and we have an exclusive interview with phil hogan about the race to avoid increasing trade tensions with the u.s.. meanwhile, the u.s. agrees to 20-year bonds. the treasury department will start issuing new 20-years in the first half of the year as the government looks for ways to fund a rising deficit. vonnie: let's get a quick check on the major averages. holding onto modest gains. the s&p is up seven points to finish out the friday session. banks in a large degree, another set of reports. best performer right now in the s&p 500. an upgrade from citi. the 10-year at 1.83. moving around to 1.84 after the u.s. said it would issue more 20-year bonds. commodities,ng to this will seem incredible to americans and canadians facing massively bad weather in the days ahead, including details. but natural gas is slumping, at a four-year low, below two dollars. that is as we see demand light and up. that is because a broadly warmer temperatures in parts of this continental region. more bad news for those in energy sector who had seen some frustration above three dollars. it's been a tough go

this is phil hogan, known as big phil! he is phil hogan, known as big phil! he is super tall, about a foot six! he has other attributes that she is irish, he was the agricultural commissioner in the last commission and is now the trade commissioner. he isa and is now the trade commissioner. he is a big character, very forceful. and he will be involved in the trade negotiations and we think with the uk although not clear and he was actually in america talking to doing an interview with peter mandelson at a conference in london over facetime, skype. he was in the states to smooth over trade tensions between the us and the eu but he sort of took part in this live debate and to questions which included some questions on brexit of course and what did we find out? not that we will find out anything about the likelihood of a compressive trade deal in place and ratified by the end of this year? let's listen. prime ministerjohnson has done wisely. —— on wisely, he wants a timeline. he puts enormous pressure on the uk system and then on the eu system in order to see wh

phil hogan urged u.s. government to work with the e.u. remarks came during the three-day washington visit aimed at preventing an escalation in trade tension. hogan added that commercial relations between the e.u. and the u.s. affair are mutually beneficial. must callout the narrative that the united states has a trade deficit, unfair trading relationship with the european union. isreality, the relationship more balanced and highly mutually beneficial and this cannot be stated enough. the facts are clear. nejra: joining us from brussels is bloomberg's. -- bloomberg's maria tadeo. how do those things stack up? maria: it's a good question. we did speak to him. because as young point out, the whole purpose of this strip was to de-escalate tensions. phil hogan, the words coming out of his mouth now are really important, and he is a trade commissioner. everything he says really matters for the europeans, and this is a huge portfolio and there is no secret that this has been a very difficult period for the e.u. and the u.s., but it is again, as

vonnie: part of my conversation there with you trade commissioner phil hogan. it is moving markets today, jenny willie. i think hogan -- markets today, genuinely. i think hogan's positive tone is lifting the markets. definitely driving european equities, so nice interview. still to come, more nice interviews next week. we are counting you down now to the world economic forum in davos. we are going to bring you some of the biggest names in tech. do not miss our interview with the chief executive of microsoft. looking forward to it. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ vonnie: live from new york, i'm vonnie quinn. guy: from london, i'm guy johnson. this is "bloomberg markets." let's talk about the precious metals market. palladium's extraordinary rally setting off alarm bells after a series of records. it's biggest intraday gain since 2009. renita young is here to tell us more. renita: stock prices have soared above $2100 announce for palladium. the silvery white precious metal is used in catalytic converters, and it has been on a run this year that shows no signs of slowing.

this is phil hogan, known as big phil! he is phil hogan, known as big phil! commission and is now the trade commissioner. he isa and is now the trade commissioner. he is a big character, very forceful. and he will be involved in the trade negotiations and we think with the uk although not clear and he was actually in america talking to doing an interview with peter mandelson at a conference

this is phil hogan. known as big phil. is he?! he is super tall, about six foot six, very tall.other attributes, he is irish, he was the agriculture commissioner in the last commission and now he is the trade commissioner. he is a big character, pretty forceful. yes, and he's now trade commissioner so will be involved in the trade negotiations with the uk, i think, but not exactly clear. he was in america doing an interview with peter mandelson at a conference in london over, like, a facetime, skypey kind of thing. he was in the states to try and smooth over trade tensions between the us and eu, but yes, he took part in this live debate and took questions, including some questions on brexit. what did we find out, not that we've heard any of this in the last few weeks, about the likelihood of a comprehensive trade deal in place and ratified by the end of the year? let's listen. prime ministerjohnson i think unwisely decided he wants a deadline again, he wants a timeline, putting enormous pressure on the uk system and the eu system to see what we have to do to meet his timeline in

