Category: Economy

Silvergate’s deepening crisis jolts crypto stocks

Post author By reuters
Post date March 6, 2023

Illustration shows words stock graph and representation of cryptocurrencies

By Manya Saini

(Reuters) – Shares of Silvergate Capital Corp fell 10% in early trading on Monday after the bank suspended its crypto payments network and expressed doubts over the viability of its business.

The crypto-focused bank said late on Friday that it had made a “risk-based decision” to discontinue the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) effective immediately.

“The SEN is Silvergate’s main flagship product that previously was the key attraction for depositors to bring funds to the bank,” said analysts at Wedbush.

The discontinuation could signal that Silvergate may consider winding down its operations, they added.

Shares of crypto lending peer Signature Bank also fell roughly 2.5% in morning trade, while crypto exchange Coinbase Global was down nearly 1%. Crypto firm Riot Platforms Inc, and BTC mining machine makers Ebang International and Canaan Inc drop between 1% and 2%.

“The crypto market reacted to the negative news from Silvergate Bank, with both bitcoin and ethereum down about 4.8% for the week,” analysts at brokerage Bernstein said.

Shares of Silvergate hit a record low of $4.86 on Friday, shedding nearly 98% of their value since an all-time high close in November 2021 and wiping out more than $7 billion from the company’s market capitalization.

“We believe a receivership/liquidation scenario is a distinct possibility and arrive at a liquidation value of $5 per share,” Wedbush analysts said. The estimated price marks a roughly 13% downside to the stock’s previous close.

A slew of crypto heavyweights including Coinbase Global have dropped Silvergate as their banking partner.

The firm has been struggling to stay afloat after the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX in November drove investors to pull out $8 billion in deposits from the bank in the last three months of the year.

Silvergate reported a net loss of $1 billion in the fourth quarter.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Devika Syamnath)

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AI stocks surge as investors bet on growth prospects

Post author By reuters
Post date March 3, 2023

Illustration shows OpenAI logo

(Reuters) -Shares of artificial intelligence-based (AI) product makers zoomed on Friday, as a strong forecast from retail darling C3.ai Inc amplified an ongoing euphoria in the segment driven by the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

C3.a1 forecast better-than-expected revenue and profit for both the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023, after its third-quarter results topped Wall Street estimates.

Shares of the AI software provider were up 16% at $24.80, and were one of the top five trending stocks on StockTwits. If the gains hold, the stock is set to notch its strongest one-day gain in a month.

“The company is starting to gain momentum in building significant enterprise opportunities in its pipeline with its suite of innovative enterprise AI solutions,” said Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives.

The firm’s aim to turn cash positive and adjusted profitable by the end of fiscal year 2024 also boosted the stock, but Ives believes the execution of these ambitions is key to regain the Street’s confidence heading into 2023.

Retail investors have flocked to small-cap firms building AI tools as companies such as Google-parent Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp have locked horns to make AI the next big growth driver.

Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI’s ChatGPT boosted AI firms’ popularity further. Chatbots like the ChatGPT are software applications that aim to mimic human conversation using artificial intelligence.

Other major AI stocks also surged on Friday with BigBear.ai, conversation intelligence firm SoundHound AI, and Thailand’s security firm Guardforce AI jumping between 5% and 20%.

So far this year, these stocks, including C3.ai, have surged 33.9%-321.6%, as of the previous day’s close.

“AI could become the new gold rush on Wall Street,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive officer of 50 Park Investments in Florida.

“But it still needs some more time to mature a bit, better price action, and prove that it can generate profits for investors.”

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)

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EV Maker Polestar’s Q4 Loss Narrows, Won’t Engage in Price Wars

Post author By reuters
Post date March 2, 2023

The Polestar 2 electric car is displayed at a company store in Shanghai

By Marie Mannes

(Reuters) – Electric vehicle (EV) maker Polestar on Thursday posted a smaller quarterly loss, maintained its 2023 production outlook and said it would not engage in price wars while weakening demand has forced some rivals to scale back output.

This year is proving to be a tough one for EV makers, as a Tesla-ignited price war and continued supply chain bottlenecks further strain start-ups hoping to benefit from the shift to EVs.

While some carmakers have followed Tesla’s lead and cut EV prices, Polestar says it has no intention of doing so, taking the same stance as former parent company Volvo Cars.

“We will not engage in a price war…we are aiming to become a very premium sportscar company…,” chief executive Thomas Ingenlath told Reuters. “It’s very clear that this is a completely different aim from where Tesla is going, with 20 million cars per year.”

Demand for electric cars has weakened for U.S. EV startups Rivian and Lucid, with both carmakers forecasting 2023 production well below analyst estimates.

