Good Morning,

Michael Saylor is being sued for tax fraud, the dollar index hit a 20-year high, layoffs are slowing, the US is restricting chip sales to China and Russia, NASA tapped SpaceX for more missions, Poland wants WW2 reparations from Germany, and Starbucks has a new CEO.

It's officially Labor Day Weekend 🔥 Fire up Litquidity's Hampton Day Sauce on Spotify, throw back some cold ones, and enjoy the long weekend.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• The Dow and S&P 500 snapped four-day losing streaks, closing slightly positive to kick off September, while the Nasdaq fell 0.3%, posting its first five-day losing streak since February

• The 2Y Treasury topped 3.5% yesterday, the highest level since November 2007

• This morning we’ll receive the highly anticipated August payrolls report; the last major economic report before the Fed decides on rate hikes in their September meeting

Earnings

• Broadcom beat Q3 profit and revenue estimates and gave strong Q4 guidance despite global industry slump; their stock rose ~1.5% in extended trading (MW)

• Lululemon beat fiscal Q2 profit and revenue estimates with a 29% increase in net sales, while also boosting Q3 outlook; their stock soared 9%+ in extended trading (CNBC)

• Signet Jewelers beat fiscal Q2 profit estimates and matched and re-affirmed their optimistic FY sales estimates, but they forecast poor Q3 operating income; their stock slid ~12% on the day (MW)

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• The dollar index hit a 20-year high on Thursday (RT)

• US weekly jobless claims fell by 5k to 232k last week to two-month low (RT)

• US-based firm layoffs dropped 21% in August (RT)

• ​​US restricts chip sales to China and Russia effective immediately (AX)

• Only 5% of 401(k) investors adjusted portfolios in Q2, despite recession fears (CNBC)

• Tencent is targeting ~$14.5B in divestments (BBG)

• Illumina won its FTC antitrust case over its $7B Grail acquisition (BBG)

• NASA tapped SpaceX for 5 more astronaut missions worth $1.4B (CNBC)

• Amazon introduced a new service to help sellers tackle supply-chain issues (RT)

• Credit Suisse may cut workforce by ~5k or ~10% (RT)

• Poland estimated WW2 losses at $1.3T and is demanding German reparations (RT)

• Starbucks named Durex-maker chief Laxman Narasimhan as new CEO (CNBC)

• Gatorade will enter energy drink category with new caffeinated drink (CNBC)

• US elementary school test scores fell to lowest levels since 1990s during pandemic (AX)

• See how Snap's pandemic hiring frenzy set it up for mass layoffs (TI)

A Message From Litquidity

Got a few updates on things we're working on, some of which we could use your help:

• VC investment opportunities: as we head into the Fall, got a handful of early-stage investment opportunities to present to the accredited audience. If you're an accredited investor / qualified purchaser and want access to Litquidity Syndicate deals, please fill out this survey. Priority given to the most active community members through newsletter signups and open rates!

• Partnership opportunities: if you want to partner with me and reach an audience of 1.6 million+ across social media, email newsletters, or other mediums, you can submit an inquiry here. Let's build.

• Merch: We've got some new merch designs on the store, including Litquidity Racquet Club tees, Non-Target Tees for back to school, and more. We'll also be running a limited Labor Day Weekend sale on select items!

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• German asset manager IKAV acquired Exxon’s and Shell’s California oil JV Aera for $4B (RT)

• Mining company Rio Tinto agreed to buy the remainder of Montreal-based Turquoise Hill Resources it doesn’t already own in a ~$3.3B deal (BBG)

• Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk agreed to buy US biotech company Forma Therapeutics at a $1.1B valuation (BBG)

• Canadian Pension fund CPPIB, Malaysia-owned oil firm Petronas and steel giant Arcelormittal are among 13 bidders for a minority stake in the green energy unit of Indian public utilities firm NTPC which could initially raise ~$251M (RT)

• Philippine fiber provider Converge ICT Solutions is considering selling a stake in its infrastructure platform to help raise cash to invest across the group (BBG)

• Korean cosmetic giant Amorepacific will buy US luxury skincare brand Tata Harper (RT)

• PE firm I Squared Capital is exploring a sale of its Latin American power producer Inkia Energy (BBG)

VC

• Boopos, a lending platform for small business acquisitions, raised a $58M Series A which included $8M in equity and $50M in debt led by Bonsai Partners (TC)

• Bridger Photonics, a company providing methane detection technology, raised $55M in funding led by Beaverhead Partners (PRN)

• Alloy, an identity decisioning platform for banks and fintechs, raised $52M in additional Series C capital at a $1.55B valuation led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Avenir Growth (PRN)

• SMS messaging platform OneSignal raised a $50M Series C led by BAM Elevate (TC)

• Sales analytics platform Falkon raised a $16M round led by OMERS Ventures (TC)

• Manufactured, an end-to-end manufacturing finance and distribution company, raised $13M in debt and equity from Tenacity Venture Capital and TriplePoint Capital (PRN)

Fundraising

• Cantos Ventures raised a $50M third fund to focus on seed and pre-seed climate startups (TC)

Crypto Corner

• US asked world's largest crypto exchange Binance for records regarding crypto money laundering probe (RT)

• Founder of Turkish crypto exchange Thodex, who fled Turkey with $2B last year, was arrested and faces 40k+ years in jail (CD)

• Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor is being sued for tax fraud (FR)

Exec's Picks

• Labor Day Weekend starts today, and there's no better way to kick off the celebration than with a new swimsuit from Meriggi. The Mediterranean-inspired swimsuits from Meriggi are a must-have for your end-of-summer beach trip, so you should get yours here! Don't forget to use code "LITQUIDITY" for free shipping on your order.

• Tired of all the ESG bullsh*t? We know Texas is lmao. Want to gain exposure to historically recession resistant industries? The BAD ETF (NYSE:BAD) holds the largest companies in the Betting, Alcohol, and Drug (pharma & biotech) industries. Check them out here.

• Every Friday we publish our Eight Ball newsletter, where we provide real insights about the economy based on real money prediction markets. You can sign up here to read about what we're tracking across Fed rate hikes, NYC rent growth, jobs, and even Hurricanes hitting Florida (good for hedging).

• The world's most infamous creator platform, OnlyFans, saw a revenue increase of 160% in 2021. for the full breakdown of one of the most interesting companies out there, check out this report from The Information.

• Big weekend in sports. If you want a bit of skin in the game, sign up and place bets with BetMGM right here.

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 aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

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