:00:02. > :00:12.sanctions. Those are the latest headlines from BBC World News. Time
:00:12. > :00:23.
:00:23. > :00:28.now for the money news with Sally Hugo Chavez dies. Be transformed
:00:28. > :00:32.Venezuela's economy, what next for the oil-rich state? -- heat.
:00:32. > :00:42.Sluggish growth, persistent unemployment and a political
:00:42. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :00:53.deadlock. But US shares still hit a Welcome, you're with World Business
:00:53. > :00:57.Report. I'm Sally Bundock. Also in the programme, we're going to look
:00:57. > :01:03.at a Sharp's shares, their rising sharply on news of a white knight
:01:03. > :01:06.in the wings. -- they are. As you've been hearing, Venezuelan
:01:06. > :01:11.President Hugo Chavez has died after a long battle with cancer.
:01:11. > :01:15.During more than 14 years in office he transformed Venezuela into a
:01:15. > :01:20.socialist state. He was fortunate to be in power during a surge in
:01:20. > :01:25.oil prices. When he took office prices for Venezuelan crude were
:01:25. > :01:30.less than $9 a barrel and surged more than ten times that to around
:01:30. > :01:35.$126 a barrel in 2008. Hugo Chavez took control of the oil fields more
:01:35. > :01:45.than a decade ago and that paid for a nationalisation fries seeing the
:01:45. > :01:45.
:01:45. > :01:50.state take control of almost every industry -- drive. I'm joined by
:01:50. > :01:58.Neil Atkinson, who worked for Venezuela's main oil company, for
:01:58. > :02:02.19 years. Thank you for joining us. You have an insight into his legacy.
:02:02. > :02:07.Been your introduction you hit one of the nails on the head, when
:02:07. > :02:13.Chavez came to power in 1999 the oil price was around $10 a barrel -
:02:13. > :02:17.- in. A decade later it got to nearly $150 a barrel. That huge
:02:17. > :02:21.increase in wealth, that huge increase in oil revenues, gave
:02:21. > :02:25.Chavez the opportunity to basically spray money around Venezuela's
:02:25. > :02:29.initially giving money to poorer sections of society, to support
:02:29. > :02:34.projects which clearly were necessary and were needed, but as
:02:34. > :02:38.the years went by it became increasingly obvious that the
:02:38. > :02:42.watchwords of the Chavez years were basically waste, incompetence and
:02:42. > :02:46.corruption. Sadly when you go to Venezuela today and you look at the
:02:46. > :02:50.physical infrastructure of the country, you read about the quite
:02:50. > :02:54.extraordinary crime rate. It's the murder capital of the world these
:02:54. > :03:00.days. And you mentioned the lack of food staples in the shops, the
:03:00. > :03:06.economic legacy of Hugo Chavez is actually pretty sorry. When you
:03:06. > :03:12.left the company, you say you left a company in chaos. It was a
:03:12. > :03:16.smaller version of the big picture. One of the criticisms that was made
:03:16. > :03:20.about the company was that it was a state within a state. In some
:03:20. > :03:25.respects it was because the national oil company prior to the
:03:25. > :03:29.Chavez era was by any standards a very well run company, especially
:03:29. > :03:32.by the standards of national oil companies. That time there was a
:03:32. > :03:37.major investment programme planned which would have increased
:03:37. > :03:41.Venezuela's oil and gas production capacity, and Venezuela could have
:03:41. > :03:47.been producing twice the amount it does today. Since Hugo Chavez came
:03:47. > :03:50.to power, you could almost say it has been looted. Oil production in
:03:50. > :03:56.Venezuela has been falling in recent years, and certainly
:03:56. > :04:00.struggling to keep up. What now? Obviously Hugo Chavez has died, he
:04:00. > :04:04.has this legacy that he's left behind and he's been in power for a
:04:05. > :04:10.very long time. It will be quite a job, won't it, to turn things
:04:10. > :04:14.around and change things? Who's in the wings to take over. Buys
:04:14. > :04:18.President Maduro is the favourite to be the ruling party candidate --
:04:19. > :04:24.vice-president. Is difficult to see how Chavez can be replaced. -- it's
:04:24. > :04:29.difficult. This is like the : phenomenon in Argentina. It will be
:04:29. > :04:33.hard for somebody to live up to Chavez's charisma, and his
:04:33. > :04:37.undeniable hold on the affections of a large section of Venezuelan
:04:37. > :04:41.society. We know we will find as the election comes and goes and the
:04:41. > :04:48.months unfold we will have to look to the army as one of the key
:04:48. > :04:53.indicators as to where the direction will be. It is a story
:04:53. > :04:57.and situation that we will keep our eyes on on World Business Report.
