, and in one case in particular, withholding exculpatory as and as that would have helped a defendant and just like mueller, wiseman is also tied to the corrupt uranium one deal in the ensuing cover-up. wiseman ran the doj's fraud section during the russian bribery scheme and gregg jarrett actually noticed it was his name and his signature on the bottom of the plea agreement signed by the russian businessman involved in that case. and we can't forget that mueller is also, what, best friends, bff with james comey. a huge massive conflict of interest and potentially even a violation of law. all of this is inexcusable in any country that cares about the rule of law. if you should not be allowed to tolerate this in any way shape, manner or form. we should be asking ourselves a simple question, why in god's name would robert mueller up with t

warm air trying to merrill lynch -- trying to move in all day. we'll stay on the mild side overnight especially into the day tomorrow. storm team4 radar not showing much in the way of rain. it is trying to move in. this is not hitting the ground clouds are definitely here. here's the rain and you can see it is actually some enhanced rain, some thunderstorms in little rock. but all that rain moving right in towards our region overnight tonight. what's that going to mean for your saturday? let's take you hour by hour here. first off 11:00 tonight, if you're heading out to dinner with friends or the move iz, no matter what you're doing this evening, i think you're going to be fine through at least midnight. by around 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 a.m., here comes the rain. notice it's just about everywhere. also notice by around 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, it's from d.c. northward. if you're south fredericksburg leonard, it will be warm. that's where we're expecting the wet weather. by noon just about everybody on the dry side with the exception of areas to the west. if y

as part of the enron investigation, weissmann's and four merrill lynch investigatior jail.hat was also overturned by the fifth u.s. circuit of appeals. weissmannrn has been accused of doing anything to secure a conviction. withholding exculpatory evidence and intimidating witnesses, just among the few charges. lastly, judicial watch released an email where weissmann told the former acting attorney general, sally yates, how proud he was her after yates divided direct order from her boss, the president of the united states, and refused to defend the travel ban. "the wall street journal" is reporting that weissmann attended hillary clinton's election night party. wow. finally, there is the truncating,ig clinton loving fbi agents strzok. fox news has obtained the anti-trump, pro-clinton text messages.fr before we show you them, here is the back story. this guy, strzok, used to be a top counter intelligence official before being demoted and actually sign the documents that started the entire so-called russian investigation. strzok's team was assigned to handle the anti-trump dos

you mentioned the bank of america merrill lynch survey.re is a consensus building it ishould this get past, kicking in next year so we should see some further gains in global equities and u.s. equities as well. it is also about sectors. earlier this month we sought tech selling off very steeply because it stands to benefit lasts from these taxes. isis one of the sectors that lower taxed in the u.s. so investors are shifting to banks and sectors that could benefit more. it will be interesting to see how this turns out. tech is the biggest outperform or in the u.s. and europe. we will see if this changes -- these changes could change that and investors want to cut down on exposure. matt: investors are bullish but they want to make specific picks. thanks for joining us. great coverage. markets for us. we are minutes away from the open. we will take a look at your stocks to watch that you need to pay attention to today including holsinger has a 5% stake in that -- paul singer has a 5% stake in that country. the market open is minutes away. ♪ m

as part of the enron investigation, weissmann sent four merrill lynch executives to jail for as longs the year. guess what? they were innocent. that conviction was also later overturned. this time, by the fifth u.s. circuit court of appeals. here's the bottom line. weissmann, guess what, he's a legal tyrant. he has been accused of doing just about anything to secure ao conviction. does he not care about equal justice under the law? 's been accused of intimidatingu witnesses, making of crimes than withholding evidence that would have been exculpatory and help the defense in one case and weissmann is also directly tied to the krupp uranium one deal, and obama administrations attempt to hide him from you. he was part of their fraud dissection during the russian bribery scheme. gregg jarrett pointed out that weissmann's a signature is at the bottom of the plea deal that was signed by the russian businessmen at the center of that case. also, breaking information about the trumpasti painting, hillary loving fbiet agent peter strauc. he is the guy that was fired from muller's team for polit

