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Good Morning,

Happy election day. The EU is concerned with the US's Inflation Reduction Act, Americans are working part-time gigs to help with high inflation, housing market consumer confidence hit a new low, startups are looking to scoop laid-off tech workers, Tiger Global's funds are down horrendous, China offered to buy El Salvador's external bond debt, and Venezuela MoM inflation slowed to 6.2% last month.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• All three major US averages rose on Monday with today's midterm elections in focus

  • Markets are focused on the elections later today for potential gridlock in government, which has historically been good for US stocks 

• The euro and pound rose against the dollar, supported by improved eurozone investor morale

Earnings

• Berkshire Hathaway reported a ~$2.7B Q3 loss on investment drop but saw operating income jump 20% to $7.8B; their stock rose 1.52% yesterday (FT)

• Lyft missed on Q3 EPS, revenue and active rider estimates as the ride-hailing industry struggles to hit pre-pandemic levels; their stock fell 14%+ in AH trading after gaining ~3% during the day (YH)

• What we're watching this week: 

  • Today: Walt Disney, Carlyle 

  • Wednesday: Roblox, Rivian, Beyond Meat, Bumble

  • Thursday: WeWork, Six Flags

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• EU has 'serious concerns' about the Inflation Reduction Act, saying it breaches international trade rules (CNBC)

• US consumer borrowing growth cooled in September (BBG)

• More Americans are working part-time jobs amid high inflation (WSJ)

• Average US homeowner has lost $30k in equity since May (CNBC)

• Housing market consumer confidence hit a new low (CNBC)

• Hedge funds exited risky equity bets at fastest pace of 2022 ahead of this week's midterms and CPI data (BBG)

• Homeowner equity peaked at $11.5T total in May 2021 (CNBC)

• Startups are looking to scoop up laid-off tech talent amid recent big tech job cuts (WSJ)

• Tiger Global losses mount after whipsawing tech valuations (FT)

• Unusual Whales plans to launch NANC and CRUZ ETFs that will replicate stock trades by Democrat and Republican members of Congress (BI)

• China offered to buy El Salvador’s external bond debt (​​BBG)

• Short-ARKK ETF is up 110% since launch last year, making it one of the best performing rookie ETFs (BBG)

• Venezuela's monthly inflation slowed to 6.2% in October, down from 28.7% in September (RT)

• Tyson Foods' CFO John Tyson was arrested for public intoxication and trespassing (CNBC)

• Airbnb will make cleaning fees clearer on searches (WSJ)

• A close Putin ally admitted to interfering in US elections (AX)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Marlboro-maker Philip Morris is proceeding with the $16B purchase of nicotine pouch maker Swedish Match after securing support from enough shareholders (BBG)

• Primary-care provider VillageMD, which is controlled by Walgreens, agreed to buy health-care services company Summit Health-CityMD in an $8.9B deal (BBG)

• Canadian heavy industrial equipment maker Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers agreed to buy US auto retailer IAA in a deal valued at ~$7.3B, including debt (RT)

• Spanish stock market regulator CNMV authorized Siemens Energy’s $4B bid for the shares in its Spanish unit Siemens Gamesa it does not own (RT)

• Saudi Arabia’s PIF is considering a final bid for Qatari telecom firm Ooredoo’s network towers unit that could be valued at $3-$5B in a deal (BBG)

• Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Canada’s Dream Industrial REIT agreed to buy Canada’s Summit Industrial Income REIT for ~$3.3B (RT)

• Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia’s state-owned utility, is exploring selling a minority stake in a planned renewable energy unit in an up to $1B deal (BBG)

• Lidar makers Ouster and Velodyne agreed to merge, combining ~$400M in market value (CNBC)

• Southeast Asian medical testing company Pathlab is considering selling its business in Malaysia which could fetch ~$200M in a deal (BBG)

• Foxconn, the world's biggest contract manufacturer for electronics, plans to invest $170M in EV truck maker Lordstown Motors (WSJ)

• The Irish government received enough demand to sell 8% of its majority stake in commercial bank AIB through an accelerated book build (RT)

