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Good Morning,

Chinese share buybacks hit a record high, Trump's lead on betting markets surged, Larry Fink thinks the election won't impact markets, and the S&P rally is breaking records going back to the Great Depression.

Gain exposure to recession-friendly real estate with today's sponsor, FNRP.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks tripped yesterday as investors braced for a slew or major earnings

  • The S&P hasn't seen consecutive losses in 30 days, the longest streak since the Great Depression

• US 10Y yield surged to its highest since late-July

• Dollar jumped 1% to its highest since early-August

  • Hedge funds reduced dollar short bets by the most since Covid

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Verizon, GM, 3M, RTX, GE Aerospace

  • Wednesday: Tesla, Boeing, Coca-Cola, IBM, AT&T

  • Thursday: UPS, Southwest, American Airlines

• Full calendar here

🇺🇸 Election Forecast

• Trump's lead soared to a new high of 18% on Kalshi. Get $20 to trade the election when you deposit $100 or more. See live odds and bet now!

Headline Roundup

• BlackRock's CEO says US election 'doesn't matter' for markets (BBG)

• Chinese share buybacks hit record high amid stimulus support (FT)

• China cuts key one-year lending rate by 25 bps to 3.1% (RT)

• US will curb AI investment in China soon (RT)

• Europe markets watchdog bids to become EU's version of SEC (FT)

• BofA extends guaranteed FX rates to one year, the longest among peers (RT)

• Activist Starboard Value took a sizable stake in J&J-spinoff Kenvue (WSJ)

• Activist JCP is urging Cheesecake Factory to spinoff three units (WSJ)

• Disney will name CEO Bob Iger's successor in early 2026 (WSJ)

• JPMorgan rehired scientist Sarah Kapnick to advise IB clients (RT)

• Indian retail investors largely shun world's second-biggest IPO of 2024 (FT)

• Top UK law firms have raised billing rates by 40% in five years (FT)

• Elon Musk sued over ‘Blade Runner’ imagery during robotaxi unveiling (BBG)

• Billionaire investor Marc Lasry sued a former employee who allegedly tried to extort him for $50M (BBG)

A Message From FNRP

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• These are properties that have a supermarket or grocery store as their primary tenant.

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First National Realty Partners specializes in grocery-anchored tenants, which are generally considered more stable and lower-risk investments even within the retail real estate sector, because grocery stores tend to perform well even when times are bad (after all, groceries are a basic necessity)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Abu Dhabi SWF Mubadala is nearing a deal to acquire a minority stake in PE-backed healthcare tech firm Zelis at a ~$17B valuation

• A consortium including Neuberger Berman is buying a stake in international school operator Nord Anglia at a $14.5B valuation, including debt

• Canada's OTPP and PSP are preparing a sale of Cubico Sustainable Investments at a potential $7.6B valuation

• Investment firm JAB agreed to acquire Mondelez International's stake in struggling coffee maker JDE Peet's for $2.3B, bringing its stake to 68% 

• Regional bank Atlantic Union agreed to buy rival Sandy Spring for ~$1.6B in stock

• Insurer MetLife is in advanced talks to buy PineBridge Investments' non-China assets in a $1B-$1.5B deal

• French PE firm Wendel will buy a 75% stake in US private credit firm Monroe Capital for $1.1B

• Fintech Stripe agreed to acquire stablecoin platform Bridge for $1.1B

• Norway's DNB Bank will acquire 100% of Swedish rival Carnegie for ~$1.1B

• Thoma Bravo-backed cybersecurity firm Sophos will acquire Secureworks from Dell for $859M cash

• Shipping services firm SAS will acquire holding company Ocean Wilsons' 56.5% stake in Brazilian shipping firm Wilson Sons for $765M

• BNP Paribas, BPCE and Matmut are among firms considering bids for HSBC's French life insurance business, which may be valued at over $540M

• PE firm Truelink Capital will acquire travel and lodging operator Viad's events and conferences business GES for $535M

• Chinese PE firm Trustar Capital Partners will acquire state-owned investment firm CITIC's 19% stake in McDonald’s China-operator Fast Food Holdings for $430M

• Hefner Capital, a firm led by Playboy's founder's son, offered to acquire the Playboy brand from PLBY Group for $100M

• Interactive Brokers and a consortium of Altor Equity Partners and Centerbridge Partners are among parties interested in acquiring Danish brokerage Saxo Bank 

• Tether-backed data center firm Northern Data is exploring a sale of its crypto mining business

• American Express is acquiring the remaining 50% stake in JV Swisscard from partner UBS 

• Nomura-backed crypto custodian Komainu acquired Singaporean rival Propine 

• Columbian conglomerates Argos and SURA are studying an ownership split

VC

• Zip, an AI-powered procurement orchestration platform, raised a $190M Series D at a $2.2B valuation led by BOND 

• SchooLinks, a college and career readiness platform for K-12 students, raised an $80M Series B led by Susquehanna Growth Equity 

• AI-powered farming startup Carbon Robotics raised a $70M Series D led by BOND 

• Zephyr, a tech-enabled home services platform, raised a $60M round led by Elda River Capital 

• Obligo, a fintech for renters and landlords, raised a $35M round led by 83North and True Global Ventures 

• Daze, a freestyle messaging app for Gen Z, raised $5.7M from a16z, Alpaca Ventures, and more

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• PE-backed Genesys, an AI-powered call center software firm, confidentially filed for a potential $2B US IPO

• Oman's state energy firm OQ is set to kick off an IPO of its methanol and LPG unit OQ Base Industries at a $1B-$1.5B valuation

• Goldman Sachs-backed biotech Septerna is seeking to raise $186M at a $628M valuation in a US IPO

SPAC

• Sales software firm Bigtincan will merge with Investcorp AI Acquisition Corp. in a $275M deal

Debt

• Banks and private credit firms are competing to lend $5B to finance a potential ~$10B LBO of eyecare firm Bausch + Lomb 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Troubled UK utility Thames Water began a $4.3B equity raise to stay afloat

• US Bank agreed to push back a refinancing deadline for Spirit Airlines to Christmas, averting an immediate bankruptcy

Fundraising

• Energy-focused PE firm Encap Investments closed its twelfth fund at $5.3B

• VC Acrew Capital raised $700M to invest in data, healthcare, and fintech

• PE firm L2 Point Management raised $460M for its debut fund which will invest in tech

Crypto Corner

• Hedge fund Brevan Howard does significant amount of crypto trading from UAE (RT)

• Open interest on Bitcoin futures hit an ATH (TB)

• Ripple Labs' co-founder donated $10M in XRP to support Harris (DC)

• Fed's Kashkari says crypto 'almost never' used outside of drug deals and illegal activities (DC)

Exec’s Picks

• BlueFlame AI's exclusive webinar on October 23, 2024, will explore Generative AI in Private Equity. Join leaders from Bain, Apax, and Anthropic to uncover emerging trends and opportunities reshaping the PE landscape. Register here.

• Carbon Credits published an insightful report on the uranium market and one publicly-traded company that's seeking to leverage its tremendous growth potential.

• Financial Times sat down with sociology professor Donald MacKenzie to learn about the 'mundane economics' of trading at the speed of light.

• WSJ did a deep dive into the culture at Jefferies: Wall Street's scrappy underdog with an ambitious plan to make it big.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, 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, 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!

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