Together with

Good Morning,

US inflation hit a four decade high, Celsius filed for bankruptcy, Bank of Canada raised rates by a full percentage point, new vehicle prices hit an all-time high, and Netflix is partnering with Microsoft for its ad-based service.

If y'all had a gut feeling that the inflation reading was going to be through the roof today, you could've made a 5x profit through trading events contracts on Kalshi (today's sponsor). More info about their platform below.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• Stocks fell after CPI data showed that inflation reached 9.1% in June, the highest level in four decades

• Oil prices rose slightly but are still down 13% this month

• Earnings season will pick up the pace today as some of the biggest banks begin to report

Earnings

• Delta Air Lines reported that increased demand for air travel led to higher revenue, but rising fuel costs and service problems caused profit to fall short of expectations; their stock fell more than 4% on the day (ABC)

• What we’re watching this week:

  • Today: JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, TSMC

  • Friday: UnitedHealth Group, WellsFargo, Citibank, Progressive, BlackRock, PNC Financial Services

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Bank of Canada raised its policy rate by a full percentage point to 2.5%, the biggest one-time increase since 1998 (WSJ)

• The International Energy Agency says that the global oil-supply crisis is showing signs of easing (WSJ)

• Michael Barr was appointed to the Fed board as the nation’s top banking regulator (WSJ)

• 'God Bless America ETF' may be coming soon with the ticker YALL (BBG)

• New vehicle prices in America hit a record-high in June, averaging $48,083 (CNBC)

• The SEC voted to undo Trump-era rules that impeded the independence of shareholder advisers (RT)

• Spirit Airlines delayed its shareholder vote on its merger with Frontier Airlines until July 27th in order to earn more support from investors; the vote has now been pushed back four times (WSJ)

• Uber is being sued by over 500 women for sexual assault claims against drivers (CNBC)

• Netflix is partnering with Microsoft to create a low cost, ad-supported version of their streaming platform (WSJ)

• Peloton competitor Tonal cut 35% of its 750 member workforce in an effort to become profitable and go public (CNBC)

• A trading team at Millennium hedge fund is shuttering after failed bets on M&A deals involving Twitter and Citrix (BBG)

• The Biden Administration said that pharmacists who refuse to fill abortion-related prescription drugs might violate antidiscrimination laws (WSJ)

A Message From Kalshi

Take a position. What are you waiting for?

Yesterday saw a 1.3% CPI print, one of the highest in recent history, which is saying something given we’re now at 9.1% on the year. Somehow, high inflation still managed to surprise most people… except for a few people trading events on Kalshi – the first regulated exchange for trading events.

These people turned a 5x profit by betting inflation would be above 1.2% using Kalshi Event Contracts. An event contract is just a “Yes” or “No” share tied to a specific future event. As the event becomes more likely to happen, the value appreciates. When the event finally happens each correct share turns into a dollar. You can also sell the shares early to lock in profits.

This powerful market structure enables you to capitalize on your predictions without worrying about noise in the stock market.

Get priority access today!

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• A consortium of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management and infrastructure investment firm DigitalBridge will buy a 51% stake in telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom’s tower business, valuing the business at ~$18B (RT)

• Video game software developer Unity Software agreed to buy app monetization company IronSource in an all-stock deal valued at ~$4.4B (BBG)

• PE firms Carlyle Group and Permira emerged as bidders for bankruptcy and distressed-debt information provider Reorg Research, which could attract a potential $1B+ valuation (BBG)

• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 12M shares, or $698M, in June; Berkshire now owns 18.7% of the common stock (WSJ)

• Metal and carbon fiber company Markforged acquired 3D metal printing company Digital Metal for $40M (TC)

• Canadian-owned tire distributor Groupe Touchette will acquire the Canadian assets of wholesale tire supplier American Tire Distributors (BBG)

• Japanese financial group Mitsubishi UFJ is considering a bid for a stake in Indonesian lender Panin Bank (BBG)

• Nordic streaming service Viaplay is in talks to buy Irish television sports channel Premier Sports as the company seeks to expand its broadcasting rights (BBG)

• Global education startup African Leadership Group agreed to acquire coding school Holberton (TC)

VC

• Autonomous flight technology developer Merlin Labs raised a $105M Series B led by Snowpoint and Baillie Gifford (PRN)

• Wildcat Discovery Technologies, a developer of new battery materials, raised a $90M Series D led by Koch Strategic Platforms (PRN)

