Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager and I'm Alexis Christophers.
Speaker 3: Here are the stories we're following today.
Speaker 2: Alexis the first full month of the war, where Iran
Speaker 2: is coming to a close and President Trump is ramping
Speaker 2: up threats even as he considers his options. The Wall
Speaker 2: Street Journal is reporting the President has told aids he
Speaker 2: is willing to end the US campaign against Tehran even
Speaker 2: if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed. The report
Speaker 2: says the concern is that a mission to pry open
Speaker 2: the choke point could extend the conflict beyond the president's
Speaker 2: for to six week timeline. White House Press Secretary Caroline
Speaker 2: Levitt says President Trump still wants a deal with Iran.
Speaker 4: President is focused on achieving the objectives of Operation Epic
Speaker 4: Fury with respect to forces that are on the ground
Speaker 4: in the Middle East. It's the job of the Pentagon
Speaker 4: to create maximum optionality for the commander in chief. It
Speaker 4: does not mean the President has made any additional decision.
Speaker 2: Press Secretary Caroline Levitt at the White House, and we
Speaker 2: get more from Bloomberg's Jumana Barsetchi in Dubai.
Speaker 5: To be clear, this has not come from President Trump himself.
Speaker 5: This is reporting in the wool Street Journal. And actually
Speaker 5: the latest from President Trump is a true social post
Speaker 5: that he put up yesterday suggesting that they are in
Speaker 5: discussions with a more quote unquote reasonable regime in Iran
Speaker 5: that ad will be probably reached shortly after which and
Speaker 5: then he says, if this strait is not immediately open
Speaker 5: for business, we will conclude our stay in Iran by
Speaker 5: blowing up and obliterating power plants, oil wells, and carg island.
Speaker 2: Bloomberg's Jumana Barsecci reports in the meantime, and Iranian drone
Speaker 2: struck a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker docked in Dubai
Speaker 2: early this morning. Kuwait's state run oil producer says they
Speaker 2: al sell Me was in an area packed with ships
Speaker 2: waiting to leave the Persian Gulf. Says the strike damage
Speaker 2: the hull and started a fire, but no oil was
Speaker 2: leaked and all twenty four crew members are safe.
Speaker 3: And Nathan analysts say if Iran ends up taking control
Speaker 3: of the Strait of Horror moves, it will be a
Speaker 3: major military miscalculation by the US. Paul Wallace is Managing
Speaker 3: editor for the Middle East.
Speaker 6: For Bloomberg, it would.
Speaker 7: Be very difficult to argue that it's not a strategic
Speaker 7: disaster for the US. This is a waterway choke point
Speaker 7: that was obviously very much open before this war started.
Speaker 7: And if the US ends this war having lost control
Speaker 7: and over that straight to Iran, that's that will go
Speaker 7: down badly and look like a major strategic era.
Speaker 3: Bloomberg News Managing editor Paul Wallace says Iran would take
Speaker 3: in billions of dollars if it were able to take
Speaker 3: control of the Straight and Alexis.
Speaker 2: Gas prices in this country have officially topped four dollars
Speaker 2: a gallon. Triple A says the nationwide average retail price
Speaker 2: for regular unleaded roast almost four oh two, the highest
Speaker 2: since August of twenty twenty two. One energy consultant warns
Speaker 2: that oil will skyrocket even further if the war goes on.
Speaker 6: The prices are to go through the roof.
Speaker 8: It doesn't matter what present.
Speaker 9: What is going through the roof.
Speaker 3: I'm were looking at two hundred.
Speaker 6: Dollars oil if you're looking at one hundred and fifty
Speaker 6: first on two hundred and maybe even more than two hundred.
Speaker 8: Beyond eight weeks, it could go anywhere.
Speaker 2: Chairman Emeritis Faradune Fesheraki of fg E nex and Eca
Speaker 2: made those comments to Bloomberg's Hustlin DA Mean.
