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Quest Means Business

Royal Baby's Name Revealed; Obama on US Economy; US Earnings Season; Ford Motors Ahead; Battle for Dell; US Markets Slip; European Markets Up; Dollar Down; GSK's China Crisis

Aired July 24, 2013 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NINA DOS SANTOS, HOST: Prince George of Cambridge. The duke and duchess name their son.

Refocus on the economy. Barack Obama goes back to basics.

Also on the show, pounds and prejudice. The English novelist Jane Austen is to grace a British banknote.

Hello, I'm Nina Dos Santos and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.

Good evening. We'll bring you all the latest business news in just a moment's time, but first, we have a name. The royal baby will be called George Alexander Louis, and he'll be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. We had the official announcement coming in just the last hour. Let's go over to our very own Max Foster, who's live at Buckingham Palace for us tonight.

This is an historical moment. It's also an historical name as well, isn't it, Max? Because this is the same name as the one that his great- great grandfather took upon acceding to the throne.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the queen's father was called -- was George VI, so if he chooses to keep this name, this little George VII. Of course, they don't have to take the name, so George VI, for example, was christened Albert and he chose George as a name when he took the throne. And this George may choose a different name.

But yes, it's a -- it's got a lot of royal connotations. And also having young sons at school, it's also a very popular name right now. So it actually fits into the zeitgeist in the UK as well. So, quite a clever choice. There's lots of these traditional names that are doing the rounds at the moment. This is very traditional, but it also works within monarchy.

DOS SANTOS: Let's also talk about the other two names that come behind that. Louis, that's also one of Prince William's names, too.

FOSTER: Yes, and Louis Mountbatten and Alexander -- I mean, all of these names you can track back. They've obviously looked back at regal names and sort of gone through them. They obviously made the decision that they wanted a name that worked within the monarchy, and a lot of those names are still very popular now.

And it's interesting that they announced it now as well, because we have this series of events today that -- we're watching the queen arrive, we'd heard that Prince Harry had met the baby, then they left and went to Bucklebury. And this was the final piece in the puzzle.

And I wonder if they had the discussion with the queen today. This is the name that we like, what do you think of it? She doesn't formally have to approve it. She would certainly have wanted it to be William and Kate's choice, but they would have wanted her to be comfortable with it, and I suspect that she said it was a good name, and after that they felt comfortable enough to release it.

DOS SANTOS: Now, it has been a momentous few days as the world has waited for this royal baby to be delivered. We had that presentation of him on the steps outside St. Mary's hospital and now we have the name. What is next for this couple?

FOSTER: This couple are now hiding away. They want privacy, they're in Bucklebury, they don't want anymore cameras. They feel that they've given the media their moment. The media's made a huge amount of coverage of this, and a lot of profits as well.

And I think probably they think that they deserve their own time now, having come out in front of the cameras in that extraordinary moment yesterday, which they wouldn't have been particularly comfortable with but realized they had to do it.

So, there's that sort of public duty on a very private moment, they knew they had to do it, a future monarch. The world had a right to see this baby, but they wanted to be in control of the moment. I think now they want us all to stay away and they don't want cameras near them.

And then, in a few weeks' time, Nina, they'll invite a stills photographer in who will take pictures on behalf of all of us of the family together.

DOS SANTOS: And we'll look forward to that moment when it happens, then. Max Foster, live outside Buckingham Palace after what has probably been a very, very busy two or three days for him reporting on little George Alexander Louis, who is the Prince George of Cambridge, the latest addition to the royal family.

Let's move along and talk about business news, now, though, because US president Barack Obama has called on Washington to focus on rebuilding America's manufacturing base. His comments come as the sector shows some signs of gaining momentum these days, and today, we did get health checks on output in three major regions around the world.

In the United States, well, as you can see over there, manufacturing activity appeared to gain some momentum here in June, according to the latest PMI figures, that is the Purchasing Managers' Index.

And when it comes to the eurozone, get this: the sector appears to be expanding yet again. Would you believe it? Back to growth for that troubled region, for the moment, at least. The PMI over there has come in above the 50 mark, indicating growth for the first time since January 2012.

But here's the key point: remember that of course China had been the burgeoning emerging market everybody had been trying to get into of late. Well, a decline of factory output seems to be deepening over there.

