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Good Morning,

We’re less than two weeks away from the US presidential election and everything is firing on all cylinders. PE fees are at the lowest on record, regulators are sounding the alarm on private credit, EY fired staff for some bizarre reasons, OpenAI hired its first economist and compliance chief, and Bill Gates revealed a donation for Kamala Harris (while Jamie Dimon is apparently quietly supporting her).

Automate your complicated business spend and expense allocation process with one of the fastest growing fintech softwares in the alternative asset management space, StavPay.

Before we get into it, I’m co-hosting a happy hour in NYC tomorrow at The Spaniard. If you work in IB or PE and are looking to have a good time (and also maybe learn a bit about how AI will make your job easier), you can sign up here.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed relatively flat as investors digested fresh corporate earnings

  • Nasdaq closed at its highest since July, just shy of an ATH

  • S&P posted its first consecutive decline in one month, breaking a Great Depression-era streak

• US 2Y yield is up 34 bps since September's rate cut, mirroring a 1995 trend

• Dollar is up 4% MoM

Earnings

• GM rose 10% on a Q3 beat-and-raise thanks to strong prices and consumer strength which offset losses in China (CNBC)

• RTX beat earnings estimates on strong demand in its defense and commercial aftermarket segments (YH) 

• Verizon fell 5% after missing Q3 revenue estimates amid lackluster hardware sales (BBG)

• GE Aerospace dropped 9% despite beating Q3 earnings and revenue estimates as sales in its commercial engines and services unit fell short (INV)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Tesla, Boeing, Coca-Cola, IBM, AT&T

  • Thursday: UPS, American Airlines

• Full calendar here

🇺🇸 Election Forecast

Trump's lead edged higher to 20% on Kalshi. Get $20 to trade the election when you deposit $100 or more. See live odds and bet now!

Headline Roundup

• Jamie Dimon would consider a role in Harris administration (NYT)

• PE management fees fell to the lowest level on record (FT)

• Top regulators call out valuation risks in private credit (BBG)

• Private credit set to jump on higher rates in Australia (BBG)

• IMF warns on Australian pensions private markets exposure (BBG)

• EY fired staff who took multiple training courses at once (FT)

• HSBC splits east and west in major restructuring (CNBC)

• Goldman is facing millions in fines over credit card business (WSJ)

• CFPB unveiled 'open banking' rules aimed at driving competition (WSJ)

• Starboard accused Pfizer management of $20B value destruction (FT)

• Jensen Huang makes case for AI-first companies (WSJ)

• OpenAI hired ex-Uber compliance head as first compliance chief (BBG)

• OpenAI hired an ex-White House official as first chief economist (RT)

• Anthropic says latest AI model can control users' computers (FT)

• Starbucks suspended 2025 guidance as new CEO faces inflection point (CNBC)

• Netflix quit plans to develop blockbuster video game (WSJ)

• Peloton will sell high-end exercise bikes at some Costco stores (RT)

• Ex-Abercrombie CEO was arrested on sex trafficking charges (CNBC)

A Message From StavPay

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• $9B-listed engineering software firm Altair Engineering is exploring a sale after receiving takeover interest  

• PE firm Triton is exploring options for plastic container firm IFCO, which could fetch a $5.4B valuation

• Health insurer Elevance Health acquired home care firm CareBridge for $2.7B

• $900M-listed Canadian legal software firm Dye & Durham is exploring a sale after receiving takeover interest

• Malaysia's state-owned Petronas is considering selling a minority stake in renewable energy firm Gentari that could be worth $300M-$500M

• Adani's Ambuja Cements will acquire a 47% stake in rival Orient Cement for $451M

• Snack maker Second Name Brands will acquire J.M. Smucker's cookie brand Voortman for $305M cash

• Brookfield re-entered talks with Barclays to acquire a majority stake in its UK merchant payments business

• Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines revived merger talks

VC

• AI chip startup Kneron is seeking to raise $300M at a $1B valuation

• Socket, a tool to detect security vulnerabilities in open-source code, raised a $40M Series B led by a16z and Elad Gil 

• Indian AI/ML infrastructure startup Neysa raised a $30M Series A led by NTTVC, Z47, and Nexus Venture Partners 

• Customer automation platform Interface.ai raised a $20M round led by Avataar Venture Partners 

• Stream.Security, a real-time cloud security solutions, raised a $30M Series B led by US Venture Partners 

• TollBit, a two-sided marketplace for AI firms and publishers, raised a $24M Series A led by Lightspeed 

• WarrCloud, an automated warranty processing platform, raised a $20M Series B led by Centana Growth Partners 

• BiltOn, a construction operations and risk management software, raised a $15M Series B led by PSG Equity 

• Freeform, a startup building a new metal additive printing process, raised $14M from Nvidia and Boeing 

• Rollstack, a startup making it easier to create data-driven slide decks, raised an $11M Series A led by Insight Partners 

• Oxla, a database for large-scale data processing, raised an $11M seed round from TQ Ventures, Lead Ventures, and more

• Counsel Health, a startup providing physician-led, AI-powered medical advice, raised an $11M seed round led by a16z 

• Desktop AI assistant app Highlight raised a $10M round led by General Catalyst 

• Authologic, a global digital identity verification platform, raised an $8.2M Series A led by OpenOcean 

• Actfore, a startup using AI/ML to mine data for cyber breach incident response, raised $8M from Gresham House Ventures 

• Monark, a fintech embedding private markets and trading solutions within traditional brokerage platforms, raised a $2.2M seed round led by Garuda Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese autonomous driving firm Horizon Robotics raised $696M in Hong Kong's biggest IPO of 2024

• UK sports nutrition firm Applied Nutrition will price its London IPO near the bottom of a marketed range for a $454M valuation

Debt

• Elevance Health sold $5.2B of investment-grade bonds

• Bank of America launched a $3.5B bond sale

• Textile firm Lycra is seeking $350M in private credit to refinance debt

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Tupperware agreed to sell itself to lenders including Stonehill Capital Management and Alden Global Capital in bankruptcy

• Turkish conglomerate Dogus is in talks to transfer part of its stake in port operator Galataport Istanbul to lenders over an unpaid $1.1B loan

Fundraising

• Brookfield-backed European investments firm LCM Partners is seeking to raise $6.5B for its fifth credit opportunities fund

• Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital raised $3.1B for its latest PE fund  

• Software PE firm Greenridge Growth Partners raised $255M for its second fund

• PE firm TPG is in early stages of raising a sports-focused fund

Crypto Corner

• Paul Tudor Jones is long gold and Bitcoin as mega inflation hedge (CNBC)

• SEC lists crypto as examination priority in 2025 (CT)

• CFTC is being stretched thin by legal election bets and crypto (BBG)

• Institutional investors currently own ~$13B of spot Bitcoin ETF shares since trading opened in January (CN)

_{Want more crypto news? Sign up for our very own Crypto Sum newsletter (it’s Exec Sum, but all crypto)}

Exec’s Picks

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• Recruiting for Investment Banking? Check out Leland's Investment Banking Recruiting Bootcamp taught by expert coaches from top banks. Includes 8 hours of LIVE instruction, technical skill assignments and drills, 1:1 mock interview with expert coaches and more. Use code "LIT600" to get 50% off.

• Oaktree-founder Howard Marks took to the Financial Times to remind investors of a seemingly forgotten finance principle.

• FinTwit has been so quick to point out holes in HBO hit-show "Industry" that even WSJ took notice.

• Rogo and Litquidity are hosting a happy hour in NYC on Thursday to bring together young IB and PE professionals. It's a fun way to celebrate Friday Eve and a great opportunity to meet fellow industry peers. RSVP here.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

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

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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