WEBVTT - Brexit, Morgan Stanley, & Trump Under Fire 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:05.320 Welcome to the Bloomberg Penel Podcast. I'm Paul swing you, 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:07.680 along with my co host Lisa Brahma wits. Each day 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:10.240 we bring you the most noteworthy and useful interviews for 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.520 you and your money. Whether at the grocery store or 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.480 the trading floor. Find a Bloomberg penl podcast on Apple 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.960 podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts, as well as 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:23.200 at Bloomberg dot com. Let's talk Brexit. Let's get some 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:25.520 opinions on it, because I can't figure out for the 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:27.360 life of me if we're really actually close to an 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.920 agreement or whether we're still miles away. Terre's Raphael is 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:32.040 going to clear it all up for us. She's a 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:35.600 Bloomberg opinion editor in London. So Terre's are we going 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:37.440 to get a Brexit deal or is this sort of 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:41.160 more uh, sort of tenuous negotiating that's gonna get shut 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:45.640 down on both sides. Well, there's one final bridge to cross, um, 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.600 but it's maybe the wobbliest and most difficult bridge to 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:51.120 get cross across. Maybe that's the way to put it. So, 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.800 there is a deal that has been agreed between the UK, 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:59.600 the European Union. Ireland crucially has signed off on that, 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:03.440 and that is a huge accomplishment because it looked, um, 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:06.160 you know, only say twenty four hours ago, like that 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:11.520 wouldn't happen the you know, giant capital letter. But here 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.720 is the Democratic Union's Party of Northern Ireland, a key 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:21.399 ally for the Conservative government. UH, is absolutely opposed to 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:23.440 the deal, has said they will not vote for it. 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.200 And the question is whether Boris Johnson can gather enough 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.839 votes in the House of Commons from his own party 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.360 and other parties to make up the numbers that he needs. 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.240 So Terre's I know you wrote a column on this, 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:41.080 This the Northern Ireland issue, um, and that is continues 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:45.080 to be a major UH stumbling block here. Historically the 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:49.360 DUP has been able to block such a deal. What 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.800 is the sense right now, given maybe where the parties 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:55.600 are just that in terms of exhaustion, so normally a 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.120 no means no from the d u P. I think 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:05.520 that Johnson probably is hoping, um, that there's some chance 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:08.720 they'll change their mind if, for example, he has enough 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:11.359 votes in the Common The reason is this, he's offered 0:02:11.400 --> 0:02:14.560 the DUP reportedly quite a large sum of money to 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.320 go along, and this is a DUPS moment of maximum 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.200 leverage if they uh, if they say no and the 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.000 deal doesn't go through the Commons, then they're going to 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:24.560 get a share of the blame for that. And we 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.360 don't know how that would play out in a future election. 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.040 The DUP may find that it gets hurt. If they 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.440 say no and the deal does pass, the DUP may 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:36.560 have given up an opportunity to uh, you know, to 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:40.280 to to gain some benefits out of it, whether monetarily 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.600 or in terms of you know, future influence. So the 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.200 DP has to think very hard about whether it's going 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.040 to stick by by the position. And then the key 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:52.200 question is whether their allies and the Conservative Party, which 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.560 are now known as the Spartans, those that refuse Theresa 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:59.320 May's deal three times before on the grounds that it 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.200 hurt the Union in its cause among other among other things, 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:05.639 whether they will stick by the DUP or instead decide 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:08.200 to back Boris Johnson's deal. And I think once we 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:10.360 know that it will be easier to say whether this 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.000 deal has a chance on Saturday. Meanwhile, of course, the 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:17.160 Labor Party, by Jeremy Corbyn is well is expected to 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:19.480 throw a spanner in the works. It's already declared the 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.440 deal worse than Tersa May's deal, so it's not clear 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:24.000 it gets through the House of Commons. I think it's 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.360 got a better chance than May had um, but but 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.200 that may not be saying enough a better chance than 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:32.960 May's head. What does this deal have that is so 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:37.080 much better in terms of being more conciliatory to