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Good Morning,

Berkshire's cash pile is now bigger than the Fed's, Nvidia is replacing Intel on the Dow, October's jobs report was the worst since Covid, and US election anxiety is unnerving traders in all corners.

Trump's 30% lead on election markets was virtually wiped out over the weekend. Meanwhile, some hedge funds are levering up to take advantage of election market volatility.

Move on from the daily deluge of tedious tasks and streamline all your investment processes with BlueFlame AI, a bespoke GenAI for alternative investments.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as investors shook off a weak jobs report to trade Big Tech earnings and US elections ahead

  • S&P notched its best November YTD of an election year since the Great Depression

• Europe's Stoxx 600 jumped 1.1% in its biggest one-day gain in five weeks

• Markets are bracing for US elections and a Fed rate decision in a crucial week ahead

  • Traders priced in 94% chance of a 25 bps Fed cut this week and 70% chance of a 25 bps cut in December 

  • Bond market volatility is at a YTD high ahead of US elections

  • Bitcoin volatility jumped to a three-month high 

Earnings

• Berkshire Hathaway's cash pile hit a record $325B after significantly reducing its Apple and BofA stake and freezing stock buybacks (CNBC) 

• ExxonMobil beat Q3 earnings estimates and raised its dividend after reaching its highest production level in over four decades (CNBC) 

• Chevron beat Q3 earnings and revenue estimates, though quarterly profit fell substantially YoY due to lower margins and lower prices (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Palantir, Marriott, Constellation Brands   

  • Tuesday: Supermicro, Apollo  

  • Wednesday: Qualcomm, Arm, Novo Nordisk, CVS

  • Thursday: DraftKings, Airbnb, Rivian

• Full calendar here

🇺🇸 Election Forecast

• Deposit funds now for a last chance to trade the election! Bet the US election legally, only on Kalshi.

Headline Roundup

• Jamie Dimon's wife is knocking on doors for Kamala Harris (BBG)

• US economy added the fewest jobs since Covid (CNBC)

• US manufacturing dropped to a 15-month low (RT)

• Hedge fund leverage is up 21% YTD in rare risk-on ahead of elections (RT)

• Election anxiety grips EM as investors slash risk (BBG)

• Investors warn of lasting 'risk premium' in gilts following UK budget (FT)

• Low-volatility ETFs lose favor as investors jump to buffered funds (FT)

• Nvidia will replace Intel on the Dow Jones index (CNBC)

• German banks cut US office loan exposure that caused bond turmoil (BBG)

• China piles pressure on rich and corporations to cough up taxes (FT)

• Volkswagen's cost-cutting a product of 'decades of structural problems' (RT)

• KKR projects data center spending to top $250B annually (BBG)

• Cantor CEO Lutnick is publicly consulting with Wall St to staff Trump WH (WSJ)

• Kushners' real estate empire is now worth more than Trump's (FRB)

• Nearly half of workers are saying 'no' to promotions (BZ)

A Message From BlueFlame

Unlock the Power of Your Firm's Collective Knowledge with BlueFlame AI

BlueFlame AI is a GenAI solution for private markets, designed to harness the vast knowledge accumulated within your firm.

• Search everywhere: access and aggregate information from all sources

  • Entire shared drives (Box, Dropbox, Egnyte)

  • CRM systems (Deal Cloud, Salesforce)

  • Outlook emails and calendar

  • Market data platforms (CapIQ, PitchBook, Grata)

  • Google and news feeds

  • Pre-loaded 10-Ks/Qs and earnings transcripts

• Knowledge management:

  • Build and organize libraries of CIMs, board decks, expert network transcripts, C-suite candidate resumes, and more

  • Quickly retrieve prior deal data and portfolio company financials

  • Identify research insights and trends across your firm's data

• Intelligent output:

  • Generate reports in template PowerPoint or Word formats

  • Automate tedious tasks like data aggregation for valuations / comps

BlueFlame AI empowers your team to effortlessly navigate your firm's collective intelligence, enhancing decision-making and operational efficiency.

Experience the transformative power of BlueFlame AI. Request a demo today and revolutionize how you leverage your firm's knowledge.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Shore Capital Partners is in talks to partner with Silver Lake to merge veterinary PortCos Southern Veterinary Partners and Mission Veterinary Partners in an $8.6B deal

• Stonepeak is in advanced talks to acquire aircraft lessor ATSG in a ~$3.1B cash deal, including debt

• Saudi's PIF will acquire a 54% stake in MBC, the Middle East's biggest broadcaster, from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance for $2B

• Apple agreed to acquire a 20% stake in satellite provider Globalstar for $400M

• Greek media giant Antenna Group is in talks to buy Time Magazine from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff for $150M

• Avenue Capital Group is seeking a buyer for its impact investing business

• Apple agreed to buy photo editing app maker Pixelmator 

• Canadian television company Corus Entertainment is exploring a sale

• PE firm ATL Partners is considering a sale of live events-focused Global Critical Logistics

VC

• Marketing tech platform Insider raised a $500M Series E at a $2B valuation led by General Atlantic

• UK corporate debt research start-up 9fin is in talks to raise funds at a $500M valuation from Mubadala and KKR 

• Redoxblox, a low-cost thermochemical energy storage systems, raised a $40.7M Series A led by Prelude Ventures

• Israeli 'open-world' AI startup Decart raised a $21M seed round led by Sequoia

• Marqii, a digital operations platform for hospitality, raised a $10M Series B led by Next Coast Ventures

• AI-powered automotive platform MOTORMIA raised $8M from Lerer Hippeau, Seedcamp, QP Ventures, and more 

• Kuberno, a UK-based global legal entity management SaaS, raised a $6.6M Series A led by Nasdaq Ventures and Barclays 

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Audio tech maker GoerTek is preparing a $300M Hong Kong IPO of its Goertek Microelectronics semiconductor unit 

• Apollo-backed German online car-parts dealer Autodoc is preparing a potential Frankfurt IPO 

• Canadian generic drug manufacturer Apotex is preparing to IPO

Debt

• Tesla sold $499M of bonds backed by solar equipment loans

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• TGI Fridays filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

• H.I.G-owned prison-focused healthcare firm Wellpath is preparing to file for bankruptcy

• Franchise Group, the owner of brands including The Vitamin Shoppe and Pet Supplies Plus, is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

• PE firms Partners Group and Charlesbank Capital Partners are considering handing control of snack maker Hearthside to creditors via bankruptcy

• Zeo Energy won bankruptcy court approval to acquire solar installer Lumio's business for $4M and stock

Fundraising

• Brookfield launched a $2B Brookfield Middle East Partners fund with PIF serving as an anchor

• Superscrypt, a crypto VC company backed by Singapore's Temasek, plans to raise $100M for a second fund

Crypto Corner

• Coinbase accused FDIC of repeatedly telling banks to avoid crypto (CT)

• Self-proclaimed Bitcoin inventor Craig Wright faces contempt of court after filing a $1.2B lawsuit against fintech Block (RT)

• Stephen Mollah claims to have invented Bitcoin, ChatGPT, euro bonds, and Twitter's logo (CB) 

Exec’s Picks

• REX Shares structures a range of innovative leveraged and inverse ETFs across a bunch of assets and they've just expanded their offerings. Check out their funds.

• Financial Times produced a short and interesting film on Sequoia Capital and the evolution of the VC industry.

• Jack Raines explained the bizarre reason why MicroStrategy wants $42B more in Bitcoin.

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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