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Health

Rice College Says Virus Take a look at Glitch Prompted False Positives

Rice University Says Virus Test Glitch Caused False Positives

Rice University, where more than 95 percent of students are vaccinated, announced a move to remote classes last week after testing showed an alarmingly high number of community members with breakthrough coronavirus infections.

Those results, the university now says, were badly distorted by a testing glitch.

Of 4,500 tests administered on the Rice campus, 81 had returned positive results, mostly in vaccinated members of Rice’s community. Even in Houston, where the Delta variant was surging, the results were a surprise. Rice had taken tough efforts to control coronavirus in its community, practically demanding that students, faculty and staff be vaccinated, even as the state of Texas prohibited vaccination mandates. The university also required masks.

Further examination revealed that most of the people who appeared to have tested positive were actually negative for the virus, the university now says.

When Rice began to examine the cases, it found that the results didn’t make sense, according to a note to the university community on Sunday from Kevin E. Kirby, vice president for administration at Rice. Most of the people who tested positive did not have any symptoms. And the cases were scattered, with no clusters.

Rice discovered that the testing provider that reported so many positive results had just switched to using a new test. When 50 of the people who tested positive were retested using different types of tests, all but one of the results came back negative.

All the same, Rice says that it plans to stick with its decision to move to remote learning until Sept. 3. According to a university Covid dashboard, Rice now considers only 27 of the 4,500 tests administered on campus since Aug. 13 to have yielded true positive results, not 81.

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Business

U.S. Economic system Rebounds as Ache Brought on by Pandemic Eases: Stay Updates

Here’s what you need to know:

The economy picked up speed last quarter, shaking off some of the lingering effects of the pandemic as consumer spending grew, bolstered by government stimulus checks and an easing of restrictions in many parts of the country.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the economy expanded 1.6 percent in the first three months of 2021, compared with 1.1 percent in the final quarter last year.

On an annualized basis, the first-quarter growth rate was 6.4 percent.

Gross domestic product,

adjusted for inflation and

seasonality, at annual rates

Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation

and seasonality, at annual rates

“This was a great way to start the year,” said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “We had the perfect mix of improving health conditions, strong fiscal stimulus and warmer weather.”

“Consumers are now back in the driver’s seat when it comes to economic activity, and that’s the way we like it,” he added. “A consumer that is feeling confident about the outlook will generally spend more freely.”

Looking ahead, economists said they expected to see even better numbers this quarter.

“It’s good news, but the better news is coming,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “There’s nothing in this report that makes me think the economy won’t grow at a gangbusters pace in the second and third quarter.”

The expansion last quarter was spurred by stimulus checks, he said, which quickly translated into purchases of durable goods like cars and household appliances.

“This demonstrates the value of government intervention when the economy is on its knees from Covid,” he added. “But in the coming quarters, the economy will be much less dependent on stimulus as individuals use the savings they’ve accumulated during the pandemic.”

Cumulative percent change in

G.D.P. from the start of the

last five recessions

Final quarter

before

recession

5 quarters

into recession

Cumulative percent change in G.D.P.

from the start of the last five recessions

Final quarter

before

recession

5 quarters

into recession

Overall economic activity should return to prepandemic levels in the current quarter, Mr. Anderson said, while cautioning that it will take until late 2022 for employment to regain the ground it lost as a result of the pandemic.

Still, the labor market does seem to be catching up. Last month, employers added 916,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 6 percent, while initial claims for unemployment benefits have dropped sharply in recent weeks.

Tom Gimbel, chief executive of LaSalle Network, a recruiting and staffing firm in Chicago, said: “It’s the best job market I’ve seen in 25 years. We have 50 percent more openings now than we did pre-Covid.”

Hiring is stronger for junior to midlevel positions, he said, with strong demand for professionals in accounting, financing, marketing and sales, among other areas. “Companies are building up their back-office support and supply chains,” he said. “I think we’re good for at least 18 months to two years.”

Spending on goods like automobiles led the way in the first quarter, but demand for services like dining out should revive in the second quarter, said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “I think we will see a surge in services spending,” she said.

As more Americans become vaccinated, many economists expect a decline in new unemployment claims.Credit…James Estrin/The New York Times

Initial jobless claims fell last week to yet another pandemic low in the latest sign that the economic recovery is strengthening.

About 575,000 people filed first-time claims for state unemployment benefits last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised figure. It was the third straight week that jobless claims had dropped.

In addition, 122,000 new claims were filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federal program that covers freelancers, part-timers and others who do not routinely qualify for state benefits. That was a decline of 12,000 from the previous week.

Neither figure is seasonally adjusted. On a seasonally adjusted basis, new state claims totaled 553,000.

“Today’s report, and the other data that we got today, signals an improving labor market and an improving economy,” said Daniel Zhao, senior economist with the career site Glassdoor. “It is encouraging that claims are continuing to fall.”

