:00:00. > :00:00.Hall, calling for the resignation of the Toronto mayor, Rob Ford. He says
:00:00. > :00:23.he will not stand down, despite admitting to smoking crack cocaine.
:00:24. > :00:26.The Twitter frenzy. Investors scramble for a piece of the social
:00:27. > :00:31.network in the biggest internet flotation since Facebook. Pressure
:00:32. > :00:40.mounts on the European Central Bank to cut the cost of borrowing, as the
:00:41. > :00:50.eurozone economy struggles. Welcome to the programme.
:00:51. > :00:55.Another workload close on Wall Street `` record close on Wall
:00:56. > :00:59.Street. The biggest technology flotation since Facebook. Is it a
:01:00. > :01:06.major investment opportunity or a bubble waiting to burst? Twitter
:01:07. > :01:10.makes its stock market debut today. On Wednesday, Twitter confirmed it
:01:11. > :01:17.had priced its shares at $26 each, which is higher than expect that,
:01:18. > :01:22.signalling strong investor demand. The overall stock market valuation
:01:23. > :01:31.is $18 billion, not bad for a company that has never made a
:01:32. > :01:43.profit. It is considered America's past time. They are a minor league
:01:44. > :01:48.baseball team based in Coney Island. They have been drawing the crowd for
:01:49. > :01:51.12 years. This is the team's Director of Communications, and
:01:52. > :02:01.Twitter has become a huge part of his job. This is an everyday thing.
:02:02. > :02:05.Every hour, every minute. We have to monitor it all the time,
:02:06. > :02:11.particularly when we have games. When the games are being played
:02:12. > :02:15.here, they get very busy. Billy tweets about the experience of the
:02:16. > :02:22.stadium and, of course, after every single score. He also receives
:02:23. > :02:26.feedback from everyone who has come to watch the game here at Coney
:02:27. > :02:31.Island. Some people pay for their advertisements to appear on his
:02:32. > :02:38.timeline. Advertising accounts for 91% of Twitter's revenue. However,
:02:39. > :02:45.the company is yet to turn a profit. For an advertiser, Twitter is a
:02:46. > :02:49.valuable proposition. The future value of Twitter is that right now,
:02:50. > :02:54.they are only making money from a small percentage of its user base.
:02:55. > :03:00.Going forward, as they begin to monetise the rest of their users,
:03:01. > :03:07.there will be opportunities. And it's not just a fad. It's something
:03:08. > :03:13.that everybody uses. Unlike MySpace, Twitter and Facebook have done great
:03:14. > :03:19.jobs in letting it be what it is. For businesses, it's a great way to
:03:20. > :03:23.see your client base expand. Twitter and social media is not going to go
:03:24. > :03:30.away. It will only get bigger. That is only if fans continue to follow
:03:31. > :03:35.Billy's tweets. The website thrives on its popularity. What's Twitter
:03:36. > :03:43.requires is not a home run but many regular hits.
:03:44. > :03:50.We will be talking more about Twitter when we talk about the
:03:51. > :03:55.day's newspapers. Is a cut in interest rates on the cards for the
:03:56. > :04:00.eurozone? Officials at the European Central Bank meet later today to set
:04:01. > :04:07.the cost of rowing in the eurozone. Interest rates are already at a
:04:08. > :04:12.record low. `` the cost of borrowing in the eurozone. Prices are rising
:04:13. > :04:20.at a very slow rate archly due to falling wages. Annual inflation fell
:04:21. > :04:26.to a rate of 0.7% in October, well below the target of 2% for a healthy
:04:27. > :04:34.economy. Unemployment is still at 12.2%. The economy is forecast to
:04:35. > :04:39.grow at only 1.1% next year, according to the European
:04:40. > :04:51.Commission. Thank you for joining us. First of all, what do you expect
:04:52. > :04:57.them to do today? It is fair to say that the dynamics have changed going
:04:58. > :05:00.into today's meeting. Some of the information coming out of the
:05:01. > :05:09.eurozone has been soft. Inflation has been at new low levels.
