Remember a few weeks ago when Robinhood was unavailable? Amidst some of the most violent stock market volatility, one of the darlings of the fintech world wouldn’t let customers in to trade.
Remember when the price of oil briefly went negative? Turns out it had a similar effect on Interactive Brokers:
Oil Crash Busted Broker’s Computers and Inflicted Big Losses [Bloomberg] – “At midnight, Shah got the devastating news: he owed Interactive Brokers $9 million. He’d started the day with $77,000 in his account.”
Fortunately, IB is going to make it right out of their own pocket but that can’t be a good feeling.
The world is on lockdown. So where are all the carbon emissions coming from? [Grist] – “Pedestrians have taken over city streets, people have almost entirely stopped flying, skies are blue (even in Los Angeles!) for the first time in decades, and global CO2 emissions are on-track to drop by … about 5.5 percent. Wait, what? Even with the global economy at a near-standstill, the best analysis suggests that the world is still on track to release 95 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted in a typical year, continuing to heat up the planet and driving climate change even as we’re stuck at home.” 5.5% drop is the largest yearly drop on record but just wait until you see where the emissions are really coming from (only 20% of global carbon dioxide emissions is from transportation) and why it’s so hard to reduce it.
Finnish basic income pilot improved wellbeing, study finds [The Guardian] – “Europe’s first national, government-backed basic income experiment did not do much to encourage recipients into work but did improve their mental wellbeing, confidence and life satisfaction, according to the first big study of a Finnish scheme that has attracted fresh interest in the coronavirus outbreak.”
The amount provided wasn’t a lot – €560 a month, or $600 a month.
I was born in the United States but both of my older two generations were immigrants to where they would spend most of their lives. My parents grew up in Taiwan and most of my grandparents were escapees from mainland China. I always felt very fortunate and thankful that my life story started in the United States.
This next story hit home for me:
Sizzler and the Search for the American Dream [Eater] – “My dad dreamed of steak dinners every night. My mom dreamed of lace doilies and matching china. We children dreamed of nothing. We had no idea what to expect.”
Enjoy the week Apexian.