But Polestar reaffirmed the 2023 production outlook it gave in January of 80,000 cars, up from the roughly 51,000 it delivered in 2022.

Ingenlath said he saw supply chain issues that have hampered global auto production easing in 2023, and 2022 has left the carmaker with a strong order book.

“This year will be a little bit more normal,” he said.

The Swedish carmaker, founded by China’s Geely and Volvo Cars, posted a fourth quarter operating loss of $204.7 million, down from $337.3 million a year ago. The company reported a gross profit of $61.9 million versus a loss of $0.2 million in the same quarter in 2021.

The U.S-listed company said it expected its gross profit for 2023 to broadly be in line with the $119.4 million it reported for 2022.

(Reporting by Marie Mannes;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

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Cryptoverse: Bitcoin moves towards Satoshi’s payment dream

Post author By reuters
Post date February 28, 2023

Illustration of Bitcoin

By Medha Singh and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

(Reuters) – Satoshi Nakamoto would be proud. Adolescent bitcoin may finally be repaying its creator’s faith.

The 15-year-old cryptocurrency has filled many roles – from source of speculation to hedge against inflation – but has struggled to find a clear identity. Now there are growing signs it’s edging towards its intended purpose: payments.

“The development in terms of building out crypto payments has continued apace, even if it’s gone somewhat unnoticed because of the volatility in the broader market,” said Richard Mico, U.S. CEO of Banxa, a payment-and-compliance infrastructure provider.

The amount of bitcoin stored on the Lightning Network – a payment protocol layered on top of the blockchain – has jumped by two-thirds over the past year to hit an all-time high of 5,580 coin, according to crypto data firm The Block.

Crypto payment specialists have also seen strong volumes.

U.S.-based BitPay said transaction volumes jumped 18% last year versus 2021. CoinsPaid said volumes in the fourth quarter of 2022 rose 32% compared with a year before.

BITCOIN AND BRAZILIAN REAL

So why has crypto failed to fulfill pseudonymous inventor Nakamoto’s dream, spelt out in a famed 2008 white paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”?

Price volatility, slow processing speeds and persistent regulatory uncertainty are among the factors that have rendered cryptocurrencies unwieldy as a means of payment. Few merchants price good or services in crypto.

Nonetheless, proponents say bitcoin offers lower transaction costs and quicker speeds than traditional cash, especially for cross-border transfers.

Aside from bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies including stablecoins, which are pegged to the value of traditional currencies, have emerged as popular options, particularly for cross-border payments, remittances, plus in emerging markets where the value of local currencies have been hit by inflation.

Stellar, a blockchain that enables cross-border payments, saw the number of trades on its platform increase to 103.4 million last month from 50.6 million in January 2022.

Volumes for trades across exchanges between bitcoin and Turkey’s lira and Brazil’s real increased by 232% and 72%, respectively, CryptoCompare data showed.

CAN YOU HANDLE THE STRESS?

It’s not all smooth sailing for the widespread adoption of crypto for payments; for one thing, there’s the question of whether blockchains are ready to handle the stress of processing thousands of transactions at a time, especially without a simultaneous jump in transaction fees.

Efforts by some of the world’s largest economies, including Japan, China and India, to create their own digital currencies (CBDCs) could also choke crypto payments growth, say some market players. For others, though, growing interest in CBDCs is evidence that blockchain payments tech is here to stay.

Traditional finance firms looking to embrace crypto payments have also shrugged off recent market volatility. One, Visa inking a deal this month with crypto firm WireX to directly issue crypto-enabled debit and prepaid cards.

“Crypto is evolving into a viable alternative for more and more people around the world,” said Mico at Banxa.

(Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Wilson and Pravin Char)

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Yellen says EV battery mineral trade pacts can likely bypass Congress

Post author By reuters
Post date February 24, 2023

FILE PHOTO: Startup Rivian Automotive's electric vehicle factory in Normal

By David Lawder

BENGALURU (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen said on Friday that she expects that future limited free trade agreements focused on battery minerals with the European Union and other trusted allies would not need approval from Congress.

Yellen told reporters on the sidelines of a G20 finance meeting in India that such agreements, which would be aimed at granting automakers based in Europe, Japan and other countries access to new U.S. tax credits for electric vehicles, would also likely include high labor standards and export control provisions to ensure secure supply chains.

Such mineral pacts are one potential way to address European Union’s complaints that its automakers are shut out of the $7,500 per vehicle tax credits in the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act, which it argues will suck electric vehicle investments away from Europe.

The law specified that the tax credits were only available to North American-assembled vehicles that meet certain local battery production and mineral extraction processing standards.

