WEBVTT - Markets, Meta, And Cyberthreats 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.040 Welcome to the Bloomberg Markets Podcast. I'm Paul Sweeney, alongside 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:06.920 my co host Matt Miller. Every business day we bring 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:11.520 you interviews from CEOs, market crows, and Bloomberg experts, along 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:15.560 with essential market moving news. Find the Bloomberg Markets Podcast 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.479 on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts, and 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.680 at Bloomberg dot com slash podcast. All right, let's get 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:25.959 to our Big Take story today talks about commodities. And 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.080 you put up the g l c O screen on 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.159 the Bloomberg Terminolts of Global Commodities page and there's just 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.279 a lot of green on their commodities on a year. 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:37.080 Today basis up a big time. Not just oil, We're 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:40.880 talking all kinds of commodities. Megan Derris and Albury, agricultural 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.280 reporter for Bloomberg News, joins us with a big take 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:47.200 story today talking about the global market for grain, corn 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.880 and other commodities amid the Ukraine war. Boy, it seems 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.600 like the Ukraine situation is really exacerbating what had already 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.800 been kind of a commodity inflation story. What do you have, Megan, Yeah, 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.400 that's right. Um, So, you know, ever since freshest attack 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:06.280 began on Ukraine, it supports have been effectively shut. UM. 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:09.039 That's where most of its grain would exit, loaded on 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:13.199 big targo ships headed for Asia, Europe and elsewhere. UM. Now, 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:15.800 as the top of our story shows, you know, they 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.680 they've resorted to transporting some of those crops out by rail. 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.360 So it's kind of you know, carving routes that we 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.720 haven't seen in the past. UM. But granted that's you know, 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:28.920 pretty slow going, it's expensive, the volumes are much lower 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:32.640 than normal, and even at the border with the EU. UM. 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:36.880 You know, the train trucks are different sizes, so between 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.679 Ukraine and Romania, for example, So it causes a lot 0:01:39.720 --> 0:01:45.880 of um challenges for exporters. How fungible is wheat? UM? 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:50.760 I mean we I assume farm more than enough wheat 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:54.000 and corn in this country, UM, not to have to 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:58.520 worry about any kind of imports from Ukraine halfway across 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.760 across the world. UM. How come we're seeing huge jumps 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:06.040 here for wheat as well. Yeah, so that would be 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:08.760 true for the U S certainly. You know they're they're 0:02:08.760 --> 0:02:12.520 pretty self sufficient in grains. UM. But you know, these 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.320 really are our global markets and a country UM like 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:19.880 the U S or UM like the U EU are 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:24.400 you know exporters So um, if if Ukraine is effectively 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:27.480 gone or mostly gone from the world markets, um, there's 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.280 going to need to be alternative origins stepping up. Um. 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.959 As our story shows, you know, we're already seeing some 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:37.679 non traditional players enter the fray as well. UM. For example, India, 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:42.040 which typically isn't a very big wheat exporter at all, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:46.840 is now selling record volumes all across Asia. Um. Their 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.480 their prices are usually uh, kind of too high, their 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.120 their government set prices. But now that the global market 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.840 has rallied so much, they've become competitive and are joining 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.919 the fray. To what can the American farmer do? Well? 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:00.720 What are we seeing from the American and farmer? They 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:05.239 changing the way they operate these days? Are they planning differently? 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.200 Are they stepping up production? What are we seeing there? 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.960 And by the way, Megan, she's a sparty Yes, I know. 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:17.160 So she's from the Great Midwest. And I mean, you know, 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:20.840 is there an American farmer? Ohio is the gateway to 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.320 the West, think the heart of it all? Is there 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:27.600 an American farmer? Or is it just like large corporations? Oh, 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:30.360 there's there's certainly an American farm or two. And just 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.680 to just to clarify, I from Michigan from wild I'm 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:37.480 from the great State of Okay. Great, but I appreciate 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.480 you as a Sparta because we both hate you have 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:44.600 m that's true U. So, um, yes, there certainly is, 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:48.640 you know, American farmers. And the one challenge with wheat is, 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:52.160 you know, um, pretty much in across the northern hemisphere. 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:54.000 So here in Europe where I am, and also in 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.160 the US, most of the wheat is sewn in autumn. 