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A CrowdStrike glitch nearly crippled the global economy, Taleb's protege thinks the greatest bubble is at its peak, secondaries had a record H1, and Biden dropped out of the presidential race.

ARK Venture Fund recently opened to all US investors, offering exposure to startups like SpaceX and OpenAI. Check out the full portfolio here and see how you can invest today.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks fell further on Friday as markets reacted to a global IT outage and prepared for Big Tech earnings this week

  • S&P and Nasdaq posted their biggest weekly losses since April

  • Nasdaq snapped a six-week win streak

• Europe's Stoxx 600 lost 2% in its biggest weekly fall YTD 

• Bitcoin hit a one-month high

Earnings

• American Express missed Q2 revenue estimates but beat on earnings and raised its FY profit forecast thanks to robust spending by wealthy customers (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Tuesday: Tesla, Alphabet, Spotify, UPS, Visa

  • Wednesday: Chipotle, Ford, AT&T, IBM

  • Thursday: American Airlines

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• A faulty CrowdStrike update caused the largest IT outage in history (CNBC)

• Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race (AP)

• China cuts key short-term rate for the first time in a year (BBG)

• Mark Spitznagel sees the 'greatest bubble' nearing its peak (WSJ)

• Private market secondaries see record H1 as volumes surpass $70B (SI)

• Global equity funds saw a fourth-straight week of inflows (RT)

• Chinese investors sold record amount of US stocks and bonds in May (BBG)

• Vanguard favors high-quality credit over high-yield counterparts (RT)

• US bond managers are steering clear of long-term US debt (RT)

• US regional banks boost credit loss provisions as CRE risks linger (RT)

• US regulator found weak risk-management at half of large banks (BBG)

• UK's finance minister may force pensions to pool $460B of assets (FT)

• Hedge funds are pouring billions into the Turkish lira trade (FT)

• Asian foreign reserves declined in H1 (RT)

• Activist Elliott built a stake in Starbucks (RT)

• American borrowers are struggling with debt (WSJ)

• Apathetic employees are costing $1.9T in productivity (CNBC)

• Firms are dropping DEI targets amid pressure from conservatives (FT)

A Message From ARK Invest

The ARK Venture Fund is taking an asset class once reserved for the accredited, ultra-rich and making it available to all US investors.

ARK offers investment exposure to companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks, and more! See the portfolio here.

You can invest in the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) for as little as a $500 minimum initial investment.

All US self-directed investors can download the SoFi or Titan app and invest in the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) now.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Consumer goods giant Unilever began sales talks with KKR, CVC, Advent, and Cinven for its $19.4B ice cream business (BBG)  

• PE firms including CVC are in talks to acquire $14.6B-listed UK pest control firm Rentokil Initial (BBG) 

• KKR emerged as the front-runner to acquire edtech Instructure at a ~$4.7B valuation, including debt (BBG) 

• Colombian driller EcoPetrol is in talks to acquire a 30% stake in Occidental Petroleum's recent CrownRock acquisition for $3.6B (BBG) 

• Blackstone is considering selling its minority stake in UK outsourced marketing provider HH Global at a $2.6B-$3.2B valuation (BBG) 

• PE firm Cinven is in advanced talks to acquire a significant minority stake in Swedish health beverage maker Vitamin Well at an over $2.2B valuation (BBG) 

• KKR is considering options for its 17% stake in Sweden-listed life sciences firm Biotage, which has a $1.4B market cap (BBG)  

• Investment firm RedBird IMI received seven bids from firms including News UK for The Telegraph newspaper and Spectator magazine, which could fetch $775M (FT) 

• $760M-listed diabetes device maker Embecta is exploring a sale (FT)  

• State-owned China Three Gorges is in talks to buy a Spanish renewables portfolio worth $218M from Portugal's GreenVolt (BBG) 

• The Friedkin Group abandoned plans to acquire a majority stake in Everton FC (RT) 

VC

• Saronic, a leader in military ASVs, raised a $175M Series B at a $1B valuation led by a16z (PRN)

• Planned, an end-to-end solution for travel and events, raised a $35M Series B led by Drive Capital (FN)

• Aereo, an Indian drone-based BI provider, raised a $15M Series B led by 360 ONE Asset (PRN)

• Lumen, a startup building smart glasses for the visually impaired, raised a $5.5M round from EIC and Venture to Future Fund (EU)

• Truvius, a startup empowering systematic investing for digital assets, raised a $3.2M round led by Galaxy Ventures (FN)

• Pelotero, a player intelligence platform for sport coaches, raised a $3M seed round led by Greg Ciongoli and Bennett Fisher (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Indian adtech InMobi is planning a local IPO at a ~$10B valuation in 2025 (TC) 

• Santander-backed fintech Ebury hired Goldman Sachs to lead its planned $2.6B London IPO (FT)

• Berkshire Hathaway offloaded ~$1.5B worth of Bank of America shares (RT) 

• Indian mining giant Vedanta raised $1B via a QIP share offering (RT)

• Manycore, a maker of 3D design software, is preparing to file for a $200M Hong Kong IPO as soon as this year (BBG) 

• Artiva Biotherapeutics' shares closed flat in its trading debut after its expanded $167M IPO (BBG)  

• PE firm Mid Europa Partners selected Citigroup and Jefferies to arrange a Warsaw IPO of medical diagnostic firm Diagnostyka (BBG)

Debt

• TC Energy's liquids pipeline spinoff South Bow is preparing to sell ~$5.8B of debt (BBG) 

• Banks and private credit firms are in talks to lend $1.1B to fund CD&R and Permira's potential $2.4B LBO of French cybersecurity firm Exclusive Networks (BBG) 

• Occidental Petroleum is planning a bond sale to help fund its planned acquisition of CrownRock (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF offered to buy a 40% stake UK department store Selfridges from insolvent co-owner Signa for $1.3M (BBG) 

• Porsche is in talks to acquire a stake German battery maker Varta in a restructuring (RT)

Fundraising

• PE firm Bregal Sagemount closed its debut small-cap fund at $500M (WSJ) 

Crypto Corner

• WazirX and Liminal Custody blame each other for the $230M crypto hack (CD)

Exec’s Picks

• Earn 5% on gold, paid in gold. Monetary Metals pays a yield on gold and silver, and they've done it for 8 years. Click here to learn more about their latest opportunity.

• FT covered the curious case of the young investors gambling on Indian stocks.

New Opportunity - Growth Equity

Smash Capital - Growth Equity Investor, Immediate Start, NYC or LA

• Venture capital firm with over $1.5B in AUM is hiring growth equity investors for immediate start in NYC and LA

• The firm invests in technology companies across enterprise software, consumer internet, gaming, financial services, healthcare, and commerce

• Seeking experienced growth equity investors, with at least two years of experience from a top management consulting firm or investment bank and at least two years of software-focused buy side experience in growth equity, VC, or private equity

Meme Cleanser

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