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Good Morning,

Morgan Stanley named Ted Pick as the bank’s next CEO, Biden is embracing AI as a national security tool, Alphabet’s stock had its worst day since March 2020, Ford and UAW neared a tentative labor deal, X rolled out audio and video calling, and demand continues to slow for electric vehicles.

Padel is the hottest sport in the world right now. If you want to keep up with the biggest stories in this industry, check out today’s sponsor, The Padel Press.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks dropped as investors reacted to disappointing Alphabet earnings and a rebound in interest rates

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 2.43% decline

• US 10Y gained 12.3 bps, climbing to 4.96%

Earnings

• Meta beat Q3 analyst expectations for earnings, revenue, and active user metrics; it reported 23% revenue growth, its fastest since 2021 (CNBC)

• IBM reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings and revenue; its software unit’s revenue grew 8% (CNBC)

• Boeing reported a higher-than-expected Q3 adjusted loss but beat revenue expectations; it expects to deliver fewer planes this year due to production flaws (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Amazon, Chipotle, Comcast, UPS, Intel, Ford, US Steel

  • Friday: Exxon, Chevron, AbbVie, Piper Sandler, T. Rowe Price

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Morgan Stanley names Ted Pick as next CEO (WSJ)

• Bond market’s ‘vicious cycle’ risk puts spotlight on Fed’s QT (BBG)

• Biden moves to embrace AI as national security tool in executive order (WSJ)

• Alphabet’s stock has its worst day since start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020 (CNBC)

• China rushes to swap Western tech with domestic options as US cracks down (RT)

• Ford, UAW near tentative labor deal to potentially end six-week strike at the automaker (WSJ)

• Jefferies analyst says Microsoft can take cloud market share away from Amazon (CNBC)

• Meta’s ad revenue gets huge assist from China even though its services are banned there (CNBC)

• US drops digital trade demands at WTO to allow room for stronger tech regulation (RT)

• Social media platform X rolls out audio, video calling (RT)

• More alarm bells sound on slowing demand for electric vehicles (RT)

• UBS moves up research rankings after 10,000 pages on stock picks (BBG)

• GoldenTree, Invesco unite against Puerto Rico utility debt plan (BBG)

• Weapons flood West Bank, fueling fears of new war front with Israel (WSJ)

• Dispute over Congo lithium heats up with dueling claims (BBG)

• Mike Johnson is elected house speaker (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• UK’s competition regulator extended its deadline to review Adobe’s $20B acquisition of cloud-based designer platform Figma by eight weeks to February 2024 (RT)

• $8.5B UFC-owner Endeavor Group Holdings is reviewing strategic options; PE firm Silver Lake is working on a proposal to take the talent and media company private (RT & BBG)

• Choice Hotels requested the board of US budget hotel operator Wyndham Hotels and Resorts to engage in merger talks after it rejected Choice’s $7.8B acquisition offer (RT)

• Bain Capital is exploring options including a sale of Rocket Software, which could be valued at $5B or more, including debt (BBG)

• Buyout shop Alpine Investors will extend its ownership of HVAC, plumbing and electrical services leader Apex Service Partners in a $3.4B continuation fund transaction (WSJ)

• Chilean mining giant Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile will acquire Australia’s Azure Minerals for $1B (RT)

• Stellantis is nearing a deal worth over $1B to acquire a 20% stake in Chinese EV company Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies (BBG)

• KKR is nearing a deal to invest $400M into Malaysian sub-sea cable company OMS Group (BBG)

• Shenandoah Telecommunications Company will acquire telecom Horizon Acquisition Parent for $385M in cash and stock (BZ)

• Accenture will acquire marketing group Stagwell’s healthcare marketing agency and pharmaceutical commercialization platform ConcentricLife for $245M (PRNW)

• Neom, Saudi Arabia's futuristic city and development project, invested $100M in autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai (TC)

VC

• Singapore-based fintech startup YouTrip raised a $50M Series B led by Lightspeed (TC)

• CentML, a startup developing tools to decrease the cost and increase the performance of deploying machine learning models, raised a $27M extended seed round with participation from Gradient Ventures, TR Ventures, Nvidia, and others (TC)

• Opal Camera, a professional webcam startup, raised a $17M Series A led by Founders Fund (FN)

• AI-powered litigation support platform LegalMation raised a $15M Series A led by Aquiline Capital Partners (PRN)

• Sage, a care coordination platform for older adults, raised a $15M Series A led by Maveron (PRN)

• Eve, an AI assistant for legal professionals, raised a $14M seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Menlo Ventures (PRN)

• FounderSix, a Los Angeles-based beauty brand incubator, raised $12M in funding from KD Capital (FN)

• 3D / AR startup Threedium raised an $11M Series A led by Interpublic Group (BW)

• Crypto-centric payments startup Triple-A raised a $10M Series A from Peak XV (TC)

• Flashpoint Therapeutics, a startup developing nanotechnology-enabled therapeutics, raised a $10M seed round led by Beta Lab (BW)

• Viso, a low/no-code computer vision platform, raised a $9.2M seed round led by Accel (TC)

• Rymedi, a healthcare data exchange platform, raised a $9M Series A led by RW3 Ventures and White Star Capital (FN)

• AI-driven collaboration software startup Ignition raised an $8M seed round led by Audacious Ventures (FN)

• Canopy Connect, a Beaverton, OR-based provider of a platform for collecting, verifying, and monitoring insurance information, raised a $6.5M Series A led by Nevcaut Ventures (FN)

• Planatome, a medtech startup applying atomic-level polishing from semiconductor manufacturing to create advanced surgical blades, raised $6M: a $5M Series A and $1M in convertible debt from an unnamed investor (VC)

• Chkk, a startup helping keep complex Kubernetes environments up and running, raised a $5.2M seed round led by Sequoia Capital (TC)

• RadiantGraph, a startup using ML and AI to drive consumer engagement for health plans, raised a $5M seed round led by True Ventures and XYZ Ventures (FN)

• CoverForce, an independent insurance platform, raised a $5M seed round led by Nyca Partners (FN)

• Direqt, a startup building AI chatbots for publishers, raised a $4.5M seed round from a variety of investors, including NFL Hall of Famer Dan Marino. (TC)

• Castellum.AI, a startup building a global risk data platform, raised a $4M seed round led by Spider Capital (BW)

• Gozen, a lab-grown leather startup, raised a $3.3M seed round led by Happiness Capital (TC)

• Gaming startup Harmony Games raised a $3M seed round led by Griffin Gaming Partners (BW)

• Jellibeans, a startup using tech to predict fashion trends, raised a $1M seed round from coach-owner Aussco (TC)

SPAC

• Capital A Berhad, the parent company of AirAsia, plans to list some of its business through a merger with Aetherium Acquisition Corp as part of a larger plan to raise $1B in debt and equity (FT)

Debt

• Delta Air Lines sold about $875M in municipal bonds to finance the completion of its new terminal at LaGuardia Airport (BBG)

Fundraising

• Emerging markets-focused asset management firm Gemcorp Capital is setting up a $1B fund to invest in Saudi Arabian projects (BBG)

• Flexible healthcare solutions provider Revelation Partners closed its Fund IV at $608M (FN)

Crypto Corner

• A civil fraud case against bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global could lead to a bankruptcy liquidation that does not resolve claims against its parent company Digital Currency Group (RT)

• SBF plans to testify in his fraud trial (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• KKR is looking to tap into IRA wealth via Schwabb and Fidelity for future PE fundraising efforts.

• Twitter is still burning a hole in banks’ balance sheets, one year after Musk’s infamous takeover deal.

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