:00:00. > :00:00.This is Business Live from BBC News, with Aaron Heslehurst and
:00:07. > :00:13.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries gather
:00:14. > :00:16.in the hope of answering the big question - will they, or rather,
:00:17. > :00:21.can they, do anything to reverse the slump in the price of oil?
:00:22. > :00:38.Live from London, that's our top story on Friday the 4th of December.
:00:39. > :00:42.With oil prices at record lows, all eyes are on Opec king-pin Saudi
:00:43. > :00:49.Arabia, under huge pressure to cut production and revive crude prices.
:00:50. > :00:51.So far, the oil-rich nation has refused to budge.
:00:52. > :00:59.Is Yahoo on the brink of breaking up?
:01:00. > :01:08.Bosses have been locked in talks over the future of the
:01:09. > :01:16.The Asian markets were tracking south, we will explain why.
:01:17. > :01:19.And it's Friday, so we are joined by our guru of all
:01:20. > :01:24.He's going to be taking us through hugely important US jobs numbers.
:01:25. > :01:27.They are the last piece in the puzzle that economists have
:01:28. > :01:29.been waiting for, ahead of perhaps the biggest central bank
:01:30. > :01:33.Will December 2015 be the time the Federal Reserve starts raising
:01:34. > :01:44.We always like to know what you think of the stories we're covering.
:01:45. > :02:00.We start in Vienna, where ministers from the oil cartel Opec are holding
:02:01. > :02:08.The big question - will they, or rather can they,
:02:09. > :02:14.do anything to reverse the slump in the price of crude?
:02:15. > :02:16.Here's perhaps the key person around that table,
:02:17. > :02:21.Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Nieemi.
:02:22. > :02:24.He was mobbed by journalists yesterday as he arrived at the
:02:25. > :02:30.meeting, after a report that Saudi was proposing a cut in production to
:02:31. > :02:39.Let's take a look at the background to all this.
:02:40. > :02:42.Here's what has happened to the price of US crude over
:02:43. > :02:53.The graph tells the story - it has more than halved in value.
:02:54. > :02:58.Because there is a massive worldwide glut of oil.
:02:59. > :03:03.Demand has gone down, but Saudi and others have still been
:03:04. > :03:10.The theory is they want to hang on to market share, and force those
:03:11. > :03:20.newcomers to the market, US shale producers, out of business.
:03:21. > :03:24.The result - the lowest oil prices in more than six years -
:03:25. > :03:33.Smaller Opec members like Venezuela are now really struggling
:03:34. > :03:38.They have been putting pressure on Saudi Arabia, the world's
:03:39. > :03:42.biggest oil exporter, and its Gulf allies to cut production.
:03:43. > :03:48.Saudi Arabia may at last be willing to cut production, but only if Iran,
:03:49. > :04:01.Iraq and other non-Opec members like Russia agree to cut as well.
:04:02. > :04:06.So, is there any possibility of a deal?
:04:07. > :04:07.International Oil and Energy Consultant Dr. Manouchehr
:04:08. > :04:23.I know it's Fiona, I realise it's December, but there is a real chill
:04:24. > :04:29.in the air -- it's FENA. There is a real disquiet. Can they agree today?
:04:30. > :04:34.I don't think so. I think the argument that the Saudi minister
:04:35. > :04:38.will so, this strategy is already working and has started to be
:04:39. > :04:44.effective. US oil production, shale, is coming down and so on. Because of
:04:45. > :04:49.the low price, demand is picking up. They will say, wait another six
:04:50. > :04:51.months or another year. But of course others cannot afford that,
:04:52. > :04:58.because they are under pressure in this one last year. Even Saudi
:04:59. > :05:03.Arabia, there are some of the high authorities, printers, complaining.
