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Quest Means Business
Another Record High for Wall Street; Roller Coaster Markets; View from the Floor; GM: Doing the Right Thing; GM Under Pressure; Market Mood; AIG CEO Steps Down; Hiring Outlook; Spanish Borrowing Costs Fall; Europe Markets Mostly Higher
Aired June 10, 2014 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL)
MAGGIE LAKE, HOST: You're watching the CNN Money team ringing the closing bell on Wall Street. No new records today -- maybe. It's almost
too close to call. Actually, we may just have one. We're going to have to wait until it's settled. It's Tuesday, June the 10th, I'm Maggie Lake,
live on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Also tonight -- do the right thing. Promises and protest at GM's annual meeting.
And setting the record straight. Visa hits back at Brazilian World Cup anger.
We are live from Wall Street. This is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Welcome to the program this evening. You may have recognized some of the faces up on the podium just above my shoulder. Richard Quest just
left, and that is the rest of the CNN Money team and CNN business team, the best business team on TV, here to celebrate the re-launch of the CNN Money
website.
Richard, as I said, will be coming down as soon as he's finished up on the podium. Meanwhile, let's talk about the stock market. It was a close
one, right down to the wire. As I look at it settle just above my shoulders, but it is another record high for US stocks, the momentum
continues on Wall Street.
It was a battle all day long, actually. We we were in negative column for most of the day, just squeaked out that record literally on the close
today. The Dow up a little over 2 percent year-to-date. But interestingly, among this record run, volatility is at a multiyear low.
Trading volumes are also incredibly low. So, it's sort of hard to gauge what's going to happen next. That was a hard close to call.
Now, investors have been pretty fearless of late. There hasn't been a lot of concern out there. But it doesn't feel so long ago that they were
really clinging onto a lot of fear and caution. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, HOST (voice-over): From a distance, the roller coasters at Six Flags in Atlanta look like fearsome beasts. And once
you're strapped in, there's no going back.
The same can be said for investors riding the Dow. Up and down, side to side, investors have held on tight. And whatever twists and turns come
their way, the stocks keep clawing out the gains.
Spin back the clock 12 months, this was the stark view investors faced. Suddenly, the Dow's downhill ride straight to the 15,000 mark, its
worse day in more than two years.
BEN BERNANKE, FORMER CHAIR, US FEDERAL RESERVE: The committee currently anticipates that it would be appropriate to moderate the monthly
pace of purchases later this year.
QUEST: This sudden taper tantrum was triggered by the Fed's plans to wind down stimulus. It could have knocked the rally clean off the rails.
After a slight summer wobble, by September, the Dow headed north again, climbing above 15,500.
Then, just when you thought they'd seen it all, a new threat emerged from Washington in Autumn.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Now, the president says "I'm not going to negotiate." Well, I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work
that way.
QUEST: US lawmakers dithered about the debt ceiling, and the markets took a dip, diving back below 15,000 for the Dow. But once a deal was
reached, the markets found stability, and the Dow broke 16,000 for the first time, ending the year on a high, much to the delight of investors.
Taper came without turmoil, and traders bid a fond farewell to Ben Bernanke. A steady course he'd set for the eventual end for Fed stimulus.
For his successor, a foreign threat was waiting.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The bears taking over as soon as the opening bell rang. It is all about those currencies -- it's
the currencies in emerging markets selling off today.
QUEST: Markets worldwide went into risk-off mode, as emerging markets tumbled. Economists called it a perfect storm. Yellin was sworn in on the
Dow's lowest day of 2014. Since then, the only way's been up. Keep your arms in the car, please.
Jobs continue to be added. The factory sector improves, and the milestones keep falling past. The Dow's up 10 percent since the sell-off.
In the past year alone, the Dow's hit 38 record closing highs. This is one ride not for the faint-hearted, a roller coaster that's firmly on the up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAKE: So, are we looking at confidence or complacency? That's the question on the floor right here, Ben Willis from Princeton Securities
joins us right now to answer that.
Ben, this has sort of been a strange record run, because we've been hitting these, there's been so much momentum, but there seems like there's
still a lot of -- I don't know if it's insecurity or angst about the rally. What is your sense?
BEN WILLIS, PRINCETON SECURITIES GROUP: There is confidence in the world economy, but the confidence, like the economic numbers we're getting,
is dribbling slowly into the stock markets. We continue to climb walls of worry because of the concerns that were institutionalized in the recession
that we went through.
So, it's -- the money is slowly coming out of the mattress of the US treasury market and working its way into the stock market, if you will.
And so, I would just tell people, if you want to get an idea of how the market's working right now, keep an eye on the Russell 2000 as an
indication of the belief of the US economy. Keep an eye on the Dow or the S&P 500 for the global economy indicator.
LAKE: Well -- let me address, I think, some of the concerns that are out there.
WILLIS: Sure.
LAKE: One of them is that this is all juiced by the central banks, and it's not based in reality.
