“The Pulse” is all about conversations with high profile guests in the beating heart of global business, economics, finance and politics. Based in London, we go wherever the story is, bringing you interviews and market-moving scoops. Today’s guests: European Stability Mechanism Managing Director, Pierre Gramegna, Technogym CEO, Nerio Alessandri and Citigroup Global Head of Research & Equity Advisory, Lucy Baldwin.
Newsmakers and Market movers. This is the pulse with friends who like. Good morning and welcome to The Pulse on Tom Mackenzie in London, where the conversations that matter. Here’s what’s coming up on today’s program. Japan’s two year yields jumped to its highest in more than a decade after inflation comes in hot.
Trade is now back. There is an 80% chance that negative rates will end by April. Gene could consider a listing in London if the fast fashion retailer doesn’t get approval for U.S. IPO. Plus, French President Emmanuel Macron says sending Western troops to Ukraine cannot be ruled out.
That’s a Sweden gets final approval to join NATO’s. Let’s check in on these markets. And of course, it is a big week on the data front. We are looking ahead to the inflation print out of the US on Thursday. It’s a little bit muted in terms of the
Picture across the European map so far today after the losses of yesterday. You’re looking at the European Stoxx 600. The benchmark, of course, down just a 10th of a percent. The first 100 is flat. There have been some gains in the early
Part of the session on the mining story and the upside that’s coming through in terms of iron ore prices. But for now the footsie 100 trading at 7681. A little bit of optimism coming through on the DAX up in Germany, gains of 2/10 of a percent and the footsie movement,
Italy just adding a 10th of a percent. Let’s flip the board and look across asset then the currency at the moment is the Japanese yen on the back of the strength that came through on the inflation picture. A little bit of gain coming through slightly above the estimates.
And again, you saw those yields on the front and on those to get yields up to the highest level in about a decade in Japan. Again, as markets start to reassess where the BOJ goes in terms of ending its ultra loose policy, is it March? March is possibly now a live meeting.
Currently you’re looking at 150 on the Japanese yen, currently up 3/10 of a percent. The US two year. Currently for 68. The yields have been up a little bit yesterday on the back of a Treasury auction, yields currently down 2 to 3 basis point. You are seeing a bit of money moving in
To the US Treasury market so far in the market session this Tuesday. Brent seeming to find some kind of floor at $82 a barrel, 8345 right now just down a 10th of a percent and Bitcoin 56,297, just below 57,000.
It crossed through that level for the first time since about the end of 2021. Those flows into those crypto ETFs have been pretty pronounced. You’re seeing some further upside there. Gains of 3% for Bitcoin. Let’s get back to the markets though, in terms of what’s happening on the
Inflation front and the expectation around the Fed. So let’s bring in Lucy Baldwin, global head of research and equity advisory at Citigroup. We also get Lucy’s views on the Japanese markets as well. Lisa, thank you very much for joining us in the studio this Tuesday morning. Let’s start with expectations then
Around the Fed pricing as we lead up to that inflation print on Thursday. The expectation still markets pricing just under forecasts from the Federal Reserve. The DOT plots, of course, had forecast three cuts this year. If we get a hotter than expected print
When it comes to PKI on Thursday, how vulnerable are these markets? Good morning, Tom. Thanks for having me. Yes, big question. And from our perspective, as you say, we’ve gone from one extreme where we were looking for seven cuts at one point
All the way to now three cuts broadly being priced by markets. Our view is really that the Fed is going to be much, much more cautious and that the risk here is that you continue to see this fairly hot data in the US, particularly driven by services, inflation, hot labor markets that are
Really still very tight in a number of places. So our expectation is that you’re not going to see cuts coming through till June. However, we do take the view that you’re going to see around 125 basis of cuts, and that’s predicated by a technical
Recession that we expect to see in the US as we go through. So it’s later, but it’s more cuts and I’m I think it 125 basis points of cuts then by the end of this year. But you don’t think they start until June and you still have flagged a recession in the US?
What gets us towards a recession in the US, given that we are seeing on a number of data points continued resilience in that economy? Yes, we’re getting that question a lot as you might well imagine. And as you say, we also have quite an optimistic view.
You know, last year in many, many ways, and we obviously saw great data coming through last year into the start of this year. Why do we think it’s going to slow? Really, there’s three things that we think are going to slow in the US dynamic.
