asia for the latest. here, the markets lower slightly, we talk you through the winners and the losers. and we'll be getting festive with fortnums. the boss of iconic food & drink retailer fortnum and mason will be here to give us the inside track on the busiest time of the year. and new research says using facebook and twitter at christmas will make you more miserable than merry. so we want to know — are you taking a break from social media this holiday period? if so, don't do it yet! let us know. just use the hashtag bbcbizlive. welcome to the programme. don't panic, it is december 20 seconds today, i said 23rd and i got worried because i have got so much to do! worried because i have got so much to do! we start on wall street, where it seems this chap has made an appearance — because the grinch has, temporarily at least, stolen christmas. they have been calling it a santa rally — and after a week of record closes, investors were expecting to celebrate the dowjones industrial average hitting 20,000 points for the first time on wednesday. instead they got this:— the dow closed down 32 instead they got this — the dow closed down 32 points at 19,941.96. it got within 15 points of 20,000 before falling back. market watchers say investors have been cashing in their profits after what has been the biggest post—election rally in more than a century. since donald trump was elected, the dow has climbed 9% — putting gains for this year at almost 15%. the us dollar has also been soaring against major currencies, it's at a iii—year high. against the pound in particular, it's up over 16% this year and the price of oil has rebounded massively — gains for brent crude this year are close to 50%. some experts are warning though that the us stock market in particular is getting ahead of itself. we have seen it before. tom stevenson is the investment director at fidelity international. sally touching on the idea that the market is getting ahead of itself. it is very close to that 20,000, especially look king at the doubt, is that the danger there is this euphoria and new year is the harsh reality when we find out what president donald trump will deliver? that is a danger and i suspect it will not happen in the new year but at some point next year, there might bea at some point next year, there might be a bit ofa at some point next year, there might be a bit of a wobble. the market has borrowed a lot from next year, we have had a very strong rally. and the rally is right up with the biggest post—election rallies of the last century and some of those did not end well, one of the biggest was 19205 not end well, one of the biggest was 1920s before the crash. 2004 was big and it led up to the financial crisis. yes, there is a lot of optimism and anticipation about the growth which trump is expected to deliver next year. is there a sense that because for once we can look at something other than monetary policy, it is no longer about interest rates and inflation, that seems to have stabilised? the economy in america is looking 0k and people think they can talk about something else and not keep their eyes just on the fed. something else and not keep their eyesjust on the fed. there is an element on that. since the financial crisis over the last seven years, it has been a poor market, the dow has tripled in that seven year period. and it has been a really grudging move. investors looking forward to next year, spending, tax cuts, deregulation and they are very excited about it. they are looking at top trumps. some of president—elect donald trump's appointments and the latest is peter navarro, an economist, in markets adviser who has written a book about china, talking about... you can see him here, the bad influence china has had on the us economy and so on. he will head up a newly created body on trade will stop what is your take on trade will stop what is your take on these appointments, like rex tillotson, secretary of state. it is a mixed bag! donald trump made some pretty bullish promises during the campaign and everybody said, let's see what happens when he gets into power, will he follow through with that or will he become more presidential and predictable? if you look at the cabinet appointments so far, they are pretty punchy appointments. peter navarro is a good example, very outspoken and china. he has talked about getting closer to taiwan, very per property of the china. we will see how that turns out. what does that mean for trade? thinking about the new year with the trump presidency and also brexit. that is the flip side of donald trump, we have optimism about growth but what he has said about global trade could be potentially quite negative. we just saw a graphic showing market performance over the year, put it in international context, not the best performing, the dow? no, it is very strong but the emerging markets are very good. argentina and brazil right up there. wonderful, nice to see you, thank you. he will be back later, he has more to do including looking at some of the other business stories in the press today. the italian parliament has approved a government plan for a possible e20bn bailout of the country's banks. the italian treasury will probably have to rescue italy's third largest lender, monte dei paschi, by the end of next week. the rescue fund will be used to prop up other banks as well. ride—sharing firm uber has suspended tests of its self—driving cars in san francisco after regulators revoked the registration of the vehicles. passengers had recently been given the option of a booking a self—driving vehicle. but authorities had threatened legal action if uber did not obtain a special permit to test the cars. billionaire investor carl icahn will serve as a special adviser to president—elect donald trump — focusing on regulatory reform. mr icahn has criticised what he called "excessive regulation" on us businesses. he is a major shareholder in companies including insurer aig and oil refiner cvr energy. chinese e—commerce giant alibaba