WEBVTT - How Robinhood Made Trading Easy 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:04.440 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:07.280 Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stanovk. We're here every day bringing 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:09.799 you the latest news from the world to business and finance, 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:13.640 clus technology, politics, economics, all partnising the power of Business 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:17.160 Week reporters and editors, not to mention our journalists and 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.000 analyst in more than one twenty countries. You can download 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:23.239 Bloomberg Business Week and iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.160 You can also listen to our radio show at two 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:27.880 pm Eastern Time on Bloomberg Radio or watch us on 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:31.400 YouTube search Bloomberg Global News. Let's get right to it, 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:33.199 because we've got a great guest when it comes to 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:35.559 COVID nineteen and the virus, and there's a lot of 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.400 things on our minds. Back with us is Dr Chris Bier. 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:42.560 He is Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and Human 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.960 Rights at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:48.760 supported of course, by Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg LP 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:52.080 and Bloomberg Philanthropies. He's also Senior Scientific Liaison at the 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.040 COVID Vaccine Prevention Network. He is back with us on 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.240 the phone from Baltimore. Dr Bira, how are you very well, 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.520 good to be with you, Good to have you here. 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.000 How do you think we're doing in the United States 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.919 when it comes to the vaccine rollout specifically and getting 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.880 ahead of the mute the mutants that are out there, 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:17.120 the mutations, and getting to hurt immunity fast enough. Well, 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:19.920 the good news here really is that we have two 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.679 are very safe and effected vaccines, the two Messenger RNA 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:28.200 vaccines UM, the Moderna and the Visor. Those of course, 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.480 are both two dose vaccines. They have not had some 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:35.480 of the same problems that have emerged with the with 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:39.080 the Jansen, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, where the Astra 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:43.280 Zeneca vaccine this is the challenge that has been rare, 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:48.800 but nevertheless significant complication and blood clots. We don't see 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.320 those with either the Visor or the Maderna. So our 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.640 vaccine rollout is going really very well. UM. We're over, 0:01:57.080 --> 0:02:02.120 you know now three million adults the immunized every day. UM. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:07.200 And we're expecting emergency used authorization for the Fiser vaccine 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:09.720 to go down to twelve to seventeen year olds as well. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:13.040 That may happen fairly soon. Can we get out of 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:15.880 the pandemic. Though, if people under the age of twelve 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:22.760 cannot be vaccinated, well about of the American population is 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:27.200 children under aged eighteen TI. So it is very important 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.400 that we learn as quickly as we can. Uh, if 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:34.280 these vaccines are as safe and effective in children as 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:39.640 they are in adults. Um, that process is mostly being 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:43.679 led right now by the companies themselves. That trials are 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.919 under way. Um, we have the data, as I said, 0:02:47.040 --> 0:02:51.200 from the twelve to seventeen year olds. Uh, the we 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.520 really need to accelerate the research effort for the five 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.359 to twelve year old right, And of course that's so 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:00.080 important for them for you know, getting back to of 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.040 seeing their friends and getting back to school and and 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.000 getting back to acted life, which so we really need 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:08.680 for our kids, right, getting back to you know, a 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.280 so called normal life. The thing is, I mean, bottom line, 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.880 vaccines are the way out of the pandemic done right, 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:21.360 no question, no question. So if we don't get to 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:27.600 her immunity, what does our world look like? Well, right 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.959 now we have a couple of very specific challenges. People 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:35.320 have described this as a race between the vaccine rollout 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.560 and the emergence of these new variants the mutants that 0:03:38.680 --> 0:03:42.440 you were mentioning, and that really is a challenge. Some 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:46.840 of these new variants are more infectious than the viruses 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:51.360 we first encountered UM, some of them have more resistance 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.680 to the broadly neutralizing anybody's that we've been using, and 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.800 at least one, for sure, the variant that was first 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.680 identified in South Africa does appear to be a challenge 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.200 for at least the astra Zenica vaccine. The good news 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:10.800 is that they both the Messenger RNA vaccines Byserne Moderna, 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:13.480 and as far as we can tell, the Johnson and 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:18.200 Johnson vaccines do appear to provide good, robust protection against 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:22.039 the variants that are circulating now. But what we're learning 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.720 with this virus is that mutations keep happening UH, and 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:29.240 we really have to get ahead of those mutations. The 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.520 big challenge right now is that the vaccine rollout is 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.359 sold in much of the rest of the world. That's 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.320 because the rest of the world doesn't have the same 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.640 access to the Messenger RNA's they were relying on Astra 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.839 Zenica and Johnson and Johnson UH, and we are seeing 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:51.120 huge surges of infection in places like India and Brazil, uh, 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:54.880 much of South America in fact. And if we can't 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.560 do better with getting control of those epidemics and getting 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.800 those populations, I mean, uh uh, the current generation of 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:07.120 vaccines may be undermined by these new variants. That's a 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:11.200 real threat, and we're working very hard to prevent that scenario. 