really is on their back foot so phil hogan has to do something to have a trade agreement he's already said that he is willing to talk about agricultural issues although he said he's not willing to talk about agricultural tariffs but he's going to have to do something because he knows he cannot lose for all of europe those wind purchases little loan the auto deals the auto makers suffering because the u.s. has already threatened robot lighthouses already threatened not only have we imposed those tariffs on the e.u. but also we may impose towers eventually on european automakers just think of the germans would react to that and my answer is all of us have been to europe and a lot of our viewers have all those that are based there how many american cars drove us over there have you ever seen a mercedes or a b.m.w. here i would say so it's so much easier to sell into the u.s. and trump is right this has been unfair for years and now it needs to be rectified now is the ultimate compromise here that the e.u. will negotiate a digital tax services tax that will be completely uniform across eu

high as european trade commissioner phil hogan had a conversation with vonnie. volatility is at a record low. pushing lower.is selloff on equity markets. live from london, i am guy johnson with vonnie quinn in new york. this is bloomberg markets. ♪ vonnie: up about .2% for the s&p 500. plenty of stocks are doing well, including qualcomm. -- itst performer basically pleased everyone. there was an upgrade at morgan stanley and that is another stock at the top of the s&p 500. a new twenty-year issue according to the treasury that has yields a little bit higher. highs, that is the story. volumes reasonably good around 1%. some decent data coming out of china. that is helped the mining stocks. the pound tracking lower. sales.tail keep an ion the euro-dollar, as well. 110.8 is a line in the sand. things a start to get interesting. down by .4%. we have a bank of england meeting coming up. let's stick with the stories and talk to our guest who joins us in london. peter dixon, commerzbank. i want to start with the bank of england. i have a chart here. this is the probabi

but i'm not talking to you phil hogan is the european commissioner for agriculture ann rule development and an advocate of area based subsidies. into the to ensure full living for the community in particular where increasing the areas of persons engaged in a. one time for martine whistling to have his say oh so how's things you know that. stuff most of the week proposal from the commission looks like things will get even worse except for those few fancy headlines that. will poisoning managed to convince his colleagues will be returning to the debate in brussels later. to. cologne back at our editorial offices we want to investigate who is pulling the strings behind closed doors our industry lobby groups determining agricultural policy and if so how. we come across a revealing document from 2015 by the scientific advisory board of the german ministry of agriculture the paper concluded that policy was strongly influenced by interest groups because of the powerful and effective farming and agribusiness lobby. how does this impact farmers and what has changed in the past 4 years. we head ou

let's come back to phil hogan, the eu trade commissioner. ld be a win for him this week coming out of washington? heather: mr. hogan is keen to conclude the deal that president trump negotiated with the former european commission president. if you remember, an important rose garden ceremony in july, 2017, he said we have a deal, let's go forward. mr. hogan was to pursue that. very honest, he has had little engagement by the u.s. government over the last six months. usmcarse, the focus on and u.s.-china phase one talks. the eu would like to get wto reforms. the eu has put together a lot of proposals, ideas to do that. again, radio silence from the u.s. government. he is here to get the process started. -- one thing that struck me to recommend the eu place tariffs specifically on boeing. that is the way it sounded to me. there may be a different interpretation of that. there is a time sense. if the u.s. and the u.k. cannot manage these groundless of tariff tantrum problems, we may see action quickly. whether that is a digital services tax or re

next up, phil hogan accuses trump of shortsighted tactics on trade.e will get the latest on his visit to washington. and we will be speaking to the qatar national bank chief executive. largest banks in terms of assets under management in the middle east. don't miss that on sunday. ♪ francine: let's get straight to our business flash. >> barclays cutting jobs as it seeks to rein in costs. they will mostly be in trading roles across its corporate and investment bank. they are due to report full-year results in a february -- february. bayer is close toclaims, almostt settled into september. no details on the possible terms of the settlement. alphabet joins apple and microsoft, solidifying the tech giants as the biggest giants of wall street. that is your bloomberg business flash. tradene: the eu's new chief has accused donald trump of electioneering, calling him obsessed with trade deficit and warning about the economic damage of addiction is -- protectionism. he urged them to work with the eu on open commerce. >> the objective is to try and reset the re

