coming up, peter thiel is potentially eying a new media network.his is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ emily: amazon hopes to -- for the rights to stream. haver, amazon deals focused on tennis and the national football league, not the biggest for the the u.k. audience. investor peter thiel is said to be exploring the possibility of creating a conservative news outlet. this according to revelations in the hotly discussed new book " fire and. by michael wolff. he is said to be back by the mercer family. david kirkpatrick is in new york. the book has a lot of revelations and definitely a lot of pushback, but what does it say about peter thiel? >> he's very interested in starting this conservative network. he had been talking with roger ailes about that idea, but then roger il's died and peter thiel has apparently stuck with the idea and has talked with the mercer's about helping him that it. michael wolff talked a little bit about trump's relationship with peter thiel. sarah: that's true. trump tends to go across strong and say about it -- i'll be your best friend for

i spoke with peter thiel in riyadh about the city of neom.he city of the future that his highness prince muhammad bin salman is building for a reported price tag of half a billion dollars. >> one thing we've been talking about here is what his highness is doing with neom and all of the technology that is going to be in this new city of the future where. do you see the opportunities in terms of starting from scratch, when you have a city, what kind of technologies are going to be most needed? >> well, there's a tremendous amount that one can do when one starts something new from scratch, because one thing that's very striking about the great cities of the world, like london, new york, you know, silicon valley, many other places, is that even though there is this incredibly dynamic economic places, it's extremely hard to change things, and so new york city it costs a billion dollars to build one mile of subway or something like that. maria: wow. >> in san francisco, you can't build new highways or anything new, the transportation grid is set. s

venture capitalist peter thiel made a giant bet on the volatile cryptocurrency. hillary vaughn has the details. >> hey, dagen, "the wall street journal" reports that peter thiel's venture capital firm, founders fund, bought $15 billion worth of bitcoin currency several months ago. neil told investors that that investments is worth hundreds of millions of dollars but it is worth even more today, because bitcoin jumped 11% on the news that up with of silicon valley's elite is putting his money where his mouth is. neil in october told fox business's maria bartiromo last fall that he thinks the cryptocurrency is a safe bet. >> this bitcoin end up being the cyber equivalent of gold and it has, it has a great potential left. it is a very different kind of thing from what people, people in silicon valley normally focus on companies not, you know, algorithms or protocols but this may be, this may be one exception that's very underestimated. >> but not everyone is convinced the crip cocurrency is a safe bet for investors. some worry hackers, levying cyber attacks on the c

organisation and that it has 1,150 people signed up for its services, including silicon valley billionaire peter thielivates ordinary people to shell out up to $200,000 for cryogenic preservation? back in the uk, derek watkinson has signed himself and his family up forjust that via a different outfit called the cryonics institute. i imagine being on my deathbed, dying, and then immediately waking up. if it's going to work, i'm going to wake up straightaway, because the passage of time won't mean anything, because i'm dead. so i'll wake up immediately and hopefully i'll be able to remember things. my memory will be intact, hopefully. who i am. your whole family is going to be preserved as well? yeah. luckily my wife and daughter are for the idea and they are signed up members of cryonics institute. but is this all too good to be true? we spoke to a neuroscientist who has serious misgivings about the basic foundations of cryonics. you really can't afford to freeze biological tissue until it's been adequately protected. but unless you take it down to those low temperatures for protection quite quickly, i

emily: there was a brief mention of peter thiel and his relationship with president trump -- suggestinghat the president didn't much prioritize his relationship with peter. you see that relationship has amounted for anything for silicon valley? david: not really. was in like peter thiel trying to bring that one key tech executives -- but nothing came out of that. have tech companies tremendously benefited from the tax bill, it wasn't directed at helping them at all. it was peripheral. it is funny that you have that clip from tim cook, and apple has done this announcement that they're bringing money back. they give absolutely no credit in all of their discussion to the administration or the tax bill, as far as i saw. that has two great on the president. a tweet fromhave the president saying that he promises companies will bring money back to the u.s.. a huge win for american workers and the usa. is the only significant think this administration has accomplished so far, at all. >> he is quick to take credit for anything these companies do, any lip service they pay competing jobs home and