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.360 Um they plant it, it goes dormant for the winter 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.200 and starts growing again in the spring. So there's not 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.480 too much of a chance to really boost wheat plantings 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.840 at this stage. UM. Besides in the southern hemisphere, UM, 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:11.560 but in the U s as well. You know, one 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.040 of the challenges is input costs are really high. Costs 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.120 for fertilizer have been rising. We saw a usc A 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.680 plantings report last week that showed UM, US farmers are 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.880 actually going to cut back on corn plantings in favor 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.640 of of soybeans. UM. And the extent was kind of 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.080 a surprise to the market and has has kept grain 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:34.640 prices supported here going forward. So uh, you know there 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:37.680 there is rising crop prices, but farmers are facing challenges 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:41.080 on the input side as well. So what is the 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:45.440 expectation the market megan about any output from Ukraine? Is it? 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:48.960 Are we assuming zero? Are we assuming kind of how 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:51.920 we're thinking about that? Um, you know, analysts rangers are 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.719 are pretty wide at this point. Uh, it's unlikely to 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:58.520 be zero. You know. For example, UM, the CEO of 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:02.640 Colonel was on bloom TV earlier today. He was expecting 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:07.200 that Ukraine would produce something like a maximum of sixty 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.800 million tons of grains and oils this year. But that 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.640 compares to a record over a hundred million tons last year. 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.599 So it is a significant cutback. But the supply you know, 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.599 could still be there. Um, the challenges you know that 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.600 there's still obviously, uh, a lot of difficulties. I mean 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.440 that the country is at war, there's um challenges securing diesel, 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.599 um fertilizer, you know, with with occupied land and UM. 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.640 Even depending on what they can harvest this season, the 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.320 challenge will still be what can they export? Um. You know, 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.680 Ukraine and in Russian wheat exports typically accelerate in the 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.240 middle of the year when the next wheat harvest come 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.039 in um if they can't do that as usual, that's 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:49.919 as our stories had from one analyst, that's kind of 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:54.320 when the world's wheat shortfalls could come more into focus. Alright, Megan, 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:59.280 really good stuff. We appreciate that. Megan Derison Albury, agricultural 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:03.640 purporter for Bloomberg News. The Big Take story talking about 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:06.520 the global market for grain, corns and other commodities amid 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:08.719 the Ukraine wore a big, big issue. You can read 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:12.000 more Bloomberg Big Take stories at Bloomberg dot com slash 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:15.640 Big Take or on the terminal and I Big Take go. 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:22.320 All right, let's talk about this market here. If you've 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:24.480 got some fresh money, what are you doing today? Yes, 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:28.640 a shot, I'll carry equity. Analyst of Brutuman Asset Management 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.040 joins us. Actually, thanks so much for taking the time here. 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:33.279 If I got some fresh equity, maybe I got a 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.720 little bit of a stimmy check that I haven't spent. 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.880 Where do I put it in the market? Thank you 0:06:38.880 --> 0:06:42.039 guys for having me on. I mean definitely, you know, 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:46.000 we still recommend putting your money in the equity markets, 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:48.560 and for us, your long term investors, we're looking at, 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:50.440 you know, if there's a sell off you want to 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:53.440 look for high quality names, and you know, and those 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.039 kind of names that have high earning visibility and strong 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:59.240 underlying secular growth and a lot of uncertain times, be 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:04.120 like opportunities and healthcare especially like those ones that have 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:07.880 really strong underlying secular growth in women's help, so an 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:11.120 organ On which is a pharmaceutical company that was found 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.880 off on Mark or pro Jenny which is a fertility 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:16.680 benefits manager, and as well as managed healthcare which is 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.400 United Healthcare that has a large scale and a lot 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:24.640 of population involvements into their medical advantage. Pray, can I 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.200 ask you about the midterm elections? Phil Orlando yesterday from 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:30.840 Federated Hermy was just telling us that you know, they 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.680 expect a good for the Market's not not a political commentary, 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.360 but a good outcome from the midterm elections in that 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:42.720 we won't see much Um. Uh, well, we'll see the 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:44.800 government set up so that they can't really do anything. 