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Good Morning,

Bezos passed Arnault on the list of world’s richest people, home sales are on track for their slowest year since the housing bust, Goldman wants out of consumer lending, the MBA job market is slow, big tech could benefit from Jim Jordan as House speaker, and Linkedin announced ~700 layoffs.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as investors digested bank earnings and awaited a slew of corporate earnings

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 1.2% gain

• Crypto briefly rallied on a false report of a Bitcoin spot ETF being approved, before the price action reversed

Earnings

• Charles Schwab shares rose ~5% after the firm slightly beat Q3 earnings expectations thanks to strong growth in its asset management business more than offsetting its fall in net interest revenue; Schwab slightly missed on revenue (RT)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, United Airlines, Lockheed Martin, Johnson & Johnson, Prologis

  • Wednesday: Tesla, Netflix, Morgan Stanley, ASML, P&G, Discover, Nasdaq

  • Thursday: TSMC, Blackstone, AT&T, American Airlines

  • Friday: American Express

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Billionaire Arnault loses spot as world’s second-richest person to Bezos (BBG)

• Taylor Swift Eras Tour film posts second-best October box office opening with $92.8M (CNBC)

• Home sales on track for slowest year since housing bust (WSJ)

• Who funds Hamas? A global network of crypto, cash, and charities (RT)

• Meta’s unique approach to developing AI puzzles Wall Street, techies love it (CNBC)

• Goldman Sachs wants out of consumer lending (WSJ)

• MBA job offers are in short supply due to recruiting pullbacks across tech, finance, and consulting (WSJ)

• Google, Amazon, Apple could see antitrust bills put on hold if Jim Jordan becomes House speaker (CNBC)

• Australia’s central bank considered raising rates in October (CNBC)

• China property distressed debt looked cheap until the market deteriorated (WSJ)

• Gasoline margins dip into negative in the US with fuel weakness mounting (BBG)

• 53% of Gen Z see high cost of living as a barrier to financial success (CNBC)

• BlackRock tweaks treasuries view after sharp run-up in yields (BBG)

• Qatar seeks LNG buyers, leveraging energy supply fears in Europe (BBG)

• Microsoft-owned LinkedIn lays off nearly 700 employees (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• KKR submitted a binding offer for Telecom Italia’s landline grid that valued the network at as much as $24.3B (BBG)

• Saudi Arabian food-processing firm Savola Group is exploring options for its $5.4B, 35% stake in multinational dairy company Almarai, which is the Middle East’s largest dairy firm (BBG)

• PE firm Hg has drawn interest from investors including Mubadala and CDPQ for its 25% stake in Argus Media; a deal could value the oil pricing business at $4.9B (RT)

• DAZN Group and Comcast’s Sky Italia slightly raised their bid to broadcast Italy’s top football competition for as many as five seasons to $4.75B (BBG)

• US lithium miner Albemarle abandoned its $4.2B buyout bid for Australian lithium developer Liontown Resources due to ‘growing complexities’ after Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart raised her stake in Liontown to 19.9% (RT)

• Searchlight Capital Partners and British Columbia Investment Management will acquire fiber provider Consolidated Communications for $3.1B, including debt (BW)

• Closely held US kitchen and bath-products conglomerate Kohler is exploring a sale of its generators division that could value the unit at $3B or more (BBG)

• Prothena, a closely watched developer of a treatment for Alzheimer’s with a $2.8B market cap, is preparing for a potential sale (BBG)

• Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, one of the largest gambling companies in Canada, is considering a sale or other strategic options at a $2B valuation (BBG)

• Czechoslovak Group, a Czech arms conglomerate, will buy Vista Outdoor’s ammunition business, which includes Remington and CCI, in a $1.9B deal (BBG)

• Ineos Chair and UK billionaire Jim Ratcliffe would pay $1.5B for a 25% stake in Premier League team Manchester United if his bid is accepted by the controlling Glazer family (RT)

• PE firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners will acquire environmental solutions provider LOGISTEC at a ~$1.2B EV (PRNW)

• Canadian energy company Tourmaline Oil will buy rival Bonavista Energy for $1.1B in cash and stock, strengthening its position in Western Canada's Deep Basin (RT)