phil hogan is headed to the u.s.ranging talks of contentious issues such as tech tax and -- subsidies. prime minister boris johnson is gearing up for his next battle for more onean -- this, our brussels reporter joins us. first of all, should investors be worried about the new front on the trade war? should, and they should be worried about the trade war that is still pending in the u.s. because we know it has been a difficult year between the trump administration and the european union. e.u. as aot like the trading partner. that he does not like the e.u. as a trading partner. we have the french tax that is still at stake. we have phil hogan in washington trying to escalate some of that tension. you have to keep in mind that it is becoming difficult to separate the trade from the politics. in many ways, trump does work as one unit. the europeans are insistent they want to keep this alive, so from a european perspective, they want to de-escalate. they know this is all due to an election year. they have no incentive to

she is getting ready for an exclusive conversation with phil hogan, the new eu trade commissioner.e is in the u.s. i suspect he's having quite a tough time of things. vonnie is going to find out exact a what is going on. that conversation is at 6:00 p.m. new york time, 11:00 p.m. london. next week, a number of key interviews coming up from davos. these are the names we've lined up for the global economic forum. we will talk to the mall next week. it's going to be a great week. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ guy: from london, i'm guy johnson. this is the european close "bloomberg markets "bloomberg markets on -- european close on "bloomberg markets." let's get the first word news with ritika agrippa. -- with ritika gupta. ritika: chief justice john roberts will be sworn into preside over the impeachment trial. senator mitch mcconnell says it will fully get underway next tuesday. the government watchdog agency says the white house broke the law when it withheld money appropriated by congress for ukraine. turns out there was a late holiday shopping rush in the u.s. retail sales rose 0.3% in d

david: you mentioned phil hogan, the new eu trade commissioner, came to washington.ur vonnie quinn got to sit down with him in an exclusive interview. this is part of what he had to say. is the objective, to reset the relationship and try to understand each other and find common ground with united states in relation to many issue. we start on a positive note. david: a positive note, but he is talking about trade irritants. we have a lot of issues with europe, not to mention boeing and airbus. myron: i would start with we need a framework between europe and the united states that is multi down lateral -- that is multilateral, regional, and transatlantic focused. we need to put forward a program at work with europe where we are joining forces as much as possible. we do have irritants in the relationship. the airbus and boeing dispute is still out there. the digital service tax issue, which france has led on. we have to get a resolution on the oecd. i think phil hogan spoke to that in a positive way, recognizing this cannot be a french one-off or canadians moving their

phil hogan is the head of the european commission for trade. this is a huge portfolio for the europeans, it's no secret that the relationship between the e.u. and the united states has been difficult of late. so it is interesting that he was in washington to reset the relationship. but used that kind of language where he openly said, look, trump is too obsessed about deficits. he's also not being fair. by the way, he is playing politics with trade and he's shortsighted. this is not good for the u.s. or europe or the global economy. then he also said that the europeans at this point should also fight back this notion, this narrative, from the u.s. that the relationship is unfair. that they are somehow taking advantage of the united states. so hogan also suggested that if you look at the data, it's much more balanced than you would think. now, going into next weekend, this is interesting, phil hogan said to steve mnuchin and the mayor, the football minister of france, will be talking -- finance minister of france, will be talking in davos and tha

trade deficit with the eu according to phil hogan. nging about a crisis moment for global trade. comments came during hogan's three-day visit to washington. >> the narrative that the united states and the trade deficit is in an unfair relationship with europe. isreality, the relationship more balanced and highly mutually beneficial. this cannot be stated enough. the facts are clear. leigh-ann: president trump plans to nominate judy shelton and christopher while her to the federal reserve board. a formal announcement did not come until yesterday. it will now move to the senate for confirmation. from them is they are open. the u.s. is tightening control over the release of major economic data. it is banning the media from using data. to ensure as it is level playing field but it could also spur an arms race among traders to get the numbers first. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. this is bloomberg. thankleigh-ann gerrans you so much

