Together with

Good Morning,

Dimon thinks the Fed should wait on rate cuts, Trump u-turned on TikTok, Wall St reported its best IB results in two years, and chip stocks got absolutely whooped.

ARK Venture Fund recently opened to all US investors, offering exposure to startups like SpaceX and OpenAI. Check out the full portfolio here and see how you can invest today.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 07/17/2024 market close.

Markets

  • A tech selloff pulled major indexes lower on reports of US-China trade war escalation

    • Dow nonetheless notched a third-straight ATH

    • Russell 2000 snapped a five-day win streak

    • Nasdaq had its worst day since December 2022

    • Chip stocks slid 7% in their worst day since 2020

Earnings

  • ASML shares plunged 13% despite comfortably beating Q2 analyst estimates due reports of US export restrictions to China (CNBC)

  • United Airlines beat Q2 EPS estimates on strong international demand but missed on Q3 forecasts as flight oversupplies weigh on fares (CNBC)

  • Johnson & Johnson beat Q2 EPS estimates on strong drug sales but slashed its FY profit forecast to account for recent M&A costs (BBG)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: TSMC, Netflix, Domino's

    • Friday: American Express

  • Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

  • Jamie Dimon said Fed should be patient on rate cuts (RT)

  • Fed officials say they are 'closer' to cutting rates (RT)

  • Wall Street reported its best quarter for IB in two years (FT)

  • US firms point to slowing activity and softer labor market (RT)

  • Hedge funds are dumping stocks at the fastest pace in five years (RT)

  • Asian bonds saw foreign inflows for a second-straight month (RT)

  • HSBC named Georges Elhedery as CEO (BBG) 

  • Trump came out in support of TikTok, citing Meta competition (RT)

  • TSMC slid 8% after Trump said Taiwan should pay for defense (RT)

  • Google and Microsoft are offering Nvidia chips to Chinese firms (TI)

  • Mutual fund managers are losing billions in fees to ETF boom (FT)

  • Petco named Joel Anderson as CEO after exit from Five Below (WSJ)

  • Deere slashed DEI initiatives after backlash (WSJ)

  • An ex-Goldman/Blackstone associate was sentenced to prison for insider trading (BBG)

A Message From ARK Invest

The ARK Venture Fund is taking an asset class once reserved for the accredited, ultra-rich and making it available to all US investors.

ARK offers investment exposure to companies like SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, Discord, and more! See the portfolio here.

You can invest in the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) with as little as a $500 minimum initial investment.

All US self-directed investors can download the SoFi or Titan app and invest in the ARK Venture Fund (ARKVX) now.

Learn more

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • PE firms Advent, CD&R and PAI Partners submitted offers for Sanofi'sconsumer health division that values the business at ~$16.4B (BBG) 

  • $8.8B-listed DevOps platformGitLab is exploring a sale after attracting takeover interest (RT) 

  • PE firms Apax Partners, Bain Capital and CVC are exploring potential bids for SoftwareOne, which rejected a $3.3B takeover bid from Bain in April (RT) 

  • McKesson, Cencora, and CardinalHealth are vying to buy Florida Cancer Specialists which could fetch ~$3B (BBG)

  • Accounting firm Grant Thornton's UK arm is considering a potential stake sale at a $2.6B valuation (BBG) 

  • $2.1B-listed Bitcoin miner Cipheris exploring a sale after attracting takeover interest (BBG) 

  • German insurer Allianz plans to buy a majority stake in Singapore'sIncome Insurancefor ~$1.6B (RT)  

  • Eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica agreed to buy US streetwear brand Supreme for $1.5B from apparel company VFC (FT) 

  • Chappal Energies agreed to buy TotalEnergies'10% stake in its Nigerian O&G assets for $860M (BBG) 

  • Swiss financial software firm Temenos is considering a sale of its fund management unit Multifonds at a ~$650M valuation (RT) 

  • Darden Restaurants will buy Tex-Mex restaurant chain Chuy's in a $605M cash deal (BBG) 