:05:10. > :05:16.Unemployment is at new high levels. In addition, the credit picture is
:05:17. > :05:20.decidedly anaemic. All of that gives plenty of fodder for the governing
:05:21. > :05:25.Council to think about. However, we are not expect in the European
:05:26. > :05:32.Central Bank to jump the run with an interest rate cuts today `` jumped
:05:33. > :05:35.the gun. It is not just about the information being weak, it is about
:05:36. > :05:41.whether they are weaker than expected. It is worth recalling that
:05:42. > :05:47.the governing Council has been talking about a week recovery for
:05:48. > :05:52.some time, now. And interest rate cut would give a symbolic boost,
:05:53. > :05:57.perhaps, to financial markets, and possibly a feelgood factor for a
:05:58. > :06:02.short time. But what impact would it have in helping the economy? From
:06:03. > :06:06.the European Central Bank's perspective, they will be more
:06:07. > :06:11.interested in pockets of vulnerability in the eurozone. That
:06:12. > :06:18.suggests that more targeted support should be on the agenda. That might
:06:19. > :06:22.include further liquidity for struggling banks. An interest rate
:06:23. > :06:27.cut is not likely to have an immediate impact on the real
:06:28. > :06:33.economy. The euro has been declining in recent days, but today, it is
:06:34. > :06:38.heading up due to the strong economic news we had out of Germany
:06:39. > :06:46.yesterday. What is your prognosis for the eurozone? I do not imagine
:06:47. > :06:52.Mario Draghi getting away without highlighting the euro in some way.
:06:53. > :06:56.That said, I believe the European Central Bank will be at pains to
:06:57. > :07:02.emphasise that the exchange rate itself is not a target on its own.
:07:03. > :07:07.In fact, other members have in recent weeks downplayed the strength
:07:08. > :07:13.of the euro as a real headwind for the recovery. In general, I believe
:07:14. > :07:18.the European Central Bank will forecast a sluggish return to growth
:07:19. > :07:27.in the eurozone. All indicators suggest that is what is on the
:07:28. > :07:30.cards. Thank you. Financial markets across the globe
:07:31. > :07:46.are very much watching the central bank. How are the market is doing
:07:47. > :07:51.today in Asia? `` markets. Asian investors are also watching very
:07:52. > :07:56.closely. They are looking at how the federal Reserve will react to key
:07:57. > :08:08.economic reports and how that will affect monetary policy going
:08:09. > :08:14.forward. `` Federal Reserve. This might give some indication as to
:08:15. > :08:19.when the central bank might wind down its stimulus initiatives.
:08:20. > :08:24.Looking at the markets right now, shares are at record low levels as
:08:25. > :08:32.investors are reluctant to bid on stocks. There are losses in Hong
:08:33. > :08:35.Kong and China. Dealers are cautious behind a Chinese Communist Party
:08:36. > :08:41.gathering this weekend, which is expect to outline economic policy
:08:42. > :08:44.for the next five years. The Japanese market is also flat, as
:08:45. > :08:54.investors search for new trading opportunities. It is all about
:08:55. > :09:00.waiting and watching. Thank you. More detail, now, on that report
:09:01. > :09:06.from the US. The US economy may have lost some steam in the three months
:09:07. > :09:11.to September. Official figures are expected to show annual growth
:09:12. > :09:15.slowing to 2% in the third quarter, down from the previous three months.
:09:16. > :09:22.This could be justification for the Federal Reserve to keep it to be
:09:23. > :09:27.less programme in place. On Friday `` to keep its stimulus programme in
:09:28. > :09:33.place. Reports on Friday also indicated an increase in the
:09:34. > :09:41.unemployment rate. BP, Morgan Stanley and Shall our three
:09:42. > :09:49.companies `` Shell are among three companies accused of conspiring to
:09:50. > :09:54.fix the Brent oil rates. The benchmark is used to price around
:09:55. > :10:07.60% of world crude and determines the cost of petrol and heating fuel.
:10:08. > :10:08.That is all from BBC business