all 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.880 sides than Theresa May? Right? Okay, the main difference is 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:44.600 that Teresa's May's Teresa May's deal included what was known 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:48.240 as the Irish Backstop, which was a sort of insurance policy, 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.320 but it locked the UK into the US Customs Union 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:55.040 indefinitely if other solutions weren't found to take it out. Now, 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.680 that was completely UH, anathema to the d U, P 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:03.160 to UH, to conservatives, even too many in the Labor 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:08.080 Party because it tied the UK for you know, UH 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.960 an indefinite period of time to EU rules. This deal 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:14.800 gets rid of that. Instead, it aligns UK goods with 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:19.200 the EU um UH for regulatory purposes. But it also 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:23.240 has this sort of innovation on customs where the goods 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:27.000 that are destined for the UK would pay UK customs. 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.799 Goods that might go to the EU through Northern Ireland 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.080 would pay EU customs and there'd be a sort of 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.359 committee that decides which are at risk of going to 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.760 Northern of going through to the EU. So it's complicated, 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.800 it's a bit messy, it's kind of even hard to explain. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.440 But crucially what it does is it gets rid of 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.720 the backstop and that was what Boris Johnson promised and 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:52.320 that's what gives it this acceptability for Conservatives. It also 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.719 has a consent mechanism so that the Northern Ireland parties 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:00.479 can themselves approve it periodically every four years. Torre's just 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:02.080 about twenty seconds. Can you can just give us a 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:04.400 sense what's going to happen Saturday, what's supposed to happen, 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.000 what's scheduled to happen. I'll give it to you in 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.400 five seconds. It's going to be a vote, okay, and 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.640 beyond that, and beyond that, I can't tell you whether 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.159 it's gonna pass. All right, So we're gonna pay attention 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:16.240 to that vote Saturday, and we'll hopefully we'll have some 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.400 more clarity the next time we speak to you, which 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.200 will probably be next week. Tres Raphael, thanks so much 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.960 for joining us. Trays is a Bloomberg Opinion editor. Covering 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:28.359 European politics and economics, especially Brexit. She is the go 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.440 to voice. She does that from our London bureau. You 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:33.920 can read more on this and other stories from Bloomberg 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:37.520 Opinion at Bloomberg dot com, slash Opinion and on the 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:56.000 terminal by typing an O, P, I N go. Well 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.080 are good friends at Morgan Stanley reported earnings better than 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:03.000 expected earnings is trading up about three points seven percent today. 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.440 To get the latest on Morgan Stanley and all the 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.520 big investment banks that have reported this week, we welcome 0:06:07.560 --> 0:06:10.360 Alison Williams. She's a senior annalysts covering global investment banks 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.080 and asset managers for Bloomberg Intelligence. She joins us on 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:16.360 our Bloomberg and Actor Broker studio. So, Alison, um Morgan 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.120 Stanley kind of bringing up the rear for the big 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.640 investment banks this week. What are the key takeaways for you? 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:25.200 So for Morgan Stanley, Uh, you know, strong quarter at 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.520 least versus the expectation sort of across trading and fees. 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:33.400 I think importantly that their wealth margin um is running 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.839 at the higher end and and the bottom line is 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.280 really that they are well within their range to make 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:40.560 their target for the year, and I think that's sort 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:42.840 of the kind of takeaway as we're exiting the quarter, 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.599 who who's sort of on track to meet their targets 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:48.480 and in a good position for next year, and who's not? 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:53.080 And so Morgan Stanley falls into the positive bucket JP 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:59.880 Morgan also their Bank America showing really positive trends UH yesterday. However, 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.440 a city group, I think it's going to be a 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.320 closer call. They basically said they're going to do everything 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.560 they can to make that twelve percent return on tangible 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:12.080 equity target common equity target UM next year. My guess 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:14.640 is they're going to have to lower UH their target 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:16.920 for next year, and then Goldman that doesn't really manage 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.200 to a target, at least not now. We'll probably hear 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.440 more from them on specific targets next year. But I 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.400 think UM it was a combination of costs coming in 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:30.280 higher than expected, as well as disappointing banking fees. So 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:33.760 I wanna talk about debt trading revenues because I like 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.520 talking about them, but also with Morgan Stanley that really 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.600 was the front and center. Their beat was really remarkable. UH. 