WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - November 5th, 2021 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:05.400 This is Bloomberg Business Week Inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.200 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:13.200 global business finance and tech news as it happened. Sloomberg 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.759 Business Week with Carol Messier and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:21.320 Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi, everyone, Welcome to the weekend 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.160 edition of Bloomberg Business Week. Another busy week in markets 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:28.000 with a federate decision, that monthly jobs report and several 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:31.640 hotly contested political races. Serving tim as our backdrop, and 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.880 a busy program ahead for our listeners. We're going to 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.559 get existential with the former longtime CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt. 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:39.400 He's going to give us his take on the state 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.680 of Silicon Valley, the metaverse, and talk about his new book, 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.480 The Age of AI and Our Human Future. We're also 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.280 going to speak with TeV president and CEO Corese Scholtz 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.320 on his company's latest earnings and also this week the 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.240 company its record sale a five billion dollars worth of 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.720 sustainability linked bonds. Plus the latest wearable tech device needs 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:00.920 only a finger to give you personalized health insights, and 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:04.240 your holiday gift guide is here. We'll tell you how 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.240 to surprise your loved ones this season, regardless of your budget, 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.280 though it helps to you know, want to spend fifty 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:11.479 on a watch, I want something from the red, blue, 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.840 and green categories. That's all I'm going to say. All 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:16.759 of that to come. We begin with an overview though, 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.320 of this week's issue. We welcome in the editor of 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:21.880 Bloomberg Business Week magazine, Joel Webber. Joel, We're going to 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.280 talk about the cover in just a moment, but there's 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:29.080 a great deep dive into Papa John's This one's memorable obviously. Uh. 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.000 Papa John kind of left in disgrace about three years 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.319 ago as chairman of the company. And boy, those last 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:39.000 three years he sort of been um wandering through the wilderness, 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.880 trained to find his way, and now he's back and um, amazingly, 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.440 he's really obsessed with his old company that he founded 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:50.440 all these years ago. Uh. And and Devin Leonard, who 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.200 wrote the story, give us this amazing uh profile of 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:57.960 him from a visit to his home and um in Nashville. 0:01:58.000 --> 0:01:59.880 Can I just say I'm obsessed with that visit to 0:01:59.920 --> 0:02:03.240 the home and the description that Devon did about what 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.840 it was like. Look He's a memorable character and always 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.960 has been. And Devin I think brought out some of 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.000 the nuances and some interesting ways, like the fountain that's 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:17.000 under construction in his house, the fire found, the fire fountain, 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:22.440 the camaro collection, um, he's got a chopper, the mating 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:26.200 eagle statue um, which I asked to see a photo 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.800 of and and we evidently did not get a photo 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.000 of it, which seems like a huge oversight, I will admit. Uh. Yeah. 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:35.960 So there's all of that, and then there's obviously him 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.960 trying to reckon with the racist statements he made and 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.560 sort of the legacy of them, including these ongoing feuds 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.920 that he continues to have over them. Well, and I 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:47.480 feel like you points his finger, you know, we're talking 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.440 about John Schnader, who created Papa John's. I mean, I 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.560 feel like he points his fingers at politics and progressives 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:57.440 in the NFL and so many society. So and you know, 0:02:57.639 --> 0:02:59.600 being in the South, and you know, he's trying to 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.280 find needs wherever he can. Uh. Fox News is one 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.520 of his preferred places. But you know, he he really 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:08.880 will will kind of share the gospel of Papa John 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.840 wherever he can and with whomever will listen, and he 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:16.560 still eats a lot of pieces, eight hundred pizzas that 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:20.040 he's had from Papa Johnson for research, and he he 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.240 thinks the quality has gone down. He's got a lot 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.160 to say about that. Um, you know what. I what 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:28.040 I find really interesting about the story though, is to 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.839 have somebody who's actually did create a business really successful, 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:34.280 has thoughts on the brand and where it's gone, and 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:36.960 like clearly wants to have a door remain open so 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:38.760 that at some point he could try and come back, 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:41.280 I think. And he's still in the company, so you know, 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:45.560 the lawsuits are are have been interesting. There was some settlements. 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:49.480 There's also been this feud he had with the company 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.839 that was sort of advising him, which Devin goes into 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.720 into in the story. The other favorite thing here is 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:57.080 that you know, the stock has gone up and he's 0:03:57.080 --> 0:03:59.720 cashed out a billion dollars, so he's living living a 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.520 good life regardless. And you know, even underd pizzas is 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:04.240 just like a drop in the bucket. It's another great 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:05.960 tale by Devon, no doubt about it. I'm still trying 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:07.560 to figure out how do you eat eight hundred pieces. 