Although weekly jobless claims remain above levels reached before the pandemic, vaccinations and warmer weather are offering new hope. Most economists expect the slow downward trend in claims to continue in the coming months as the economy reopens more fully.

But challenges lie ahead. The long-term unemployed — a group that historically has had a more difficult time rejoining the work force — now make up more than 40 percent of the total number of unemployed. Of the 22 million jobs that disappeared early in the pandemic, more than eight million remain lost.

“The labor market is definitely moving in the right direction,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist at the online job site Indeed. She noted that job postings as of last Friday were up 22.4 percent from February 2020.

Still, she cautioned that industries like tourism and hospitality would probably remain depressed until the pandemic was firmly under control. She also stressed that child care obligations might be preventing people ready to return to work from seeking jobs.

“We still are in a pandemic — the vaccinations are ramping up but there is that public health factor still,” Ms. Konkel said. “We’re not quite there yet.”

Microsoft will decrease the share of money it charges independent developers that publish computer games on its online store, starting in August, the company said on Thursday.

Developers will keep 88 percent of the revenue from their games, up from 70 percent. That could make Microsoft’s store more attractive to independent studios than competitors like Valve’s gaming store, called Steam, which typically starts by taking a 30 percent cut. Epic Games’ store takes 12 percent.

“We want to make sure that we’re competitive in the market,” said Sarah Bond, a Microsoft vice president who leads the gaming ecosystem organization. “Our objective is to have a leading revenue share and really a leading platform.”

The share of revenue that developers get to keep has come under greater scrutiny across the tech industry. Google and Apple have faced antitrust questions for the 30 percent fees they charge developers whose programs appear in their app stores.

Last year, Epic sued Apple and Google separately, claiming they violated antitrust laws by forcing developers to use their payment systems. Epic had tried to bypass the fees by letting customers pay for items in its Fortnite video game directly through Epic. That caused Apple and Google to boot Fortnite from their app stores.

Apple and Google have since reduced fees for some developers. Epic’s lawsuit against Apple is set to head to trial on Monday in U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif.

A Shell recharging station for electric vehicles in the Netherlands. Despite investments in renewable energy, Shell’s profit last quarter was largely the result of rising oil and gas prices.Credit…Koen Van Weel/EPA, via Shutterstock

Strong profit increases from two of Europe’s largest energy companies, Royal Dutch Shell and Total, demonstrated that what really matters for the financial performance of these companies remains the price of oil and natural gas.

Their recent investments in clean energy, described by company officials as essential for the future, remain marginal.

Total said that adjusted net income rose by 69 percent compared with the period a year earlier, when the effects of the pandemic were beginning to kick in, to $3 billion, while Shell said that what it calls adjusted earnings rose by 13 percent to $3.2 billion.

The main factor in the improved performance by both companies was a roughly 20 percent rise in oil prices along with an increase in natural gas prices, leading to higher revenues. During a news conference to discuss the results, Jessica Uhl, Shell’s chief financial officer, said that a $10 jump in oil prices would translate into a $6.4 billion increase in cash for the company’s coffers on an annual basis.

Shell, which cut its dividend last year for the first time since World War II, confirmed that it would increase the payout for the quarter by 4 percent, to about 17 cents a share.

Both companies have tethered their futures to generating and distributing renewable sources of energy. Shell in February said its oil production had peaked in 2019, and it has been investing in various clean energy ventures, including a network of 60,000 charging stations for electric vehicles. And Total has, among other things, invested in options to build offshore wind farms off Britain.

In its earnings statement, Total took the lead among the oil majors in providing details on its investments in renewable energy like wind and solar. The company said these businesses brought in $148 million for the quarter, measured as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. This figure was about 2 percent of the overall total for the company of $7.3 billion, according to analysts at Bernstein, a research firm.

Although Airbus reported a quarterly profit after a full-year loss for 2020,  “the market remains uncertain,”  said Guillaume Faury, the company’s chief executive.Credit…Chema Moya/EPA, via Shutterstock

Airbus announced Thursday that it had returned to a profit in the first quarter following a 1.1 billion euro loss last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, but its top executive warned that the economic toll would continue.

“The first quarter shows that the crisis is not yet over for our industry, and that the market remains uncertain,” Guillaume Faury, chief executive of the world’s largest airplane maker, said in a statement.

Airbus booked a net profit of 362 million euros ($440 million) between January and March, compared with a loss of 481 million euros a year earlier, as cost-cutting measures — which included more than 11,000 layoffs announced last year for its global operations — bolstered the bottom line. Revenue fell 2 percent to 10.5 billion euros.

Airbus delivered 125 commercial aircraft to airlines in the three-month period, up from 122 a year earlier. Over all, Airbus delivered 566 aircraft to airlines in 2020, 40 percent less than expected before the pandemic.

Airbus has previously warned that the industry might not recover from the disruption caused by the pandemic until as late as 2025, as new virus variants delay a resumption of worldwide air travel.