• Richard Branson’s Virgin Group agreed to invest $25M in Virgin Orbit, a company using a modified 747 / rockets to launch satellites (CNBC)

VC

• Yassir, an African superapp platform, raised a $150M Series B led by Bond (TC)

• Travel booking startup Hopper raised a $96M follow-on round from Capital One (TC)

• AutoLeadStar, a digital customer data and experience platform for the automotive industry, raised a $40M growth round led by Riverwood Capital (PRN)

• Ernesta, a D2C custom rug company founded by three Peloton co-founders, raised a $25M Series A led by Addition (PRN)

• Spacetech startup Agnikul raised a $20M Series B from existing investor Rocketship.vc (INC)

• Peace Out Skincare, a ‘skinclusive’ acne lifestyle brand, received a $20M investment from 5th Century Partners (PRN)

• PhotoRoom, a French startup building a photo editing app for ecommerce vendors, raised a $19M Series A led by Balderton Capital (TC)

• Cloud database service EdgeDB raised a $15M Series A led by Nava Ventures and Accel (TC)

• Biofire, a startup creating a biometrics unlocked smart handgun, raised a $14M Series A led by Founders Fund (PRN)

• Cloud resource optimization and management platform Exotanium raised a $12M Series A led by Cambium Capital and Celesta Capital (PRN)

• Vizit, an image analytics platform, raised a $10M Series A led by Infinity Ventures and Brand Foundry Ventures (BW)

• Archy, a payments and management platform for dentists, raised a $10M round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and CRV (BW)

• StretchSense, a motion capture technology company, raised a $7.6M Series A led by Par Equity (PRN)

• Corporate training video startup 5Mins raised a $5.7M round at a $16M valuation led by AlbionVC (TC)

• Carbon Re, a startup building an AI platform to decarbonize energy-intensive industries, raised $4.8M led by Planet A Ventures (TC)

• Mobile ordering startup Rivalry Tech raised a $3.5M round led by Sightcast (PRN)

• WorkTorch, an HR platform focused on employee retention and recruitment, raised a $2.2M seed round led by Tenzing Capital (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• China's second-largest chip manufacturer Hua Hong Semiconductor received regulatory approval for a $2.5B Shanghai IPO (RT)

• Chinese hotel chain Atour Lifestyle is planning to raise $100M in its upcoming US IPO, after previously postponing due to China’s crackdown on overseas listings (BBG)

SPAC

• Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC set to merge with Trump’s Truth Social, jumped ~66% after Trump hinted at a potential 2024 presidential bid (BBG)

Debt

• Software-maker Oracle is selling $7B in bonds to help fund its acquisition of medical-records systems provider Cerner (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Altan Redes, a telecoms firm developing Mexico's LTE network, exited bankruptcy after a state bailout (TCM)

Fundraising

• Ares Management is seeking over $45B for next batch of funds, taking advantage of market volatility and rising rates to accelerate fundraising efforts (WSJ)

• Ares Management closed an oversubscribed $7.1B Special Opportunities Fund II to invest in a range of private, special-situation opportunities and flexes into stressed/distressed public market debt (BW)

• Chimera Capital and Alpha Wave Global launched a $2B open-ended credit fund (BW)

Crypto Corner

• US DOJ seized $3.36B in bitcoin stolen a decade ago in their second-largest crypto recovery ever (CNBC)

• Formula One sponsorships from crypto firms are dwindling amid market downturn (BBG)

• Crypto executives pulled back on political giving in the immediate run-up to midterm elections (BBG)

• Binance's CZ and FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried are beefing on Twitter (BBG)

• Trademark filings for NFTs, metaverse-related products, and cryptocurrencies have soared to new levels this year (CT)

Exec's Picks

• Reuters published a detailed piece on how corporate executives dodge lawsuits over sexual abuse and deadly products. Check it out here.

• Miles Deutscher wrote a great thread breaking down SBF and FTX's recent fall from grace. Check it out here.

The Hiring Block 💼

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