welcome to "bloomberg markets." ♪ it are the top stories we are covering from the bloomberg and around the world. all eyes on the markets is global stocks move higher after the best day in 15 months for the s&p 500. equities halting a seven-session slide. downtown to should -- countdown to shut down, again. we have the latest on the negotiations. and both disney and snap surprise on the upside. we would get insights on the media landscape. our guests has a sell rating on both companies. we are 30 minutes into a trading day everybody is excited about. julie hyman is here. julie: myself among them. we are doing ok. we are seeing this mixed picture

after the big gains for u.s. stocks yesterday. a big swing to a rebound yesterday. you're seeing bouncing around occur today, and that has been characteristic of the past week or so. swings between gains and losses that finally ended up with a big gain by day's end. nasdaq lacking today even as the s&p and the doubt gain for -- dow gain. the major averages from a percentage changes as of days. obviously, we saw a big moves the past several sessions that are clearly more muted, at least thus far, in today's session. we have to offer that caveat because we have typically been seeing big action as the day goes on in recent sessions. as for the earnings winners that you heard vonnie talk about, snap is seeing an outsized thing with the 33% boost after the

company reported earnings that beat estimates for the first time since its ipo. we will dig more into that in a little bit. we will also dig more into those disney earnings. disney shares have been bouncing around a bit. on the one hand it is struggling with its businesses -- television business, espn is this. on the other hand, it is seeing big revenue at its parks business. finally, kors as well doing well on the strength of jimmy choo shoes. the comparable sales falling, but less than estimated. we are also continuing to watch the volatility picture and story. down 14% overares the past two days. it was cut to neutral at jpmorgan this morning. the analyst there saying it is potentially the tip of the iceberg with unlikely reduction in vix trading futures activity. obviously, that has an effect on the business.

looking at the vix itself under the reckoning we have seen over the past week or so, the big spike in volatility, it is coming back down but still at a relatively elevated level. closer to the longer-term average we see for volatility. mark: i will show you our vix in a second. we retraced more than half of yesterday's losses. 2.4% was the loss for the european benchmark. up by 1.5% today. every single industry group is gaining today. he has been quite a long -- it has been quite a long losing run. to theay, the gauge fell lowest since august. europe's biggest money manager on monday said it is too early to buy stocks. investors need the justices to settlehe dust first. the biggest price since july 12, 2017. just want to show you what is

happening to our fear gauge. this is the stocks falling for the first day, similar to the stoxx 600 come after the longest losing stretch since april 2017. earlier it fell as much as 6. right now i disclose of the day, 6.83 -- right now at its lows of the day, 6.83. yesterday we had 11.32 increase, 60% rise to 30.17. that was the biggest increase since january 1999. also, the fear index closed at the highest level since june 2016, rising above the levels we saw around the time of the french election, but not to the levels we saw this time of the brexit referendum in june 2016. busy days for corporate's today. the dutch-controlled lender says it will wait until later this year to decide on paying extra

dividends and vivax capital -- if capitalybacks exceeds its target. it will consider adding to that if capital is within or about the target range. it also includes ubs, looking to boost shareholder returns after greater regulatory certainty. fully operating profit climbing 8%. really quickly, sticking with the financial theme, these shares down today, sweden's second-biggest bank with a jump in loan losses last year. mostly because of its exposure to the u.k. but it does want to expand your in the u.k. there you go, vonnie. well, it is no surprise we are going to stick with markets, and volatility is the name of the game, with the dow

between the 127-point loss and a 155-point gain. is benjamin segal, newberger berman fund manager. really amazing couple of days. isolated event, or is this a regime change? think we should expect volatility going forward and that is how we are positioned going forward. vonnie: equity volatility, bond market volatility, or across asset classes? benjamin: i focus on equities committee national markets. the volatility we have seen in the u.s. it's translating overseas. mark was talking about it in europe. as we near the end of the period of low interest rates with the change of administration at the fed, investors who have had a quiet time of it -- our portfolio has had very low turnover, for example, the last

