Good Morning,

Boeing dismantled its DEI team, investors are wary of UK's new budget, carbon emissions drastically declined in Europe, a group of former Citi bankers urged the board to cancel bonuses, and OpenAI launched ChatGPT search to compete with Google.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks slid yesterday as Big Tech earnings failed to impress 

  • All three major indexes suffered their worst day in two months

  • The S&P broke a five-month win streak

• China stock-bond correlations hit its most negative level since Covid

• Europe's Stoxx 600 posted its worst month in a year

• UK 10Y gilt yield hit 4.52% for a YTD high amid fiscal budget concerns

• Pound fell to an over two month low versus the dollar

Earnings

• Apple beat Q4 estimates on record revenue driven by a rise in iPhone sales but remained weak in China and issued cautious Q1 guidance amid uncertainty of AI features translating into sales (CNBC)  

• Amazon beat Q3 EPS and revenue estimates on strong growth in its cloud and advertising business (CNBC) 

• Uber fell 9% despite comfortably beating Q3 estimates on record operating due to a slowdown in gross bookings, a key growth metric (CNBC) 

• Intel rose 7% after beating Q3 revenue estimates and issuing optimistic guidance as the tech giant undergoes a momentous restructuring (CNBC) 

• Robinhood tumbled 17% after missing Q3 EPS and revenue estimates as promotional efforts ate into margins (RT)  

• What we're watching this week: 

  • Today: ExxonMobil, Chevron

• Full calendar here

🇺🇸 Election Forecast

• Make a deposit now to guarantee trades up until Election Day! Bet the election legally, only on Kalshi.

Headline Roundup

• US planned layoffs hit a three-month low (RT)

• Blue Owl CEO draws line between public and private markets (BBG)

• Growing $6T FX pile is shielding Asia from resurgent dollar (BBG)

• China bond traders are getting squeezed by stock bets (BBG)

• Western consumer groups are skeptical of China's economic stimulus (FT)

• Nasdaq and Cboe challenge SEC over new stock trading rule (BBG)

• Legal attacks are slowing SEC's record-high pace of rulemaking (RT)

• Hong Kong cracks down on block trading after Segantii's criminal insider trading (FT)

• Tokyo Stock Exchange increased trading hours by 30 minutes (BBG)

• Ex-Citi bankers urge board to claw back hundreds of bonuses (BBG)

• MicroStrategy’s $21B equity raise tops Tesla for record (BBG)

• OpenAI launched ChatGPT search to rival Google (CNBC)

• Boeing dismantled its DEI team (BBG)

• Boeing reached a deal with workers union to potentially end strike (CNBC)

• Fed Governor Kugler violated personal trading ethics rules (RT)

• BlackRock filed with SEC to create ETF classes for mutual funds (RT)

• JPMorgan settled five SEC charges for $150M (RT)

• EU emissions fell 8% in 2023 as renewables surge (BBG)

• US oil output hit a monthly record high (BBG)

An Intro to Uranium Royalty

The AI boom has caused a surge in power demand to meet AI's intense infrastructure needs, and tech giants like Google and Amazon are turning to a rather unexplored energy source to fill this gap: nuclear power.

While the rise of military nuclear programs and fossil fuel concerns have sparked the 21st century dialogue of a nuclear renaissance, it seems like AI has come as an inflection point for nuclear energy.

Uranium Royalty (NASDAQ: UROY) is seeking to tap into this opportunity by exclusively investing in uranium interests including royalties, streams, commodities, debt and equity in uranium companies.

It's a quite interesting business model considering their exclusive focus on uranium and the outlook for nuclear energy.