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.040 So Dr Byra, what is the solution here? I mean 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:15.919 it sounds like what the only the only thing to 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.040 do is to for the US to take a leading 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:19.839 role in making sure that the rest of the world 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:24.560 is vaccinated. I think that's absolutely essential. I think there 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:26.760 are going to be a couple of important steps in 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.400 that direction. First of all, you may have seen that 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:35.000 earlier this week the European Medicines Association did approve going 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:39.240 forward with use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine with 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:43.480 a guidance that there is a rare but serious complication 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.880 associated with blood clocks. Most of those have been seen 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:52.839 in women underage thing. Um, so there is going to 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.880 be a guidance. There's a hearing on Friday with the 0:05:55.960 --> 0:06:00.880 Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. This is the US independent 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.839 body that gives guidance to the CDC. I think many 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.680 expect in the field. They have been collecting and looking 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.880 for more data on the blood clot It's very likely 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.159 if we think that they are going to do the 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:18.039 same thing as the European regulatory body, which is to 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:22.200 say they will approve continuing use of that vaccine with 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:26.960 the guidance for providers, with the caution about the rare 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.880 blood clots. Uh. The right apparently identified a few more cases, 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:35.320 but it seems like it's a handful, and roughly we're 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.680 talking about one in a million. I want to get 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:39.880 right back to Dr Chris Buyer, Professor of Public Health 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.200 and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:45.800 Public Health, also senior scientifical liaison at the COVID Vaccine 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.320 Prevention Network, still with us on the phone from Baltimore. 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:53.400 Dr Buyer, a listener listening in on our conversation has 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.279 a question for you, and basically is asking, how can we, 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.920 as parents and good conscious and conscious ask our kids 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.880 to get shots when we have no data to support 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:06.440 the side effects on kids. Furthermore, this disease is not 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:08.560 a real risk for anyone under thirty. Deaths under the 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:13.800 age of eighteen represent point zero zero zero seven. Basically 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.280 they're saying that kids are going to be okay, So 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.360 why are we going to maybe potentially put them at 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:21.720 risk by giving them a shot. How can we do 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:25.280 this in good conscience? Well, the first thing could say is, 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:28.120 of course, that we wouldn't ask anybody to have their 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.000 children be immunized until we have the data. And so 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:35.080 those trials are underway UH And as I said earlier, 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.920 the twelve to seventeen year old data from the Visor 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.520 UH trial is going to the f D, A, M, 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.240 and H and being reviewed. So so I think the 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.520 caller is absolutely right that we need to see those data, 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:51.320 and parents are going to want to see that before 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:56.440 they immunize. I think it's a common misconception to compare 0:07:56.760 --> 0:08:00.880 COVID nineteen UH disease and deaths and children with those 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:05.200 and adults. The real question is comparing COVID nineteen disease 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:09.120 and deaths and children with other vaccine preventable diseases and children. 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.000 And when you do that, they're close to three children 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:15.480 who died already of COVID in the United States. UH. 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:20.080 Looks actually like quite a severe UH number of cases 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.960 and a vaccine preventable infection, we hope, So I think 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:28.080 that's more compelling. UM. It's also the case that, UM, 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:32.679 while children have had much lower rates of illness and 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:35.920 death from COVID, they've had a very high burden of 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:40.679 non health issues. The social isolation is hard for kids, 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:44.280 to developmental issues, the educational issues that parents are so 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.520 concerned about. And we think, particularly for the twelve to 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:51.200 seventeen year olds, that vaccination is really going to help 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:54.679 them be able to engage again in sports and after 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.360 school activities and being with their friends. So those those 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:02.760 all get weighed in the The non medical complications of 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.920 COVID for kids have been severe. All right, Dr Buyer, 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.360 I just want to ask about messaging around vaccines, because 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:14.079 there there has been this idea that, you know, we're 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.880 still wearing masks after getting a vaccine, We're still being cautious. Uh. 