18 months or so -- i think we should expect an increase in trading. vonnie: do we need to be aware of crowded trades now? area of the markets sold off. is that an area of crowded trades? benjamin: i think so, investors have become accustomed to buying and holding and watching shares up day by day. those unaccustomed to volatility will have to start getting used to it. mark: what are we making of the fact that foreign markets are not showing historic levels of sensitivity to the u.s.? benjamin: yeah, i think that is a very important point. international markets are much more driven by external factors. you mentioned politics in europe, but also the return in global growth, but also, non-us markets really don't face the same challenges that we do here in the u.s. unemployment is much lower. the opportunity for rate

inflation, therefore, is less, and therefore, the outlook for corporate profits and self-help stories come which is where we are focused on in our funds, is really great, and that is what gets us excited outside the u.s. mark: sector dispersion has also been limited. do you see a greater differentiation between winners and losers in the weeks and months ahead? benjamin: i absolutely do. there are long-term structural winners that we can continue to be enthusiastic about. does have to be ever mindful of evaluations in a more volatile market, take profits of stretch levels and add at lower levels. i think the structural challenge markets, investors are not going to pay a lot for hope and expectation, and the quality businesses we focus on at reasonable valuations, you will

see investors quite well through this volatile period. vonnie: you focus on the international equity fund, $1.7 billion in assets under management. u.k., switzerland, japan, and france -- interesting countries to choose. why those countries? benjamin: i think for different reasons. switzerland is the base for great multinationals. we are not excited about switzerland per se, but more the companies located there. japan is a market with tremendous innovation, particularly around consumer products. factory automation. the u.k. has really high-quality multinationals, significantly operating in the u.s. for us and we are bottom-up stock pickers. it is not so much where the companies are located. it is how many exciting opportunities in any one jurisdiction. we are finding interesting opportunities in france as well. vonnie: some of these places,

though, have a currency challenges they may not have had even a couple of months ago. the weaker dollar from how is that impacting the likes of the u.k., the likes of japan? benjamin: i think all else being because if i'm, just producing against a standard product against the u.s. competition, clearly lost competitive advantage. is i really have a differentiated product, we have seen currency movements. they have not been extreme. , if myicing power product or service is highly valued by a customer, i should be able to make that back in terms of pricing certainly over the medium-term. vonnie: finally, do the last two days' movements cause you to change anything in your portfolio? benjamin: incrementally, yes. mark's point about how the volatility has been indiscriminate, stable businesses that have sold off a lot can have been looking to add to come on the more cyclical businesses we have been trimming. the period of low trading,

long-term buy and hold, is probably passed us. portfolio managers can pick and to positions add incrementally and use this volatility in their favor, it will return to the stock picker's market. vonnie: good time for you, then. benjamin segal, thank you for joining us today. let's check on "first word" news with taylor riggs. on capitol hill, senate negotiators are coming up with a long-term budget deal that would prevent a government shutdown tomorrow night. the leader of house conservatives, congressman mark meadows, says he opposes what would be a bipartisan deal, but he says it is likely to pass because increases in defense and appeal toding will lawmakers. vice president mike pence is in japan, where he is threatening north korea with the toughest economic sanctions yet. he spoke after a meeting with japan's prime minister, shinzo

abe a. sisterg-un has named his to represent north korea at the winter olympics in south korea. dynasty'se the kim first official representative to set foot in the south. in germany, the way has been cleared for chancellor angela merkel's fourth term. merkel's bloc has reached a deal with social democrats to form a coalition government. people familiar with the matter say the social democrats will run the finance, foreign, and labor ministries. get defensec will and economy. the deal and a four-month stalemate. in the u k, prime minister notesa may's cabinet will agree on brexit plans this week. the march deadline for agreeing on the terms of the transition phase now look optimistic. the proposal for the future customs relationship with the european union is not close to being ready. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i am taylor riggs. this is bloomberg.

vonnie? tonie: coming up, count down shut down. the house passes short-term spending plan. hopes are still high that a longer-term budget agreement can be found before the critical deadline. this is bloomberg. ♪

mark: live from london, i am mark barton. vonnie: from new york, i'm vonnie quinn. this is "bloomberg markets." lawmakers are attending the passage of every spending bill that would avert a government shutdown tomorrow night. a broader budget bill may be added to the legislation before the senate vote. leaders in both parties say they want to end the cycle of temporary budget measures.

