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Good Morning,

NFL voted to allow PE investments, Hindenburg shorted Super Micro, Intel's struggles are causing cracks in their board, US companies are tweaking DEI policies, and China is planning a major bond market intervention.

See how you can transform your spend and expense management with BILL, and they'll send you a Blackstone Griddle.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks slightly rose ahead of Nvidia's earnings and Friday's PCE report

  • Options markets are pricing in a ±10% swing in Nvidia post-earnings

• China's CSI 300 fell to seventh-month lows as buyback announcements failed to make up for disappointing earnings 

• US 2Y-10Y yield curve inversion hit its narrowest in three weeks

• Dollar index is at a thirteen-month low

• Pound hit a 2.5-year high on bets of a hawkish BoE

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Nvidia, CrowdStrike, Salesforce

  • Thursday: Dell, Best Buy, Dollar General, lululemon

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• NFL owners vote to approve PE investments (WSJ)

• China is planning a bond sale to potentially burst market 'bubble' (FT)

• UBS Wealth Management raised US recession odds to 25% (RT)

• US consumer confidence rose to a six-month high (RT)

• Investors pour into US Treasury ETFs ahead of Fed rate cut (FT)

• JPMorgan sees Indian firms doubling annual dollar bond sales (BBG)

• Moody's warned of significant ratings impact for Israel from all-out conflict (RT)

• Hindenburg reveals short position in AI darling Super Micro (BBG)

• 1740 Broadway bonds become first AAA to suffer loss since 2008 crisis (RT)

• HSBC's new CEO weighs cutting layers of middle management (BBG)

• High-profile Intel board member quits over differences (RT)

• Klarna is weighing ousting its co-founder's key ally from board (FT)

• Klarna aims to halve workforce with AI gains (FT)

• TikTok's head of content strategy will depart leave (TI)

• Hertz boosted its board size from nine to eleven (RT)

• US companies tweak diversity policies as challenges mount (RT)

• UK home listings hit a seven-year high (FT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• CVC is in talks to acquire significant minority stake in residential property manager Odevo at a ~$3B valuation (BBG) 

• ExxonMobil is seeking to sell some conventional Permian Basin oil assets for $1B (BBG) 

• Australian asset managers IFM Investors and ISPT are nearing a merger deal (BBG) 

• Australian pension Aware Super acquired a minority stake in UK bandwidth infrastructure firm euNetwork (RT) 

VC

• Data infrastructure startup Cribl raised a $319M Series E at a $3.5B valuation led by GV (TC)

• Cloud optimization platform nOps raised a $30M Series A led by Headlight Partners (TC)

• Supio, an AI platform for personal injury law, raised a $25M round led by Sapphire Ventures (TC)

• Planera, a planning software for commercial construction projects, raised a $13.5M Series A led by Sierra Ventures (TC)

• PostgreSQL database software startup pgEdge raised a $10M round led by Rally Ventures (PRN)

• Polish electric bus startup MMI raised $8.3M in funding from Vinci S.A. (EU)

• AI sales concierge startup RepAI raised $8.2M led by Osage Venture Partners (FN)

• Jobilla, a digital recruitment technology, raised a $6.6M round from Juuri Partners, Trind VC, Business Finland, and more (EU)

• AI-enabled career platform Impactpool raised a $3.9M Series A led by Mediahuis and Fort Knox (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• LG Electronics is considering an IPO for its Indian business (BBG) 

• JD Sports-backed nutrition, health and wellness firm Applied Nutrition is planning a London IPO in Q4 (BBG) 

• World's largest pork processor Smithfield Foods spun off its European business (RT)

SPAC

• Event management platform Events.com will merge with Concord Acquisition Corp. II in a ~$400M deal (BBG) 

Debt 

• Blackstone is in talks with banks for a $3.7B loan to back its bid for Australian data center operator AirTrunk (BBG) 

• Global alcohol maker Diageo raised $2.1B in a euro debt sale (BBG) 

• Vista Equity Partners is in talks with banks and direct lenders for $1B of financing to support its acquisition of procurement software firm Jaggaer (BBG) 

• Chinese locality Shanghai Lingang is selling China's first floating rate bond since Covid in a $140M sale (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Struggling Canadian budget airline Flair Airlines is in debt restructuring talks (BBG) 

Fundraising

• European private credit investor Pemberton is seeking to raise $4.2B for its fourth opportunistic European credit fund (WSJ) 

• Credit manager CCS Partners debuted with $4B in capital commitments (BBG)

• LS Power raised $2.7B for a North American energy infrastructure fund (WSJ) 

Crypto Corner

• US crypto policy will likely be dictated by the Treasury (AX) 

• Russia is testing crypto payments and exchanges (BBG)

• Nasdaq is seeking SEC approval for Bitcoin index options (RT)

• CME Group is launching a smaller Bitcoin futures contract to lure retail investors (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

• The Dow is back above 40k and so are we with some fresh looks from The Summer Collection. Check out what's in store and scoop some Litquidity merch today.

• Hindenburg is back with another scathing short-seller report, this time on AI darling Super Micro. Read the full report here.

• Barry Ritholtz of Ritholtz Wealth Management wrote an insightful essay on why the Fed is often behind the curve.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

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We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, debt funds, and investment banking.

To get started, simply head over to Litney Partners and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

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