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:14.560 That's a lot of pieces Every day. Alright, So an 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.120 incredible story. Deep dive this one too. I had no 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.440 idea when it comes to all that's going on in Russia. 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:22.839 We know that there's been suspicions when it comes to 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.440 cyber criminals. Um, Joel tell us about the story. So 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:28.159 the story in in our tech section that really caught 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:30.080 my attention, I think all of our attention when we 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:33.279 started hearing about it. So the story looks at a 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:35.800 tower that was when it was built a couple of 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:37.840 years ago, was the tallest in Europe. It's now the 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.000 tallest and in Moscow. And it turns out that there 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:43.760 are a number of cryptocurrency companies that are that are 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.680 based there, and all this ransomware thing that we we've 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:51.240 long suspected Russia's involved with, and Biden's called Putin to 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:54.200 sort of have some very firm conversations about this. A 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:57.120 lot of those tracks lead back to this tower. And 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.200 what's really interesting about this is like, because of it 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.600 being this really large tower, it's long men sort of 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.320 you know, it's above it all right, And it turns 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:08.680 out like maybe that's the perfect address to like do 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.320 some nefarious deeds, and it seems like that's kind of 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.000 been what's happening, Yeah, and just a reminder of kind 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:14.520 of the world we're living in us speaking of the 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:17.400 world we're living in Yolo. You only live once. Those 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.679 meme stocks we thought it might be a fat dolt, 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.080 not so much. This week we saw play out again 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.520 big time. So I would admit when we started talking 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.400 about this assignment and the story with Annie Massa, that 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.600 I said, this meme thing, we're sort of over it. 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.880 There's now these vintages, right, and like when you think 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:35.760 back to the beginning of the year and that that 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.600 early craze that sort of happened that was maybe vintage one, 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:42.400 and then you saw, you know, AMC have that surge 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:44.640 over the summer or the doge coin moment, and now 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:49.000 we've seen the Trump the Trump's back and this month 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:51.880 now you know we've seen you know, Avis go take 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.000 that take that moment, and then we saw bed bath 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:58.240 and beyond. So I thought it was over, like maybe 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:00.360 in the summer, and it turns out that we still 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:02.919 have an appetite for this stuff. I think that also 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.000 speaks to and this is part of the story, this 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.400 robin Hood business model, right, which has gone from being 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.279 an equity centric one to you know, where's the growth 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.600 going to be, Probably more in crypto and we've actually 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.240 seen some of those same traders that were in the 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.800 in the meme stock world kind of transition into the 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:22.240 crypto one. That's business We get her. Joe Webber joining 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:24.720 us with a look at this week's issue. Coming up next, 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:26.719 one of the largest generic drug makers in the world, 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.040 selling billions worth of debt in an effort to make 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.760 its business more sustainable. To have a president and CEO, 0:06:31.880 --> 0:06:34.640 Core Schultz talks earnings and his companies planned to provide 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.760 countries in need with critical medications. You're listening to Bloomberg 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:49.200 Business Week. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:53.120 with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stenovik from 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:56.920 Bloomberg Radio. This week's shares of one of the largest 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:58.960 generic drug makers in the world. We're talking about tv 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.240 A pharmaceutical industr trees rallied on news that the company 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:04.960 is selling a record five billion dollars in bonds tied 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.960 to environmental, social and governance targets. We're talking about e 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.360 s G. It's something we recently talked about with ty 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.960 A president and CEO Core Shultz. The Sustainability Links bond 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:17.000 offering is tied to efforts to increase access to medicines 0:07:17.040 --> 0:07:19.880 and low and middle income countries. And as I mentioned, 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.000 the stock it's been on a tear. It's now proughly 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.760 from its late July lows and despite recent misses on 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.680 both the top and bottom lines for the third quarter earnings. 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:31.400 Is where we started our conversation. Basically, you could say 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.800 that the expectations that we saw in the marketplace, and 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.520 also the expectations we had at the beginning of the year, 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:42.600 was that the COVID nineteen effects would sort of start 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:46.400 to slow down in the second quarter and then in 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.000 the third and the fourth quarter we'll basically be back 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.760 to normal. But what we've seen is that we have 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.520 seen in Europe a lower volume in the total market 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.560 in both the first and the second quarter, and then 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:03.000 a turn taught normality here in the third quarter, but 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:06.720 not quite getting there. So we see an improvement in Europe, 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:08.760 but it's not quite back to where we thought it 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.800 would be based on a full normalization, and that's basically 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:14.640 because there's still a bad luck of people not getting 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.160 to the doctor, not getting to the specialist and therefore 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:20.440 not going for those prescriptions that we would be expecting 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:22.800 they would be going for. It is normalizing, it is 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.400 getting better. We are optimistic about the fourth quarter that 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.400 we will see a further sort of increase in volumes 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.000 in Europe. So so that's really the story on Europe. 