. >> brilliant thank you so much, david david houner, from bofa merrill lynch.oin in the conversation you can e-mail streetsignseurope@cnbc.com or follow us on twitt twitter @streetsignscnbc or tweet me @cnbcjou. >>> coming up, uber's appeal we are at magistrate court as they fight to keep its london license. we'll be right back. my name is jeff sheldon, and i'm the founder of ugmonk. before shipstation it was crazy, like... it's great when you see a hundred orders come in, but then you realize i've got a hundred orders i have to ship out. shipstation streamlined that whole process. the order data, the weights of the items, everything is seamlessly put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping label everything's pretty much done. it's so much easier so now we're ready, bring on the orders. shipstation. the number one choice of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get two months free. my friend susie cracks and hello sensitive bladder. ring a bell? then you have to try always discreet. i didn't think protection this thin could work. but the super ab

. >> rich ross, quickly, goldman sachs seemingly failed, merrill lynch put it on one of their lists,iction, everybody has a list would you rather buy goldman on a break above that old double top? o or do you think we're buying it here understanding we're splitting hairs somewhat >> no, you have to wait for goldman sachs, up 3% year to date, morgan stanley up 23%. that recent resurgence in goldman, the upgrade puts the cherry on that little rally here we've seen the big losers have been the big winners over the last week. that trade is over you want to buy strength, not weakness don't buy wells fargo into resistance at 60 by the breakouts in citi, jpmorgan, you know the names >> say hi to bitcoin, pat him on the head there you go >> the most momentum in the banks, the regionals >> rich ross >>> breaking news, let's get to john harwood in de.c >> reporter: the senate is in the process of passing an extension of government funding, that means there will not be a shutdown tomorrow when the funding was supposed to run out. the current short term funding extension goes to december 22nd. th

bank of america and merrill lynch says the big story will be over inflation.hat it is further tightening in the labor market. joining us to discuss, the head of u.s. economics. great to have you. talk about the rebound you are expecting and where does that put us versus the market pricing of what it does next year versus what the fed hopes. >> our review is pretty simple. it is not going to be dramatic. trend,going to see a that we think it comes amid labor market tightening, unemployment having it handled by next year, even though the relationship has flattened we think it is relevant. we are going to see dynamic start to play out. sense, if we get unemployment into the inflation, people would have guessed with unemployment falling we would have guessed we would have seen inflation already picking up more. what is it in this unemployment rate that will be different? >> it is all relevant. people have been clawing for this for a wild. you should see these dynamics play out. they really disappointed this year. degree of tightening. it is been a steady downward

. >> bank of america/merrill lynch did a survey of ceos. when asked what they'd do with the additional money, they said buybacks and dividends. >> what happens to the money when it is paid out in dividends? it causes the economy to grow. >> that's basic trickle down economics, which we don't really have a lot of evidence it works. >> when people have more money -- >> you see the experiment they tried in kansas? they had to reverse it. >> when people have more money to spend, it grows the economy. that's a simple fact. >> all right. when regular people have more money, and they're not getting more money out of this. >> how many people get dividends? tens of millions of regular people. >> the stock market benefits mostly the wealthiest people in the country. >> fun talking to you. i wish we had more we agreed on. once again, you keep fighting, but we're going to keep saying tax cuts for middle america simplifies and grows the economy. >> doesn't seem to be what this is. but we thank you for your time. >> we'll see. >> congressman chris stewar

so they are dealing with clients and the wealth management division -- whether it is a merrill lyncht or a u.s. trust client. a lot of people have money tied up in bank of america, and that is used as collateral for a short loan that you would need to go ahead and pay. are they seeing a lot of demand for these kinds of services, whether it is bank of america or the other bank? of alls an overfill incoming questions. we have had several banks -- we had bank of america, suntrust, and pnc telling us yes, we are getting inbound calls and helping offer this to clients. i want to say it is not a new product, it is something you have to already have with the bank, a relationship that is already there. joe: and the structure that it is a loan from the bank -- i was to go to my bank, if i did not want to do it, the bank would be extending me a loan. is there an interest rate on that? is it is short-term loan? what is up? loan, and short-term you pay as you are go, -- as you go. but it varies, depending on what client you are. laura keller, thank you very much. julie: still ahead, commodities.