Countries with U.S. free trade agreements can also access the credits, and this is a provision that the Biden administration hopes to exploit by negotiating limited trade deals focused on battery minerals.

The Treasury already is allowing leased electric vehicles to qualify under commercial EV tax credit rules, a move that Yellen said would cover most vehicles for now. Over time, she said she hoped that trade agreements would allow more sold vehicles to qualify over time.

“It would be an agreement that we think would not require the agreement of Congress,” she said adding that Congress intended “a kind of friend-shoring approach” for critical minerals to reduce reliance on China.

“I think the word ‘free trade areas’ was meant to mean reliable friends and partners with whom we can feel we have secure supply chains so we feel this is fully the intent of Congress and we’ll be able to negotiate such agreements,” Yellen said.

The Treasury in March is due to put out guidance on the sourcing of battery minerals and Yellen said this will include guidance on free trade areas that can qualify.

The Treasury already has said that it will qualify existing comprehensive free trade pacts Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Jordan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru and Singapore.

Yellen said that the United States and Europe were getting closer to reaching understandings over the U.S. green energy subsidies, and said Washington will not try to stop Europe from enacting competing subsidies.

“We’ve been very clear with Europe that this is not a subsidy war,” Yellen said. “We’re not trying to steal jobs. This is our climate plan.”

(Reporting by David Lawder. Editing by Jane Merriman and Tomasz Janowski)

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Stocks, crude oil advances despite higher interest rate expectations

Post author By reuters
Post date February 23, 2023

German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global equities and crude oil rebounded from earlier losses on Thursday even as economic data continued to show the strength of the U.S. economy and validated the Federal Reserve’s tight monetary policy stance.

A U.S. Labor Department report on Thursday showed that new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, pointing to a persistently tight labor market.

The readings for the fourth-quarter personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, were revised upward to 3.7%, indicating inflation was much stronger than initially thought and weighed on sentiment earlier in the day.

Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting released on Wednesday showed that officials favored a moderation in the pace of rate hikes although they indicated that containing high inflation would be key in how much further rates need to rise.

“The Fed minutes yesterday were a bit hawkish and they said ongoing rate hikes would be necessary and that should obviously be negative for the market,” said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New Orleans.

“But it seems the market is starting to discount that we’re getting into the eighth or ninth inning of these rate hikes even though the Fed is saying ongoing rate hikes would be necessary,” Villere said.

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 50 countries, was down 0.27%. European stocks were up at just 0.06%.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq regained earlier losses from better-than-expected revenue at chipmaker Nvidia Corp. The results drove the company’s shares up 14%, along with shares of other semiconductor manufacturers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.33% to 33,153.91, the S&P 500 gained 0.53% to 4,012.32 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.72% to 11,590.40.

“When you see strong numbers at certain companies, it could be market moving and that’s what we’re seeing today – a bit of a relief rally,” Villere added.

Oil prices firmed more than 1% before paring some gains, with Russian supply curbs partially offsetting an expected rise in U.S. inventories.

Brent crude futures settled up 2% to $82.21 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) advanced 2% to $75.39 after six sessions of losses.

U.S. Treasury yields edged lower in choppy trading, with those on the 10-year pulling back from three-month highs, as investors have priced in strong economic data.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were down at 3.8865%, while the yield curve measuring the gap between the two- and 10-year Treasury notes was still inverted at minus 77.90 basis points, indicating a looming recession.

The dollar retained its strength against its major peers. The dollar index rose 0.077%, with the euro down 0.07% to $1.0594.

Safe-haven gold prices slipped to their lowest in about two months as the U.S. dollar climbed. Spot gold dropped 0.03% to $1,822.09 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures fell 0.55% to $1,822.00 an ounce.

(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York, editing by Anna Driver, Bernadette Baum and Diane Craft)

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Oil drops 3% as high inflation risks stoke demand worries

Post author By reuters
Post date February 22, 2023

FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks operate at sunset in an oil field in Midland

By Shariq Khan

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Oil prices fell by $2 per barrel to their lowest in two weeks on Wednesday, as investors became more concerned that recent data will prompt more aggressive interest rate increases by central banks, pressuring economic growth and fuel demand.

Brent crude futures settled $2.45, or 3%, lower at $80.60 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) dropped $2.41, or 3%, to end at $74.05 a barrel.

The settlement levels were the lowest for both benchmarks since Feb. 3.

Minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed a majority of Fed officials agreed the risks of high inflation remained a “key factor” shaping monetary policy and warranted continued rate hikes until it was controlled.