WILLIS: Absolutely, without a doubt. But that was the function of the central banks throughout the world is to re-inflate a depressed economy
all around the world. So the question is how they are going to use an art form? There is no science to this. This is an art form created by Ben
Bernanke on his studies of the Great Depression on how they're going to unwind it.
So, we saw that the preparation from Janet Yellin making a comment about dots that rattled the markets. Keep an eye on the Fed first and
foremost on how this unwind's going to happen. And secondarily, keep an eye on the People's Bank of China, because that is probably the most
important economy in the world right now, and they're still trying to figure out their way on how they've overstimulated their economy.
LAKE: Right. And whether they can institute those reforms and deal with their credit issue at the same time. That's going to be the
challenge.
The other thing, I think, that's out there is that people look at the bond market, which is also rallying, and stock market and say both these
things can't be right. Are the bond guys some seeing trouble that we don't recognize?
WILLIS: They continue to ride the wall of worry that this stock market is trying to overcome.
LAKE: Right.
WILLIS: There's a safety in knowing that if the guys who created the rules, the central banks, why wouldn't you keep your money with the guys
who are writing the rules.
LAKE: Right.
WILLIS: The problem is, when that breaks -- and anybody who's been in the market -- I've been in this business for 30 years -- when that changes,
the dramatic change to your retirement income is going to be significant.
LAKE: And that brings me to my last concern. So many people were burned. You touched on this with this psychology. They don't want to make
that mistake again, they don't want to lose their nest egg, and they don't want to be the fool that gets in last, as the average guy, when the
insiders know when to get out.
WILLIS: And we've seen that, and that's part of the discussion with the PE, the private equity guys, selling their stake.
LAKE: OK.
WILLIS: That's not the place we're in right now. The market has just gotten back to where it was, basically, seven years ago. We've made that
recovery. The question is, of your nest egg, do you want to retire on time, or do you want to retire some day in the future you don't know? And
it's going to be more difficult to retire if that nest egg you're sitting on is in the bond market and it starts --
(CROSSTALK)
LAKE: And they know --
WILLIS: Or when interest rates go up, that nest egg gets much smaller very rapidly.
LAKE: Right, and that's for everyone around the world.
WILLIS: Absolutely.
LAKE: All right, that is the veteran wisdom of somebody who's been on Wall Street for a while. Ben, thank you so much for shedding light on
that.
WILLIS: Thank you.
LAKE: We have a lot more to talk about in terms of the stock market rally and news from Michigan and GM's shareholder meeting. We'll have that
after the break. And guess who joined us on the floor of the Stock Exchange. We'll talk to Richard when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Welcome back to the New York Stock Exchange. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS coming live from the floor of the Exchange this evening. Mary
Barra says that General Motors is ready to do the right thing for its customers and its shareholders over the ignition switch recall.
At the shareholders' annual meeting, the chief exec said the firm would accept responsibility for its mistakes. She also pointed to strong
sales and said the firm will emerge from the scandal stronger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY BARRA, CEO, GENERAL MOTORS: It's not about putting it behind us, it's about using the learnings and the failings that we had to make sure
that we improve the whole development process and the culture, which we're continuing to work on, to make sure that we have award-winning products
that are focused on the customer across the globe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So, here's how GM stock is trading is on the New York Stock Exchange. General Motors is at 36.5, give or take. It's off just a
quarter of one percent. Volume on the shares, 8.3 million.
Poppy Harlow is in Detroit for us this evening. The stock holds its own, Barra says that she's going to take responsibility, but does that
mean, Poppy, that GM is not going to stand behind the bankruptcy protection it has?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the outstanding question that we have asked over and over to General Motors. At this point in time,
GM is still using that liability shield that it gained through that 2009 bankruptcy, meaning that victims of the crash, et cetera, really don't have
claims pre 2009 when that bankruptcy came down. Richard, we'll see if that changes.
But it has only been a few days since that damning internal investigation report came down from GM, that was late last week. We know
that this recall crisis has already cost this company $1.7 billion. It is likely to cost a lot more through litigation. But I want to play you how
it played out here today at GM headquarters in Detroit right behind me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(WOMAN CRYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry, sweetheart.
HARLOW (voice-over): A small but impassioned group of protesters at GM headquarters.
LAURA CHRISTIAN, MOTHER OF CRASH VICTIM: I hate being here, outside this building. And it just reminds me that she's never coming back.
HARLOW: Laura Christian acknowledges her 16-year-old daughter was drinking and not wearing a seat belt when the car she was driving crashed.
CHRISTIAN: I was supposed to have the rest of my life with her, and I'm not going to have that.
HARLOW: Ken Rimer drove 11 hours to stand here as GM shareholders met inside. He believes the crash his stepdaughter died in was died by a
faulty ignition switch.
KEN RIMER, STEPFATHER OF CRASH VICTIM: This is their home court. This is where we need to be. These two young girls died because of what
they didn't do, so we want to make sure that they remember what happened.
HARLOW: The shareholder meeting took place just days after GM's internal investigation report was released, uncovering a pattern of
incompetence and neglect and showing people at GM knew about the deadly defect and did nothing about it.
