• Exec Sum
  • Posts
  • Bear Market Cancelled (also, we turned 1)

Bear Market Cancelled (also, we turned 1)

Crazy day in equity markets as the indexes bounced off the lows to close green, the US is moving families out of Ukraine, a now-ex Merrill Lynch adviser went psycho at a smoothie shop, Saudi Aramco says oil is back, Joe Biden called a Fox News reporter a "stupid son of a b****ch", and we are aiming to disrupt financial media

Together with

Good Morning,

Crazy day in equity markets as the indexes bounced off the lows to close green, the US is moving families out of Ukraine, a now-ex Merrill Lynch adviser went psycho at a smoothie shop, Saudi Aramco says oil is back, Joe Biden called a Fox News reporter a "stupid son of a b****ch", and weĀ are aiming to disrupt financial media (check the Benzinga piece in the headline roundup below šŸ‘€)

BY THE WAY - on this day one year ago, the GameStop short squeeze began and, even more importantly, we released our FIRST edition of Exec Sum.Ā That's right, today is our first birthday. šŸŽ‚ 1ļøāƒ£ šŸŽ‚.

Crazy to think we've been putting out this newsletter for a year and have grown our fam to over 100k subscribers! If y'all could forward this email to at least one colleague and have them sign up to this newsletter, that'd make our dayĀ šŸ™

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 1/24/2022 market close.

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out ourĀ Foot GunsĀ newsletter.

Markets

  • US stocks mounted an incredible comeback yesterday to close in the green after a huge morning sell-off which saw the Dow down over 1,100 points and the Nasdaq down as much as 4.9%

  • The volatile trading in tech continued, as shares opened the day sharply down and then promptly clawed their way back as investors took advantage of the sell-off to pick up shares for cheap

    • Monday saw the VIX hit its highest level since November 2020

  • Investors will now turn to the Fedā€™s policy meeting, which will go from today through tomorrow, for hints as to how much the central bank plans to raise rates this year and when they plan to begin

Earnings

  • IBM shares jumped 5%+ AH yesterday after the company posted a Q4 earnings report which showed quarterly revenue and net income jumping by 6% YoY and 72% YoY, respectively (CNBC)

  • What weā€™re watching today: Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Verizon, Amex, GE, Capital One

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • How Litquidity aims to disrupt finance media (Benzinga)

  • US orders families of diplomats out of Ukraine citing war risk (BBG)

  • Biden caught cursing about Fox News reporter on a hot mic (NBC)

  • UAE intercepts two ballistic missiles over Abu Dhabi fired from Yemen (BBG)

  • Red-hot inflation grips pockets of US Midwest and South with rates over 9% (BBG)

  • Bank of America ousts adviser over racially charged tirade at smoothie shop (BBG)

  • Crypto losses deepen with Bitcoin tumbling below $34,000 (BBG)

  • Saudi Aramco says oil demandā€™s nearing pre-pandemic levels (BBG)

  • Supreme Court to consider banning race in college admissions (BBG)

  • Abu Dhabi looks to attract piece of SPAC market with new rules (BBG)

  • Instagram star Chiara Ferragni seeks investor to expand abroad (RT)

  • Ford shuts off orders for new $20,000 Maverick pickup (WSJ)

  • Dispute between Apollo cofounders Black, Harris boils over (WSJ)

  • Four AGs sue Google for allegedly tracking you without permission (CNBC)

  • Panasonicā€™s higher-capacity Tesla battery could enter production in 2023 (TC)

  • Kohlā€™s shares surge as takeover offers emerge from suitors including Sycamore (CNBC)

A Message From Kalshi

All Markets Are Down ā€¦ Except Event MarketsĀ 

Cryptocurrencies, ETFs, and stocks are all down in anticipation of inflation, interest rates, and outcomes of todayā€™s Fed Committee meeting. Bitcoin and SPY inflation hedges looked really good a month agoā€¦ but perhaps not anymore.

Luckily, Event Contracts are the best uncorrelated asset for trading on things that matter. Traders buy ā€œYesā€ or ā€œNoā€ shares on whether events will happen. As the event becomes more likely to happen, the value appreciates.Ā Kalshi, a Sequoia backed company, is the first regulated exchange and the only place where you can legally trade Event Contracts. The first 500 clicks get priority access.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Singapore state-owned investor Temasek is nearing a deal to buy testing company Element Materials Technology for ~$7B (BBG)

  • BREIT, Blackstoneā€™s non-traded REIT, agreed to buy US rental housing REIT Resource REIT in a $3.7B deal (BBG)

  • Inflexion PE Partners is considering options for UK fuel cards and telematics firm Radius Payment Solutions including a potential $2.7B sale (BBG)

  • KKR agreed to buy Dutch bicycle maker Accell for $1.8B (BBG)

  • French luxury goods group Kering agreed to sell its Swiss match manufacturing brands Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin to the management teams that run the watchmakers (RT)

  • French investment company Wendel agreed to buy anti-money laundering training company ACAMS for ~$500M (RT)

