india, ford's allen moulally. caution has crept in before the week is out. european markets are marginally out, asian markets are marginally down. futures are flat. the predicted number of new jobs is around about 150,000. many say that is better but charles still not good enough. >> no. i think that's very much going to be what is dominating investor thought really all way around the globe. we are seeing this slight rebound here in europe. there was a bit of a sell-off, i think perhaps in anticipation of a strong nonfarm payroll. maybe as many as 90,000 jobs being created. that's the whisper number on wall street. as that number goes down to more than 150,000, which seems to be the consensus, there's less prospect of u.s. interest rates being moved up soon and perhaps there's pressure on the euro. there is a lot of worry out here behind all of this. we're still worrying about banks. .only credit rights issue a couple of days ago is still being talked about in the markets because there's a big worry about european banks having to raise capital. here we are up by about 0.66% for the xetra dax, paris cac current, up by nearly 1% right now. let's have a look at the currency markets. we're looking at really a lot of weakness on the part of the euro. 127.83. it has been significantly lower than this. well down below 1.28. all way down to a 15-month low against the dollar. the debt crisis taking its toll on currencies. japanese yen 77 and a bit of change, andrew. >> speaking is of japan, that's one thing the japanese don't want to see is the weaker euro. the euro zone, such a key market for japanese companies. this is how the weekended here in asia today. chinese stocks pummeled in the longest losing streak now for years. europe's troubles continuing to discourage investors. investors ignoring the fall in the u.s. jobless claims which we got yesterday. instead they're focusing on the disappointing news, the white house is not considering a rumored trillion dollar mortgage refinancing scheme. we have rising french italian bond yields all adding to the gloom. banking stocks not surpriselily, leading the hang seng down, down by more than 1%. there was one bright spot, one sector outperforming today, chinese energy stocks having agreat day, after the chinese government raised the tax threshold on the amount of money earned from oil income. as you see, giving a boost to the big oil plays in china. charles? okay, let's have a look back at wall street and the thursday session there. well, we had some gains there for the banks, jobless claims so it would appear were down. obviously there was jobs data which was quite updata. there's also speculation that the white house may unveil a nationwide mortgage refinancing plan. so let's have a look now at how trading is set to begin on wall street when the u.s. stock markets open this friday. so we are looking at a very, very marginal bounce, andrew. >> we certainly are. okay. charles, now, today is the first friday of the month. and that means we learn how the u.s. is faring on employment. and this is the key number as far as the world's biggest economy is concern. the picture has been improving over recent months and the november jobless rate was actually down at 8.6%, much lower than had been expected. it was actually at its lowest level since march of 2009. so what are we expecting on the nonfarm payrolls? how many more jobs will be added? 150,000. that's in december. let's see how that compares with the rest of the year. take a look at this. this over the past 12 months or so. it transpires, 150,000 will be pretty average. now despite a relatively strong start we saw here, last year back at the beginning of 2011 and then a late resurgent in the summer it was overall a year that president obama needs to improve on. he can take some heart, though, adp reports that 325,000 private sector jobs were added in december. that's nearly twice as many as analysts had been predicting. and at a time when republicans are fighting the influence of what they call big government, this obviously is a notable success. this is the number and this is why, charles, obviously the markets in asia fairly quiet today. not a lot of volume once again. there hasn't been much volume all week. this is the number everyone is looking at. >> okay. let's have a look at more broadly at the jobs market and employment in the united states, because the once-thriving finance and real estate sectors are struggling to rebound from the economic crisis that really has been with us since 2008 if not before. however, there is a secretarier that is faring better than ever. american students are turning to technology as a means of making big money. and taech education is a growth industry in itself as maggie lake reports. >> reporter: how are you? 21-year-old zack sims is one of the masterminds between code academy. >> i think we knew programming is the new version of literacy but at the same time it's staggering to see the number of people who have signed up. >> reporter: proo positive there's still a massive craving around the globe to develop the next big thing. >> i think programming is really the most important skill in the 21st century. people are realizing that. there are a lot of women and people who wouldn't be learning to program. >> reporter: learning code won't turn you into the next mark zuckerberg overnight but it is a first step and can ultimately lead to finding a job in an economy starved for computer professionals. young people are taking notice. new york institute of technology's manhattan campus is seeing a 40% rise in applications. from students who might have been lured into finance years ago. >> this is here to stay. >> reporter: demand should remain robust for years. >> it's not just about coding. coding can be outsourced. it's more the thrill of inconvenient thing and creating new technology, new software. >> reporter: one success story at this school, 21-year-old robert pinkerton. >> i graduated this december 2011 with a degree from nyt in computer engineering and received about ten potential job offers. in the time of maybe a month and a half. >> what happened? >> reporter: meanwhile, back at the office i took a stab at my first line of code. >> now you need the prarenthese right there. >> i see. >> reporter: even those who will never become computer programmers, they can learn by learning the code. >> we are all using phones and computers. we have to understand how they work. it's a