Conducted by former US attorney Anton Valukas, the report said, quote, "The switch was so plagued with problems that the engineer who designed it
labeled it then, 'the switch from hell.'"
At GM's annual meeting, no shareholder asked about the recall or deaths, but CEO Mary Barra apologized again.
BARRA: I know there are no words that can capture and explain the grief and pain that each of you feel.
HARLOW: GM says 13 people died as a result of the defective switch. They're only counting frontal impact crashes where air bags did not deploy,
therefore only counting victims in the front seats.
HARLOW (on camera): Why are those that died in the back seat of a car that crashed because of the ignition switch defect not counted on the list?
BARRA: Our goal is to make sure everyone who was impacted by the ignition switch issue is appropriately compensated as it relates to those
who lost loved ones or those who had serious physical injury. That's what we're focused on.
HARLOW (voice-over): Ken Rimer's stepdaughter, Natasha Weigel was sitting in the back seat when she died.
RIMER: The loss of life is something that you just can't describe, the loss of a child. It was a simple fix. They could have fixed this
problem before it even happened. These two young girls did not need to die in vain.
CHRISTIAN: I want to see GM being held criminally liable, at least the people that knew and did nothing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: Now, none of those family members who were outside protesting here today, Richard, were inside the shareholder meeting. GM said if they
had asked, they would have been allowed to be inside.
Last week, GM announced it is dismissing or has dismissed 15 employees due to the findings of that internal investigation. But we still have no
word on how much victims are going to get in all of this. GM has left that up to victim compensation expert and attorney Ken Feinberg, who they've
brought on to sort that out.
That is really going to be the key question here: ultimately, how many deaths is GM going to count in all of this? Is that number going to
go up from the 13 it has named so far? And how will people be compensated and how much are they going to get for the death of their loved ones, and
also those severely injured in all of this? So, a big outstanding question on that front, Richard.
QUEST: Poppy, thank you for that, Poppy Harlow in Detroit with the GM story. And Poppy will obviously be continuing to watch that very closely,
indeed.
We've been watching the markets for several months now as the roller coaster goes up and down, but there is definitely a new mood. It is a mood
of moderation, and it might also be a mood of worry. Maggie Lake is with me. Come along.
LAKE: I've got to sit down, Richard.
QUEST: Oh, dear!
LAKE: This record rally's exhausting me!
QUEST: Well, I think this is a rally -- 38 or 39? Well, the -- high. It's the 38th or 39th high this year.
LAKE: Right.
QUEST: So tell me, what's driving it? Because it can't just be cheap money.
LAKE: I think a lot of it has to do with that. But it's also an improving economy. The thing is, it's come in fits and starts, and it's
not everyone at the same time. So, the US seems to be recovering, and Europe seems difficult. Europe seems to be getting a little bit better,
and then we worry about China.
So, there hasn't been the sort of confluence to give everyone the confidence. But I sense that that's changing.
QUEST: Right.
LAKE: You've heard a lot of belief and confidence creeping in in just the last couple of weeks, I'd say.
QUEST: But when you talk about confidence, and we know interest rates are going to go up, and if we look at what the Bank of England said, it's
becoming more finely balanced. And even though the ECB is still easing --
LAKE: Right.
QUEST: -- does that rise in rates knock this thing on its backside?
LAKE: Not if it's for the right reasons. And this is --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Ah! Ah!
LAKE: -- what everyone's saying. If rates are rising, if it's gradual and it's because the economy is strong enough, then that's a
scenario that you want to see. This is what an economist just said to me.
QUEST: Right.
LAKE: But for the right reasons. If they're raising or rising for another reason, and you don't think the economy can handle it, that is
going to be a problem, and that would derail the market and equity. But if you have the economy supporting it, corporate profits rising at the same,
too, then we can --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Are they -- are we fooling ourselves? Is there something nasty lurking underneath?
LAKE: Let's wait and see.
QUEST: That's the question
LAKE: You usually accuse me of being the doomsayer, the one --
QUEST: Well, now you've got --
LAKE: -- who spreads fear.
QUEST: Now you've got --
LAKE: We are far from what happened in the financial crisis psychologically. We expect the sky to fall on us any second. There is an
element of that that's been dogging us all along, and people here will tell you that. It can't be happening, we can't be recovering, there must be a
disaster lurking around the corner.
It doesn't always have to be that way. I'm not saying you should get complacent and you should suddenly take on a lot of risk, but it's possible
--
QUEST: Right.
LAKE: -- just possible that the world isn't going to end tomorrow.
QUEST: Maggie Lake.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: The world has --
(CROSSTALK)
LAKE: Richard, we have to be optimistic --
QUEST: The world --
LAKE: -- on the day when you just rang the opening bell --
QUEST: Closing.
LAKE: -- and sent the -- closing bell on the podium.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CLOSING BELL RINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAKE: We have to be optimistic on a day like that.
QUEST: Maggie, thank you very much, indeed.
(LAUGHTER)
QUEST: That is a moment for me to cherish. We'll talk about more of that in our profitable moment at the end of the program.