dove soap, it's now selling turmeric face cream. in business insider, silicon valley billionaire peter thielfrom investing in firms like facebook. now he's set to make millions from bitcoin. and on bloomberg, uk health chiefs have approved the most expensive medicine ever — a $700,000 gene therapy drug called strimvelis made by glaxosmithkline. it treats a rare inherited illness that leaves babies unable to fight infections. and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag bbc—the—briefing looking at the markets... japan is still closed for a public holiday in tokyo but as you can see hong kong is up and also australia. a real surge in the valley of tech stocks in the us. it is making the newspaper headlines. that has really driven at the markets but also the price of oil in focus. 0r you'll spiking as we start a brand—new year. stay with us, the news briefing coming up injust a couple of minutes. hospitals in england have been told to postpone tens of thousands of non—urgent operations and outpatient appointments until the end of this month. nhs chiefs say it'

organisation and that it has 1,150 people signed up for its services, including silicon valley billionaire peter thielpeople to shell out up to $200,000 for cryogenic preservation? back in the uk, derek watkinson has signed himself and his family up for just that via a different outfit called the cryonics institute. i imagine being on my deathbed, dying, and then immediately waking up. if it's gonna work, i'm gonna wake up straightaway, ‘cause the passage of time won't mean anything, because i will be dead. so i'll wake up immediately and hopefully i'll be able to remember things. my memory will be intact, hopefully. who i am. your whole family is going to be preserved as well? yeah. luckily my wife and daughter are for the idea and they are signed up members of the institute. but is this all too good to be true? we spoke to a neuroscientist who has serious misgivings about the basic foundations of cryonics. you really can't afford to freeze biological tissue until it's been appropriately protected. but unless you take it down to those low temperatures for protection quite quickly, it will continue to

i guess it is not entirely shocking that peter thiel would be interested in it, but i think the questionop a bitcoin bubble may very well be an ethereum bubble or the cash - - z cash bubble. how are we trying to understand what the transactions are going on behind -- andike radar detectors speeding police, it is a battle. it goes back and forth. julia: it reminds me of catch me if you can. >> exactly. what privacy was sort of the reason for this -- one of the main reasons for these two currencies to be created, no -- >> it feels like it coin is so yesterday. >> don't forget ripple. >> what was the other one? >> there are hundreds. cash,re's actually jesus jesus coin. >> thank you so much, robert urban. investors eyes were glued to the tax term of this fall, but will there be a tailwind for act of these this year? neil did so will be here to tell us. get involved in the conversation. this is bloomberg. ♪ "what'd you miss?," talk of the republican tax overhaul headlines and market watchers all fall. but now the bill is in, we will -- i am all the tax joined by neil dutta, head of renaissan

he worked for peter thiel and came into the government as a peter thiel protege.s anything wrong with having people in government who have out-of-the-box ideas including bad ideas. if the only ideas you listen to are ideas that begin as good ideas, you're not going to have enough ideas at all. i would draw attention, though, to understand what is happening here to a couple of dates. the did of this memo is february 2017. the date of steve bannon's departure from the national security council is april 2017. after april 2017, steve bannon no longer has access to national security council materials. before april 2017, he does. who is there? who would have an interest in leaking a blue sky document as neil said that solidifies an allegation that he wants to make that the people he didn't like in the trump administration were too close to russia? i think this is the beginning of steve bannon's revenge. and i think we'll see more chapters of that in the days ahead. >> ned price, i want to get your reaction to what we learned today about the testimony that dianne feinste