One is that rates are actually going to bite. Like the longer these rates stay at these levels with inflation coming down, the real rates obviously going up, that’s really starting to bite. We see those cracks in parts of the consumer, in parts of the real estate
Market coming through. And the longer it stays like this, the more it’s going to bite. Really, We got it in a bit round because we thought you’d see this recession earlier. We thought you’d see it last year and you weren’t alone. Exactly. And ultimately, the consumers, the
Corporates, they locked in, they turned out their debt and it’s taken a lot longer than we would have expected to manifest. The second thing really is the fiscal impulse we think is going to be an awful lot less, not just for the US around the world, despite obviously half the
World’s population going to the polls, that fiscal space just isn’t there to really stimulate to the. Degree we obviously saw coming out of the pandemic. And then the third point is just this service is piece, right coming out of the pandemic. Again, you saw this big rotation out of goods into services.
Everyone went out to their favorite restaurants off on holiday. And you still service is running incredibly hot around the world, but particularly in the US. And we think that is really going to be moderating. So that’s what’s giving us the conviction of the slowing this year and that’s why we’re below consensus for
Growth in the US and also globally. But what is it about that really that triggers this into recession? And for us, that’s a real debate and it’s quite a fine line. Tom, candidly, is around what is making that slowdown dynamic come through from a jobs perspective.
Do you get the conventional demand destruction, people losing their jobs, that side of things, triggering a recession, or can you say the US labor market as teams soft landing believe you can expand to the point that enables you to see wage pressures moderating without unemployment going up and i.e.
Participation rates and cohorts of the market increasing. But also the immigration dynamic that we’re seeing in the US expanding that supply of labor and can those things enable this soft landing of a plane? But we think it’s just too early to call that victory over inflation because that
But that is you’re right, that is part of the debate, because one view is if you start getting cuts from the Fed, that’s because the economy is doing badly. That’s because the economy is moving into a recession. And actually cutting from the Fed in
That environment is going to be worse for these equity markets than what we’re currently seeing. And of course, the earnings story is part of it is part of it, but they have powered through in the US, particularly the strength that’s come through across the equity markets despite these higher
Rates. How did you land on that debate? Well, as you say, there’s this bit of a Goldilocks expectation out there that is forming that you can see quite a big magnitude of cuts, but without any real sort of slowdown in terms of growth dynamics.
And that, of course, is the challenge. So, you know, if you think about our view of the S&P, obviously last year was a phenomenal year for the S&P 26, 27% growth. That was 60% driven by the Magnificent Seven. As we know we’ve come into this year.
And our call has been it’s a broadening out of earnings growth. So we broadens that. It doesn’t top out. For example, Wait, wait, wait. We still see some upside, although our base case, the upside is really not significant. 5889 for the full case is 5700. Correct.
And to get there, you’ve got to see $260 of earnings. You got to see 23 times of earnings. So a multiple expansion. Now look, for us, valuation isn’t everything here at these levels. It’s absolutely fair to say that in 90% of history the S&P has been cheaper.
So valuation is definitely at the high end. It’s in that 10th decile from a valuation perspective overall. But when you use that looking forward, it’s very rarely the right proxy to think about returns in the next 12 months. What matters much more is earnings momentum, which is a big theme
Obviously, and of course flows in the positioning side of things in the market as well as the rates piece. So we wouldn’t use valuation as a reason to sell the S&P here. And in fact, we do see in that Goldilocks scenario some quite substantial upside still to come.
But yes, we do think there’s this broadening out thesis that needs to come through as well. Okay. And the earnings strength to be seen on the US and one of the other developed markets where we’ve seen it pronounced is Japan as well and stocks there and
The Nikkei up about 40% in the last 12 months. We have the inflation data out of Japan coming in slightly higher than expected. That may brings forward the move from the Bank of Japan to end that ultra loose monetary policy. Does that fade?
Does that dull the story for Japanese equities or do you still want to be adding in terms of your portfolio management? Yes, we are still pretty bullish on Japanese equities. We still see 15% upside from here, and it’s just a 50% upside from here.