Given the uncertain outlook, Airbus won’t ramp up aircraft deliveries this year. The company said it expected to deliver 566 aircraft on back order from airline companies, the same number as last year.

It maintained its forecast for an underlying operating profit of two billion euros for the year.

As of

Data delayed at least 15 minutes

Source: Factset

Stocks on Wall Street jumped on Thursday, rising with European stock indexes, amid indications that the economy is moving toward a recovery to prepandemic levels.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the U.S. economy expanded 1.6 percent in the first three months of 2021, compared with 1.1 percent in the final quarter last year, or 6.4 percent on an annualized basis.

A day earlier, the Federal Reserve said that the outlook was improving and that it would continue to provide substantial monetary support, easing investors’ concerns that it would soon start easing the stimulus efforts it launched a year ago when the Covid-19 crisis forced a near shutdown of many parts of the economy.

“While the level of new cases remains concerning,” Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said, “continued vaccinations should allow for a return to more normal economic conditions later this year.” The central bank kept interest rates near zero and said it would continue buying bonds at a steady clip.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent. Market sentiment continued to rise after President Biden detailed more of his spending plans — which total $4 trillion — to fund expanded access to education and reduce the cost of child care, among other things.

Oil prices rose. Futures of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, climbed more than 2 percent to above $5 a barrel.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3 percent as a measure of economic confidence for the eurozone surged higher.

  • Facebook shares rose nearly 6 percent after the company said on Wednesday that profit nearly doubled to $9.5 billion in the first quarter as advertising revenue and user numbers increased.

  • Apple shares rose about half a percent after the iPhone maker’s profit more than doubled to $23.6 billion in the first quarter. The company also said it would buy back $90 billion of its own stock, part of its continued program to return much of its earnings to shareholders.

  • Qualcomm, which makes chips for smartphones, rose nearly 6 percent after the company said its revenue increased 52 percent in the first three months of the year compared with the previous year.

  • Airbus shares rose 2.7 percent after the French plane maker said it had returned to a profit in the first quarter following a 1.1 billion euro loss last year. But the company’s chief executive added that the crisis was not over for the industry.

Amazon announced raises for half a million employees in its warehouses, delivery network and other fulfillment teams.Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Amazon will increase pay between 50 cents and $3 an hour for half a million workers in its warehouses, delivery network and other fulfillment teams, the company said on Wednesday.

The action follows scrutiny of Amazon from lawmakers and an unsuccessful unionization push that ended this month at its large warehouse in Alabama. In 2018, Amazon raised its minimum pay to $15 an hour. In recent months, it has publicly campaigned to raise the federal minimum to $15, too.

Amazon has been on a hiring spree during the pandemic. As more customers ordered items online, the company added 400,000 employees in the United States last year. Its total work force stands at almost 1.3 million people.

Amazon typically revaluates wages each fall, before the holiday shopping season. But this year, it moved those changes earlier, said Darcie Henry, an Amazon vice president of people experience and technology. The new wages will roll out from mid-May through early June. Ms. Henry said the company was hiring for “tens of thousands” of open positions.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, recently told shareholders in his annual letter that he recognized the company needed “a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success.” He said that Amazon had always striven to be “Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company,” and that now he wanted it to be “Earth’s Best Employer and Earth’s Safest Place to Work” as well.

Amazon is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Thursday.

Gary Gensler’s tenure leading the Securities and Exchange Commission is off to a rocky start: Alex Oh, who he named just days ago to run the regulator’s enforcement division, has resigned following a federal court ruling in a case involving one of her corporate clients, ExxonMobil.

In her resignation letter on Wednesday, Ms. Oh said the matter would be “an unwelcome distraction to the important work” of the enforcement division.

Ms. Oh’s resignation letter followed a ruling on Monday from Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia over the conduct of Exxon’s lawyers during a civil case involving claims of human rights abuses in the Aceh province of Indonesia.

According to Judge Lamberth’s ruling, Exxon’s lawyers claimed without providing evidence that the plaintiffs’ attorneys were “agitated, disrespectful and unhinged” during a deposition. He ordered Exxon’s lawyers to show why penalties were not warranted for those comments.

The ruling did not single out any lawyers by name. Ms. Oh was one of the lead lawyers for Exxon.

The judge’s order also granted the plaintiffs’ motion that Exxon pay “reasonable expenses” associated with litigating their request for sanctions and with an accompanying motion to compel additional testimony from Exxon related to the deposition.

Ms. Oh’s resignation letter did not mention the Exxon case by name, but a person briefed on the matter confirmed that the ruling from Judge Lamberth had prompted her to step down.

Ms. Oh, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan who worked for the elite firm Paul, Weiss for nearly two decades, was picked by Mr. Gensler to oversee the S.E.C.’s 1,000-attorney enforcement division on April 22. The same day, she filed a notice with the court in the Exxon case saying she had withdrawn from the matter because she had resigned from the firm to join the federal government.

