:00:22. > :00:26.an all-time low. 82 years old, but is he still going
:00:26. > :00:29.strong? Warren Barford hosts investors for their annual meeting
:00:29. > :00:35.and that questions about his company's performance and who will
:00:35. > :00:38.replace him. Plus, our Washington spending cuts
:00:38. > :00:48.are undermining America's economic coverage. Markets await key
:00:48. > :00:53.
:00:53. > :00:58.Also coming up: India's central banks poised to cut the cost of
:00:58. > :01:02.borrowing again. We will have the latest from Asia.
:01:02. > :01:09.We start with this man, the Oracle of Burma. In the once -- words of
:01:09. > :01:14.one rival, the single greatest stock investor of all time. Today,
:01:14. > :01:19.some 35,000 shareholders in his company are making their way to his
:01:19. > :01:23.hometown for their annual investor weekend, which he calls the
:01:23. > :01:29.Woodstock for capitalists. His company is bust, with 80
:01:29. > :01:34.subsidiaries from insurance to railways. It has a market value of
:01:34. > :01:39.some $262 billion. Its share prices of some 30% since last year's
:01:39. > :01:43.meeting and is expected to report higher earnings today. However,
:01:43. > :01:49.over the last four years, that share price has underperformed the
:01:49. > :01:57.broader S&P 500. Some investors are concerned that the company is not
:01:57. > :02:01.what it once was. The Oracle of Omagh. Worth more
:02:01. > :02:09.than $50 billion, he is one of the richest people in the world. Just
:02:09. > :02:15.one share of his company is worth about $160,000. To many he is also
:02:15. > :02:21.pretty inspiring. I think it will be awesome to meet him. This woman
:02:21. > :02:25.will get to do just that later this month. If she jumps in the Paul and
:02:25. > :02:35.something happens to her, maybe she hit her head or she cannot swim any
:02:35. > :02:35.
:02:35. > :02:39.more, an alarm will sound like this, and we will be a would take her out.
:02:40. > :02:44.Sponsoring a contest to encourage students' interesting business, her
:02:44. > :02:48.project has won her an audience with the savvy investor. I would
:02:48. > :02:55.definitely ask him how he is so successful and how he thinks that
:02:55. > :03:00.our generation can improve the state of the economy. Warren but it
:03:00. > :03:05.can also take inspiration from young people. On Thursday he joined
:03:05. > :03:11.Twitter and in just two hours he had more than $100,000. Some of his
:03:11. > :03:15.most recent investments are instantly recognisable to teenagers.
:03:15. > :03:19.Ketchup and baked beans, his takeover of Heinz earlier this year
:03:19. > :03:26.was the biggest deal ever in the food industry. The last decade has
:03:26. > :03:29.not been easy for his company. Comparing its performance to US
:03:29. > :03:33.market, this occasion untempered growth. I think that he still has
:03:33. > :03:37.this iconic reputation, but the reality is hears mortal like the
:03:37. > :03:41.rest of us. His performance has certainly been the performance of a
:03:41. > :03:45.mortal in recent years and people are starting to think of the bigger
:03:45. > :03:50.picture of what happens from here. At 82 and being treated for
:03:50. > :03:55.prostate cancer, people are now asking who will replace him. He
:03:55. > :04:05.says he has a plan, but some wonder if the company will be the same
:04:05. > :04:05.
:04:05. > :04:08.without the sage guiding the ship. Let's stay with the US and the big
:04:08. > :04:14.focus of financial markets will be what comes out of the US Labour
:04:14. > :04:18.debate -- Labor Department in just a few hours' time. Official job
:04:18. > :04:25.numbers are expected to show US employers are stepped up their
:04:25. > :04:30.hiring in April. Estimates are for 145,000 new jobs in the US in April.
:04:30. > :04:34.That would be a big improvement over the week 88,000 added in March.
:04:34. > :04:44.But it is way off the figures for February, whether hiring hit
:04:44. > :04:47.