And as you say quite rightly, Tom, the interesting thing with Japan is there had been that expectation today that we dropped below that 2% threshold having been there have been 2% or more since obviously March 22. And was that going to kill the story, this thesis of inflation coming back and
As you say, lift off then potentially for the Bank of Japan from as early as March, April this year. And our view is that that thesis has got room to run. And the reason for that is when you think about the Japanese equity market in particular, right, if you go back to
The, as you say, 30 odd years to 1989 to the last sort of peak, when you looked at it, it was an incredibly expensive market. Optically, that is no longer the case. So that valuation adjustment from 30 years ago has absolutely happened in Japan and is a very compelling valuation story. Now.
Secondly, and quite critically, the earnings story is incredibly strong. If you look at Japan, corporate earnings from the mid 20 tens even, there’s been this really remarkable recovery that’s kind of gone under the radar screen to some degree in the sense that the reform agenda in Japan has really transformed
Things. And much more recently as well, you’ve seen use of cash, you’ve seen, you know, balance sheet discipline using share buybacks, you see dividends, etc.. And that has meant that Japan has actually been from an earnings growth perspective, overnight, quite a long period of time, a remarkably good story. In a global context.
And I guess the third piece of that is when you look at the economy, you know, all of that has happened while inflation has obviously been challenged. Now we’ve got a bit of inflation back. We think this story can actually get even better from here, and that’s going to support the earnings growth.
And in turn, that can enable further rerating from a valuation perspective, hence our confidence that it’s not too late and you can indeed still party like it’s 1999. It still party like it’s 1989, but with better fundamentals, arguably. And it’s not it’s not a flash in the pan
For Japan. Lucy Bolton, thank you very much indeed. On the case for Japanese stocks and also, of course, the view on inflation, the trajectory there and what that could mean, of course, for Fed policy going forward. The case that the view that you still
Are facing a technical recession in the second half of this year for the US economy. Lucy Baldwin, Citigroup’s global head of research and equity advisor. Coming up, is London calling for Xi? We take a look at why the fast fashion brand is preparing for not making the
Cut in New York, what that could mean for London’s markets. That is next. This is Bloomberg. Welcome back. Now, Bloomberg has learned that fast fashion company Shery Ahn is considering the possibility of switching its IPO to London. That’s reportedly because of hurdles to a US listing. Let’s get the details and bring in
Bloomberg Surveillance Eric Costa for the latest on this. Is this sense of a long awaited win for the U.K. markets potentially? I mean, being a choice, even if your second choice or third choice is better than no choice, we will take it at this point. We will take it.
This is not a tech company, but it’s a big name and it’s a name that’s trying to kind of make inroads in the U.K. It bought Missguided last year. It tried to buy Topshop a few years ago, losing out to a source who had a pop up
Store on Oxford Street. So really kind of building the relationship here. We know that the founder met with some city executives when he was here in December. And if this is a win for London and there’s a lot of ifs here because the US
Is still first choice, there’s regulatory hurdles, but also political pressure. Marco Rubio being one of the senators that’s pushing against this because it is, even though it’s not based in China, it is a Chinese founded company and that’s not a very politically popular
Thing to to welcome into New York at a time when the U.S. is preparing for elections. But, you know, this would be a big win for London. It would be a big company. I was calculating even at the lowest valuation, it would be about the 17th
Biggest company in the U.K. were it to lose here at current valuations. So, you know, and it’s you know, it’s a big name. It’s a big brand. I’m interested in why she is not looking at Hong Kong, because that would be
Normally the second choice if if Chinese founded companies can’t get New York. So if London starts to be an alternative to Hong Kong, that’s another story altogether. Okay. That’s one worth digging into them potentially. Meanwhile, here in the U.K., we’re seeing a little bit of easing in terms
Of in terms of grocery prices, at least prices in shops. What are the dynamics that we’re seeing at play, that slight race to the bottom in terms of price that’s becoming incredibly competitive among grocers, supermarkets, really wanting to get customers through the door, and that’s
More important for them right now to gain market share than to get customers to to spend more. So we did see a bounce back. Valentine’s Day did help. You know, there was a slight discount on Valentine’s Day, but it did help versus January.
But this is adding to inflation in all seriousness, adding to evidence that inflation is coming down. The numbers for January were lower than expected. Retail sales picked up from a very, very miserable December as well. So this is good news. I mean, things are moving in the right direction.
We did actually see a little bit of a market reaction with gilts outperforming bonds and treasuries, and that might be because of the disinflationary story here in the U.K. That’s really interesting. Yet you’re seeing a three basis point move lower at the front end.