The civil litigation involving Exxon is nearly two decades old and involves allegations by the plaintiffs that Exxon’s security personnel “inflicted grievous injuries” on them. The lawsuit was brought under the federal Alien Tort Claims Act, which enables residents of other countries to sue in the United States for damages arising from violations of U.S. treaties or “the law of nations.”

Mr. Gensler said in a news release that Melissa Hodgman, who had been the enforcement division’s acting chief since January, will return to that position. Ms. Hodgman has been an enforcement attorney with the agency since 2008. He thanked Ms. Oh for her “willingness to serve the country.”

Ms. Oh could not immediately be reached for comment.

Brad Karp, chairman of Paul, Weiss, said the firm would not comment on the matter because it involved ongoing litigation. “Alex is a person of the utmost integrity and a consummate professional with a strong ethical code,” he added.

Ms. Oh is a highly respected lawyer, but her selection had been criticized by the Revolving Door Project, a good-government group, because she had been in private practice for so many years and had defended some of the largest U.S. companies.

  • Apple said on Wednesday that its profits more than doubled to $23.6 billion in the most recent quarter. Apple said its revenues soared by 54 percent to $89.6 billion. As usual, the main driver of Apple’s success was sales of the iPhone, which rose by 66 percent to $47.9 billion, its steepest increase in years. In the latest quarter, iPhones accounted for 54 percent of Apple’s revenues.

  • Facebook said on Wednesday that revenue rose 48 percent to $26.2 billion in the first three months of the year, while profits nearly doubled to $9.5 billion. Advertising revenue, which makes up the bulk of Facebook’s income, rose 46 percent to $25.4 billion. Nearly 3.5 billion people now use one of Facebook’s apps every month, up 15 percent from a year earlier.

  • Ford Motor said on Wednesday that the global shortage of computer chips will take a greater toll on its business than previously expected and would likely cut its vehicle production in the second quarter by about half. Ford expects the shortage to lower its operating profit this year by $2.5 billion, to between $5.5 billion to $6.5 billion. The company made a $3.3 billion profit in the first quarter, a turnaround from a year ago when the company lost $2 billion as the coronavirus pandemic was starting to shut down much of the world’s economy.

Increased supply-chain and freight costs for cereal makers could translate into higher retail prices for customers.Credit…Sara Hylton for The New York Times

Before the pandemic, when suppliers raised the cost of diapers, cereal and other everyday goods, retailers often absorbed the increase because stiff competition forced them to keep prices stable.

Now, with Americans’ shopping habits having shifted rapidly — with people spending more on treadmills and office furniture and less at restaurants and movie theaters — retailers are also adjusting, Gillian Friedman reports for The New York Times.

The Consumer Price Index, the measure of the average change in the prices paid by U.S. shoppers for consumer goods, increased 0.6 percent in March, the largest rise since August 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Procter & Gamble is raising prices on items like Pampers and Tampax in September. General Mills, which makes cereal brands including Cheerios, is facing increased supply-chain and freight costs that could translate into higher retail prices for customers.

At the beginning of the pandemic, companies were focused on fulfilling demand for toilet paper, cleaning supplies, canned food and masks, said Greg Portell, a partner at Kearney, a consulting firm. The government was watching for price-gouging, and customers were wary of being taken advantage of.

Now that the economy is beginning to stabilize, companies are starting to rebalance pricing so that it better fits their profit expectations and takes into account inflation. “This isn’t an opportunistic profit-taking by companies,” Mr. Portell said. “This is a reset of the market.”

Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities Exchange Commission, has some expertise with cryptocurrencies.Credit…Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times

For many cryptocurrency supporters and investors, regulatory approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States represents the holy grail. It would allow the crypto-curious to get exposure to Bitcoin without having to buy the tokens themselves, signifying that digital assets are really, truly mainstream.

But it’s not meant to be — yet. On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission delayed a decision on a Bitcoin E.T.F. proposal from the investment manager VanEck, saying it needs more time but offering no other explanation.

Delay is not denial, and it may be a good sign, Todd Cipperman, the founder of the compliance services firm CCS, told the DealBook newsletter. When considering the concept of a crypto E.T.F. in 2018, the S.E.C. raised questions about investor protection issues and put a “wet blanket on the whole idea,” he said.

Now, crypto is much bigger, and Gary Gensler, who taught courses about blockchain technology at M.I.T., is chair of the S.E.C. His expertise doesn’t guarantee success for crypto E.T.F.s, but it will be easier for an expert in the field to approve them, Mr. Cipperman suggested.

The S.E.C. gave itself until mid-June, with the option to take more time, but it must decide before year’s end. The regulator has rejected every proposal to date, starting with the first Bitcoin E.T.F. pitch in 2013, presented by the Winklevoss twins, which was eventually dismissed in 2017 (and again in 2018). There are several E.T.F. proposals on the table now, including one from the traditional finance giant Fidelity.

