Bell. The german wings crash on tuesday that killed all 150 people on board appears to have been orchestrated by the copilot. He apparently deliberately flew the aircraft into a mountain after locking the captain from the cockpit according to french prosecutors. The investigation is ongoing. Billionaire leon cooperman telling clients as firm has been subpoenaed by the sec. The agency is seeking information on certain securities. A tumble in biotechnology stocks entering a fourth day. Investors with drawing more than 420 million from biotech in the past four days. Thats the most since last april. Less than an hour until the close of trading. I want to get right to the latest. Scarlet, its a lackluster day for the market considering that make selloff yesterday. Scarlet at one point today it just looked like we were going to recover. The dow got as much as 41 points in the plus column before giving that all up. Right now you can see we are lower by 33 point. If you look at treasuries, for a second day, relatively weak demand. Todays 5year note fell yesterday. The least amount demand since 2009. The market is unconvinced as to when the Federal Reserve will actually raise Interest Rates. Dennis lockhart talked about the prospect of handling higher borrowing costs. If you look at whats been going on here today, we are little changed now with the s p 500 up and down. It is basically unchanged at this point. Only the nasdaq is firmly in the green but this week selling has moved it farther away from its record high. I want to point out some of the victims from higher oil prices. That would be airlines. The bloomberg u. S. Airline index declining by 1. 25 . Including American Airlines off by 1. 6 and jetblue losing 1. 3 . Alix we will check back in with you later in the show. At any moment, senator john mccain will hold a News Conference and is expected to address the ongoing crisis in yemen. We expect he will be critical of president obama. Peter cook has more for us. Peter what we have heard from john mccain over the past 24 hours, he has first been very supportive of the saudis and their airstrikes in yemen, their decision to launch those airstrikes against the militants, and highly questioning the administration over its strategy not just in yemen but in the broader middle east. Accusing the administration of leading from behind and not doing enough to address the situation. Not just in yemen but in iraq and the fight against Islamic State. Senator mccain has been very critical of the administrations strategy. He will be joined eyes senator Lindsey Graham and other members of the Armed Services committee. Well see if theyre calling on the United States to provide more than logistical and intelligence support or more direct action which the white house is making clear is not happening in terms of the u. S. Military in yemen. We will hear from senator mccain in just a little bit. They are about to have a twoweek recess so this is one of the final opportunities for john mccain to get a word in on this conflict. Alix saudi arabia and its allies begin a second night of airstrikes in yemen. Planes have reportedly bombed locations in the capital and the countrys northwest. The movement is associated with iraq because its followers follow a form of the shiite branch of islam. This is not the first time the Saudi Air Force has attacked these positions. Oil surging on the news after the saudi attacks, up as much a 6 on the day. Joining me to discuss all the implications is catherine specter of Cibc World Markets and an adviser on middle eastern and south asian affairs. He joins us from our toronto newsroom. With me in new york city is willem marx. I would like for you to outline who the players are and work the board for us a little bit. The movement started off as a group of disenfranchised people in the northwest of yemen who belong to a minority religious group. That has expanded to include a coalition of Political Parties people disenchanted with the current government in yemen. On the other side you have the legitimate yemen president and the growing coalition of saudi partners that includes the united arab emirates, sudan, morocco, one country not involved is oman, which is staying neutral. Alix when you look at the relationship between the houthis and iran, where does iran sit . Iran does support them. The question is how. Are they getting a lot of cash from the iranians . I dont think so. Iran is pretty cashstrapped itself. Yemen is really far away from iran. Yemen is not iraq, certainly not syria or lebanon. Its in the backyard of the saudis. Its an area that is not really accessible to the iranians, but yet they smuggle weapons. There is a political relationship but im skeptical in terms of how much support the iranians can offer the houthis. You have to bear in mind that these weapons supplies going to the rebels from iran have been to the west of yemen, opposite egypt. Now egypt is getting involved in the conflict, they are sending it doesnt fighter jets and a naval frigate to patrol that region of the coast. For the iranians to get anything to the rebels, its got to be coming all the way around the other side of the peninsula. Alix catherine, that leads us to your expertise. You are one of the most accurate forecasters for oil prices over the last few years. Why is oil up on this news . Yemen doesnt even have that much oil. Catherine what captured the markets imagination today is yemens potential to disrupt shipping. There is a Narrow Strait that connects the gulf of aden to the red sea. At the end of the day, this is not the number one chokepoint in the world and there are alternatives. Oil can transit around the port of africa and north from there. It takes longer, but its doable. But thats really what the market is looking at. It is yemens position as a potential chokepoint. Alix when you look at the players in yemen, saudi arabia seems very late to the game. Does it create more an opportunity for the houthis