:05:04. > :05:11.The 700 reserves have gone down to 600 or so -- Princes. They are in
:05:12. > :05:17.the open market. They want to get their bonds and loans and so on. So
:05:18. > :05:21.there is pressure. But overall, I don't know what is happening in the
:05:22. > :05:24.discussions, but I think they will not budge. I think they will
:05:25. > :05:31.continue this strategy, in spite of so much pressure, Venezuelan,
:05:32. > :05:37.Nigeria, they are really suffering, they have had enough. The Saudis are
:05:38. > :05:41.saying, we will cut if Iran, they put pressure on Iran and Iraq, Iran
:05:42. > :05:45.will just enter the market after being locked out last year. Iran
:05:46. > :05:50.doesn't want to cut, they want to get the stuff and sell it. Iraq say
:05:51. > :05:55.that for 20 years they were under sanctions, they deserve to trade.
:05:56. > :06:00.Let me add something, there are pressures from within Opec, on
:06:01. > :06:06.previous occasions, in the 1980s, there was also pressure from the US.
:06:07. > :06:09.George Bush, the vice president, President Clinton, they went and put
:06:10. > :06:16.pressure on Saudi Arabia to cut. This time, there is no US pressure,
:06:17. > :06:19.it is only within the internal Opec pressure on Saudi Arabia. And I
:06:20. > :06:23.don't think they will budge, I think they will wait six months or one
:06:24. > :06:29.year, that is their demand. There is already an effect of this policy.
:06:30. > :06:33.But of course it is long-term. It is two or three years before they
:06:34. > :06:38.actually see this 12 million barrel cut in investment for expulsion
:06:39. > :06:46.production in the industry -- expulsion. Can I ask you one more
:06:47. > :06:50.question? Given the disagreements between members of Opec and of
:06:51. > :06:54.course the Shell gas production, is in your future Opec still a really
:06:55. > :06:59.relevant player in the oil industry? Of course, it is more than
:07:00. > :07:03.35% of the market, and the oil is theirs, they have been through this
:07:04. > :07:07.and they see the fate of other producers, so they want to be in
:07:08. > :07:11.charge of their own. They don't want to be left at the mercy of the
:07:12. > :07:18.so-called market, and there are people in the US campaigning for
:07:19. > :07:22.fair trade, price, to purchase and so on, priced that somebody else
:07:23. > :07:27.will defend fair price. But they know that. In spite of all of this,
:07:28. > :07:33.the ministers are responsible, they know that they have something to
:07:34. > :07:36.do,. Thank you very much for coming in and taking us through that.
:07:37. > :07:38.Let's take a look at some other news for you.
:07:39. > :07:41.A US judge has rejected a bid by the airbag maker Takata
:07:42. > :07:48.and the car maker Honda to end a class action lawsuit.
:07:49. > :07:51.The case had been brought on behalf of millions of owners of cars with
:07:52. > :07:54.Over 19 million US cars have been recalled
:07:55. > :08:00.Takata and Honda have already agreed to settlements for six of the eight
:08:01. > :08:07.deaths linked to ruptured Takata airbag inflators in Honda vehicles.
:08:08. > :08:10.And South Korea's financial regulator says it is investigating
:08:11. > :08:14.possible insider trading by Samsung executives.
:08:15. > :08:16.It is being reported that nine Samsung executives purchased
:08:17. > :08:20.as much as $43 million of stock in a takeover target before Samsung
:08:21. > :08:34.announced a deal to combine with the company in May.
:08:35. > :08:37.You've got the tablet! I do. Let's have a quick look.
:08:38. > :08:41.Let's take a look at the Business Live page.
:08:42. > :08:48.This story took our fancy, handbags at dawn at Avon. They are a huge
:08:49. > :08:57.provider of cosmetics, particularly in the US. They are looking to sell
:08:58. > :09:00.their North American division, but there are investors are claiming it
:09:01. > :09:04.is significantly undervalued, and they have spoken to the chairman and
:09:05. > :09:09.told them that they do not have to be selling, but they have in fact
:09:10. > :09:15.lost confidence in the leadership. You a handbag lady? No, I'm not, you
:09:16. > :09:22.never see me come in with a handbag. I have deep pockets! This is called
:09:23. > :09:24.filling time by the way, ladies and gentlemen!
