the starwood members said what the heck?t unfair and supposedly you really care about our business, why are you creating this special thing which is only available to these other people? they banded together, about 90 of them, eventually wrote a email to the marriott executive in charge of loyalty and said this isn't right. three weeks later, marriott out -- marriott put something out and said, you are right. they probably did not say you are right but they acknowledged. julie: it was a concession. patrick: the opened up this tier that can only be attained in 2018 through the integration. they said if you spent an amount of time equal in the starwood program, you're going to get the same thing. when of the funny things about this is i'm not sure how viable -- valuable this lifetime status actually is. part of this whole case is that people want to know they are the most elite of the elite. they announced it. i talked to the guy that had organized this effort to lobby marriott. a guy who lives in singapore, he said well, it's

starwood didn't come around until the 1990's.ott was always sort of known for a company that was good at executing on the business plan. starwood was always known as a creative company. julie: the integration of these programs two years after the acquisition is finally about to happen. marriott has already made some concessions like the late checkout. you have an anecdote at the end of your story involving an spger who books a lot of travel over the course of the year who was upset that he was not going to get a concession. tell us that story in brief because i think that is an interesting window into this whole process. patrick: as part of the integration, marriott created a special type of lifetime status. in other words, if you spend 10 years as a platinum member of the marriott rewards program, which is what they called their old loyalty program, you would get lifetime status. you don't have to spend 75 nights with marriott every year anymore. you still get a lot of the benefits without having to deal with the travel. it is h

. >>> attention travelers a new loyalty program involving marriott, starwood, and ritz carlton goingeffect tomorrow we'll keep you informed next -omar, look. [ thunder rumbles ] omar, check this out. uh, yeah, i was calling to see if you do laser hair removal. for men. notice that my hips are off the ground. [ engine revving ] and then, i'm gonna pike my hips back into downward dog. [ rhythmic tapping ] hey, the rain stopped. -a bad day on the road still beats a good one off it. -tell me about that dental procedure again! -i can still taste it in my mouth! -progressive helps keep you out there. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredientuth! originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >>> new reports that amazon may be planning to make a live recording box to rival tvo that's all it took tivoshar ti tivo shares falling. >> everything is basically tackable at this point everything can be disuptable tomorrow a new loyalty program goes into effect that effects marriott, ritz

the owner of regis informed the starwood capital and terra firma that it will not continue discussionsarding possible offers or the firm. warren buffett richer hathaway said operator earnings were up 67 percent from the same period last year has current operations recovered. the statement might be noteworthy for what it didn't contain. more on when, how, or if it will buy back shares. softbank's first-quarter profit climbed 49% from a year earlier thanks to investment at other gains. japanese telecommunications provider and technology investors set operating profits was $6.44 billion and it in june, boosted by their vision fund and the sale of subsidiary arms chinese units. taiwan semiconductor manufacturing is recovering from a debilitating computer virus that has warned of delayed shipment and reduce revenue. the taiwanese company said that 80% of the fabrication tools affected on friday had been restored and it expected full recovery today. it did not specify which customers would be affected. a $42 billion merger to create what would become the world's largest industrial gas produc

something that's meant to be timeless in a place filled with consumables that's what british art is lucy starwoodtemps with the new show in los angeles sparrow march is a comment on the age old theme in the world of the relationship between not and the business about welcome to sparrow mart the fruit isn't so crisp year but the soft drinks or well especially soft. everything is handmade with felt in lucy sparrow's exhibition that opens today it's a playful commentary on consumer culture and the disposable nature of our everyday lives instead of scale ability and efficiency spero mart is about individuality and painstaking work there are more than thirty one thousand grocery items here each with a little soul as pharaoh says she's exploring art as a commodity it's not a consumer product every item is signed and available for purchase. there's also an a.t.m. and checkout both covered in felt i think that is a huge amount of the art world but it's about money and that seems to be almost a to be subject with the art you know it's got to have the integrity but obviously there's a huge art market out t

the integration of starwood hotel. >> starwood is huge. >> back to my comment at top to have show, if you can use synchronized global growth again, maybe the world isn't as bad as it appears to be b in europe and asia. that's going to benefit marriott, so it's a best of breed name that i've always wanted to trade from the long side here's my opportunity. i got back in. >> i expect to see a lot of tourists in fannie packs walking around in new nikes in a marriott going to be fantastic. here's what's coming up. >> big names in the blitz. next including pepsi. after the deal to buy soda stream, is the stock about to bubble up? plus, what fidelity sector strategist is see ing in the market that you probably don't >> before the break, our data partners show in the month before a fed hike, the dow and s&p move higher. both by more than 2% for more, go to cnbc.com/kensho. the halftime report is back in two minutes. ok, show me what you got. i am going to vote for myself using nothing but this remote and the sound of my own voice! vote for... wait wait, that's not a talent. any xfinity custom