to gain more traction . That is true. The saudis have been preoccupied. It would be fair to say the saudis have been shouldering responsibility for much of the region to make sure the arab spring and its fallout does not lead to more regimes collapsing. They have been dealing with efforts to topple assad in syria. Yemen has been low on their priority, but more importantly, the saudi way of handling human playing factions off, has weakened the yemeni state and does came the arab state and they had to ease out the president and bring in his successor. That situation has allowed the houthis to expand and project power from the northwest of the country. Wanted the ironies is the position who left his position in 2012 after his palace was attacked in the capital, he was bombing the houthis in the northwest. He is now allied with them because he wants to maintain his status in yemen. If the president does now there is well, its a very good inc. A good example of the saudis wanting to maintain their influence in yemen. Alix president obama has said in the past that yemen was a model for u. S. Efforts to fight terrorism by relying on training allied forces rather than risking american lives. This at hold any water, and does a strategy had to be changed . Thats another irony, the seemingly natural allies of the United States in fighting jihad in yemen, and now with iis trying to expand its footprint it is a houthi movement. They are the enemies of the jihadists. It was a confusing situation where the United States is also supporting the saudi effort for intelligence and Logistical Support against the houthis while it needs them to fight the jihadists. Its a difficult balancing act. Alix a confusing situation. You said it all there. When you look at the oil market how long do you think the risk premium in the Geopolitical Market will last, and how much will it account for . Todays risk is probably overdone given the risk of disruption due to exports in the gulf. While we cannot rule it out entirely, we think that trait route a trade route will be protected and they have the means to do so. We think the probability of that is quite low. We had a lot of short positions in the market. Alix and what happens if it draws in iran even closer as well as saudi arabia becoming that proxy battle. Do you think thats an actual possibility that the conflict play out more on the ground in yemen . It is already playing out. The fact that the houthis have risen and the saudis have put together coalition to defeat a group that is not as allowed as a light as they thought. That speaks volumes about how the geo sectarian conflict is playing itself out. It is a fullblown conflict. Alix thank you so much for all your insight and thanks for joining me. After the break, we will get an update on the germanwings mistry. I will speak with afghanistans ceo, his take on the situation in yemen and the Financial Outlook for his country. Alix major developments from the investigation of the germanwings crash that killed 150 people in the french alps. French prosecutors saying the copilot most likely made the plane crashed deliberately and the pilot had been locked out of the cockpit. A 28yearold german citizen and the ceo of lufthansa said in a News Conference today there is no indication that the crash was an act of terrorism, and that the pilot was deemed 100 to fly. Mark, any word on possible motivation why this happened . Mark the German Authorities are now investigating the background and the mental state and any concerns along those lines of the copilot. What is clear is that the french authorities released information they found in the voice recorder in the black box today. It was clear that the copilot had control of the plane at the time of the dissent. He overrode the autopilot and action the steady descent of the plane at full speed into the mountainside. He also kept out the commander the captain of the plane, who had left the cockpit briefly probably to go to the washroom. So this seems like a deliberate act to say it properly, prosecutors said it was a delivered act on the part of the copilot and they do not have more on motivation at this time. That is now over to the German Authorities to investigate that. Alix more stunning headlines and more questions than answers. Coming up next, american air power joins the iran backed defensive in iraq. Will be efforts be enough to topple Islamic State control in the region . Alix here are the top stories ahead of the closing bell. Vladimir putin is accusing western spies of plotting to destabilize russia before elections. He targeted organizations that receive foreign funding adding moscow will not relax security over their activity. According to the associated press, the u. S. Is considering letting iran run hundreds of centrifuges at one secret underground bunker in exchange for limits on centrifuge work that could lead to an atomic bomb. According to a filing, montag was awarded 14 million in total compensation for last year compared with 13 million for moynahan. Staying in the middle east, u. S. Warplanes joining the assault on saddam husseins hometown. Footage showed american jets bombing targets integrate overnight. Iraqi forces are trying to retake the city from Islamic State militants. Still with me is katherine specter and stephen cook, senior fellow for middle Eastern Studies with the council for foreign relations. Thank you both for being here. Stephen, lets start with you. Wasnt getting to create under control to post supposed to be the easy thing that would happen in iraq . Stephen the operation was begun without the coordination of the United States. There was a lot of optimism on the part of the militias that took part in the operation. Of course that now bald down against the Islamic State and the United States has used the opportunity to insert its influence and authority there and is now using airstrikes to try to dislodge the remaining isis fighters. Alix what is the relationship on the ground that they seemingly have the common goal of fighting islamic militants . Steven the administration has been careful to say there has been no coordination. Central command has done the same. There are reports that the u. S. Demanded iranian commanders to leave the area before it would undertake strikes against Islamic State. What a funny thing happened on the battlefield. As your moving people around and youre both undertaking air strikes and artillery strikes there has got to be some coordination going on. It stands to reason there is at least at some level some communication here. Alix katherine, tikrit was supposed to be something that could be managed. What is the state of Oil Production in iraq . Experts were supposed to be 3. 