:09:25. > :09:27.Let's take a look round the world at what's business stories are
:09:28. > :09:31.We'll start in Asia, where Leisha Chi is in Singapore for us
:09:32. > :09:35.with news that Toshiba is planning to spin off its PC business.
:09:36. > :09:41.Does Toshiba want to get rid of its PC business? That's right, there are
:09:42. > :09:49.rumours that Toshiba is looking to split off its arm unprofitable PC
:09:50. > :09:52.business, because it is losing money but also because the Japanese
:09:53. > :09:56.company has been embroiled in one of the country's biggest accounting
:09:57. > :10:00.scandals in years. The firm needs to raise cash and reassure investors
:10:01. > :10:05.about its finances. It has been reporting inflated profits after
:10:06. > :10:11.nearly seven years of improper accounting. Toshiba has been selling
:10:12. > :10:14.off businesses and losing money. It has merged with former rivals.
:10:15. > :10:20.Toshiba used to be a pretty big brand name back on the day. But fast
:10:21. > :10:25.forward now, it only holds about 2% of the global PC market. Apple holds
:10:26. > :10:31.20%. It is going to be hard for them to catch up on the road. Talking of
:10:32. > :10:32.catch up, have a great weekend and we will talk to you soon. Thanks for
:10:33. > :10:36.that. Let's stay with the markets. Asian markets joined the global
:10:37. > :10:39.market slump this Friday, and all to Yes, it acted,
:10:40. > :10:48.and this is the result. The long-awaited announcement
:10:49. > :10:50.from Mario Draghi, the ECB boss, was seen as a huge let-down, as the
:10:51. > :10:53.bank crucially failed to increase the size of the stimulus while the
:10:54. > :10:57.rate cut was less than hoped for. Although I will tell you
:10:58. > :11:12.the euro jumped by more than 3% late yesterday
:11:13. > :11:15.because of the ECB announcement. In fact, the euro posted
:11:16. > :11:17.its biggest single day gain against Talking of dollars,
:11:18. > :11:26.let's find out what will be making All eyes will be
:11:27. > :11:33.on November's job report. It's the last one before the Fed's
:11:34. > :11:35.highly anticipated interest-rate It is expected to show that
:11:36. > :11:39.non-farm payrolls increased Now, that would be less than gains
:11:40. > :11:43.seen in October, but still healthy and in line with
:11:44. > :11:46.an unemployment rate of The report is also predicted
:11:47. > :11:51.to show that wages grew. Another piece
:11:52. > :11:52.of economic data out is US trade-deficit figures
:11:53. > :11:58.for October. The Commerce Department will likely
:11:59. > :12:00.report that the trade gap shrank And after markets reacted negatively
:12:01. > :12:05.Thursday to the European Central Bank's stimulus plans,
:12:06. > :12:07.we'll hear from the man himself, He'll be in New York to participate
:12:08. > :12:14.in a meeting of the Economic Club. We'll hear him react to criticisms
:12:15. > :12:29.that the European Central Bank That is of course the big issue that
:12:30. > :12:31.faced the markets yesterday. We have a guest with us.
:12:32. > :12:35.is co-founder and director of Seven Investment Management.
:12:36. > :12:42.Can the ECB fix the Eurozone's problems? The Eurozone is actually
:12:43. > :12:46.doing quite well, I know what the headlines say, but we have seen
:12:47. > :12:50.confidence indicators rising and better corporate results. Generally
:12:51. > :12:53.we have seen an improvement. Yesterday the euro jumped
:12:54. > :12:57.dramatically. Overall it has been considerably weaker. What we saw
:12:58. > :13:01.yesterday was a market showing a certain level of addiction to
:13:02. > :13:05.quantitative easing. Somebody is not giving them their drugs any more,
:13:06. > :13:11.what happens? The market goes down like that. This will come back the
:13:12. > :13:15.other way. What you will see I suspect is about is back from that.