Canada is moving faster, approving all kinds of crypto E.T.F.s, after allowing its first Bitcoin E.T.F. in February. Hester Peirce, an S.E.C. commissioner and vocal crypto champion, told DealBook earlier this month that she has been “mystified” by her agency’s response to some prior applications, which met the standards in her view. With more players now engaging in the process, approval could be looming — eventually.

The acceleration of the vaccine rollout will allow more Americans to return to restaurants.Credit…Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times

The first-quarter economic recovery was powered by spending. Specifically, by spending on stuff.

Consumer spending rose 2.6 percent in the first three months of the year, with a 5.4 percent increase in spending on goods accounting for most of the growth. Americans ramped up spending on cars, furniture, recreational vehicles and other long-lasting items, as well as on clothes and food. Spending on services, which has slumped throughout the pandemic, rose by a more modest 1.1 percent.

Services spending is likely to pick up in the second quarter, as the acceleration of the vaccine rollout allows more Americans to return to restaurants, airplanes and other activities that they avoided during the pandemic. The data released Thursday by the Commerce Department largely predates that surge.

What the first-quarter data does capture is the impact of two rounds of relief checks from the federal government. After-tax personal income, adjusted for inflation, jumped 12.7 percent in the first quarter, with the government payments accounting for most of the increase. There was a similar jump in income when the first round of relief checks hit last year, which was followed by a similar surge in spending on goods.

“To some extent, when people have money, they’re going to spend it,” said Ben Herzon, executive director of IHS Markit, a forecasting firm. “If they’re not spending on services because they’re not going to movies or amusement parks, they’re going to derive utility from goods.”

He said he expected goods spending to ease in the second quarter as services spending begins to rebound more strongly.

Americans still have plenty of cash to spend. Households were sitting on a collective $4.1 trillion in savings in the first quarter, up from $1.2 trillion before the pandemic began — although such aggregates can obscure the fact that many families have seen their finances wiped out by the crisis.

Ample savings and rising consumer optimism are giving businesses the confidence to bet on the future as well. Business investment rose 2.4 percent in the first quarter and is now above its prepandemic level. The housing market has been juiced by low interest rates and strong demand; residential construction spending rose 2.6 percent in the first quarter.

Categories
World News

WHO says pandemic has prompted extra ‘mass trauma’ than WWII and can final for years

Pfizer CEO joins World Health Organization at press conference on the coronavirus outbreak

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks after Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, during the 148th session of the Executive Board on the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Geneva, Switzerland, January 21, 2021.

Christopher Black | WHO | via Reuters

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused mass trauma on a larger scale than World War II, the effects of which “will last for many years,” said the World Health Organization’s top official on Friday.

“After World War II, the world experienced mass trauma because World War II affected many, many lives. And now, even with this Covid pandemic, on a larger scale, more lives are affected,” said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference on Friday. “Almost the whole world is affected, every single person on the surface of the world is actually affected.”

“And that means a mass trauma that is disproportionate and even greater than what the world experienced after World War II,” he added, noting the mental health implications. “And if there is a mass trauma, it affects the communities for many years.”

His comments came in response to whether countries should consider the economic and mental health impact of the pandemic more when planning their ways forward. Tedros MPs stressed that mental health should be a priority.

“The answer is absolutely yes,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the WHO’s Emerging Diseases and Zoonosis Division. “There are differences in the impact this has had on individuals, whether you’ve lost a loved one or family member or friend to this virus. Whether you’ve lost your job, children out of school people, who are forced to stay at home in very difficult situations. “

She added that the world is still in the “acute phase” of the pandemic as the virus penetrates communities and kills tens of thousands every week. However, she added that psychological distress from the pandemic will become a major problem in the long run, saying that “governments, communities, families and individuals need to put much more emphasis on taking care of them.” our wellbeing. “

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, urged people not only to highlight the pandemic’s mental health as a problem, but also to discuss solutions.

“It is one thing to say that mental health and mental health are under pressure – it is true – but also the opposite of what we do to support people and communities and provide psychosocial support,” he said .

Categories
Business

The Silicon Valley Begin-Up That Induced Wall Avenue Chaos

The Silicon Valley Start-Up That Caused Wall Street Chaos

Die Online-Handels-App Robinhood wurde zu einem kulturellen Phänomen und zu einem Liebling des Silicon Valley mit dem Versprechen, den traditionellen Gatekeepern der Wall Street den Aktienmarkt abzuringen und „die Menschen handeln zu lassen“ – was es so einfach macht, Millionen von Dollar in Gefahr zu bringen, wie es ist einen Uber beschwören.

In der vergangenen Woche, mitten in einem Marktrummel zwischen Amateurhändlern und Hedge-Fonds-Bigwigs, begann dieses Furnier zu splittern. Wie sich herausstellte, war Robinhood genau der Branche ausgeliefert, deren Aufschwung er sich geschworen hatte.

