August 01, 2024 | Read Online

What You Need To Know For August 1st

The Fed's Next Move, A New AI Startup Gets The Internet Talking, and More

Together With

The Main Stories 🔍

The Fed left rates unchanged, but said a cut is on the table for September: Fed Chair Powell said that inflation is nearing the Fed's target of 2%, making a 25bps September cut from the current rates of 5.25%-5.5% possible.

As you can see below, fed commentary has shifted towards calling out a moderating job market, a rising (but still low) unemployment landscape, and a tempering on current inflation levels.

Per CNBC

The Launch of the Friend App Perplexes The Internet: It's almost like Tech bros watched the movie Her and took all the wrong messages away from the movie. Friend is an AI companion you have wrapped around your neck. In a video demo, you speak to the necklace you have on and then it texts you back a friend-like response. It seems mainly like a Bluetooth microphone that listens to what you say, sends it to a chatGPT wrapper, and then shoots off a response to you.

A look at Friend

Crazy enough, it seems like $1.8mm of the $2.5mm raised was on the domain for friend.

Keaton @KeatonInglis

> Raised $1.9M

> Spent $1.8M of it on a domain

> Built a bluetooth microphone that listens to everything that you say and sends it to a ChatGPT wrapper

> Dystopia activated

I hate it here

tw profile: Avi Avi @AviSchiffmann

introducing friend. not imaginary.

order now at

5:59 PM • Jul 30, 2024

10.4K Likes 581 Retweets

163 Replies

Friend is still a while off, with the first 30,000 devices expected to ship in January 2025 and priced at a one-time cost of $99.

BitClout was a fraud: Remember BitClout? The Crypto Project that make tokens for celebrities? They wanted celebrities and personas to join BitClout, claim their "token" and then have followers jump on board and bid up the personalized token. Founder Nader Al-Naji raised more than $200mm for the project, but used proceeds to pay developers, pay credit card debt, give millions to his wife and mom, and to pay for a rental for a six-bed Beverly Hills mansion, Al-Naji was arrested yesterday and charged with wire fraud.

The Golden Age of Private Credit: Ares has just broken a private credit record, raising an almost $34B Direct Lending vehicle. This is well above the prior record of Goldman's $20B Private Credit fund from a few months back. Clearly power is shifting to the largest lenders in the space, with Ares continuing its climb as a private capital behemoth.

More Headlines 🍿

Crowdstrike fallout continues - with Delta noting they lost $500 million of business from the outage. Delta is also hiring outside counsel to seek damages from Crowdstrike and Microsoft
Microsoft earnings saw cloud growth disappoint vs. expectations, luckily the market continued to march higher regardless. Additionally, Meta had revenue, earnings, and a forecast that beat expectations and sent shares up after hours
Bill Ackman pulled his IPO after lackluster demand, with some speculating it's due to his tweeting. As of yesterday, was looking for a $2B IPO of his closed-end fund next week, which was well below initial expectations of $25B. Seth Klarman's Baupost Group was one of the firms that decided against making an investment, after initially being supposedly in for $150 million.
David Solomon, Goldman's CEO says to expect 1-2 rate cuts in 2024. DJ D-Sol revised his earlier prediction of no rate cuts this year after seeing inflation start to change consumer habits
Balyasny founder Dmitry Balyasny warns that it's "very hard" to compete with larger pod shops. In a conversation with David Rubenstein, he drew parallels between the hedge fund and private equity landscapes, arguing that just as most private (upper) market alpha has concentrated among the likes of Blackstone and Apollo, the same is true of the Millenium and Citadel's on the public side
After multiple years of disappointing earnings and falling market share, Intel is doubling down on job cuts to fund a turn around. Aiming to regain former semi-conductor strength, CEO Pat Gelsinger has reallocated spend towards ambitious R&D. After ~15k cuts in 2023, thousands of the remaining 110k employees will see their roles eliminated in the years ahead
Match Group (the Owner of Tinder and Hinge) will cut 6% of their staff amid activist pressure
Disney laid off 140 employees in their television division
Activist short-seller Andrew Left turned himself into authorities in L.A. The DoJ and SEC have accused the Citron Capital founder of market manipulation. Allegedly, Left used his public persona on X and CNBC to net $16mm in illegal profits including some shared by hedge funds who paid him for his widely publicized, inflammatory research reports
In a total about-face, Trump has gone all in on crypto. While in the White House, Trump decried digital assets as toxic and criminal. But in the past few weeks, he's pivoted, declaring his intent to transform the U.S. into a "Bitcoin superpower" and even launching his own NFTs
Sixth Street and Steve Mnuchin are acquiring Enstar, a private insurer, for $5.1B. Paying an 8.5% premium over Enstar's 90-day average share price, the move expands Sixth Street's insurance exposure. Over the past decade, PE and asset management shops on the hunt for AUM (and fees) have chased down insurers' massive capital pools supported by premiums collected from customers
Boeing taps aerospace veteran Kelly Ortberg as their new CEO
Spirit Airlines is adding perks like snacks and priority check-in

Market beating stocks in 5 min. Picked by elite traders. Delivered weekly to your inbox pre-market.