“While better U.S. economic data should mean better oil demand, the concern is that this forces the Fed to overtighten monetary policy to bring inflation under control,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

“This is also supporting the U.S. dollar, which is not of help for oil.”

The U.S. dollar Index gained for a second straight session, making greenback-denominated oil more expensive for holders of other currencies. [USD/]

Other U.S. economic reports, however, showed some troubling signs for the world’s biggest oil consumer. Sales of existing homes fell in January to their lowest since October 2010.

U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 9.9 million barrels last week, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday. U.S. oil inventories have climbed every week since mid-December, worrying investors about demand in the country. [API/S]

A Reuters poll had forecast a 2.1 million barrels increase in crude stockpiles last week. Official data from the Energy Information Administration is due Thursday at 11:00 a.m. EST. [EIA/S]

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, releases its inventory report at 4:30 p.m. ET (2130 GMT).

Demand for crude oil is seasonally lower with major U.S. refineries deep in maintenance season, said Price Group analyst Phil Flynn.

Some 1.44 million barrels per day of U.S. refining capacity is expected to be offline in the week ending March 3, according to research company IIR energy.

A massive snowstorm in the U.S. Northern Plains and Upper Midwest has also hit fuel demand, with 3,500 flights delayed or cancelled across the country so far, according to FlightAware.com.

U.S. gasoline futures slid almost 4% to their lowest in two weeks.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan, additional reporting by Rowena Edwards and Trixie Yap; Editing by Marguerita Choy, David Gregorio and Lincoln Feast.)

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Cryptoverse: Tether tightens grip on wobbling world of stablecoins

Post author By reuters
Post date February 21, 2023

Illustration shows Tether logo and U.S. dollars

By Medha Singh and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

(Reuters) – The world of stablecoins is suddenly looking shaky.

Seismic shifts may be afoot in the $137 billion market after New York-based Paxos Trust Company, which mints Binance’s stablecoin, said it would cease issuing new BUSD tokens after U.S. regulators labeled the asset an unregistered security.

The U.S. move has left investors questioning the future shape of the market for stablecoins, tokens that are usually backed by traditional assets like dollars and U.S. Treasuries to tame the wild swings that characterize cryptocurrencies.

The immediate impact hasn’t been negative for the stablecoin market as a whole, though; it’s actually seen its total value grow by $2 billion since the Paxos announcement on Feb. 13.

“There’s way too much demand for dollar-based stablecoins for them to go away,” said Alex Miller, CEO at bitcoin developer network Hiro.

Instead rivals are vying to cash in on the woes of BUSD, the world’s third-biggest stablecoin, whose market value has shrunk to $12.9 billion from $16.1 billion, with its market share narrowing to 9.4% from 12.1%, according to CoinGecko.com.

Market leader tether (USDT) has been a big beneficiary, adding $1.9 billion to its market capitalization to hit $70.3 billion since the news. It now commands 52.6% of the stablecoin market, up from just over 51%.

Circle’s USD Coin, the second-biggest stablecoin, edged up over $700 million to $42 billion, lifting its market share to 31.3% from 30.9%.

Graphic: Unstable stablecoin https://www.reuters.com/graphics/FINTECH-CRYPTO/WEEKLY/lgpdknrdovo/chart.png

AND THE WINNER IS.. TETHER

Stablecoins are a key part of the cryptosphere, with their steadier value meaning they’re used as to facilitate transfers between cryptocurrencies or into regular cash. Traders also use these tokens to hedge their positions, and hence dwindling market value is associated with falling liquidity and leverage in the broader crypto market.

Markus Thielen, head of research and strategy at crypto firm Matrixport, said the Paxos announcement and subsequent slump in BUSD had caused a big shift in the stablecoin market.

“And tether wins.”

Broader crypto market impact also seems to have been contained with bitcoin rising 14% over the past week to $24,902, shrugging off worries that central banks will keep raising rates.

Among the reasons for the sanguine reaction is that BUSD is largely used to trade on Binance, the world’s largest crypto trading platform, while its usage is limited in other parts of the crypto world, according to analytics firm Kaiko.

“While BUSD is used in DeFi, it is not systemically important to the ecosystem,” Kaiko’s Riyad Carey said.

BETTING ON FUTURE PRICES

The developments around Binance’s stablecoin have also boosted trading on competing platforms; since Feb. 1, Binance’s bitcoin liquidity is down almost 30% while U.S.-based Coinbase’s is up nearly 15%, according to Kaiko.

Daily open interest for bitcoin to BUSD perpetual swaps has dropped from over 17,000 bitcoin at the beginning of February to 13,726 bitcoin, Binance data showed, pointing to traders withdrawing bets on future prices for BUSD.