  • Telecom infrastructure company IHS agreed to buy Brazilian telecom unit SP5 for $315M (BBG)

  • Iron ore miner Fortescue agreed to buy engineering and battery company Williams Advanced Engineering for $222.2M (RT)

  • Sony Music Entertainment agreed to buy the entire music catalog of Bob Dylan in an $150-$200M deal (CNBC)

  • Saudi Arabian fertilizers maker SABIC agreed to buy a 49% stake in fertilizer blender and distributor ETG Inputs (RT)

  • Weather forecast company AccuWeather agreed to buy air quality data provider Plume Labs (TC)

VC

  • Indian food delivery startup Swiggy raised $700M at a $10.7B valuation in a Series K round led by Invesco (TC)

  • Chinese EV startup Hozon is seeking to raise ~$500M at a ~$7.1B valuation in a pre-IPO round (BBG)

  • E-VTOL startup Wisk raised a $450M round from The Boeing Company (BW)

  • Indian ride-hailing company Ola Electric raised $200M at a $5B valuation in a financing round including Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund, Edelweiss, and more (TC)

  • Senior care services marketplace A Place for Mom raised a $175M round led by Insight Partners (BW)

  • Online/offline food ordering platform Deliverect raised a $150M Series D at a $1.4B+ valuation led by Coatue and Alkeon Capital Management (TC)

  • Lithion Recycling, a Canadian startup working on recycling lithium ion batteries, raised a $125M Series A led by IMMĀ Investment Global (BW)

  • ConstructSecure, a platform for managing construction capital projects, announced a $96M growth equity investment led by Summit Partners (PRN)

  • Telemedicine fund Swiftarc Ventures closed a $75M fund aimed at ā€˜obesity, mental health, and pediatricsā€™ (TC)

  • Blockchain Founders Fund closed a $75M fund targeted at early- and mid-stage crypto startups (PRN)

  • E-commerce virtual photo shoot platform Soona raised a $35M Series B led by Bain Capital Ventures (TC)

  • Insurance broker and carrier marketplace Sayata raised $35M in additional funds towards its Series A in an extension co-led by PitangoĀ Growth and HanacoĀ Ventures (TC)

  • Spectrum Labs, which provides AI tech to platform providers to detect and shut down toxic exchanges in real time, raised $32M in a round led by Intel Capital (TC)

  • Tekever, which builds drones with integrated AI tailored for monitoring and detecting activity on water, raised ~$23M in a round led by Ventura Capital (TC)

  • Mentor Collective, a provider of large-scale mentorship programs, raised a $21M Series A led by Resolve Growth Partners (PRN)

  • Genomic medicine platform SeqOne raised a ā‚¬20M Series A led by Omnes and Merieux Equity Partners (BW)

  • Inventa, a Brazil-based company offering a digital marketplace for small and medium-sized companies to discover and purchase new inventory, raised a $20M Series A led by a16z and Monashees (TC)

  • Klarity, which is building an AI tool to automate document reading, raised an $18M Series A led by Tola Capital (TC)

  • Anyplace, a marketplace for long term housing rentals, raised a $5.3M Series A led by GA Technologies (TC)

  • Fathom, a startup building an AI notetaker for Zoom, raised a $4.7M seed round from early-stage investors including Zoomā€™s Apps Fund (TC)

  • Caribou, which aims to make choosing healthcare plans easier through prediction and optimization software, raised $3M in a seed round led by Jack and Max Altman (TC)

  • Optina, a diagnostic company focused on brain health, raised $2.1M in funding led by Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation and DigitalDx Ventures (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Norwegian oil and gas company Var Energi will apply for an Oslo IPO, seeking a potential ~$10B valuation (BBG)

  • Elm, a digital security firm owned by Saudi Arabiaā€™s sovereign wealth fund, is seeking to raise up to $820M in an IPO (BBG)

Exec's Picks

  • Future of Pharmacy. NowRxā€™s proprietary software and robotics enable pharmacies to operate at a fraction of the cost of traditional pharmacies. That means big growth potential. As of December 2021, they achieved $26M+ in annualized revenue. Get your dose andĀ invest in NowRx right here.

Big Swinging Decks Podcast

šŸšØNEW BSD DROPPED THIS MORNINGšŸšØ

Lit and Mark sit down with the ā€œface, hair, and dad joke kingā€ of FinTwit (and coffee connoisseur) --Ā Douglas Boneparth

Doug discusses his background and offers crucial financial planning advice to the BSD Shareholders.Ā In the Appendix Section, the duo releases the four finalists for the Super Bowl ticket giveaway in partnership with Ansarada - listen in on Spotify or Apple PodcastsĀ and vote for your favorite banking ā€œhorrorā€ or ā€œheroā€ story on the Litquidity IG page today.Ā 

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out ourĀ job boardĀ on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 40+ jobsĀ spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDevĀ and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

Meme Cleanser

Catch the latest episode of our Big Swinging Decks podcast onĀ SpotifyĀ andĀ Apple MusicĀ šŸ¤

Join the conversation

or to participate.