Speaker 3: A new United Nations study finds the US and Israeli
Speaker 3: war against Iran could wipe out nearly two hundred billion
Speaker 3: dollars worth of economic growth across the Middle East. The
Speaker 3: report says the overall loss could wind up costing some
Speaker 3: three point six million jobs and push as many as
Speaker 3: four million people into poverty.
Speaker 2: Alex has fed Sarah J. Powell says it's too soon
Speaker 2: to know what kind of economic impact will come from
Speaker 2: the war. Speaking at Harvard University in remarks heard live
Speaker 2: here on Bloomberg, Powell said the Central Bank can afford
Speaker 2: to wait out the crisis.
Speaker 10: You know, it's it's one of those times where you
Speaker 10: get a series of supply shocks, first the pandemic, then
Speaker 10: the much smaller one from tariffs, and then we're getting
Speaker 10: now an energy shock. No one knows how bigot will be.
Speaker 10: It's way too early to know. As I mentioned, we
Speaker 10: do think our policy is in a good place for
Speaker 10: us to wait and see.
Speaker 8: Fedcho J.
Speaker 2: Pal says the labor market remains challenged, but the economy
Speaker 2: remains dynamic and productive.
Speaker 3: We now turn to the markets, Nathan, where futures are
Speaker 3: higher on that Wall Street Journal report that President Trump
Speaker 3: had signaled he was willing to end the military campaign
Speaker 3: against Iran. Checking futures right now, SMP futures up nearly
Speaker 3: one percent down futures now up four hundred and forty
Speaker 3: four points, with Nasdaq futures climbing two hundred five points.
Speaker 3: But it has not been a good one for the
Speaker 3: bulls as we close out the first quarter. Rob Hayworth
Speaker 3: is Senior investment Strategy director at US Bank Asset Management.
Speaker 9: It's been challenging because there hasn't really been any place
Speaker 9: to hide. The one place we liked to start the
Speaker 9: month that has actually worked out for us a little
Speaker 9: bit is global infrastructure, with Master Limited partnerships in that
Speaker 9: component doing fairly well. But otherwise, unless you owned energy
Speaker 9: this quarter, there's not been a lot of places to hide.
Speaker 3: US Bank Asset Management's Rob Hayworth so farthest ye, the
Speaker 3: Dow is down almost six percent, the S and P
Speaker 3: five hundred off by seven point three percent, and the
Speaker 3: Nasdaq down ten and a half percent.
Speaker 2: Welllexis, we may be closing in on a deal. In
Speaker 2: the food industry, The UK's Unilever says talks to sell
Speaker 2: most of its food business to McCormick are advanced and
Speaker 2: could be announced later today. Maker of Hellman's Mayonnaise, would
Speaker 2: offload most of its food unit, excluding some parts like
Speaker 2: its operations in India, for fifteen point seven billion dollars
Speaker 2: in cash upfront and the rest in McCormick stock. Unilevers
Speaker 2: prioritizing its personal care and beauty divisions, which include brands
Speaker 2: like Dove Soap. Last year it spun off its ice
Speaker 2: cream division, which included the Ben and Jerry's brand.
Speaker 3: I Remember That. And a programming note Nathan Markets may
Speaker 3: close on Fridays, but the world does not. That's why
Speaker 3: we're bringing you a new live radio and TV show,
Speaker 3: Bloomberg This Weekend is looking beyond the daily headlines to
Speaker 3: the bigger themes driving politics, business and culture. Joined David Gura,
Speaker 3: Christina Raffini and Lisa Matteo for smart conversations and in
Speaker 3: depth interview and help make sense of the week that's
Speaker 3: been and what comes next. Get Bloomberg This Weekend Live
Speaker 3: Saturdays and Sundays from seven am Eastern Bloomberg Radio TV,
Speaker 3: and the Bloomberg Business App. Time now for a look
Speaker 3: at some of the other stories making news in New
Speaker 3: York and around the world. For that, we're joined by
Speaker 3: Bloomberg's John Tucker.
Speaker 8: Good Morning John, and Good Morning at likexis the head
Speaker 8: of the FCC under fire from both Democrats and Republicans.
Speaker 8: Let's get more from Bloomberg's Matt Piper.