key lawmakers are speaking out on the recent stock market selloff. joined by kevin cirilli, chief washington correspondent, live from capitol hill. the president has been tweeting about the stock market. how are lawmakers responding to the market volatility? kevin: president trump tweeting within the last couple of minutes that he thinks a good news for the economy is translating to bad news for stock traders. of course, this all comes at a time in which treasury secretary steven mnuchin taking heat yesterday on capitol hill, testifying before the house financial services committee about the volatility in the market. listen to what he told lawmakers. secretary mnuchin: i think you have seen a normal market correction, although large, and i think again there is a disconnect in the short term. markets move in both directions. kevin: that disconnect in the marketplace has started some chatter about the potential for new regulatory reform. i asked the house financial

services committee chairman jeb hensarling about whether or not he thinks more regulation is the answer. here is what he told me. ensarling: it is not for congress to legislate volatility out of the markets. we have to make sure we have transparent markets, they are liquid, and that they are very transparent. i have heard this thesis. someone brought it to me yesterday. certainly we will review it. at the moment i've seen no cause for regulation at this point. kevin: in addition to market volatility, the house financial services committee is launching its own schedule of hearings on cryptocurrency. expect that to come out within the next couple of weeks. vonnie: of course, kevin, we are on shutdown watch once again. what is the update there? kevin: the house approving a measure that would keep the government funded through march 23, but it is unclear whether or

not that type of legislation would pass the senate. they have got to get something done by tomorrow, or else this will be the second government shutdown this year alone. it is unknown right now whether the backing of the bipartisan immigration you put forth by senators john mccain as -- senatorocrats chris coons, a democrat -- will be enough to appease the centrists and keep the government open. kevin?hat about daca, it is not part of it. does that apiece -- i suppose not all democrats. kevin: great point. democrats have been pushing for this to be put into the continuing resolution. republican say that is a nonstarter for them, let alone president trump. what it is going to come down to is whether or not the bipartisan deal of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is going to be enough to attract centrist democrats without losing too much of the far right. they have got to get that daca deal done by march 5. some folks say they have a bit

more time than that, but the general thinking from the leaders perspective is that this would have to be addressed on immigration by march 5. clock ticking down. there is frustration among rank-and-file members of the republican party about continuously going from one click to the next and continuing to kick the can down the road. vonnie: in the meantime, we will be watching for a senate vote on the shutdown bill. our thanks to kevin cirilli, chief washington correspondent. mark: still ahead, south africa may be on the verge of getting a new president, has talked to transition jacob zuma out of office head up. live into. this is bloomberg. ♪

vonnie: this is "bloomberg markets." i am vonnie quinn in new york. mark: from london, i'm mark

barton. south africa is on the verge of having a new president. current leader jacob zuma is a step closer to leaving office after holding transition talks with the leader of the opposing party. let's go to cape town. a zumase are we to resignation? it feels as though we are closer than we have ever been. anc wasident of the elected in december, cyril ramaphosa has declared that talks with jacob zuma and his future as the leader of the country are underway. he says they want a speedy resolution as to what will happen in terms of president jacob zuma maintaining his seat as they head of state or being unseated before elections in

2019. it seems as though we can have a decision later today and definitely by the end of the week, as some ministers have mentioned. vonnie: will he go quietly? will it be a smooth transition? amo: well, it seems as though the transition itself has been hit by a few snags along the road. we have seen the opening of parliament that jacob zuma was due to deliver on thursday being postponed, and there was speculation that the budget set to take place in a few weeks time would be delayed by parliament. they said they will not relate the delivery of the budget. we are waiting to hear what conditions exactly will the outline in a possible deal for president jacob zuma to exit the presidency earlier than maybe he may have expected. mark: how are south african markets faring during -- we will call this transition period? amo: well, we have seen the rand

really gaining, one of the best-performing currencies of 25 major currencies tracked by bloomberg. l ramaphosaident cyri was elected leader of the anc in a december, and you see that strength continuing. just a slight weaker today due to the uncertainty marking this transition period. what is critical is that movies will be issuing a review next week and best next month and we will have to wait to see whether the uncertainty that marked the state of the nation address as well as this period will have doeseight on what movies with a credit rating next month. mark: i suppose the worst-case scenario for the markets is a drawn out multi-month saga in which zuma refuses to go or the anc refuses to impeach him.

from what you are saying, that seems less probable. amo: yes, certainly seems less probable. we had the chief in parliament for the anc earlier this morning saying that the motion of no-confidence that was put parties,y opposition the economic freedom fighters, may not even be debated. that was scheduled to take place on the 22nd of february. the chief of the anc then stating that there may be no need to even go as far as another motion of no-confidence in president jacob zuma being debated in the national assembly. this, of course, would have been the ninth attempt to unseat him before the national assembly. it seems as though the critical decision will be made in the next two hours best next few hours, certainly before next week. -- the next few hours, certainly before next week. mark: great job. amo will be there for any developers in the story. vonnie: now time for our bloomberg "business flash," the

biggest business stories in the news right now. a los angeles biotech billionaire is buying a local newspaper. he has agreed to buy the l.a. times. he was a major shareholder in tronc. he is also getting "the san diego union-tribune" as part of the deal. ipo is exploring a possible and minority interest in directv's latin america unit. the company filed a registration statement. that is your latest bloomberg "business flash." merkel gets aela deal. european markets are in recovery mode on his germany -- news germany may soon have a new working government. this is bloomberg. ♪

vonnie: from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, i am vonnie quinn. mark: live from a bloomberg european headquarters in london, i am mark artan. this is -- mark barton.