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:33.400 The story on the US is a little different, but 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:38.480 basically the same. That we did not see the specialist 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:40.400 opening up in the second quarter the way we were 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:43.839 hoping for. So we are very dependent on headache specialists 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:48.800 for Jovie and on psychiatrists for Osteto, and we saw 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.760 that they were opening up their clinics slower. We are 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.640 now at the end of the third quarter here, we're 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.520 getting very close to psychiatrist officers being sort of back 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:02.440 to where they would have been at the end of 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:05.480 two thousand nine. But that natural growth you see have 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.120 a couple of percent on on patient population and doctor 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:11.679 visits we haven't seen. So we've had a setback in 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:15.439 the sense that the growing brands we have a Joey 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:19.679 for prevention of migraine or stead of for Charter Diskenesia 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:23.280 and Korea in hundreds disease, they are growing nicely, but 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:26.640 the growth slowed down in the first and the second quarter, 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.400 So even though they're growing nicely now in the third quarter, 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:32.120 the numbers are still below what we hope for at 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.959 the beginning of the year. So basically we're optimistic about 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.000 the growth patterns, but the absolute numbers are probably a 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.760 hundred million below what we were hoping for. Is it 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.280 by the end of this year the first quarter of 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.040 next year that you anticipate in terms of the numbers 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.520 at their back to pre pandemic levels? When does it happen? 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.360 We anticipate that here in the fourth quarter. The numbers 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:57.640 in terms of script volumes and the numbers in terms 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.760 so they're normalized numbers, you would say, will be back 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:05.559 to pre pandemic levels here in the fourth quarter of Okay, 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.840 all right, And we know and that that's for both 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.640 of Europe and North America or one of them. Is 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:12.480 that for every every region. We know the North American 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:15.960 market is your biggest market based on revenues, both Europe 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.679 and North America and it and it plays a big 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.000 role for us. So we're really not talking about us 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:24.640 not having the right you know, market shares. We're gaining 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:29.079 market shares with Jovi in Europe. We're gaining markets here 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.320 with Osteedo, so we're performing nicely, but the total volume 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.520 in the market is just lower than what we were 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:38.000 moving for are you Are you confident that people return 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:42.840 to the physical doctor's office, the physical psychiatrist office to 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:44.920 the same degree that they did before the pandemic. Does 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.880 it ever fully recover with the rise of telemedicine. I 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:51.880 think the number of consultations will fully recover. Some of 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:56.440 them will be telemedicine consultations, and that is in principle 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:59.440 is fine. I mean, the main thing is that people 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:03.440 have an in depth discussion with their psychiatrists or with 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:07.960 their headache specialists, because you could say the problem about 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.640 launching new drugs is that you need to communicate with 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.160 the specialist. So our sales reps need to communicate with 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.240 the specialist and you need the specialist to communicate with 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:20.480 the patients in order to get the conversions to the 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:24.559 new and better products. Earlier this month, you guys had 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:26.920 recalled more than two and a half million vials of 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:30.120 drugs that the company that you guys had said may 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.800 not be sterile um, and there were used inspectors that 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:37.559 discovered this at a Tever production plant in California. I 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.600 think there were medicine used to help to cancer. They 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:44.000 may have contained mold contamination. What's the update on that. Yeah, So, 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.880 first of all, just to correct a few facts, we 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:51.480 actually ourselves discovered some environmental issues related to mold. It 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.000 was not the case that the products were not sterile, 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.920 and we did recalls in the first quarter and the 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:59.640 second quarter, and that's something we did based on our 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:03.240 own internal investigations. And then following that, we had an 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:07.600 FDA inspection which resulted in a D three and we 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:10.360 are now addressing all the points raised in the three, 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.240 working together with FDA to secure that we get all 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.959 the remediation done. And the factory is still in operation 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.679 from the point and you, we're still packaging and shipping products, 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.320 but in the sterile area. In order to make sure 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:27.560 that the environment is in completing perfect compliance, we have 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.760 stopped manufacturing for a shorter period where we're doing remediation, 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:34.719 and we expect to be back manufacturing here at the 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:36.800 end of the quarter. And this is all done in 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:40.520 close collaboration with FDA. How far along are you in 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.280 working out all of those issues? How long do you 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.280 think you will be collaborating with the FDA. So some 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.640 of these issues takes, you know, a shorter period to correct. 