HSPC's latest flash reading of PMI has come in, actually, almost at the lowest level we've seen in round about a year. So, obviously, that is something that's going to be concerning many people who'd been betting big on China.

Barack Obama says that income inequality in the United States is not only wrong here, it's bad economics as well. The president returned to Knox College in Illinois, that's a place where he made his first ever major economic policy speech a number of years ago.

And it's the first of several appearances intended to try and put the focus back on the economy. Mr. Obama said that despite some signs of recovery, the country could not afford to be complacent when it comes to achieving greater equality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm here to tell you today that we're not there yet. We all know that. We're not there yet. We've got more work to do. Even though our business are creating new jobs and have broken record profits, nearly all the income gains of the past ten years have continued to flow to the top 1 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS: Well, Maggie Lake joins us now, live from CNN New York with more on this. Obviously, we've all on this side of the Atlantic had our eyes on President Obama over the last hour or so and our ears pricked for what he's had to say, but really, with 12 million, almost, Americans out of a job, he can't really convince everybody that we're out of the woods yet.

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, he can't, but he certainly did his best, Nina, and he's still at it, as a matter of fact. I believe he is still live speaking. He did his best to sort of remind everyone how far we've come, which is important when you've got a public that's still feeling a little bit uncertain about the future.

But he had to acknowledge that there's more to be done because we still have an unemployment rate that's hovering above 7 percent, and a lot of the people who are working are working at part-time jobs or service jobs, which pay a lot less than some of those manufacturing jobs that have disappeared over the years.

But I have to tell you, while he may have succeeded in sort of making some of the voters, especially his core base, feel a little bit better about where we are and how far we've come, he probably didn't do anything to improve his relations with Congress.

They are very hostile to this sort of theme of the 1 percent, the middle class versus the rich. He made reference to the disparity between worker wages and CEOs, probably not going to go down great with the Republicans, either, or for the business community for that matter.

And that's really the problem. He can lay out a lot of grand visions, but he -- unless he is able to get Republicans to sit down and work with him, it is unlikely that anything tangible is going to get done, Nina.

In fact, as we headed into this speech, as he's got the crowd clapping there, the Republicans leading up to it created the hash tag on Twitter that is #SpeechesDontHire. So, that gives you an indication of just how bitter the relationship remains in Washington.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, and we're looming -- limbering up to this looming fight over the budget. The budget deficit in America is about the same size as the whole of the US economy. When are they going to manage to get a grip on this? Because obviously, it has ramifications beyond the US's own borders.

LAKE: It does. And interestingly, the one silver lining -- and he didn't mention this, by the way, in his speech, saying that the deficit is falling at the fastest rate in 60 years was, I think, I believe his exact line -- but he did reference that.

And he's right. The deficit is sort of the untold story that's not making headlines here. The deficit is going down quite rapidly. The problem is the reason it's going down is because of these sequesters, right?

These forced budget cuts that were put in place exactly because the administration and Congress and within Congress, Republicans and Democrats, can't agree anything, so these awful, very harsh spending cuts went into effect.

A lot of people are worried, even deficit hawks who want to see progress, worried about the way they're doing it could threaten the US economy, could threaten the recovery. They'd like them to be smarter about the spending cuts.

But the end result is, Nina, that the deficit is going down, and that has, in some ways, given the Obama administration some breathing room. It may help when we get to that fall level and it has given them something to talk about as a positive in these speeches.

But there isn't anyone you can find who's been watching the events that have unfolded in Washington over the last few years and feels good about how Congress and the administration are functioning together.

DOS SANTOS: Maggie Lake, there, in New York, breaking it down for us this hour. Thanks ever so much for that.

Well, after the break here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Ford beats the Street. Its strong set of second quarter earnings smashes analysts' records. We'll hear from the firm's CEO on how it did, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOS SANTOS: Welcome back. Earnings season is progressing apace, and investors are keeping a keen eye on how some of the world's top companies have managed to perform in the second quarter. We've heard from some pretty big names over just the last couple of days alone. Alison Kosik is live from the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange with more and with company. Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It has been a big day for earnings, especially for Apple, and so I pulled over, here, Ben Willis with Alfred -- Albert Fried and Company. Apple's been big on your list, hasn't it?

BEN WILLIS, TRADER, ALBERT FRIED AND COMPANY: It has. It's a bellwether, it's a marquis name, so that -- we've seen some profit taking ahead of the earnings, quite frankly, because the technology sector had been a very hot sector for hot money. And there was some concern about whether or not they'd be able to maintain with Mr. Cook maintaining after Steve Jobs left.