vincent: you might have gotten a hint of that this morning with phil hogan talking trade. basically taunting trump or threatening trump to not impose tariffs on the e.u. or retaliate for the french tax and saying the e.u. as a group were behind that. i think that maybe one of the risks david was referring to where people would sell risk if to autorned his ire tariffs. happened to that idea that people were going to switch out of the u.s. and go into international markets? is that still a valid approach? david: it is not compelling to me. if i want to own international, i think i want to own international emerging markets. developing markets continue to trail u.s. markets by four percentage points per annum since 1987. we know the growth rates are not in europe or japan. for so many investors who want to have a portion of their portfolio in developed international markets, i ask, why? you are not getting the growth rates to allocate any capital to that asset class. romaine: the interactive program this is, we have a question from a terminal user. he wants to ask you, vince,

the new eu trade commissioner phil hogan is expected to meet with us trade representative robert lighthizer resolve the various trade issues between the two. most at issue is the french digital services tax which came in late last year. christophe bondy is an international trade and investment lawyer. thank you for coming in and happy new year. the new eu commissioner seems set on solving trade issues between the us and the eu but how much work is there to do? there are at least three main issues to address, sally mentioned the issue of the french digital still services tax which came online earlier this year and will be retroactive to the beginning of 2019. the us has announced it is going to impose about two and a half billion dollars ta riffs about two and a half billion dollars tariffs on that, that's an issue that will have to be addressed. there is the counterbalancing following our bus tariffs issue, us has already imposed tariffs against the eu in relation to our bus. the eu is expected to the same against boeing and thirdly, the reform of the wto, the appellate body, has been non—f

damian: and you've got phil hogan meeting with lighthizer today. challenging all of this is that every currency is a pair, so there's a huge dependency on what happens in the u.s. economically, in terms of the market sentiment that drives the dollar higher or lower. the u.s. is the largest economy in the world. that is a really important aspect of all of these currency pairs. vincent: i agree. it is the same way when you trade fx rates. it's not one thing. you are trading to rates, and the differential between the two. you can lose a lot of money even though you think you are on the right path. alix: does any of that matter as long as the fed is in there? vincent: i don't think the fed is really part of the game, at least in the first quarter. the data is coming along nicely. there's no reason for the fed to inject themselves into the conversation. . i don't think they will at least for the first quarter -- i don't think they will. at least for the first quarter, i think we need to look at numbers, but i don't see the fed being part of the story. d

commissioner phil hogan has presented a proposal that would retain the system of area based payments. that the committee meeting we catch up with the 3 german members of the european parliament conservative albert dest chairman of a major supplier of dairy products the green party's martin hoist lighting and organic farmer and social democrat and former teacher maria noyes the commissioner defends the old system. so it is right where austria directives other very far as to the future is related to it if. it is there or what the provisions of article of the treaty would set of the objectives of the n.e.p. martina oiling voices his criticism of the system. yeah you don't thank you i'm a little disappointed mr hogan. i agree with the court of auditors that the climate objectives cannot be achieved with the 1st pillar of payments. i have not found a concrete point perhaps mr hogan would care to pay attention. it's nice of mr hogan to listen to what members have to say. that is just under. 94 actually just continuing as before but under new headings great headlines but it's highly doubtful

with the'm here newly-meant trade commissioner for the european union, phil hogan.eral days of meetings with representatives of the administration and what has been described as a low point for eu-u.s. relations, what goodwill did you feel was in washington, d.c.? is this the beginning of something that might be positive? phil: the objectives of the visit is to reset the relationship and try to understand each other in relation to a number of trade irritants, and find common ground with the u.s. on many issues per we started on a positive note tuesday, where the u.s., european union and japan lined up for a statement to say we wish to have an issue around industrial subsidies and forced technology transfer dealt with on the basis of a level playing field for the global economy and all the players in the future, and the wto process, reforming the wto. a bilateralhad meeting today with u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer. did you receive assurances that there would not be tariffs on the eu? phil: now, and we didn't expect any assurances from ambassador lighthi

in davos with the new president of the eu, a very good meeting, her trade minister commissioner, phil hogan. we have been in a lot of touch with mr. hogan. she and president trump got a long very well, they talked about urgency pitting some intensity behind it. it will be up to ambassador lighthizer at his discretion and wisdom to follow through there are a lot of key areas there. trade is very important with the -- funny. eu trade is actually -- well, e.u. trade is a little bit more than north american trade, both of them are twice as big as china trade, i don't know if people know that. that is where we have been pushed usmca. can we get it done with the eu? i don't want to forecast, but i pg you will kind of see a restarting of intensity. >> this is liz peek, thank you for joining us. bernie sanders is not happy with the usmca. you may have heard, that he thinks there is a missing chapter, one that really corrals oil and gas pumps and prevents them, i am quoting, dumping their environmental waste to mexico, what is he talking about? >> that say good question. i don't know. i can't answer