Maggie's got her rose-colored spectacles on. It's very unusual. I think the world may be flat and certainly gravity may be coming to an end.
When we come back after the break, we'll have a dose of reality on the job market. It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we're live tonight at the New York
Stock Exchange, and so are you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Now, some news after the market has closed. The chief exec of AIG, the insurance company, which of course, you'll remember clearly, was
bailed out to the tune of many tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars.
The chief executive Robert Benmosche has announced he is stepping down. He became chief executive in 2009 after the company had accepted a
bailout and when it became the question of what more needed to be done.
Since then, AIG has not only divested itself of many of its parts, it has repaid much of the government's money. In fact, it might even be all
of the government's money. And it's even embarked on a massive public relations campaign thanking citizens of the United States for saving them.
One of the most tangible signs of recovery -- we're all about recovery tonight -- it's who's hiring and who's not, the jobless market and who's
getting new employment. A newly released report from Manpower shows an extremely interesting and different approach.
Employers in Asia and Pacific are most optimistic about their hiring plans for the next three months. India, Taiwan, Turkey, New Zealand,
Singapore, were at the top of the list. Manpower also registered optimism in the Americas.
At the other end, Europe. The numbers for Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium were all negative. It wasn't all bad for the region --
there's positive views in Spain, Greece, and Ireland, which might suggest employers there are out of the doldrums.
Jonas Prising is the Manpower chief exec. He joins me now, live from Milwaukee. Jonas, good to sort -- good to have you on the program. Thank
you for joining us. This is interesting, because the US at its current rate of unemployment is rapidly heading towards, if you like, a new
definition of full employment. But it's so very different elsewhere.
JONAS PRISING, CEO, MANPOWER GROUP: Yes. Now, we can clearly see that employers in the US continue on their path of a steady but measured
optimism, which is resulting in jobs growth. And as you know in the US, the number of jobs that have been created since the recession has now
surpassed the ones that were lost during the recession.
But of course, listening to the economic situation overall globally, Europe is clearly stabilized, and we can see that as we survey our
employers, but we still have a long way to go, and it's a very mixed picture between southern Europe --
QUEST: Right, but --
PRISING: -- and northern Europe.
QUEST: So, the core issue really does become, when do you expect to see sizable reductions in European unemployment? When you have an average
rate of over 11.5, 12 percent, and that's not even talking about the elevated countries, like Spain, Greece, and Italy, when does Europe gain
the benefits?
PRISING: Europe will see an improvement in the unemployment rate when we see sustainable growth of a certain dimension. Above 1 percent, 1.5
percent is when we will see some major improvements in the unemployment rates.
And until such time, we will continue to stabilize and improve slightly, and the countries that you mentioned before that have improved,
we all remember have of course improved from a very low level of economic growth and actually very deep recession.
QUEST: Right.
PRISING: So, they're coming off their lows.
QUEST: Is it your feeling, when you take it overall -- and I know this is but a way-too-broad question -- but employers, are they twice --
once bitten, twice shy? They're not going to take on employees until they're absolutely certain it's the last and right thing to do?
PRISING: We live in the age of just-in-demand hiring. And employers no longer hire in anticipation. And of course also, the length of a
recovery means that employers organizationally, as well as with the help of technology to improve workers' productivity, are very measured in their
hiring. When they see demand, they hire.
QUEST: Jonas Prising, CEO of Manpower, joining me from Milwaukee. Jonas, good to see you. Thank you for making sense of this issue for us
tonight.
One of the marvels in the markets at the moment is the way in which bond yields in Spain, one of those countries that really suffered hard,
have now been falling. Ten years now under US rate. It's largely thanks to the unprecedented steps that the ECB took to boost the economy.
Italian bond yields are up slightly from their record lows. Yields in Spain and Ireland have dropped below those of the US even as the stimulus
package here comes to an end. Jim Boulden asked Spain's deputy economy minister whether now he was concerned with this new low yield economy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FERNANDO JIMENEZ LATORRE, SPANISH DEPUTY MINSITER OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND COMPETITIVENESS: No, no, I don't think so, because the basis, the
fundamentals of our macro economic situation are sound. The recovery is -- has a good basis. We have improved productivity significantly, our exports
are doing very well. Domestic demand is also recovering.
So, as the basics are good and as at a European level there has also been structural important changes in the banking union, so I think the
basis for confidence are here to stay.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people think of the Spanish economy, they think of unemployment. Obviously, the
numbers, especially for the young, are very, very high. Unemployment is something like 25, 26 percent in general, much, much higher for youth
unemployment.
Are you able to say today that that is correcting itself as well? Because a lot of structural reform actually can cause more unemployment.
LATORRE: Yes. We did a very ambitious structural reform also in the labor market, and now with the threshold in which we started creating
employment is lower than what it was before. This year, we're envisaging to create jobs just growing around 1.2 percent.
