Together with

Good Morning,

Markets were down bad once again, banks are pulling back on SPAC work, TerraUSD ($UST) lost its dollar peg for the second time in three days, Rivian shares fell 20% on news of Ford selling, Match Group sued Google, Democrats are weighing a bigger Ukraine aid package, and Grindr is going public through a SPAC.

ICYMI: After market close yesterday we facilitated the first-ever public company earnings call on Twitter Spaces for RCI Hospitality Holdings (NASDAQ: $RICK). Bloomberg's Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou published a great overview of the event before the call here, check it out to learn more about the Litquidity x RCI partnership!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• The market selloff continued yesterday with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq closing down 2.0%, 3.2% (falling below 4,000 for first time in over a year), and 4.3%, respectively

  • Stocks tumbled to a 13-month low as investors continue to have concerns about the Fed's ability to tame inflation without throwing the economy into a recession

• The US 10Y yield peaked at 3.2% during yesterday’s session, its highest level since 2018

• Bitcoin also broke below $30k last night, the first time since July 2021

• Rising rates continued to hurt tech stocks with names like Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Apple all closing in the red

Earnings

• Palantir shares fell 20%+ after forecasting slowing sales growth primarily because of its government business

• AMC posted narrower-than-expected losses, reporting its strongest Q1 in two years as it continues to make strides toward recovery

• RCI Hospitality Holdings ($RICK) posted a 45% YoY increase in Q2 revenue and a 69% increase in EPS

• What we’re watching today: Peloton, SoFi, Roblox, Coinbase, Norwegian Cruise Line

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• TerraUSD ($UST) lost its dollar peg for the second time in three days (CD)

• Global banks scales back on SPAC work following new SEC rules (BBG)

• Rivian tumbles after report of Ford share sale at a discount (BBG)

• Schroders’ $32B India partner faces regulator probe (BBG)

• Zimbabwe bankers to meet authorities after order to halt lending (BBG)

• EU drops plan to stop tankers moving Russian oil anywhere (BBG)

• Blackstone opens Toronto office in Canada real estate expansion (BBG)

• AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, others commit to low-income broadband program (WSJ)

• Pentagon’s China warning prompts calls to vet US funding of startups (WSJ)

• Match sues Google over app store billing rules (BBG)

• Democrats weigh $40B for Ukraine, topping Biden’s ask (BBG)

• KKR to build warehouses as demand for space outstrips supply (BBG)

• Warhol Marilyn sells for $195M, most ever for US artist (BBG)

A Message From Tweet Hunter

Attract more business opportunities from Twitter

Twitter is THE land of opportunity for finance and wealth-focused individuals.

If you're trying to grow an audience around personal finance, investing, cryptocurrency or early retirement, Twitter is where to build it.

And Tweet Hunter is THE tool that helps you do it faster than you thought possible.

Get yourself the all-in-one, AI-powered Twitter tool that helps you build and monetize your audience. Content inspiration, scheduling, analytics, CRM and so much more. All in just on tool.

Try it free for a week and get your money-back for up to 30 days, no questions asked.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Tobacco company Philip Morris is in advanced talks to buy smokeless-tobacco rival Swedish Match in a potential $15B+ deal (WSJ)

• Digital infrastructure investment firm DigitalBridge has emerged as a suitor for data-center operator Switch, which has a market value of ~$7B (BBG)

• Carlyle Group agreed to acquire US specialty insurance provider NSM Insurance Group for $1.8B in cash (RT)

• Hg Pooled Management agreed to buy British software firm Ideagen in a $1.34B deal (RT)

• Omers Infrastructure Management agreed to buy $670M of mobile-phone towers and rooftop infrastructure from TPG Telecom (BBG)

• Australian insurance broker AUB agreed to buy wholesale insurance broker Tysers for $620.5M (RT)

• UK grocer Morrison won a bidding war to take control of insolvent UK convenience-store chain McColl’s (BBG)

• Australian hydropower utility Verbund agreed to buy a portfolio of renewable energy assets in Spain from PE fund Q-Energy for an undisclosed sum (RT)

• TelevisaUnivision agreed to acquire Pantaya, a streaming platform in the US for Spanish language movies and series, in exchange for cash and radio assets (RT)

VC

• AR home improvement app OHouse raised a $182M Series D at a $1.4B valuation led by SoftBank Ventures Asia, Vertex Growth, a VC fund backed by Temasek, and more (TC)

• Aspen Neuroscience, a biotech startup developing autologous cell therapies, raised a $147.5M Series B led by GV, LYFE Capital, and Revelation Partners (PRN)

• Business intelligence and analytics startup Pyramid Analytics raised a $120M Series E at a ~$1B valuation led by HIG Growth, General Oriental Investments, and Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings (TC)

• Hugging Face, a startup building machine learning into GitHub, raised a $100M Series C at a $2B valuation led by Lux Capital (TC)

• Brightseed, a startup using AI analysis to identify and categorize phytochemicals, raised a $68M Series B led by Temasek (TC)

• Self-checkout startup Mashgin raised a $62.5M Series B at a $1.5B valuation led by NEA (PRN)

• Egyptian fintech Paymob raised a $50M Series B led by PayPal Ventures and Kora Capital (TC)

• RGo Robotics, a startup improving mobile robot perception, raised $20M in funding led by MoreTech Ventures (BW)

• South Korean crypto disclosure platform Xangle raised a $17M Series B led by KB Investment, Shinhan Capital, Premier Partners, and IMM (BW)

• Israeli biotech company BioGenCell raised a $16M seed round led by Marius Nacht (PRN)

• Anja Health, a personalized cord blood banking company, raised a $4.5M seed round led by Seven Seven Six (PRN)

• Edtech startup Manara raised a $3M pre-seed round led by Stripe (TC)

SPAC

• Grindr, the dating app that specializes in connections for the LGBTQ+ community, agreed to merge with Tiga Acquisition Corp. in a $2.1B deal (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Bitcoin and Ethereum down 50%+ from ATHs (DC)

• Luna Foundation Guard buys additional $1.5B in BTC backing for UST (TBC)

• MicroStrategy's Bitcoin bet is on the verge of turning negative (BBG)

• El Salvador buys Bitcoin dip, adding 500 coins to holdings (BBG)

• Argentina's central bank bans crypto trading (BW)

Exec's Picks

• Here - Returns on vacation rentals average nearly 129% more than any other class of real estate investment. Here enables anyone to buy fractional shares of vacation rentals and earn passive income from the highest-yielding asset class in real estate without ever lifting a finger. Get started with as little as $100. Get early access to the future of real estate investing 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.

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures

Catch the latest episode of our Big Swinging Decks podcast, presented by CoinFLEX.US, on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube 🤝