So, we saw some profit taking yesterday. Today, they appeared to like what they see and have gotten back in with both feet.

KOSIK: Tim Cook's comment about product development in the future, is that really what you're seeing investors trade on today?

WILLIS: Well, it's the major concern is whether or not -- I remember the time Steve Jobs got thrown out of Apple for not doing a job, and then he became the second coming. So, the market's a little funny that way, and they're waiting to see. Because quite frankly, it'll be up to Mr. Cook somewhere along the line to deliver a radical new product along the lines that Steve Jobs had done.

KOSIK: Of course, the main question everybody's asking, if you're an investor or want to be an investor in Apple, has Apple's share price reached its peak?

WILLIS: Well, I can't legally talk about share price of stock. I can tell you, if you want to listen to what I had to say, my children begged me to buy it when it was $7 a share and I said no, Microsoft had an MP3 player, so take that for what it's worth.

KOSIK: OK, let's move on to Caterpillar. Caterpillar reporting lower profit, it cut its outlook. What do you make of this?

WILLIS: Well, Caterpillar is a great global indicator, quite frankly. I think that the idea of Cat -- had their stock moved on the idea that China was maintaining their growth and therefore all the countries that were supplying China would need to buy Caterpillar products.

That trade has gone away. It didn't work out that way. So, countries that had the big mining concerns, needed the big mining equipment, don't need it anymore. So, Cat's been under pressure for several weeks, and the earnings number just proved that, and whoever's left on that trade decided it wasn't worth selling.

I mean, from a trader's perspective, when you see a stock move like that, it may be time to start -- pointing a point on your pencil and take a look at the stock, because it has been under pressure for quite a while, but it's disappointed all the way through, and the expectations that were built into it have all come out.

KOSIK: With Caterpillar, is there, maybe, even a broader indicator in Caterpillar's earnings, meaning a broader indicator for the global economy about the recovery?

WILLIS: Well, it is, in a sense, because it goes to the industrial side, if you will, not so much the consumer side. I'd rather look at Ford Motor, if I'm looking for the broad world economy and the numbers they put up today.

But Caterpillar is -- because it's in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, it has major impact on that index, as we've seen. It's basically a stock du jour with the Dow and the NASDAQ lately, so if nobody else trades except Apple today or Cat Tractor and the like, or UTX yesterday.

So, it is a bellwether for the industrial side, and it goes to whether or not the companies -- the countries that have been supplying the major support in the world, meaning China, that gives you an indication of how well those economies are doing, and that's telling you not so well.

KOSIK: OK, very quickly, your sort of two cents on how the second quarter earnings season is going, knowing that a lot of these earnings coming here are on lowered expectations?

WILLIS: Exactly, the bar's been very low, not hard to get over, even I can step over it. But that's the -- traditionally, this is the weakest quarter, and for the most part, they have been exceeding expectations. It's some of the other numbers or the commentary after the earnings that you see the disappointment in the stocks.

KOSIK: It's also called the earnings illusion here on Wall Street. There you go, right back to you, Nina.

DOS SANTOS: OK, Alison Kosik, thanks so much for that and also for her trader there on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Now, strong sales in the United States have helped one particular company towards much, much better second quarter profits than some people were expecting. We're talking about Ford, here, the automaker announcing a pre-tax operating profit of some $2.6 billion in total.

When it comes to the top line revenues, well, again, there was growth there on that front, rising 15 percent from a year earlier to more than $38 billion. Earlier today, I spoke to the company's chief financial officer, Bob Shanks, who says that things are looking up for Ford.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB SHANKS, CFO, FORD MOTOR: I think I would characterize the quarter of one of improvement and momentum. We saw improvement across all parts of the business, and we're seeing momentum across all parts of the business.

In the past it's been largely a North American story and also Ford credit, but we're seeing improved results in Europe, improved results in South America, and record results in Asia-Pacific-Africa. So, it's a pretty broad-based story.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, let's talk about those particular geographical segments. China, a really bright spot for you out there, despite the fact that, of course, there is some serious local competition from Chinese carmakers these days.

