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Good morning,

Growth investors bought the dip but it keeps on dipping, value stocks are ripping, bond yields are booming, bank stocks are cruising, Toyota passed GM as America's #1 automaker, everyone is quitting their jobs, Evergrande has more bad news, Monkey JPGs hit $1B in sales, and Ford plans to double production for electric trucks ⚡️

In case you missed it, we released the inaugural episode of our podcast, Big Swinging Decks, last night. Listen to Mark and I talk about all things finance, memes, and the future of Litquidity on Apple Music and Spotify 🤝

2022 is off to a hot start.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• A rise in interest rates caused mixed sentiments in equity markets yesterday, with the Dow closing in the green for a second straight session to start 2022 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 1.3%

• The hot start to the year in the bond market is now highlighted by the fastest treasury yield growth in 20 years, with the 10-year treasury yield hitting an intraday high of 1.71%

  • Remember that when bond yields rise, shares of tech companies tend to drop since their future cash flows become effectively worth less today

• Both reopening stocks, which shrugged off rising daily case numbers, and bank stocks, which benefit from higher interest rates, moved in the opposite direction and posted gains on Tuesday

Earnings

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Rokos’s hedge fund raises $1B after record annual loss (BBG)

• Goldman to double Israel staff and act as bridge to wealth funds (BBG)

• Toyota overtakes GM as best-selling automaker in US (WSJ)

• US Covid-19 cases infections top 1M after holiday backlog (WSJ)

• Workers quit jobs at a record level in November (WSJ)

• BofA taps JPM banker Benjamin Saunders for its FIG group (BBG)

• Evergrande is told to tear down 39 buildings on man-made island (WSJ) 

• Bored Ape Yacht Club crosses $1B in total sales (TBC)

• Reddit, TPG Partners highlight crowded 2022 IPO pipeline (BBG)

• Manhattan real estate breaks record in 2021, reaching $30B in sales (CNBC)

• CDC shortens waiting period for Pfizer Covid boosters to 5 months (CNBC)

• Ford pickup plans to nearly double production of its new all-electric F-150 lightning pickup (CNBC)

• Labrador set to deliver a robotic helping hand to homes in 2023 (TC)

• Mobileye and Zeekr plan to build an autonomous EV for Chinese customers (TC)

• Refinery Ventures closed a $36M fund aimed at getting startups to Series A (TC)

• Smart contact lens startup Mojo Vision partners with Adidas and other sports (TC)

A Message From Masterworks

WINTER IS COMING 

Brethren of House Lit,

The Long Night is upon us. The Fed has signaled that interest rates will rise soon. It’s been 18 years since the last full cycle of rate hikes.

 If you don’t recall the olden days of 2004 this is what happens:

• Borrowing money becomes more expensive

• Stonk earnings decrease

• LESS GAINS 

But don’t be afraid, you just have to diversify your portfolio with assets outside of the stock market to prepare for the Long Night. And my squire Karl and I found an alternative asset that fits the bill: Blue-chip Art

Here's My Thesis:

• UBS reports two-thirds of high-net-worth collectors are buying art for an expected ROI

• Real assets like art appreciate well during periods of high inflation

• Blue-chip Art prices outpaced the S&P 500 from 1995 to 2021, according to Citi

In fact, my New Year’s resolution is to invest in as much art as possible with Masterworks. This $1 billion investing app founded by Princeton, Penn, and Harvard alumni lets you diversify your portfolio with multimillion-dollar paintings for a fraction of the cost.

But don’t wait. Their offerings can sell out quickly. Last week, I tried investing in their new $7.4M Banksy painting, but it sold out in less than three hours.