this is "bloomberg markets." european stocks gaining after that they drop where the stoxx 600 felt 2.4%. you can see it rebounded. up by 1.8%. we are not close to wiping away yesterday's declines. we have breaking news on crude oil inventories. we are seeing a build of 1.80 9 million barrels. we are looking -- we were looking for twice that, so not much of a build. still, that is two weeks now, the built in inventories following 10 weeks of drawdowns, so that is interesting. crude oil gaining on news that the pipeline has been halted. gasoline inventory can much bigger build there. the market was looking for 60 million, so that quadruples the amount of gasoline inventories

the market was looking for. just let inventories a surprise as well. this includes products like diesel. a big, big build in distillate inventories come almost 4 million barrels. once again, to vdi crude trading at --wti crude trading 63.17. mark: in germany, political stalemate that lasted since september of your's over. chancellor angela merkel's bloc has reached an agreement on a coalition government with the social democratic party. the socialording to democrats. members of the social democrats still have to vote on the deal. we go live to berlin. among the positions that have , the finance ministry, which is gone to the spd, how much of a concession is that from angela merkel, and

might there be grumbling within her own party? reporter: it is, of course, i very big concession. it was seen in her party that the cdu should keep the finance ministry, considering that they were far ahead of the polls in the election. but the spd make a strong case that they want to have this they can makethat their mark in european policy as well. vonnie: so she is giving up the finance ministry for this. does this week in her position position?her birgit: at first glance, yes, it shows she is weakened because she is paying a high price. but it also shows her long-term view. she said in the press conference that in the end she thinks she can work well with the spd, and if you look at the coalition

most have been sent out. if it comes to the crunch, she will always be the one that has the veto. in the long run, i think she has secured a stable government by making this big concession right now. mark: one might assume that given the way the cards have landed, we are heading towards closer european integration. but what does the chancellor actually think about closer european integration, the extent of closeness? what does she want? birgit: she is not a great integrationist. in does not believe strengthening the european institutions. so she takes always a step-by-step approach to every single problem we will face in europe, we have to solve when they are coming up. so she doesn't want to have a .ederal europe

she wants a europe of member states where the decisions are basically decided by the national governments and largely also by herself and her counterparts. mark: really quickly, 464,000 spd members had to approve this coalition. will they? birgit: well, it is a good question. certainly there is a degree of uncertainty. but if you look at the membership, the membership of the spd is old, and they are conservative and they want stability. if you think about that, they will probably approve a deal, but there has been a flock of also justs coming in to express their protest against the coalition. this vote is a bit unpredictable

, but if you take a positive view, it will probably go through. mark: thanks for joining us. birgit jennen live in berlin. vonnie: rick follow for our conversation later on with former ecb president john country shape, 11:00 a.m. eastern. time for "first word" news. here's taylor riggs. taylor: the european economy will grow faster than expected this year and next. the eu forecast 2% growth in 2019. but it also says inflation will remain subdued. that is a disappointment to the european central bank. taiwan, hundreds of rescuers are searching for people cap in the rubble after a killer earthquake. at least six people were killed and 200 others injured. the magnitude 6.0 quake struck the east coast of taiwan late tuesday. a hotel was one of the buildings that collapsed. in south korea, there has been an outbreak of nora vivus at the

side of the winter olympics. about 1200 workers are being quarantined in their rooms. the military has been brought into work at 20 of the venues. the opening ceremonies are friday. president trump apparently was inspired by a grand military parade he witnessed last summer in paris. according to "the washington post," the president wants the pentagon to plan something similar to show off america's military might. "the post" says he brought up the rate with top generals last month. -- the parade with top generals last month. global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i am taylor riggs. this is bloomberg. mark? mark: taylor, coming up, our conversation with former ecb president jean-claude trichet. what he sees ahead for the central bank and ecb policies and come of course, the fed. you can contact us on twitter. by can also watch tictoc

bloomberg, the first 24-hour global news network streaming live on twitter. he was one of today's highlights, on a sotheby's vintage car auction. i report on transport for bloomberg news in paris. the sotheby's auction house 25 million euros of vintage cars in paris, wednesday.