  • Disney CEO Bob Iger and Willow Bay will buy a majority stake in the NWSL club Angel City FC at a $250M valuation (FT)

  • Hotel brand Ace Hotel is exploring strategic options including a sale (BBG) 

  • Hyatt is nearing a deal to buy boutique hotel operator Standard International (BBG) 

  • Australia's PE-owned Accolade Wines agreed to acquire a majority of Pernod Ricard's wine portfolio (RT) 

  • Spanish PE firm Asterion agreed to buy a 49% stake in an Italian airports portfolio from French PE firm Ardian and Credit Agricole Assurance (RT) 

VC

  • Coatue, General Catalyst, Sequoia, a16z and others acquired secondary shares in design software maker Figma at a $12.5B valuation (BBG)

  • Aven, a startup offering credit cards backed by home equity, raised a $142M Series D led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst (BW)

  • Apple device management platform Kandji raised a $100M round at an $850M valuation from General Catalyst (TC)

  • B2B payments platform Slope raised $65M from JPMorgan and others (BW)

  • Amity Solutions, a Thai software and AI business, raised a $60M Series C led by Insight Capital and SMDV (PRN)

  • Peak Energy, a low-cost, giga-scale energy storage tech, raised a $55M Series A led by Xora Innovation (PRN)

  • Healthcare privacy platform Freshpaint raised a $30M Series B led by Threshold (FN)

  • Escala, a CRM for Hispanic SMBs, raised a $12M round led by IGNIA and Alaya Capital (PRN)

  • AI-based supply chain management platform Didero raised a $7M seed round led by First Round Capital (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Placements

  • Firms includingTokyo Marine and Mitsubishi UFJ sold $3.16B worth of Honda shares in block trades at a 3% discount (RT) 

Debt

  • Carlyle and KKRwill acquire a student loans portfolio from Discoverfor ~$10.8B (RT) 

  • Morgan Stanley raised $8B in a bond sale (BBG) 

  • Blackstone upsized its $2B CMBS offering to ~$3B to help fund its $10B acquisition of apartment landlord AIR Communities(BBG) 

  • BlackRock-led investors in Aramco's gas pipeline network will sell $3B in bonds to refinance debt backing their stake purchase in 2021 (RT) 

  • BlackRocksold $2.5B in bonds to help fund its $3.2B acquisition of private-markets data business Preqin(BBG) 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • A consortium led by British tycoon Mike Jatania agreed to buy UK cosmetics retailer The Body Shop out of insolvency (BBG) 

  • TPG-backed skincare company Rodan & Fields is in talks to hand control of the company to creditors (BBG) 

  • Beyond Meat entered restructuring talks with a group of bondholders (WSJ)

  • A court rejected a financing and sale proposal for bankrupt bus firm Coach (BBG) 

  • 777 Partners-owned basketball clubLondon Lions is facing a winding-up petition by creditors (BBG) 

Fundraising

  • MM PEfirm CCMP Growth Advisorsraised $500M for a fourth fund (WSJ) 

  • Menlo Venturesand Anthropiclaunched a $100M AI VC fund (TC) 

Crypto Corner

  • Asset manager State Street is exploring creating its own stablecoin (BBG) 

  • Struggling Bitcoin miners are seeking deals with AI firms (FT)

Exec’s Picks

  • Even Wall St bankers' kids need lessons in financial literacy, according to FT.

New Opportunity – Growth Equity

Smash Capital – Growth Equity Investor, Immediate Start, NYC or LA

  • Venture capital firm with over $1.5B in AUM, is hiring growth equity investors for immediate start in NYC and LA

  • The firm invests in technology companies across enterprise software, consumer internet, gaming, financial services, healthcare, and commerce

  • Seeking experienced growth equity investors, with at least two years of experience from a top management consulting firm or investment bank and at least two years of software-focused buy side experience in growth equity, VC, or private equity

Apply now

Meme Cleanser

Advertise with us // Visit our merch store // Invest alongside Lit Ventures // Book a call with Lit // Launch your own newsletter