• Equity management software company Pulley raised a $40M Series B led by Founders Fund (PRN)

• Mayvenn, a marketplace for stylists to sell beauty products, raised a $40M Series C led by Cleveland Ave (PRN)

• Kontent.ai, a platform designed to help companies manage business-related content in the cloud, raised $40M from Expedition Growth Capital (TC)

• Incident.io, a Slack-based incident-response platform, raised a $28.7M Series A led by Index Ventures (TC)

• Deci, a deep learning company harnessing AI to solve the AI efficiency gap, raised a $25M Series B led by Insight Partners (PRN)

• Blue Ocean Barns, an agricultural technology startup, raised a $20M Series A led by Valor Siren Ventures (PRN)

• Japanese fintech SmartBank raised a $20M Series A led by Globis Capital Partners (TC)

• Anthony Pompliano’s crypto hiring firm Inflection Points exited stealth mode after a $12.6M funding round that included Thiel Capital, Fifth Down Capital, XYZ Fund, and others (TC)

• Provus, a provider of an automated services quoting solution, raised a $12M Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners (PRN)

• Continuum, a platform that connects tech startups to part-time executive and HR help, raised a $12M Series A led by Pelion Ventures (TC)

• DeltaStream, which is developing a streaming database platform geared toward enterprise customers, raised a $10M seed round led by New Enterprise Associates (TC)

• Hyperface, an India-based modern transaction credit platform, raised a $9M seed round led by 3one4Capital (ET)

• Syrup Tech, an AI-powered predictive software platform for inventory management, raised a $6.3M funding round led by Gradient Ventures (PRN)

• Helios, a startup developing technologies to extract oxygen and other materials from the earth and moon, raised a $6M seed round led by At One Ventures and Doral Energy-Tech Ventures (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese real estate company Vanke is planning to raise $2B in a Hong Kong IPO for its property management arm Onewo Space-Tech in September (BBG)

• UK fintech startup Zepz delayed its planned Q2 IPO due to accounting and senior staffing issues; the company is aiming for a ~$6B post-IPO valuation (BBG)

• Software vendor Justworks withdrew its filing for an IPO (CNBC)

• Food retailer Fresh Market withdrew its filing for an IPO (CNBC)

SPAC

• Bridgetown Holdings, the SPAC backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, is considering a potential merger with digital telecom services provider Circles.Life, in a potential deal worth up to $2.5B (BBG)

Debt

• Bank of America is reaching out to investors to gauge interest in the $15B debt syndication for Citrix Systems's buyout (BBG)

• Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker VinFast signed agreements with Credit Suisse and Citigroup to have them arrange $4B+ in funding for its planned North Carolina EV factory and US rollout (BBG)

• Turkey’s state-owned gas company Botas received a $929M loan from Deutsche Bank to finance liquefied natural gas purchases and reduce their reliance on Russian imports (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Crypto lender Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a month after it froze customer withdrawals (BBG)

Fundraising

• PE firm Permira raised $16B for its new flagship buyout fund (BBG)

• Crypto investment firm Multicoin Capital announced its $430M Venture Fund III, which will invest $500K-$25M in early-stage opportunities all the way up to $100M+ for later-stage projects (Company)

• Booz Allen Hamilton, the defense-focused IT consulting firm, is launching a corporate VC arm Booz Allen Ventures that will put $100M toward 'strategic' defensive and offensive technologies (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Charlie Munger said crypto is an 'open sewer' and sellers are 'delusional or evil' (BI)

• Polygon among six Web3 projects selected for Disney accelerator program (DC)

Exec's Picks

• Are you a current or former investment banker / PE investor looking for reliable a financial data service that won't cost an arm and a leg like a Bloomberg Terminal, CapIQ, or FactSet? Koyfin is a platform I recently started using to perform fundamental analysis and track my personal portfolio. They've got several affordable plans for current and former professionals and a sleek, modern interface that's easy to navigate. Check them out here.

• Picture this: it's Summer in the city. It's hot af. You ride the subway to work. By the time you get to the office, you're dripping buckets. Mizzen + Main fixes this with their performance fabric dress shirts (think: comfort of golf polos with the look of tailored dress shirts). I highly recommend these, especially in the heat. Grab some here.

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 aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

Meme Cleanser

Thinking of starting your own newsletter? Beehiiv is the best platform for creators, period. Click here to get started building your own audience.