WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - August 12, 2022 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:05.400 This is Bloomberg Business Week inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.559 --> 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 --> 0:00:21.360 stenovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi, everyone, Welcome to the weekend 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:24.200 edition of Bloomberg Business Week. My co host Tim Stenovik 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:27.760 is off in what was another eventful week for investors. 0:00:27.840 --> 0:00:31.480 No summer duldrums for sure. Now the big economic news 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:34.159 of our week something we addressed with many of our guests. 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.519 The latest CPI and pp I prints, both headline and 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.360 core coming in better than expected in the month of July. 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:45.000 Even so, with a still hot headline inflation reading on 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:47.960 CPI of eight point five percent year of a year, 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.720 feteficials are expected to continue on a path of raising 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:56.040 interest rates. Also this week, a major legislative policy initiative 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.720 four hundred thirty seven billion dollars to bring down America's deficit, 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.520 healthcare costs and carbon emissions. Head On our broadcast, we 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.800 catch up with the CEO of Plug Power on what 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:08.560 it all means for key climate change initiatives. And the 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.880 company's business and Green Hydrogen. Will also hear from the 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:13.400 head of H and R Block on the health of 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:17.040 the American consumer and the company's blistering share price gains, 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:20.280 plus the CEO of Trovago on the persistently high cost 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:24.120 of travel and the outlook for the hospitality industry. All 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.440 of that to come. We begin with today's sobering reality 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.959 of the world's worsening climate conditions. Bloomberg Big Take this 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.360 week explains how from the Rhine to the Danube, Europe's 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.600 rivers are drying up as temperatures post record highs across 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:41.720 the continent, disrupting trade, commerce and more. Bloomberg's Mike Reagan 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.920 and I spoke with Bloomberg News Oil products reporter Jack 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.360 Whittles to help us understand the crisis across the Atlantic 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:51.360 is really hot in Europe, it's been a very hot 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.160 summer and as a result, a lot of the river 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:58.800 levels extremely low. Probably the most important of them is 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.600 a river cool to Rhyme that's about eight hundred miles long. 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:04.920 It starts in the switch Out, so it goes all 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.040 the way down through Europe to the North Sea, and 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.919 that is used to ship a lot of really important 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:15.880 commodity through the continent, so talking energy, coal, gas oil, diesel, gasoline, 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:20.600 but also stuff like gravels. Some men iron ore. When 0:02:20.639 --> 0:02:23.400 the water level on the Rhine gets really low, the 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.280 barges that are used to transport all this stuff they 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:29.959 can't take on enough. They can't take on their full 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.320 loads of these commodities because the more you load, the 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:34.760 lower you get in the water. And then when the 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.240 river is really shallow, they'll, you know, they'll hit the bottom. 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.799 So it's swing the low water. It's really choking off 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.400 the supply of energy and commodities in Europe, just as 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.399 just as there's a war in Ukraine and we've got 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:48.919 problems with Russian gas supply. So it's it's a little 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:51.119 bit of a perfect norm at the moment, you know, Jack, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.200 this strikes me as a very difficult problem to solve, 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.440 you know, save doing a rain dance or something. I 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.160 don't know how you fix this. So I'm wondering is 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:02.320 there any hope that this problem couldn't be solved or 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.680 is it more a matter of you know, shipping stuff 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:08.640 via truck and rail instead? How are how are people 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.600 dealing with this? There aren't many very easy short term 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.359 solutions for companies. You know you can't, You're right, you can. 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:18.440 You can use rail, you can use road. So you know, 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.519 Switzerland for instance, gets imports some oil products by the rhyme, 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:24.480 but it can of it doesn't also get through roads 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.000 and rails and pipeline. I believe companies can do that, 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.360 but it's it's much more expensive, so that's not always great. 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.079 The economics are not always going to look very good 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:35.440 on that. The other thing companies can do is they 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:39.480 can invest in ships that are specifically designed to you 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:44.440 to go in shallow water. Sobers the chemicals company they 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.240 they invested in a couple of ships to do that. 