If you want to join me and 300,000 art bulls on the platform– click this Exec Sum Link for priority access

*See important disclosures 

Deal Flow

M&A

• CBRE Investment Management agreed to buy several logistic assets from Hillwood Investment Properties in a $4.9B deal (RT)

• Indonesia approved a $6B merger of telco units Qatar’s Ooredoo and Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison (RT) 

• Digital Realty Trust agreed to buy 55% of Teraco, Africa’s largest data-center operator, in a $3.5B deal (BBG)

• Google agreed to buy Israeli cybersecurity startup Siemplify for $500M (RT)

• Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth has a deal in place to buy US edible maker Wana Brands for $297.5M in cash if marijuana gets legalized in the US (BBG)

• Investment firm Sport Republic agreed to buy Southampton Football Club (BBG)

• Akeso Occupational Health agreed to buy occupational health care company Industrial Medical Group (BW)

VC

• NFT marketplace OpenSea raised a $300M round at a $13.3B valuation led by Coatue and Paradigm (NYT)

• DNA Script, a startup helping scientists print DNA on-demand, raised a $200M Series C from T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, and others (BW)

• Security company HUMAN raised a $100M in growth funding round led by WestCap (BW)

• Atmosphere, which creates and streams ad-supported, free license video channels, raised an $80M Series C and $20M in debt in a round led by Sageview Capital (TC)

• StoreDot, an Israeli startup building battery tech to charge EVs faster, raised an ~$80M Series D led by VinFast (PRN)

• Water brand Liquid Death raised a $75M Series C led by Science (TC)

• AI data platform WEKA raised $73M in funding led by Hitachi Ventures (BW)

• Candle Media, the company run by Former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, bought a ~10% stake in Will and Jada Smith’s Westbrook for ~$60M (BBG)

• Customer engagement platform Exotel raised a $40M Series D led by Steadview Capital (TC)

• Ambercycle, a materials startup building an ecosystem around circularity in the fashion industry, raised a $21.6M Series A led by H&M’s venture arm, Kirkbi, and Temasek (PRN)

• Swedish bio-pharmaceutical company Intrance Medical Systems raised a $17M Series A from Scandinavian investors Erik Selin and Rutger Arnhult (BW)

• Kiddo, a remote patient monitoring platform for pediatric patients, raised a $16M Series A led by Vive Collective (BW)

• Biomanufacturing startup Wheeler Bio raised a $14M seed round led by Echo Investment Capital and Alloy Therapeutics (BW)

• Ianacare, a tech-enabled caregiver support platform, raised a $12.1M Series A led by Greycroft (TC)

• Cion Digital, a SaaS blockchain orchestration platform, raised a $12M seed round led by Green Visor Capital and 645 Ventures (BW)

• Ray Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on optogenetics therapies for inherited retinal diseases, raised a $6M seed round led by 4BIO Capital (BW)

• VESTECK, a medical device startup focussed on vessel repair and gastrointestinal management, raised a $5.95M Series A led by New World Angels (PRN)

• Lawyer tech startup ComplyCloud raised a ~$5M seed investment deal from SEED Capital (BW)

• Labrador Systems, a robotics company developing assistive robots, raised $3.1M in seed funding led by Amazon Alexa Fund and iRobot Ventures (PRN)

• AI powered video solution startup Pictory raised a $2.1M seed round led by FUSE (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Business software company Justworks is seeking a $2B+ valuation in upcoming IPO (TC)

• PE firm TPG set terms for an IPO which could raise up to $1.05B (BBG)

Exec's Picks

• Clariti - is an all-in-one platform for teams that uses context to link emails, chats, calls, documents, calendar and more. Watch your team respond faster, be less distracted by noise, use fewer emails and achieve greater productivity. Sign up now.

• Roofstock - The SFR (single-family rental) sector’s recent run of success has yet to show any signs of slowing down. With Roofstock One, you can add the SFR asset class to your portfolio without operational management, and gain access that institutional investors enjoy. Invest Now with Roofstock One.

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 30+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're looking to hire candidates and want to post a job, all you have to do is hit "+ Hire Talent" on the top right of the job board. If you want the role to be featured on Exec Sum, check out our "Featured" and "Premium" tiers.

Meme Cleanser

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As mentioned above, we just released Episode 0 of our Big Swinging Decks podcast yesterday and would love for y'all to give it a listen. You can check it out on Apple Music and Spotify and leave us a rating if you enjoyed the show 🤝. We're on a mission to dethrone the boomer finance podcasts from the top charts so every download and rating is a huge help! Episodes will drop weekly on Tuesdays.