:04:57. > :05:03.The Dow Jones industrial average closed at an all-time high on
:05:03. > :05:07.Tuesday. The main share market beat the previous record set in October
:05:07. > :05:11.2007 before the global economic downturn. Given the current
:05:11. > :05:18.political stalemate over the budget in the US and the slowness of the
:05:18. > :05:24.recovery, why such exuberance? Michelle has more from New York.
:05:24. > :05:26.From the opening bell... stocks roared ahead. The Dow Jones
:05:26. > :05:32.Industrial Average, which tracks the performance of some of the
:05:32. > :05:37.biggest names in corporate America, climbed more than 125 points during
:05:37. > :05:41.the day to close at a record high. A huge achievement after the losses
:05:41. > :05:46.triggered by the financial crisis. Psychologically it's very important.
:05:46. > :05:49.It's an indicator to the rest of the world that the equities in the
:05:49. > :05:55.stock market is a safe thing. You need to put your money to work in
:05:55. > :06:00.the stock market. Investors were cheered by a statements about
:06:00. > :06:03.spending from the Chinese and a positive report on America's
:06:03. > :06:07.service sector -- by statements. There's no doubt Wall Street has
:06:07. > :06:11.come a long way to reach this historic day. From the credit
:06:11. > :06:18.crisis to the collapse of Leeman brothers and to Europe's debt
:06:18. > :06:23.crisis. -- Lehman Brothers. But the optimism shared inside his building
:06:23. > :06:28.is not shared by most Americans. With all the dramas people in this
:06:28. > :06:35.Manhattan shopping district were not feeling too celebratory.
:06:35. > :06:40.I'm still poor. I have no money. It's very hard. Specially with jobs,
:06:40. > :06:46.it's very hard to get a job. -- especially. Do you think the
:06:46. > :06:51.economy is getting better? No. Jobs are still hard at the moment.
:06:51. > :06:55.Unemployment is up. It's definitely not getting better. I'm a retailer,
:06:55. > :06:59.it's turning round but very slowly. I'm in the wine and spirits
:06:59. > :07:03.business, it's turning round very slowly but I'm happy because I
:07:03. > :07:07.making lots in the stock market. might want to thank those inside
:07:07. > :07:11.this building for the strength of the market. The unusual steps taken
:07:11. > :07:15.by America's central bank have helped to boost stock market prices.
:07:15. > :07:25.The question now is will the recovery be strong enough to
:07:25. > :07:25.
:07:25. > :07:31.maintain those games once these support is withdrawn? -- games.
:07:31. > :07:35.Thank you for joining us. What do you make of this, given the state
:07:35. > :07:41.of the economy in the US these markets are out of control, aren't
:07:41. > :07:47.they? To a certain degree. Some people would even say the prices
:07:47. > :07:51.could even be artificial. I would say that the biggest driver behind
:07:51. > :07:54.this recovery on Wall Street has been the continued central bank
:07:55. > :08:00.activism by the Federal Reserve's by supporting the economy through
:08:00. > :08:04.increased stimulus -- Federal Reserve. And the ultra-low rates
:08:04. > :08:09.keeping a favourable environment for investors, to increase their
:08:09. > :08:15.appetite for risk. But as you said it is out of control. It doesn't
:08:15. > :08:20.match up with the US economy. It is a slow, gradual recovery in place.
:08:20. > :08:25.Some could say it may even stall at some point given the US sequesters,
:08:25. > :08:30.the spending cuts. That's one of the big concerns go wing-forward.
:08:30. > :08:37.Whenever we see these record highs being hit and markets rallying in
:08:37. > :08:41.this way, we think just around the corner there will be a big reaction.
:08:41. > :08:45.-- going forward. Absolutely. Some could say the sequester itself
:08:46. > :08:53.could be a positive catalyst because the Federal Reserve have
:08:53. > :09:00.pledged to keep an accommodative rates remain stubbornly high. If
:09:00. > :09:08.the US economy stalls unemployment will remain very high, and that
:09:08. > :09:16.would be positive. Markets. -- positive. Markets. The problem is
:09:16. > :09:20.Europe and China. So there are issues going forward, though. I
:09:20. > :09:25.think investors should celebrate right now. Are right, thank you for
:09:25. > :09:29.joining us. -- all right. Australia's economy
:09:29. > :09:36.continues to grow at a healthy rate in the final three months of last
:09:36. > :09:41.year. It crewman at an annual rate of 3.1%. -- it grew at. Australia's
:09:41. > :09:47.also seemed growing demand for its farm products like beef. -- also
:09:48. > :09:53.seen. Shares in a Sharp surge in Tokyo today. At one stage they were
:09:53. > :10:00.up almost 20% -- in Sharpe. They are potentially in talks with
:10:00. > :10:05.Samsung over a future investments - - in Shah. -- over future
:10:05. > :10:10.investments. -- in Sharp. Let's show you those numbers for the
:10:10. > :10:14.markets. Let's enjoy it while it lasts, but a cautionary tale.