SHANKS: Yes. We're still a relatively small player in the market, but the market is so huge. We just had a pretty significant share growth on a year-over-year basis in this quarter as we start to bring online capacity. We've been investing in an expansion of our product portfolio, and the thing that's so exciting is how consumers are responding to those products.

We just introduced the new Kuga. There's a smaller utility vehicle called the EcoSport that we just introduced. And the Focus that we introduced, the current generation about a year ago, is just a powerhouse. So, we're just seeing great response to the products, and that gives us a lot of confidence about the future.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, you said, in fact, in your outlook that you expect China to just keep growing from here on and to account for a larger portion of Ford's revenues and profits going forward. What are you targeting there?

SHANKS: Right.

DOS SANTOS: Five percent? Ten percent further down the line?

SHANKS: Well, we don't have a specific number. We want to grow as much as we possibly can. Our share in the quarter was 4.3 percent, but we're still in the progress of expanding the portfolio. We'll have 15 new products in China by mid-decade, and we still have more to bring to market.

So, as far as I'm concerned, the sky is the limit. We'll just keep -- we'll keep growing as much as the market and the consumers, in terms of their response, allow us to.

DOS SANTOS: Now, Europe, obviously, remains a sore point for many automakers, not just yourselves. Things are improving slightly, but what's your overall outlook like for Europe?

SHANKS: Well, I've got to tell you, to me, it's actually a bright spot, and the reason I say that, it's a very important region, it's a very important part of Ford, and the progress our team in Europe is making in delivering the transformation plan as we restructure the business there is just so encouraging that I can tell you that all of internally feel very positive about it.

Every single part of the plan that we've put together they're delivering on, and in the quarter, while they did have a loss, as expected, it was better than last year, it was better than the private quarter, and that's in a down industry, along with restructuring costs that we have this year that we didn't have last year.

Top line is growing in this down industry. Shares improving. We're moving ahead with the plant closures that we talked about. The brand's improving, quality's improving, and I can go on and on and on, but it's so exciting in terms of what the team is delivering there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOS SANTOS: Bob Shanks, there, speaking to me earlier. He is the CFO of Ford Motor Company.

Well, the battle for control of Dell Computers will rumble on, it seems, for another week as the founder and CEO, Michael Dell, looks to sweeten his offer to take the company private.

Michael Dell first outlined his plan to take full control of this firm that he originally started in February. His offer valued the company shares at around about $13.65 each around about then. His new offer is 10 cents per share richer, so $13.75 each.

Mind you, one of the firm's biggest shareholders, this man, Carl Icahn, has been against what Michael Dell has been putting forward for quite some time, right from the start, in fact. Back in March, he said that there would be, quote, "years of litigation" if Dell managed to get his way.

Icahn's best offer for the firm was revealed back in June, and that in turn valued its shares at around about $14 each. The shareholders' vote between the two options was postponed last week. That was a sign that the race was too close to call, it seemed, at the time.

And now Michael Dell has increased his offer, the vote has been delayed yet again, this time until August the 2nd, so you can bet that QUEST MEANS BUSINESS will have their eyes and ears firmly fixed on that when it happens in about two weeks' time.

Now, broadly speaking, stock markets in the United States have managed to slip from their record high set just on Tuesday's session. As you can see, the Dow is now down around about a third of one percent at the moment. That's despite impressive corporate earnings.

One stock to mention, as you heard Alison Kosik discussing earlier, is Apple. That share is up more than 5 percent after its earnings beat analysts' expectations that came out last night.

European stocks got something of a boost from the kind of PMI numbers we mentioned earlier on this show. As you can see, there, the markets ending up the day quite robustly higher, especially the eurozone ones. The DAX and the CAC 40 both finishing more than 1 percent higher on the day.

There was some unwelcome economic news from Paris, however, which doesn't seem to have dented people's appetite for French stocks in today's session, at least, judging by the performance of the CAC 40.

French unemployment has actually risen to a record high over there. That means that the numbers of job seekers across the Republic of France now stand at around about 3.2 million and counting.

Now, time for a Currency Conundrum for you out there. Jane Austen will be featuring on the next English ten-pound note. Alongside her portrait there'll also be a quotation from her famous opus, "Pride and Prejudice."

In that particular novel, Mr. Darcy is the hero, so my question tonight is, what was his annual income said to be? A, 5,000 pounds? B, 10,000 pounds? Or C, a whopping 100,000 pounds. We'll have the answer for you later on in the program.