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.800 Gridlock is good, um, although maybe it's bad for society. 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.640 But uh is that does that play into it? All? Um? 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.360 Your picks? Because it strikes me that depending on the outcome, 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:03.000 you could have a very different um expectation for managed 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:08.480 healthcare I mean for us just like the population dynamics too. 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:10.720 You know, more and more people are getting older. You're 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:12.960 looking at more people moving into the sixty five plus 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.880 buckets UM and those people are going to be starting 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:19.800 to the eligible for their Medicare, Medicaid programs and all 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:23.440 those different features. So managed healthcare in general we see 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:25.640 a pickup on that end of you know, the the 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.840 hired spending for senior sixty five plus UM as they 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.000 started to get enrolled into these programs. UM that that 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:34.320 top line growth is going to pick up for managed 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:38.600 healthcare companies, and specifically large ones like Healthcare has that scale, 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:41.600 especially with a ship towards value based care to really 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.360 take advantage of the large scale that it has to 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.679 reduce this cost over a large number of people that 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:51.360 are coming into into the even rollness overall, we've got 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.280 earnings coming up. How much does corporate American need to 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.000 really deliver on the earnings front? What are you gonna 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.600 pay pay attention to? I mean, yes, do you want earning? 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:03.839 Summing up? You know, companies are able to maintain that 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:05.880 growth and their hard margins are really going to be 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.600 more in focus. You know, current effacts that Q one 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.000 twenty two estimated earnings growths around four point seven percent. 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:14.320 And but what we've seen is like, if you know 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:16.640 those are the you know, we're looking at the similar factors, 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.439 are they able to maintain um you know, their their 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.160 growth and their margins in general. And we've seen that 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:26.400 earning estimates really have been quite resilient despite a number 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:29.880 of astro headwinds that we've seen and based recently. Is 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:33.840 there a huge number of them, the inflation and geo 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:38.480 political risks and whatnot. But earning estimates combined with dividingde 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.960 of the stocks by plants, do uh doing a lot 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:44.800 of room for positive returns even if there's some level 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:48.200 of multiple contractions due to some risks here. UM So 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.679 for us, our long term view on the SMP five 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:54.040 hundreds remain strong with above average return potential and we 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.800 see through what do you think about the big tech companies, 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.800 the mega cap tech companies so widely held these days. 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.040 I mean, you know, you know, we've seen here some 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.760 talking about procession risks coming up with inverdi via cars. 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:12.319 Tech is an interesting place to be in UM your 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.880 large connegict cap companies, you know, especially ones with a 0:10:15.880 --> 0:10:19.320 lot of subscription related growth that has that shows that 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.920 has has some much more visibility. UM like Adobe, for example, 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:26.319 intends to have these recurrent revity model that offers that 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:28.600 more top line visibility and it makes it easier to 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.959 trag growth. UM. So that's in Adobe and companies like 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.959 Amazon have that kind of feature and it's easier to see. 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:40.240 So those are still attractive names that we feel so shoddy. 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.640 We've got w T I cod oil still over hundred 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.559 dollars about a hundred three dollars, and it's had such 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:52.679 a great move. Has the energy play played out eighty again? 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.080 But it's hard to say, um, you know we have 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.120 there's verisic high of altility and sharply high you know, 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:02.280 higher oil prices. Uh, you know, going into more arms 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:06.760 their environment. Energy is probably a difficult sector to be 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:11.240 in UM with the level of all totally underlying it. UM. 