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Good Morning,

The US Supreme Court ruled that Affirmative Action is unconstitutional, the US economy is firing on all cylinders, Morgan Stanley’s board is considering choices for a new CEO, Google is pulling its news service in Canada, Virgin Galactic completed its first commercial flight, and Shein filed for an IPO.

Tired of hidden transaction trading costs that turn you, the investor, into the product for market makers? Check out We the Investors.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Stocks climbed higher yesterday after fresh data underscored the resilience of the US economy in the face of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes

• A sharp upward revision to Q1 GDP and a fall in jobless claims echoed recent releases reflecting strength in the economy

Earnings

• Nike beat Q4 sales expectations but profits came in lower than expected thanks to higher product input costs, elevated freight and logistics costs, higher markdowns, and unfavorable changes in net foreign currency exchange rates, their stock fell 4% (YF)

• Paychex matched Q4 profit expectations and provided an upbeat FY outlook thanks to higher revenue per client stemming from increased demand for HR, retirement, and time and attendance solutions (YF)

• Simply Good Foods beat Q3 expectations due to input cost moderation and higher net sales and gross margins (BZ)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Constellation Brands

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• SCOTUS struck down affirmative action as unconstitutional (WSJ)

• US Q1 economic growth was revised upwards to 2% (CNBC)

• US weekly jobless claims shows biggest drop in 20 months (RT)

• PE deal volume hit a 4-year low (RT)

• Morgan Stanley board considers new CEO as Gorman clears the decks (RT)

• Ex-Pfizer employee charged with insider trading over Covid treatment (FT)

• Google to pull its news service from Canada (FT)

• Bank of America nurses $100B paper loss after big bet in bond market (FT)

• Virgin Galactic completes first commercial rocket plane flight to space (RT)

• EU agrees to deal on securities rules that includes ban on broker commission (RT)

• Southwest pilots’ union lays groundwork for potential strike (CNBC)

• Compliance chief at Chinese fintech stole girlfriend’s insider info to trade VMware, tech stocks (CNBC)

• Pokemon Go maker Niantic lays off 230 employees, cancels games (CNBC)

• Amazon soon expected to face FTC suit over its online marketplace (CNBC)

A Message From We the Investors

There’s an old saying—“If you don’t know what the product is, it’s you.”

That’s how the stock market works today.

As individual investors, we are productized by middlemen. They give us “commission-free trading” at bad prices while raking in billions through internalization.

It turns out that free trading ain’t free.

We’re putting a stop to concealed costs, but we need your help.

We The Investors represents your interests and, for the first time, gives a unified voice to a community that has for too long been divided and conquered.

Today, thanks to the efforts of a movement more than 100,000 strong and growing, regulators are listening.

Stand with us and be heard.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Canada’s DoJ concluded that Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard was likely to lead to less competition in gaming (RT)

• Kinross Gold, a $5.9B market cap gold miner, rejected rival Endeavour Mining’s takeover offer (BBG)

• US PE firm Silver Lake acquired a 63% stake in Software AG, which it offered to buy for $2.4B, and it intends to pursue a delisting of the business software developer (RT)

• TRP Energy is exploring a possible sale of its oil and gas operations in the Permian basin, which could fetch at least $1.5B (RT)

• Electronic equipment maker Keysight Technologies will acquire a controlling stake in French software firm ESI Group in a $996M deal (RT)

• Australian financial conglomerate Macquarie Group will divest its US-based port terminal operator Ceres Terminals in a deal worth at least $900M (RT)

• Brazilian retailer GPA received an unsolicited offer from Colombian business magnate Jaime Gilinsk to buy its subsidiary, Almacenes Exito, in an $836M deal (RT)

• Indian private lender ICICI Bank will delist its broking arm ICICI Securities in a $622M share swap deal (RT)

• Finland’s Enento Group, which has a market cap of $572M, is exploring options including a potential sale after it rebuffed a takeover proposal from US credit reporting company TransUnion (BBG)

• Monster Beverage is close to a deal to acquire rival energy drink maker Bang Energy for $362M (BBG)

• Chinese shopping platform Meituan agreed to buy a co-founder’s generative AI startup Light Year for $234M cash and $51M of the startup’s debt (BBG)

• Swiss investment holding Achernar Assets will buy a thermoelectric plant from Italy’s ERG in a $224M deal (RT)

• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchased $122M worth of new shares in Occidental Petroleum, raising his stake in the $53B energy company to 25.1% (BBG)

• Chevron is offering to sell several oil and gas properties in New Mexico and Texas worth ~$100M (RT)

• Eli Lilly and Co will acquire all shares in Sigilon Therapeutics for $35M upfront cash with $259M in additional payments to shareholders if the company achieves certain developments and regulatory milestones (RT)