mark: live from london, i'm mark barton. vonnie: from new york, i'm vonnie quinn. this is "bloomberg markets." time for stock of the hour. higher on theares

news that steve wynn is stepping down following a deluge of sexual harassment allegations. abigail doolittle joins us. is this a relief? a relief fors investors, and not surprising since steve wynn it did step down as the finance chair of the republican committee. the reason it was a relief to investors, there was fear that he would put gaming licenses at risk. they are looking to open a project in boston. that was the big concern. we could still have an investigation from u.s. regulators. macau officials will follow the lead. another reason for the motivation to step down on the part of steve wynn beyond the overhang of what he could do to the company's gaming licenses, his own net worth around the shares of wynn -- if we happen to the bloomberg and take a look at the own function, steve wynn owning 11.8% of the float. elaine wynn, he effectively

owns her shares. he is still biggest shareholder. they are going to go to court in april and she is trying to take back the 9% share. i'm clear how that will play out. vonnie: steve wynn said in a statement, "i've reached the conclusion i cannot continue to be effective in my current roles." what is next for the company? abigail: that is a great question. the person in position for ceo joined the company in 2002 and became president in 2013. he is very young, considered to be steve went's right-hand man. not too much of a disruption, apparently well respected. we hopped back into the bloomberg. while the 10% move up sounds impressive, it looks less impressive on the chart. we see the big drop on the sexual harassment allegations. the stock cap and floating around this -- the stock had

been floating around is moving average. we have nice volume today been nothing along the lines of the sellers. investors may want to see deal action, whether it is private equity or leveraged buyout or other operators such as caesar's taking them over. vonnie: abigail doolittle, thank you for staying on that story for us. mark: let's talk to disney. first quarter earnings beat estimates and narrowly missed on revenue. snap says fourth-quarter sales rose better than expected. the number of active daily users rose by 18%. brian wieser,by pivotal research group senior research analyst. looking at how long you have had to sell ratings since january of last year, your price target for disney, $94, implies a 12% downside from yesterday's close. was there anything in disney's earnings that major rethink the

rating that -- that made you rethink the rating? brian: not really. the underlying stories and that different. it was a better-than-expected quarter, although i have to say that the next quarter looks less than expected based on the outlook they provided for commences. a lot of the underlying trends are more or less where they work in which is to say that you have a weak advertising market. you have ongoing degradation of the subscriber base for espn, which is such a critical source of revenue and profitability for the overall company. that hasn't changed much. i would also add that while the studio slate looks great and the well, youooks to do can look at the consumer-products business, which doesn't seem like it has a very good outlook. so mixed is the best way to characterize it. vonnie: brian and what do you have with bob iger -- what issues do you have with bob iger's strategy going forward?

he has made major moves into diversifying the revenue. brian: none. the problem with disney in general is investors don't appreciate the ongoing and permanent market erosion that the company faces because of espn. i think that is longer-term perceptions of the company are misguided. what i mean by that is if you look at the cost of sports rights, for example, probably cost ofest source of the company outside the parks division, you are looking at double-digit annual increases, beyond the current cycle of contracts. especially when you look at facebook, google, amazon coming causeis is going to ongoing and permanent market erosion for the business, on top of the fact that you have subscribers falling apart. mark: brian -- sorry, vonnie. vonnie: just the announcement of the 499 streaming service, is that the correct price point?

well it ran out of -- will it ramp up subscribers fast? brian: it sounds like a good product. it will be a niche offering. diehard sports fans will find content there. but on this espn is picking up ,ushing a major sport there what sky would have done in the productif you want the -- if you want the sport, you have to get the product. other than that, it will be a niche offering. mark: let's get to snap. shares are rising, eight-month high. short-sellers seem to have been blindsided by this. we have had great -- upgrades with financial us, but you are speaking sell. brian: snap had a final quarter

but there's nothing that should cause anybody to have immediately different view of the overall company. it is essentially a venture stage company -- whether they more or% or 70%, it is less the same thing with regard to where the overall business is going. obviously from a higher number than a smaller one. but the issues they face is this product andiche there is a limited scale of revenue they can get to and limited scale of profitability they can get to. that is a relatively optimistic view of the underlying offering. i'm positive about consumer trends, but it is a niche platform and that limits its size. mark: brian, great to see you. -- brian wieser, pivotal research group senior research analyst. vonnie: still ahead, jean-claude trichet, former president of the european central bank. we will get his take on one the central bank should put an