Money Machine Newsletter If you don't want to get the same watered down regurgitated stock picks like other mainstream services, then this is the newsletter for you.

Join over 7,000 subscribers who have already placed themselves on the path to greater wealth by mirroring our stock ideas.

Wall Street Rollup readers can join today for free.

M&A Transactions💭

Woolf Distributing, distributor of building materials and millwork products, was acquired for $135.0M by Adentra (TSE: ADEN).

Verano Holdings (NEOE: VRNO) reached a definitive agreement to acquire The Arizona & Virginia Operations of The Cannabist Company Holdings (NEOE: CBST) for $105.0M.

Nerio Therapeutics, operator of a biopharmaceutical company, was acquired for $1.3B by Boehringer Ingelheim.

Ironshore Therapeutics, developer of proprietary drugs, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $525.0M by Collegium Pharmaceutical (NAS: COLL). Centerview Partners advised on the sale.

Heartland Bank (PINX: HLAN), a bank holding company, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $330.2M by German American (NAS: GABC). Raymond James advised on the sale.

Ghost Robotics, manufacturer of legged robots, was acquired for $240.0M by LIG Nex1 (KRK: 079550). Houlihan Lokey advised on the sale.

First Bancshares (NYS: FBMS), a bank holding company, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $1.2B by Renasant Bank (NYS: RNST). Stephens advised on the sale.

Filo Mining (TSE: FIL), a mineral exploration company, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $2.99B by BHP Group (ASX: BHP). BMO Capital Markets advised on the sale.

Enstar Group (NAS: ESGR), a reinsurance group, has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired for $5.1B by Sixth Street Partners, Liberty Strategic Capital, J.C. Flowers & Co. and Other Institutional Investors. Goldman Sachs advised on the sale.

Acciona Saltos de Agua, developer of renewable energy projects, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $311.27M by Elawan Energy. Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank advised on the sale.

Syqwest, manufacturer and designer of a broad set of sonar and acoustic sensing solutions, was acquired for $125.0M by CTS (NYS: CTS). KippsDeSanto & Company advised on the sale.

SilverBow Resources, an independent oil and gas company, was acquired for $2.1B by Crescent Energy Company (NYS: CRGY). Bank of America and Evercore advised on the sale.

Sateba Group, manufacturer of precast concrete products, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $488.2M by Vossloh (ETR: VOS).

Princes Group, provider of tuna processing services, was acquired for $900.17M by Newlat Food (MIL: NWL). Houlihan Lokey advised on the sale.

OTP Bank Romania, provider of banking products, was acquired for $377.0M by Banca Transilvania (BSE: TLV). Barclays advised on the sale.

Hayfin Capital Management, provider of asset management services, entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired for $1.3B by Arctos Partners. Moelis & Company and Goldman Sachs advised on the sale.

EnGlobe, provider of environmental services, was acquired for $475.0M by Colliers International (TSE: CIGI). AEC Advisors advised on the sale.

Commonwealth Health, operator of healthcare facilities, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $120.0M by Woodbridge Healthcare.

Avantus, developer of solar PV and storage projects, was acquired for $1.0B by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (NYS: KKR). Scotiabank advised on the sale.

Veolia North America Regeneration Services, provider of sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid regeneration services, has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $620.0M by American Industrials Partners.

Reed Management, provider of business consulting services, has entered a definitive agreement to be acquired for $271.22M by Societe Generale (PAR: GLE).

Raptor Scientific, manufacturer of engineering, testing, and measurement products, was acquired for $700.0M by TransDigm Group (NYS: TDG).

Enauta (BVMF: ENAT3), a company engaged in exploration, production, and sale of oil, was acquired for $1.11B by 3R Petroleum (BVMF: RRRP3). Citigroup advised on the sale.

Private Placement Transactions💭

Cryptospherex, operator of a cryptocurrency exchange, has raised $200.0M of venture funding from undisclosed investors.

Rapido, operator of a bike taxi booking platform, raised $120.0M of Series E venture funding led by WestBridge Capital at a pre-money valuation of $880.0M.

Altana Technologies, operator of a global supply chain platform, has raised $200.0M of Series C venture funding led by US Innovative Technology Fund at a pre-money valuation of $800.0M.

Zap Energy, developer of a compact and scalable fusion technology, has raised $130.0M of venture funding from undisclosed investors.

Flo Health, developer of an artificial intelligence-driven women's health application, has raised $200.0M of Series C venture funding from General Atlantic at a pre-money valuation of $800.0M.

Deep Blue Aerospace, developer of carrier rockets and liquid rocket engines, has raised $137.75M of Series B2 venture funding led by Wuxi New District Investment Group.

Spring Health, operator of a digital healthcare platform, has raised $100.0M of Series E venture funding led by Generation Investment Management at a pre-money valuation of $3.2B.

Gloo, developer of a digital and social engagement platform, has raised $110.0M of venture funding from undisclosed investors.