Robinhood Stock Is Soaring. Cathie Wood May Be Right.

What did you expect? Robinhood acceptable speech astir a 3rd of the IPO for its ain retail customers. The institution admitted successful its prospectus that would origin accrued volatility. Add successful the regulatory concerns facing the company, and determination are risks abound.

One capitalist seemingly blessed to instrumentality connected those risks is ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood. The company’s flagship ARK Innovation money has bought 4.9 cardinal shares successful the online brokerage, worthy astir $229 million, according to its ain data.

After a blockbuster 2020, which catapulted her to fame, Wood’s doubters person grown much vociferous recently. The ARK Innovation ETF has declined successful worth this year, and a caller ETF betting against the fund is being planned.

But Wood was quick to dump Chinese stocks arsenic Beijing’s crackdown intensified, a determination that’s looking smarter by the day, and her bold stake connected Robinhood is showing aboriginal signs of paying off.

—Callum Keown

*** Join Barron’s elder managing exertion Lauren R. Rublin, elder writer Al Root, and Gary Black, laminitis & managing spouse of The Future Fund, Thursday astatine noon to sermon the aboriginal of electric-vehicle companies and investing. Sign up here.

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Biden Calls Delta-Driven Surge of Coronavirus Cases ‘Largely Preventable Tragedy’

President Joe Biden called the existent surge of unwellness linked to the Delta variant of coronavirus “a mostly preventable calamity that volition get worse earlier it gets better,” saying 99% of past month’s deaths were among unvaccinated people. He said 90 cardinal radical eligible for vaccines haven’t gotten their shots.

• New York City volition necessitate radical to amusement impervious of vaccination for indoor activities similar dining, gyms and performances, starting Aug. 16, with inspections opening mid-September. “The lone mode to patronize these establishments indoors volition beryllium if you’re vaccinated, astatine slightest 1 dose,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
• Tyson Foods volition require its full U.S. workforce of astir 120,000 processing works and firm bureau workers to get vaccinated against Covid-19 by Nov. 1, and volition connection $200 incentives to front-line workers “as a convey you,” CEO Donnie King said successful a memo.
• General Motors, Ford Motor and Jeep and Chrysler proprietor Stellantis NV and national representatives said they are mandating that employees, adjacent if vaccinated, deterioration masks successful each factories, offices and warehouses successful areas wherever infections are rising. Toyota Motor Corp. is offering workers $100 to get vaccinated.
• Microsoft Corp. is joining Alphabet’s Google and Facebook successful requiring that each employees, vendors and visitors to its U.S. facilities supply impervious of vaccination starting successful September and is postponing the reopening of its U.S. offices until astatine slightest Oct. 4.

What’s Next: Biden said connected Tuesday helium would denote a caller national halt connected evictions successful areas of the U.S. hard-hit by the Delta variant to support millions of renters affected by the pandemic. A erstwhile moratorium expired past weekend, prompting an outcry by immoderate Democrats.

—Janet H. Cho

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Lyft Turns Profitable arsenic Demand Increases

Lyft deed profitability connected an adjusted ground sooner than expected. Its results acceptable a precocious barroom for rival Uber Technologies.

• The institution reported second-quarter adjusted net earlier interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, oregon Ebitda, of $23.8 million, hitting profitability a 4th sooner than forecast. Under mostly accepted accounting principles, the institution mislaid $251.9 million, oregon 76 cents a share. That includes $207.8 cardinal related to stock-based compensation and $20.4 cardinal successful expenses related successful bequest auto-insurance liabilities.
• Lyft said radical who took astatine slightest 1 thrust during the 4th deed 17.1 million, up 97% from the twelvemonth prior and 27% from the archetypal 4th of 2021.
• Revenue per progressive rider was $44.63, up 14% from a twelvemonth ago, but down somewhat from $45.13 successful the March quarter. “We bushed our outlook crossed each metric and we person increasing momentum,” Lyft CEO Logan Green said successful a statement.

What’s Next: Uber, which besides has a nutrient transportation business, reports results aft the marketplace closes today. Analysts expect gross of $3.74 billion, up 67% from a twelvemonth ago.

—Connor Smith and Eric J. Savitz

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SEC’s Gensler Calls Unregulated Crypto Markets ‘the Wild West’

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler said the bureau volition modulate cryptocurrency markets to the maximum grade imaginable nether its existent authority, portion asking Congress for much resources to oversee the plus class, calling it “like the Wild West.”

• Gensler warned that new regulations are needed to constabulary crypto trading and lending platforms, peculiarly stablecoins, which are integer tokens pegged to the U.S. dollar oregon different fiat currencies, and alteration trading betwixt cryptocurrencies. He said astir 75% of crypto trades impact stablecoins specified arsenic tether oregon USD coin.
• Unlike successful the securities and derivatives markets, crypto platforms alteration users to run extracurricular of accepted banking systems, “sidestepping anti-money-laundering and tax-compliance sanctions,” and perchance threatening U.S. nationalist security, helium said during an quality astatine the virtual Aspen Security Forum.
• Gensler besides called for greater regularisation of decentralized finance, oregon DeFi, an alternate fiscal beingness wherever applications tally autonomously. Assets deposited arsenic collateral with DeFi projects person swelled to $85 cardinal from astir $3 cardinal a twelvemonth ago, according to information supplier DeBank.
• No 1 regulator oversees crypto exchanges oregon brokers, and portion the marketplace worth of the plus people has exploded to much than $1 trillion, truthful person the scams. From January to April, DeFi frauds outgo investors $83.4 million, according to analytics steadfast CipherTrace.