And on the ten year here in the U.K., on gilts on the back then possibly on that slightly softer, sharp inflation coming through for the U.K. supporter, of course. Thank you very much indeed, with the echo data in terms of the inflation trajectory and of course, the news
Around see and potentially looking at the UK as a listing destination. Coming up, we’re going to discuss commercial real estate and the risks to the euro. We will speak to the managing director of the European Stability Mechanism, the institution which protected the currency during the financial crisis. This is Bloomberg.
Welcome back. Now, Germany’s ratio of bad loans in commercial property is increasing, putting a spotlight on the potential for a slow motion crash. It would pose a major risk to German lenders who are more exposed to commercial real estate, more exposed than most of their European peers. And according to one study, extended
Loans more aggressively. Let’s discuss this and other topics and bring in the head of the ESM, the European Stability Mechanism. Romania is the managing director of the ESM. We’ll talk about why you’re here in London as well in a minute. But let’s start with the commercial real estate challenges that we are seeing.
We’ve seen them in the US. We’ve seen the impact there. We’ve done some Bloomberg reporting that’s out today in terms of the pressures, the linkages between German banks and the commercial real estate. It may be because of some arcane accounting rules that we haven’t come to fully realize the extent of that exposure.
How concerned are you about a potential crisis when it comes to commercial real estate in the Eurozone? Well, the commercial real estate issue, as risk is well known in the United States and also in Europe, which is due to the fact that interest rates went up so quickly.
So that’s a situation that could only have consequences on commercial real estate. If I focus more on Europe, I would say that most countries have issues, but it all depends if you have flexible interest rates or fixed interest rates. So I wouldn’t have a general view on it.
We monitor it also as ESM, because obviously we are there to ensure financial stability or prevent crises. So we obviously follow this. But as of now, I think this issue, which was on the radar since interest rates went up in all countries, has not materialized spectacularly.
So you wouldn’t characterize it as a crisis right now, Right. Focused on this risk? Exactly. Okay. Does that need to be more transparency around how German lenders account for their exposure to commercial real estate? I wouldn’t focus on German lenders.
I think the issue is everywhere and we need to have a global view on this. That’s what we do as the safety mechanism or the one that safeguards the euro area. We look at all the countries because we are a Europe that are united Europe. So you have to have all the interlinked
Issues also. But for now, you are confident that you have the clarity and the transparency into the linkages between CRB, commercial real estate and banks more broadly then across the eurozone, you have that lends to you. We look into that and we’re not the only ones. Sure.
Okay, so talk to us about why you are here in in London then. What is the purpose of your visit here? What are you trying to achieve? Well, the ESM has bonds outstanding and refinancing to the tune of closely to €300 billion. So we refinance that on a regular basis.
And we are here in London because it’s an important financial center and also because the United Kingdom has been a steady investor in the ESM since the beginning. And it’s increasing over time. As we speak, More than 20% of our bonds are held by UK and Switzerland.
This gives you an idea of the size. Is the appetite still there? Yes. Environment is quite good and uh, we have been on the market since the beginning of the year. ESM and it was quite positive. Okay. Italy’s government hasn’t yet ratified the ESM reform.
Do you have a timeframe you expect that to happen before the European elections? Well, it can mechanically not happen before the European Parliament elections because it has been presented to the European to the Italian parliament in December with the negative vote. So for the Italian constitution, you
Need to wait for six months before you present it again. And so I think there are still a lot of explanations to do in Italy. And also, in fact, in the first year in office last year, I have visited all the
Member countries of the euro area, which are the members of the European Stability Mechanism to see how the ESM can best responds to the needs that we have today. We have different types of crisis today than those that triggered the existence of the ESM, which was the sovereign debt
Crisis. And at that time we had in mind such types of crisis. And now we have had COVID. Now we have the war in Ukraine and political geopolitical instability, to say the least. Now we have the war and our doorstep. So obviously everyone is looking into how different institutions can best
Response because because the Italians, of course, it’s the stigma around austerity, the linkages, austerity in the ESM, that is that is a political concern, concern there. You mentioned the war in Ukraine. Olli, Olli Rehn, of course, formerly a consequential role across the eurozone
And a former EU economic effects commissioner, has said the ESM should be a plan B in terms of Europe’s assistance to Ukraine. Would you be open to that? Now, first, you have to realize that our mandate is to help to 20 member states in the euro area.