bank of america merrill lynch 2018 outlook conference was and the cohead of global economic research. they see the economy having weathered well some of the big ships. -- shifts. they see modi on the right track. and they have economic tailwinds. they have a growing middle class, young people coming into the workforce to drive growth. i guess, thatng, some people are actually talking for a rate cut. david: yes. let's talk more on that. we are joined out of singapore by vishnu varathan, head of economic strategy at mizuho bank. this entire debate on the r.b.i., what i find strange on threeeeting is that all probabilities are on the table. not equally, but help us understand the confusion here. >> i think what we could possibly do is use the time dimension to make sense of all three possibilities. i'm completely on board with kathleen. we are forecasting that the next move will be late next year. it is most likely going to be a hike rather than a cut. cut now ist for a premised mainly on the fact that the uptake we saw in industrial -- the pickup in industrial production has not been a

and we are starting to see some bullish reports from firms like bank of america, merrill lynch, jpmorgan, both seeing the s&p 500 at 3,000 by the end of next year let's bring in our chief global economists gentlemen, welcome you sound a little more cautious, richard, than i might have anticipated why? >> well, obviously the stock market is enamored with the tax reform plan likely to come about. in addition to the deregulation we've seen through year and likely over the next couple years. once the smoke clears, it remains to be seen whether this has legs by that, i mean other than a one-time adjustment to stock prices, is this going to last in the future will there be further growth, supportive of the higher interest rates and there's no evidence of that. >> forgive me for interrupting i beg you. don't you see the possibility in corporate profits from a lower tax rate that will apply starting next year, don't you think that will boost corporate profits? if you apply the same multiple, you get higher prices. >> no question the corporate sector is benefit and go that is reflected gdp foreca

united states, have a profit, revenues, all the different ways you count it, it is great for us and merrill lynch is how we deal with the revenue compression. people use the word robot advisor to describe it. how do you make a financial advisor do more and offload more of the work for them so they can spend more time working with a client as opposed to working in the back moving the client assets around? more planning. when you go to the corporate side, we have a tremendous commercial business. all over the united states, globally on the high-end. the job there is how we can support these clients. there is tremendous opportunity to do capital market activities for midsized clients that our market share is single digits and should be multiple that. how do you deploy their? then you go in the corporate investment banking markets. the markets is where we will always invest but it will be constrained a bit by the amount of risk we are willing to take. our team did a great job looking back, projecting out this quarter's revenue. it has basically gone between 12.9 and 16 billion every year. quarter,re

its limited supply >> the most incredible stat i've heard this week came from bank of america merrill lynch that said, bill, stocks have out paced bonds for a year and a half now first time that's happened seven-year streak of outperformance faculties since 1928 and third time ever in 220 years of american financial systems. does that worry you at all i mean, when i hear those kind of comparisons, '28 was not the best year to compare anything to. >> well, you know, it all worries me bonds worry me, too, because all asset prices, in my opinion, brian, perhaps bitcoin as well, are artificially inflated based upon the creation of credit and the -- you know, the presentation by central banks of buying $1 trillion worth of bonds or corporate bonds on an annual basis and until that stops, then this artificiality, not just the bond market with negative interest rates in parts of the world, but artificiality in terms of high pe ratio relative to that, you know, it is going to be suspicious. so i would be very cautious from this point forward i've been cautious as you know for 12 to 18 months and un