> so this comes via the "wall street journal" guys according to them, citing sources familiar, peter thiel's firm has amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars of bitcoin, that's again according to people familiar according to those people familiar, the founders fund bought around $15 million to $20 million in bitcoin and at least told its investors it's worth hundreds of millions of dollars. it isn't clear whether or not the founders fund has sold any of its holdings. so interesting development here. it comes of course amid one of the biggest pull-backs for bitcoin prices and a roiling amount of skepticism about whether or not there's a future for it in 2018 after the meteoric rise it had last year >> as you were reporting that, the intra-day move on bitcoin, very very large. clearly the market's responding to see somebody with so much credibility getting into this. >> absolutely. again, this comes of course with regard to a lot of other folks out there saying this move that we have seen to the down side could be maybe foretelling of other things in the future there's a huge debate, especial

emily: peter thiel said that he believes that innovation in smartphones is over.re the days of quantum leaps in smartphone innovation over, or are there more quantum leaps to come? tim: you know, i don't agree with that view at all. the thing that drives quantum leaps is the core technology. and when i think about all of the things that are going to change from a core technology point of view in the future, i think we are just getting started, and so i am incredibly excited. and clearly, there is nothing that -- i think virtually anybody would say is going to replace the smartphone anytime soon. and you know, as time has gone on, the smartphone has become more important to people's lives. when it started, the phone call was still a dominant reason for having it. now, if you look at what people are doing on smartphones, it is a minor piece of what a phone is now. and so when i look at that and the health kit and what that has done in terms of getting people's health data, car play, the use of it in my car, i am controlling all of my house with siri using the iphone

how important is it or not that peter thiel got in this, and we don't know whether he has gotten outit yet. >> i think it's news worthy, and i think it legitimatizes it. we have the future with cme and cboe launched a few weeks ago, and we saw the index of 2014 people are a little resistant of getting into the futures some prime focus of pushing back thiel coming to the space is just another way of solving that >> it's still all about bitcoin. we put in this category of crypto currency, and there's a number of people -- i imagine viewers -- who to the extent they're playing this, they're saying maybe bitcoin has already gotten its attention i'm going to jump in on some of these other guys and hope that that is where the value play is. one of these other -- whether it's a ethereum or z cash or name your currency, emerges. what do you think of that? >> i think thief -- some of the companies don't have underlying businesses what's happening today is real companies are coming on board. i was on the board for naga, a publicly listed company in frankfurt. now, more private companies are sa

are we witnessing the demise of am >>> billionaire investor peter thiel is reportedly making a big investment in bitcoin. thiel is one of the bold faced names in silicon valley. the venture capital fund he founded has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of bitcoin. an early investor in facebook. >>> amazon shipped 5 billion items worldwide with its prime membership last year. that's the first time the company released that information. amaz still won't say how many consumers across blo participate in its amazon prime membership programs. >>> 2017 marked the safest year in commercial aviation history. according to a dutch consulting firm, airlines recorded zero accident deaths in commercial passenger jets last year. that data excludes cargo flights, military transports and accidents caused by international acts. the average number of airliner accidents and fatalities has been falling for the past two decades. >>> almost a year after donald trump became president, promising to bring auto production back to the u.s., the industry is in transition. several automakers have announced pla

peter thiel's holdings are now worth $700 million.is early bets on airbnb and spacex. with mifid took effect speculation on what it means. to --oomberg lp competes >> what we found out when we and id the legislation was a responsible person to negotiate all that stuff was that product development was driven not by the interest of the clients. i think is a cultural change. alix: steven englander is here with us. join us to break it down, nejra cehic. walk us through any market distortions we have seen today. nejra: we have seen lower volume, lower volatility, but you could question how much of it is down how much is 2 and due to the first week of january. one thing for example that mifid 2 requires is for any firm traded to have a specific code lei.n as an there have been cap locations we have heard about anecdotally, so that is just one example of where we have seen some glitches, but overall it has been fairly quiet. david: what is different for -- alix: what is different for you guys at rafiki capital management? steven: fortunately

emily: definitely interesting news from peter thiel.king about technology, starting strong again. day for theullish start of 2018. before we turn to nasdaq, s&p 500 putting in a record high, but this is the first time for the s&p 500 that has happened since 1992. we even nasdaq outperformed in a big way, up 1.5%. interestingly a lot of it was tech, but it was also biotech. and you are looking at the strength of the chip, stocks there that really throw those gains, amd and macron, and the named by bank of america, merrill lynch and other chip stocks gaining the month of november in an industry group or . and then relative to biotech, biogen and others gaining in a significant way, for sure. we were talking about apple earlier, but i see green across the screen for apple. what else did you see? abigail: there was another analyst out positive on apple as well. the other analyst was michelson at hyper. pipermike olson at based on a bullish iphone customer survey. there is possibility that the iphone x isn't doing as well as --e might like,

