if you had starwood -- my travel trust has starwood. think that fritz vanpatrick who bringing out more value, if that deal were to vanish, starwood would trade up. starwood would say marriott has been trading down, too. starwood was doing things right under fritz, and he was shown the door even though he was doing special dividends, things right. fritz deserves his due here. he was doing betterment i have restrained myself from calling what i feel about the starwood people. i have become jeffersonian. >> that's what i think of you, jeffersonian. >> i'm on the nickel. this deal was a travesty. >> dupont is complex with the split into three different companies. >> dow has been dropping endlessly. >> we need to keep an eye on the performance of these acquirers. if m&a is going to continue that has got to be key, not to mention broader market. i spoke to a number of bankers last week, a number of firms came in with a large backlog, meaning a lot of deals that had a chance of getting done and announced. if you keep seeing an equity market li

starwood has a program with american express. at some point, there is going to be competition for the entire program. it is unlikely that the merged company will deal with two different banks. in 2016 ornt later 2017, that will be a major big one up for bid. betty: thank you. still ahead, we will look at options on a day when stocks are higher. we are rallying as we head to break. some of the most active stocks today, bankamerica, ge, j.p. of the big oil companies, integrated, is up 11%. betty: welcome back to bloomberg markets. im betty liu. stocks are rallying for a second day after a three-week losing streak. oflook at how the options market is handling all the activity. >> toiling us for today's -- joining us for today's options inside is a lead strategist at delta derivatives. row,he past two days in a we are seeing rallies. are these two glimmers of green in an otherwise ocean of red year to date? >> you are certainly seeing a lot of shorts today covering over the stimulus that came out overnight from japan and europe. sold

starwood and fosun may face competition. blackstone and a hong kong-based organization may also be eyeing a stake. rishaad: still ahead, we hit the slopes of china's so-called powder paradise for a special report on the country's emboldened tourism industry. plus, china missing its gdp estimates. that is right after this very short break. ♪ angie: china's economy slowed in december, the weakest quarter of growth the 2009 global recession. let's get some perspective from sarkus schomer, pine ridge' chief economist. you happen to be in asia when china is revealing to the world it is slowing down. it is not too much of a surprise, but within the gloom and doom, there is a little bit of a bright spot. could be. markus: on the one hand, it confirms the story that everyone knows about that the market has been reacting to. i thought it would have been worse if we had seen significant acceleration, which probably would not have been credible. these numbers are in line with what the pmi numbers are showing us. what we should take awa

and in 2014 when macarthur center underwent an ownership change starwood capital group signed a 1.4 billion dollar agreement - that would be roughly 200 million dollars each. that allowed them and if you won the lotto would make it possible for you to buy seven malls. now let's talk a little football shall we. the average nfl team is worth 1.97 billion dollars and the top two for this area would be too rich for our blood with the redskins being valued at $2.85 billion and the cowboys 4billion. but if you won the lotto you could buy the cleveland browns, tennessee titans, jacksonville jaguars, soon to be la rams, the bengals, lions, i also looked up the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2015-2016 school year for public and private colleges and found that you could send over 200,000 students to get a higher education. and hey, if you just want to chill you could purchase 9 private islands with that money and call it a day. anita blanton, 10 on your side. we're on your side with a parking warning -- the gravel parking lot at mount trashmore is closed. the lot off south boulevard will be

even in our deal with starwood, we are using equity so the value of the deal is less than when we announced it we are using the same number of shares. it could be china. it could be private equity platforms of some sort. stephanie: where do you want to get more conservative? >> we are not pulling back at all. do, we deal with a third-party real estate investor. we signed a lot of hotel rooms went to our system for the next few years. we think the long-term travel trends will be very powerful. >> what is acceptable? we are talking about emissions for diesel. what is acceptable? >> it's not up to me to say. , you have electric cars, you have hybrids and many other technologies. we are talking about one specific in mission. norms, we need the rules. long do you expect this to hang over your share price? >> people have questions about something like this. francine: when will it stop? >> all the data will come. we will have confirmation of what we have been saying. there is no risk of cheating. francine: what the job risk western mark --? >> the whole company would be at risk. you stand by the a

even in our deal with starwood, we are using equity so the value of the deal is less than when we announcedre using the same number of shares. it could be china. it could be private equity platforms of some sort. stephanie: where do you want to get more conservative? >> we are not pulling back at all. every deal we do, we deal with a third-party real estate investor. we signed a lot of hotel rooms went to our system for the next few years. we think the long-term travel trends will be very powerful. >> what is acceptable? we are talking about emissions for diesel. >> what is acceptable? >> it's not up to me to say. the industry, you have electric cars, you have hybrids and many other technologies. we are talking about one specific in mission. outside the norms, we need the rules. francine: how long do you expect this to hang over your share price? >> people have questions about something like this. francine: when will it stop? >> all the data will come. we will have confirmation of what we have been saying. there is no risk of cheating. francine: what the job risk? >> the whole company would