the analyst cites a potential for change following thet involvemy activist shareholders starwood value the price target$23 and the stock rose 9% to $19.55. estee lauder was upgraded to buy from neutral to d.a. davidson. the company's fundamentals quote, the strongest seen in years. the price target now 167 and the price did fall, however, 3% to $136.63. a> still ahead, big bank jumps feet first into no-cost investing and it could change retail trading as we know ♪ ♪ >>> w usually tell you about start-ups that are trying to disrupt a industry today, though, it is an old timer's turn to do just that. e nation's largest bank is jumping into low-cost investing and in this case, free investing. j.p. morgan will launch a app that lets customers trade online at no cost. it comes at a time whenmp ition to attract investors may be heating up and the trend has the fees downward. in today's news fm j.p. sent shares of discount brokers as you see there,omimes lower, a lot lower. >> joining uss to talk about t new service and managing banking analyst at rbc capital markets. >> gerard, let's turn fi

taylor: talk about that starwood integration.ively went through a few years ago. we are just getting to the integration of that point system that -- how is that shaping up? will putaugust 18 they the two systems together. they don't have a name yet. actually three systems. ritz-carlton rewards goes into a too. so far they seem to have done it w thet losing a lot of peopleo -- a lot of the who loved starwood. it seems to be going well. there are some odd complaints here and there. some of the hotel rates have been reporting that lower thatue in some properties were converted from starwood legacy to marriott. bit inve lost a little integration of sales teams, you hear the odd complaint about credit card programs. by and large, i think they have kept people happy. taylor: what has the reaction been about earnings and loyalty points in general from the three? is there any analyst action or comments we have gotten about how the integration process is going? in the future guidance? large,: i think by a people are happy with how the int

the service office provider said it has informed starwood, terra firma and tdr capital that it didn't believe they could recommend a price for shareholders they had a 33% drop in the first half and announced a share buy back program the dutch postal company has seen it's q2 operating income slide to 10 million euros. that's down from a year ago. they slow down and had possible changes in the dutch postal market are causing head winds. the company says 44% of its revenue year to date was generated from e-commerce now. no surprise there. right. so that is the first part of our show if you want to get in tough with us you can also see us directly and if you have earnings we want to hear from you. elsewhere coming up on the show, china slams trump's quote blackmail tariff tactics as authorities outline new plans for retaliation. more after this break. can be relentless. tremfya® is for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i'm ready. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks.

regis informing starwood capital , terra firma capital partners they will not continue discussions regarding possible offers for the firm iwg. leastd interest from at six parties after a profit warning hit the share price at a time when companies are seeking more flexible leases like those offered like a working and offere office -- providers. shares did drop by 25%. i wanted to show you this chart, one of the rare precious metals , its price almost quadrupled in two years. ium is used in the chemical sector ending cars, a type product -- a byproduct. it has a history of large moves, as you can see in 1998 and moving up to 2008, having gained more than 1000% twice in the last 25 years. 90 minutes into the session. how is it looking? >> we are looking at small moves for the major averages. down, the s&p 500, the nasdaq gaining slightly after five up weeks for the dow and the s&p 500. the best winning streak on a weekly basis for those indices on the year. behind this, where coming out of the heart of earnings season. if we hop into the bloomberg, we can see what is going on. in 2000, we had 7

. >> when we talk about marriott being best of breed, we're ignoring the fact they bought starwood that's a huge upgrade to the quality of the chain it matters a lot >> integration is still going on >> it is you're going to see revenue. >> they're working their way through that successfully. >> yeah. >> okay to go on >> coming up >> as you wish >> thank you >> coming up, don and pete's unusual activity is next one of the stocks they're watching is down more than 20%, so what's the options market telling them the next move could be we'll do that straight ahead first though, check the s&p sectors. trying to break a losing streak today. well on our way to doing it led by the industrials, discretionary and materials. s&p is up nearly 20. halftime is back after this. imagine traveling hassle-free with your golf clubs. now you can, with shipsticks.com! no more lugging your clubs through the airport or risk having your clubs lost or damaged by the airlines. sending your own clubs ahead with shipsticks.com makes it fast & easy to get to your golf destination. with just a few clicks or a phone cal