end to its qe program. this is bloomberg. ♪

bloomberg for a exclusive. the general of the next chairman of europe and former chief executive believes that london --rmet a major financial will remain a major financial sector post brexit and stressed the importance of a constructive relationship between the u.s. and france. >> one of the weaknesses of europe traditionally -- thanks for financing most of the economy, -- banks were financing was to the economy, whereas in the u.s. it is the market. the market and private money happen financing a growing proportion of european efforts. i think the point is to find the right companies, and to find the right companies, companies which

can be accelerated and globalized. >> and politically, europe obviously has been through quite an interesting period the last couple of years, specifically driven by brexit. how is that playing out in france and the rest of europe economically? >> economically we see the exception of britain, which is decelerating because of brexit. the rest of europe is picking up. even france, which had been the lacquered for a number of years. when you have 1.9% growth rate in france, positive demography, compared to 2.5, 2.6% growth rate in germany with the stable or declining population. france has a lot to do, but it is improving. continental economy has been improving. spain is coming back, italy seems to be stabilized, germany is doing extremely strongly,

france is accelerating. business investment is great. i think the risk we may have is not an economical one. the risk is a political one. with the exception of france in the last presidential election will have a government which is stable for the next 4.5 years, if you look around france at countries in europe, there is a varying but real degree of political uncertainty. and that political uncertainty in the u.k. has led to speculation about specifically the financial services industry and how that will continue to grow were not grow, in london specifically. does that was really stand to benefit, does frank for stand to benefit-- frankfurt stand to benefit? >> everybody expects to benefit -- dublin, paris, even new york, amsterdam. ,he first thing i would say

london is going to remain a major financial sector. given what very probably brexit is going to be, some activities will not be able to stay in london. the countries will benefit from repatriations, and what is more subtle and probably dangerous long-term for british competitiveness is the fact that the uncertainty surrounding the real format of its bit -- format of brexit is making implicit decisions happen every day. not that business people make the decision to leave britain, they thinkly twice before increasing their exposure, and this has never been cost. >> politically in france, you mentioned the stable government. it was not the candidate that you backed. you backed mr. fillon. how has president macron done in

your estimation so far? >> he has been doing between well and very well. i supported another candidate in the first round, i supported macron in the second round. he has broken all the rules and therefore it has created for him free hands. he can do things probably many other candidates could not have done. he is the illustration of a new generation coming to power. he is very pragmatic. he has a global vision. and he has shown a significant degree of courage in implementing some of the reforms. labor laws, what he is planning to do on pensions. it is a would say that good surprise for the country. there is one point he will probably need to do significantly more if he wants his efforts to bear fruit, in

public spending where the state is still spending and too much -- spending way too much, and where the issue is not been really addressed yet. important of the most ones, the european one, he has been putting on the table good things for the country. >> one of his pragmatism has , by allery global view accounts, and part of his pragmatism has been a warm relationship with president trump in the united states. where does that go from here? i believe president macron will be a guest at a state dinner in the united states. how is that relationship evolving, do you think? >> whoever the person is the president of the united states, he is the leader of the world's biggest democracy. this is something which has to and it is also for the other democracies in europe and elsewhere a very important element in the balance of the world.

-- you may like or dislike the personality. states have to have interests, not affections. it is in the interest of the democracies to create a constructive relationship. mark: that is the general of the atlantic-- general chair of europe in an exclusive interview on bloomberg television. up next, a bloomberg exclusive. jean-claude trichet, former president of the ecb, joins us. we focus on the central bank's divergence. this is bloomberg. ♪ .

mark: 11:00 a.m. in new york and 4:00 p.m. in london. 30 minutes left in the trading day in europe. from bloomberg's european headquarters, i am mark barton. vonnie: i am vonnie quinn and

this is the european close on bloomberg markets. ♪ mark: where european equities are trading right now 30 minutes away from the wednesday session. yes. here are the headlines. stocks rising in the u.s. and europe today following strong gains for the s&p 500 and the tuesday session. we are covering all the action. , bloomberg exclusive conversation with former ecb president jean-claude trichet, his thoughts on brutal market moves, what he sees for central-bank policy from the ecb and the federal reserve. the chairman of the white house economic council joins