The dollar is currently down against the British pound, the euro, and the yen. We'll be back with more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOS SANTOS: Hello and welcome back. Well, the CEO of GlaxoSmithKline says the Chinese corruption scandal will likely affect his rapidly-growing business out there. But it's too soon to say by exactly how much.

The British drug maker, which is accused of bribing government officials, doctors, and hospitals in China, has admitted that some of its managers may well have broken the law. Jim Boulden is in London and he's been listening in to what has been said on the conference call today. Jim, what exactly stood out to you?

JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, this was the second quarter results being released by GSK. These are results that don't have any impact from what's happening in China over the last week or so.

So, first thing Mr. Witty was asked was what do you think the fallout will be financially if GSK were to see a hit in its sales in China. He said it's just too early to tell, but he does expect there to be, certainly, impact on sales in China, given this scandal continues to grow.

Also, he was asked -- also, he made the statement I thought was quite interesting. He said not only is it likely that these GSK executives in China were defrauding the Chinese health authority, they were also defrauding GSK itself. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW WITTY, CEO, GLAXOSMITHKLINE: What we understand from the authorities, it appears that certain senior managers in the Chinese business have acted outside of our processes and our controls to both defraud the company and the Chinese health care system.

To see these allegations made about people working for GSK is, as we have said, shameful. And for me personally, they are deeply disappointing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOULDEN: Now, why does this matter, Nina? Well, GSK, like a lot of European-based companies, are having flat sales in Europe. He even said sales in Japan are down.

So they're looking for emerging markets, and when you see something like this happen, it really worries investors because, of course, you don't know how large this could be. You don't know whether it's spreading or could spread, potentially, to other emerging markets.

So, Mr. Witty has a lot of work on his hands to restore confidence, because people said -- some of the analysts said to him on the phone today, could this be happening in other emerging markets? He said no, it's probably unique to China because of the business model there. But they are having to reorganize how they do business in China because of this, of course, Nina.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, and obviously he'll be under pressure from shareholders to show where the growth is coming from. And if he can't count in China, where can he count on?

BOULDEN: Well, interestingly, he said the US was doing quite well. Glaxo, like a lot of companies, they're falling -- sales fall when generics hit the market after their patents expire, and then they have new drugs come on.

So, he was making the point that there are a lot of new drugs, vaccines for instance, that GSK is introducing into the market. So, he saw -- the company saw good growth in the US in the second quarter, but flat in Europe, which is no surprise. So, you're looking at emerging markets for the potential for a lot of growth.

Again, I want to stress, Mr. Witty is saying that they are cooperating with the investigators in China and it's very early days, Nina.

DOS SANTOS: OK, Jim Boulden, following the story for us tonight. Thanks for that from London.

After the break here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we're live in Moscow with developments in the Edward Snowden saga.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOS SANTOS: Hello and welcome back, I'm Nina Dos Santos. These are the top stories they're following for you here on CNN.

Egypt's military chief is calling for mass protests on Friday, and he's asking for a mandate to end what he calls terrorism and violence. But a senior Islamist is calling instead that a threat and vowing to press on with protests supporting the ousted leader, Mohamed Morsy.

In Pakistan, officials say at least three attackers were killed in a suicide bombing in the town of Sukkar. Thirty-five others were wounded as a result of that assault on a military compound which housed intelligence offices. Two of the attackers rammed an explosives-laden car into the building. Two others mounted a gun and grenade attack, that's according to a security official.

An Indian headmistress is in custody following the death of 23 children at her school. Police say that Meena Kumari was taken into custody on her way to court where she had planned to give herself up. The children who died were served toxic food during a lunch. Tests showed that that food contained chemicals used in insecticides.

The royal baby has a name. Prince George Alexander Louis is the newest addition to Britain's royal family. Well, the name was announced just a short while ago. He'll officially be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. It's reported that the family is currently spending time at the duchess's hometown of Bucklebury Berkshire.

Despite reports by Russian state media, we're now told that the US intelligence leaker, Edward Snowden, has not been given the necessary paperwork to leave the Moscow airport he's been staying at and enter Russia itself. That's according to his lawyer. He's been marooned at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport for the best part of a month and has filed a temporary asylum request. He did so just last week. We'll have more on that in a moment's time.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

DOS SANTOS: Let's get straight to that airport in question in Moscow for the latest on Edward Snowden. Our Phil Black joins us live from Sheremetyevo.