We cannot help a country outside our remit, but obviously we could indirectly help if some countries have issues that are triggered by the war in Ukraine or would have problems accessing the market, we could try to help them.
And not only if there is a deep crisis, but also to prevent a crisis so we can help our members here. Romania, thank you very much indeed. We appreciate your time this morning. Managing director of the European Stability Mechanism. Much more to come. This is bring back.
Welcome back. Now, Japan’s two year yield jumps to its highest in more than a decade after inflation comes in hot. Trade is now back. There is an 80% chance negative rates will end by April. She could consider listing in London if the fast fashion retailer doesn’t get approval for a US IPO.
Plus, French President Emmanuel Macron says sending Western troops to Ukraine cannot be ruled out as Sweden gets final approval to join NATO’s. Good morning and welcome to the Pulse on Tom Mackenzie here in London. Let’s go to that story then. Sweden is set to join NATO’s within days
After Hungary’s parliament finally approves Stockholm’s accession. The go ahead comes months after Sweden submitted its membership bid alongside Finland in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For more on this, I’m joined by Bloomberg’s Oliver Crook, who’s on the ground for us in Berlin. All he has to say that it’s been a
Complicated road for Sweden. And to get to this point, how significant is the extension tonight? So for Stockholm and for the alliance? Right. Complicated and long. Right. This is almost two years to the day since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. And this is something that was held up
Initially by Turkey and then by Hungary. And it seems that the path to NATO’s is paved in perhaps appropriately. Fighter jets. It was agreements to sell fighter jets to both Hungary and to Turkey that seemed to finally clinch it. And now Sweden will be poised to be the
32nd member of NATO in the coming days. And this is significant because Sweden has historically been quite skeptical of this sort of alliance politically, but also within the population. That obviously changed two years ago. And it also changes a sort of policy within Sweden of sort of nonalignment
Militarily. They have not been in a war since 1814. So really a significant change there. And when you look at it geo strategically, look at the map there in front of you, it’s a huge player in the Baltic Sea. They have very advanced submarines home
To Saab, which makes the fighter jets that Hungary wanted to get their their hands on. And so from that perspective, also significant Saab, which by the way, hit an all time high yesterday, probably in part because of all this, but also financially. Right. Finland is got that huge border with
Russia. However, Sweden’s economy is twice as big and that means 2% of that of GDP eventually will be going to NATO’s defense spending now. Okay. And as we say, this was the catalyst, of course, was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And we’ve been hearing Macron convening
European leaders in Paris to kind of try to rally support for Ukraine. Did he ultimately succeed? So I think he’s managed to rally, you know, additional goodwill. The problem that there is here with Europe and Ukraine is that there is no shortage of goodwill.
What there is a shortage of is ammunition and capacity to actually produce that ammunition. And that was really kind of at the heart of the question there. Maybe they’re going to source some of it from outside of Europe. It seems that that idea is getting more
Traction. The Czechs have proposed this and now the Dutch and the French say they’re on board. But I think the headline for many people will be what Emmanuel Macron said about the potentiality of troops on the ground in Ukraine. Have a listen. There is no consensus today to
Officially, openly and with endorsement, send troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing should be ruled out. We will do everything necessary to ensure that Russia cannot win this war. So Emmanuel Macron saying nothing should be ruled out.
And that is in part, we have to assume because of the big question that’s hanging over everything, the United States. You still have tens of billions of dollars in aid stuck in the House. That is not making any progress. Biden is convening congressional leaders
Today to try to get that through. But then there’s also the other big question, Tom, that is the potential for a Trump presidency who has spoken very disparagingly about NAITO. What that means in terms of policy is not entirely clear, but it could mean a more leaky US security umbrella over nado. Okay.
Bloomberg’s Oliver Crook with the latest there on the question of nature and of course, that support for Ukraine, ongoing support. Holly, thank you very much indeed. Coming up, we’re going to be joined by the CEO. I want to switch focus. I’m joined by the CEO of Technogym. I’m going to explore how A.I.