is back on america's blacklist over selling counterfeit goods. the list is a rollcall of so—called "notorious markets". it's a blow to alibaba's attempts to expand out of china. mariko 0i is in singapore. being on this blacklist is not great for a firm that wants to portray itself as an international player to ta ke itself as an international player to take some the likes of ebay and amazon. not at all. and the company was only taken off the list four yea rs was only taken off the list four years ago but the us authorities have said that the company and its online platform is used to sell high—level goods. alibaba has rejected these allegations, saying it polices the marketplace a lot better than in the past. and it also suggested today's political climate in america might have something to do with the fact it is back on the blacklist. they are talking about president—elect donald trump repeatedly accused china of stealing intellectual property during the election. and just appointing an outspoken china critic as the head of the new trade body. but donald trump has not taken office so i am sure the us authorities would disagree with alibaba's speculation that has anything to do with the fa ct that has anything to do with the fact it is back on the blacklist. thank you very much, from singapore. plenty more to come. getting festive with fortnums. the boss of iconic food & drink retailer fortnum and mason will be here to give us the inside track on the busiest time of the year. you're with business live from bbc news. first, here in the uk... the government is to reinvest more than £440 million to improve high—speed broadband coverage across the uk. it is expected the funds, which have been recouped from the superfast broadband programme, could bring better connectivity to an extra 600,000 rural homes. theo leggett is in our business newsroom. this is not new money, this is from a fund already, but long overdue for people struggling with slow service in rural areas. absolutely. the government's target is by the end of next year, government's target is by the end of next yea r, 95% government's target is by the end of next year, 95% of the country should have so—called superfast broadband. what does that mean? a broadband speed of 24 megabits per second. enough for several people in the house to stream video at the same time. 95% sounds good and the government is on track, bt is on track to deliver that. but that last 596 is track to deliver that. but that last 5% is people in remote areas, rural areas, hardest to connect. this is extra money to help that process. where is it from? 150 million from cost savings and the rest from bt which is subsidised to set up the infrastructure for this. if enough people sign up to superfast broadband, it has to give some of that back. that is why it 290 million is coming from it. we have to be careful about this because what the government is doing is superfast broadband to the cabinet, which means fibre—optic cables laid the cabinets and villages and people get connected by copper wires to their homes. but the further you are away from this cabinet, the slow at your broadband speed gets, like putting the brakes on. from opponents, the argument is more needs to be done to improve the service from the cabinets to the home and deliver fibre—optic broadband to the home and until that is done, we will still be stuck in the slow lane. 440 million is welcome money and it does represent progress, at least, that is what people are saying. thank you very much. maybe we are in the slow lane but pushing up a gear. you would hope so, especially for people in rural areas, it is a real problem for business and consumers. more detail on that on the website, the top story this morning. broadband boost for mots parts of the uk. -- broadband boost for mots parts of the uk. —— remote parts. you're watching business live. we are looking at the rally on financial markets in the us, hovering near 20,000. some investors are pointing to the influence of president—elect donald trump. the billionaire businessman has picked several high—profile figures to serve in his government. yes, most recently, he's appointed peter navarro — an outspoken critic of china — as the head of a new white house trade council. that is a brand—new body. a quick look at how markets are faring. they are in europe and they are all slightly down, if not flat, following a similar close the night before. so a lot of people bringing down and some traders might not even be at work today. but tom is at work! iamat i am at work today. we will look at some of the newspaper stories. this caught my eye, saudi arabia against the shift from oil to solar power. i found the second line interesting, it brings more fossil fuels than any other country to generate power, so there is a feeling saudi arabia produces this oil and sells at overseas but that is not the case. yes, saudi arabia uses 900,000 barrels a day to generate electricity, costing the equivalent of $16 billion. which it is not gaining in exports to other countries. saudi arabia is going through a big transition to get itself weaned off a dependence on oil revenues, to diversify its economy. and so one thing it is talking about is shifting from oil to solar energy. it needs that $16 billion which is essential to balance its budget. it is introducing a lot of new changes and today is budget day in saudi arabia and they are expected to announce new taxes for expats. the price of electricity and water, a lot of things expected to go up, a big shift in the near future. this is behind this decision to lead 0pec into a production cut. it needs higher revenues. let's talk about facebook, twitter. in fact, facebook lurking makes people miserable. looking at wonderful pictures of family and friends having a great christmas and you are sitting looking at it and it makes you miserable? social interaction via social media is fine, you are connecting with people. but if you are sitting there looking at how wonderful