Its been a long week for barclays Ceo Jes Staley and it ends with him fooled into replying to an email he thought was sent by the banks chairman but was actually from a prankster. Well tell you what he wrote later, but first we want to know have you ever sent an email to the wrong person . Just use bbcbizlive. Hello and welcome to Business Live. We start in europes economic powerhouse, because in the last half hour germany has released gdp figures for the first three months of the year, and they show an economy thats accelerating. It grew 0. 6 on the previous quarter. That translates to an annual rate of 1. 7 . Its being fuelled by Global Demand for the countrys exports, like cars and machinery. But its not all cause for celebration. Let me show you why. Last year germany clocked up its biggest ever Trade Surplus, thats how much more it exports than it imports. At 275 billion, germany has one of the biggest Trade Surpluses in the world. Its a source of tension with its neighbours and allies. Look at how much more germany sells to these top economies than it buys from them. The us in particular has accused germany of exploiting an undervalued euro to get an unfair trade advantage. An Over Reliance on exports isnt the only problem. The European Commission says germany is just too frugal. It is saving too much, and investing too little. It wants to see some of that cash invested in the regions struggling economies. Paul kavanagh, director of patronus partners, is with me. Growth of 0. 6 for the first three month we were expecting, sounds not bad, so why is there so much criticism of germany . It is to do with the imbalances within the economy. Germany taxes its popular very highly, around 40 of gdp is made up of taxes. As we approach the elections in september there is a lot of pressure on trying to release some of these taxes that are being imposed, to bring more euros back and to allow people to spend, and if they spend, will be spend on things they spend, will be spend on things they need to import . To rebalance this Import Export Argument creating tensions particularly with the us. There is also the issue over the euro. Explain that. Germany has a very Strong Economy not only domestically but it is the strongest in terms of exports. Normally if you we re in terms of exports. Normally if you were alone as a country with that sort of thing you would have a very strong sort of thing you would have a very strong currency sort of thing you would have a very strong currency but they are benefiting from the weak economy of france and spain and others and so they have had a very good year on they have had a very good year on the export front. The difficulty is, my issue with looking at a Trade Surplus, is it is a gross figure, it does not look at margins, profits, you could be selling something that had a very small margin, germany is not, but it is a pretty crude way of assessing whether there is an imbalance. Absolutely. What happens Around The World, this relationship between economies and currencies is becoming more tense and impacts on China Andjapan becoming more tense and impacts on china and japan and particularly the us at the moment because the ma nifesto us at the moment because the manifesto from donald trump has been about protecting the us. Its feeling is that the us has been subsidising the world with a strong dollar and weaker currencies against the weaker yen and euro and when you look at the Trade Surplus numbers and the strong Balance Sheet of germany at the moment, which is not being used to create new investment in schools, construction, and giving more money back to the popular to buy consumable goods, there is a feeling there is imbalance and you are benefiting from the weak currency. Thank you. Lets take a look at some of the other stories making the news. Shares in macys have plunged after the Us Department store owner said Quarterly Sales slid 7. 5 . Macys lost around 14 of its value. Rivals kohls and jc penney were also down sharply, amid fears about the health of the traditional us retail sector. The rise in Online Shopping has seen Us Department stores shed more than 32,000 jobs in the past year, according to Us Government estimates. The South Korean Government has ordered carmakers hyundai and kia motors to recall about 240,000 cars, after a tip off from a whistleblower. The ex hyundai employee raised concern about defects which affected 12 different car models. It is the first time the countrys government has issued a compulsory vehicle recall. Kia is an affiliate of hyundai, and officials are asking the countrys prosecutor to look for any evidence of a cover up at the carmakers. To asia now, and since us President Donald Trump and chinese president xijinping met in florida last month, the two countries have been in talks to try and reduce tensions over trade. Well, it looks like those talks are beginning to yield results. 0ur reporter is in singapore and can tell us more. They have unveiled a 10. 