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:20.440 And I'm wondering if it's sending the wrong message about 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:22.760 the benefits of the vaccine. It had Dector Amish at 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:24.959 Dolls or one of your colleagues from the from the 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.640 Bloomberg School of Public Health on our show or quick 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:31.360 take earlier today, and he's all for you know, eating 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.480 in restaurants without masks after getting a vaccine and really 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.960 going back to everything that he was doing before the 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:41.199 pandemic hit. Well, I think you know, it is really 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:45.480 important to say that these vaccines have high efficacy against 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:49.920 this virus and particularly against serious disease. Uh, so we 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.520 can do more. The CDC guidance is very clear that 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:57.839 immunized folks can meet at home, you can meet indoors 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.760 without masks. That a huge difference for families and friends, 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.959 people getting together. Um, they're also the CDC guidance is 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.800 also the immunized people and Mrs Williamans, two weeks after 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.960 your second dose with either the visor of the MODERNA 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.280 n F J and J is approved again on Friday, 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.040 as we think it may be for emergency use. Then 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.520 two weeks after your one dose of J and J 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.680 uh that people can travel. We still want people to 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:30.600 wear masks. We still want to keep that social distancing, 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.880 although now it has been changed for the CDC from 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:38.000 six to three ft. That's very important for getting kids, 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:41.800 for example, back into school. Just very quickly thirty seconds here, 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:45.079 the US has come out and basically banned international travel 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.079 to most countries. Would you agree that we need to 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.240 stay home at least for now and just quickly if 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:54.320 you could, yes, right now. I think given the variants 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:56.760 that are spreading in other countries and the surges that 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:01.240 are underway, domestic travel in the US is okay for 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:05.080 fulliam and as people, according to the CDC International Travel, 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.559 we have to be very careful. What a great interview. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.000 Thank you so much, Dr Chris byro Thank you, Thank you, 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:13.480 Professor of Epidemiology, Public Health, and Human Writers at Johns 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:16.280 Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, of course, supported 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.960 by michaelar Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg ELP and Bloomberg phil Anthapis. 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:20.280 I feel like they had a checklist and we were like, 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:23.760 let's get through this. We got we got all important 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.760 comments about kids too, Yeah, very much so, because we've 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.880 got to be thinking about that. This is Bloomberg Business 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.760 Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovich 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:37.240 from Bloomberg Radio in the Finance section of the upcoming 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.440 issue of Bloomberg Business Week magazine. This week, it's the 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:43.800 app that made trading easy, tim and maybe even just 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.200 a little too hard to resist. We are, of course 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.360 talking about Robin Hood, Joe Weber's editor at Bloomberg Business Week, 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:51.480 joining us on the remote from Brooklyn and Mr Lena 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:55.000 Golfa poulu is, personal finance reporter at Bloomberg News. It 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:57.880 is a fantastic story, Joel. My understanding is it was 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.240 months in the making. Why did you approach it this way? 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.840 Right about the design of the app? I think that 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:09.160 that it was rooted in um. Missy's original idea was, 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.160 which was, you know, we we know what Robin hood 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:16.120 Um represents now and we know how it's caught on, 0:12:16.280 --> 0:12:18.120 but you know, where did it really come from? And 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:22.160 so she dug into sort of the a little bit 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.679 of the early days and what the design uh kind 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.000 of looked like very early on, and and found an 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:32.880 interesting character. So so Missy, tell us who you found? Yeah, 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.040 thanks for having me on. So, I think, sort of 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.480 echoing what Joel is saying, you know, the entire Robinson 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.080 phenomenon that we've seen sort of pan out in the 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:43.240 past year ultimately comes down to its app. And so 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.320 as we were reporting the story out, you know, an 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.680 important part was figuring out what the influence was. And 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:52.600 that's where near y'all comes into the picture. This is uh, 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.600 the author of the book hooked and he's basically known 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.800 in Silicon Valley for his work on behavioral design and 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:02.240 habit forming apps. So he basically spent years setting the 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:05.240 methods of some of the most popular companies in Silicon Valley. 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:09.240 UM how they were basically using design to get users 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:11.960 to come back to their app and so near y'all 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.680 was sitting at a cafe back in twelve, at which 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.120 point he was teaching at Stanford and his work was 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.400 sort of already out um through his blog and through 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:22.720 news articles, and he was approached by a young man 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.920 who recognized him and said, Hey, we're working on the 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:28.880 first nice trading app. Uh, can we show it to you? 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.920 And a yell agreed and had a two meetings with 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.640 this young man who turned out to be by you boss, 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.280 and he's obviously the co founder of robin hood UM 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.880 and along with his other co founders lad ten if 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.800 they would lodge Robin hood um a year later. And 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:45.199 I think what that really signifies is this idea that 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.800 you know, robinhood is different from the other traditional brokerage firms. 