other people's lives are, thenit wonderful other people's lives are, then it will be miserable. we ask people to get in touch with us. all iam going people to get in touch with us. all i am going to do is upload. danny says quitting facebook is one of the best decisions i have ever made. baby, who are you? we like your name. christmas eve and christmas day gaining £15 from tasty goodies and lots of booze. steve says, it i would rather give up steve says, it i would rather give up social media for 2017. it is a necessary evil in manyjobs these days? absolutely, in our world, it isa days? absolutely, in our world, it is a fantastic source of information. but you can find yourself spending a lot of time staring at the screen. you have teenage children, do you have a family rule? my children are a bit beyond rules on social media. they area bit beyond rules on social media. they are a bit older than that and they do what they like. they do spend a lot of time on social media. i have not been out for a meal with my daughterfor a very long not been out for a meal with my daughter for a very long time when she has not taken a picture of it. daughter for a very long time when she has not taken a picture of itlj am with briny, it is time to put the tech down and go out and have a nice walk around the yorkshire countryside. friend of mine has complete ban on social media on sundays. lots of people take a week out, take a week out and switch everything. that is a good resolution, sugary sign up to that now. this is our pledge in 2017. nice to see you. merry christmas. have a good one, we will see you in the new year. now, no festive gifts for a brazilian firm that's facing the biggest bribery fine in history. 0de—brecht — which is the largest engineering firm in latin america, and its affiliate braskem — appeared at a court in new york yesteday. these are their lawyers arriving — before agreeing to pay more than $3 billion to settle charges under the us foreign corrupt practices act. they have admitted paying out hundreds of millions of dollars to brazilian state oil firm petrobras and others to secure lucrative business deals. from new york, here's samira hussain. in a new york court on wednesday 0debrecht agreed to pay at least $2.6 billion to us, swiss and brazilian authorities making this the largest foreign bribery case in history. but this is a brazilian company, so why is this case happening here in the united states? it's because the company was found guilty of violating the us foreign corrupt practices act. the american laws are so vast and wide sweeping, that as soon as a company has any dealings that tie it to the us, they are subject to these rules. and the troubles for some brazilian firms may not end here. the sources i have here in brazil who were directly involved in the negotiations for this leniency for this plea deal that we saw play out today, they have told me that literally up to 100 new investigations could come from this still. the reason for that is because 0debrecht agreed to pay this enormous fine, this historic fine. the flip side is, 77 of their executives have turned state witness and they are now giving testimony to brazilian prosecutors about anyone's guess, about what other crimes they have committed. it is expected up to 200 brazilian politicians could be implicated in the case. earlier this year, the 0debrecht chief executive was jailed in brazil for paying bribes to executives at brazil's state run oil firm petrobras, which has been under investigation for corruption and bribery that has entangled brazil's political officials. just to say, we shocked you at the beginning saying it was the 23rd of december, it is not, it is the 22nd. if you are like me, there is so much to do before the 25th. have you done your christmas shopping? it has not all arrived. i am waiting for things. turkey? two things for two children. bit of a problem. i will not mention the company names. and now — have you done your christmas shopping? this week is the busiest time of year for many businesses, especially supermarkets and grocery stores. with record amounts expected to be spent over the next 48 hours — what's life really like on the inside? well, one man who knows that all too well is the chief executive of high—end retailer fortnum and mason, ewan venters. fortnum & mason is one of the world's most famous luxury department stores. it is most known for its food hampers, which can cost anywhere between and £5—6,000. the first hamper was sold in 1730, and it still enjoys impressive popularity today, with the company saying sales for this christmas have risen by 20%. in the course of the past financial year, fortnum's has served more than 2 million customers and has delivered its products to 128 countries worldwide. let's talk to the man in charge. he has brought in the classic hamper, i understand. classic christmas hamper. various things on the table here as well, which are extremely tempting. 20% so far this year, where is it coming from which a big boost in sales, is it because the pound has fallen in value? over the last few months we have seen a positive impact with international visitors. fundamentally, just because the fall of the pan, people don't buy more smoked salmon, more hampers? it makes it cheaper? it does, but it is the strength of the domestic consumer. we have seen fantastic group of people living in london and around the united kingdom from our web business. that is a shift you have introduced since she became the boss at fortnum & mason, you have been with them for four yea rs ? you have been with them for four years? yes, 6096 of our business was international. we set out on a journey to make that shift. 