8 package, quite a meaty deal. China is resuming imports of us beef after 13 yea rs resuming imports of us beef after 13 years and in return the us is allowing chinese cooked chicken back into their market. 0ther allowing chinese cooked chicken back into their market. Other points of this deal include the entry of chinese banks into the us and for china they are opening the market to us natural gas and Financial Services firms and Credit Rating services. The us Commerce Secretary says that this deal should actually reduce chinas Trade Surplus with america by the end of the year. On the campaign trail President Trump did a lot of Sabre Rattling when it did a lot of Sabre Rattling when it did to china. He has not did what he threatened. After the meeting with the president in florida it seemed like the situation is you scratch my back and i will scratch yours. Thank you. Interesting mix of politics and economics there. There is not a secular Driving Force in the markets at the moment. Particular. We know the Us Central Bank says it is ready to hike Interest Rates. The uk central bank ta kes a Interest Rates. The uk central bank takes a different view about the uk economy which is predicted to grow faster than the German Economy this year. This is what is happening in europe so far. In percentage terms not much movement. This is france, merck on redefining the relationship between france and germany. We have the details on what has been going on in wall street. Two bits of economic news, the Consumer Price index and retail sales. Economists estimate that the cbi will increase by 0. 2 in april after a fall of 0. 3 in march. It seems it may be the same story for sales, the expectation is they will be up by 0. 6 after falling by 0. 2 in expectation is they will be up by 0. 6 afterfalling by 0. 2 in march. Speaking of Retail Salesjcpenney will be reporting earnings. The company is looking to cut costs as sales continue to slide. They said backin sales continue to slide. They said back in february they would close 130140 back in february they would close 130 140 Underperforming Stores over the next few months and they will offer volu nta ry the next few months and they will offer voluntary retirement for about 6000 employees. Joining us is nandini ramakrishnan, Global Market strategist atjp morgan Asset Management. Yesterday we had the Bank Of England giving their Inflation Report and their Inflation Forecast has increased but no sign of an Interest Rate move. Yes, a combination of higher inflation expected and lower growth, which is making the Bank Of England remain on hold. A lot of commentary about the strength of the uk consumer, a little bit of wea kness uk consumer, a little bit of weakness coming from that consumer but other parts of the economy such as exports and potential investment from abroad should balance that. Things get complicated, the impact of the brexit vote and the potential for inflation to rise and growth to stag nate for inflation to rise and growth to stagnate at the same time, soft data comes in handy. Yes. This is happening globally. Survey data coming out quite strong that we want to see the gdp numbers, some of which we have been seeing coming out quite strong, but we want to see the ha rd quite strong, but we want to see the hard data come out strong as well to support it which is what the Bank Of England and lots of Central BanksAround The World are hoping for. Looking at the markets we have had strong us earnings, resolution to the french president ial elections, we are in the middle of the european earnings season, how are the markets feeling . Theres a bit of a positive breath after the french elections and we had strong usjobs breath after the french elections and we had strong us jobs data last week. Nothing too big On The Horizon Today or the early parts of next week that should shock the markets. We will see as the data comes out. You will be back in a few minutes to talk through the papers and to let us talk through the papers and to let us know if you have ever emailed the wrong person. Let us know if you have done that. I have done that. It was not nice still to come well hear from the young Tech Entrepreneur behind the uks latest billion dollar business. Youre with Business Live from bbc news. Businesses in all parts of the uk, particularly rural areas, are experiencing full or partial not spots in their mobile coverage according to the British Chambers Of Commerce. The survey shows that 70 of firms experience mobile non spots, areas of no mobile coverage by any operator, or partial not spots, where there is some coverage but not from all networks, in their local area. Theo leggett can tell us more. This is a survey put out by the British Chambers Of Commerce who have interviewed 11100 companies around the country, many of them Small Businesses. Mobile phone and Internet Access is but a clean important for Small Businesses because often able running them are on the move that they have to keep in touch with clients. 