December 11, 2025 • 18 mins
Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
(1) US forces intercepted and seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a serious escalation of tensions between the two countries.
(2) Ukraine sent a revised peace plan to Washington as President Donald Trump held a call with European leaders, according to a person familiar, as both sides scramble to keep efforts on track to end Russia’s invasion.
(3) Federal Reserve officials delivered a third consecutive interest-rate reduction and maintained their outlook for just one cut in 2026.
(4) Oracle shares fell more than 10% in extended trading after the company reported a jump in spending on AI data centers and other equipment, rising outlays that are taking longer to translate into cloud revenue than investors want.
(5) London is experiencing the most widespread declines in house prices in the UK, estate agents warned, as the capital bears the brunt of Labour’s new tax on high-value homes.
(6) Poland is the European Union’s biggest coal producer, but Europe’s Coal Mining Holdout Braces for Its Inevitable Demise
Podcast Conversation: Diageo Taps Into Guinness Boom With New London Tourist Hub
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is the Big Big Day Bacate podcast. Good morning,
It's Thursday, the eleventh of December. I'm Caroline Hepca in
London and.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I'm Stephen Caroline Brussels. Coming up today, Bloomberg reports the
United States has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the
coast of Venezuela in a sharp escalation against President Nicholas Maduro.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, but what emerges
is a divided FED and so called silent dissenters.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
And why Poland's coal mining industry is disappearing more quickly
than expected, and what it means for Europe's holdout.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Let's start with a roundup of our top stories.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
The United States has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off
the coast of Venezuela, in a sharp escalation of tensions
between the countries. Bloomberger was first to report the move,
which was later confirmed by President Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
As you probably know if you sees a anchor on
the coast of venezuela large tanker at large largest one
ever seisday and other things are happening.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
The US President has been increasing military pressure on Venezuela
in recent weeks, conducting more than twenty strikes against alleged
drug trafficking vessels and threatening strikes on its territory. Venezuela
calls the seizure a blatant theft and an act of piracy.
The US action may make it harder for the country
to export its crude oil, most of which goes to China.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Ukraine has sent a revised peace plan to Washington. As
President Trump held a call with the leaders of France, Germany,
and the UK. The European leaders described the negotiations as
being at a critical moment. Speaking in Kiev, President Zelinski
says the world, including the Kremlin's allies, can force Russia
to end the war.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Today.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
I also received a report from the head of Ukraine's
foreign intelligence service, including on the enemy's Econo situation and
Russia's growing dependence on China. Throughout Russian history, no one
has ever surrendered sovereignties so much to China or any
other major power, and it is astonishing how much Russian
President Vladimir Putin is paying just to avoid ending this
(02:15):
ward to Aliah.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
President Zelinski speaking, there are a translator following weeks of
talks that have produced a document more palatable to Kiev
than the initial twenty eight point plan from the US,
which proposed major concessions from Ukraine. However, several sticking points
remain over territory and security guarantees. It's also not clear
(02:37):
if Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to agree to
a deal to end the fighting.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Jerome Powell topped up the US economy's resilience as the
Federal Reserve cutt interest rates, but policymakers are increasingly split
on the path ahead. Rate setter has voted nine to
three for a quarter point cost taking the base rate
to arrange of three point five to three point seventy
five percent. Virchow jerown Pal says it were a close call.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
In support of our goals in light of the balance
of risks to employment and inflation. Today, the Federal Open
Market Committee decided to lower our policy interest rate by
a quarter percentage point. As a separate matter, we also
decided to initiate purchases of shorter term treasure securities solely
for the purpose of maintaining an ample supplier of reserves
(03:21):
over time, thus supporting effective control of our policy rate.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
The FED chair is trying to balance persistently high inflation
with a sluggish threat to unemployment. The results marks the
first time since twenty nineteen that three officials voted against
a policy decision which dessends on both ends of the
policy spectrum. Investors reeled in their expectations for rate cuts
next year to just two.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Oracle shares fell more than ten percent in extended trading
after reporting a jump in spending on AI data centers
and other equipment. It's a sign that rising expenses are
taking longer to translate into cloud revenue that investors will like.
Oracle's major cloud customers include open Ai, Byte, Dance, and Meta.