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.200 That said, again, it's it's hard to say was exactly 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.319 gonna be driving it down immediately? But you know, we 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.400 have seen the fact that you know, these are star 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:23.719 part ll prices, you know, but you are continuing to 0:11:23.840 --> 0:11:26.680 ride and the fact is tightening overall. So what we 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.760 expect is eventually I supply, you know, supply demand. If 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:33.120 you kind of eat up a little bit um that 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.400 should come back down. Actual, thanks so much for joining 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.920 us a shadow bell carry their equity analyst at Brewderman 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:45.320 Asset Management. Right now, I want to get over to 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:49.680 I feel like we're connected in some way. I think 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.560 so Matt Kramer, um from the National the National Security Leader, 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:59.200 Consumer and Retail and advisory partner at KPMG, must be 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:01.840 from the great at of Ohio, you know, I mean, Matt, 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:03.599 I'm just looking through not only do we have the 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:06.439 same first name, but um, I'm just looking through all 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:10.080 of your experience and a lot of it centers around 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.400 the heart of it all after you graduated from uh 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.720 Miami of Ohio. You have done so much charity work 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.720 there And I just one question, what is the Furniture 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:25.959 Bank of Central Ohio. Yeah it's uh it's no longer 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:30.120 a flyover state Ohio is here to stay. But yeah, 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.120 I um, I was on the board at the Furniture Bank, 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:38.239 um and many years and and uh great nonprofit organization 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.160 that serves people that are in need of furniture. And 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.800 then also currently at a Big Brothers Big Sisters. So 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.679 love connecting in the community. So men doing a lot 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:51.960 of mentoring then, um, which is which is great? I 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.439 think that kind of hands on charity work is so rewarding. 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.640 And a furniture bank, I guess then is like a 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:01.800 food bank. So edge a thought. Because you're in finance 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:04.440 and you were at the furniture bank, I thought maybe 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:06.920 it was like some sort of financial institution. But it's actually, 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:12.200 UM doing good. That's fantastic. UM. And you're from Ohio. 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:17.959 You must be from Ohio. Absolutely from Ohio. Alright, there's two. 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.959 It is the Ohio State University. I don't still don't 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.520 get it. I don't understand that. All right, So mat 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.640 talk to us about the metaverse? What is it to you? 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.000 Just described to our listeners what the metaverse means to 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:34.680 you and maybe maybe some of the clients that you 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:39.319 deal with. Yeah, it's it's amazing. You know. In my sector, 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.680 consumer and retail, everybody thought I heard you mentioned omni 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:48.200 early being omnipresent, but the omni channel they thought was maximizing, 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.440 you know, the digital and online mobile channels. But now 0:13:51.440 --> 0:13:55.440 we've got this whole new um stratosphere, Web three, dot 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:59.360 O metaverse. UM, it's actually very exciting. For you know, 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:03.200 Brandon marketing enthusiasts, and in this sector creates a whole 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:07.920 new opportunity to express your brand. I think for consumers, UM, 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:10.360 you actually don't have to be yourself in the metaverse. 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:12.920 You can be your alter ego, you can be whoever 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.160 you want to be. So I think actually it's it's 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:19.440 pretty exciting, very broad based, and what companies are trying 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.400 to figure out now is just how do I engage? 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.280 But clearly from our survey we surveted thousand consumers, we 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:29.240 think that's extremely relevant, is UM. What you're finding is 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:33.720 the future generations are most passionate about engaging in the metaverse. 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:38.600 We found that of generations UM, gen y and millennials 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:43.320 are are very familiar in the mid eight UM and 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.320 certainly also the people that are that are engaging in 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:51.160 the metaverse. Also found that being friends UM in the 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.840 metaverse is about half of the people thought it was 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.480 just as good as in person, which kind of shocked me. 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.640 So we're getting some data that's telling us that this 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:02.360 this is probably going to be on a hockey stick. 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.960 I totally get it. You know, as someone who's played 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:11.040 grown up playing video games UM and well, so I 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:14.280 moved at a very young age to Berlin, and I 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.640 had friends who from Ohio who had moved to d 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:21.040 C and some who were in Paris. And at the time, 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:24.520 the Xbox was a new thing and we couldn't afford 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:26.440 to call each other on the phone all the time. 