And what's the latest, Phil?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nina, he's still here, still in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, still in the transit zone. And it looks like that's going to be the case for some time yet.

As you mentioned a few moments ago, it was reported here extensively by Russian media that Snowden had received the necessary documents to finally leave the airport, cross over the immigration line and enter Russia officially while his application for temporary asylum is being considered. But his lawyer, his Russian lawyer, came to the airport, met with him here and emerged from that meeting, saying, no, that is absolutely not the case.

Now his lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, says that he would have expected normally under usual asylum seeking cases that the applicant would have been allowed to enter the country by this point. In this case, he could only explain the delay by saying the case is unprecedented. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANATOLY KUCHERENA, SNOWDEN'S LAWYER (through translator): I have to tell you the matter has not yet been resolved. That means nobody has rejected anything coming from Edward. But unfortunately, the situation we have now is indeed unusual for Russia. You have to take our bureaucracy into account.

Therefore, his papers are still being considered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: So no reason to believe it's going to happen any time soon just yet. The lawyer says that Snowden is studying Russian culture; now wants to stay and settle here in the long term, much longer than his application for temporary asylum allows, which is just one year, Nina.

DOS SANTOS: Phil, Snowden is something of a hot potato and also perhaps even a political pawn, a coveted one.

Is there any indication that he has more to leak and that the Russian president would be keen to hear it?

BLACK: I think Russia is playing a very delicate, difficult game at this point. And it is perhaps why we've seen this case delayed somewhat. Russia's made it very clear that they do not want to send Snowden back to the United States. But they've also made it very clear that they believe relations with the United States are much more important than this one individual case.

Now looking ahead, there are two possible developments that are very likely to anger Washington. One would be letting Snowden out of this airport; the other would be granting him some form of official protection, some form of official asylum.

The path is very much on the way to achieving one or both of those results in the not-too-distant future. But it seems that Russia is in no rush to take any necessary step that will overtly anger the United States. Even if they are not prepared to jump to their will, if you like, and send Snowden back to the United States to face justice, as Washington very much wants, Nina.

DOS SANTOS: OK. Phil Black there, live outside that Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport where, of course, the U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has been staying for quite a while now. Thanks for that.

Well, back into company news, Boeing has been flying high. The (inaudible) reported strong second quarter figures. We'll have full details about what they said after the break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Hello and welcome back. Time now to answer tonight's "Currency Conundrum" for you out there. Earlier in the show, I asked you what was Mr. Darcy's income according to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"?

And the answer is B, 10,000 pounds, the equivalent today would be close to half a million pounds. That's around about $725,000. And the quote on the new Jane Austen 10-pound note that's going to be revealed today is, quote, "I declare, after all, there's no enjoyment like reading," which in true Jane Austen style, was spoken by one of her characters with quite a hefty note of irony, I suppose.

Well, staying with this theme, the use of women on banknotes across Great Britain has been controversial recently. There was an open outcry in the U.K. after it was announced recently that Winston Churchill would be replacing the social reformer Elizabeth Fry on the 5-pound note.

It sparked fears Bank of England banknotes would no longer feature any women at all, apart from, of course, Her Royal Highness the Queen, who appears on all of them.

Caroline Criado-Perez has led quite a feisty campaign on this issue. She joins us now live from CNN London.

Great to have you on the show. How much of a reflection is this of the climate of the U.K., the fact that we don't have a lot of women on our money?

CAROLINE CRIADO-PEREZ, THE WOMEN'S ROOM: Well, I think it says something really damaging about how we value women and women's contribution historically and what we think they can achieve in our future really. It's something that's been going on for a really long time. And it's really sad to see it all happening in the 21st century.

I mean, if you only need to look at the recent curriculum changes to the history curriculum that have seen us, you know, women pretty much wiped out of it. And so young girls are growing up not being taught about the amazing women who've gone before them. And that, you know, that's really unfair. It's a travesty, really, and it shouldn't be going on.

DOS SANTOS: That's a very strong statement to make, though, because obviously we're moving forward in the realms of women's equality, equality on pay, do you completely negate all of that?

CRIADO-PEREZ: No, I don't at all. But you know, we have, for example, equal pay legislation, but we don't actually have equal pay yet. And one of the reasons that we don't have that is because of the way that we value women.

