Worldwide exchange on cnbc. Im sara eisen in washington today. Im wilfred frost back at cnbc headquarters. Good morning to you all from me as well. Particularly to you, sara. And to you. Well be back together in no time. Lets check in on the Global Market action. Split results yesterday. A slight gain for the dow, very slight losses for the s p and the nasdaq. It was a reversal of some of the more recent trends. We saw the bond proxies underperform. Utilities the best sector. They outperformed having underperformed recently. Energy which had fallen a couple sessions in the row sorry, had risen. Energy was the worst performing sector, down 1. 6 . This morning we are expected to bounce back. The dow called higher by 25 points, s p by a couple points, nasdaq by 1. 5 points. Bond markets slipped in terms of yield yesterday. We saw the treasury minutes which did seem to suggest a hike was coming fairly soon. Investors took that as meaning may as opposed to march. At 2. 40. As for the overnight action in asia, south koreas central bank kept rates unchanged. That was expected. Hang seng and shanghai saw markets sell off about a third of a percent. Pulling back from recent highs which have been global. Lets look at europe, both data and markets. German gdp had come out overnight, 0. 4 . So a little bit higher than what we expected. Suggesting on a quarterly basis things are looking good on a yearly basis, behind other nation like the u. S. And the uk. Markets, as you can see, higher, a little bit higher, not significantly. France leading the pack, 0. 3 . A bit of political relief at the margin overnight. An agreement to an alliance with mr. Macron easing the pressure for mr. Macron from the left. All things considered, still pretty evenly pared, the chances between mr. Macron, mr. Fillon and madam le pen. Lets look at broader markets. A plus for pronunciation of the french politicians. Oil is rising sharply. Wti up about 1. 5 . So is brent. Brent below 57 a barrel. Wti above 54. Maybe well see relief for the Energy Shares after they got slammed yesterday. The dollar index, after the Federal Reserve was out with minutes from the last fed meeting, theyre thinking of raising Interest Rates gradually and soon, though that didnt increase the march rate hike, but increased the probability of a may hike. Political risk out of france has weighed on the euro lately. Dollar is down to 113. 16 against the yen. A lot of that is the yield story. We have yet to see yields rise in a meaningful way in the last few sessions. Thats leading the dollar to languish here a bit. The pound a bit firmer here, 1. 247. Lets show you whats happening with gold, dollar sold off yesterday, helpful for gold, up 5. 20 an ounce. Moving on to the agenda weekly jobless claims out at 8 30 a. M. Eastern. Claims have been below 300,000 for 102 straight weeks, the longest stretch since 1970. A pair of fed officials are speaking today. Dennis lockhart and dallas fed president , robert kaplan. Hormel foods and kohls report before the open, after the close, hewlettpackard enterprise and nordstrom. President trump will meet with executives of Manufacturing Companies to discuss efforts to jump start the american economy. The focus is set to be on deregulation, work force training, infrastructure, taxes and trade. This is his second meeting with his Manufacturing Council, a council led by the ceo of dow. Calling them to the white house less than 30 days since they last came to discuss some of these issues. A signal perhaps that they had their homework, they will present it, talking about the issues. The question is will that translate into actual policy . Absolutely right. Its interesting you use that word homework. We heard that from other ceos. Some finance ceos mentioned they were given homework and to report back. The first meeting grabs the headline, but in the second and third meeting do we see action from it. Especially now because he has more cabinet secretaries in place. This one in particular reports to commerce secretary wilbur ross who has yet to be confirmed. Clearly its coming together. The question is, a, is Congress Going to get on board. All weve seen is actions from the president himself in the form of executive orders and advisory committees. Speaking of various cabinet members, treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin says the Trump Administration is targeting a goal of Economic Growth at 3 or higher. In an interview with the wall street journal, he suggested low growth since the financial crisis was an anomaly, and the result of Obama Administration policies that can now be reversed. The newly confirmed cabinet secretary says the trump team is working with Congressional Republicans on tax policy and has an ambitious goal of passing a tax code overhaul by august. Dont miss the first on cnbc interview later this morning on squawk box, 7 00 a. M. Eastern time. One not to miss. Reading that interview in the wall street journal, he did seem to say that a strong dollar was all right. It was something that was the result of a strong u. S. Economy. And that the two go hand in hand. Clearly you want a strong u. S. Economy. There was a converse point, he did say about the border adjustment tax that it could have an impact about where is the quote, about what the impact that might be on the dollar. So confused messaging, particularly on the dollar front from various different individuals within the cabinet and various individuals themselves. They seem to have mixed messages. Though i would say that it probably sent a lot of relief to former treasury secretaries who have always said that a strong dollar is in the best interest of the United States and to institutions who track these things. This is a typical imf answer, saying the strong dollar