is peter thiel, the internet entrepreneur and billionaire.money from what i understand they are still close and that could happen. i'm speculating here. you're asking me who they can get money from. they are still pretty close. peter thiel was a loyal guy and pretty close during the campaign. that is the way where he goes -- not the mercer is. they own a piece of it that they are billionaires. you go to somebody like andrew breitbart's widow and say how much money as this throwing off. not a tremendous amount. i'll give you 10 million right now to buy your piece. and what would he do with it then? you might make it into a tv thing. steve was full of ideas during the campaign of what might happen with bright art post a trump loss. if you know this from the wolff book, yes, from the wolff book they talk about how roger rails, our old boss, with lots of talk about doing a bright bar tv where roger might have played a role. neil: by the way, the point at which donald trump one. now rogers passed away, donald trump one, so that got put aside. now

emily: definitely interesting news from controversial investor peter thiel.k about technology, starting strong again. abigail: a bullish day for the start of 2018. before we turn to nasdaq, s&p 500 putting in a record high, as did the nasdaq, but this was the first time for the s&p 500 since 1992. the bulls are in charge relative to tech. we have seen the nasdaq outperformed in a big way. lot of it was a tech, but it was also biotech. relative to tech, we were looking at lots of strength to the chip. some of the stocks there that really drove those gains -- amd and micron.- amd some stocks gaining on data for the month of november in an industry report and then andtive to biotech, biogen, insight, many others gaining in a significant way for sure. emily: we were talking about apple earlier. i see green across the stream -- green across the screen. what else did you see? : apple finishing higher by about 1.8%. piperlson over at reiterated his price target based on a bullish iphone customer survey. last week, of course, a good weekend for apple on the possibili

head to cnbc.com to read how many millions peter thiel has invested in the cryptocurrency >>> germanew car sales fell in december to 254,000. that's according to an industry source quoted by reuters the source said the figure fell in part because of fewer selling days during the month. new car sales in germany did see a rise of 2.7% for the full year george gallio from evercorp joins me on the set. it appears the numbers out of germany were better than the numbers out of france yesterday, where we saw that the french car registration levels were very disappointing, and that did send the auto sector down quite a lot. it's rebound today on the back of the german numbers. what is the european auto market looking like from a sales perspective this year? >> yeah. from a sales perspective, 2017 was a relatively strong year, where we continued to see growth across most of europe's major markets. as we look to 2018 we expect to see some growth, but that's likely to slow down in germany but also when we look at france, italy and spain. on top of that, we would expect uk registrations to conti

, which includes getting back into the new businesses but he does have another powerful friend, peter thiel say don't be surprised if he doesn't finance any of this stuff, including what people say a possible -- make a possible run at buying breitbart. that is not out of the question people close to him tell me. not now probably. he's going to do this political thing now. we should point out bannon will be before the house intelligence committee talking about potential russian meddling in the 2016 election. so he has a busy schedule right now. his post -- he does have access to money if -- he was a former investment banker. he knows how to raise money. he has this connection with thiel. people say if he wants to make a run at breitbart. if he wants to go to breitbart's widow and say you make x amount a year or very little a year on this website, we're willing to pay you $5 million, $10 million, here's the financing, that could happen. that's what people say. >> neil: not on his own. he would need -- >> he has a few bucks. he's been around. thiel likes him. that's what i hear. >> neil: he's

i do fundamentally believe in democracy and i think it's scary that you get the sense and peter thiel that he's not an outlier. thats' sort of described as a fringe character, but he's expressing the main thought that democrat i is -- democracy is bad. that when you have democracy you have not smart people running the wormed. and the co-founder of paypal with peter thiel, he is sort of saying he believes in regulation, but not-- they think it's not efficient or, i think it gets down to democracy and that's important and why i wrote the book, i mean. >> sara, you've written about how specifically within technology criticisms that that world is also in certain ways reflective of technology and that female voices, voices of minority writers have been overlooked in a systemic way. can you talk a little about, you know, do you see that end of it changing at all? >> i absolutely do see that changing which is part of why i was looking at this kind of larger eco system of people writing about these things. i think certainly in the last couple of years it's drastically changed which it's all f