Cloud sales increased to seven point nine to eight billion
(04:07):
dollars in the second quarter, while revenue in the company's
closely washed infrastructure business gained sixty eight percent to four
spot zero eight billion dollars. Both numbers, though felt short
of analyst estimates.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And as date, agents have warned that London is experiencing
the most widespread decline in house prices in the UK.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors that its gauge of
London property values dropped to its lowest in more than
two years.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Bloombrooks.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Freddie Filston has more.
Speaker 8 (04:35):
London is bearing the brunt of Labour's new tax on
high value homes. The so called mansion tax disproportionately affects
the capital, which is home to nearly sixty percent of
all properties over two million pounds. It's delivered a fresh
blow to a market already under pressure from stamp duty
hikes and the departure of wealthy foreigners. However, activity could
(04:58):
pick up further down the line. The surveyor's indicator for
sales over the next twelve months improved in November, posting
its best reading since May. In London, Freddie Fulston, Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And those are our top stories for you this morning.
Now after the US Federal Reserve ver eate cut, this morning,
you've got ten year US Treasury yeals down two and
a half basis points at four point one two percent.
But we do have stock futures deeply in the red.
Now's that future is dropping more than one percent today
after the dropping Oracle share price. S and P five
hundred eminees also weaker along with European stock futures. This morning.
(05:36):
Looking at Asia, the MSCI ASH Pacific Index down by
six tenths of one percent. You have declines for oil
prices breakthrough down four tenths this morning, sixty one dollars
ninety eight and Bitcoin retreating down two point three percent
this morning. Gold is also dropping half of one percent
right now, as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is a
touch firm of this hour. Those are the markets in.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
A moment, more on the escalation between the US and Venezuela.
Plus we'll have analysis of the FED decision and bring
you a story on how Poland's coal industry is adapting
to the green energy transition. But another story we've been
reading this morning. If you didn't think that Guinness fever
could get any bigger, Diagio is now opening a new
Guinness themed attraction in London to cash in on the
(06:19):
surge of popularity the stat has seen. So it's a
new site in Covent Garden, going to feature a microbrewery, restaurants,
a gift shop and bars. Of course, it's now going
to be adding to the global now range of Guinness
theme tourist attractions of course in James's Gate and Dublin
and the Guinness Storehouse and where Guinness is is brewed,
but also micro brewer is they have in Baltimore in Chicago.
(06:41):
They won't be actually brewing Guinness in London there, they'll
just be selling us, so they'll bring other kinds of beer.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's absolutely enormous. Partly this space. I haven't seen it yet,
but no doubt I will on my various travels around London. Yeah,
massive space. And I guess also maybe after the House
of Guinness the Netflix series, maybe they have got new
younger fans. Perhaps they've also got an alcohol free beer
that apparently is super popular.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yes, I am told by Guinness Conoisseurs that it's very good, really,
the alcohol free version. I just feel like this is
going to add to the debate that all Irish people
abroad have about how terrible Guinness is outside of Ireland
and that you can only have decent points of Guinness
in Ireland. I was literally having this conversation with some
Irish people last night here in Brussels as well. So
I mean, this is a conversation that I feel will
never die and is going to be fueled by the
(07:29):
opening of the new Diagio micro brewery in London that's
one of the stories we've been reading this morning.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Now, let's get to our top stories this morning. US
Forces sees they sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
This is a major escalation of tensions between the Trump
White House and the regime of President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela
has called it an act of piracy. Joining us now
is our Washington d C editor John Harney, John good
(07:56):
to speak to you. We know the Pentagon's conducted some
twenty drikes on alleged drug trafficking vehicles. Why sees this
oil tanker?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
The reason given was that this was a sanctioned vessel,
and Attorney General Pam Bondi said that there was a
fact a warrant for the tanker and that it was
transporting sanctioned oil to various countries. And this had included
in her post was a video, a very dramatic cinematic
(08:28):
video US Forces descending by rope to the deck of
the ship as they seized it.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
What have we heard in terms of a response from
Venezuela to this news.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Well, it was a combative response, calling the seizer, the
seizure of the ship an act of piracy and again
accused of the United States of engaging in this campaign,
this aggressive campaign against the Maduro government of Venezuela simply
(09:02):
too because they wanted to seize the country's vast stores
of oil. This is a recurring has been a recurring
theme of left of the Maduro government since relations of
the United States deteriorated some years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I suppose there's also a question about whether this is
a return to regime change by the US in Latin America.
That I suppose is the underlying question.
