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Good Morning,

Russia crashed a spacecraft into the moon, all eyes are on Powell in Jackson Hole this Friday, China cut its one-year benchmark lending rate, the iPhone 15 might have a new charging port, Messi has caused single-game MLS ticket prices to jump by 1,700%, and oil prices rose on lower OPEC+ exports.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Market

• US stocks closed Friday with a weekly loss, marking the longest weekly losing streak since December

  • The Nasdaq slipped 0.2%, while the S&P and Dow closed almost flat

• Oil prices continued their climb upwards

• Hong Kong’s HSI led Asian stocks downwards and closed near bear market territory over Chinese real estate fears

Earnings

• Deere & Company stock fell over 5% despite beating Q3 earnings estimates and raising its 2023 outlook due to investor concerns over slower sales in 2024 (RT)

• Estée Lauder stock fell over 3% despite beating Q4 estimates due to missing full-year analyst expectations thanks to softening sales in North America and a slower-than-expected rebound in its Asia business (WSJ)

• Palo Alto Networks shares rocketed 11% after beating Q4 earnings and revenue estimates; its 2024 FY sales forecast was below analyst estimates, while adjusted profits were above estimates (BRRN)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Zoom

  • Tuesday: BHP Group, Baidu, Macy’s, Medtronic, Lowe’s, Dick’s, BJ’s 

  • Wednesday: Nvidia, Snowflake, Peloton, Kohl’s, Foot Locker

  • Thursday: Dollar Tree, TD Bank, Intuit, Workday, Affirm

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• All eyes on Fed chief Powell in Jackson Hole (BBG)

• Bruised stocks face week full of tests, from Nvidia to Powell (BBG)

• Fed can’t celebrate yet as investors expect rates, inflation to remain elevated (BBG)

• Banks don’t love rich mortgage borrowers as much as they used to (WSJ)

• China surprises with modest rate cut amid growing yuan risks (RT)

• China urges more loans, debt risk reduction as woes compound (BBG)

• Oil rises on lower OPEC+ exports in August (RT)

• Summer of angst as bond yields surge and global stocks wobble (RT)

• The iPhone 15 could get one of the biggest upgrades in years: A new charging port (CNBC)

• Lawmakers weigh tax rule ‘backslide’ for Venmo, Paypal users (CNBC)

• Diesel is pricing a scarcity with winter market looming large (BBG)

• Startups are investing millions to make drugs and semiconductors in space (CNBC)

• Hurricane Hilary poses unusual threat to Southern California (WSJ)

• China local governments to sell $206B of financing debt (BBG)

• Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into moon (WSJ)

• Cruise will reduce robotaxi fleet by 50% in San Francisco while California DMV investigates ‘incidents’ (CNBC)

• With Lionel Messi playing soccer in the US, single game ticket prices surge by more than 1,700% (CNBC)

• Spain beats England 1-0 to win its first women’s World Cup title (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Softbank Group acquired the remaining 25% stake in chip designer Arm that it doesn’t directly own from its Vision Fund at a $64B valuation (RT)

• PE firm Hg is weighing options, including a partial or full $1.6B sale, for German insurance broker GGW (BBG)

• Trucking company Old Dominion Freight Line offered $1.5B to acquire bankrupt trucker Yellow’s portfolio of terminals, which exceeds the $1.3B offered by Estes Express Lines (BBG)

• PE firm Vista Equity Partners was required by private credit lenders, which included Blue Owl Capital and Oak Hill Capital Partners, to invest $1B into portfolio company fintech Finastra in exchange for a $4.8B loan the business needed to refinance its debt (FT)

• Capital One sold a ~$900M office loan portfolio to an undisclosed buyer (RT)

• India's Tata Group-owned Titan will buy a 27.2% stake in its subsidiary CaratLane Trading for $556M from the jewelry company’s founder and his family, bringing Titan’s ownership of the subsidiary to 98.3% (RT)

• Hong Kong-listed conglomerate Swire Pacific is in advanced talks to acquire a minority stake in Indonesian healthcare group PT Pertamina Bina Medika at a $540M-$650M valuation (BBG)

