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Good Morning,

Jamie Dimon blasted financial regulations, leveraged loan sales hit a record high, Boeing launched a historic share sale, Meta is developing its own AI search engine, and Volkswagen is facing a major reckoning as it struggles against Chinese competition.

Check out BILL's smart corporate credit card and they’ll send you a pair of new Apple AirPods 4.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose ahead of a packed week of S&P 500 earnings 

• UK 10Y gilt yields hit 4.3%, on track for their worst month since April 

• Oil slid for its worst day in two years after Israel's attack on Iran avoided energy facilities 

Earnings

• Ford fell 6% despite topping Q3 EPS and revenue estimates due to a low FY forecast amid softening demand and hurdles in cost and quality (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Alphabet, AMD, Reddit, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Visa, PayPal, Pfizer

  • Wednesday: Microsoft, Meta, Coinbase, Eli Lilly 

  • Thursday: Apple, Amazon, Intel, Uber

  • Friday: ExxonMobil, Chevron

• Full calendar here

🇺🇸 Election Forecast

• Trump's lead is at a record high 24% on Kalshi with just one week left to go!

• Get $20 to trade the election when you deposit $100 or more. See live odds and bet now.

Headline Roundup

• Jamie Dimon said it's time to fight back on regulation (RT)

• JPMorgan began suing customers over viral 'money glitch' fraud (CNBC)

• US leveraged loan sales hit a record-high $1T (BBG)

• IPOs are staging a fall comeback in Europe (RT)

• UK gilt sales are expected to rise to a record-high $400B (FT)

• Seven European countries match US in startup-friendly laws (RT)

• Asset managers roll out new ETFs to tap in to AI buzz (RT)

• Elliott hunts bigger prey, testing limits in wave of activism (BBG)

• Franklin Templeton hit by record outflows as clients ditch Western unit (FT)

• US finalized restrictions on investments in Chinese tech and AI (BBG)

• VW may lay off tens of thousands and shutter factories for the first time since WWII (NYT)

• CrowdStrike sued Delta for suing CrowdStrike (CNBC)

• Meta is developing its own AI search engine (TI)

• CenterPoint reported a 700% spike in Texas AI-data center requests (BBG)

• Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap will face addiction lawsuits by schools (BBG)

• Starbucks threatened to fire staff who don’t RTO (BBG)

• Estée Lauder picked an insider but non-family member as new CEO (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• The management of Canadian security solutions firm GardaWorld will acquire most of PE firm BC Partners' controlling stake at a $9.7B valuation

• Austrian crypto trading platform Bitpanda is exploring a sale or Germany IPO at a $4B valuation

• Blackstone, DWS, Partners Group, Generali, Athora, Sixth Street and a consortium of Fortress and BlackRock are considering bids for Cinven-owned German life insurance firm Viridium at a potential $3.3B valuation

• $2.5B-listed cybersecurity firm Rapid7 is exploring options after attracting PE takeover interest

• French PE firm Ardian is in advanced talks to buy ICG-backed French renewable energy developer Akuo Energy at a ~$2.5B valuation, including debt

• Japan's Nippon Paint will acquire US chemicals firm AOC from Lone Star Funds for $2.3B

• AbbVie will acquire biotech Aliada Therapeutics for $1.4B cash

• Infrastructure investor DigitalBridge agreed to buy UK data center firm Yondr

• UK telecom BT is exploring a sale of its financial communications unit Radianz 

VC

• Sierra, an AI startup founded by OpenAI's chair, raised a $175M round at a $4.5B valuation led by Greenoaks Capital

• Cybersecurity startup Armis raised a $200M Series D at a $4.2B valuation led by General Catalyst and Alkeon Capital

• EV motorcycle firm Zero Motorcycles is raising a $120M round from undisclosed investors

• Luxury chauffeur startup Blacklane raised a $65M Series G at an over $540M valuation from PIF 

• Read AI, a productivity and AI automation startup, raised a $50M Series B at a $450M valuation led by Smash Capital 

• European cybersecurity startup Filigran raised a $35M Series B led by Insight Partners

• Osigu, an AI-powered healthcare revenue cycle and claims management platform, raised a $25M Series B led by IDC Ventures 

• Hydrogen-powered electric business aircraft startup Beyond Aero raised a $20M Series A led by Giant Ventures and Bpifrance 

• Wildfire Systems, a financial platform to power loyalty and reward programs, raised a $16M Series B led by Intuit Ventures and Mucker Capital 

• Abstract Security, a security data fabric and analytics platform, raised a $15M Series A led by Munich Re Ventures

• German AI startup paretos raised an $9.2M Series A led by Acton Capital 

• Vamo, a startup building a high-efficiency heat pump, raised a $7.7M seed extension led by Extantia Capital and the GET Fund

• Australian construction tech startup BuildPass raised a $7.5M seed round led by Carthona Capital

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Boeing launched a $19B share sale, one of the largest ever by a public company, to address liquidity needs and avert a credit downgrade

• Oman's OQ Exploration & Production declined 8% in its trading debut after a record $2B IPO

• Renewable energy firm NextEra Energy plans to sell $1.5B of equity units to fund new projects

• Middle Eastern grocer Lulu Retail's $1.4B IPO sold out within an hour

• South African retailer Pick n Pay Stores will potentially IPO its low-cost Boxer for $452M in Africa's largest IPO this year

• Saudi Arabian financial services firm United International Holding's $264M IPO sold out within minutes

Debt

• Electronic equipment maker Amphenol launched a $1.5B bond sale

• Mexican airline Aeromexico will sell $1.1B of bonds to refinance debt

• Goldman Sachs refinanced Pallas Capital’s $330M private credit CRE fund

• Bahrain-based Investcorp raised $125M to fund a dividend recap to some FOF LPs

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Brazilian airline Azul reached a $500M financing deal with bondholders as part of a restructuring

Fundraising

• PE firm H.I.G. Capital closed its seventh lower-MM PE fund at $2B

• Private-credit firm 5C raised $1.6B for their debut fund

• Bain Capital-backed Indian asset manager 360 One WAM plans to raise $357M for a private credit fund

• Civil rights group NAACP plans to raise a $200M impact investment fund

Crypto Corner

• Crypto exchanges are turning to derivatives to lure cautious investors (FT)

• Hong Kong pledged more licenses for crypto exchanges by year-end (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• A good night's sleep sets the tone for the rest of your day, and Eight Sleep's Pod will have you sleeping like a baby. The Pod, which fits on any bed, tracks your health while you sleep and automatically optimizes your body temperature and breathing throughout the night to have you waking up sharper, energetic, and fully rested from day one. Use code LIT to get $350 off your Eight Sleep Pod.

• WSJ explored the growing trend of men who are staying home to facilitate their wives' high-powered careers. Read about the 'househusbands' behind some prominent Big Tech C-suite execs to PE partners.

• Luke Kawa explained the motives behind NYSE's move to 22-hour trading, and it's certainly not aimed at domestic degens.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by 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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