While some uncertainty remains on the impact of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ruling on other stablecoins, the market appears to have adjusted, according to some crypto players.

“This is unlikely to represent a critical large structural change to the market, for now,” said Vetle Lunde, analyst at Arcane Research. He added: “Enforcement against USDC or the non-U.S. domiciled USDT, could have more dramatic implications.”

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Lisa Pauline Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Wilson and Pravin Char)

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EU calls for fast-track crypto capital rules for banks

Post author By reuters
Post date February 20, 2023

FILE PHOTO: Representations of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum and DogeCoin are placed on PC motherboard in this illustration taken

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – Tough capital rules for banks holding cryptoassets must be fast-tracked in the European Union’s pending banking law if Europe wants to avoid missing a globally-agreed deadline, the bloc’s executive has said.

The global Basel Committee of banking regulators from the world’s main financial centers has set a January 2025 deadline for implementing capital requirements for banks’ exposures to cryptoassets such as stablecoins and bitcoin.

“For the time being, banks have very low crypto-asset exposures and only a limited involvement in providing crypto-asset-related services,” the European Commission said in an informal discussion paper seen by Reuters.

“Banks have expressed interest in trading crypto-assets on behalf of their clients and to provide crypto-assets-related services.”

Basel’s standards are applied in the EU with a law, and a delay could mean that banks have to wait longer to enter the cryptomarket as separate EU rules for trading cryptoassets come into force in 2024.

To enforce Basel’s crypto rules, the EU could either propose a new law, or expand the banking law it is now finalizing as called for by the European Parliament.

Parliament and EU states have equal say on the banking law and are due to start negotiating the final text, which could include the provisions on cryptoassets, the paper said.

This would give banks clarity on their requirements for crypto-asset exposures and would ensure that risks stemming from these are adequately addressed, the Commission paper said.

“From an international perspective, it would also allow the EU to fully align itself with the implementation deadline agreed on at Basel level.”

A separate draft law would not be forthcoming until the end of 2023 at the earliest, the paper said. Parliament goes to the polls mid-2024, making it harder to approve a new law in time for 2025.

The Commission paper also suggests that the bloc’s European Banking Authority (EBA) could coordinate with the EU’s securities watchdog ESMA to ensure that cryptoassets are properly categorised.

Basel has set punitive capital charges on unbacked crypto currencies like bitcoin, and less conservative charges on stablecoins, which are backed by an asset or fiat currency.

It could also be useful to mandate EBA, in cooperation with ESMA, to maintain a list of how existing cryptoassets are categorized, the paper said.

(Reporting by Huw Jones, Editing by Louise Heavens)

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Oil settles down $2/bbl, ends week lower on Fed worries, ample supply

Post author By reuters
Post date February 18, 2023

Crude oil tanker in Zhoushan

By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) -Oil settled down $2 a barrel on Friday and ended the week markedly lower, as traders worried that future U.S. interest rate hikes could weigh on demand and got nervous about mounting signs of ample crude and fuel supply.

On Thursday, two Fed officials warned additional hikes in borrowing costs are essential to curb inflation. The sentiments lifted the U.S. dollar, making oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Brent crude futures settled down $2.14 or 2.5%, to $83.00 a barrel, falling 3.9% week on week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude settled down $2.15, or 2.7%, to $76.34, falling 4.2% from last Friday’s settlement.

“Rate hike jitters have returned with a vengeance,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.

Various signs of ample supply also weighed on the market.

Russian oil producers expect to maintain current volumes of crude oil exports, despite the government’s plan to cut oil output in March, the Vedomosti newspaper said on Friday, citing sources familiar with companies’ plans.

The latest snapshot of U.S. supplies, released on Wednesday, showed crude inventories in the week to Feb. 10 rose by 16.3 million barrels to 471.4 million barrels, their highest level since June 2021.

“Because oil storage is at a 19 month high, refiners are going to stretch out turnaround season for as long as they can,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

Heating oil cracks fell 5% on Friday as warm weather sapped demand for the fuel in mid-February.

The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by one to 760 in the week to Feb. 17, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said on Friday.

Despite this week’s rig decline, Baker Hughes said the total count was still up 115, or 18%, over this time last year.

Some support came from moves this week by the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise their forecasts for global oil demand growth this year, citing expectations for more Chinese demand.

And Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said the current deal by OPEC+, which groups OPEC producers with Russia and others, to cut oil output targets by 2 million barrels per day, would be locked in until the end of the year, adding he remained cautious on Chinese demand.

(Additional reporting by Alex Lawder, Yuka Obayashi and Sudarshan Varadhan; editing by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan and David Gregorio)

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