Die Raserei verwandelte sich in eine Krise, als Legionen von Sesselinvestoren auf Robinhood, die Optionen und Aktien von GameStop, einem Einzelhändler für Videospiele, gekauft hatten, diese Wetten vergrößerten und auch große Geschäfte mit anderen Aktien, einschließlich AMC Entertainment, machten.

Als der Handelswahn zunahm, schalteten am Donnerstag die Risikominderungsmechanismen des Finanzsystems ein, die von unbekannten Unternehmen im Zentrum des Aktienmarkts, den sogenannten Clearinghäusern, verwaltet wurden, und zwangen Robinhood, Notgeld zu finden, um weiterhin handeln zu können. Es musste Kunden davon abhalten, eine Reihe stark gehandelter Aktien zu kaufen, und auf eine Kreditlinie von mehr als 500 Millionen US-Dollar zurückgreifen. Am Donnerstagabend nahm das Unternehmen seinen bestehenden Investoren eine Notfallinfusion von mehr als 1 Milliarde US-Dollar ab.

Ein hochfliegendes Start-up sah plötzlich wie eine überforderte, knarrende Firma aus.

“Vom Standpunkt des Marketings aus positionieren sie sich als neu, innovativ, cool”, sagte Peter Weiler, Co-Geschäftsführer des Makler- und Handelsunternehmens Abel Noser. “Ich denke, jeder wird vermisst, wenn man die Zwiebel zurückschält, sind sie nur ein stark reguliertes Geschäft.”

Die Not von Robinhood folgt einer vertrauten Erzählung: Ein Unternehmen aus dem Silicon Valley, das versprochen hat, eine Branche zu stören, wird letztendlich von den Kräften überwunden, die es freigesetzt hat, und muss von den Aufsichtsbehörden oder in diesem Fall von der Branche, die es zu ändern versprochen hat, eingedämmt werden. Sein Bogen unterscheidet sich nicht allzu sehr von Facebook und Google, die die Art und Weise verändert haben, wie Milliarden von Menschen Kontakte knüpfen und nach Informationen suchen, sondern jetzt im Fadenkreuz von Gesetzgebern und einer wütenden Öffentlichkeit gefangen sind.

“Sie versuchten, die Straßenregeln zu ändern, ohne zu verstehen, wie die Straße asphaltiert war, und ohne Rücksicht auf die vorhandenen Leitplanken”, sagte Chris Nagy, ehemaliger Handelsleiter bei TD Ameritrade und Mitbegründer der Healthy Markets Association , eine gemeinnützige Organisation, die Marktteilnehmer ausbilden will. “Es hat letztendlich ein Risiko für ihre Kunden und ein systemisches Risiko für den Markt im weiteren Sinne geschaffen.”

GameStop gegen Wall Street

Lassen Sie sich von uns verstehen

    • Die Aktien von GameStop, dem Einzelhändler für Videospiele, sind gestiegen, weil Amateurinvestoren, die bei Reddit anfangen, stark auf Aktien des Unternehmens gesetzt haben.
    • Die Welle gewann an Dynamik, als große Hedge-Fonds GameStop-Aktien leerverkauften – im Grunde wetteten sie gegen den Erfolg des Unternehmens.
    • Die plötzliche Nachfrage hat den Aktienkurs von weniger als 20 USD im Dezember auf fast 200 USD am Donnerstag erhöht. Auf dem Papier jedenfalls.
    • Es ist nicht nur GameStop. Amateurinvestoren haben andere Unternehmen unterstützt, die viele Großinvestoren gemieden hatten, wie AMC und BlackBerry.
    • Diese Blase um GameStop kann große Investoren dazu zwingen, Geld zu sammeln, um ihre Verluste zu decken, oder Aktien anderer Unternehmen zu entleeren.

Das Fiasko wird mit ziemlicher Sicherheit Konsequenzen für das Unternehmen haben. Die Securities and Exchange Commission gab am Freitag bekannt, dass sie alle Maßnahmen, die “die Anleger benachteiligen oder ihre Fähigkeit zum Handel mit bestimmten Wertpapieren auf andere Weise übermäßig behindern könnten”, genau prüfen werde. Der Gesetzgeber auf beiden Seiten des Ganges forderte Anhörungen wegen Beschwerden, dass Kunden vom Handel ausgeschlossen seien.

Nachdem Robinhood am Donnerstag den Handel eingeschränkt und der Kurs der Aktie gesunken war, überfluteten wütende Benutzer die Online-App-Stores mit kritischen Bewertungen, wobei einige Robinhood beschuldigten, das Gebot der Wall Street abgegeben zu haben. Andere verklagten das Unternehmen wegen der erlittenen Verluste. Die anhaltende Verwundbarkeit von Robinhood, selbst nach der Beschaffung von 1 Milliarde US-Dollar, wurde am Freitag deutlich, als der Handel mit mehr als 50 Aktien eingeschränkt wurde.