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.120 So what we did was we all got xboxes and 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.720 we could play Halo and and talk to each other 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:33.240 at the same time. That was my first, I think 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:38.000 kind of metaverse experience. But now everybody or many people 0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:40.160 have a metaverse experience in that you work from home 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:44.400 and you live in kind of zoom or next Year 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.000 or whatever it is. Can we have a broader definition 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:49.520 of the metaverse doesn't have to be this kind of 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.160 thing where you put on VR goggles and you um 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:57.320 go and play some fantasy game with wizards and goblins, right, yeah, 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.680 and that's it's it is the entry point now, I 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.840 um you know, people are certainly entering through gaming and 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.840 through movies. UM. I was talking to a CFO the 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:08.760 other day and he was it was a wake up 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.800 call for him when his um college aged son was 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.880 home and he was spending almost daily time with his 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.920 roommate who had lived in Chicago and felt like they 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.840 never left college together. They were engaging on a daily basis. 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:25.040 But I also think the categories that are going to 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:29.000 start to emerge beyond gaming and movies are really telling 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:34.440 in our survey. The next three we're education, fitness, and events. 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:38.320 So when you think of training and developing talent through 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:42.120 UM using you know, a r VR devices, that's the 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:44.160 current mechanism. I don't think that's always going to be 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:48.640 the mechanism. Also, just building health and wellness into your culture. 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:50.960 I've frequently talked to people who are engaging in the 0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:55.680 metaversity of fitness, bike riding, and other activities UM. And 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:59.720 then employees gathering, you know, company wide meetings UM, certainly 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:03.000 heart metal meetings. Does it have to be flying across 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.879 the country and meeting UH and incurring a lot of 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:08.760 costs to do that or can it be as effective 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:13.000 to meet in the metaverse? All right, Matt, thanks so 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:14.959 much for joining us giving us some thoughts there as 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.920 people try to get forgere out what the metaverse is, 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:21.000 what it means for them and maybe their businesses their 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.760 day to day. Do you exercise in the metaverse? Right? 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.480 I don't know your friends with that famous trainer who 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:29.320 shows you how to rid your bike every day. When 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.480 Sherman gen Sherman there, you are absolutely a big fan, 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.119 all right. Mack Cramer, National sector leader for Consumer and 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:39.639 Retailing as advisory partner partner KPMG, talking to his clients 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:43.080 and advising his clients on in the consumer space, in 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.480 the retail space, how to kind of try to adapt 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:50.439 the metaverse UH for their businesses. I'm not sure I 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.600 necessarily get it, but I agree with Matt that it 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.360 is what a lot of future generations are looking at. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.080 Wendy Thomas, CEO and president of Secure Works, that's a 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:07.600 NAZAC tradd stock the tickers sc as in Charlie w X. 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.920 Wendy joins us. Wendy, give us, just give us your 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:15.320 threat assessment, if you will. Kind of the cybersecurity landscape 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.439 that we live in now, it seems like we haven't 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:23.800 had any major breach recently. What's going on absolutely, And 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:28.200 you're right, Russia has definitely been more constrained than anticipated, 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.720 and we haven't seen the kind of widespread, really disruptive 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:35.920 attacks outside of Ukraine. And I think we all either 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:39.520 expected or feared. Yet what we what we saw was 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.400 in the days kind of leading up to the physical 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:46.840 military invasion. We did definitely see what we call wiper 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:50.800 type malware deployed in Ukraine, so so think of malware 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:53.280 that wipees data for fast damage versus trying to hold 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.840 it hostage for a ransom. But none of that malware 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:00.680 was particularly sophisticated. Much of it was ployed against a 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:04.800 pretty small targeted set of organizations in the Ukraine. UH. 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:07.679 And of course there's cyber attacks continue to be directed 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:12.800 at the Ukrainian government both UM, with various regional threat 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:17.280 groups conducting operations and even some international threat groups including 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.320 some suspected Chinese groups kind of taking an interest there. 