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.480 But it's not easy. And with climate change, personally think 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:52.920 it's probably just going to get worse and worse, to 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:55.040 be honest, Well, and that's where I want to go 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.480 because this wouldn't be happening. Is it fair for me 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.920 to make this jump if it wasn't for climate change? Right? 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:05.760 If the rhine is fed by a combination of rain 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:10.160 and melting glass ears, and the more the the lower 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.480 and lower the glassis getting, and the less they can 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.400 feed the rhine, I'm not a kind to climate scientists, 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.480 so I'm not going to try and say this specific 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.480 event was pinned down to kind of change, but in 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.480 general that's the way it's going and I can only 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.240 see it getting worse really, Right, those alpine glaciers, right, 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.279 they feed into all of this, and we know kind 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.080 of to some extent, maybe some of that's you know, 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:35.280 going away. They're getting smaller. Yeah, They're getting smaller and smaller. Yeah, Jack, 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:38.000 I'm wondering where we should look for this crisis to 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.960 sort of have the most potential damage. You know, is 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.440 it a matter of BMW Mercedes not being able to 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.160 produce cars at some point because they can't get supplies, 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:50.400 or is it there's something more acute, you know, like 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:54.240 electricity going off in Germany. Where will this really start 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:57.680 to cause the most problems? Well, as an energy reporter, 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.240 I'm convinced in the end, as you were, the lass 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:03.760 of what you were saying. Switzerland, for instance, it's already 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.320 said it's releasing oil from its strategic reserves. Austria and 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.919 Hungary which are in that sort of general neck of 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.440 the woods. Also, they've also said in recent months that 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.160 they're doing the same you've had from the finary outages 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.000 in those areas as well. The diesel market in Europe 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.560 is already very tight, and we are going to lose 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:24.120 In theory, you is going to lose supply from Russia 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.760 in February as well that you sanctioned. So on oil 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.839 it's tight, you know, then on power as well. Uniper 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:33.560 has warned it may have to cut output two the 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.760 coal fired power plants in Germany because the company is 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.000 struggling to get full supplies along the line. So getting 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.080 that coal in to Germany to make the power just 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.760 as the gas gets cut off from Russia. That's another 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.279 sort of more immediate crisis, you know, Jack, is this 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.599 sort of fueling the whole debate about alternative energy in 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:57.640 Europe and especially Germany. Are are people reconsidering uh nuclear 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.800 more aggressively because of this and everything else going on 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.960 in the world, I strongly imagine. So, you know, I 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.120 was talking to one one of my energy contacts recently 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:11.400 and he was saying he was still criticizing Germany's decision 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:16.080 actually to shut off it's it's nuclear capacity, you know, saying, 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.720 what a crazy time to do that. And so I 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.839 think this this will certainly spurred the argument in general 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:27.599 about renewable was doing it faster because nobody knew wants 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:29.960 to be reliant on fossil fields, because you're at the 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.600 markey of other countries, and it was the mercy of 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.560 this sort of infrastructure that doesn't always hold up well 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:38.640 under climate change. That was Bloomberg News, Oil Products reporter 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:42.200 Jack Whittles and Bloomberg's Mike Regain coming up more on 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.839 climate change as it in America's energy transition gets a 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.760 big boost from Congress. The CEO of Plug Power on 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.320 the importance of growing green hydrogen. You're listening to Bloomberg 0:06:52.320 --> 0:07:06.479 Business Week. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:10.400 with Carol Masser and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stenovik from 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:14.400 Bloomberg Radio. Well our next guest we last caught up 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.000 with back in June, and so much has happened since then, 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:21.520 including key tax, climate and healthcare policies, which Democrats call 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.800 the largest investment in fighting climate change ever made in 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:28.560 the United States. Shares in the alternative energy space rallied 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:30.800 on the news this week. That includes the stock of 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.960 plug Power, which is up more than a hundred percent 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.120 since mid May. Andy Marsh is the President CEO of 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.080 Plug Power and Bloomberg Markets, Mike Regan and I talked 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:43.240 with him about the potential impact of new congressional climate 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:46.800 and alternative energy initiatives. We began though. With the company's 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:50.559 earnings release out this past week, market was excited about 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:54.080 plug for a few reasons. We have an electricalizer business 0:07:54.400 --> 0:08:00.080 which takes green electricity produced green hydrogen. Before even in 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:04.200 the announcements of the production the production tax credit for 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:08.880 green hydrogen, we have seen bookings fifty higher for the 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:12.200 year and we expected for the whole year, we've done 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:16.040 one point five giggle wats that excited the market. I 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:18.240 think the second I am that excited the market is that, 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:24.520 you know, our path to three billion dollars oh I 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:29.040 you know even becomes brighter when you include the production 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.960 tax credit that was passed. And I think on top 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.640 of that, we were able to reiterate guidance for this year. 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.600 And I think that made investors comfortable with the direction 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.560 the company has taken. And I wonder is there any 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.120 visibility on when you think Plug Power will turn to 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:49.720 profitability either on a quitterly annual basis uh the next 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:53.520 few years or any sense on that. Sure our CFO 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.360 is very clear in pronouncing that the company would be 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:00.800 profitable in what's the take to get there? What is 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.520 it just a matter of uh, you know, reducing R 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:05.680 and D and that sort of thing, and seeing some 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:07.920 of these projects just just start to bring in the revenue. 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.240 I would never reduce R and D. This industry is 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:15.400 just starting, Mike. Where it's coming from is the build 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.559 out of our green hydrogen network across the United States. 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:23.760 We have first mover advantage. We'll have five tons deployed 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.440 per day in the States, seventy tons by the end 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:32.000 of this year. It dramatically impacts our cost of fuel, 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.760 which really is one of the big big items in 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.920 keeping us from being profitable. And we're becoming vertically integrated 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:44.880 to make sure that we're providing it to ourselves costs effectively, 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.480 and that's really one of the big items that changes 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:50.160 our income statement. How do you you know in terms 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.840 of hydrogen and how much does it continue to be 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.360 a part of our energy society? Hydrogen ultimately, and Carol, 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:01.040 these are not my numbers. These are numbers like, uh, 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:06.920 your organization, Bloomberg thinks this will be of world's energy 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:11.760 by twenty by and it's growing from growing from now. 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:14.160 You know, if you take a look at Walmart where 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:18.440 we announced a thirty tons per day green hydrogen agreement 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:23.160 with them, Uh, that is helping them in their path 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.839 to reduce their carbon footprint by one giga ton. So 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.880 the real work is happening now. And certainly the bill 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:33.280 that Centers Schumer and Center and Manchion were instrumental and 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:38.000 having passed, will just accelerate this move in the world 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.079 to a green economy. Yeah, and I wanted to ask 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:44.600 you about that. How does hydrogen in general and plug 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:49.120 powers specifically sort of fit into this inflation Reduction Act 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.480 which has so many perks for green energy um and 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:54.520 on top of that, is there a risk, you know, 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:59.560 in the midterms, of of some of that being undone? Well, 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.120 I think that I'm gonna answer your last question first. 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:07.600 When there was an investment tax credit for fuel cells, 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:11.800 Actually the house built have more Republican co signers and 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:16.360 Democrat co signers. I've met with people like Centator Cassidy 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:21.280 from Louisiana. They are strong supporters of hydrogen. This act 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:26.120 that look, it's obviously Centator Schumer Mansion, who are both 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:30.000 huge supporters, has a three dour production tax credit for 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:35.200 green hydrogen, which makes hydrogen from green sources competitive with 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:39.360 any other form of hydrogen. It's a big deal because 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:43.199 the market for hydrogen's launched today from natural gas. Now 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:47.600 we're lower costs and competitive with natural gas hydrogen today. 