So, I think that we already have several months with positive figures in employment creation. Unemployment is dropping quite significantly,
around 350,000 less unemployed in the last 12 months. So, I think that's the whole improvement on financial conditions, on confidence, is also
arriving into the real figures, and so the economy is broadening up. And we also see good figures for employment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: That's Spain's deputy economy minister talking to Jim Boulden. A quick look at the markets and how they closed. The Dow Jones -- yes! --
39th record for the year, the Dow is up. That's the one there. It is up 2.8, 16,945.
In Europe, they were mostly higher. The DAX was at an all-time high as well. Markets in Milan and Zurich ended at multiyear highs. The
industrial production in the UK rose, the Bank of Ireland was down 3 percent after Wilbur Ross announced he would sell his stake. And we'll be
speaking to Wilbur Ross later in the program.
Now, when we come back after the break, with the clock ticking down in Brazil, criticism over the World Cup's local impact could have a major
impact on the pride of the event. Brazilians -- many don't seem to like what's going on. We'll talk about it after the break. QUEST MEANS
BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more Quest Means Business in just a moment. This is CNN, and on this network, the news always comes
first. Iraq's prime minister is urging Parliament to declare a state of emergency after militants linked with al Qaeda seized large parts of the
country's second biggest city. They overran government offices and many checkpoints in Mosul leaving security forces to flee their posts.
Karachi's airport has been shut down for the second time in two days after Taliban militants attacked its security forces. Officials say the
attack was repelled and no one was killed. It comes after Sunday's attack which left 36 people dead.
NATO's investigating an apparent case of friendly fire that killed five U.S. troops and an African soldier. NATO says U.S. and African forces
were attacked by Taliban forces in Zabul Province on Monday. They called in air support which mistakenly bombed the coalition troops.
A student has died in a school shooting in the U.S. state of Oregon. Police also reported the shooter has died though they've declined to say
how or if the shooter was a student. The building is now secure.
Trading days come to an end, the New York Stock Exchange winds down. Meanwhile, FIFA is defending its record on social responsibility as Brazil
gets ready to host the World Cup. FIFA having already been accused of just about everything is now of course having to answer criticism of the way in
which the poor in Brazil are suffering or not. Tourists arriving in some host cities are being greeted by protesters who are hoping to draw
attention to the amount of public monies spent on the tournament and the apparent lack of funds directed to infrastructure and public works
projects. Some say FIFA is leading - leaving - average Brazilians out of the World Cup's economic benefits. Now the organization's released a
report documenting what they are - false allegations.
Staging a global sporting event is a complicated and challenging process for FIFA. Some of the criticism is unfair and even based on the
misrepresentation of the facts. Amanda Davies is in Rio. Amanda, it's a bit late for FIFA to start saying stop blaming us.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You don't think FIFA will have made any friends in the Brazilian government with this. Pretty
hard-hitting statement but I suppose, Richard, you put this in the context that it's a statement that has been released by FIFA at a time that they
themselves are getting it from all angles about all sorts of issues. This statement as you said covers issues of infrastructure and public health and
education and spending. They say that FIFA cover all the operational costs involved in hosting a World Cup, and then it's up to the host country what
money they then spend on infrastructure and the other bits and pieces that go around hosting a tournament.
They say that it was Brazil's decision to go with 12 stadiums. The FIFA minimum requirement for a World Cup is eight. This is against a
backdrop that despite all the criticism of FIFA for the venues that they've chosen for World Cups in recent times. Sepp Blatter has always set out to
make this World Cup exactly that - a world tournament, not just a tournament for the European nations. We have South Africa in 2010 here in
Brazil this year. Then Russia 2018, Qatar 2022 and you do have to see the merit in that. But that isn't helpful for the local Brazilians.
We've had protests again here on Copacabana Beach today whilst the Sao Paulo metro have called off their strike for now at least. There's a
meeting of the Rio metro workers taking place in about half an hour time. They are threatening to strike on Wednesday here as well. So you don't
think that the FIFA statements are really going to go very far to placate the Brazilians.
QUEST: And FIFA's congress is being held. What are we expecting out of that?
DAVIES: Well Wednesday is a headline day, Richard, in terms of the agenda. That is when we're expected to hear from Michael Garcia the U.S.
lawyer who has been carrying out this investigation into alleged wrongdoing and corruption around the bidding process for Qatar 2022. You would expect
that to steal the headlines without giving us any definitive answers though. We're not expecting those until later in the year maybe -
September or October. But there's been a fantastic appetizer today around the FIFA president Sepp Blatter himself. He got a pretty frosty reception
from the UEFA delegation. They were holding their federation meeting, Blatter turned up and announced that he's seriously thinking about standing
for another term - 78-year-old Sepp Blatter I must add standing for another four years. And bluntly he was told that UEFA, the biggest confederation
of national associations - 53 of them - turn around and said, `We will not support you. You have -
QUEST: All right.
DAVIES: -- done too much damage to FIFA's reputation in your 16 years. So tomorrow promises to be very interesting.