reflects the strength, relative strength of the u. S. Economy, in the longterm thats not such a bad thing. He also couched it by saying in the shortterm some of these moves can be adverse. I think if hes speaking to a Foreign Exchange market, you look at the action today, very little of it. Din do anything to disrupt it maybe hell clarify policies further. I would suggest he toed the common line here on previous treasury secretaries and other institutions and economists when it comes to talking about the dollar in the context of what the administration wants. Well see more of that from the interview on squawk box. Rex tillerson and Homeland Security secretary john kelly are in mexico to meet with its president and other leaders. This after a crackdown on undocumented immigrants was announced this week. New rules could let u. S. Immigration officers send nonmexican migrants back to mexico they came through that way on their way to the United States. It was a chilly reception these deputies got in mexico. Sean spicer called our relationship with mexico yesterday phenomenal. Well have to see how that meeting goes later today. You didnt mention the mexican peso . Israeliingsraeliing its back to the level it was before the election. If you look at the decline after the peak, thats coming off that peak at the high, thats the record low for the mexican peso. It has been recovering slowly and steadily as potentially President Trump has softened his rhetoric on mexico. I shouldnt have given you the chance to started on the mexican peso. We could keep going now. There we go. We will watch that meeting throughout the day. On to corporate earnings, tesla posted a wider than expected loss, and the model 3 is on track for volume production in september. Elon musk saying tesla will likely seek more capital because of that new model. Were considering a number of options. But i think it probably makes sense to raise capital to reduce risk. And teslas cfo has decided to leave the firm. He will be replaced by deepak ahuja, teslas first ceo. The first question on the analyst call was a question about whether the administration will speed up the efforts to go to mars and whether that would be a distraction to him. Adam jonas said this is a relevant question for tesla, because you are splitting your time between tesla and spacex. A lot to of space related revelations yesterday. I think thats why. Very exciting. Barclays swinging to a full year net profit in 2016, total income falling 3 below analyst estimates, as the bank continued to exit businesses. The bottom line was helped by a drop in legal costs and Strong Revenue from Investment Banking, in particular bond trading. Barclays also reporting a surprise increase in its core capital ratio as the company says it is months away from finishing its restructuring program. Cnbc spoke with jes staley earlier today about all of it. In the u. S. , if you look at core Investment Banking revenues which is m a fees, debt Capital Market underwriting fees, barclays was up year over year, even on a dollar basis. All the u. S. Banks were down year over year. So this notion that only the americans were gaining market share was not true in the u. S. Market for barclays. We think the morale in our Investment Bank is strong. Were committed to being a global Investment Bank. I think we had a good year in 2016. Barclay shares are being rewarded. Up 3. 3 . I picked that particular segment from jes staley, its interesting to see the difference within performance across the Investment Banks in europe. Barclays has been a beneficiary of the actions stateside in a way that maybe Deutsche Bank hasnt. U. S. Bank s are gaining, and european banks may be losing, and he was saying they have been gaining. You were talking about european banks losing share to the u. S. Banks. The question is is it barclays or potentially the rest of the european banks being underestimated. Well have to wait and see on that. More stocks to watch, hewlettpackard saying revenues rose 4 from a year earlier. Shares up 2. 5 . Shares of l Brands Taking a hit after First Quarter and 2017 guidance that fell short of expectations. The Parent Company of Victoria Secret saying comparative sales are likely to fall 20 this month. Down 13 . Jack in the box reporting a First Quarter profit and revenue miss. The results due in part to lower than expected sales and margins of the qudoba franchise. Did i say that right . Qudoba. You got it. A chipotle competitor. Square posting better than expected Fourth Quarter results. The companys strong results thanks to strong sales growth in all of its products and efforts to offer new services. Here is squares cfo, susan fryar on the call last night. We always had muscle in how to deal with regulated ors in ay thats good, and i feel its a competitive advantage for us. Not on the call, but in our studio. Square shares are surging, up about 9. 5 in the premarket. Boston beer projecting disappointing results for 2017. The brewer of sad adams and Angry Orchard says this is due to a more challenging retail environment with more options for drinkers that stock down . Big earnings after hours moves. Cheesecake factory continuing a sevenyear positive sales streak for this company. Sales increasing 1. 