:04:47. > :04:51.268,000. Do you think these figures show that quantitive easing doesn't
:04:51. > :04:54.really help boost of the real economy? I don't think they do
:04:54. > :05:00.because we don't know the counter affects all what would have
:05:00. > :05:05.happened if we didn't have it. Suddenly, the Fed itself as some
:05:05. > :05:09.analysis that shows that bond yields have come down, which makes
:05:09. > :05:12.it cheaper for banks to make loans to individuals. It is not
:05:12. > :05:16.necessarily the case that loans are being made in all the areas where
:05:16. > :05:23.they need to be made but it certainly has been part of the
:05:23. > :05:26.process that has led to the US economy continuing to grow. Back to
:05:26. > :05:32.base -- to slow lipase though. Are we beginning to see the negative
:05:32. > :05:40.impact of fiscal tightening? It has been in place since the end of the
:05:40. > :05:45.big downturn in two dozen date, 2009. The banks have been winding
:05:45. > :05:53.down their largesse. The latest round of fiscal tightening is
:05:53. > :05:58.certainly coming at a very bad time because it is going to crimp any
:05:58. > :06:01.recovery in the economy. It is one of many had and still can front in
:06:01. > :06:08.the US which makes it look like they are going to keep its easing
:06:08. > :06:13.policy in place. The US economy grew at a rate of 2.5% in the first
:06:14. > :06:17.quarter, but do you expect that rate of growth to remain?
:06:17. > :06:25.cannot really just the number because prior to that we had a 0.3%
:06:25. > :06:29.it. It was effectively stalled. That is not enough to even Paul
:06:29. > :06:34.unemployment down substantially. were talking earlier about the fact
:06:34. > :06:38.that the company is releasing its results later today. It is such a
:06:38. > :06:41.large, diversified investment house that in many ways you could argue
:06:41. > :06:47.that it is representative of the US economy and it is expecting to
:06:47. > :06:51.report a profit increase. Would you say that it is perhaps
:06:51. > :06:59.representative of what we have seen elsewhere? US firms are reporting
:06:59. > :07:03.profit increases or at least beating expectations. One of the
:07:03. > :07:06.reasons is that the stock markets have been doing really well.
:07:06. > :07:09.Another is the liquidity being pumped into the system around the
:07:09. > :07:17.world. Just because the companies are doing well, it doesn't mean
:07:17. > :07:19.that the countries are doing well. Companies can source activity from
:07:20. > :07:25.anywhere in the world. American- based companies might be struggling
:07:25. > :07:35.in some sectors. Are you going to follow Warren Barton on Twitter?
:07:35. > :07:38.
:07:38. > :07:43.actually joined on Wednesday, the Let's see what is moving the
:07:43. > :07:50.markets over in Asia this Friday. India widely expected to cut the
:07:50. > :07:58.cost of borrowing in the next hour or so. What more do you have for
:07:58. > :08:05.Investors will be following what India does with its monetary policy.
:08:05. > :08:09.Economists in the central bank seemed to first have diverse views
:08:09. > :08:14.on the cost of borrowing. The central bank is expected to reduce
:08:14. > :08:19.rates. It is expected to help the economy from its slowest growth in
:08:19. > :08:23.a decade. The bank is hinting that it may keep them on hold, saying it
:08:23. > :08:27.sees a very limited room to ease monetary policy even further amid
:08:27. > :08:30.an environment of higher consumer price inflation and a current
:08:30. > :08:34.account deficit well above sustainable levels, which limits
:08:34. > :08:40.the space for monetary policy to support growth. It is a decision
:08:40. > :08:44.that will be made in a few hours' time. Moving to China and there are
:08:44. > :08:49.signs that a recovery in the economy remains modest and still
:08:49. > :08:55.faces many risks. The expansion in month of April with the purchasing
:08:55. > :08:59.managing index for the non- manufacturing sector falling to
:08:59. > :09:02.54.5 from 55.6 in March. Slowing growth and services showed that
:09:02. > :09:08.subdued expansion in manufacturing has began to feed through the rest
:09:08. > :09:16.of the economy. The services industry has so far weathered the
:09:17. > :09:20.global slowdown much better than the factories.
:09:20. > :09:23.The royal bed of Scotland reports burning shortly. It is expected to
:09:23. > :09:27.have made a quarterly profit for the first time in 18 months. It has
:09:27. > :09:35.been trying to move away from the high risk investments that led to
:09:35. > :09:38.the bail-out by the UK taxpayer in 2008. It could report profits of
:09:38. > :09:41.around $1 billion, but at the current share price, the British