Speaker 9 (09:33):
Well, of course, there's a long history of the United
States exerting influence and often or sometimes unwanted influence in
Latin America. This of course began with a Monroe doctorate
of the nineteenth century, which is intended to keep out
European powers. But in the case of Venezuela, President Donald
(09:55):
Trump has been intent on removing Nicholas Maduro since its
first administration. But with these strikes on alleged drug boats
and now the seature the tanker, this confrontation continues to escalate.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
At the same time, of course, you have the United
States has assembled a large, a very large military presence
in the Caribbean, with which includes the world's largest aircraft carrier,
the Gerald R. Ford.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yes, so plenty. I mean to watch in terms of
the developments on this as well. John Harney for now
or Washington d c ESUR, thank you very much for
bringing us up to date with the news around that
sanctioned oil tanker being seized. We did see a slight
up tick and oil prices after that news, although we
are seeing them lower now on the day, down around
half of one percent for brand crude.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Stay with us. More from Bloomberg daybaqube coming up after this. Well,
let's also talk about the Federal Reserve decision yesterday and
the divisions that it seemed to highlight among the rate setters.
Are Markets Live streash is. Mark Cranfield joins us now
for more on this topic. How significant, then, were the
divisions in this decision to cut by twenty five basis points? Mark,
(11:09):
We've been talking about silent dissenters.
Speaker 10 (11:12):
Yeah, it's pretty unusual that you've got There's been a
few comments today on Bloomberg about how it's rare to
get a three ways split in the Federal Reserve, and
obviously that's partly why traders are not really taking a
clear view on when the next move is going to
be so the next meeting is in January, six weeks away,
(11:34):
and quite often you would get particularly after you've had
a fresh dot plots as we had last night, which
is still signaling lower rates for next year. Normally traders
would start pricing in another interest rate cut fairly early,
but that's not the case yet. And clearly over the
next few weeks there is going to be a lot
of back and forth between voices inside and outside the
(11:56):
Federal Reserve as to what is the correct move from here.
And you've got something for everybody. You can see in
this statement and the press conference yesterday that there's a
full range heare, there are some people that are concerned
about inflation, there's something concerned about the jobs market. And
it really is very hard to pin down where the
Federal Reserve will go next.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Well, I suppose when we're thinking about all the changes
they are going to come for the Fed next year.
Of course, a new chair we don't yet know who
that is. The assumption is that it's going to be
Kevin Hassett based on the comments we've had from Donald
Trump so far. I mean, it's not going to be
any easier for the next FED chair it seems to
be able to perhaps rally a single opinion, or at
least a consensus opinion on what to do about interest rates.
Speaker 10 (12:38):
That's certainly true, but it also goes beyond the next chairman.
You can see that the current White House administration has
started to change the personnel even outside of the chairman.
There will be a few more spaces up for grabs
next year, and it looks as though they're methodically trying
to alter the balance of power within the Federal Reserve
(12:59):
every time there's an opportunity to replace somebody. There's even
a suggestion that might not carry much water, but they're
even trying to talk about the fact that you need
to live within a certain district for three years before
you're allowed to become a Fed governor. So there's a
number of issues which are trying to alter the way
in which the bias is seen within the Federal Reserve,
(13:21):
and investors obviously have to get their heads around it.
They need to take that into account. It's not just
about what data is coming out, it's also about the
personalities on how they would interpret the data and the
messages they're getting from the White House.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, meanwhile, There's also one more technical issue that the
Fed's authorizing new purchases of short term treasury securities, and
there is a markets of reaction or interpretation of that too.
Speaker 10 (13:49):
That's the most from the market's point of view, that
was the most significant development last night, because that is
a pure injection of liquidity. It's almost a kind of
mini quantitative easing. Markets have been used to quantitive tightening
for the past few years, and this is a complete shift.
It's throwing money back into the market. Jerome Power also
said that this would likely stay on the highest side,
(14:10):
so they may even increase that number. So it's going
to throw money straight back into the short term money markets.
Stock markets liked it very much. They were knocked back
a bit today by Oracle, but that will probably pass
once American markets get going again later today. They're obviously
slightly concerned about short term squeeze over the year end,
but it goes way beyond that. It's making sure that
(14:32):
there is sufficient liquidity going right into next year, and
that's a very positive development for markets, particularly in the
United States.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Okay, Mark, thank you so much for being with us
taking us through the reaction to the Federal Reserve rate decision.