1 . When we come back, what wall street wants to know from washington. President trumps ceo meetings, we have the Manufacturing Council at the white house today. What does it mean for your investments and the economy . We have Chuck Gabriel joining us next in studio with me to discuss. Stay tuned, youre watching Worldwide Exchange on cnbc from cnbc World Headquarters and here in washington, d. C. Were drowning in information. Where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters . The stakes are so high, your finances, your future. How do you solve this . You dont. You partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. Morgan stanley. Release his tax plan soon, and White House PressSecretary Sean Spicer says it is expected in the next couple of weeks. Joining us to discuss what this could mean for investors who are hopeful of tax reform, we have president of Capital Alpha partners, Chuck Gabriel. Welcome. Thank you, sara. Nice to see you in person in washington. Treasury secretary mnuchin talking to the journal says we could see tax reform by august. Is that realistic . You have to have goals. As my daughter says, good luck with that. Not so much. Not so much. Part of the problem is to channel pink floyd, they have to eat their spinach before they can have any pudding, and they have to deal with obama care. While waiting for President Trump to come in with details on his phenomenal tax plan, we wont have too many details because he doesnt have too much staff at this stage. Members are back in their districts, and theyre having their town halls invaded by folks reading about obamacare, reading about it falling apart and the lack of plans to replace it. And theres a full scale insurrection. What is the status of that . So far theyve been waiting for so long to repeal it. Right. Theyre waiting to do all these things, including tax reform. The great thing is they vehaven wasted time the last two, three years, they have a good one from congressman brady and ryan all set to go. It will be tough enough. Now they have the green light to repeal and replace obamacare and obamacare happens to be falling apart. Theyll own it. It will become trump care. Proce proprocedurally because they decided to do obamacare first and then tax reform, you cant skip over it. You have to eat that spinach first, so it will be reflex. What time frame you are looking for the repeal and replacement of obamacare and then tax reform. We think they might not finish obamacare until july, they have the august recess. We are doing a lot of equivalent of price discovery with regard to the border adjustment tax that really is the long pole in the tent on tax reform. Its not as though theyre idle, they just cant get formally started. We dont think they will get through with obamacare until july. They make progress over the summer. The house will move beforehand. So well have action on the house floor, then the senate takes probably into september or october to pass its version. We go to conference committee. It may take until february. Its confusing because the gop has a tax plan. They have their way forward, the paul ryan tax plan. And were waiting on the administrations own version. Do we know how far apart they are, and whether the administrations tax plan includes a border adjustment tax which will would pay for this . No, and thats why its an easy sell getting people looking towards next tuesday and the president s address. He doesnt have a lot of staff. Hes not going to really put forward his socalled isnt gary cohn doing all of that . He is, but to have a real budget, it takes a great deal of detail. I think the three real questions are will he support the border adjustability tax, will he really support the concept of revenue neutrality or gloss over that, and then frankly beyond that, the issue is is he going to draw a line on a men minimum reduction in the top corporate rate. Does he have to get to 20 and draw that line in the sand . The real surprise could be that he glosses over the revenue neutrality issue by throwing a budget that proposes to cut spending, outside of entitlements by several billion dollars with a root canal type budget. A heritage type budget that weve seen in the past. That will really roil washington in a new way. Odds are they serve up a savory repast in the end, but the sausage making will take all year. Trump may be threatening to fire chefs all along the way. Its not clear that theyll be able to keep mouths watering as these index move beyond yearend price targets, as they already have begun. It is amazing to see. Wilfred, did you have a question . I did picking up on something that sara hinted at, in terms of who has the most power on economic matters, at least, within the trump white house. All focused on what mr. Mnuchin might say today and the days ahead. Is gary cohn the real power player there . He had a lot of influence in the early weeks, or is it someone else altogether like mr. Bannon . Thats what we assume looking from the outside. Theyre both talented. Its interested, though, in the way we have this dialectect down here, normally you have an army of economists. So much of the dialogue and narrative is driven by economic arguments. Heres a president who has not yesterday decided whether he wants to refill the council of economic advisers. We are getting off to a bit of a late start. Theres been loyalty tests for the levels below, the cabinet secretary. Its a bit of a slow start. Democrats are trying to slow things down. I think it is mnuchin and certainly is gary cohn, theyre very competent. You have a Republican Congress that has done so much of the work. Theyre on to 2. 0. Its a credible tax plan, but base broadening tax reform, if you have to stay revenue neutral, its a very, very tough hurdle. We went through that in 1986. Very, very difficult. Thats on top of obamacare. Im not an expert on that, but that looks like, you know, the germans rushing in beginning to get bogged down in the russian winter in 1945. That could be the real surprise that we get we gag on the spinach is what im saying. Its an ambitious agenda. Chuck, thank you for joining us. Thank you. Chuck gabriel ahead of our interview with Steve Mnuchin. Wilfred . Still to come, a round up of the overseas movers. Stay tuned. Were back in a couple min