better way to live your life, understand what you're using. >> reporter: a great resolution as we enter 2012. >> you passed with flying colors. >> reporter: he has to say that. he's sitting right there. watch out, mark zuckerberg. maggie lake, cnn, new york. staying with technology, the former ceo of the optical equipmentmaker olympus has abandoned his fight to get his job back. michael woodford who was sacked in october after he blew the whistle on a billion dollar accounting fraud plans to sue the company for his unfair dismissal. he flew into tokyo to rally support for his reinstatement. wolfford says olympus' big japanese shareholders let him down. he has harsh word for the company's president. >> if that had been in any other capitalist market in the world, takayama would have had fruit thrown at him the athe press conference. the headlines would be "idiot, liar, fool." how could he have said these payments were appropriate and good value? but he stays. >> mark woodford going down fighting. the news hasn't hurt olympus' share price. it was up by 2.25%. if you look at the longer term, it has a long way to go before it recovers its huge losses since the scandal broke just under three months ago. one stage down more than 80%. still down by more than 40%. charles? just ahead on "world business today," as western powers increase the pressure on iran to try to limit its nuclear program, the country is playing its next strongest hand. we'll assess what threats a blockade could mean for the global oil industry. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. somebody didn't book with travelocity, with 24/7 customer support to help move them to the pool daddy promised! look at me, i'm swimming! somebody, get her a pony! [ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. from the price to the room to the trip you'll never roam alone. the price of nymex crude at $102, up just a fraction. volatility has been the name of the game on the oil markets in recent weeks. it's caused in no small part by the iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad. crude prices rose 2%. there was respite on thursday as royal dutch shell said it started reproduction at a nigerian oil field. good news from a different source. however, volatility is also down to u.s. threat. there we are. is also down to the u.s. threats of sanctions against iran. which is, of course, opec's second biggest exporter of crude oil. iran can control strategically important strait of hormuz and has threatened to block it altogeth altogether. the straight is only 34 kilometers wide at its narrowest point. there are the straits of hormuz. a huge choke point. we have all of these producers right up here, the emirates and saudi arabia and, of course, kuwait and iraq at the head of the gulp. that means one-sixth of the world's oil production passes through this one strait. one-third of the sea-borne oil. if the strait is closed for just one hour, 60 minutes, some traders say oil prices would see a spike of at least 50%. now obviously some nations are trying to ease their reliance on iran and those include japan, south korea and india, all of whom are reportedly looking elsewhere. andrew? >> yes, charles, as you pointed out on that chart, iran is second only to saudi arabia in opec's list of oil-exporting nations. a restriction on its supplies could send prices which are already about $100 a barrel, even higher. with a somewhat battered and bruised global economy at the moment that could threaten any recovery. we have a senior research analyst. he jones us now. let's start off with a nightmare scenario of a closure of the straits of hormuz. how likely is that? >> very unlikely. that could have catastrophic effects on the global economy. you'd see oil prices strike above $200 a battle. it was cause a global recession. for iran, it would close off their export capability. everyone loses if the straits of hormuz is closed. i think you can't rule it out but i think at this point i would say it's unlikely. >> what is the more likely scenario then and what do you think that will mean for the price of crude? >> i think increasingly you'll see a ratcheting up of sanctions. eu leaders will take a position on whether or not to basically put an embargo in place on the purchase of iranian crude. if that goes ahead, it didn't shut off iran's export but it basically reduces the number of buyers and increasinincreasingl be forced to sell into asia and africa. it will be a distressed seller. >> how much less? >> $20, $30 a barrel. it could be in some cases having to resort to barter trade. it certainly would increase the cost to iran, reduce the money they get from selling oil and it would have a massive financial implication to the country. >> countries like china, south korea, japan, rely on iran for roughly 10% of their oil needs. if these countries decide to not buy iranian oil, how easy is it for them to be able to replace their supply? >> well, the world has about 3 1/2 to 4 million barrels of spare capacity. iran currently produces about 3.5 million barrels of exports, about 2.5 million barrels a day. if we lost that 2.5 million barrels to the market, effectively, saudi arabia would have to step in and make up for that shortfall. the problem is, the saudi crude is of a different quality to the iranian crude and what that means is that refineries that are depend enept on lighter crude are going to be short of oil. what that means is that brands such as brent will be trading at a significant premium. there is oil to cover this but it will -- it's the wrong type of oil. >> whatever happens on this scenario we'll see higher rather than lower price? >> i think in the near term as we see pressure mount on iran, if the eu follows through on sanctions, i think this will result in the short term of increased oil prices, just given the risks of that disruption of supply. >> significant, could you put a number on it? >> i think it's difficult to put a number on it. in the short term i could see oil testing over $120, $125 a barrel. >> brent? >> yes, brent, those kinds of number. like we saw in 2011, of course, with libya, this is the point at which the marginal consumer in the u.s. starts to get squeezed out, starting driving less and it begins to impact the global economy. >> it's a tipping point, isn't it? >> yes. >> charles? japan's prime minister want tos double the sales tax from 5% to 10% by 2015, amid fears that the country may become the next