VC

• AI startup Inflection raised a $1.3B round at a $4B valuation led by Microsoft, Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates, and Nvidia (TC)

• Authentic Brands, an owner of fashion brands and celebrity rights, raised $500M at a $20B valuation from growth equity investor General Atlantic (BBG)

• Runway, a startup building generative AI tools for multimedia content creators, raised a $141M Series C extension led by Google, Nvidia, and Salesforce (TC)

• Author Health, a provider of a platform for care and treatment of patients with serious mental illness and substance use disorders, raised $115M in funding led by General Atlantic (FN)

• Brazilian payments infrastructure startup Pismo raised a $108M Series B led by SoftBank, Amazon, and Accel (TC)

• Generative AI startup Typeface raised a $100M Series B at a $1B valuation led by Salesforce Ventures (TC)

• Fly.io, a remote app delivery network company, raised a $70M Series C led by EQT Ventures (FN)

• Cybersecurity startup Cyware raised a $30M Series C led by Ten Eleven Ventures (TC)

• IP Fabric, a provider of automated network assurance, raised a $25M Series B led by One Peak (PRN)

• B Garage, a startup building autonomous drones to track warehouse inventory, raised a $20M Series A led by LB Investment (TC)

• GeologicAI, a startup using AI to digitize rocks and minerals, raised a $20M Series A from Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BW)

• Low-carbon cement startup Material Evolution raised a $19M Series A led by Kompas VC (TC)

• AI startup Causely raised an $8.8M seed round led by 645 Ventures (BW)

• Nokod Security, a startup developing security for low-code / no-code custom applications, raised an $8M seed round led by Acrew Capital, Meron Capital and Flint Capital (FN)

• Scriptic, a London-based studio developing interactive phone-first shows, raised a $5.7M seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures (FN)

• Intelligent message broker provider Memphis.dev raised a $5.5M seed round led by Angular Ventures and boldstart ventures (FN)

• Insurance-based mental healthcare provider Heading raised a $4.5M Series A extension led by Gron Ventures and Jam Fund (PRN)

• Oslo-based no-code AI platform Intelecy raised $3.5M in funding led by Yara (FN)

• Rypplzz, a startup creating a geo-location platform, raised a $3M pre-seed round from Deal Box Ventures, Fulcrom Investing, and Innovative Venture Partners (FN)

• End-to-end private ID verification startup Outdid raised a $2.5M seed round led by Jump Crypto (BW)

• Virtual obesity management platform Alfie Health raised a $2.1M round led by Y Combinator and Nina Capital (FN)

• Berry Health, a Ghanaian startup building a remote diagnosis platform, raised a $1.6M pre-seed round co-led by Lightspeed Ventures and General Catalyst (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese online fashion retailer Shein, which is worth over $60B, registered for a US IPO (RT)

• Thrift store operator Savers Value Village fetched a market value of ~$4B in its debut on the NYSE (RT)

• Reinsurer Fidelis Insurance Holdings IPOed for a value of $1.5B in its stock market debut (RT)

• Kodiak Gas Services was valued at $1.2B in its stock market debut, raising $256M (RT)

• Renault believes that the first half of next year will be the best moment to list Ampere, the EV division of the French carmaker (RT)

SPAC

• Biotech firm Tevogen Bio will merge with Semper Paratus Acquisition Corp. in a $1.2B deal (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Overstock.com plans to rebrand as Bed Bath & Beyond after it purchased the bankrupt retailer’s IP assets (RT)

• Lordstown Motors has received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq after it filed for bankruptcy protection (RT)

• Pot producer Canopy Growth sold its Modesto, California facility to raise funds due to ongoing liquidity concerns (RT)

Fundraising

• PE firm New Mountain Capital raised $825M for its second net lease real estate fund (LW)

• HSBC Asset Management raised $738M for its third secondaries PE fund Private Equity Opportunities III (SI)

• Cathay Capital Private Equity raised $270M for its Small Cap IV growth PE fund (YF)

Crypto Corner

• Asset manager Fidelity refiled its Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust spot bitcoin ETF (RT)

• Coinbase will ask a judge to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit against it due to the regulator lacking policing power over crypto (RT)

• Paysafe Payment Solutions, Binance’s European banking partner, is terminating its product with Binance (RT)

• Germany will reject Binance’s application for a cryptocurrency custody license (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• On this wild episode of the Logan Bartlett Show, Daniel Ek discussed how making millions at 22 almost ruined his life as he spiraled into depression chasing women and booze, but that experience led to him creating Spotify.

• Bloomberg explained how the gender pay often starts at the internship level, before employees even get hired.

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