That's Bloomberg's Markets Live stretches Mark Cranfield.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
To Poland next, which is speeding up its transition to
clean energy, and that means pain for the country's coal industry.
Is traditions run deep throughout the nation. Our reporter at
Matcha Martovich from Warsaw for more on this story much.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
A good morning.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
How important personnel is the coal industry in Poland?
Speaker 5 (15:07):
It is, I would say at this point it's still
very crucial. It still supplies Poland with a key component
for energy generation. It accounts for more than fifty percent
of electricity generation, and it also is a key fuel
for heating for industry and for households as well. So
(15:30):
at this point it's irreplaceable. But it is changing, and
this is what the story is about.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, the transition, the change. I mean, you've rooted the
story very interestingly in the communities that dig out this coal,
but also that the country is adapting to the green
energy transition.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Yeah. I went to the south of Poland to kato Via,
which is like the main city there in the Upper
Sailsia region. I went to this historic district of Nikis Soviets.
There spoke to miners observed the celebrations because I went
there on December the fourth, which is a traditional celebration day,
(16:15):
the miners day. Let's say it's called Barburka in Poland.
And yeah, people there, they already agree with the view
that the coal is ending, and they know that the
industry is shutting down down slowly. It'll be over in
(16:35):
ten years because Poland is investing heavily in other energy sources.
It's investing in gas fired power plants, in investing, it's
investing in renewables, in solar plants, in wind turbines. It's
going to have its first offshore wind next year and
in ten years is going to have its first nuclear plant.
(16:57):
So the whole land scape of energy production will change
in ten fifteen years.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
For the people that you spoke to, what are they
hoping that will happen to their jobs? Or do they
have aspirations to be able to transition into some of
these other areas which are growing.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
Some Yes, but there's not enough. I would say it's
not that easy to transition, especially that those other industries
will be elsewhere they would have to move. I think
the government is preparing some kind of accushion for them
so that they can live from government subsidies for some
(17:38):
time and then they can retire. Because most of the
miners are already close to the retirement retirement age the
hiring and that some time ago, and the mines, even
though there are more than ten of them operating in
the Salasi region, they are close to ending their operation.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, your morning brief on the
stories making news from London to Wall Street and beyond.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Look for us on your podcast feed every morning, on Apple, Spotify,
and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
You can also listen live each morning on London DAB Radio,
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Speaker 2 (18:20):
Our flagship New York station is also available on your
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I'm Caroline Hepka and.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I'm Stephen Carroll. Join us again tomorrow morning for all
the news you need to start your day right here
on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is the Big Big Day Bacate podcast. Good morning,
It's Thursday, the eleventh of December. I'm Caroline Hepca in
London and.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
I'm Stephen Caroline Brussels. Coming up today, Bloomberg reports the
United States has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the
coast of Venezuela in a sharp escalation against President Nicholas Maduro.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, but what emerges
is a divided FED and so called silent dissenters.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
And why Poland's coal mining industry is disappearing more quickly
than expected, and what it means for Europe's holdout.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Let's start with a roundup of our top stories.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
The United States has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off
the coast of Venezuela, in a sharp escalation of tensions
between the countries. Bloomberger was first to report the move,
which was later confirmed by President Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
As you probably know if you sees a anchor on
the coast of venezuela large tanker at large largest one
ever seisday and other things are happening.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
The US President has been increasing military pressure on Venezuela
in recent weeks, conducting more than twenty strikes against alleged
drug trafficking vessels and threatening strikes on its territory. Venezuela
calls the seizure a blatant theft and an act of piracy.
The US action may make it harder for the country
to export its crude oil, most of which goes to China.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Ukraine has sent a revised peace plan to Washington. As
President Trump held a call with the leaders of France, Germany,
and the UK. The European leaders described the negotiations as
being at a critical moment. Speaking in Kiev, President Zelinski
says the world, including the Kremlin's allies, can force Russia
to end the war.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Today.
