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US job growth was revised massively downwards, China is battling record-low yields, BlackRock support for ESG measures hit a new low, Western Asset's CIO is under investigation, and Walmart sold its entire JD.com stake.

Check out our new opportunity with Chicago Atlantic Digital Mining Fund, an exciting entryway investment into the digital asset space.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose after encouraging Fed minutes reinforced hopes for imminent rate cuts

  • Markets priced in a 66% chance of a 25 bps September rate cut and 33% chance of a 50 bps cut

• Dollar hit a YTD low

• Euro is now second-best performing major currency vs dollar YTD 

Earnings

• Target jumped 11% after beating Q2 earnings and revenue estimates with a return to growth and raising its FY profit forecast as price cuts lure shoppers (CNBC) 

• Macy's tumbled 12% despite beating Q2 earnings estimates due to cutting its FY sales forecast as shoppers become more selective (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: TD Bank Group, Cava

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Minutes reveal Fed steaming towards September rate cut (CNBC)

• US job growth was revised down by the most since 2009 (CNBC)

• China central bank is battling against record-low yields (WSJ)

• China lending hit a fifteen-year low (CNBC)

• Global investors are piling into Chinese bank bonds (FT)

• EM Asia bonds and Treasuries correlations are rising again(BBG)

• Euro currency emerges a winner from market turmoil (RT)

• BlackRock support for ESG measures hit a new low (FT)

• Western Asset Management CIO leaves role amid US investigation (BBG)

• Disney tasked Morgan Stanley's James Gorman to lead CEO search (RT)

• PwC is expecting a six-month ban in China (FT)

• MSCI axed dozens more Chinese stocks for third-straight quarter (FT)

• TD Bank set aside $2.6B more for US regulatory penalties (RT)

• OpenAI is letting clients train its GPT (BBG)

• YouTube partnered with Shopify to take on TikTok Shop (TC)

• Shein sued Temu for copyright infringement (CNBC)

• UK closed competition probes into Google and Apple app stores (WSJ)

• Ford shrinks EV rollout plans as demand lags (WSJ)

• Tim Walz accepted the Democratic VP nomination (AX)

A Message From Chicago Atlantic

Beyond Bitcoin

We're Chicago Atlantic, an alternative investment management firm with over $1.7 billion in assets under management. Our approach capitalizes on niche strategies where demand for capital exceeds traditional supply. We serve institutions, family offices and private clients.

Today, in partnership with Exec Sum, we've opened our new Digital Mining Fund to all accredited investors.

What's the Opportunity?

A de-risked investment in the crypto space with monthly cash flow distributions, tax depreciation benefits, attractive returns and potential capital appreciation.

Since inception, we have distributed annualized returns of 36 percent.

Why Invest?

Infrastructure for miners is in high demand. With the Digital Mining Fund, you are investing in real assets with bonus depreciation and in data center infrastructure with significant electrical power availability and applications beyond the crypto landscape. These investments in a fund structure offer less volatility and higher potential for growth than simply buying and holding Bitcoin.

Want to Learn More?

Submit your interest here and a Chicago Atlantic advisor will share the opportunity.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Media investor Edgar Bronfman Jr. raised his offer to take control of Paramount Global from $4.3B to $6B (BBG) 

• Coal miners Arch Resources and Consol Energy agreed to combine in an all-stock merger to create a $5.2B entity Core Natural Resources (WSJ)

• Japan Tobacco will buy discount cigarette maker Vector for $2.4B (BBG) 

• Natural gas company Ovintiv is considering a possible sale of its operations in the Uinta Basin, which could fetch $2B (BBG)

• A group led by KKR and Japanese real estate company Hulic made a $2B bid to acquire Tokyo skyscraper Shiodome City Center from Singapore's GIC (BBG)

• Goldman Sachs' infrastructure arm, Wren House Infrastructure, and Igneo Infrastructure Partners are among shortlisted firms bidding for Spanish data center operator Nabiax, which could fetch $1.1B or more (BBG) 

• Japanese steelmakers Nippon Steel and JFE Steel will acquire a 30% total stake in Whitehaven Coal’s Blackwater metallurgical coal mine in a $1.1B deal (BBG) 

• Oaktree Capital is in exclusive talks to acquire a majority stake in two units of B. Riley Financial in a deal worth up to $380M (BBG) 

• Indian delivery company Zomato agreed to buy Indian fintech Paytm's movie and events ticketing business for $244M (BBG) 

• Blackstone is in talks to acquire the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa in Florida from Western Hospitality for ~$200M (BBG) 

• Bitcoin miner Bitfarms agreed to acquire Stronghold Digital Mining for ~$125M in stock (BBG) 

• Telecom tower operator IHS Towers is exploring a potential sale of its Rwanda and Zambia businesses (BBG) 

• UK transport company Mobico launched a sale of its North American school bus business (RT)

VC

• Grafana Labs, an open-source data analysis startup, raised a $270M Series D extension at a $6B valuation led by Lightspeed Venture Partners (TC)

• Blockchain-based IP platform Story raised an $83M round at a $2.25B valuation led by a16z crypto (TC)

• Military staff workflow platform Onebrief raised a $53M Series B led by Human Capital (BW)

• Asteroid mining startup AstroForge raised a $40M Series A led by Nova Threshold (FN)

• VRM company Admiral raised $19M in growth equity and debt led by Harbert Growth Partners (PRN)

• Lettuce Financial, an automated accounting and tax solution for solopreneurs, raised a $15M Series A led by Zeev Ventures (FN)

• Efficient Capital Labs, a provider of non-dilutive capital to B2B SaaS firms, raised an $11M Series A led by QED Investors and 645 Ventures (BW)

• Agrizy, an Indian B2B agri-processing platform, raised a $9.8M Series A led by Accion and Omnivore (FN)

• Skyfire Systems, a payment network for AI agents, raised $8.5M from Neuberger Berman, Brevan Howard Digital, and more (BW)

• Spatial computing startup VividQ raised a $7.5M Series A led by Foresight Group (EU)

• Social commerce platform SleekFlow raised a $7M round led by Atinum Investment (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Walmart sold its entire $3.6B stake in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com (BBG) 

• Nordic Capital is exploring options including an IPO for Scandinavian consumer finance lender NOBA (BBG) 

• General Atlantic sold its entire stake in India's PNB Housing Finance for $127M (RT)

• Chinese autonomous driving company WeRide postponed its US IPO (BBG) 

Debt

• Brookfield is seeking $10.6B of debt from banks for its potential LBO of Spanish pharmaceutical producer Grifols (BBG) 

Crypto Corner

• Kamala Harris supports measures to expand the crypto industry (BBG) 

Exec’s Picks

• Amid the recent market slump, Callie Cox wrote an interesting piece on how fear makes us better investors.

• Joe Wiggins gave a great take on how we can improve our investment behavior by not paying attention to stuff that doesn't matter.

• Check out Bloomberg's storyline detailing how B. Riley's multibillion-dollar financial empire stumbled.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're currently a junior banker looking to break into the buy side, lateral to another investment bank, or consider new paths amid changing market dynamics, it's time you check out Litney Partners, a partnership between 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, debt funds, and investment banking.

To get started, simply head over to Litney Partners and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

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