Check out Uranium Royalty's portfolio.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Blackstone is nearing a $5B minority stake acquisition for parts of Rogers Communications' wireless infrastructure

• State-owned Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment is in advanced talks to acquire the remaining ~66% stake in $4B Olam Agri from Olam 

• Data center operator Global Switch is exploring a majority stake sale in its UK business at a ~$2B valuation

• Lionheart Capital and Orienta Capital Partners will acquire yacht maker Sunseeker International from Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda for $206M

• Argentina’s Pluspetrol agreed to acquire most of ExxonMobil’s assets in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale patch

• Management's CEO acquired Carlyle's majority stake in Tunisia O&G producer Mazarine Energy

VC

• Electric aerospace startup BETA raised a $318M Series C led by QIA 

• Sana Labs, an AI startup personalizing online training for professionals, raised a $55M Series C at a $500M valuation led by NEA 

• Video AI startup Spot AI raised a $31M round led by Qualcomm Ventures

• Tabs, a revenue automation platform for B2B firms, raised a $25M Series A led by General Catalyst

• Noma Security, a security solutions for AI apps, raised a $25M Series A led by Ballistic Ventures 

• Bitcoin rollup startup Citrea raised a $14M Series A led by Founders Fund 

• Buddy.ai, an AI-powered English language tutor, raised an $11M seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures 

• Food ordering tech startup MealMe raised an $8M Series A led by Mercury Fund 

• Swoove Studios, a Belgian 3D animation software firm, raised a $7.5M seed round led by European angels

• Naptha AI, a platform orchestrating multiple AI agents, raised a $6M pre-seed round led by Arche Capital and Cyber Fund 

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Indian food delivery giant Swiggy's $1.4B IPO is oversubscribed by over 11x 

• Comcast is considering spinning off its cable networks including MSNBC and CNBC

• US-listed healthcare insurtech Waterdrop is considering a secondary listing in Hong Kong

Debt

• Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor is considering a $1B convertible bond sale

• Financial services firm NewDay will acquire UK grocer Sainsbury's Argos credit card portfolio for $935M  

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• PE-backed UK fitness chain PureGym will acquire most of bankrupt US gym operator Blink Fitness's assets for $121M

• CarePoint Health, a hospitals operator in New Jersey, is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

• Restaurant chain TGI Fridays is in talks to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

• A rival creditor group offered UK utility Thames Water a friendlier $3.9B emergency debt package 

• A court ruled Signa Prime Selection’s restructuring plan as unlawful, pushing the Austrian real estate unit towards liquidation

Fundraising

• Ex-Goldman partner Jo Natauri plans to raise an $850M debut fund for her new healthcare PE firm Invidia Capital Management

• MaC VC raised $150M for its third fund in three years

Crypto Corner

• US indicted the founder of crypto firm Gotbit for wire fraud (RT)

• Crypto trading volume is up at Robinhood (TB)

• Crypto industry expects friendlier regulations, regardless of presidency (RT)

• Retail investors are piling into Bitcoin and gold ahead of elections (CNBC)

Exec’s Picks

• Monetary Metals is the only company in the world offering yields on gold, paid in gold. Their Gold Yield Marketplace^® connects investors with businesses that use gold productively, enabling investors to earn interest from gold bonds and leases. The best part? All payments are denominated in gold and retain real exposure to price appreciation. Check out their offerings at the Gold Yield Marketplace®

• Jared Dillian wrote an incredibly insightful long-form piece making the case for a bubble in PE.

• With US election betting on a roll, FT's Oliver Roeder and Sam Learner sat down to explain how these markets work and what can be learned from them.

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!

Meme Cleanser

🛒 Merch Store: Visit our merch store to shop our latest apparel, shoes, bags, accessories and more. 

💵 Litquidity Ventures: Accredited investors & qualified purchasers within the Litquidity community can gain access to alternative investments such as venture, late-stage growth, and private equity through Litquidity Ventures. Interested? Fill out this form.

☎️ Book a call with Lit: Want to pick Litquidity’s brain on business advice, insights, or just chat to say what’s up? Buy his time here.

📧 Launch your own newsletter: Have great content ideas and looking to launch your own publication? We highly recommend Beehiiv to get started.