:13:16. > :13:19.This was completely overdone, it may not be done today, but really that
:13:20. > :13:23.form did not represent any logic at all because we were using
:13:24. > :13:27.extending, the deposit rate going negative further, he was providing
:13:28. > :13:30.more things to buy, extending the period by which it would operate,
:13:31. > :13:34.all of the things, he just didn't give them any more methadone, that
:13:35. > :13:40.is what the market was looking for, then it went into his. I want to
:13:41. > :13:43.talk about miners and commodities, but the bullies in our ears are
:13:44. > :13:45.saying there is no more time. You will come back and take as through
:13:46. > :13:47.some of the papers. Thanks, Justin. from the world's biggest economy,
:13:48. > :13:51.US jobs data - the last bit of the economic jigsaw
:13:52. > :13:53.for the Fed before it decides
:13:54. > :13:57.on where interest rates will go. You're with Business Live
:13:58. > :14:04.from BBC News. It's time for us to look at some
:14:05. > :14:08.of the stories from around the UK. Rail fares for 2016 have been
:14:09. > :14:11.announced, and our very own Ben Thompson is at King's Cross
:14:12. > :14:15.station in Central London. And the lowest rise in fares
:14:16. > :14:27.for six years. Yes, good morning, guys, welcome to
:14:28. > :14:31.King's Cross, one of the busiest stations here in London. 30 million
:14:32. > :14:34.passengers will travel through here during the course of the year. This
:14:35. > :14:38.morning they have been keeping a close eye on the news that rail
:14:39. > :14:43.fares will go up in January. They will go up by 1.1%, that is the
:14:44. > :14:48.lowest increase in six years. Now, it's based on what are called
:14:49. > :14:51.regulated and unregulated fares. The regulated ones, ones that are
:14:52. > :14:55.limited by the government, they are pegged to the inflation rate in
:14:56. > :14:59.July, they go up by 1%. Unregulated fares are set by the companies
:15:00. > :15:03.themselves, they can vary, but on average they will go up by 1.1%
:15:04. > :15:07.across the country. We have been speaking to passengers here this
:15:08. > :15:14.morning who said, we see the need for prices to rise, but in they
:15:15. > :15:16.wanted improvement in the service, they want to see fewer delays are
:15:17. > :15:19.better trained and less overcrowding. I've also been
:15:20. > :15:23.speaking to the rail delivery group, responsible for the rail
:15:24. > :15:26.companies themselves, and also Network Rail. They pointed out that
:15:27. > :15:30.more and more money is now being invested in the railways, more of
:15:31. > :15:52.every pound spent on the services themselves.
:15:53. > :16:00.I think the increase of 1.1%, in return they want to see the service
:16:01. > :16:05.improved. Ben, great stuff, thank you! Every Friday year somewhere
:16:06. > :16:09.else! He has got a very busy weekend
:16:10. > :16:14.ahead, he is moving house. We will give you the address a bit
:16:15. > :16:20.later! Weatherspoon say an old website belonging to them has been
:16:21. > :16:27.hacked, personal details including e-mail addresses may have been
:16:28. > :16:32.stolen. They say a tiny minority of customers with extremely limited
:16:33. > :16:42.details were accessed, plenty more on the website.
:16:43. > :16:46.our top story - a crucial meeting in Vienna.
:16:47. > :16:52.meets in the hope of answering the big question -
:16:53. > :17:01.can they do anything to reverse the slump in the price of oil?
:17:02. > :17:06.That is kicking off at nine o'clock, so plenty more throughout the day.
:17:07. > :17:12.Later today, the US will release its latest unemployment numbers
:17:13. > :17:16.Today's numbers are significant because since October,
:17:17. > :17:20.Fed policymakers have signalled they're likely
:17:21. > :17:24.to raise interest rates at their meeting that starts on the 15th.
:17:25. > :17:32.of significant economic data they'll review.
:17:33. > :17:36.So what kind of number could raise doubts about a Fed move?
:17:37. > :17:45.Our economics correspondent Andrew Walker is with us.