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.640 Other issues take a longer period. So typically when you 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:56.040 have a situation like this, before you reach a complete remediation, 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:58.520 it can be one to two years. But that doesn't 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:01.359 mean that you can't be manufacturing and supplying your patients 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:04.120 in the meantime. What's the cost of the company because 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:07.280 of this the downtime as well as the fixes. So 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:11.120 it's relatively insignificant. It's not a major manufacturing site, it's 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:15.000 not a major part of our revenues, so the consequences 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:18.920 are basically included in our accounting for the third quarter. Hey, 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:20.880 and also one of the things that we've been watching, 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:22.360 and I want to get you the way in on 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:27.360 as Novartists considering selling or spinning off its Sanders generic 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:30.320 drug business. How do you view that? Is that a 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.960 good thing? Is it something that you're interested in purchasing? 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.079 So I viewed as something and of course you have 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.120 to ask them why they're doing it. I wouldn't know that, 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:41.319 but if I, if I just took it from the outside, 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.600 it reminds me of what fights I did with their 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.600 up joint unit. They basically had some generic and old 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:50.000 products that they spun out and put together with my 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.400 Land into Biattress. And I think it looks like novartists 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.719 doing the same. And one of the you would say 0:13:56.840 --> 0:13:59.640 arguments you've heard is that, of course you get better ratios, 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:01.760 you'd be get better growth rate shows if you have 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.320 an old business that you spin off and you keep 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.559 your innovative specialty business, and your numbers from that point 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:09.600 of view will look bit And that might be the motivation. 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.280 In terms of us thinking about send us, We're not 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.360 really looking into it. We don't have any appetite for 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.719 any major acquisition simply due to the fact that we're 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.600 focusing on reducing our debt, so it's not something we 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.280 will be interested in. That was Course Schultz, president and 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:28.040 CEO of generic drugmaker Tava, still ahead on Bloomberg Business Week. 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:33.000 You only live one, Yolo. Um at least that's the 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:37.240 mentality taking over financial markets these days, Yolo. Why the 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.000 urge to speculate is stronger than ever tim at the 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:42.160 age of the meme. We're also going to catch up 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.920 with former Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt. All that 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:52.200 and more to come. This is Bloomberg Broadcasting from the 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:56.120 financial capital of the World Bloomberg eleven Frio in New 0:14:56.200 --> 0:15:00.640 York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one, 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:04.440 O six one does San Francisco, Bloomberg nine to the country, 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.720 Sirius XM number one nine and around the globe the 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:12.480 Bloomberg Business and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:16.160 Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:21.040 Stenovin on Bloomberg Radio. It was among our most read 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.520 stories when it hit the Bloomberg. This week featured in 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.360 the magazine as well, all about the market psychology and 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:29.200 why the so called meme trade has gripped Wall Street 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.720 and Main Street alike. Well, you know what they say, Carol, 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.160 Yolo You only live once, so why not take a chance. 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.320 The piece in this week's Finance section is entitled just 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.080 when you think yolo trading is done, a new meme 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:44.160 comes along. We get more with Bloomberg News investing reporter 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:47.080 any Massa. I was thinking, Hey, maybe it's time to 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.320 write a story about how yolo trading has tapered off. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:56.520 And literally that day, the Trump's back happened, and so 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:58.320 I had to rethink it, and I was like, you 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:00.760 know what, yolo trading hasn't it pritt off at all? 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.920 What am I talking about? Like? Sure, game Stop and 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.640 AMC have you know fallen. AMC is still trading, you know, 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:11.120 far above where I was at the beginning of the year. Um. 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:15.760 But like we've had these cycles almost like different vintages 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.280 of meme stocks, so and crypto. So you had the 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:23.240 first wave of game stopping AMC, then it was dog Coin, 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.280 then it was she but a new coin, the Trump's back, 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.280 now we have Evith. It's just an never ending cycle. 