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Good morning,

Back to back days of tech stocks (and LitCap Yolo Fund) getting hammered, due to rising rates. Meanwhile, Biden and five other countries agreed to open the spigot on oil reserves to combat high gas prices and inflation.

It's Thxgiving Eve, the day you want to lay low and avoid a staffing at all costs in order to spend time with family and friends. It's also our first Turkey Day celebration as a finance newsletter. We're glad to celebrate our first Thanksgiving with y'all and thankful for those who've stuck around / who've spread the good word (all the shade to those who have unsubbed doe 😤). Here's to many more. 😭 🙏 🦃

We'll be back on Friday with a brief edition. See you then!  

Before The Bell

To see the LitCap Yolo Fund's portfolio holdings, download the Iris Social Stock app here and give Litquidity a follow. If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• The S&P 500 edged up while the Dow received a boost from the strength of bank and energy stocks, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell on more news of rising rates

• Bank stocks rose along with bond rates while energy stocks moved after Biden announced the US, along with five other countries (including China), will tap the strategic petroleum reserves in an attempt to lower gas prices and curb inflation

• Investors are expecting trading to slow as Thanksgiving approaching but will still be keeping an eye overseas Covid spikes in Germany and other countries and on economic data released later this week

• Economic data coming out includes: weekly unemployment claims, a GDP update, consumer confidence reads, and personal income

Earnings

• Dell shares rose 2%+ AH after the company crushed analyst estimates on quarterly earnings and revenue due to record PC sales to both consumers and businesses (MW)

• Dick’s Sporting Goods posted a beat-and-raise Q3 report thanks to the broad increase in consumer spending and boost from the back-to-school and holiday rush (CNBC)

• Best Buy fell 12%+ yesterday after Q3 earnings beat estimates but investors are worried the retailer might face challenges in the future, such as consumers spending more on travel and entertainment and supply chain costs rising (CNBC)

• Dollar Tree posted Q3 earnings in-line with estimates, but noted it plans to roll out price increases that will take its midpoint to $1.25 early next year (TS)

• Nordstrom fell 18% in extended trading after they posted worse-than-expected Q3 earnings as rising labor costs ate into profits and sales and their Nordstrom Rack business underperformed (CNBC)

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Samsung picks Texas site for $17B advanced US chip plant (BBG)

• Spain set to extend restrictions on foreign takeovers (RT)

• US to release 50M barrels of oil from reserves in coordination with other countries in attempt to lower gas prices (CNBC)

• Tesla will spend ~$1B on Texas ‘Gigafactory’ and hopes to finish it this year (CNBC)

• Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS pharmacies contributed to opioid epidemic, Ohio jury finds (WSJ)

• Turkish lira falls as Erdogan vows victory in ‘economic war’ (FT)

• Sugar industry merger challenged by Justice Department (WSJ)

• Netflix employee who was highly critical of Dave Chapelle has resigned (WSJ)

• Hospitals seek military help in Michigan amid Covid overflow (BBG)

• Federal jury finds US pharmacy chains liable for opioid epidemic (NPR)

• Dollar Tree will increase prices to $1.25 starting in December (UPI)

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Deal Flow

M&A

• Telecom Italia’s largest shareholder, Vivendi, said it has no plans to sell its stake in the Italian phone operator, likely ending KKR’s takeover proposal (RT); however, KKR is considering boosting its $12.2B bid in an effort to please Vivendi (BBG)

• Blackstone and KKR are amongst bidders for data center company Global Switch in a potential $11B purchase (BBG)

• Telecoms company Orange Belgium is in talks to buy a majority stake in Belgian telecoms operator VOO at a potential ~$2B valuation (RT)

• Singapore REIT Mapletree Logistics agreed to buy 13 logistics properties across China, Japan, and Vietnam in deals worth a combined $1B+ (BBG)

• SVB Leerink is in talks to buy equities-research firm MoffettNathanson (BBG)

• Apollo is considering a bid for UK retailer Marks & Spencer (BBG)

• Italy’s top insurer Generali is set to enter exclusive talks to buy French bank Credit Agricole’s health insurance unit La Medicale in a potential ~$450M deal (RT)

• Edotco, a unit of Malaysia’s biggest mobile phone carrier Axiata, is in exclusive talks to buy telecommunications infrastructure provider Touch Matrix in a potential $430M deal (BBG)

• Fund managers Miton Group and AssetCo have made preliminary buyout approaches for British rival River & Mercantile (RT)

• NY hedge fund and US newspaper consolidator Alden Global has made a proposal to take Iowa-based media company Lee Enterprises private in a potential ~$141M deal (WSJ)

• Cowen agreed to buy software-focused M&A advisory firm Portico Capital Partners (TMM)

VC

• Alternative meat producer Impossible Foods raised a $500M funding round led by Mirae Asset Global Investments (BW)

• E-commerce brand incubator and aggregator Benitago Group raised a $325M Series A led by CoVenture (BW)

• AI-powered transcription platform Verbit raised a $250M Series E at a $2B valuation led by Third Point Ventures (TC)

• Indian proptech startup NoBroker raised a $210M Series E at a $1B valuation led by Tiger Global, General Atlantic, and Moore Strategic Ventures (BBG)

• Luxury watch startup WatchBox raised a $165M round at a ~$1B valuation from angels including Michael Jordan, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bill Ackman, and Devin Booker (CNBC)

• Vercel, a startup building an end-to-end front-end development platform, raised a $150M Series D at a $2.5B+ valuation led by GGV Capital (TC)

• Patient engagement platform Luma Health raised a $130M Series C led by FTV Capital (PRN)

• Travel booking marketplace Peek raised an $80M Series C led by WestCap (TC)

• Bitrise, a startup helping companies stay up to date with changing mobile requirements, raised a $60M Series C led by Insight Partners (TC)

• UK-based digital therapy startup ieso raised a $53M Series B led by Morningside (TC)

• Brazilian B2B BNPL startup TruePay raised a $32M Series A led by Addition (TC)

• Mobile income tax software startup Column Tax raised a $5.1M seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures (TC)

• Zenity, a startup securing low- and no-code applications, raised a $5M seed round led by Vertex Ventures and UpWest (TC)

• AR grocery store startup Dent Reality raised a $3.4M seed round led by Pi Labs (TC)

• Optics and imaging startup Spectralics received a $2M investment from Volvo Cars Tech Fund (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese RE developer Longfor is considering a Hong Kong IPO for its property management business that could raise up to $1B (BBG)

• SoftBank-backed Swedish solar tech firm Exeger has begun to explore an IPO either at home or in the US (BBG)

SPAC

• “Below-the-waist” men’s grooming product company Manscaped agreed to merge with Bright Lights Acquisition Corp in a ~$1B deal (BBG)

Exec's Picks

• Jomashop has some great deals on Rolexs, Omegas, and more for this upcoming Black Friday / Cyber Monday

• Masterworks allows retail investors to access the lucrative contemporary art asset class of contemporary art. Click this private Exec Sum link to get priority access today* *See important disclosures

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 100+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

Featured job of the day:

• BitGo, a provider of capital markets infrastructure for cryptocurrencies, is looking to hire an Institutional Sales Associate in New York City. They're backed by the most prominent investment banks, prop trading firms, Silicon Valley VCs, and digital asset investors. Apply here

If you're looking to hire candidates and want to post a job, all you have to do is hit "+ Hire Talent" on the top right of the job board.

To Candidates: We've also partnered up with Portal Jobs for a more hands-on approach to matching talent with relevant jobs. Fill out the form here and we'll get to work on placing you in a relevant gig 🤝

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