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:43.160 Debt trading revenues surging twenty one percent in set of 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.480 dropping five percent is analysts had predicted. Do we have 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.320 a sense of what drove that? So there were a 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.560 few things that they talked about. Basically, credit trading was 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:56.000 strong for them, UM as and rates was a little weaker. 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.320 That was similar to comments that they had made in September. 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:02.760 The commodities business US was also good for both UM 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:04.920 Morgan Stanley angle up in this quarter. Think about what 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:11.240 was happening UM with energy prices, but UM Morgan Stanley's business, 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.400 which we haven't talked about in a while, and commodities 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.600 can be lumpy, so that may have been part of it. 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:20.360 But JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley both having really strong 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:23.240 quarters on the front, on the thick front. People right 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.400 on the thick front. I'm wondering how much of this 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.440 is taking business away from Deutsche Bank, and that's what 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:31.480 we're seeing. So there we're hearing less I think specifics 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:33.400 in terms of thick where they're gaining shared and I 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.920 think that's really gonna be the number to watch next week. 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:39.960 We definitely are hearing about market share gains in prime, 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:44.559 whether they're specifically calling it that or not. Prime brokerage 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:48.280 meaning the business catering to hedge funds. Correct, and that 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.120 is a business where um, you know, Deutsche Bank sort 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:53.440 of never recovered coming out of sort of their their 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:57.600 legal concerns of that businesses sort of continued to slip away. 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.840 That's a business that they, um have stepped off of. 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.079 We the Bloomberg News reporters have been talking about different 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.400 market share wins UM from the banks that we heard 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:10.280 from the banks themselves. You know, Bank America talking about 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:13.520 higher balances, Goldman talking about higher balances, and Morgan Stanley 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:17.679 perhaps the most specific talking about higher prime balances UM 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.760 and wins from Europe. So alson. You know, having listened 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:22.600 to the conference calls this week, I WHI I know 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:24.640 you have. For the big investment banks, what are they 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:28.040 saying about the regulatory outlooks? And then there's been some 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.280 talk about rolling back some of the regulations that were 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:35.679 put upon the financial services industry after the financial crisis. 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.840 What's the status of that. The one regulation that I 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.920 think bank confessors are most focused on, we're most focused 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:47.240 on at least is um you know, the final capital rules, 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.920 and there's two rules right now they're sort of in progress. 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:54.280 One relates to one capital measure and one relates to 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.120 the other UM. One's gonna make things tougher and one's 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:00.800 gonna make things easier. But the net net UM things 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:04.760 could be tougher for Morgan, Stanley and Goldman because they're 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.320 basically tailored to UM, sort of charging them more for 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:12.880 certain related investment banking businesses. And so I think that's 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.760 the key that that people are watching. However, we've seen 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.000 in the last couple of stress tests and capital returns 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.080 the banks sort of being a little bit more conservatives 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.000 as we sort of wait those final rules. There were 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:29.199 UM questions sort of throughout the calls on the political landscape, 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.280 different things that have been going on. I think managements 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.679 generally we're trying to change the subject and and not 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:37.720 kind of go down that path shocking, I will say, 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:39.920 I mean, honestly, they don't want to answer these questions 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:42.439 because how can they possibly have a lens out. I 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:46.160 am curious though, just at a larger level, how much 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:50.240 are US banks just absolutely trouncing the European and other 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:53.720 global peers at this point. So to your point, we've 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:57.240 seen that UM in the numbers, We've seen it in 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.000 the trading numbers and we've seen it in the fee 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.480 numbers over the past US a few years. We've seen 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.520 it in the first half, and so it's it's interesting 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:06.760 because it's it gets tougher and tougher to do a 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:11.880 read across from the US because all Thick broadly beat expectations. 