:17:46. > :17:52.Good to see you, Andrew. We are expecting a good number, but if it
:17:53. > :17:59.is anything over 200,000 for the month of November, jobs created,
:18:00. > :18:05.Janet Yellen, a couple of days ago, very positive with their comments,
:18:06. > :18:10.they are going to raise rates, surely? It certainly looks like they
:18:11. > :18:15.are going to do it at that meeting later this month. The US jobs market
:18:16. > :18:19.is pretty robust, we have unemployment at 5%, we are expecting
:18:20. > :18:23.no change later, and we are expecting something of the order of
:18:24. > :18:27.200,000 as an increase in the number of people who do have employment.
:18:28. > :18:32.Over the course of the last 12 months, we have seen the number of
:18:33. > :18:35.people in work raising by about 2.8 million, so no question that the US
:18:36. > :18:39.jobs situation is moving in the right direction. Not quite as robust
:18:40. > :18:45.as the headline figures suggest, however, an awful lot of people are
:18:46. > :18:48.not looking for work because they feel it will be a struggle to find
:18:49. > :18:52.it, and a lot of people working pastime would like to work longer
:18:53. > :18:57.hours. If you look at the overall participation rate, it is quite a
:18:58. > :19:01.bit down from where it was before the recession. That is partly about
:19:02. > :19:05.the ageing population, but not the whole story. The kind of figures
:19:06. > :19:10.that the United States has would be the envy of folks on continental
:19:11. > :19:16.Europe, the eurozone we were talking about before. There is this issue of
:19:17. > :19:19.wage growth, not particularly strong in the US, I wonder how much that
:19:20. > :19:24.plays into their thoughts. It is an important factor, because the key
:19:25. > :19:30.thing that will lead the Fed to raise rates is concerned that maybe
:19:31. > :19:32.there might eventually be an inflation problem. There certainly
:19:33. > :19:37.is not one at the moment, even when you take out the effect of very low
:19:38. > :19:41.oil prices and the effect that has had on what it costs motorists to
:19:42. > :19:46.fill their cars. Core inflation is still pretty low in the United
:19:47. > :19:50.States, about 1.3% is one of the key figures that the Fed likes to look
:19:51. > :19:56.at, and they have a target of 2%. But nonetheless wage growth, yes, I
:19:57. > :20:01.mean, it is not very robust, but there is enough going on to suggest
:20:02. > :20:05.that, with these very low-level is of unemployment, that there could
:20:06. > :20:10.conceivably be a problem in due course. So I think the Fed does
:20:11. > :20:13.think now is the time to start very gradually raising interest rates. If
:20:14. > :20:24.we do see a rate rise, it is going to be a small one. A little mini
:20:25. > :20:27.one, a quarter of a percent? It is a tale of two very different
:20:28. > :20:32.economies, so to the eurozone, we saw the action by Mario Draghi, the
:20:33. > :20:38.ECB yesterday, but is there still too much expectation that it is the
:20:39. > :20:43.job of the European Central Bank to fix the eurozone problems? It is
:20:44. > :20:47.not, is it? They have got a role in ensuring that there is sufficient
:20:48. > :20:52.demand in the economy, but it is not entirely down to them by any means.