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.560 It helps our electricalizer business, it helps our fuel cell 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.880 business because it will be able to drive all sorts 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:58.480 of applications like the backup power system we developed for 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:03.760 Microsoft which ekes fuel cost effective with today's diesel and 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.520 green hydrogen. I mean, just remind everybody you're using it, 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:11.560 but it's this is hydrogen power that's generated by renewables right, 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:15.640 whether it's win, whether it's solar or or hydro power. 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.520 I mean, one of my favorite plants is of one 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.400 were ability in New York and uh, just like George 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:26.440 Westinghouse built the first electrical network using Niagara Falls power, 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:30.960 we're using Niagara Falls power to create green hydrogen. What 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:36.640 is the biggest thing that's holding back green hydrogen right now? Well, 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.880 I think the biggest I I first, I think the 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:43.679 Sentence will be the big accelerator for this market. I 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:48.000 think they put us in a position where green hydrogen 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:52.240 will now be cost competitive and it's our our our 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:56.800 responsibility to make sure that we leverage this time like 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:59.520 they did in solar and wind, so that the cost 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.240 of green hydrogen will always be lower with or without 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:06.480 government support in the long run. You know, Andy, It's 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.080 it's interesting in addition to the top line and bottom 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.280 line of your company, which is obviously very important, but 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.319 we've also got a planet to consider here, And I'm wondering, 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:19.520 you know, how optimistic are you about everything that's been 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.960 done by Congress and about the future of the hydrogen 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:27.520 power industry to really help save the world, help reduce 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:30.800 this climate damage that is really starting to come to 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.320 roost now with all these weather anomalies and everything. Is 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.840 there a reason to be optimistic about, you know, the 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:43.559 climate going forward giving all these developments this year, You know, absolutely, Mike. 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:47.000 Let me tell you, I worked in wireless in three 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:51.240 when nobody knew what wireless was, and I've seen creation 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:56.840 of industries and this bill by Congress is good for 0:13:56.920 --> 0:14:00.440 the national security of the United States, it's good for 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:04.720 climate change, it's good for creating jobs, and it will 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:09.240 create momentum with customers like Amazon who want to be 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:13.240 carbon you know, are looking to be carbon neutral by. 0:14:13.400 --> 0:14:16.880 It's good for customers like Microsoft which want to eliminate 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:21.080 diesel from their process. This bill will help make it happen, 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:25.120 and it actually puts United States in a unique leadership position. 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:30.720 So I I think the kids running around are going 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:32.800 to be really happy with what the Senate did in 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.320 that was Andy marsh Presidency. A plug power coming up 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:39.400 next to new app aims to help users have an 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:42.000 understanding of what it's like to work at a Wall 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:46.360 Street hedge fund without the risk. Find out how and why. 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:57.560 This is Bloomberg Broadcasting from the financial capital of the 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:01.480 World Bloomberg Frio in New York to Washington, d C. 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:06.440 Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one oh six one, does San Francisco, 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.920 Bloomberg nine sixty to the country Sirius XM Chadal one 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.160 nineteen and around the globe the Bloomberg Business app and 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:19.440 Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Business Week. Mary's 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.239 is a company and app founded by two Wall Street veterans. 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:25.440 It aims to democratize Wall Street recruiting and more. The 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.360 platform simulates the experience of working at a fast paced 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.520 hedge fund on your mobile device. To find out how 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.720 Bloomberg's Mike Reagan and I caught up with the company's 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:37.120 founder and CEO, Neil Dotta. My backgrounds. I've been an 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:41.520 institutional allocator to hedge funds for last fifteen years, um, 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.000 really having exposure to some of the most well known, 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:48.080 best performing hedge fund managers in the space, and uh, 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:50.240 over the course of that time, you know, it became 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.960 abundantly obvious that the folks that are in the position 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:58.360 of making investment decisions and managing money for folks that 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:00.840 are you know, whether they're they're fire men or police 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:05.080 officers or institutional investors like myself. It's not necessarily the 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.640 people that have the most talent, but a lot of 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.120 times it's the folks that had the best resumes and 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:14.520 found themselves in the position to uh manage that capital. 