And this is both a symptom of it and also it's something that perpetuates it because if you have young women growing up and they don't have that many women to look up to, it really hampers them.

There's a lot of research into role models that actually shows that if you remind women of their gender, for example, they'll do much worse on math tests. But if someone who is presented as a woman who's really competent at math gives them the math test, suddenly they're outperforming the men in their group.

So this is something that's really backed up by scientific research. And it's something that can have a real impact on women's lives.

DOS SANTOS: But it's a strong statement to make, saying that because there aren't any -- many, I should say, women on the front of the British banknotes, that women are forgotten because of course the head of state is the Queen, and she's on the back of every single British banknote.

CRIADO-PEREZ: She is, but that's a totally different conversation. That's about inherited privilege. And what we're talking about is on the back of the banknotes, is who we value, who we think has done something, you know, on their own, not based on either who they've married or the fact that they were born into a certain family.

And if you have an all-male lineup, which is what we were going to have, then that suggests that, you know, if you want to be recognized for something you've done, you'd better be a man and you'd better be white.

And what's really fantastic about the announcement they've made today is they're going to be reviewing the procedure so that they are trying to get a diversity of the entire of society. So really I see this as a victory not just for women, but basically, you know, the whole of society really.

DOS SANTOS: Now, Caroline, it's interesting that you talk about that, because if we go back to this fact that Jane Austen is going to be featuring on the 10-pound note, it's great. She is a woman. But she's a woman from a different era as well, isn't she?

CRIADO-PEREZ: How do you mean?

DOS SANTOS: She's a woman from a different era.

CRIADO-PEREZ: (Inaudible) to be on a banknote.

DOS SANTOS: (Inaudible) you do, you do. But she's a woman from an era where obviously women's rights were nowhere near like they are today.

CRIADO-PEREZ: Yes, so I mean, it's -- she's another woman that is just fantastic. We know her name, really. You know, she really struggled to get published. Women weren't really expected to be writers at that time.

And like so many of the women who should be recognized today, not only did they achieve fantastic things just according to any criteria, but when you consider as well the fact that they were competing against the odds, that they weren't allowed to study; they weren't allowed to go out into society, and yet they managed to do these amazing things, you know, that just makes them doubly incredible.

DOS SANTOS: Yes, and she's famous for writing about -- guess what -- prejudice in "Pride and Prejudice." And the quote (inaudible) coming from that particular book of hers.

Also should be pointed out here, Caroline, that whoever's on the front or back of a banknote, it has always traditionally been signed by a man because it's signed by the governor of the Bank of England and the governor of the Bank of England remains a man.

Caroline Perez Criado -- Criado-Perez, sorry, thank you so much for joining us here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS this evening.

Now let's recap the royal baby's name for you: George Alexander Louis, third in line to the throne he is. And like most parents, the Duke and Duchess will probably have been thinking about his own financial future.

And it's clear that raising a child, it seems, is not cheap these days. Let's have a look at the figures. It costs around about $368,000 to raise a child to the age of 21 in London. That's according to the insurer Elvid's (ph) latest statistics.

The U.S. government instead puts the cost of raising a child at around about $235,000 across America, and that's just for the basics. We're talking about here no private schools or college fees. Our very own Jim Boulden asked Duncan Macintyre from Coutts, known as the Queen's Bank, about raising the cash to raise the children.

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DUNCAN MACINTYRE, HEAD, COUTTS PRIVATE OFFICE: We have the rare privilege of looking after some of the wealthiest people in this country and clearly Coutts has a lot of experience at dealing with families through generations.

But at this moment, I'm sure that they're not thinking about what trust fund will be established. But I think that when people do have babies -- and clearly there is that huge excitement -- there is also practicalities.

And I think the richer the families are, the more complex those practicalities are. And there is a need to be practical about it. And moving from one generation to another is the way that the wealthiest families of the world stay wealthy and planning for that event, I think, is very important. I'm sure that's not front of mind now, but it absolutely will be.

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What about changing wills right away? Do you find that the rich do that as well? Or do some of them even sort of put that off as you hear other people do?

MACINTYRE: Jim, it's really interesting you talk about that. We've just done a survey which looks at succession planning. And it shows that 58 percent of people in the wealthy category haven't actually got an up-to- date will. So I think that, you know, clearly it's absolutely what you should do. And any lawyer would advise you.