QUEST: Amanda Davies who's in Rio and we look forward to that as we get some results from the congress and of course once the tournament --
what tends to happens with these things of course is that once the tournament begins, all these other issues get pushed to one side until it
is all over. Now, this is the heart of money. The New York Stock Exchange is frankly where money is won, made and lost. But you can look anywhere
you like and you won't see any cash. There's no cash for sale. When we come back, the future of money in a cashless society.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Welcome back to "Quest Means Business" live from the New York Stock Exchange. If you are in New York and taking public transport, you
will use one of these. It is a Metro card. If you are in London taking public transport, you'll use one of these. It is the Oyster card. They
will get you a journey from A to B. But as Kristie Lu Stout now reports from Hong Kong, the Octopus card in Hong Kong - well that will get you a
great deal more than a ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL: Hong Kong. Home to more than seven million people, many constantly on the move.
But in a society that likes cash, you won't residents digging around in their pockets for change to pay on most public transport. You'll see them
holding this - an Octopus car. Now, each card has a chip inside which communicates with the fare processor in here, making each transaction
happen in less than a second.
According to the company, some 95 percent of people in Hong Kong between the ages of 16 and 65 have one, leading to some $18 billion worth
of transactions going through Octopus every day. The idea is so popular similar transit smart card systems can now be seen across the globe. And
with advances in technology, as Octopus CEO Kevin Goldmintz tells me, now travelers in Hong Kong don't have to just rely on the card.
KEVIN GOLDMINTZ, CEO, OCTOPUS: We've now been able to imbed the Octopus mobile SIM inside a smartphone -
STOUT: Yes.
GOLDMINTZ: And we're able to now use that together with NFC technology, near field communications, to allow people to actually use
their phones instead of cards.
STOUT: So with this or by phone or by watch, I can get around the city by train or by bus, tram or ferry without any cash. But it's not
quite popular yet with taxis. Even so, since the Octopus was released nearly two decades ago, it's now being used for so much more than
transport. I buy myself a cup of coffee, a movie ticket, some clothes and pick up some groceries. Buy one or two (inaudible) online.
STOUT: Oh my. So I see Visa, Mastercard and Octopus card.
GOLDMINTZ: Yes, and what's great about it -
STOUT: Octopus recently partnered with Taobao, China's e-commerce answer to eBay or Amazon. Though purchases have to remain relatively small
with a current ceiling of $130 on each card.
GOLDMINTZ: So the partnership that we've been able to develop with them allows someone to use our Octopus mobile app by putting their phone up
to the screen, reading through a QR code and being able to tap and make that purchase happen on Taobao.
STOUT: What's your vision for the mainland China market? Or greater China?
GOLDMINTZ: We launched a dual card in Guantung (ph)Province and also in Shenzhen. We were able to put a Hong Kong dollar purse inside the card
as an e-wallet as well as a Renminbi purse. So there's so much travel going on between these cities in the peripha-Delta (ph), we wanted to
create the same convenience for an Octopus user when they're traveling across the border.
STOUT: What's your vision for Octopus ten years out?
GOLDMINTZ: I think we're going to be really focusing on how we tackle this physical digital convergence that we're dealing with today and grow
our e-commerce strategy and I think the other side of it will also be exporting the knowledge that we've accumulated over 17 years of doing
contactless smart cards, and deploying that knowledge in other cities around the world.
STOUT: Do you think one day Hong Kong and China and elsewhere could be truly cashless societies?
GOLDMINTZ: You know, I buy my lunch with my Octopus, I pay for drinks on Octopus, I buy coffee with my Octopus, so I think there will be a day
when both - you know - Hong Kong and other cities around Asia Pacific particularly will be looking towards a cashless society. I, you know, I
think we're going to make huge inroads in the next five to ten years in this.
STOUT: Big strides in the direction of a cashless society. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: Kristie Lu Stout with gold card and a token. Oh, look - there's Twitter. Little bird look good. Share price was up 2.6 percent
today. But if you would like to tweet me, it's @richardquest. That of course is where you can join in the twitter conversation as well. Jenny
Harrison's at the World Weather Center. A beautiful day when I left London this morning. Overcast here in New York. What's the outlook, Jenny?
JENNY HARRISON, WEATHER ANCHOR FOR CNN INTERNATIONAL: Well, it's all a bit mixed actually, Richard. I think you left Europe at a pretty good
time, but Central Europe is really where the worst weather has been over the last two, now three days. And in fact more of the same expected.
In the last few hours, look at this from a satellite. All of these cloud areas you see sort of bucking up are literally afternoon
thunderstorms, and some of them have been really ferocious. Let me just start by showing you some pictures. Here is one at Dusseldorf in Germany.
You can see by day, but look at these pictures from the nighttime when this storm really was at its height because there was just some tremendous - I
think we've got some video there - there was just some tremendous storms that really were taking place all the way across Germany.
A little bit further on in this video, you'll actually see of course again many, many trees down, but, again, they're trying to get to them in
the overnight hours. Here we go. So of course lots of emergency crews called out. In fact, there were six people that have been killed as a
result of these storms across different parts of Germany. And it was very, very widespread. And now, of course, it's all about clearing up the
aftermath.
