and director of moody's around the desk. let's talk about the first quarter. i spent a lot of time talking ubs and the numbers and being very bullish. we see this, given seasonality, how much of the strength was se seasonality and how much is strength? >> well, we do expect that the markets will remain volatile. so we're not saying that one quarter necessarily makes a trend. but it was a good quarter for the european investment of funds and the market revenues with the exception of barclays. but really, what we saw was that capital markets revenues pulled the revenues for the quarter. because as revenues overall were relatively flat. and that's really reflecting, you know, weaker results in some of the noncapital markets where low interest rates continue. >> much of 2016, i feel like we talked about the fact that u.s. banks were gaining markets here at the expense of the european rivals. do you feel with that strong first quarter, european investors are able to claim back the risk markets here or is it too early? >> i think

this is what moodies is highlighted again. moody's has not pressed that panic button. chinese paper is still investment grade. but it does send a signal. what it suggests is that it may be less of a good thing, of course, for international investors to invest money in china. now, those signals are very much there. what we've had in china in recent months is an effort for them to try to protect the value of their currency. not let it push down. by doing that, they have stopped people from being able to take money out of china. that, too, has been a bad signal for many investors. of course without investing -- investors coming into china, there is the problem that more own news will onus will be on domestics to keep up the pace of growth which may be unsustainable. if you look back at some of the japanese newspaper stories over the last few months, there are stories that many japanese companies, this will also relate to u.s. companies and other foreign companies, are having difficulties because they cannot take money out of china and back to the parent, this is creating

copper is on the move after moody's downgraded china. we'll hit the future pits next. ♪ predictable. the comfort in knowing where things are headed. because as we live longer... and markets continue to rise and fall... predictable is one thing you need in retirement to help protect what you've earned and ensure it lasts. introducing brighthouse financial. a new company established by metlife to specialize in annuities & life insurance. talk to your advisor about a brighter financial future. >>> welcome back to "the halftime report." i'm jackie deangelis. we are watching copper today falling after moody's downgraded china's credit rating for the first time in nearly 30 years. china the world's largest consumer of copper. did you short copper on the down grade? >> i did not. that was a mixed down grade. think of how moody's hedged themselves. that was actually an upgrade. the modern day silk road from 2,000 years ago in china, that silk road we're calling one belt one road will touch 50% of global gdp, and that infrastructure should buoy