“Es war nicht, weil wir die Leute davon abhalten wollten, diese Aktien zu kaufen”, sagte Robinhood in einem Blog-Beitrag am Freitagabend. Das Start-up habe vielmehr den Kauf volatiler Aktien eingeschränkt, um die von seinen Clearingstellen auferlegten Einlagenanforderungen, die sich im Laufe der Woche verzehnfacht hätten, „bequem“ erfüllen zu können.

Nichts davon scheint sein Wachstum zu verlangsamen. Obwohl Robinhoods Aktionen bestehende Kunden verärgerten, gewann es neue. Laut Apptopia, einem Datenanbieter, wurde die App am Donnerstag mehr als 177.000 Mal heruntergeladen, doppelt so viel wie in der Vorwoche. Die mobile App hatte an diesem Tag 2,7 Millionen aktive Benutzer pro Tag, die höchste aller Zeiten. Das ist mehr als seine Konkurrenten – Schwab, TD Ameritrade, E * Trade, Fidelity und Webull – zusammen.

Kontroversen sind für Robinhood nicht neu.

Die beiden Stanford-Klassenkameraden, die das Unternehmen 2013 gegründet haben, sagten von Anfang an, dass ihr Fokus auf der „Demokratisierung der Finanzen“ liege, indem sie den Handel für jedermann verfügbar machten. Zu diesem Zweck hat das Unternehmen in Menlo Park, Kalifornien, wiederholt eine klassische Silicon Valley-Formel aus benutzerfreundlicher Software, dreistem Marketing und Missachtung bestehender Regeln und Institutionen angewendet.

Online-Broker hatten traditionell rund 10 US-Dollar für jeden Trade berechnet, aber Robinhood sagte, dass Kunden seiner Telefon-App kostenlos handeln könnten. Der Umzug zog Horden junger Investoren an.

Beim Aufbau seines Geschäfts ignorierte das Unternehmen akademische Untersuchungen, die zeigten, dass häufiger, reibungsloser Handel im Allgemeinen nicht zu guten finanziellen Ergebnissen für Investoren führt. Die Risiken für die Kunden wurden im vergangenen Sommer deutlich, als der Abschiedsbrief eines 20-jährigen College-Studenten einen sechsstelligen Handelsverlust für seinen Tod verantwortlich machte.

Robinhood hat auch den Optionshandel unter Anfängern populär gemacht. Eine Option ist im Allgemeinen billiger als der direkte Kauf einer Aktie, kann jedoch zu viel größeren und schnelleren Gewinnen und Verlusten führen, weshalb Regulierungsbehörden und Broker den Handel mit diesen Finanzkontrakten traditionell auf anspruchsvollere Händler beschränkt haben.

Das Marketing von Robinhood hat unterdessen die Tatsache dokumentiert, dass sein Geschäftsmodell und der freie Handel durch den Verkauf von Kundenaufträgen an Wall Street-Unternehmen in einem System bezahlt wurden, das als „Zahlung für den Auftragsfluss“ bekannt ist. Große Handelsunternehmen wie Citadel Securities und Virtu Financial zahlen Robinhood jedes Mal eine kleine Gebühr, wenn sie für ihre Kunden kaufen oder verkaufen, normalerweise einen Bruchteil eines Pennys pro Aktie. Diese Handelsunternehmen verdienen ihrerseits Geld, indem sie die als „Spread“ bezeichnete Differenz zwischen dem Kauf- und Verkaufspreis eines bestimmten Aktienhandels einstecken. Je mehr Trades sie abwickeln, desto größer sind ihre potenziellen Einnahmen. Viele andere Online-Broker verlassen sich auf ein ähnliches System, aber Robinhood hat verhandelt, für jeden Trade deutlich mehr zu sammeln als andere Online-Broker, so The Times.

Das Missverhältnis zwischen Robinhoods Marketing und den zugrunde liegenden Mechanismen führte letzten Monat zu einer Geldstrafe von 65 Millionen US-Dollar von der SEC. Die Agentur sagte, Robinhood habe Kunden in die Irre geführt, wie sie von Wall Street-Firmen für die Weitergabe von Kundengeschäften bezahlt wurden.

Robinhood hat auch gegen die Aufsichtsbehörden verstoßen, als es schnell neue Produkte herausbrachte. Im Dezember 2018 kündigte das Unternehmen an, ein Giro- und Sparkonto anzubieten, das von der Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) versichert wird und die Anleger schützt, wenn ein Maklerunternehmen ausfällt.

Der damalige Geschäftsführer von SIPC sagte jedoch, er habe nichts von Robinhoods Plan gehört, und er wies darauf hin, dass die SIPC keine einfachen Vanille-Sparkonten schützt – das wäre die Aufgabe der Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Es dauerte fast ein Jahr, bis Robinhood das Produkt wieder einführte und in einem Blog-Beitrag sagte, dass es mit seiner früheren Ankündigung „Fehler gemacht“ habe.