Let me just show you some more pictures, because as I say, it wasn't just in Dusseldorf but you can see here, again, just look at this. These
massive trees were brought down in many, many different parts of the suburbs across many different towns in and around Germany. This roof here,
this building almost demolished because of the strength of the winds that came through. The lightning of course was tremendous at times. Look at
these pictures - just absolutely terrifying to be quite honest when you're caught in a storm like this. And not just Germany. Look at this - Tours
in France - again, some very dramatic lightning in those overnight hours.
So all of this was coming through Monday, Tuesday, again this Wednesday - I know today is Tuesday. We expect more though on Wednesday in
terms of those strong storms. And look at this in Germany, seven centimeter down into hail. That is the sort of hail that does a lot of
damage. And look at this wind gust - 144 kilometers an hour. So, all of this really because of the heat that has been building across central
areas. And then there's this cold air coming in from the West. Right now it's 23 in Vienna. It is still 27 Celsius in Berlin. And it's coming up
to 11 o'clock at night there and these are the high temperatures this Tuesday. We've got 33 in Prague, 35 in Budapest and it will stay like this
over the next couple of days. We've got high pressure, hot air across the central areas. This is what's coming through. This is what's producing
the storms. This will also help to cool things down. But in the meantime, there are warnings in place right the way across Europe for more of this
very severe weather. So, just be very prepared and very aware. Richard.
QUEST: Jenny Harrison, we thank you for that. Jenny at the World Weather Center. Three years ago the American billionaire Wilbur Ross made
a major investment in the Bank of Ireland - did so to keep it from being nationalized. Now, having shown an extremely healthy profit, he's decided
to cash out. Wilbur Ross joins me now from the coast near Stockholm in Sweden. Mr. Ross, good evening to you. Why are you selling out now?
WILBUR ROSS, INVESTOR: (Good to see you).
QUEST: Why now?
ROSS: Well, it turned out that we had made a lot of investments in a lot of banks both in the U.S. and in Europe, and they have appreciated so
much that they're becoming too large a portion of our portfolio. And so we saw the need to divest so that we didn't have too much concentration in one
industry. And Bank of Ireland has been one of the better performing stocks. Garton Bank came in to me with a bid and we decided to accept the
bid.
QUEST: Are you - are you -
ROSS: Not a negative comment on the bank.
QUEST: Right.
ROSS: The bank is doing fine and I think we'll do better. It's certainly not a negative comment on Ireland. Ireland to me is the
turnaround kid of Europe. It's simply a portfolio decision and because of the new E.U. rules that if you're on the board of an E.U. bank, you can
only be on the board of three other companies regardless where they are. That bet (ph) has meant that I really had to resign -
QUEST: All right.
ROSS: -- from the board because as an activist investor, we don't invest in things where we're not involved.
QUEST: Would it be very rude of me to ask you how much money you've made on the deal?
ROSS: Well, I think many of the other media have already told people about it, but we made about $600 million euros.
QUEST: When you say you're confident about Ireland and about the future of the bank, there's still an enormous amount of work to be done in
Ireland, isn't there? So, but you're quite sure the worst is behind now?
ROSS: Well, I think the worst definitely is behind, but people don't realize Ireland is really a high-tech economy, the largest employers and
the largest exporters are pharmaceutical companies. Those little blue pills that give so many men around the world so much pleasure mostly come
from Ireland. And in addition to pharmaceuticals, they're huge in medical devices, they're huge in internet, internet games -
QUEST: Right.
ROSS: -- software, electronic data processing. Ireland is a high- tech economy and after high tech, its big export is agriculture. So it's not a very cyclical kind of an export economy. Plus it has a very young
and well-educated workforce determined to work.
QUEST: Right, Mr. Ross -
ROSS: And it's the only English-speaking country that uses the euro currency.
QUEST: Mr. Ross, we'll leave it there. Thank you for joining us, sir. Thank you, I appreciate your time for this this evening. Good to
talk to you. When we come back after the break, the ringing of the closing bell -- it's a ceremony with a big deal of tradition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(RINGING NY STOCK EXCHANGE CLOSING BELL)
QUEST: That was the CNNMoney team a few moments ago, ringing the closing bell to mark the end of trade. And of course that was the finger
that pushed the button that rang the closing bell that brought the market to a close today. A little gain, a small suzon (ph) of a gain, but still
the 39th record so far this year. The ringing of the closing bell - Mickey Mouse has done it, the Infamous has done it. There's some very important
people have done it. Lots of people in fact have had a go at ringing the bell. So much so, it's become part of the tradition of the New York Stock
Exchange. We start our program with it every night. We needed to know more.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: In the fast-paced world of trading stocks, this is a moment to sing.
SCOTT CUTLER, HEAD OF GLOBAL LISTINGS, NYSE: So the camera in front is our guide. At 3:59 and 20 seconds - give or take - you'll hear someone
clapping. That'll be me.
(LAUGHTER)
CUTLER: You know, what's amazing about the opening bell is it's the same for everybody - 3:59:45 you're going to push the green button. It's
such an important achievement in the life of an entrepreneur. I've seen entrepreneurs up there literally with tears in their eyes.