greece. japan has the highest debt-to-gdp ratio in the developed world and the fastest aging population. after the tsunami and nuclear crisis, the ruling party says it's pay now or possibly default later. cnn cnn's kyung lah. >> reporter: they are proposing an increase in the national sales tax. this bottle of sake costs 1,000 yen or about 10 u.s. dollars. the national sales tax is currently at 5%. so on the 1,000 yen bottle of sake, i had to pay 50 yen in taxes. under the current proposal, by 2014, the tax would jump to 8% or 80 yen for the bottle of sake. and by the year 2015 the national sales tax would jump to 10% or i would have to pay 100 yen for that same bottle of sake. that is double what i paid today. as you can imagine, this is highly unpopular. to be honest, says this taxpayer, i don't want the sales tax but i guess i don't have a choice. we can see what's happening in greece and italy says toshiko misu. we're taking the debt talk more seriously and ready to accept this. japan's government fears its own ballooning debt will follow the same trend and be out of control. japan's debt is far higher than greece, but less risky because it's domestically owned. japan still has the highest national debt in the developed world with the fastest aging population on the planet. a demographic and taxation time bomb. add to that reconstruction from last year's devastating earthquake/tsunami and ongoing nuclear and energy crisis. japan's prime minister and his ruling party says the parliament must figure out a way to pay for everything. in addition to paying down the huge national debt before it's too late. the crucial moment is on the horizon, says japan's prime minister, urging lawmakers to pass his tax plan. we must unite and make this happen. a bitter pill but one that any country with a national debt problem may eventually have to swallow. kyung lah, cnn, tokyo. myanmar is playing host to another high profile guest this week as it tries to improve relations with the rest of the world. the british foreign secretary william hague is there to meet leaders who hope to end western sanctions. he'll meet aung san suu kyi as well. they're hoping to secure the release of thousands of political prisoners in return for the lifting of trade embargoes. for years myanmar has been a no-go area not just for foreign politicians but for many regular travelers as well. as the country begins to open up, there are signs it's earning its place back on the tourist trail. paula hancock visited at the end of last year to see what's attracting all the interest. >> reporter: this is the pa goda, 2,500 years old, it's said to enshrine various items. in any other country, such a site would be swarming with tourists. but this is myanmar. until earlier this year, off the list of desired places due to the brutal military junta. with a strong government, albeit linked to the military and tentative reforms comes new travel interests. there are definitely more tourists coming here to myanmar, according to the ticket office, around 1,000 foreign visitors every single day on average come to see this pegoda. for a country isolated from the rest of the world for so many years, these images are p.r. gold. if the top u.s. diplomat hillary clinton is happy to visit, why not tourists? the ministry of hotels and tourism says around 790,000 people visited last year. that's expected to rise to 900,000 this year. >> hillary was coming before us. i figured if it was good for her, it would be good for us. we're fine. >> we recognize that it's changing. we've been there in january this year and now it's getting more modern. >> reporter: myanmar has a long way to go before it can consider competing with neighboring thailand. the infrastructure has been neglected for decade and the economy is cash-driven and riddled with widely differing exchange rates. but with little outside influence for so long, the heritage of the country has been preserved. making it one of southeast asian tourism's last frontiers. paula hancocks, cnn, myanmar. coming up on "world business today," looking east. we hear from the man in the driver's seat at ford about where he thinks his company lies. stay with cnn, the world's news leader. welcome back to "world business today." a quick check now on some of the other business stories this hour. india's king fisher airlines has until monday to address safety concerns raised by the country's civil aviation regulator. the deadline comes as part of a safety audit of their airlines. the regulator is concerned that financial problems at airlines could lead to compromises on passenger safety. >> barnes & noble, america's biggest book store chain says it's considering spinning off its fast-growing nook ereader business. the announcement and forecast of a much bigger loss than expected took 17% off the company's share price on thursday. barnes & noble face stiff competition in the e-reader market. amazon kindle and apple's ipad is popular as well. >> and the "spider-man" musical spinoff "turn off the dark" opened last june, it was delayed by royalty disputes and the death of a producer, as well as other things. now it's a huge success. this is how much it took in at the box office last week, $2.9 million, a one-week record for a broadway show. speaking of shows in new york, let's have a look at the shows in europe, perhaps. stock market action in europe, where trading has been under way for 90 minutes, we are seeing a little bit of a bounce for some of these indices after a bruising couple of sessions particularly for indices like the paris cac currant. that is making back a bit of the ground it lost over the past two. the dax up by 0.3%. zurich, scant games, a fraction of a percent for the london ftse, andrew. >> not so much of a bounce in asia pacific, charles. the weekending with a lot of bang, not a lot of bang, rather a whimper. the key markets ended like this, nikkei down 1%, not being helped by the euro's weakness. down under 128 now. hong kong ending the day down by a similar amount. only shanghai up today and australia you'll see down by about 0.8%. now, let's talk about one specific stock which has been having a great 12 months, samsung electronics, the south korean giant sweeping past its arch rival apple in spartphone sales. now thank to those sales, samsung estimates record-breaking profits for the fourth quarter. ramy inocencio joins us with the numbers. it must be nice for a company to take on apple and beat it. >> sam