:20:53. > :20:56.There is still, if you ask Mario Draghi himself, he will tell you
:20:57. > :21:02.there is still an enormous agenda of structural reform in labour markets,
:21:03. > :21:05.in promoting more competition in services and industries. He will
:21:06. > :21:10.tell you there is still an enormous job to be done there on the part of
:21:11. > :21:14.eurozone governments. He also, I think, probably takes the view that
:21:15. > :21:18.some of them could do a little bit more by way of fiscal policy,
:21:19. > :21:24.spending and taxes to stimulator economic growth. But that has become
:21:25. > :21:31.a rather heretical idea, the eurozone is still very much consumed
:21:32. > :21:35.by this idea that you do need to maintain very fierce discipline over
:21:36. > :21:38.government finances. Some have serious problems with that, most
:21:39. > :21:42.obviously Greece, but there are probably some that could go a little
:21:43. > :21:48.easier without doing any great damage, and I think Mario Draghi
:21:49. > :21:52.thinks Germany could do that without any great danger. Very briefly, we
:21:53. > :21:58.have seen persistent strength when it comes to the euro, a real problem
:21:59. > :22:02.for lots of the countries across the eurozone, particularly Germany,
:22:03. > :22:07.difficult for exporting nations, and what we saw yesterday with Mario
:22:08. > :22:11.Draghi disappearing gait disappointing the markets, it was
:22:12. > :22:18.strengthening again. Yes, but the medium term trend has been a
:22:19. > :22:24.weakening euro. One of the things they want to see is the euro
:22:25. > :22:30.remaining relatively weak, so as long as Justin was right to say that
:22:31. > :22:33.that strengthening is a temporary affair, an overreaction, I think
:22:34. > :22:39.they can probably live with it, but we will be watching it carefully.
:22:40. > :22:44.Thank you very much for coming in. We got a tweet from Alexander, he
:22:45. > :22:50.says all oil economies are hurting, often not mentioned, Norway. You can
:22:51. > :22:54.get in touch with us as well, this is how you can get in touch with us.
:22:55. > :22:56.The Business Live page is where you stay ahead with all
:22:57. > :23:01.We'll keep you up to date with all the latest details with insight
:23:02. > :23:05.and analysis from the BBC's team of editors right around the world.
:23:06. > :23:14.get involved on the BBC Business Live web page at bbc.com/business,
:23:15. > :23:19.and you can find us on Facebook at BBC Business News.
:23:20. > :23:29.Business Live on TV and online, whenever you need to know.
:23:30. > :23:38.Justin is back, he will be taking us through some of the papers, in the
:23:39. > :23:43.Economist they are talking about Yahoo and what now for the boss?
:23:44. > :23:49.This was a great brand 15 years ago, completely overtaken by Google, so
:23:50. > :23:55.as a search engine it is almost irrelevant, and its biggest asset is
:23:56. > :23:59.its investment in Ali baba. There is a private equity firm involved in
:24:00. > :24:03.that, and we know what they are like, nice reasonable people! No,
:24:04. > :24:09.they want to get their money out of this. Unfortunately, we have got the
:24:10. > :24:15.dear lady running it, Marissa Mayer, and she has joined to try to revive
:24:16. > :24:19.the business, has not been able to, so I would not be surprised if they
:24:20. > :24:22.sell off some of the assets and probably you will end up with this
:24:23. > :24:30.rump of the Alibaba business which would give them an awful lot of
:24:31. > :24:38.value. In the New York Times, is there a
:24:39. > :24:44.shortage of Secret Service men?! So it would appear, I know all about
:24:45. > :24:49.the US Secret Service, I have seen those Harrison Ford films, they
:24:50. > :24:55.worked really well, they are highly efficient, and this is someone
:24:56. > :25:00.called Mr Chavez, I thought he used to run Venezuela... I assume it is
:25:01. > :25:04.not the same man! Misconduct continues, security breaches
:25:05. > :25:07.persist, this is not what you expect from the US Secret Service, guarding
:25:08. > :25:11.the president, but we had a breach of White House fences last week with
:25:12. > :25:15.strangers getting into it. This would seem like amateur week at a
:25:16. > :25:20.time when everyone else is spending a lot of money on extra security,
:25:21. > :25:26.this sort of story. Very strange indeed. Yeah, I wonder what sort of
:25:27. > :25:33.misconduct they get into. Who knows?! Probably a state secret.
:25:34. > :25:35.I think that is it, I'm afraid, sorry, Justin, that is it from
:25:36. > :25:36.business life. There will be more business news
:25:37. > :25:38.throughout the day on the BBC Live web page
:25:39. > :25:43.and on World Business Report. See you later, have a great weekend,
:25:44. > :25:48.cheers!