(RINGING NY STOCK EXCHANGE OPENING BELL)
QUEST: Twice a day, like clockwork, the New York Stock Exchange posts a small piece of corporate history.
CUTLER: Companies can come here to at the New York Stock Exchange, launch a product, launch an initiative, open that initiative with the
opening bell or the closing bell, have that seen by millions of people around the world. So this is the bell that's been ringing since 1903, made
in Pittsfield, Maine 1872.
QUEST: The bell wasn't always rung by special guests. In 1956, a ten-year-old boy named Leonard Ross became the first after winning a
television quiz show. It took another 30 years and a sitting president to help turn the tide permanently.
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to turn the bull lose.
(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)
QUEST: Heads of state, CEOS, stars of stage and screen are all regulars now in the balcony.
PATRICK STEWART, ACTOR: It was thrilling to be in this environment at such a time. It is very exciting and quite a privilege.
QUEST: It's a privilege not limited to the two-legged and certainly not to the gray-suited CEO.
CUTLER: One of the great stories that I do remember being up here was Snoop Dogg. And Snoop Dogg was asked whether or not he ever expected
growing up in Long Beach that he would be here to ring the opening bell. And he just said, "Why not?"
Female: (SINGING GOD BLESS AMERICA).
QUEST: It's a symbol of success and also of resilience in the wake of disaster.
CUTLER: After 9-11, the entire world was watching for when the markets would open with the New York Stock Exchange opening bell.
Male: Had 100 million people watch the closing bell around the world. No pressure.
QUEST: On the bell podium, nerves run high and there's no room for error through boom or bust, rally or (racked), markets know they can always
count on this sound.
(RINGING NY STOCK EXCHANGE BELL)
(END VIDEOCLIP)
QUEST: And the reason of course we were ringing the closing bell today was to celebrate the re-launch of CNNMoney. And with me is the vice-
president for CNNMoney and CNN Politics -- it's Ed O'Keefe. Good to see you, sir.
ED O'KEEFE, VICE-PRESIDENT, CNNMONEY AND CNN POLITICS: Good to see you.
QUEST: What is different about CNNMoney?
O'KEEFE: Well if Quest means Business, CNNMoney is where business goes to get personal. We want to tell personal stories, we want to give
practical advice for the consumer who wants to know a little bit more of what the insiders here know. We want them to learn about the markets, we
want them to be smarter about investing. So we're going to tell a lot of personal stories.
QUEST: But how does that differ from what CNNMoney was doing before?
O'KEEFE: Well, CNNMoney was actually a joint venture between "Time," "Fortune," and "Money" magazines.
QUEST: Right.
O'KEEFE: And this is the first time that CNN is wholly owned its own entity in "CNNMoney." So we are expanding coverage into luxury, into
media, into investing, into economics. We'll be using a lot - a lot more - of personal stories to get -
QUEST: Will you be harnessing, if you like, the expertise of people like Christine Romans, Brian Stelter, dare I say myself every now and again
-
O'KEEFE: Yes.
QUEST: Will you, I mean, are you expecting this to work for you for free?
O'KEEFE: We - absolutely. That's the whole intent.
QUEST: Excellent, excellent, nothing new there.
O'KEEFE: You did very well with Christine Romans up there by the way. You were getting along quite well. I thought that was -
QUEST: Thank you.
O'KEEFE: Yes.
QUEST: This is what we got by the way.
O'KEEFE: Yes.
QUEST: Look at that - it's got the bull on the one side and the stock exchange on the other. Notice it's got the bull not the bear. What is it?
O'KEEFE: I think the bull is attacking the bear. That's what it looks like to me.
QUEST: Oh, you're right, it is.
O'KEEFE: It's eating the - yes - it's eating the bear.
QUEST: It is.
O'KEEFE: It's amazing. Yes. That's quite a memento. Did you get one?
QUEST: No.
O'KEEFE: Oh, I did. They gave, they just gave - I've got it.
QUEST: Yes, (LAUGHTER).
O'KEEFE: It has to stay in the United States of America. You'd have to declare it on the way home. Yes.
QUEST: Now you see it, now you don't. We'll have a "Profitable Moment" after the break. That's my half.
O'KEEFE: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Tonight's "Profitable Moment." I'm not ashamed to admit that this is one of the best days of my professional life - the chance to ring
the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The first time I reported from the Exchange, I stood right up there. It was 1987, it was just after
Black Monday. We weren't allowed on the floor of the Exchange in those days. You couldn't even use camera lights in case they dazzled the traders
on the floor beneath.
Now, all those years later, to actually stand on the podium with my colleagues from CNNMoney, the great journalist with whom I work each day
and ring the closing bell was a moment indeed. It's a day I won't forget. And maybe that's what these things are all about - the little memories you
take with you. And that is "Quest Means Business" for this Tuesday night. I'm Richard Quest at the New York Stock Exchange. Whatever you're up to in
(RINGS BELL) the hours ahead, (RINGS BELL) I hope it's profitable. I'll see you tomorrow.
END
