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OpenAI Has Its Eyes on Google

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

As of 10/31/2024 market close.

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.

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

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