Speaker 6: The ranking members of the Senate Commerce Committee questioned the
Speaker 6: head of the Federal Communications Commission, criticizing his approval of
Speaker 6: Nexstar's merger with Tegna without a vote of the full commission.
Speaker 6: Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Maria Cantwell jointly told FCC
Speaker 6: chair Brendan Carr that he improperly allowed agency staff to
Speaker 6: greenlight the merger. According to a copy of the letter
Speaker 6: reviewed by Bloomberg, the merger involved waving major anti consolidation rules.
Speaker 6: Senators say significant questions of policy must be addressed by
Speaker 6: the full FCC in a vote. Matt Piper, Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 8: DSA workers speaking out after receiving their first paychecks in
Speaker 8: more than a month. Agent and union leader Cameron Coachim says,
Speaker 8: they're still struggling to keep up.
Speaker 10: It's been nice that we got these paychecks, but at
Speaker 10: the end of the day, you know we are still
Speaker 10: going to be behind with our late fees and all
Speaker 10: these different things.
Speaker 8: Well, the continuing dh shutdown has lent to mass resignations
Speaker 8: and a record number of sick calls at airport lines
Speaker 8: still persist. Soren Buondani was elected mayor of New York
Speaker 8: City in part on a promise of free childcare, and
Speaker 8: now the city has announced its first free childcare pilot
Speaker 8: program for municipal workers. A ten million dollar renovation project
Speaker 8: currently other way to build a four thousand square foot
Speaker 8: childcare facility in the city's municipal building. It's extended to
Speaker 8: be completed this fall and serve about forty children. Global
Speaker 8: News twenty four hours a day, whenever you want it
Speaker 8: with Bloomberg News Now. I'm John Tucker. This is Bloomberg Alexis.
Speaker 3: Thanks John, time now for our Bloomberg Sports update and
Speaker 3: for that we bring in on Stash Hour.
Speaker 11: It happens fairly off for the NCAA women's tournament that
Speaker 11: best teams prevail. So when they get together Friday and
Speaker 11: Phoenix to start the women's Final Four. It'll be the
Speaker 11: four to one seeds undefeated Yukon, joined by UCLA, Texas
Speaker 11: and South Carolina. The Longhorns obliterated Michigan seventy seven to
Speaker 11: forty one. The game cotch be TCU seventy eight to
Speaker 11: fifty two. This will be their sixth straight Final four.
Speaker 11: NFL owners have awarded the Super Bowl in twenty twenty
Speaker 11: nine to Las Vegas. That's their Bloomberg Sports Update.
Speaker 8: Stay with us.
Speaker 2: More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this.
Speaker 1: Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM,
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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business opp This is Bloomberg Daybreak.
Speaker 2: Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. Coming to the end of
Speaker 2: the first full months of the war, where Iran President
Speaker 2: Trump may be weighing his options for an exit. The
Speaker 2: Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that the President
Speaker 2: is considering winding down the fight even if the strait
Speaker 2: of Horror moves remains effectively closed. Here's White House Press
Speaker 2: Secretary Caroline Lovett.
Speaker 4: The President Commander in chief the Pentagon has always stated
Speaker 4: four to six weeks estimated timeline for Operation Epic Fury.
Speaker 4: We're on day thirty today, so again you do the math.
Speaker 2: It was White House spokesman Caroline Levitt in comments heard
Speaker 2: live on Bloomberg Radio. Joining us this morning from Jerusalem
Speaker 2: is Bloomberg News reporter Dan Williams. So, Dan, we have
Speaker 2: this Wall Street Journal report coming after the President renewed
Speaker 2: his threats to destroy Iran's energy infrastructure if it doesn't
Speaker 2: reopen the strait.
Speaker 8: What do we know this morning, Good morning.
Speaker 12: Good morning. Very little.
Speaker 8: We do know.