Speaker 6 (01:54):
I also received a report from the head of Ukraine's
foreign intelligence service, including on the enemy's Econo situation and
Russia's growing dependence on China. Throughout Russian history, no one
has ever surrendered sovereignties so much to China or any
other major power, and it is astonishing how much Russian
President Vladimir Putin is paying just to avoid ending this
(02:15):
ward to Aliah.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
President Zelinski speaking, there are a translator following weeks of
talks that have produced a document more palatable to Kiev
than the initial twenty eight point plan from the US,
which proposed major concessions from Ukraine. However, several sticking points
remain over territory and security guarantees. It's also not clear
(02:37):
if Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to agree to
a deal to end the fighting.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Jerome Powell topped up the US economy's resilience as the
Federal Reserve cutt interest rates, but policymakers are increasingly split
on the path ahead. Rate setter has voted nine to
three for a quarter point cost taking the base rate
to arrange of three point five to three point seventy
five percent. Virchow jerown Pal says it were a close call.
Speaker 7 (03:01):
In support of our goals in light of the balance
of risks to employment and inflation. Today, the Federal Open
Market Committee decided to lower our policy interest rate by
a quarter percentage point. As a separate matter, we also
decided to initiate purchases of shorter term treasure securities solely
for the purpose of maintaining an ample supplier of reserves
(03:21):
over time, thus supporting effective control of our policy rate.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
The FED chair is trying to balance persistently high inflation
with a sluggish threat to unemployment. The results marks the
first time since twenty nineteen that three officials voted against
a policy decision which dessends on both ends of the
policy spectrum. Investors reeled in their expectations for rate cuts
next year to just two.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Oracle shares fell more than ten percent in extended trading
after reporting a jump in spending on AI data centers
and other equipment. It's a sign that rising expenses are
taking longer to translate into cloud revenue that investors will like.
Oracle's major cloud customers include open Ai, Byte, Dance, and Meta.
Cloud sales increased to seven point nine to eight billion
(04:07):
dollars in the second quarter, while revenue in the company's
closely washed infrastructure business gained sixty eight percent to four
spot zero eight billion dollars. Both numbers, though felt short
of analyst estimates.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And as date, agents have warned that London is experiencing
the most widespread decline in house prices in the UK.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors that its gauge of
London property values dropped to its lowest in more than
two years.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Bloombrooks.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Freddie Filston has more.
Speaker 8 (04:35):
London is bearing the brunt of Labour's new tax on
high value homes. The so called mansion tax disproportionately affects
the capital, which is home to nearly sixty percent of
all properties over two million pounds. It's delivered a fresh
blow to a market already under pressure from stamp duty
hikes and the departure of wealthy foreigners. However, activity could
(04:58):
pick up further down the line. The surveyor's indicator for
sales over the next twelve months improved in November, posting
its best reading since May. In London, Freddie Fulston, Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
And those are our top stories for you this morning.
Now after the US Federal Reserve ver eate cut, this morning,
you've got ten year US Treasury yeals down two and
a half basis points at four point one two percent.
But we do have stock futures deeply in the red.
Now's that future is dropping more than one percent today
after the dropping Oracle share price. S and P five
hundred eminees also weaker along with European stock futures. This morning.
(05:36):
Looking at Asia, the MSCI ASH Pacific Index down by
six tenths of one percent. You have declines for oil
prices breakthrough down four tenths this morning, sixty one dollars
ninety eight and Bitcoin retreating down two point three percent
this morning. Gold is also dropping half of one percent
right now, as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is a
touch firm of this hour. Those are the markets in.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
A moment, more on the escalation between the US and Venezuela.
Plus we'll have analysis of the FED decision and bring
you a story on how Poland's coal industry is adapting
to the green energy transition. But another story we've been
reading this morning. If you didn't think that Guinness fever
could get any bigger, Diagio is now opening a new
Guinness themed attraction in London to cash in on the
(06:19):
surge of popularity the stat has seen. So it's a
new site in Covent Garden, going to feature a microbrewery, restaurants,
a gift shop and bars. Of course, it's now going
to be adding to the global now range of Guinness
theme tourist attractions of course in James's Gate and Dublin
and the Guinness Storehouse and where Guinness is is brewed,
but also micro brewer is they have in Baltimore in Chicago.