• Elliott Investment Management is considering taking supply-chain software company E2open Parent Holdings, which has a $913M market cap, private (BBG)

• Leading El Salvador grocery retailer Grupo Calleja will acquire indebted French supermarket chain Casino’s stake in Latin American retailer Almacenes Exito for $556M cash (BBG)

• Hong Kong’s BC Technology Group is exploring a sale of its crypto platform OSL at a $128M valuation (BBG)

• Brazilian firm Patria Investments will acquire UK investment company Abrdn’s $9B European-headquartered PE business for $98M cash (RT)

VC

• Jiangsu-based drug developer Atom Bioscience raised an $83M Series D led by Kaitai Capital (BW)

• Deep tech startup Xpanceo raised a $40M round from Opportunity Ventures (TC)

• AI and robotics startup Neura Robotics raised $16M in funding led by InterAlpen Partners (FN)

• Data pipeline observability and traceability platform Pantomath raised a $14M Series A led by Sierra Ventures (BW)

• Virtual telemetry company InfoBionic raised a $13M Series D led by Security International Investments, Mayo Clinic, and Excel Venture Management (VC)

• Earth imaging startup Urban Sky raised a $9.8M Series A led by New Legacy Ventures, Lavrock Ventures, and Lerer Hippeau (TC)

• AI-powered e-commerce workflow startup Creative Force raised an $8.9M Series A at a $56M post-money valuation from Export and Investment Fund of Denmark and Hearst Ventures (TC)

• All-in-one collaboration tool AFFiNE raised an $8M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures, Sinovation Ventures, and CGC Ventures (PRN)

• Pharmaceutical manufacturing compliance startup Leucine raised a $7M Series A led by strategic investor Ecolab (TC)

• CuraSen Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company developing small molecule therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases, received a $5.8M investment from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (FN)

• AnySignal, a radio connectivity and sensing platform for industrial, aerospace, and defense markets, raised a $5M seed round led by Blueyard Capital, First In, Also Capital, and others (BW)

• DNA modification startup Modifi Bio raised a $4.3M seed round from Connecticut Innovation, HighCape Capital, and more (VC)

• Climate change fighting game Zeedz raised a $1M seed round led by Die Hohle der Lowen (EU)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Japanese chip-equipment maker Kokusai Electric’s IPO priced at the top of its range; shareholder KKR is set to raise $723M in Japan’s largest IPO since 2018 (BBG)

• Courier services provider J&T Global Express is seeking to raise ~$501M through a Hong Kong IPO (BBG)

• Kayou, a Chinese maker of anime gaming cards and stationery, is considering a Hong Kong IPO as soon as next year (BBG)

• Waystar Holding, an EQT-backed healthcare payments software maker, filed for an IPO (BBG)

SPAC

• AI retail-focused technology company Alpha Modus will merge with Insight Acquisition Corp. in a $175M deal (GNW)

Debt

• JPMorgan Chase raised $7.3B of bonds in three parts; the shortest portion of the offering was a four-year, callable $2B green bond, its first in two years (BBG)

• Wells Fargo raised $6B through a two-part bond offering (BBG)

• Microsoft kicked off a $3.7B exchange for Activision Blizzard’s outstanding debt with new notes and a cash consideration (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will close underperforming stores, sell its pharmacy benefit company Elixir, and resolve its opioid lawsuits (RT)

Fundraising

• New Private Equity, a buyout shop that worked with Palantir Technologies to build out its data analytics software, is looking to raise $800M for its first commingled fund (WSJ)

• Software and technology-focused PE firm Astira Capital Partners closed its debut fund at $675M of institutional capital (BBG)

• Shield Capital, a Californian VC focused on AI and cybersecurity, closed its inaugural Shield Capital Fund I at $186M (FN)

Crypto Corner

• An ex-colleague testified that SBF directed political donations even after learning of Alameda Research’s $13B hole owed to customers (RT)

• An erroneous news reported sparked a brief 10% rally in Bitcoin, which fueled an $85M liquidation (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• Niall Ferguson wrote about how unintended consequences created the worst bond market collapse in 150 years.

• Marc Andreessen’s newly published “techno-optimist manifesto” is an excellent read.

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