Speaker 12: The president is voluble. We know he's unusually unvailable, available
Speaker 12: to members of the press who managed to reach him
Speaker 12: on the phone. We know that much of what he
Speaker 12: says is contradictory, sometimes within the same day. There is
Speaker 12: some evidence that this has been in the past, an
Speaker 12: effort to create successfully tactical smoke screens, perhaps to calm markets,
Speaker 12: perhaps to muster support, as you noted his comments about
Speaker 12: potentially making do with US achievements US and IS raally
Speaker 12: achievements in this war, despite Iran's de facto control of Hormuz,
Speaker 12: that has very much energized or should we say, worried
Speaker 12: many in the Middle East. It could be an effort
Speaker 12: to bring Arab partners militarily into this fight. However, it
Speaker 12: is worth remembering, and one can easily find his opening
Speaker 12: speech his statement on February twenty eighth when this war began.
Speaker 12: There is no mention of Hormos there among the US
Speaker 12: objectives in this war. The objectives, as stated is to
Speaker 12: destroy counteract imminent threats by iron to the United States
Speaker 12: by demolishing its nuclear program and its missile program and
Speaker 12: its navy. The Americans are sticking to what they say
Speaker 12: is success in this matter. The President has said previously
Speaker 12: that just three percent of US petroleum products come through Hormuz.
Speaker 12: That's as opposed to the fact that the Hormoz straight
Speaker 12: accounts for around twenty percent of energy for the rest
Speaker 12: of the world. So it would appear that the United
Speaker 12: States did not set out looking at a change in Hormus.
Speaker 12: It did not set out looking to improve its energy status.
Speaker 12: Given this war, and I imagine by his own account,
Speaker 12: Trump can walk away saying that he satisfied his own objectives.
Speaker 12: That is not something that his partners in the Middle
Speaker 12: East would agree with. Certainly, Iran would hold up a profitable,
Speaker 12: lucrative de factor control of Hormuz as a result of
Speaker 12: this war as a major strategic success. So I think
Speaker 12: time will tell in the coming days. We already know
Speaker 12: that the US and mustering ground forces for potential threatened
Speaker 12: actions on the ground in Iran, including potentially a takeover
Speaker 12: of Hargate Island, which is of great importance to the
Speaker 12: Iranians in terms of energy output. So we will find
Speaker 12: out very soon whether that was yet more smokescreen our
Speaker 12: whether the rubber will now hit the road in terms
Speaker 12: of a ground operation by the Americans to try to
Speaker 12: take the fight to the enemy and win this at
Speaker 12: least when it comes to freeing up the whole moves straight.
Speaker 2: Well, where would this potentially leave Israel? Those objectives, those
Speaker 2: early objectives you mentioned, do they line up with Israel's objectives?
Speaker 12: I think they do. We have these ready Prime ministers
Speaker 12: saying in a NEWSMACS interview yesterday that these Raelis have
Speaker 12: achieved or pass beyond their halfway points of this war.
Speaker 12: The Israeli military this morning saying it can continue sustaining
Speaker 12: those operations in Iran for weeks. It has the targets
Speaker 12: remaining for that. Keep in mind that we are now
Speaker 12: in week five of a war that the partners, the
Speaker 12: allies said from the outset could last four to six weeks.
Speaker 12: We're still within the framework, the time envelope they gave
Speaker 12: from the outset, and it could well be that the Israelis,
Speaker 12: who apparently this week, in fact, in these very hours,
Speaker 12: shifting targets away from what they describe as vital defense
Speaker 12: industry targets in Iran toward economic targets, are now looking
Speaker 12: at second tier targets, basically destroying whatever they can against
Speaker 12: an enemy of almost five decades standing before Trump calls
Speaker 12: an end to this war. If he does call an
Speaker 12: end to this war, keep in mind there may be
Speaker 12: parity on the ground or in the air in terms
Speaker 12: of the military mission sharing, but it's clear that it's
Speaker 12: the United States which calls the shots in this war,
Speaker 12: quite literally and also figuratively in terms of when it
Speaker 12: will end. Should it end in Iran, the Israelis will
Speaker 12: still have their hands full with a second front in
Speaker 12: Lebanon against Iran's allies in Hesbala that is likely to continue,
Speaker 12: and that's likely to be a preoccupation of Israel no
Speaker 12: matter what happens in Iran.
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