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.880 This is a platform that has used these tried and 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:55.720 tested Silicon Valley methods, UH, this playbook to sort of 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.760 turn an app into a habit where users feel the 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:03.360 knee to check in constantly and log back on. And 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:05.240 I think you know, if you take a culture look 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.480 up the design, you can find different aspects of it 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:10.440 that point to that. Well, that's what let's go. Let's 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:12.240 pick up on that. Because I loved reading your story 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:13.800 and I was going through and kind of counting all 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.600 these cool things that they do on the robin Hood 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.600 app and whether it's making it very simple, whether it's 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:23.320 providing a mystery gift, whether there's a hierarchy of data 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.360 by using different font sizes. You know, these are things 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:28.000 that you might not think about when you're using it, 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.080 but it definitely influences how you use it and maybe 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:35.160 how often you might come back to it. Definitely. I mean, 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.720 you know, the successful Silicon Valley apps have basically used 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:41.800 uh specific things, right, So first of all, you have 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.240 triggers that pull users in, and those exist in the 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:49.280 form of notifications or emails that pop into your inbox 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:51.520 or that show up on your homepage on your phone. 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.160 Then you know you have an app that's basically really 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:57.080 easy to use um and so it makes you know, 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.240 it as easy as possible for the users to do 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:01.120 what they came in the app to do, and then 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:04.560 it also involves rewards which sort of build anticipation for 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:06.520 the users. And on robin Hood, you know a lot 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.520 of people have focused on the animated confetti, which is 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.600 one of the most popular um you know, the facets 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.400 of the app that that you know that robin had 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:16.640 to remove because it was getting so much scrutiny. But 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:18.520 you know, if you just look at how long it 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.200 takes to sign up on robin Hood, it's a five 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:24.360 minute process waite order and waste clicker than any other 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.400 brokerage platform. You know, the first thing that happens once 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.080 you sign um in as a new user is you 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:33.080 get a sort of scratch off lottery ticket that gives 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.960 you a free stock, and so you know, whether you're 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.160 whether you want to invest or not, it doesn't matter 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.720 because now you have the stock that you can't come 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:43.440 back to the app to keep checking. And so you know, 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:46.120 looking at that stock price movement makes you sort of 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:50.040 more intrigued as it's it's like it's it's an app 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:51.720 and it wanted as missy as you point out your 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:53.520 piece and want to design award from Apple It's not 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:58.200 something typically happens with an investing app. You mentioned the confetti, right. 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.000 Regulators have pushed back on some of these elements of 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:04.160 the robin Hood app. Talk a little bit about the 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:06.960 confetti being removed and what robin Hood is doing about that, 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:09.800 And I wonder too if they're going to start facing 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.720 even more scrutiny for some of these other features, and ultimately, 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:14.520 in order to get ready for this I p O, 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:18.560 they're going to have to move away from them. You 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.760 know what, tim they already are. I mean you talked 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.880 about the confetti. That was something that it kept coming 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:26.160 up as regulators were looking into the company, and so 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.040 the company ultimately decided to go away with it. And 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.920 you know, just last week we saw the Massachusetts Securities 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.080 Watchdogs file a complaint UH in the States seeking to 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.000 revoke robin hood brokerage license and that's a pretty big deal, um. 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.760 And one of the things that they kept calling out 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:44.880 in that complaint was the A hundred most popular stocks 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.160 lists on the robin Hood apup. And what that is 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:52.200 is basically a list of stocks that are very popular 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:55.960 among Robinhood users and that's featured in a very prominent 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:59.400 placement on the app, and you know what regulators are saying, 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:02.120 is your brokerage firm, you can't do that because you 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:06.200 can't recommend stocks to two people. That's not your job. 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.840 And you know what other people are buying may not 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.680 may not necessarily be the right investment decisions for you. 