(06:41):
They won't be actually brewing Guinness in London there, they'll
just be selling us, so they'll bring other kinds of beer.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's absolutely enormous. Partly this space. I haven't seen it yet,
but no doubt I will on my various travels around London. Yeah,
massive space. And I guess also maybe after the House
of Guinness the Netflix series, maybe they have got new
younger fans. Perhaps they've also got an alcohol free beer
that apparently is super popular.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yes, I am told by Guinness Conoisseurs that it's very good, really,
the alcohol free version. I just feel like this is
going to add to the debate that all Irish people
abroad have about how terrible Guinness is outside of Ireland
and that you can only have decent points of Guinness
in Ireland. I was literally having this conversation with some
Irish people last night here in Brussels as well. So
I mean, this is a conversation that I feel will
never die and is going to be fueled by the
(07:29):
opening of the new Diagio micro brewery in London that's
one of the stories we've been reading this morning.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Now, let's get to our top stories this morning. US
Forces sees they sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
This is a major escalation of tensions between the Trump
White House and the regime of President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela
has called it an act of piracy. Joining us now
is our Washington d C editor John Harney, John good
(07:56):
to speak to you. We know the Pentagon's conducted some
twenty drikes on alleged drug trafficking vehicles. Why sees this
oil tanker?
Speaker 1 (08:05):
The reason given was that this was a sanctioned vessel,
and Attorney General Pam Bondi said that there was a
fact a warrant for the tanker and that it was
transporting sanctioned oil to various countries. And this had included
in her post was a video, a very dramatic cinematic
(08:28):
video US Forces descending by rope to the deck of
the ship as they seized it.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
What have we heard in terms of a response from
Venezuela to this news.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Well, it was a combative response, calling the seizer, the
seizure of the ship an act of piracy and again
accused of the United States of engaging in this campaign,
this aggressive campaign against the Maduro government of Venezuela simply
(09:02):
too because they wanted to seize the country's vast stores
of oil. This is a recurring has been a recurring
theme of left of the Maduro government since relations of
the United States deteriorated some years ago.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I suppose there's also a question about whether this is
a return to regime change by the US in Latin America.
That I suppose is the underlying question.
Speaker 9 (09:33):
Well, of course, there's a long history of the United
States exerting influence and often or sometimes unwanted influence in
Latin America. This of course began with a Monroe doctorate
of the nineteenth century, which is intended to keep out
European powers. But in the case of Venezuela, President Donald
(09:55):
Trump has been intent on removing Nicholas Maduro since its
first administration. But with these strikes on alleged drug boats
and now the seature the tanker, this confrontation continues to escalate.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
At the same time, of course, you have the United
States has assembled a large, a very large military presence
in the Caribbean, with which includes the world's largest aircraft carrier,
the Gerald R. Ford.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Yes, so plenty. I mean to watch in terms of
the developments on this as well. John Harney for now
or Washington d c ESUR, thank you very much for
bringing us up to date with the news around that
sanctioned oil tanker being seized. We did see a slight
up tick and oil prices after that news, although we
are seeing them lower now on the day, down around
half of one percent for brand crude.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Stay with us. More from Bloomberg daybaqube coming up after this. Well,
let's also talk about the Federal Reserve decision yesterday and
the divisions that it seemed to highlight among the rate setters.
Are Markets Live streash is. Mark Cranfield joins us now
for more on this topic. How significant, then, were the
divisions in this decision to cut by twenty five basis points? Mark,
(11:09):
We've been talking about silent dissenters.
Speaker 10 (11:12):
Yeah, it's pretty unusual that you've got There's been a
few comments today on Bloomberg about how it's rare to
get a three ways split in the Federal Reserve, and
obviously that's partly why traders are not really taking a
clear view on when the next move is going to
be so the next meeting is in January, six weeks away,
(11:34):
and quite often you would get particularly after you've had
a fresh dot plots as we had last night, which
is still signaling lower rates for next year. Normally traders
would start pricing in another interest rate cut fairly early,
but that's not the case yet. And clearly over the
next few weeks there is going to be a lot
of back and forth between voices inside and outside the
(11:56):
Federal Reserve as to what is the correct move from here.
And you've got something for everybody. You can see in
this statement and the press conference yesterday that there's a
full range heare, there are some people that are concerned
about inflation, there's something concerned about the jobs market. And
it really is very hard to pin down where the
Federal Reserve will go next.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Well, I suppose when we're thinking about all the changes
they are going to come for the Fed next year.
Of course, a new chair we don't yet know who
that is. The assumption is that it's going to be
Kevin Hassett based on the comments we've had from Donald
Trump so far. I mean, it's not going to be
any easier for the next FED chair it seems to
be able to perhaps rally a single opinion, or at
least a consensus opinion on what to do about interest rates.
Speaker 10 (12:38):
That's certainly true, but it also goes beyond the next chairman.