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.520 But the other piece that we that we thought, if 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:27.720 you recall the Conti group, they're a large Russian ransomware 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.600 gang initially talked about, you know, posted early on that 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:36.919 they would seek retribution for sanctions that targeted Russia, but 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:41.040 even then, we haven't seen any notable rise in Russian 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:45.080 e crime activities in recent weeks. UM. In fact, that 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:50.240 Kanti group was disrupted UH pretty significantly when their own 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.080 chat servers and their malware source code was leaked. So 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.639 while they're not down and out, they keep posting a 0:19:56.680 --> 0:20:02.119 list of victims to their name and shame leak site definitely, 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:05.280 uh put a put a damper on their activities. Well, 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.320 but you know, we're still at a point where a 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:11.600 lot of people think the war could get worse in 0:20:11.720 --> 0:20:14.879 terms of the kind of artillery that Russia uses. Talk 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:18.560 of the possibility of tactical nukes is terrifying. Is it 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:22.560 the same? Is the same true in terms of cyber warfare? 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.840 Is it possible that Russia could pull out the big 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:30.159 guns when it really when Putin really feels cornered and 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.400 what would that look like? It is? It is absolutely 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:36.800 possible and something that frankly, we've been preparing for. And 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.800 I think that's why you see so many advisories from 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:46.520 the White House right now about advising organizations to be vigilant, 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:50.800 because while it's quiet right now, that could absolutely change rapidly, 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.440 and if you wait until it starts happening to be prepared, 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:59.160 it's it's obviously too late. Um. What we have seen 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:03.520 is that it could be that that the um the 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:09.320 focus right now around activism is really distracting from the 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:14.040 sort of US based companies. We certainly have seen a 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:19.000 lot of conversation around retaliation attacks potentially focusing on businesses 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:22.800 in the US that you know or or NATO affiliated 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:28.240 UM country organizations uk US that have either withdrawn from 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:33.120 Russia or frankly from activists that have not withdrawn from Russia, 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:36.119 and so the the the concern there is not just 0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:40.080 those organizations, but all of their ecosystem partners, their suppliers 0:21:40.160 --> 0:21:43.280 that that can access their systems that that you're depending 0:21:43.359 --> 0:21:45.840 on for your business to run. They can be an 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:50.320 easy attack vector for your organization as well. So as 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:56.080 as Russia starts to deploy more sophisticated potentially malware for 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:59.359 youth e criminal groups tend to pick those up quickly 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:03.520 in Russia and then use those for monetary gain against 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:10.000 businesses globally. What do you advise your clients to do 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:12.320 in terms of which they be how should they be 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:17.920 protecting themselves from a cyber perspective. Well, the good news 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:23.080 is if you're already pursuing defenses against cyber attacks like 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:28.199 ransomware and I we definitely saw a lift in UH 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:32.600 business and activity after the Colonial pipeline incident, which just 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:38.000 raised awareness again, you're already hardening your infrastructure around the 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:41.320 same kind of nation state tradecraft that could fall out 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:46.400 from any Russian government cyber actions. So there's a few 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:51.080 things that that we um talked to boards and executives 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:55.560 about quite a bit um. That is being brilliant at 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:59.600 the basics, because the reality is that that the criminals 0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:03.320 who you is nation state tradecraft. It is all about 0:23:03.680 --> 0:23:06.280 monetary reward. So if we don't protect ourselves, we keep 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:08.720 the cycle going Cryme pays, and it just fuels these 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:12.120 cyberganttings to continue the attacks. So we talk about being 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.800 brilliant at the basics really cross three things. And the 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:20.560 first one is really prioritizing the patches on any of 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:27.520 your externally facing systems and implementing multi factor authentications, kind 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:29.800 of like the doctor tells you to exercise and eat 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:33.360 your vegetables. Absolutely need to make sure that that your 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:38.520 exposed systems are patched for vulnerabilities. Yeah. The second one, 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:41.760 which well, I was just gonna say, people around here 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.600 talk so much about how much bitcoin has stolen, and somebody, 0:23:45.080 --> 0:23:47.120 you know, how the story seem like, oh, man, two 0:23:47.160 --> 0:23:50.639 billion dollars in bitcoin has been stolen, But then I 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:53.680 thought she has six hundred billion dollars is stolen from 0:23:53.760 --> 0:23:57.320