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.000 And really what we wanted to do with Maritas was 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.440 to kind of create a platform that democratizes this access 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:24.320 that forever has been limited to folks who have specific resumes, 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.360 came to specific schools. UM. So that's the platform in 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.840 a nutshell, and really what we do is we extend 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:35.360 this access to folks regardless of their ability to financier 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:39.000 trading or their actual education. So it's a free app 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:42.520 that you download that allows you to simulate working at 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.400 a at a hedge fund and trading equities and crypto, 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.400 and your experience generates an alpha score, and we take 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.520 that alpha score and we allow you to apply for 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.920 jobs on Wall Street with that score. So it's really 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.960 bringing that experience to to everyone through their mobile devices. 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.600 And one thing that was kind of, you know, really 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.680 obvious to me was that, you know, for I've been 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.960 managing large pools of capital and my my co founder 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.720 Gabel as well, and we realize that even at the 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.720 scale and scope that we invest, even ourselves, we don't 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.200 actually own our own track record. And this is what 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:18.119 we think we should do to everyone and give everyone 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.439 the opportunity to you know, whether you're you're a junior 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:24.600 analyst at a bank and you want to leverage your experience, 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:28.360 most of the time, your employer owns your actual ideas, 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.920 and we give folks like that and the ability to say, hey, 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.200 this is why I'm talented, and this is why you 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.680 should hire me based upon my talent, not what based 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.520 on my resume says. Let me make sure I'm picturing 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.680 this right. So I log in and I basically can 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:46.080 start doing some paper trading and you'll be able to 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.240 track my P and L sort of rank me among 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:53.200 other traders. What happens if say, my strategy is some algorithm, 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:56.359 you know, fast twitch type of thing. Uh am I 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.720 able to sort of input input a automated strategy into 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.560 this thing as well. That's a great question, And the answers, no, actually, 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.960 and we we take the view that being allocators into 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.640 these strategies. So I know, the folks that you can 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:10.840 think of that are kind of at the forefront of 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.200 high frequency and systematic trading. We take the view that 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.600 it's very difficult for a typical person to compete against 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.800 a big ten billion dollar hedge fund. So really we're 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:24.280 meant for fundamental investing. We're meant for people that do 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:28.120 you know, research and individual companies and take views on 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:31.600 things like market share and earnings and growth potential. We're 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:35.080 not focused on kind of day trading or systematic trading 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.879 because the thinking is that that's not a game that 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:41.160 a typical person can succeed that. So now I'm wondering 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:44.680 how Maritas makes money off of this. It is a 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:48.880 free app. I'm guessing the the users, the traders get 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:50.280 to use it for free, and then maybe the hedge 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.960 funds pay for access to to see who's doing what. Yeah, exactly, 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:56.639 So we're effectively a recruiting platform. So the way I 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:58.440 like to think of us as we're kind of like 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:01.760 the n C Double Afe or Wall Street where you 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:05.000 you join our platform, you showcase your skills, and if 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:09.640 your skills happen to match un employer who finds that valuable, 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.240 then they'll reach out to you directly, and then we'll 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.200 get paid on the recruiting fee that the employer will 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:17.640 pay us. Hey, Neil, how does this maybe help create 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:22.680 more diversity when it comes to financial firms hedge funds specifically, 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:24.720 because that is certainly something we've talked about a lot 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.280 over the last couple of years, and well, there's progress 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:29.280 being made, there's a lot a long way to go. 0:19:29.359 --> 0:19:32.439 So how might what you guys are doing help with that? 