america will miss her devoted son, her starwood champion, her elder statesman. i will miss one of the very finest gentlemen of whom i've had the honor to serve. we will not forget him. i consider it a privilege to return some of the love that john poured out for this countr country. it is our honor as americans to say that the late great john mccain the third, what we have already heard from his creator. "well done, good and faithful servant, well done. you fought the good fight, you finished the race. you kept the faith, and you have never gave up the ship." >> neil: the report of mitch mcconnell and remembering his colleague and friend, john mccain. you might notice the flag at half-staff. despite difference on policy and politics, i respect senator john mccain and sign a proclamation to sign the flag of the united states at half-staff until the day. i've asked vice president honoring senator mccain at the request of the mccain family. they also authorize military transportation of senator mccain's remains to washington, d.c. military pallbearers and support.

." >> let's get the bloomberg business flash. , starwood property trust expanding beyond real estate.eneral electric energy finance business. 2.6 billion almost dollars and includes $2 billion in loans. has cut debt to below target. it failed to increase its interim dividend and did not expand existing buy back when rivals are paying out more. that made leave the door open to more dealmaking by the glencore ceo. britain's prudential focusing on asia is paying off. it says first-half profit from asian operations soared 14%. spinoff preparing a that would separate to operations from faster growing markets elsewhere. we spoke with the ceo. >> very healthy client relationships, 15 million clients across markets, the wealth business doing well. it is all doing what we hoped it would do right now. >> that is your bloomberg business flash. tom: thank you so much. it was extraordinary last night to see the county by county, urban, rural, and suburban results of the 12th district in ohio. as transfixedwas as i was. ,evin, delaware county, ohio there is the wesley and university. were they the

the key line is this, terminating talks with starwood, terraform a -- terra firma, and tdr. estimates. let's see how they open. those talks are off, share buyback program. let me come back to that. more details on that to come. other markets now in noon to the fact that u.s. could go to $200 billion and china could go to $60 billion. it is all well within the china paradigm. is everyone happy with the xi jinping negotiation tactics? you are seeing this overall view from the markets. you got 94 months. , 94producer of daybreak months of job growth in the united states of america, an unbroken trend. that is the backdrop to markets. there's specs of light coming through the clouds of gray when he came to the view of the world. u.s. stocks rallying for five straight weeks on the jobs numbers. europe set up very nicely. anna: let's look at the risk radar. there are some interesting things happening in the session. trade rhetoric from president trump and the chinese administration, suggesting they have what it takes to endear a protracted or prolonged trade war. yield, we0-year sh

starwood property trust is expanding, buying the general electric finance business, $2.6 billion, including2 billion of loans backed by assets. lower drug prices in the u.s. will be a thorn in the side for one company. expects changes in the medicaid program to push down prices next year. drug prices are one of president trump's targets. samsung investing to ramp up production of memory chips and future growth. r&d spending in a number of areas. that is your business flash. itid: the u.s. announced will slap a second round of tariffs on chinese goods on august 23, including motorcycles comes steam turbines, and 25%.ay cars, >> if this is a ploy, god bless them. >> what if it is not a ploy? aref he believes tariffs the way, go back to the 1930's. it does not work. believer, passionate and that is an in in in of itself, then he will pay a price. david: we welcome christina hooper. ken talk about the 1930's, the average tariffs. it really spiked to a much higher level. , this go off to the right is something goldman sachs brought to us. it is way down, but starts to inch up. you start to get b

marriott merging it's loyalty program two years after-acquiring star >> one of the main reasons, starwood'starting today, the rewards will finally combine into one single currency, bringing 110 million members into a unified program it's these members that are a critical driver of marriott's business and that's why wall street will be paying close attention to how customers respond. a number of travel experts have been reviewing the program the um sides, access to over 6,500 properties no blackout dates for point redemptions, but expect to shell out more on popular nights marriott is introducing peak pricing in to 19 travel from spg says more travel members will be competing for a number of upgrades on a given night so getting access to suites may get more challenges and if you use points to rack up status, the card reduces the number of points from 3 to 2 hyatt three launched it's own credit card in july. so far this year, shares of marriott have been under performing it's peers, hyatt and hilton down 20% by 2018. next coming months will help wall street get a better sense of whether trave