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:14.280 And so that's something that you know, also caught the 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.359 attention of a lawmakers in d C and something that 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:19.960 they really honed in on when Lad Tennis was down 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.240 in Washington for that game Stop hearing a couple of 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.879 months ago. And so that is a feature that you know, 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.760 robin Hood is really having to defend. They're saying, it's 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:31.120 not our commendation, They're just trying to make their app 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.359 more social. And so again we go back to that 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:35.960 notion that robin Hood is really trying to learn their 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:39.920 lines between you know, social media and investing, and it's 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.880 it's tricky. So missing I'm curious, having spent a ton 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.720 of time um with uh the robin Hood app the 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.480 early days of the story, you've played with with other apps, 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.400 no doubt, Like, I'm curious, what have you learn about 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:58.480 robin Hood as you worked on this story. I think 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.240 that what's really interesting when you look at the robin 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:05.919 Hood app, is you know how much trouble they've gotten 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:09.919 into for really trying to make this app as easy 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.320 as possible. And they really have, in a very successful way, 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.359 sort of broken the barriers of entry for anyone who's 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.640 ever wanted to invest. And so, ultimately, you know this 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:21.960 is a good app. There's no denying. I mean, you 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.600 see it on the Apple uh you know store page 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:29.240 as number one very often, almost weekly, and that rarely 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.880 happens with with finntech companies, but robin Hood is always there, 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.480 and so you know they should they should be sort 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:38.040 of proud for the design that they have on this app. 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.399 It's really good, it's really unrivaled. It makes it so easy. 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:45.800 But you know that's definitely not how regulators are are 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:48.679 you know, embracing this. They think that they're you know, 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:51.959 they've broken all the barriers when it comes to protecting 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:55.639 investors by removing all this friction. And I think that asimately, 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.840 you know, being too good can actually maybe come back 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:01.119 and hurt you and do wonder Listen, a lot of 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.280 companies are out there to create an incredible app, but 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:05.639 is it get a little bit complicated when you're talking 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:09.520 about investors, maybe investors who aren't so savvy, and there's 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:11.960 a lot of money at risk. Jill Weber a Bloomberg 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.080 Business Week, thank you so much, and uh, missy e 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.639 goulf of Polo, she's of course at Bloomberg News. This 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:22.720 is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg Quick 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:26.560 Takes Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio. Tim among our most 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:29.080 read stories on the Bloomberg Today about how the killing 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.960 of George Floyd focuses US business to really take a 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.480 close look, a deep look at its record on race, 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:37.840 And someone who follows and reports on this at Bloomberg 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:40.120 is known none other than our own Jeff Green. Jeff 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:42.560 Green is managing diversity reporter for Bloomberg News, and he 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:46.240 joins us now on the phone from Michigan. Hey, Jeff, um, 0:19:46.280 --> 0:19:49.880 how are US businesses doing when it comes to actual 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:55.520 quantifiable data about what they're doing in order to really 0:19:55.720 --> 0:20:00.840 examine their own record on race and change diversity within uh, 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:05.000 within their their their corporations. I mean, I think you 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:07.800 really have to give it a capital TB D. I mean, 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:10.800 we don't really know. First off, it's only been a 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:13.160 year it's really hard to show a lot of change 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:15.080 in that amount of time in terms of you know, 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:17.360 hiring and issues. Is there's very few people who set 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:20.080 their targets to be like a one year hiring. We 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:24.040 know that a lot of companies made at least statements 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:27.439 and support. There's been a lot of CEO signing letters. 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:31.720 There's been a lot of talk about adding pay for quotas, 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:33.600 but not a lot of action on that or pay 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.679 for diversity success. So it's you know, it's it's it 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:39.160 is one of those things where there's a lot of action, 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:42.119 a lot of noise, a lot of activity, but you 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:46.160 really don't know, um, what's going to happen in when 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:48.560 a lot of these goals are supposed to be realized 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:50.760 and none of these CEOs are still there, like where 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:53.879 we'll be. Why is everybody so slow on this, Jeff, 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:56.280 It's not a new problem. It's been around for years. 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:58.720 You know this, We all know this. It just really 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:01.080 kind of smacked us in the face over the last year, 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:04.800 uh and really made I think people have a come 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:07.840 to Jesus moment, as they sometimes say, so, why why 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:11.320 does this take so long? Well, I mean there's two ways, 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:13.640 you know, two ways to think about this. UM. There's 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:16.000 the sort of the business in the story. We talked 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:18.919 to Dr Lomax, who is the president of the United 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:23.840 New York College Funding and he UM was talking about that, 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:26.119 you know, every all these companies make eighty. One of 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:28.520 the companies we looked at said we're gonna do something 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.520 more to recruit from historically black college and universities UM, 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:35.119 which is great, but they have fifty thousand graduates a 0:21:35.240 --> 0:21:41.560 year graduation rate and everybody wants the Howard and Spellman grads. UM. 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:43.760 What we really need is for all hundred and one 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:48.320 historically back college and universities to get fundamental investments so 0:21:48.359 --> 0:21:51.080 that the two hundred and fifty thousand kids going there 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:53.280 were graduate at a higher rate, and then there will 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:56.920 be more quality cannon us available to hire from that 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:00.240 system as well as of you know, more participant in 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:02.040 the black middle class. I mean, it's it's like, I mean, 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:04.399