You can see that the current White House administration has
started to change the personnel even outside of the chairman.
There will be a few more spaces up for grabs
next year, and it looks as though they're methodically trying
to alter the balance of power within the Federal Reserve
(12:59):
every time there's an opportunity to replace somebody. There's even
a suggestion that might not carry much water, but they're
even trying to talk about the fact that you need
to live within a certain district for three years before
you're allowed to become a Fed governor. So there's a
number of issues which are trying to alter the way
in which the bias is seen within the Federal Reserve,
(13:21):
and investors obviously have to get their heads around it.
They need to take that into account. It's not just
about what data is coming out, it's also about the
personalities on how they would interpret the data and the
messages they're getting from the White House.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, meanwhile, There's also one more technical issue that the
Fed's authorizing new purchases of short term treasury securities, and
there is a markets of reaction or interpretation of that too.
Speaker 10 (13:49):
That's the most from the market's point of view, that
was the most significant development last night, because that is
a pure injection of liquidity. It's almost a kind of
mini quantitative easing. Markets have been used to quantitive tightening
for the past few years, and this is a complete shift.
It's throwing money back into the market. Jerome Power also
said that this would likely stay on the highest side,
(14:10):
so they may even increase that number. So it's going
to throw money straight back into the short term money markets.
Stock markets liked it very much. They were knocked back
a bit today by Oracle, but that will probably pass
once American markets get going again later today. They're obviously
slightly concerned about short term squeeze over the year end,
but it goes way beyond that. It's making sure that
(14:32):
there is sufficient liquidity going right into next year, and
that's a very positive development for markets, particularly in the
United States.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Okay, Mark, thank you so much for being with us
taking us through the reaction to the Federal Reserve rate decision.
That's Bloomberg's Markets Live stretches Mark Cranfield.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
To Poland next, which is speeding up its transition to
clean energy, and that means pain for the country's coal industry.
Is traditions run deep throughout the nation. Our reporter at
Matcha Martovich from Warsaw for more on this story much.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
A good morning.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
How important personnel is the coal industry in Poland?
Speaker 5 (15:07):
It is, I would say at this point it's still
very crucial. It still supplies Poland with a key component
for energy generation. It accounts for more than fifty percent
of electricity generation, and it also is a key fuel
for heating for industry and for households as well. So
(15:30):
at this point it's irreplaceable. But it is changing, and
this is what the story is about.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, the transition, the change. I mean, you've rooted the
story very interestingly in the communities that dig out this coal,
but also that the country is adapting to the green
energy transition.
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Yeah. I went to the south of Poland to kato Via,
which is like the main city there in the Upper
Sailsia region. I went to this historic district of Nikis Soviets.
There spoke to miners observed the celebrations because I went
there on December the fourth, which is a traditional celebration day,
(16:15):
the miners day. Let's say it's called Barburka in Poland.
And yeah, people there, they already agree with the view
that the coal is ending, and they know that the
industry is shutting down down slowly. It'll be over in
(16:35):
ten years because Poland is investing heavily in other energy sources.
It's investing in gas fired power plants, in investing, it's
investing in renewables, in solar plants, in wind turbines. It's
going to have its first offshore wind next year and
in ten years is going to have its first nuclear plant.
(16:57):
So the whole land scape of energy production will change
in ten fifteen years.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
For the people that you spoke to, what are they
hoping that will happen to their jobs? Or do they
have aspirations to be able to transition into some of
these other areas which are growing.
Speaker 5 (17:15):
Some Yes, but there's not enough. I would say it's
not that easy to transition, especially that those other industries
will be elsewhere they would have to move. I think
the government is preparing some kind of accushion for them
so that they can live from government subsidies for some
(17:38):
time and then they can retire. Because most of the
miners are already close to the retirement retirement age the
hiring and that some time ago, and the mines, even
though there are more than ten of them operating in
the Salasi region, they are close to ending their operation.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
This is Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, your morning brief on the
stories making news from London to Wall Street and beyond.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Look for us on your podcast feed every morning, on Apple, Spotify,
and anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
You can also listen live each morning on London DAB Radio,
the Bloomberg Business app, and Bloomberg dot Com.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Our flagship New York station is also available on your
Amazon Alexa devices. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty.
I'm Caroline Hepka and.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
I'm Stephen Carroll. Join us again tomorrow morning for all
the news you need to start your day right here
on Bloomberg Daybreak Europe.
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