there is a thing that peter thiel.nyway, keith, curt, thank you very much for giving us insight into the man at the center of all of this intrigue this morning. appreciate it. back to you. >>> chris, much more on the bombshells inside that michael wolff book as new excerpts are expected to be released this morning. we will read them to you. but first the basketball ball playing family has arrived in lithuania. what does that look like? technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how. steyer: the president's national security adviser -- guilty. his campaign chairman -- under indictment. his son-in-law -- secret talks with russians. the director of the fbi -- fired. special counsel robert mueller's criminal investigation has already shown why the president should be impeached. you can send a message to your representatives at needtoimpeach.com and demand they finally take a stand. this president is not above the law. i tabut with my back

interestingly enough, peter thiel of the founders fund, venture capital fund co-founded by him, he is a huge investor. he was early investor in name like facebook. an early investor into bitcoin, 15, 20, million, already worth hundreds of millions. jamie dimon says it's a fraud. bridgewater has comments saying it's a bubble. be careful on that one. last but not least, i mentioned tax overhaul to benefit companies, in particular shake shack up 8% on positive comments from suntrust, saying that restaurants, top and bottom line will benefit. consumer spending will help. people are going into these restaurants and buying a little more, being a little happier as they eat their burgers. david: we like shake shack. nicole. good stuff. thank you very much. >>> on to commodities. phil, oil was down a little bit. settling down at highest level in three years, 61 bucks a barrel. how will all this affect gas prices? >> i think gas prices are going back up. initially they didn't, dave. we saw heating oil prices go up, gas prices go down, because it was so cold, everybody stayed home. they didn't d

but noted silicon valley investor peter thiel is not worried about it.he "wall street journal" says his founders fund has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin across its various funds. it says that thiel made an initial investment in the middle of 2017 of about 15 to $20 million into bitcoin. since early september the value is up 5 times over currently trading at just below $15,000. thiel co-founded paypal and was an early investor in facebook. >>> stock market working with some new records. the nasdaq opened today above 7,000 for the first time a very strong start for 2018 for the stock market. tech stocks leading the way. apple, facebook, google, netflix all doing very well. >>> today the gains were a little more modest. let's go to the big board and see how we're doing so far. the dow is up by just over 30 points. nasdaq up 23. s&p, which also started at a record high, up by 5 points. emily and kenny, back to you >> thank you. >>> time now for a look at what's coming up on "cbs this morning." norah o'donnell joins us from new york

billionaire tech investor peter thiel is considering starting a conservative news outlet according tones book about the trump white house and report from buzzfeed news. buzzfeed says thiel is talking to robert mercer and his family about backing the news venture. computers, -- the company insists users have not been impacted. apple says recent software updates will mitigate one of the vulnerabilities and they will come out with updates for safari web browser to defend against another security flaw. that is your bloomberg business flash. tom: we want to begin with kevin cirilli in washington with a morning must read. i want to make clear this was a balanced and tempered essay by the shell goldberg in the new york times even though the kindine is to be inflammatory. -- the way relatives, opportunists, try to manipulate and manage the president and how they often fail. she goes on to say some of the military men trying to study american foreign-policy amid the president's wins and tantrums might be doing something quietly decent, sacrificing their reputations for the greater good. with t