Is changing the health and wellness sector. Now, just coming up, this is big, but. Welcome back. Now, TECHNOGYM shares falling close to 6.4% this morning in Milan, the most since July 2022, after Banca across cut its recommendation to sell on expectation of disappointing results for
2023. It comes as the company tries to stay at the forefront of innovation in health and wellness, including, of course, the boom in artificial intelligence. There’s also something of the Paris Olympics to be. Thank you. Might as well. Joining me now is Mario Alessandri, the
CEO and chairman of Technogym, of course, the founder of this business. Neri, thank you very much for joining us in in the studio. Let’s go to that point then, around the demand, around the outlook. What are you seeing for 2024? How is how is the demand picture shaping up for you? Thank you.
Yes, we are very positive for this year because the wellness, the healthy lifestyle, the prevention is the new priority, I think, for everybody. Packaging is the leader in the fitness. Health is sport smart equipment in terms of ecosystem and tanks, the artificial intelligence.
Today we have the opportunity to customize and personalize the program and technology, personalized wellness, lifestyle and the holistic approach in terms of nutrition training, precision training and the mental approach. So the down the down way that we saw today is pegged to the idea that you’re
Going to have to spend more on OpEx operation expenditures in order to stay ahead. When it comes to innovation, is there more that you how much spending? All you can have to put aside, Is that a fair view on what’s going to have to unfold for you in the business to stay
Ahead in innovation? Are you going to have to step up that level of spending? Yes, Technology means the long term approach in terms of a sustainable profit and sustainable growth. So we invest a lot of money in the last two years, the record for technology in
Terms of investment in digital transformation, in Internet of Things, to develop that level of investment continues or you’re going to have to go above that. No, we invested in the last two years. These include in now we would like to capitalize the investment.
If you like to create the future. We build that the future. And now we have a very, very positive provision for the future. Okay. Very anecdotally, after Covid, I’ve seen a lot of friends getting rid of their running machines or their cycling
Machines at home and getting outside. They want to be running in parks. They want to be running through London. Are you seeing a shift in terms of that demand for your devices? But today the new approach is the hybrid, not only in the cloud means the technogym anytime, anywhere.
Wellness on the go means a variety of people. They like the variety some time at home. Sometimes they’re in there during the work time in a club. In the free time is the plan. Yeah, because it’s the culture. The wellness is the culture.
The wellness is the mindset. The wellness is the education that more prevention, healthy lifestyle in terms of sport performance, in terms of energy. But first of all in that will say entertainment, the lifestyle. You’ve got a big exposure here in the UK market. What are the other priority markets for
You, the other growth markets as you look ahead this year? Now we have amazing growth, amazing opportunity. Middle Eastern package. You signed a contract with Neo. Miami’s is the new city, the smart city, the wellness city. We have many projects in Middle East. There are all in Saudi Arabia, 800 new
Hotels, 800 new hotels in the next five years, but still very good. Also the Asia Pacific, because there has the new opportunity in terms of new countries. India is amazing, new opportunity, India. But in the next two, three years or so, Africa, Nigeria, Angola, because the North Africa, because Africa is the new
Frontier for everybody. Okay, interesting. There’s a lot of components that go into the US still the biggest market for us, still the biggest market when it when it comes to inflation, input costs. What are you saying that where where is the stickiness most acute when it comes
To all the inputs to go into your into your machines? Okay, We manage the price because we manage it. The value for money approach, the technology is quality is premiumness and in the home we are luxury living. Yeah, the pricing, we have pricing power and we don’t have problem in terms of pricing.
We have first of all, problem in terms opportunity about go to market, but we need to build the future. Building our future is our must because we need to create the culture, culture in terms of prevention, exercise this medicine and we need to share with the CAF system if that both health is
Wealth, health is good for companies to increase and productivities is very important for government to reduce that cost, but is very important for people to increase it to improve. We still have pricing power in this environment exactly where you can you can put up prices further from here if
You need to. First of all means education. And then the price, first of all, is to create the needs to share the Value-Added with operators, with end users. And then that is the price is important. How you integrating into your business may be to create efficiencies, but also into your products?
Yes, we started 30 years ago to develop software, the first the training software. Today we have more or less 25 million people who say they’ll want to may. Well, this cloud is the ecosystem and 55 million people, they use technology every day, 55 million to use technology
Every day. And then our goal is to connect to connecting the ecosystem. Wellness connected the experience. Okay. When it comes to the Paris Olympics later this year, this summer, going to be held in the French capital and around other regions of France. How much of a catalyst could that be for
For your business to the top line? Yes, we are technologies office supplier for the last eight edition and then also Paris 2024 13,000 office we use technology then in July at Augusta for us is very important lighting the automotive for the Formula One. The Formula One for us is the Olympic
Games. We have feedback from athletes champions. We have the lab thanks to this experience because 26, the training center in Paris, said they use technology for 4000 smart equipment. And then we had relations with doctors, sports, doctors, physiotherapists, the Federation for 2220 countries.