uruguay and -- you are acquiring starwood.- ever since we worried about china, you are moving in a big way. >> we will have the starwood over 200 hotels in china and open up a hotel every 20 days in 2016. we have an advantage. the chinese have a great experiment underway to shift their economy from fundamentally manufacturing export infrastructure towards consumption. we live in consumption land and we are in many respects been a better place than their economy is generally peered maria: you are moving in right at the time this is happening. >> in october that a national holiday of 600 million chinese on the road in one week. maria: the numbers are mind-boggling. >> that his travel in china but also the united states, europe and as a consequence we could see good growth coming out of china for a while. maria: we saw the numbers last week or this week he is 6% economic growth out of china. that is way down for where we were talking a few years ago. but it is gross and it's pretty good. >> of course he got the consumer shifting.

starwood values has its eye on yahoo! management again.say dramatically different thinking is required together with the ethic and changes across all aspects of the business, starting at the board level and including the executive leadership. yahoo! did respond to that moments ago, saying our lord and regular team engage in open dialogue and strive to maximize shareholder value. and management team engage in regular and open dialogue and strive to maximize shareholder value. investors seem to be getting frustrated with the pace of things. emily: investors have been frustrated for a while, but must firsttar board public statement since november. this is the activist investor encouraging yahoo! to spin off the alibaba steak and then said don't spin it off. instead, let's consider a spin off of the core business which is, according to starboard, less than zero. you see starboard laying the groundwork for a proxy fight. they'd do not want the alibaba steak spun off. they think a spinoff of the core business or sale of the core business could w

value once again urging the company to make changes, specifically in its leadership in and a letter, starwoode lost all confidence in management and the board." joining us now is the adjunct professor x on the university and scott, the marketing the schoolt business. erik schatzker, let me start with you. what kind of response are you getting? erik: none could star board wants the letter to speak for itself. if you're going to send a shot like this one, you want to wait and see what kind of response you get from yahoos board before you decide to go nuclear and announce a proxy fight. scarlet: in terms of what is next, what can you tell us about star board? what is their usual mo in approaching a company? >> they are focused on management changes. a track recorde of the largest dividend. they do not have a track record -- they want to see structural changes at the firm. it is important to note that they only hold a .75, less than 1% of outstanding shares. they need people to come aboard. the reality is in terms of what is next, the entire board comes up for reelection this summer. this is the

even our deal with starwood we're using equity.d value of the deal is less today than when we announce it. we are using the same number of shares as will me announce that. stephanie: but that can be china. for buyers. : it could be, or private equity platforms. i'm still hoping for mid 16. we filed with antitrust authorities and about 25 countries. that process is working its way through the sec and the filing approvals. we think we would get there about amid the year. data,nie: you got your and the price. what is concerning you? rne: i'm more at about what the market is telling us. stephanie: you are worried about your share price? at what we know. i am very optimistic. part of that is personality, but also the data that we have. we have talked about the u.s. economy, we see good data. comparable to last year, i'm not robust about exert a stuff but good steady state data. look at the rest of the world, we see hundreds of millions of new international travelers. because of growing middle classes in china, and india, and elsewhere.

speaking with everyone from the ceo of the largest hotel company, marriott in the midst of acquiring starwoodnault, and not a maker doing well, too stock strategist. i keep hearing the same thing that the world is coming to an end and it is just not that kind of doomsday scenario. of course we have seen a slowdown in china, but why the market is so focused on the happenings of china so much to this extent that we lost $2 trillion in market value in 2016 seems a mystery to me. most people did miss the story of 2015. they did miss that the economy was a lot weaker than people thought. but i don't think that it is as bad as the markets are indicating. that is what i'm hearing from most of my guests here. >> they want to hang out in way. i want to ask you about the issue of iran. the country now awash in cash after we gave them a bunch of money. they are really excited about the prospects of getting the money, buying products and doing infrastructure products in iran. what are folks talking about in europe? maria: for sure, heather. people are looking at iran as an opportunity from the corporate

everybody from the ceo of the largest hotel company, marriott, which is in the midst of acquiring starwoodll, to stock strategists, and i keep hearing the same things, that these markets are trading as if the world is coming to an end, and it's just not that kind of doomsday scenario. now, of course, we've seen a real slowdown in china but why the market is so focused on the happenings of china, so much, to this extent that we lost $2 trillion in market value in 2016, seems a mystery to me. i think most people did miss the macro story of 2016. think did miss that the economy was a lot weaker than people thought. but i don't think that it is as bad as these markets are indicating. and i think that's what i'm hearing from most of my guests here. >> they want to hang out and wait. i want to ask you about the issue of iran, and you know, that country now awash in cash after we gave them a bunch of money. >> and oil. >> so i've heard that a lot of european companies are really excited about the prospects of getting that money, buying products, and doing infrastructure projects in iran. what are