josh >> kelly, maybe we shouldn't be too surprised here that peter thiel's firm is placing a big bet on bitcoin after all, thiel, himself, is a libertarian and technologist with a deep background in digital payments as co-founder of paypal. the "journal" reporting that founders fund bought around $20 million in bitcoin in a bet that spread across several funds including one that began investing in mid 2017. the investment is now apparently worth hundreds of millions of dollars after the digital currency skyrocketed higher. jumping more than 1,300% over the past 12 months though off about 25% from its high thiel isn't the only big name silicon valley vc investing in cryptocurrencies benchmark's bill gurley was on cnbc not long ago where we sounded like a bitcoin bull. >> we do have money in bitcoin and i don't think it's irrational i think of it as an incredible store of value for the rest of the world. >> now, not everyone is a believer, of course. jp morgan's jamie dimon calls bitcoin a fraud that won't end well kelly, back to you >> meanwhile, what did i read about the new one toda

bitcoin took off right about the time "the wall street journal" reported investor peter thiel made aignificant investment. he bought 15 to $20 million of bitcoin. "the journal" reported those holdings are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. it wasn't feel whether the founders had sold any of their holdings bitcoin may be king of the crypto hill but the upstarts have made gains. ripple and ethereum are now almost one-third of the market capitalization of bitcoin. this may be the year for digital currencies from governments. venezuela is reportedly launching their oil-backed cryptocurrency soon, maybe this week, backed by 5.3 billion barrels of oil that's what they say now, and russia is also reportedly developing a crypto ruble which may be useful in avoiding international sanctions. they may be able to settle accounts with counterparts all over the world and avoid sanctions. this is not really cryptocurrencies, this is just a ruble trading on a digital platform presumably it would have a one-to-one relationship. back to you, melissa >> thank you very much, bob pisani what do you m

gawker, kelly, and the value of that bid apparently could not be learned but the headline here, peter thielan offer to purchase gawker. kelly, back to you. >> and we'll see what his plans are if he does buy it. josh, thank you. >>> meanwhile netflix shares rallied more than 66% over the past year and a major bank now thinks it's on its way to becoming the second largest media company by revenue our "fast money" traders tell us how high they think the stock could go, next. >>> first, though, the white house taking more steps to make it more difficult for poor borrowers to get loans from banks. banks. richvator. if that is, in fact, the case, next right. so who sent you? new guy. what new guy? watson. my analysis of sensor and maintenance data indicates elevator 3 will malfunction in 2 days. there you go. you still need a pass. you or joints. something for your heart... there you go. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. >>

from declinesback on reports that peter thiel is holding a large amount of the cryptocurrency.t that is spread across several funds, including one that launched in mid-2017 that made bitcoin one of its first investments. the founder started buying before the volatile december and is not clear if sold yet. hollywoodd tough with with moviegoing falling to the lowest level in a generation. 6% to $1.25st billion, the lowest since 1992. it is a different story in china where sales are at a record as local blockbusters ruled. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. haidi: thank you for that. theite tit-for-tat between u.s. president and north korea, asian stocks pretty sanguine, extending record highs. as thate as amusing tweet is, it is still a reminder of this game of chicken taking place at the highest level and how geopolitical tensions continuing to be a key theme for this new year. rishaad: his button is bigger than the other one. nevermind. up, helping are gains across the board for the asia-p

the bull story, momentum look at peter thiel, came out with conversation about it being the global currencyforward. the bears, to your point, about that merrill lynch note, certainly think that puts wind in the sails for bears as regulation and the conversation, what will governments do to moving bitcoin in 2018? may push us lower churning around this $15,000 level. >> talking $15,000 as a level, which levels are you watching and which direction will we go >> my answer is much shorter >> you look at it -- >> from december 27th, actually a remarkably tight channel for bitcoin. i mean by that, averages of 12% low to high on a daily basis the channel comes in about 1300 on the down side if it breaks below that, could be the next big -- 13,000, the next big move. probably 10,000 my objective if it breaks through. >> thanks. my lucky day both joining me on the show. on that live show joined by phil orlando with fredder a federate. and historic day in the markets. what is in store for the oil market, also, and that's all at the toofp the hour. "futures now" @cnbc.com. "halftime report" is back af