Do you see a sales spike, a sales spike after and on the back of the spike in this short term, because the Olympic Games is the opportunity for the long term, okay, Because it’s not the consumer side is the business to business style. But when we have the endorsement from
The champions around the world, the credibility of the brand is very, very important. Okay, Naru, thank you very much indeed for your time. Certainly not lacking energy this morning. Nadia Alexander, CEO and chairman of Technogym, of course. Now, switching focus as the WTO meets in
Abu Dhabi this week, the EU’s trade chief says the world needs to preserve rules based trade. Valdis Dombrovskis spoke exclusively to Bloomberg from the conference. We are currently certainly in a more conflictual geopolitical situation than we were before. There is a growing tendency towards protectionism.
We risk economic fragmentation. So we need to address all of this and therefore we need to preserve the role of the WTO and rules based multilateral trading system. Okay. European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis speaking to Bloomberg a little earlier. Meanwhile, the head of the World Trade
Organisation says global commerce is performing weaker than forecast amid multiple economic headwinds and a political tilt towards protectionism. She was speaking at the WTO conference in Abu Dhabi. Let’s bring you this point, Eric Martin, who joins us from Abu Dhabi with the latest. Eric, good morning.
Thanks for joining us. What have people been talking about at the conference? What have been the hot topics? What is grabbing people’s attention? Is this an organization that can ultimately be reformed? Good morning, Tom. Well, that is the big question. We’ve seen a strong push by the US as
Well as other governments to try to update the WTO and to keep it relevant. This was an organization that for a number of years hadn’t seen a new agreement completed. Everyone is very excited about an agreement that is set to enter force once it reaches about two thirds of WTO
Members enacting it, which is on fishing subsidies, trying to preserve the fishing stock in the ocean, which the WTO chief has mentioned, is 50% overexploited at this point. So thinking an issue that combines both people’s livelihood for hundreds of millions of people as well as the
Environment, but really trying to see how do you in an era in which the U.S. and China, their geopolitical rivalry, geostrategic rivalry, is so defining, how do you keep 166 members marching to the same beat? And that’s that’s a common ground that WTO members and that the director
General are looking for this week here in Abu Dhabi. Yeah. Interesting. Look, Eric, you follow all of this really, really closely, kind of at a granular level. You’re at the event covering it for us. What are the big risks? Do you noted.
So it is the big risk, the rift ultimately between China and the US or is it something else when it comes to the shape of global trade going forward? Well, certainly the US-China rivalry is is front of mind for policymakers in the
Trade space, but also some issues that haven’t been on the on the radar. You know, just even I was six months ago, when you look at the WTO forecast was actually made two days prior to the Hamas attack in Israel. And so given all of the tensions that have escalated from that.
Talking about the Houthis and the and the Red Sea and Yemen and all of these conflicts that haven’t been present in people’s minds, they have come as a as a big shock to the global trading system. And so trying to navigate all of those
Challenges as well, they were already dealing with the war in Ukraine and the impact on, for instance, grain shipping around the world and on food supply. And so adding now to that, the conflict in Israel and the the tension in the Middle East really makes a complicated backdrop for policymakers.
Some of the issues that are being dealt with here are things that have been looked at before. We have an e-commerce moratorium that prohibits tariffs on digital transfers, things like movies that somebody might download or music books. And so that’s something that they’re
Looking to renew while other people are looking at that as a potential sign of whether this organization can still function, whether they can roll over again, something that’s been renewed every couple of years since the late 1990s. Okay. We certainly watch for that development. Absolutely.
Eric Martin on the ground for us in Abu Dhabi at those WTO meetings. We appreciate it. Now coming up, scientists are puzzled by a spike in fatal heart disease since the COVID 19 pandemic. We discuss with our global health correspondent the details. That is next. This is Bloomberg.
Now, four years after the start of the pandemic, a disturbing pattern is emerging. Not only did Covid result in the most deaths in a century, but it also triggered deadly waves of heart disease and stroke. Scientists are trying to figure out why. Let’s bring in our global health correspondent, Michelle Cortez.