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.680 So every single bank beat and Thick Equities was a 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.440 little bit mixed, but in aggregate better um, and we'll 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.720 find out next week UBS reports Credit Suiteen Deutsche Bank 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.760 the week after Barkways is also sort of in that mix. Um. 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:29.240 We'll find out exactly how much of the better numbers 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.880 are coming from, uh, those share games. Allison Williams the 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.240 busiest person in Bloomberg these days. Thank you so much 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.200 for being with us, Alison Willis. Allison Williams is a 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:43.160 senior analysts covering global investment, banks and asset management for 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:48.400 Bloomberg Intelligence. Joining us here in our Bloomberg Interactive broker studios. 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:10.360 Wax Software Wax Inc. Melissa Smith, president CEO, joins us 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:14.880 right now to talk about the electronic payments business Wax is. 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:16.800 You can find out on New York Stock Exchange trading 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:19.320 onto the symbol w e X, about a nine billion 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.439 dollar market cat Melissa, thanks so much for joining us 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:24.319 on the phone from Portland, Maine. I want to talk 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:26.760 a little bit about WAX. What is kind of the 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.280 key driver for your story right now? I know about 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:33.040 two thirds of your revenue had historically been about the 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.160 truck fleet fuel payments business, but I know you've been 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:38.000 trying to diversify that. So tell us a little bit 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.400 about what the current growth drivers are. Sure Sure So 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.120 we're a financial technology service pro fighter and she talked 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.520 about one of the industries that were in his fleet. 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:50.000 We're also in healthcare, travel and accounts payable. If you 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.640 look at the growth and I'll talk about healthcare just 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.480 for a minute, Um, if you have an h s 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:57.680 A or an f s A or any type of 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.720 tax defered account where the technology that sits behind that, 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:03.680 and so one of the growth drivers for us in 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.840 that business is the fact that you continue to see 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:11.320 people moving to high deductible healthcare plans that have HS 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.960 accounts associated with that. So is you see that movement, 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.760 we continue to add accounts, uh, and as healthcare costs 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.600 keep changing, that's a place that we we um see 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.840 continued growth in our business. It's it's a place that 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.120 we've been playing on a lot of focus over the 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.760 last um last several years. So your shares are up 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:36.680 almost fifty year to date, so UM, not too bad. Well, 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:38.839 I hope you have stock options. I'm trying to figure 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.599 out going forward what the barrier to entry is this? 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.160 What's the competitive landscape for you? Yea in each of 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.320 the industry sphere and so so, first of all, we 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.280 operate at scale. We have about eighty billion dollars worth 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.720 to spend volume going through our business in our different verticals, 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.720 so we have scale. We'd use our own internal network, 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:01.079 so I think of that as relationships. So we've developed 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.920 ourselves and then through some of the networks. But really 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.560 the two big various for us, it's that the technology 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.360 is highly integrated into our customers and partners, and and 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:13.640 they're of all size. They're really large companies and really 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.560 small companies. UM. And what we do is is uniquely 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:21.160 solve problems that sit in a particular vertical, whether that's 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.600 fleet or travel or healthcare. So I know you have 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.560 some pretty aggressive growth targets ten and fift reruven and 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:32.720 growth maybe a little bit more than that. Earnings where 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:34.320 what are the businesses that are really going to drive 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:35.880 you to that growth. Because as I look at the 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:40.080 fleet business, that seems to be a slower growing business. Yeah, 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:41.840 you um, if you look at the sleep business, it's 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.240 it's a predictable grow. We had a big stuff I've 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:47.680 been growth this year and fleet. We migrated over both 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:51.080 Shallenge Chevron's commercial car portfolios. They were big contract wins 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.000 for us, and we've gone through the implementation process for that. 