organisation and that it has 1,150 people signed up for its services, including silicon valley billionaire peter thiel a different outfit called the cryonics institute. i imagine being on my deathbed, dying, and then immediately waking up. if it's gonna work, i'm gonna wake up straightaway, ‘cause the passage of time won't mean anything, because i'm dead. so i'll wake up immediately and hopefully i'll be able to remember things. my memory will be intact, hopefully. who i am. your whole family is going to be preserved as well? yeah. luckily my wife and daughter are for the idea and they are signed up members of cryonics institute. but is this all too good to be true? we spoke to a neuroscientist who has serious misgivings about the basic foundations of cryonics. you really can't afford to freeze biological tissue until it's been appropriately protected. but unless you take it down to those low temperatures for protection quite quickly, it will continue to decompose. and my problem with the cryonics dream, the wishful thinking contracts that are sold, is that they haven't resolved that conflict. there's

jason: now coming into the fold ringing as back to silicon valley is peter thiel, who apparently may with mercer and others about a new conservative media company. david: they have reportedly been talking to roger ailes after he left fox news to hire fox news talent. jason: just before he died. alix: who would be the talent? all of those who no longer work there because of sexual harassment and steve bannon? david: it is a long list. jason: one of the things that is very much in the water as this wolff book gets sold earlier than they planned, the president has sued him and threatened his publishers. david: to slow him down. jason: absolutely. what it does seem to speak to is a real reshuffling of the sort of commentariat, but this is so interesting about the mercer's ,ome of the shift in -- mercers the shift in how the money is going. david: the one thing steve bannon wants is a podium, a public platform, and if he loses breitbart, no one is listening. alix: but if he goes to a conservative news outlet, what is the difference? jason: there is a shifting landscape where steve bannon

peter thiel has been buying bitcoin in recent years and those holdings are now worth several hundred according to a person familiar with the matter. he is known for his early bets on airbnb and spacex. financial may have to rethink its global ambitions. the giant controlled by jack ma has abandoned a plan to buy moneygram international and failed to win approval for the deal from a key u.s. governmental panel. can a billionaire hedge fund make it bigger? so the dollars in talks to acquire the talent of hutchinson capital. shutting down hudson hill after three years of lacking performance. tom: thanks so much. i know my new year's resolution is to lose a little weight. we are going to talk about that later in the hour. kevin cirilli is not he's at the benjamin bar at the trump hotel. wonderful to have you back with us. let me start with the moving chairs and the changing of the guard at the white house. when are we going to begin to see bodies out and bodies in? kevin: i put this question right before the christmas break to a senior source that works frequently with the right house --

either way, we should remind people, peter thiel is one really rich dude and he can afford to lose $20 million taking a flyer on something like bitcoin. your average person cannot afford that. >> it is not a flyer. >> listen, we are so privileged to have a banking system we can trust and transacted we get to do that. if i am somebody in a developing nation but there is no bank or a government imposing its will and dictatorshipcome i can use and become become my own bank. tons of people have their cell phones. dagen: you can use the other crypt to currencies. that's my point. that is why this is dangerous because this is where the speculation is. my point is anybody who needs a way to transact business outside the traditional banking system and transactional not or can't choose another crypto currency at some point. it is not people but america that need to do deals with other people. its bartenders coast-to-coast speculating on this could get their shirts handed to them in their pants and shoes and socks. payback is not a replacement for the u.s. dollar. what is the u.s. dollar backed

he's not he's not like peter thiel. >> he collects peoples assets. >> i know.e owns some himself >> for sure. >> he told me all about putting it physically in a safe, because it's like a bond even if the internet goes down, mic mic microwave crap -- >> there's baracks in the alps where people cold storage their coins. >> like a federal reserve. >> exactly like gold. >> i know. some gold and a glock and some rounds in a safe >> as opposed to a thumb drive with your bitcoin? >> right i don't know two u.s. companies have shelved proposals to launch bitcoin etfs citing concern about regulators. the s.e.c. was worried about liquidity and valuation of futures contracts based on cryptocurrency rafferty asset management and exchange traded concepts each canceled plans to launch bitcoin funds that could be traded by retail investors as easily as stocks >>> time for the executive edge. optimism on main street dips but from record levels kate rogers has the details of the latest nfib report >> good morning. the nfib's optimism index dipped in december to 1.049 the biggest