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Late debt ceiling talks and plunging tax revenue have put pressure on Congress, CEO pay fell for the first time in a decade, Musk was subpoenaed over JPM’s ties to Epstein, Burry bought the bank dip, the US is buying more oil for its strategic reserve, and Sam Altman will testify before Congress.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• All three major US indexes ended yesterday’s session positive amid US debt-deal hopes

• Dollar index edged down following a 1.45% rally last week, its strongest one-week gain since September 2022

Earnings

• Tower Semiconductor beat Q1 earnings expectations, despite a YoY decline in revenue, after successfully restructuring and reorganizing their Japan operations in 2022 (YF)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Baidu, Tupperware, Home Depot

  • Wednesday: Take-Two Interactive, Target, Wix

  • Thursday: Walmart, Alibaba, Bath & Body Works, Canada Goose, Nio

  • Friday: Deere, Foot Locker

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Debt-ceiling talks’ late start amps up pressure on Congress (WSJ)

• Plunging tax revenue accelerates debt-ceiling deadline (WSJ)

• Consumer debt passed $17T for the first time in Q1 (CNBC)

• US households show signs of stress as new delinquencies rise (BBG)

• CEO pay fell for the first time in a decade last year (WSJ)

• Argentina is expected to hike rates by 600 bps to starve off inflation (BBG)

• Elon Musk issued subpoena in lawsuit over JPM’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein (WSJ)

• Wells Fargo will pay shareholders $1B to settle class-action suit related to 2016 fake-accounts scandal (WSJ)

• Bridgewater dumped bank stocks amid turmoil in Q1 filings (RT)

• SVB’s ex-CEO says Fed and social media contributed to collapse (BBG)

• China’s $220B biotech initiative is struggling to take off (BBG)

• “Big Short” investor Burry bet on regional banks in Q1 (YF)

• US to buy 3M barrels of oil for reserve in August (BBG)

• Microsoft releases update that allows iPhone users to text from Windows (CNBC)

• OpenAI CEO set to testify before Congress today (YF)

• Turkey set for runoff as Erdogan falls just short of victory (BBG)

• Hamptons rental prices fall for the summer as owners contend with oversupply (CNBC)

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*AcreTrader Financial, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Farmland investing is speculative and involves high degree of risk, including complete loss of principal and not suitable for all investors. Past performance does not guarantee future results and there is no guarantee this trend will continue.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Microsoft’s $69B acquisition of Activision was approved by EU regulators (BBG)

• Oneok agreed to buy Magellan Midstream Partners in an $18.8B cash-and-stock deal to create one of the largest US oil and natural gas pipeline operators (BBG)

• PE firm TPG will buy real estate investor Angelo Gordon for $2.7B to gain its $55B credit business (BBG)

• Apollo walked away from its possible $2.1B takeover of UK-based engineering firm John Wood Group, causing shares to slide 30% (BBG)

• Petroleos Mexicanos is in advanced talks to buy KKR’s Monterra Energy fuel storage terminal in Veracruz, Mexico for $320M (BBG)

• Fanatics will buy PointsBet’s US business operations for $150M in push into sports betting market (BBG)

• UK-based conglomerate SRAM & MRAM will invest $100M in Indian airline SpiceJet’s cargo division SpiceXpress (RT)

• Activist investor Engaged Capital disclosed a 6.6% stake in burger chain Shake Shack as it seeks three-board seats (WSJ)

VC

• Kenya-based fintech M-Kopa raised over $250M in debt and equity to fund its expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa in a funding round led by Standard Bank Group (BBG)

• Tipalti, a global payables automation platform, raised $150M in incremental growth financing from JPMorgan Chase Bank, Hercules Capital, and more (FN)

• Zip, an intake-to-pay platform, raised a $100M Series C at a $1.5B valuation from Y Combinator, CRV, and Tiger Global (BW)

• Smart, a UK-based fintech startup focused on retirement savings, raised a $95M Series E led by Aquiline Capital Partners (FN)

• Ethernovia, a Silicon Valley-based startup focused on vehicle networking, raised a $64M Series A from Porsche SE, Qualcomm Ventures, AMD Ventures, and more (BW)

• Biotech company Dualyx raised a $43.5M Series A led by Andera, Fountain Healthcare Partners and Forbion (FN)

• Plant-based meat startup Prime Roots raised a $30M Series B from True Ventures, Pangaea Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Top Tier Capital, and more (PRN)

• Aibidia, a Helsinki-based provider of a transfer pricing platform, raised a $14.1M Series A led by DN Capital and FPV Ventures (FN)

• US embedded vision player e-con Systems raised $13M in funding from GR 2022 Holdings (BW)

• ThreatFabric, an Amsterdam-based online fraud detection solution, raised a $12.5M seed round led by ABN AMRO Ventures and Motive Ventures (FN)

• Diligent Pharma, a vendor qualification and risk management startup, raised an $8.3M Series A led by FCA Venture Partners (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Japan’s Rakuten Group is finalizing plans to raise $2.2B through issuing new shares (RT)

• JamJoom Pharmaceuticals, a generic drugmaker, is seeking up to $336M in the biggest Saudi IPO so far this year (BBG)

SPAC

• Global Hydrogen Energy, a company focusing on hydrogen development and carbon recovery projects, is merging with Dune Acquisition Corp. in a $112M deal (YN)

Debt

• Banks are lining up ~$1.6B of debt financing to back a potential LBO of Austrian packaging firm Constantia Flexibles as French investment group Wendel looks to sell (BBG)

• Bahrain's state oil holding firm Nogaholding plans to sell dollar-denominated Islamic bonds and offered to buy back $750M in bonds due next year (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the most recent digital media company to falter. A consortium of lenders - Fortress, Soros, and Monroe Capital - is buying Vice for ~$225M, in addition to taking on a significant amount of the company’s debt. Other parties will be able to submit bids as well. Vice’s assets & liabilities are worth ~$500M to $1B (AP)

• Envision Healthcare, a KKR-backed US provider of physicians, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (RT)

• British chemicals producer Venator Materials filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US (RT)

• Bankrupt Brazilian retailer Americanas SA is looking for parties interested in purchasing its stake in Grupo Uni.co (RT)

Fundraising

• Investment firm Grain Management is seeking to raise $4B for a telecom infrastructure fund (WSJ)

• Pearl Energy Investments, a DFW-based energy investment firm, raised $705M for its third fund (BW)

• 10T’s co-founder is seeking to raise $200M for TenSquared Capital, a new crypto startup investment fund (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Large investors, some institutional, led last year’s run on crypto platforms like lender Celsius Network (BBG)

• The US DOJ will crack down on crypto companies engaging in or allowing illicit activities such as money laundering (RT)

• Quant HF Jump Trading did secret deal to prop up TerraUSD stablecoin (WSJ)

• Hacker groups affiliated with North Korea have stolen $721M worth of cryptocurrency assets since 2017 (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Litquidity is currently working on some Padel investment opportunities that will be offered up to accredited investors / qualified purchasers in his community. If you’re a big fan of the sport and want investment exposure in the space, pls fill out this quick form to learn more about the deals

• The New York Times broke down the coming multi-trillion dollar wealth transfer in the US

• Noah Smith wrote a good piece on how tech has changed the world since 1990

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