BEFORE THE OPEN

MARKETS:

• Stocks rally on Powell's optimistic remarks at Jackson Hole conference.

• Dow up 0.7%, S&P 500 gains 0.7%, Nasdaq advances 0.9%, ending three-week losses.

• Energy and consumer discretionary sectors rise over 1%.

• Valero Energy and Hasbro among top gainers, up 2.8% and 5.7%.

• Powell highlights strong consumer spending and housing market recovery.

• Central bank committed to bringing inflation back to 2% goal.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

• Wednesday: Salesforce (CRM)

• Thursday: Dell Technologies (DELL), Lululemon Athletica (LULU)

• Full earnings calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

Powell Has Bond Traders Right Where He Wants Them: Full of Doubt

SpaceX Capsule Docks at Space Station Carrying 4 Astronauts from 4 Countries

• Fed Chair Powell calls inflation ‘too high’ and warns that ‘we are prepared to raise rates further’ (more)

  • Despite what Powell says, the Fed is likely done (more)

• Twitchy traders have S&P 500 comebacks fizzling at historic pace (more)

• CDC expects new Covid vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax to be available in mid-September (more)

• Asia shares rally as China measures boost market (more)

• Foxconn's Terry Gou announces bid for Taiwan's presidency (more)

• Canadian economy set to show marked slowdown in second quarter, giving central bank cause to pause (more)

• Evergrande shares plunge as much as 87% as trading resumes after 17 months (more)

• India further tightens rice shipments in threat to global supply (more)

• Record mortgage rates force homebuyers to make deal with the devil (more)

• Instacart files to go public on Nasdaq to try and unfreeze tech IPO market (more)

• United Auto Workers prepare to strike at GM, Ford, Stellantis (more)

• 3M agrees to pay more than $5.5M over Military earplugs (more)

• Amazon will soon let you buy groceries with your palm at any Whole Foods—tech experts urge caution (more)

• Alibaba launches AI model that can understand images and have more complex conversations (more)

• Wells Fargo-SEC settlement on advisory fees underscores M&A challenges (more)

• Container ships are waiting at Asian ports as retailers struggle to shift excess stock (more)

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DEALFLOW

• Instacart files for IPO revealing profit, PepsiCo Investment (more)

• Marketing firm Klaviyo files for IPO showing profitability (more)

• Blackstone’s Bellagio deal values luxury hotel at $5 billion (more)

• Databricks is in talks to raise funds at a $43B valuation (more)

• Italy's San Donato buys stake in 500-million-euro Polish care company (more)

• Raleon, a provider of a web3 engagement platform, raised $3.8M in seed funding (more)

• Qase, a platform that enables dev and QA teams to conduct manual and automated software testing in one workspace, raised $6.7M in Series A funding (more)

• Fore Biotherapeutics, a precision oncology company, raised $75M in Series D funding (more)

• FranklinWH, a whole-home energy management company, raised $25M in Series B funding (more)

• Irys Insurtech, an intech SaaS company providing AI-driven solutions for the insurance industry, raised $3.5M in Seed funding (more)

M & A:

• China's Xpeng to acquire Didi's Smart EV unit in deal worth up to $744M (more)

• Danaher is in the lead to acquire biotechsupplier Abcam (more)

• Veritas considering takeover offer for BlackBerry (more)

• Forward Slope Incorporated, a technology services company providing software and surveillance solutions to the defense industry, acquired Soar Technology, Inc., a provider of advanced artificial intelligence solutions (more)

• Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), a cloud cybersecurity company, acquired assets including select enterprise customer contracts from StackPath (more)

• Malwarebytes, a global leader in real-time cyber protection, acquired Cyrus, a provider of online privacy solutions (more)

• Starlims, a provider of enterprise informatics solutions, acquired Labstep, a company providing an R&D Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) platform (more)

• Raise, a company specializing in talent management solutions, acquired a majority share in Shiftfillers, a technology staffing company that specializes in the North American light industrial sector (more)

• PAI Partners, a private equity firm, acquired Alphia, a pet food co-manufacturer, from J.H. Whitney Capital Partners (more)

• Sony Interactive Entertainment, a provider of PlayStation line of products and services that include generation-defining hardware, pioneering network services, and games, acquired Audeze, an audio technology brand and a provider of gaming headphones (more)

• IP Pathways, an IA-based company that connects businesses with technology tools and strategies, acquired Netsolus, a data center and managed service provider (more)

CRYPTO

• OnlyFans’ parent company bought $20M of Ethereum as revenue surged (more)

• Friend.tech pronounced 'dead' after activity and fees tank (more)

  Mastercard ends Binance card partnership in latest blow to crypto giant (more)

• Biden’s crypto tax regulation draws sharp criticism (more)

• Western Union embraces Ripple blockchain and XRP token for enhanced money transactions (more)

BULLISH BITES

🛒 This Venture-Backed Startup has Quietly Bought More than 80 Mom-and-Pop Shops…
Teamshares is a low-flying, New York-based startup with big ambitions to capitalize on an opportunity in plain sight: that of small businesses without a succession plan. It’s not a small market. Just 15% or so of small business owners pass along their company to a family member, with many others simply closing up shop at some point.... (continue)

🤑 Young, Rich Workers are Fleeing New York and California—Here’s Where They’re Going…
Florida might be known as a retirement destination, but it’s attracting plenty of young — and wealthy — newcomers. Florida is the No. 1 state bringing in and keeping the young and rich, according to a recent analysis from SmartAsset, which ranked states based on net migration. In second place... (continue)

DAILY SHARES

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