how's that for a setup bank of america merrill lynch noting this morning that if stocks outperform bonds this year, looks like they will, it will be the seventh straight year they have done that that hasn't happened since 1928 and is only the third time it's ever happened in the 220 years since the stock market exists. >> yeah. that really spells out how little volatility there's been and how much optimism there's been great. we are optimistic. we like what's going on in washington we like tax reform but the optimism in the market, the growth of asset classes really isn't justified by the underlying fundamentals. with a seven-year run like that, we are due for a pull-back >> wait a minute, guys if the seven years started at the very bottom of one of the worst bear markets we ever hope we live through incredible valuation place to begin look, i totally expect and we hope volatility will increase. we think there's a lot of complacency here no question. however -- >> mike, that's a great point you are making i understand there's causation and there's correlation. i get your point but i also

employees as they need according to john shin, who is a foreign exchange strategist at bank of america merrill lynch. in fact, i think he is quoted as saying companies are sitting on a large amount of cash. they're not financially constrained. shin, who conducted a survey of more than 300 companies asking their plans for a tax overhaul. and said they're all basically focused on their shareholders and engaging in buybacks. so as the fed looks at this, and they're saying there is not a linkage between the tax cuts in investment. in fact ceos are saying they're going to do share buybacks. as the fed is looking at that and your policies, are share buybacks generally, are they going to increase wages? >> well, i don't think share buybacks would increase wages. the usual linkage would be investment in capital and equipment would if they occur order to the extent that they occur would help raise the productivity of the labor force. and in boosting their productivity, would likely end up raising wages. but the linkage occurs through capital spending and not through share buybacks. >> yeah, share buybacks do

or 65% in a survey, just one survey done by bank of america, merrill lynch, 65% of u.s. corporations polled by them, you know, we'll pay down some of our debt. like when you were a kid, somebody gave you 100 bucks and you owed your buddy 10 -- neil: touted to do the things they're expected to do, anything would be good, jonathan, whether they buy back stock, pay down debt, pay shareholders but i think republicans as well would be disappointed if these companies don't hire more, do stuff like that because they put, that is these republicans their heinies on the line here. i'm sure they're expecting some bang for the buck from these companies. >> certainly. key example, fedex, said we will use the money to hire more people and our pension system this is unachievable by president donald trump and republicans in the house and senate. very historic, if i may say, to mirror your point especially on obamacare, the mandate, this is first installment of something we've been talking about for a number of years, the repeal and replacement of obamacare. neil: that was a very big dea

a new survey from bank of americ america/merrill lynch has bitcoin as the most crowded trade for the of december. respondents named bitcoin as the most crowded trader from 26%, in september, when it first made the top of the list. meanti meantime, faang, facebook, amazon, apple, netflix, google, came in as a close second followed by being short volatility. >> yes. >> given the kind of year we've had, no major surprise, mike i don't know what it means, are institutions crowded into bitcoin? >> i have a feeling when -- first of all, it means merrill put it on the survey, so, therefore, a lot of times when you do get results of the most crowded trade, it literally is what people, themselves, own i would doubt that's the case. these are global fund managers i think it's a sense of this came out of nowhere. it's a tremendous monstrous percentage gain this year. therefore, if i think it's not worth much, the fact it's going up at all mean it must be crowded. >> it must be crowded. kevin, are you crowding into it? >> i'm trying to find an institutional investor now that the options are avai

lynch ismerica merrill the second-largest u.s.ne of the largest dollar deposit holders in the world. and in 40 other countries around the world. there is a view of the economy not many others have. when i sat down with brian iynihan before the holidays, started asking what they could see from the vantage point. >> on the consumer side, it's what people are doing. we have roll up what they spend money on. whether it is cash out of the atm's, those checks written. the debit or credit cards used, it is a 6% over the last year. in what is driving that is people are spending more money. check writing has gone up. is the fastest big number growing. consumers are spending well. it kind of drives the economy. stuff and they invest in our house. it is very good news for the u.s.. are they borrowing more or worried about credit? not worried: i'm about credit. even if you look overall, there is concern about lending in that kind of got back. it hasn't been anything because we're still working through the memories of what happened before with