trade commissioner phil hogan was in talk with trump administration officials.e quinn discussed the u.s. trade relations. >> this is the objective of the visitors to reset the relationship and understand each other in relation to a number of trade at the moment and find common ground with the united states in relation to many issues. we started on a positive note. the united states and the europeanian union and japan signed up for a statement that we want to have forced technology transfer on the basis of a level playing field for the global economy and all of the players in the future and for the w.t.o. process. and reforming the w.t.o. this is a positive agenda. >> did you receive any assurances that there will not be new tariffs from the e.u.? >> we didn't get any assurance from it. and we don't expect assurances from ambassador lite houseen. he's had a very big trade week in terms of the european and japan. the big deal that was done between the united states and china yesterday. nd of course, the passing of u.s. am bassey. and we are going to come because w

am going to be speaking with the eu trade commissioner that just started the role in december, phil hoganirst official trip to washington is eu trade commissioner. we will ask him about resetting trade relationships and how the eu is going to proceed with brexit negotiations. this is bloomberg. ♪ guy: dow 30,000, it gets a little closer. investors digest the deal with china and look forward to washington getting usmca over the line. we could get a boat on that very shortly. europe a little muted today. impeachment taking the stage. markets? it mean for we will be joined by pimcos public policy expert libby cantrill. and the south african bank cuts rates but when he five basis points. is there more to come in what could be a critical year for president rapoza -- president ramaphsa -- president osa? we are counting you down to the european close on "bloomberg markets." ♪ guy: let's take a look at where the u.s. is tracing now -- is trading now. 700 points now the gap that separates us. does this rally continue throughout must of this

yesterday, they talked about their relationship, lighthizer will meet with eu's trade commissioner, phil hogansday. the eu's new trade commissioner will hold private meetings with u.s. business leaders in washington. the talks could set up a new trade fight between president trump and the eu, france threatening a tax on digital services, the u.s. threatened a 100% tariff on french products like wine and cheese. lauren: which we have been talking a lot about. we have a fox business alert for you, breaking overnight. iran claiming that arrests have been made over the regime accidentally shooting down a ukrainian passenger plane. cheryl: iran's president is vowing to punish everyone responsible for the tragedy that killed 177 innocent people. trey yingst is in jerusalem as protests enter their fourth day. >> reporter: good morning. breaking today, the iranian justice chief says his country has made arrests in the shooting down of the ukrainian plane last week that killed all 176 people on-board. update came through iranian state media adding adding an ee investigation has taken place. it was hit

it will deeply affect the transatlantic relationship he's due to meet the eu trade commissioner phil hoganother front to potentially watch on the trade war. >>> coming up, british stars dominate the golden globes showing hollywood how it's done. we break down the biggest winners of the night later on in just a few moments stay with us i remember thinking about things i did and wondering if that was the last time i was going to do that thing. coming to the cancer treatment centers of america, they treat the whole person. everything is here. imaging, infusion... i don't have to go anywhere else. they care about me as a person beyond just being a cancer patient. they're my second family. some things are too important to do yourself. ♪ get customized security with 24/7 monitoring from xfinity home. awarded the best professionally installed system by cnet. simple. easy. awesome. call, click or visit a store today. >>> welcome back to "street signs. you with looking at live pictures of the funeral procession for qasem soleimani thousands took to the streets over the weekend and continue to march

now, the eu has a new negotiator, commissioner phil hogan. he's trying to reset this relationship and avoid tariffs on autos as well as auto parts. his boss, the new eu commission president, gave him a clear directive. listen. >> she has given a clear commitment that we need a positive balance and mutually beneficial trading partnership with the united states. she's given a clear commitment that we need to elaborate on how we can move a little faster in that direction. reporter: as we see this phase one deal with china implemented as well as the usmca, you are going to hear a lot in the first quarter about the european union. liz: champagne, cheese, fashion, who knows whalt else. thank you, edward lawrence. >>> there is something we wanted to point out. i know there's a lot on the screen, on the ticker and everything we put up, but we want to point something out because it is let's call it a little strange. normally when stocks are in vogue which they are, spiking day after day after day with a lot of records, treasury prices tend to weaken a