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.600 So you get a little bit of lumpiness sometimes in 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.720 the growth and sleep, but it is it's predictable. And 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:02.200 then at the same time, if you look at the 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:05.360 growth that we're getting in healthcare and travel, there are 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:09.040 really good macro that sit behind that, meaning that the 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:13.080 markets are growing themselves and we're benefiting from that. Both 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:17.160 in online travel, so our biggest customers and travel or 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.520 online travel agencies, so as they continue to see a 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.440 lift in their business, we have seen the benefit of that, 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:27.040 and then we keep adding new partners and customers. Globally. 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:30.360 We just entered on the travel side and to the 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.840 U A E. And so as we continue to extend 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.320 the presence that we have and the capability that we have, 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:37.680 we get a natural lift from that, you have an 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:42.640 incredible viewpoint into just the thinking right now of executives. 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.320 It's some of these companies that are affected by politics 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:50.080 and thinking healthcare, or by international national trade tensions, online 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:53.520 travel companies, and I'm wondering how much uncertainty you're feeling 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:56.640 from them, and whether there's a reluctance to invest in 0:15:56.720 --> 0:16:01.760 some of your products because of that. I'm not seeing 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.560 uncertainty around UM or an unwillingness to invest. What I 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.640 have seen over the last several years is a desire 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.320 from some of the biggest companies that we work for 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:15.040 to have us work on innovation with them, which has 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:17.840 more to do with a trend of technology changing and 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.920 it's a strength of ours UM to innovate to bring 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.360 new tech into the marketplace, and so we have seen 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:26.520 more of an interest of doing things like we created 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:30.760 a product called driver Dash, which is mobile enablement of 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.320 fleet payments where you use facial recognition to turn on 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:36.840 the app, and the app itself turns on the pump 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:38.840 as a driver sits next to it. So think of 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.520 a someone who's moving a forward f to fifty that's 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:45.840 pulling up to a pump. The technology makes that transaction 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.600 that much more secure, and that's something we did initially 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.120 with Exa Mobile and and now we're we're doing with 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.800 Shell as well. So I think that there's more of 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:57.000 a desire to um to partner and to partner with 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:58.880 people that can move quickly in the space, which I 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:02.080 think is a benefit of ours. Melissa Smith, thank you 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.000 so much for joining us today. Melissa Smith is President, 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:21.679 chief executive officer of WAX, joining us from Portland, Maine. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:28.280 President Trump is coming under some widespread criticism for his 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:30.880 Syria policy, and it's not just from Democrats this time. 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:35.040 Right now that some Democrats, some Republicans are also challenging 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.320 that policy. To get more we welcome Stephen Dennis, senate 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.120 reporter for Bloomberg News, joins us on the phone from Washington, 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.960 d C. So Stephen, give us the latest on how 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.919 this whole Syria policy is playing out for President Trump 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:52.320 in Washington. Yeah, I mean, it's basically overwhelming bipartisan opposition 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:58.200 to his decision to basically let Turkey invade without us 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.600 taking any real steps to Vntham. You know, we're starting 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.960 to put in play some sanctions and and of course 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:08.240 Mike Pence was sent over there to talk to the 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:13.560 Turkish president. But basically you have a lot of Republican 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:16.840 leaders over here who are a cast that the Kurds, 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.640 who fought alongside us to help the feed Isis are 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:25.399 being basically left defend for themselves as the Russians and 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:30.359 Syria forces and and and Turkish forces close in on them. 0:18:30.440 --> 0:18:32.760 And so you know, yesterday in the House, so there 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:35.359 was an overwhelming vote only sick as your Republicans stood 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:40.080 with the President against this resolution that effectively rebuked him 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.840 for not standing up for the Kurds. And now in 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:47.560 the Senate, Mitch McConnell, the the Senate majority leader, says 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:53.520 he wants an even stronger resolution um on Syria. So uh, 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:57.280 Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, wants to have action today 0:18:57.280 --> 0:19:00.840 on a resolution. So we'll see what ends up happening. Ing. Uh. 