“Sie haben versucht, große Spritzer zu machen, und mussten oft wieder reingewickelt werden”, sagte Scott Smith, ein Brokerage-Analyst bei der Finanzfirma Cerulli Associates.

Die Ambitionen und der Amateurismus von Robinhood kollidierten in den letzten Wochen, als Kleininvestoren, von denen viele die Dominanz der Wall Street herausfordern wollten, ihre Freihandelsgeschäfte nutzten, um die Aktien von GameStop und anderen Unternehmen zu erhöhen. Zügellose Spekulationen über Optionskontrakte trugen dazu bei, den Anstieg der GameStop-Aktien von etwa 20 US-Dollar am 12. Januar auf fast 500 US-Dollar am Donnerstag voranzutreiben – eine Rallye, die Robinhood dazu zwang, seine eigenen Kunden zu bremsen.

Eine Institution, die Robinhood in der vergangenen Woche ausgelöst hat, ist eine Clearingstelle namens Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. Das DTCC gehört seinen Mitgliedsfinanzinstituten, darunter Robinhood, und klärt und regelt den größten Teil des Aktienhandels. Dabei wird im Wesentlichen sichergestellt, dass das Geld und die Aktien in den richtigen Händen sind. (Optionsgeschäfte werden von einem anderen Unternehmen abgewickelt.)

Die Rolle des DTCC ist jedoch mehr als nur eine Büroarbeit. Clearingstellen sollen dazu beitragen, einen bestimmten Markt vor extremen Risiken zu schützen, indem sie sicherstellen, dass ein einzelner Finanzspieler keine Ansteckung verursacht, wenn er pleite geht. Um seine Arbeit zu erledigen, verlangt die DTCC von ihren Mitgliedern, ein Bargeldpolster aufzubewahren, das bei Bedarf zur Stabilisierung des Systems eingesetzt werden kann. Und wenn die Aktien wild schwanken oder es eine Menge Handel gibt, kann die Größe des Kissens, das von jedem Mitglied verlangt wird – bekannt als Margin Call – kurzfristig zunehmen.

Das ist am Donnerstagmorgen passiert. Der DTCC teilte seinen Mitgliedsunternehmen mit, dass das Gesamtpolster, das damals 26 Milliarden US-Dollar betrug, innerhalb weniger Stunden auf 33,5 Milliarden US-Dollar anwachsen musste. Da Robinhood-Kunden für so viel Handel verantwortlich waren, war Robinhood dafür verantwortlich, einen erheblichen Teil der Rechnung zu begleichen.

Die Forderung des DTCC ist nicht verhandelbar. Ein Unternehmen, das seinen Margin Call nicht erfüllen kann, ist praktisch aus dem Aktienhandelsgeschäft ausgeschieden, da DTCC seine Geschäfte nicht mehr abwickelt. “Wenn Sie einen Trade nicht abwickeln können, können Sie keinen Trade handeln”, sagte Robert Greifeld, ehemaliger Geschäftsführer von Nasdaq und derzeitiger Vorsitzender von Virtu Financial. „Du bist von der Insel weg. Du bist verbannt. “

Für erfahrene Spieler wie Citadel Securities und JPMorgan Chase war es kein Problem, kurzfristig zusätzliche Hunderte Millionen Dollar zu generieren. Aber für ein Start-up wie Robinhood war es ein tolles Durcheinander.

Während Robinhood das benötigte Bargeld aus seiner Kreditlinie und den Investoren zusammenschusterte, beschränkte es die Kunden darauf, GameStop, AMC und andere Aktien zu kaufen. Robinhood sagte in seinem Blogbeitrag, dass es seinen Anlegern gestattet wurde, diese volatilen Aktien zu verkaufen – aber nicht zu kaufen. Dies reduzierte das Risiko und half ihm, die Anforderungen für zusätzliches Bargeld zu erfüllen.

Letztendlich gelang es dem Unternehmen, einige seiner bestehenden Investoren, darunter die Venture-Unternehmen Sequoia Capital und Ribbit Capital, mit rund 1 Milliarde US-Dollar zusammenzubringen. Als Süßungsmittel hat Robinhood den Anlegern Sonderaktien ausgegeben, die ihnen bereits in diesem Jahr ein besseres Geschäft ermöglichen, wenn das Unternehmen an die Börse geht.

Aber der schnelle Deal ließ mehr als einen Beobachter am Kopf kratzen.

“Wie braucht ein Online-Broker eine Infusion von einer Milliarde Dollar über Nacht?” fragte Roger McNamee, ein langjähriger Investor, der die Private-Equity-Firma Elevation Partners mitbegründete. “Es gibt etwas, das besagt, dass jemand wirklich Angst vor dem hat, was los ist.”