She’s just finished a special Q&A on the top line function of the term that’s taking a range of questions on Covid and heart problems. The reporting that Michelle and her team have done is really important on this. Thanks for joining us then, on the details.
What do we know? We know, of course, that millions were killed by COVID, but now this new research that you’ve been reporting on suggests that heart disease deaths also jumped during the pandemic. What do we know? What are the details? Right. Well, you have to remember that heart
Disease has been the leading cause of death for four decades at this point. But we were doing really well before COVID came along. Those numbers were declining. And in fact, cancer rates were rising. Then COVID hit and the numbers were astronomical. How many people died? And so you would have thought that you
Switched out one for the other, right. That COVID deaths were replacing some of these heart disease deaths, especially because the people who were dying from COVID were older and in many cases sick. But that’s not what actually was found.
In fact, in the U.S., for example, just over the first three years of the pandemic, there were a quarter of a million additional deaths in adults age 35 and older. So we saw not only the COVID deaths that didn’t exist prior to 2020, we also saw a surge in these heart disease deaths.
So we weren’t trading off one for the other. And that’s something that we’re continuing to see going forward. Was it just heart disease rates that were worsened by Covid, or were there other ailments that were pressured by this pandemic? Then. You know, COVID was terrible for every
Part of your body. We saw increases in diabetes, we saw increases in stroke, we saw increases in atrial fibrillation, and even things you wouldn’t normally tie to something like an infectious disease. We were seeing more Alzheimer’s disease, for example, and even cancer.
So absolutely, COVID was bad all around every part of our bodies. Why is that? And what does it mean? And if you were inoculated, if you had the vaccine, what you better protected from from some of those factors? What was behind the reason for the uptake in all of those different ailments?
Right. Such a great question. And that’s exactly what scientists are trying to get to the bottom of now. Right. Because, of course, it wasn’t just that people were getting infected and that infection was killing them. That infection was also doing other things to our health care system, for
Example. So people weren’t doing things like going to the to the doctor. They were not getting the cancer screening that they normally would have. And in some cases, health care systems were overwhelmed. So they stopped doing things like just any kind of preventative elective surgeries and other types of, you know,
Emergency rooms were closed, everything was overwhelmed. So there was definitely some fallout from that. But also, your other question is, is also a very hot topic in that we saw a lot of questions today on our live. People want to know how bad were the vaccines, to what extent was that contributing?
And the research is really unequivocal on this. There’s no doubt that vaccines did cause some harm, but it was far outweighed by the numbers of lives that were saved from the vaccinations. That’s the takeaway message, of course, that that the doctors, scientists,
Researchers want everyone to know. Of course, it is troubling if you’re the one on the other end, had some kind of a bad side effect from a COVID vaccine, just like with any vaccine, sometimes that does happen. But again, those benefits, including saving lives, really did offset the risks. Okay.
Really, really important reports and really fascinating deep dive into the implications, the continued implications, of course, and fallout of that pandemic. Blue Global health correspondent Michelle Cortez, thank you very much indeed. Now to some other stories making news this Tuesday. U.S. regulators have faulted Boeing for
Ineffective procedures and a breakdown in communications between senior management and other staff members. An FAA panel also found what it calls a lack of awareness of Boeing’s safety related metrics among employees. The report comes after a midair fuselage blowout in January refocused the
Spotlight on Boeing’s safety issues. Let’s check in on one asset that is very much on the move in the session today, and that is Bitcoin. It briefly topped 57,000 USD per coin for the first time since towards the end of 2021. This chart shows the volume pick up
Yesterday as money flowed into those ETFs, those Bitcoin linked ETF and volumes surging the most yesterday since the approval of those ETFs by regulators in the US the early part of this year. So the appetite seems to still be there. And of course you also have the halving of Bitcoin coming up.
That’s essentially when you take out bitcoins out of the system to ensure you remain capped at 21 million. You’ve also see MicroStrategy, that company, that software company buying up more bitcoins is what all those factors seem to come in to support Bitcoin. The price in Tony at 56,600.
Up next blue by break for Dani Burger on Manus Cranny in New York. This is what you.
2 Comments
Tax and government finances are hugely complex
Nice episode.
On point and informative.
Keep up the good work.