60% of our business is now led by people with a uk address. we have become more relevant to more people across the uk. why did you engineer that shift? when i think about fortnum & mason and i think about these gorgeous products, i do think it is the tourism issue, tourist attraction? we have been in business for over 300 years and we have a lwa ys for over 300 years and we have always been relevant to the smart people of the united kingdom. it was easy to re—engage and become more releva nt. easy to re—engage and become more relevant. international visitors, they want to know where the people of britain shop, where the smart people of britain shop, where the royals shop and whether great quality ingredients can be found. it was an obvious strategy to deploy and it is working. it is not only about where they shop, and also where this stuff comes from. you make a big thing of sourcing the stuff from the uk. all made particularly in the north of england? 70% of the stuff is bought from british suppliers. christmas puddings are made by two sisters in lancashire who have been making thousands of christmas puddings for the last 20 years. shortbread comes from leith in edinburgh, chocolate from leith in edinburgh, chocolate from brighton, that he is blended in newcastle. every pa rt from brighton, that he is blended in newcastle. every part of the united kingdom can benefit from the sales that go to the fortnum & mason brand. of your products, what percentage are made in the uk, what percentage are made in the uk, what percentage from overseas? 7096 is made here in the united kingdom. it is all the small producers. sieve ingredients that go into every single product that is produced in different parts of the british isles. the aspects that are not made in the uk, so for example, the tea or other elements made in other countries, how across ayew of the supply chain? i remember one of our journalists did a piece about tea picking in india and said some of this tea is sold in fortnum & mason, harrods and various other big stores around the world. how can you be so diligent about that because it is so important to your brand? it is hugely important, we have a strong tea m hugely important, we have a strong team of buyers and technologists who travel the world, meet with our producers and suppliers. they understand all of the upstream products. it is expensive, but an essential part of us doing business because people expect very high standards, exacting high standards from our brand. speaking of people who expect high standards, at the royal warrant. how important is that? potential queens to be, royal family from around the world are regular shoppers? they are and we are proud of that association. we have had a royal warrant since the beginning, i think it is 165 years. how important is it to be to sell off the back of that? we were issued the warrant is because the royals considers to be so good at what we do. we are honoured to have the warrant of her majesty the queen and the prince of wales. it does make a difference. people look at the royal warrant as a standard—bearer of great quality, authenticity and trust. it is true of domestic customers, but certainly of customers, but certainly of customers around the world. you did have european queens? the duchess of cornwall is a great shopper of ours and ona cornwall is a great shopper of ours and on a more recent visit i was taking her around the store and we bumped into three european queens and a queen to be. it was a good moment. goodness me. thank you for coming in. happy christmas. tomorrow is the christmas live christmas special. so june is the christmas live christmas special. sojune into that. some of the fog may linger until lunchtime so there could be some problems on the road and further flight problems on the road and further flight delays. the northern england and the subclass of wales we will see some sunny spells. five, six or 7 degrees. for northern ireland and scotland, a lot of showers, heavy ones, thundering runs and wintry ones. expect accumulating snow over the high ground of scotland but even to level the leader—macro lower levels. we will see gales at times and temperatures just four or 5 degrees at best across scotland with their showers feeling cold here, maybe nine to 11 in the sunshine further south. through this evening and tonight, it turns drive for most. continue showers across a far north of scotland. it will be a breezy, blustery night and an hour west winds start to dig up. we will see some rain working in that is the first sign of what is to come tomorrow. the met office has issued this amber be prepared warning for the strength of the winds, courtesy of this deepening area of pressure. look at the isobars on the chart. that shows we are going to see some strong winds, particularly across northern areas. across the northern isles of scotland, we can expect wind gusts up to 90 miles an hour. it could be enough to cause some travel disruption, even further south, northern ireland, northern england and north wales, 60 to 70 mile an hourwind england and north wales, 60 to 70 mile an hour wind gusts. this band of heavy rain will come into the picture and it will move quickly self was an eastwards. it is a recipe for some travel headaches through the day tomorrow. brighter skies following on behind for the northwest. christmas eve will be blustery, but not as windy. heavy showers towards the north—west. dry weather again towards the south. the big day itself, christmas day, the wind could cause some problems, very windy weather with rain, but it will feel very mild. this is bbc news. the headlines at 9:00: an international manhunt for the main suspect in the berlin christmas market attack main suspect. attack. it's emerged he used multiple identities and was being watched untiljust a few months ago. a 100,00 euro reward is being offered — with a warning that anis amri could be armed and dangerous. good morning from berlin, where security precautions are being tightened as europe's largest manhunt continues. tightened as europe's largest manhunt continues. a memorial service in russia for the funeral of andrey karlov, the ambassador who was shot dead in turkey on monday. a pledge to improve fast broadband services in rural areas with a £400 million investment from the government.