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:32.520 It teams. Well. We love how you did this, and 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:36.680 we talked with Bloomberg Business Week editor Joe Weber about 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:39.720 your take and how you guys likened it to vintages 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:44.400 of wine. Right, we're kind of moving through some different vintages. Yeah, 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.120 and each different meme episode has its own ter war 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:54.040 nicely done. But I'm um, um. What's interesting too, is, uh, 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.280 it is kind of fascinating this week you talked about 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.840 the you know Trump in the last couple of weeks, uh, 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.280 in Digital World acquisition and even bed Bath and Beyond, Like, 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.879 should we can we call that a meme? Stock. Yeah, 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:09.119 I mean, that's a really good question. What qualifies exactly 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:11.399 as a meme stock. Now, we had a whole group 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:13.200 of them at the beginning of the year that became 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.359 popular at the same time, very obviously got hot on 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.800 message boards, but it seems like an expanding definition in 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:22.879 some ways. And something that we address in the story 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.600 is it's reflective of how investing has really changed in 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:30.440 the past about six years. It didn't used to. Even 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:34.680 even when social media and uh, you know, more accessible 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:39.200 online investing became widespread, it wasn't quite as easy as 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:42.879 it is today to see something on Reddit or Twitter 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:45.760 or anywhere else and just quickly click into an app 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:49.440 on your phone um and and buy a share or 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:54.199 a fractional share of a company or a new cryptocurrency. 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:59.320 So the information cycle and the ease of trading have 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:02.959 both changed remarkably in just the past couple of years. Well. 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:04.760 Any A big part of the narrative that has emerged 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.000 around meme stocks such as the one we've been talking 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:09.639 about have been the role of retail traders and retail 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:11.879 investors that they have in these meme stocks. But I 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.560 wonder about Wall Street's role and to what extent you 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:18.320 have hedge funds getting involved and the bigger companies actually 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:20.360 tracking these meme stocks and trying to get in. Well, 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.280 we definitely saw that the hedge funds had a wake 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:28.199 up call in the game Stop era, and that in 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:32.119 particular was, um, you know, the things that help happened 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:35.960 with Melvin Capital for example, just show how there needs 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:40.800 to be a new awareness around the force with which 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.240 a wave of retail traders can come into the market. 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.400 And I think that hedge funds did take note of that. 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.119 And um, you know, now you hear from some traders 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.480 and from some firms that they have made some tweaks 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:55.960 around how they monitor um, you know, social media phenomena. 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:57.440 These people that we all thought were going to go 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:59.200 back to work and not be able to trade because 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.239 of the ease of doing it on these platforms can 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.480 still be back at work, right and trading is And 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:07.400 how we see this well, I mean it differs from 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.800 person to person, I guess, but it's definitely easier to 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.359 do just quickly on the side on your phone, maybe 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:15.920 while you're walking out to get lunch or something, than 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:19.200 you know, opening a whole desktop application like you might 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.400 have had to do several years ago. Um so it's 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.320 just getting more discreet and easier as time goes on. 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:30.080 The conversations online changed around me stock um Well, I 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:33.360 guess one prominent aspect of the game stop run up 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.640 was trying to execute a short squeeze. So I wouldn't 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:39.639 say that that's uh, that's not the case across the boards. 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.280 Some of the popularity of certain meme names, especially in 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.920 crypto um are just you know, bidding up the price 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.080 of something that almost in the quite case of Shiba 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:52.639 a new coin, or in the case of doge coins, 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:57.119 really had almost no value whatsoever. And uh, it's just 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:00.600 riding a wave of popularity. Basically all right, oh, all right, 0:20:00.800 --> 0:20:05.320 too early to say fad this point. I mean no, really, 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.840 like it's just fascinating how you set out to do 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.080 one story and then it was like, uh yeah, no, Annie, 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:12.159 it's not going to be the case. Talk about a 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.360 wake up call right now. I'm going to be very 0:20:14.400 --> 0:20:17.280 cautious to call it a fad. Well, I have just 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.520 to say, that's Bloomberg News investing reporter Annie Massa. You're 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.200 listening to Bloomberg Business Week, coming up a Titan of 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.400 Silicon Valley stops by to discuss where technology goes from 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.600 here in the age of Artificial Intelligence, and maybe we'll 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.439 sneak in something about the metaverse. Former Google chairman and 0:20:32.480 --> 0:20:49.880 CEO Eric Schmidt coming up next. This is Bloomberg. You're 0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:53.840 listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:58.399 Quick Takes Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio. So if you 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.040 read Bloomberg News, follow our pro having lineup, and if 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:02.680 you don't, you really should. I'm just going to put 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:05.359 that out there anyway. You're likely aware that the Age 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:09.360 of Artificial Intelligence AI it is upon us. Our next 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:11.439 guest had a hand in bringing us to this point, 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:13.679 and he's got plenty to say on where we go 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.760 from here to help us understand the challenges facing humankind 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:20.240 as this technology becomes more pervasive. Bloomberg News cross ass 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:22.879 At reporter Katie Greifeld and I spoke with Eric Schmidt, 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:25.800 the co founder of Schmidt Futures and former CEO and 0:21:25.960 --> 0:21:28.159 chairman of Google. He's also the co author of the 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:30.320