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.119 In the meantime, sort of a fluid situation on sanctions. 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.560 The House Foreign Affairs Committee is looking at sanctions. And 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.960 now we have on the Senate side today Christmin Holland 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:18.240 Democrat and Lindsay Graham Republican, sometimes chief ally of the President, 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:21.400 but on this his chief opponent will be introducing sanctions 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.560 later today much much stiffer than what the President has 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.760 been putting forward so far. So House Speaker now Nancy 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:33.119 Pelosi currently talking actually, and yesterday she made some news 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.320 when she talked about the meeting with President Trump with 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:39.760 House leaders with congressional leaders about the serious issue, saying 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:42.800 that President Trump had a quote meltdown. Do we have 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.639 a sense of, first of all, whether that's accurate, but 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:49.320 second of all, what the broader implications are of the 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:55.080 pushback the president is getting from Republicans in Congress. Yeah, 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.359 you know, there definitely was a dust up. Um. Pelosi 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:02.840 basically accused the President didn't on issues including Ukraine and 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:06.800 Syria and other issues as well, saying that all roads 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:10.280 would you lead to putin and and basically are helping 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:14.879 out the Russians and Russian foreign policy and uh, the 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.119 President wasn't happy and and called her a third grade 0:20:18.200 --> 0:20:22.760 politician whatever that means. Um. And at some point the 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:26.679 name calling got to be so much that Schumer, uh Stenny, 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.560 Hoyer and and Pelosi decided to get up and leave. 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.679 This is not the first meeting where one side has 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:35.679 gotten up and left. It was months ago when the 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:38.679 President sort of stormed out of a meeting that he 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.919 had called on infrastructure, and he was upset with investigations 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.359 into him. And of course now the House is poised 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.480 to impeach him in the coming months. So this is 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:50.840 not that big of a surprise that they are at 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.680 each other's throats, if you will that. There is one 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.960 thing I'm watching is whether Republican angst and an upset 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:04.080 overseer impacts the impeachment to calculus over here in the Senate. Um. 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.320 Some Senate Republicans and Democrats have talked to don't see 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.359 it affecting it right now, but you know, if you 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:12.760 actually get to a point where some Senate Republicans are 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.200 considering voting to convict the president, which right now none 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:19.040 of them are really there. Um, this could just be 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.760 one more feather on the on the scale because Mike 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:24.879 Pence is seen as somebody who who would have had 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:28.200 a different foreign policy in this case. So Stephen just quickly, 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:31.480 what are next moves here? I think the next big 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:35.480 decision point is what does Mitch McConnell do on this 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:39.000 sanctions package? Does he want to bring something real with 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:42.520 teeth to the floor that would defy the president? Um, 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:45.439 it's one thing to have a non binding resolution um, 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:49.399 which he's done before. It's another thing to actually start 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:52.920 having Congress take over some big pieces of foreign policy. 0:21:53.359 --> 0:21:55.880 That's something that he's gonna be probably fairly reluctant to do, 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:59.040 but he's getting a lot of pressure from Republicans who 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:03.960 want to do something to push back on what they 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:08.320 what they see happening over there with our allies getting killed. 0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:10.760 Stephen Dennis, thank you so much for spending time. I 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:12.760 know you've got a very busy schedule. Stephen Tennis and 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:16.000 a reporter for Bloomberg News, joining us from Washington, d C. 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:19.000 Thanks for listening to the Bloomberg P and L podcast. 0:22:19.200 --> 0:22:21.800 You can subscribe and listen to interviews at Apple Podcasts 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:24.880 or whatever podcast platform you prefer. I'm Paul Sweeney. I'm 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:27.600 on Twitter at pt Sweeney. I'm Lisa Abram Woyds. I'm 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:30.480 on Twitter at Lisa Abram woits one. Before the podcast, 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.119 you can always catch us worldwide on Bloomberg Radio.