3 Million Barrels a day on average. Katherine iraq is an ironic situation. Last year, normally we expect geopolitical strife is bad for Oil Production. Last year because the kurds made a good showing against isis, they were rewarded by baghdad with the ability to exports and oil from the North Country which they had not been allowed to do in the past. We actually saw more oil coming to market from iraq. There is some risk in both directions in this case. Alix where would you place your bets . The fighting continues in tikrit and multiple as well. And mosul as well. Katherine iraq has the potential to grow their production. I would say the risk is to the upside. Alix i went to get your take on iran. Stephen, do you think we will have a nuclear deal by march 29 or the 31st, as the u. S. Has been pushing for . Stephen it is hard to tell. Reports today would suggest the u. S. Is making a certain number of concessions in order to censure deal. When you speak to people who are in the know on this issue, they say when he comes to negotiations sometimes you know things will go positively and sometimes negatively. In this case, we dont know, it could go either direction. Alix even if there was a deal, it would be hard to sell in iran and the u. S. Because of the right wing. Katherine that is an issue for both sides of the negotiation on selling a deal at home. The devil is also in the details. We will still have several months to work out the technical details, and thats where we would get the real information about what might happen in alix it was great to have you, thanks for joining us. Coming up next, todays move into safe haven traits, we are counting down to the close. We will talk currencies, coming up next. Alix here are the top stories were watching ahead of the closing bell. Indiana governor mike pence signing into law a religious objections will. Some leaders oppose the bill because it can allow discrimination against gay people. The measure would prohibit state and local laws that substantially burden the ability of people including businesses and associations, to follow their religious beliefs. There is some backlash already. Attention tech ceos, Pay Attention to what is happening in indiana and how it will impact your employees and customers. General motors ceo encouraging women to take on new challenges from studying science to accepting jobs that are outside their area of expertise. She told women, dont be afraid. Identity newscast will be produced a daily newscast. Where just under 30 minutes until the close of trading. Lets go back to the breaking news dest where scarlet fu is looking at the latest movers. Scarlet come inside the bloomberg terminal and start with the share price this afternoon. Over the last six months, trading at a record high. Want to show you the bottom part of the screen, which gives a picture of the volume here. 10 million shares changing hands , which is more than three times the daily average. So a heavy volume on a stock that is now trading at a record high. There was an ftc notice that there was an offshore fund potential deal with starwood. Its not clear what type of transaction was approved, but there is speculation that because it is an activist fund, there might be some momentum building their and thats why the stock is trading higher. Starwood did not respond to requests for comment. Other hotels shares are moving up, names like hilton, hyatt, and marriott. Gains of at least 3. 75 for hyatt hotels. Alix staying focused on the markets, investors are looking for safe havens. Gold, swiss francs, u. S. Treasury, to name just three. Oil prices advancing after bombing targets in yemen. Global stocks falling the s p erasing its gains for the year. What is it about the crisis in yemen that is having such significant repercussions all around the globe . Im here with the chief economist at Pine Ridge Investments and katherine spector. What do you make of this flight to safety . It never really lost its status. After s p remove the peg it was just revalued. There were lots of positions put on while the peg was on and it was removed without notice. It took a couple of weeks before the market settled back at the normal level. Alix what do you think is the most popular safe haven now . Markus its hard to buy a lot of swiss francs or swiss bonds especially with swiss bond deals in negative territory. You cant invest in anything anymore because of the low value. If you look at aaa rated securities, so much of the safe haven waves build into other assets. Alix also weve seen flows into the dollar. What becomes the relationship between safe haven inflows into the dollar and oil . Katherine it comes and goes and the dollar has rallied. That has been one of the variables contributing to oil prices. Today is a little bit different because of the geopolitical risk that maybe forcing people to save havens is perceived as a bullish risk for oils. Its a common nation of things. Certainly fundamentals determined direction of oil, but sometimes other factors can play in two momentum in velocity. Over the last couple of months there is significant inflows of retail money into Exchange Traded products. That has been something that has given a little bi