What’s Next: Although the crypto marketplace is smaller than the equity and enslaved markets, it would necessitate a large woody of expertise and attraction to decently oversee. “We tin treble oregon triple the fig of radical we person moving connected this astatine the SEC and inactive astir apt not afloat screen this field,” Gensler said.

—Janet H. Cho

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U.K. Considers Blocking Nvidia’s $40 Billion Acquisition of Arm

The U.K. authorities is considering blocking Nvidia’s $40 cardinal acquisition of spot decorator Arm due to the fact that of imaginable nationalist information risks, according to a study from Bloomberg. Nvidia, successful response, has acknowledged that it’s moving done the woody with U.K. regulators and confirmed that it expects to resoluteness immoderate issues.

• Owned by Japanese capitalist SoftBank since 2016, Arm licenses intelligence spot to the likes of Apple, Amazon, and Samsung, who usage the spot designs successful instrumentality processors globally. Nvidia’s acquisition of the institution is simply a move to alteration the planetary semiconductor landscape astatine a clip erstwhile the value of chips has been underscored by a worldwide shortage.
• The woody has travel nether scrutiny successful the U.K. since it was announced successful September. British companies successful fields from defence to semiconductors person precocious go acquisition targets, and there is governmental pressure to protect nationalist power of captious industries. For its part, Nvidia has pledged to support Arm’s English headquarters, among different commitments.
• The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority was tasked successful April with assessing concerns surrounding the deal. Delivered successful precocious July, the regulator’s study contains worrying implications for nationalist security, and the U.K. is presently inclined to cull the takeover, the Bloomberg study said. At the precise least, a deeper probe into the merger connected information issues is likely.

What’s Next: The study doesn’t look to person wounded Nvidia stock, but it whitethorn person helped shares successful AMD close for a 5th consecutive grounds high connected Tuesday. As for the deal, the U.K. is nether unit to clamp down connected overseas takeovers of captious companies. But making an illustration retired of Nvidia and Arm would beryllium a superior splash—a $40 cardinal one.

—Jack Denton

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This Week Has Ushered In a Wave of Deal Activity

August’s woody enactment comes amid record-high banal valuations and the instrumentality of economical maturation from past year’s pandemic shutdown and national stimulus that is boosting CEO assurance adjacent aft the strongest first-half commencement to a twelvemonth since 2006.

• Fintech Square started this week disconnected with a $29 cardinal woody for Australian installment lender Afterpay, sparking speculation that much woody enactment is owed for the fast-growing integer payments industry.
• On Tuesday, Lumen Technologies —formerly known arsenic CenturyLink—said it would merchantability part of its U.S. telecommunications network to the concern steadfast Apollo Global Management for $7.5 cardinal including debt, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• Earlier Tuesday, PepsiCo said it would merchantability its foodstuff marque Tropicana and related units to private-equity steadfast PAI Partners, retaining a 39% stake successful a caller associated task successful a woody valued astir $4.5 billion.
• On Monday, French pharmaceutical elephantine Sanofi said it was buying U.S. biotech Translate Bio for $3.2 cardinal successful a stake connected the adjacent procreation of mRNA vaccine technology, which is being utilized to combat Covid-19 but could person wide-ranging applications.

What’s Next: U.S. deals this twelvemonth full 4,958 transactions valued astatine $1.66 trillion, Dealogic said, including 540 deals for $280 cardinal since the commencement of June. The third-quarter dollar magnitude is 87% of the full 2nd quarter, with astir 2 months near until the extremity of September.

—Liz Moyer

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Dear Quentin,

My 2nd hubby and I bought a ample spot and developed it into a palmy edifice and campground.

All of the property, and beauteous overmuch everything we own, is titled successful the concern corporation. His sanction is the lone 1 connected the firm ownership.

We’ve some signed notes for debt, and I’ve asked for my sanction to beryllium added to the spot deed oregon corporation.

He ne'er did. Now helium wants maine to motion different enactment to marque improvements. I said nary and I’m lasting steadfast that I request extortion if helium should abruptly walk distant (we’re pushing 60).

What if helium decides to divorcement me? How volition I beryllium protected? He tells maine everything is conscionable good and those issues volition ne'er beryllium a occupation for me.

We some person children from erstwhile marriages. We each get on great, but this spot is precise invaluable (worth an estimated $3.5 cardinal with lone $200,000 debt).

We besides unrecorded connected the property. I don’t privation to get kicked retired if helium should die.

—Wife of Shifty Spouse

Read The Moneyist’s response here.

—Quentin Fottrell

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—Newsletter edited by Liz Moyer, Mary Romano, Camilla Imperiali, Steve Goldstein, Callum Keown