• US insurance broker giant Marsh & McLennan is nearing a deal to acquire Australian peer Honan Insurance Group for $449M (BBG)

• PE firm RRJ Capital invested $300M into Malaysia’s Yinson Holdings’ offshore oil and gas unit Yinson Production (BBG)

VC

• VBA, a Milwaukee-based provider of cloud-based benefits software for healthcare payers, raised $156M in growth funding led by Spectrum Equity (FN)

• Viome, a microbiome startup, raised an $86.5M Series C led by Khosla Ventures and Bold Capital (TC)

• Lightcast Discovery, a life science tools company, raised a $49M Series B led by M Ventures (FN)

• Phospholutions, a startup developing sustainable fertilizer technology, raised $10.2M in funding led by Advantage Capital (FN)

• Comptek Solutions, a Turku, Finland-based developer of surface engineering technologies for the semiconductor manufacturing process, raised an $8.7M Series A led by Horizon Europe EIC Fund and Lift Technologies (FN)

• Arpio, a provider of a disaster recovery solution for Amazon Web Services, raised $8.2M in funding led by S3 Ventures and Companyon Ventures (FN)

• AI-powered contract collaboration platform The Contract Network raised an $8M seed round led by Tusk Venture Partners (FN)

• Venteur, a startup building a health insurance system for small businesses, raised a $7.6M seed round led by GSR Ventures (FN)

• Blockchain-powered stock trading platform Dinari raised a $7.5M seed round from Third Kind Venture Capital, SPEILLLP, 500 Global, and more (FN)

• Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage drug discovery and development company focused on cerebroprotective therapeutics, raised a $6M pre-Series B led by Dreavent Capital (BW)

• Longevo, a Miami-based provider of a preventative health and wellness platform, raised a $5.5M round led by Grupo Valora (FN)

• Metabase Q, an all-in-one cybersecurity solution, raised a $3M Series A led by SYN Ventures (BW)

• Coachbetter, a Swiss startup providing a platform for coaches, players, and clubs, raised a $2.9M seed-plus round led by Brighteye Ventures and ZEN11Holding (FN)

• LighthouseAI, a startup providing compliance solutions for the pharmaceutical supply chain, raised a $2.3M round led by Healthy Ventures (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Online grocery shopping and delivery company Instacart is planning an IPO as soon as September and will file plans to IPO as soon as next week (BBG)

• Shares of India's Concord Biotech climbed 27.2% on its trading debut, closing at a $1.2B valuation (RT)

• Saint Bella, a Chinese luxury maternity care company, is weighing a 2024 Hong Kong IPO (BBG)

SPAC

• Nuvo Group, a developer of an FDA-cleared remote pregnancy monitoring platform, will merge with LAMF Global Ventures Corp I in a $269M deal (BW)

• Global wealth management firm Cardea Corporate Holdings will merge with Global Blockchain Acquisition Corp. in a $175M deal (BZ)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Hawaiian Electric Industries faces $3.9B in potential liabilities if it’s deemed negligent in its role in the Maui wildfires and is at risk of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to investment research firm Capstone LLC (BBG)

• Lavoie, the electric scooter unit of F1 engineering and technology firm McLaren Applied, is in advanced talks to buy bankrupt Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof (RT)

• Nashville Senior Care, a senior living company, filed for bankruptcy after exhausting its emergency loan (BBG)

Fundraising

• UK investment firm Hayfin raised over $6.5B for its Hayfin Direct Lending Fund IV and expects to reach its hard cap of $7.6B by year end (FT)

• Allianz Global Investors, insurer Allianz’s money management division, plans to raise at least $1.6B for a global private credit fund (RT)

• Alternative asset manager Balbec Capital raised $465M for its InSolve Global Credit Fund VI, which will invest in consumer, residential and commercial loan portfolios (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• FTX founder SBF, who had his $250M bail revoked due to witness tampering, is asking to be let out of jail 5 times a week to work on his defense (BBG)

• SEC requested permission from a federal judge to appeal her ruling that Ripple Lab’s XRP token was not a security when sold to the public (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• The New York Times published an interesting piece on the widespread audience use of subtitles on streaming platforms.

• Financial Times published their list of 15 finalists for their 2023 business book of the year.

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