Any private banker would advise you to have an up-to-date will at all times and to review it regularly, because it's an extremely important document. It lays out your wishes for what happens after you're not here. And that in itself is a -- sometimes a complex subject, as you can imagine.

BOULDEN: I think if wills 100, 200, 300 years ago, the firstborn son would practically get everything. And then there would be something left over for the rest.

Are those days long gone?

MACINTYRE: Look, primogeniture is clearly an interesting subject. And clearly if this royal baby had been a girl, that baby would have automatically become Queen. And I think there is a change in the world order.

But fairness, I think, is the key word here. That doesn't necessarily mean everyone's treated equality. And that gets very complex in big families, where there are very large estates or very large assets that are impossible to divide.

But I think that every parent, certainly in the space that I operate in, are keen to treat their children fairly. And I think that is -- it is an aspiration that we would all like, I would hope.

BOULDEN: Not that this baby would have to think about this, but in some families we've seen, you know, that gets lots and lots of people, and then they sell their company or their company, the family firm gets taken over. And it's very, very messy. And it takes some time to get everyone to agree to it. So some families have a very hard time divesting what they've had.

MACINTYRE: Look, Jim, I think that's absolutely right. I mean, I think that the emotion associated with money is a huge issue. And you underestimate at your peril. I think that in different societies, (inaudible) money varies. So in the States, I think people are much more open about money. I think here in the U.K., it's more of a taboo subject. People don't talk about it.

And what I find interesting is in the surveys that we do, looking into generational wealth, you'll find that a parent will say, I've told my child everything and a child would say they've told me nothing. And therein lies a fundamental issue. And that's why I think that we spend so much time at Coutts on the communication side and on the education side of wealth.

And wealth shouldn't be a taboo subject. It's something that should be talked about. And the most successful families who've moved money down generations have been those that have communicated. And talking about it is a good thing. So that will be a strong message that we would give.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOS SANTOS: Duncan Macintyre there from Coutts, the Queen's Bank, speaking to our Jim Boulden.

Well, he may be the most powerful man in the world, but when it comes to Twitter, Barack Obama has nothing on the Swedish foreign minister. We'll explain why ahead.

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DOS SANTOS: He may be one of the most followed politicians anywhere in the world, but Barack Obama, it seems, is not quite that connected on Twitter. A study on Twiplomacy -- that's how world leaders relate to each on the social networking site, Twitter -- shows Barack Obama is actually the least connected of them all.

According to Burson-Marsteller, who did the study, of the 600,000 people that he actually follows on Twitter, only four of them, it seems, are actually other world leaders.

These are the lucky men, as you can see here, the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev; the Chilean president, Sebastian Pinera; the Norwegian prime minister there, Jens Stoltenberg, and also the British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Sweden's foreign minister, Carl Bildt, is actually the most connected here. He tweeted about it earlier today, saying, quote, "Well, it sounds a little bit exaggerated." But just to prove how connected this man actually is, the Finnish Europe minister, Alexander Stubb, actually tweeted in reply, saying, "Stop being so modest," as you can see there.

As for the most sociable leader on Twitter, it seems as though it's Uganda's own prime minister, Amama Mbabazi. Ninety-six percent of his tweets are actually replies to other users, although he has yet to reply to our very own tweet from the QUEST MEANS BUSINESS account earlier today. (Inaudible) give him, considering as that's a quite a big time lag between here and Uganda.

And that's it for this edition of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Nina dos Santos. I'll be back with a full check on the news headlines. That's next.

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DOS SANTOS: Hello and welcome back. You're watching CNN. Let's have a look at the headlines this hour.

Egypt's military chief is calling for mass protests on Friday and he's asking for a mandate to end what he calls terrorism and violence. But a senior Islamist is instead calling that a threat and vowing to press on with protests supporting the ousted leader, Mohammed Morsy.

Despite reports by Russian state media we're now told that the U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has not been given the necessary paperwork to leave the Moscow airport he's been staying at and to enter Russia itself. That's according to his lawyer.

He's been marooned at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport for the best part of a month.

And the royal baby in the U.K. has now a name: Prince George Alexander Louis. He'll be officially known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge. It's reported that the family is now spending time at the Duchess' own hometown of Bucklebury, Berkshire.

That's a look at some of the headlines that we're watching for you here on CNN. "AMANPOUR" is next.

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