cost a few headaches for other trading partners and now it is the turn of the eu and now we have phil hoganlly expressing some concern about that. thank you very much indeed. life with us in new york. let us talk about mental health and he could have a big impact on how we all feel and perform at work, the boss is considering a leading voice on mental health in the workplace it is said business leaders should not work flat out all the time. you will make it is very important to have high performance, but you cannot be at peak performance forever. the bank was in a very weak position to face adversity. £200 billion of assets and we cannot speak about it. because if i did, obviously, there would not generate confidence in the bank. it was banging around in my mind constantly, which led me to sleep less and less and the less and less sleep let me to exhaustion and not sleeping at all. it is really important to combine peak performance for a significant period of time with moments of rest, or you can recover and regenerate yourself and i think you have to also have holidays in order to think ab

the eu's new trade commissioner phil hogan — who will play a starring role in the upcoming brexit negotiation on european steal and aluminium, there are fears the car industry will be next. regular viewers will know that the european commission has set itself targets for its first 100 days in office. which is breathing new life into the title of our programme. and one of those commitments is to globally champion rules—based international trade. so mr hogan's first visit to the us is a key test. by reputation he is known to be more direct than his predecessor — and true to form he warned today a full eu—uk trade deal by the end of the year is ‘just not possible'. he was also dismissive of any suggestion the uk's simultaneous trade negotations with the us and the eu, could provide opportunity for three—way talks. there will be no three—way conversation. 0k. check that. how are you going to manage that? that is a matter for the united kingdom. and the united states. if you want to do a deal, together, i wish you well. but i'm hearing messages from various players here in this city and town, it w

eu trade the commissioner phil hogan speaking about the phase one deal.jim mccormick. good to have you with us. don't come to asia often enough. deal, china data showing a stable gdp. also i.t. exceeding expectations. on? >> the big thing for us is emerging markets are in a sweet spot. it is an asset class where if we asset picture,ss valuations are very attractive. china is stabilizing. the fed has told us they are not going to hike rates ever. talk about earnings beating expectations. that s&p keep testing new highs? like earnings. we guide earnings expectations so low it is easy to beat them. therefore, we guide expectations for growth. we have a narrative it is global growth. as long as we keep on matching overall, then, environment can stay very supportive. i would be curious to know where your weak spot is. have said there are some weak spots. >> the big change for us this year is we want to focus on the manufacturing heavy countries. korea, asia. whereak spots are places things are getting expensive. india is a problematic story. indonesia is not q

phil hogan will be in washington looking to soothe tensions with the trump administration.ther transatlantic fallout on trade. what is the eu hoping to get out of this set of meetings this week? >> good morning. it is no secret that this has been a very difficult year between the eu and the united states. we know president trump does not like the european union as a trading partner. he will tell you it is not a fair relationship. the europeans disagree. tol hogan is hoping de-escalate the situation. the case between boeing and airbus. that retaliation over the french digital tax. it is becoming difficult to separate the politics from the trade. we know the u.s. and eu are in another fight over the nuclear and iran. europeans are insisting they want to keep the deal alive. they believe the best case scenario is that everyone takes a breather. they really do not have an incentive. trump might not be in office by the end of the year. that is something the administration does not like. the commission president is going to unveil heard green deal. where will that money come from

hogan,rsation with phil the e.u. trade administrator in the u.s. a lot of the focus will be on u.s.♪ ♪ viviana: you are watching bloomberg "surveillance." the ceo of smith & wesson leaving the company. american outdoor brands says he engaged in nonfinancial misconduct and did not elaborate. they will proceed with their plan to split into two publicly traded companies. -- is nottop a getting help from the alumina performing --tal reporting a quarterly loss. global aluminum supply will outpace demand. its staffreorganizing while the 737 max was being developed. the move affects boeing aviators who trained commercial pilots. that is the bloomberg business flash. francine: we are getting live pictures of russia. this is an important conversation. this is the pick that vladimir putin surprised the markets yesterday. -- markets yesterday trying to make a prime minister --. -- prime minister. he has reformed the tax system and he considered a bureaucrat with not much political desire, but one of the smartest people in the party. we will have more headlines from vladimir putin saying consti