Robbin The HOOD

Together with

Good morning,

Robinhood got hacked, J Pow is on the hot seat as Biden interviews other Fed Chair candidates, stocks closed at ATHs yet again. LitCap Yolo Fund has been having itself a good last 30 days, as it's now up double-digits YTD. Hopefully Karl can pull some cats out of the bag and outperform the three major indexes before year end. 

QUICK REQUEST: If you found this email in your "promotions" tab in Gmail or junk folder, that's because we just switched our email platform.

  • Gmail users: If you're on your phone, hit the 3 dots (...) at the top right corner and click "Move to" then "Primary". If you're on desktop, drag & drop this email into the "Primary" tab. 

  • Apple mail users: tap on our email address at the top of this email and click "Add to VIP"

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 11/8/2021

Markets

  • Another day, another session closing at ATHs for all three major indexes

  • Major winners in equities were the industrials and materials sectors, as companies in those industries will be the ones benefiting most from the $1T infrastructure bill that the House passed and sent to Biden on Friday

  • Investors will be watching the PPI (Producer Price Index) and CPI (Consumer Price Index) data which will be released today and tomorrow, respectively, for a fresh inflationary gauge

Earnings

  • PayPal reported a higher-than-expected Q3 EPS, and shares rose as much as 6% AH yesterday even though the company missed on revenue and dimmed its FY outlook (CNBC)

  • AMC posted beats on both Q3 EPS (narrower-than-expected loss) and revenue, riding the reopening wave fueled by an ‘appealing film slate’ and rising vaccination rates (IBD)

  • What we’re watching today: Palantir, Coinbase

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Tesla falls as Twitter users back Musk selling 10% of his stake (BBG)

  • Fed’s Randal Quarles (Vice Chairman for bank supervision) to resign at end of year (WSJ)

  • Manufacturers expect infrastructure projects to boost sales and ease transport snarls (WSJ)

  • Fed Governor Lael Brainard was interviewed by Biden for Fed Chair as search heats up (BBG)

  • China to issue licenses for education companies to resume after-school tutoring (WSJ)

  • Chinese automaker Geely launches electric truck, its rival to Tesla’s semi (CNBC)

  • DraftKings, FanDuel, among winners for New York sports betting licenses (BBG)

  • Does Elon Musk have paper hands? (ES)

A Message From The Ascent

2022: The Year of the One-Card Wallet

Tired of second guessing if you pulled out the correct card to maximize rewards? If you’ve been dreaming of a one-card wallet strategy, it’s time to wake up and get your hands on this leading cash back card. Not only does it offer 0% intro APR into 2023, cardholders can also earn up to an industry-crushing 5% cash back, with no annual fee to boot. It will take the front slot in your wallet and you’ll never look back.

Let’s run that back:

  • Up to 5% cash back at places you actually shop at

  • 0% intro APR on purchases until 2023

  • No annual fee

Apply now and get a decision just in time for holiday shopping. L(earn) more.

Deal Flow

M&A

  • US-based satellite and land-based communications services company Viasat agreed to buy British rival Inmarsat in a $7.3B cash / stock deal (RT)

  • Medical equipment maker Coloplast agreed to buy laryngectomy specialist Atos Medical in a $2.5B deal (RT)

  • A JV between affiliates of Highgate and Cerberus Capital Management agreed to buy La Quinta Hotels owner CorePoint Lodging in a ~$1.5B deal (BBG)

  • Happiest Baby, the maker of popular “smart” crib Snoo, is exploring a sale at a potential $1B valuation (BBG)

  • KKR is in talks to buy Telecom Italia’s network unit as part of one of the strategic options for the former Italian phone monopoly (BBG)

  • Packaged food maker TreeHouse Foods is exploring options including a sale or divestment of a unit after activist investor Jana Partners said they were undervalued (RT)

  • Spanish residential RE developer Neinor Homes is in negotiations to buy rival Via Celere (RT)

VC

  • Earth observation startup HawkEye 360 raised a $145M Series D led by Insight Partners and Seraphim Space Investment Trust (TC)

  • Ecommerce aggregator Razor Group raised a $125M Series B at a $1B+ valuation from 468 Capital, Fortress Investment Group, and more (TC)

  • JUMO, a startup offering financial services to entrepreneurs in emerging markets, raised a $120M round at a $400M valuation led by Fidelity (TC)

  • Indian car-sharing marketplace Zoomcar raised a $92M round led by SternAegis (TC)

  • ML operations tools startup Landing AI raised a $57M Series A led by McRock Capital (TC)

  • Blockchain startup Matter Labs raised a $50M Series B led by a16z Crypto (TC)

  • Swimm, an Israeli startup helping dev teams manage documentation, raised a $27.6M Series A led by Insight Partners and Dawn Capital (TC)

  • Instant booking app FunNow raised a $15M Series B led by Perfect Hexagon Commodity & Investment Bank and Ascendo Ventures (TC)

  • Crypto compliance SaaS startup Notabene raised a $10.2M Series A led by F-Prime Capital and Jump Capital (TC)

  • Precise location tech startup Point One Navigation raised a $10M Series A led by UP Partners (TC)

  • For Them, a startup building wellness products for the queer community, raised a $2M pre-seed round led by Resolute Ventures (TC)

  • Sneaker fit startup Neatsy.ai raised a $1M seed round from Cabra VC, Flyer One VC, and others (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Chinese EV maker Leapmotor picked China International Capital, Citigroup, and JPMorgan to work on its planned $1B+ Hong Kong IPO (BBG)

  • Property and casualty insurer Definity Financial is seeking to raise $1B in an IPO (BBG)

SPAC

  • Digital World Acquisition Corp, the SPAC tied to Donald Trump’s new media venture, has begun scheduling meetings with prospective investors for a PIPE transaction to support its merger with Trump Media & Technology (BBG)

Debt

  • Indian online education provider Byju more than doubled the target size of its term loan B to $1.2B from the $500M previously sought after receiving strong demand from global investors including Blackstone, Fidelity, and GIC; the TL is priced at L+550 (BBG)

Exec's Picks

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 80+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, 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 "+ Post a Job" on the top right of the job board.

Meme Cleanser

Join the conversation

or to participate.