70 of these businesses report that they are experiencing either not spots where they cannot get any 4g coverage or partial not sports were one mobile provider might have coverage but others do not, and it is particularly acute in rural areas. It isa particularly acute in rural areas. It is a fairly small survey that echoes the National Report last year on preparation forfive echoes the National Report last year on preparation for five g echoes the National Report last year on preparation forfive g coverage where it said that ag, britain was 56th in the world for ag coverage, simply not good enough. The British Chambers Of Commerce are trying to turn this into an election issue. What do they want to be done . What can you do . Surely operators will already have done what they can do. 0ne already have done what they can do. One of the things the British Chambers Of Commerce is calling for is easing of Planning Laws to allow for taller masts because if you are Ina Ruralarea for taller masts because if you are in a rural area that might improve your coverage. The other point is that 0fcom it says must do more to hold providers to account for the service advertised to customers, in other words making sure that if it is advertised people get it. Customers not getting a good service at all. Some rely on 3g but 60 are only getting two g, which is not internet. Not good enough. Have you watched paper pig . £a7 million of extra costs, shares down 2 . Youre watching Business Live. Just because youre a tech startup doesnt mean you have to think small. Instead, london based Virtual Reality firm, improbable, has has raised 500 million in a Landmark Deal for the uk tech sector. Japans softbank is backing improbable in a Funding Round that values the business at more than 1 billion. Well lets get more on this with rory cellan jones. We should start with what improbable dolls. And improbable story. Founded to maggie years ago by two Cambridge UniversityComputer Science graduates. Founded by two Cambridge UniversityComputer Science graduates two years ago. The Gaming Businesses dont make much money. This is an early stage company. It hasnt got a lot of revenue. It has a huge vision. Ive been speaking to one of the co founders, and i was asking why gaming was quite important. Where they are going somewhere very exciting. It is when people stop seeing games as a distraction and start seeing them as a source of meaningful experience. The generation coming up, when they go into the experience, which we are hopefully able to power, the relationship with that medium will be different. Especially when it comes to time spent and engagement with it. Seeing the technology, the powers, that enables us to build a massive scale in the real world. Those problems tend to converge with the technological path we are on. From softbanks perspective, that whole spectrum of problems. How significant is this that the uk tech centre . This makes improbable one of the first unicorns. A unicorn is a Company Valued at more than 1 billion before it comes to the market. Lets stress what a huge bet this is by softbank. Softbank has a lot of money. It is spreading it Around The World. It bought the Chip Designer last year from the uk at a huge premium. It is a bet. It shows that in the uk there is a lot of great tech coming out. Particularly from universities. From the Artificial Intelligence field, Virtual Reality field, and the interesting thing about this is this company is staying independent. It is not being bought. It is a minority stake. They have said they wa nt to minority stake. They have said they want to stay british. That is a relief. Because we see so Many Companies build to a certain size in the uk and then go. I am thinking about deepmind. Yes, they were unknown, it was bought by google a number of years ago for the same amount of money, roughly, as what is being paid for a stake in improbable. Difference there, google bought control of deepmind, which has turned out to be fantastic, in terms of reputation and a leader in Artificial Intelligence. Whereas softbank just have Artificial Intelligence. Whereas softbankjust have a stake in this company. Snap gave their First Quarter figures this week. Did not get a great result in the markets, did they . They increased users, but 2 million fewer than expected. They are not making a profit. The market share dropped by more than 20 . Interesting parallels with improbable. A huge bet being placed on improbable but at a much earlier stage. Equally, placed on improbable but at a much earlierstage. Equally, enormous bet being made by investors on snap, that that will be a Communications Platform of the future. It is growing rapidly. The key thing is it isnt growing as rapidly as Investors Bet. And it needs to grow ata Investors Bet. And it needs to grow at a rate to justify that huge valuation. Question is, will this follow the trajectory of facebook, confound it. Or can Facebook Follow the trajectory of snap . Exactly. Follow the trajectory of snap . Exa ctly. 0 n follow the trajectory of snap . Exactly. On twi