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:36.359 Can you make it kind of color blind? Um, sex blind? 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.200 Like can you or gender blind? Can you do that 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:43.280 so that we maybe up the up the diversity anti Sure, 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:46.480 great question, And if you think of the way recruiting 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.359 is done at hedge funds and big banks, it really 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.719 hasn't changed in the last hundred years. UM, it's effectively 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.760 a network of who you know and how well you're connected, 0:19:56.880 --> 0:20:01.000 and those are the metrics that typically place people, particularly 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:04.919 in most highest income roles like portfolio manager and analysts. 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:07.119 So we take the view that it should be a 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.119 democratized system that should be based solely on your talent. 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.119 So through us, we don't care what you look like, 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:15.080 we don't care what your resume says. We don't even 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:17.320 care where you went to school. We only care about 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:20.840 your ideas, and those ideas can can potentially get you 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:23.480 paid or get you recruited. Are big thanks to Neil Dotta, 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:26.760 the founder and CEO of Maritas. You're listening to Bloomberg 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:31.080 Business Week. Still to come. We're talking planes, trains, and automobiles. Well, 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:34.320 we're really talking about getting out and about the CEOs 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.520 of car parts dot Com and travel services company Travago 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:50.240 are up next. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.920 Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:59.120 Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. Earlier, we heard about Europe's worsening 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:02.720 climate situation and in America's hopes for an expedited transition 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:05.520 to clean energy. A large part of that effort will 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:08.440 come from the auto industry. A recent report from the 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:11.520 Bloomberg An e F says we are just fourteen years 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.280 away from peak car, when an estimated one and a 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.960 half billion passenger vehicles globally are expected on the road 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:22.080 by nine Well before we get there, buyers, you know this, 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.000 they're still looking at months, perhaps even years worth of 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.160 inflation and supply chain snarls that could hinder them from 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:30.920 getting the cars they want and when they want them. 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:33.960 That's where car Parts dot Com comes in. Bloomberg News 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:37.000 senior markets reporter Katie Greifeld and I asked CEO David 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:40.480 begnon how his company can help car Parts dot Com. 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:43.600 We're direct to consumer, pure play online player of auto 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:47.160 parts and accessories. We've been in business for twenty five years, 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:49.080 and what makes us very unique is that we have 0:21:49.119 --> 0:21:52.160 a vertically integrated supply chain. So we buy our own 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:56.960 parts from globally a combination of collision parts and replacement parts, 0:21:57.200 --> 0:21:59.439 and then we sell them direct to consumer via our 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:01.680 own distribut and channel. So we're in a very good 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:03.920 spot to see what's going on in the auto world. 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:07.000 And the auto parts industry. Um, you know, the the 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:09.560 auto industry is just gigantic. You guys know that you 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.679 cover it all the time. Auto parts is three hundred 0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:16.760 billion dollars market. And believe it or not, the average 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:18.640 age of a car on the road it's twelve point 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:22.000 two years. So the average American drives an older car. 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.840 And in order to keep that car going and running longer. Uh, 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:28.520 they rely on retailers like us to buy you know, 0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:32.000 quality parts at the competitive prices. You know, David, During 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:34.560 the last couple of years, we heard so much about 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:38.320 how the actual automakers were struggling to source the chips 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:41.080 they need and other parts. I'm curious how you guys 0:22:41.160 --> 0:22:45.359 fared with all the supply chain disruptions we've had. I 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:47.800 can only imagine it must have been a giant headache. 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:50.520 Was it was it tough to source the parts you needed? Uh? 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:53.320 In the last few years. I mean, supply chain was 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:56.280 basically top of mind for the last two years, right 0:22:56.400 --> 0:23:00.439 before inflation and Ukraine and and everything else. Uh. You know, 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:04.080 we were very aggressive early on in the pandemic in 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:06.560 in ramping up inventory buys. Um. You know, we've build 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:09.919 capabilities in house so we increase the quantities of our 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:13.480 buy we increase our safety stock requirements, we open more 0:23:13.520 --> 0:23:17.240