Gensler vs Grayscale

Grayscale wins landmark battle against SEC, Apple sends invites for iPhone 15 Sept. 12 launch, Meta disrupts massive disinformation campaign tied to Chinese law enforcement, Klaviyo could break the unicorn IPO logjam, and Google unveils enterprise AI tools…

☕️ Good Morning.

The Fast Five Grayscale wins landmark battle against SEC, Apple sends invites for iPhone 15 Sept. 12 launch, Meta disrupts massive disinformation campaign tied to Chinese law enforcement, Klaviyo could break the unicorn IPO logjam, and Google unveils enterprise AI tools…

Here’s your MarketBriefing for Wednesday:

BEFORE THE OPEN

As of market close 8/29/2023.

MARKETS:

  • Flat stock futures after recent gains, mitigating August's losses.

  • Dow futures up 0.1%, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures around 0.1% higher.

  • Nasdaq up 1.7%, S&P 500 rose 1.5%, Dow climbed nearly 0.9% in recent session.

  • Data suggests economy slowing: Consumer sentiment index below estimate, job listings decline.

  • 2-year Treasury yield drops, hinting at Fed policy adjustment.

  • Major indexes still on track for August losses: Nasdaq down 2.8%, Dow and S&P 500 down around 2%.

  • ADP jobs data, labor stats, GDP, pending home sales, and earnings reports ahead.

  • Brown-Forman quarterly earnings slated before the bell, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, Okta after the close.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

NEWS BRIEFING

The most stinging defeat for the Securities and Exchange Commission came on Tuesday when an appeals court overturned its decision to block Grayscale Investments LLC’s proposed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

The company announced the plans on its website and via email under the tagline “Wonderlust.” The presentation will be streamed online at 10 a.m. PT, with an accompanying event at Apple’s Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, CA.

  • Meta says it has disrupted a massive disinformation campaign linked to Chinese law enforcement (more)

  • Biden targets 10 drugs for Medicare price negotiations as Biden pitches cost reductions (more)

  • US job openings fall below 9 million for the first time since March 2021 (more)

  • Wall Street prepares for $15B spree of risky buyout debt (more)

  • Regional banks face another hit as regulators force them to raise debt levels (more)

  • China's economy 'may be collapsing,' strategist says, plus how it could impact the U.S. (more)

  • Japan at 'inflection point' in 25-year battle with deflation (more)

  • Putin agrees to visit China in first trip since arrest warrant (more)

  • Toyota's Japan production at standstill as system failure hits assembly plants (more)

  • Klaviyo could break the unicorn IPO logjam (more)

  • Google unveils enterprise AI tools, new AI chip (more)

  • Analysis that Google Gemini smashes GPT-4 sets tech bros alight (more)

  • Meta's Canada news ban fails to dent Facebook usage (more)

  • GM teams up with Google for in-vehicle AI technology (more)

  • Amazon raises free shipping minimum for some non-Prime members (more)

  • The luxury sector is slowing down, analysts say (more)

  • Musk's X is hit with 2,200 arbitration claims from former Twitter employees (more)

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DEALFLOW

  • Apollo.io is valued at $1.6 billion in sales tech financing (more)

  • Thai billionaire’s Big C delays $1 billion IPO citing markets (more)

  • Better Life Partners, a provider of a multi-specialty solution for individuals and populations, raised $26.5M in Series B funding (more)

  • Amplified Industries (formerly Acoustic Wells), an industrial Internet of Things (IoT) solution, launched from stealth with $10M in funding (more)

  • Rockset, a search and analytics company, raised $44M in funding (more)

  • TruLite Health, a company specializing in providing health equity solutions, raised $7.0M in Series A funding (more)

  • IOTech, an open edge computing company, raised growth funding (more)

  • AeroSafe Global, a cold chain solution provider, raised $43M in funding (more)

  • Allseated, a space visualization and collaboration company, raised $20M in funding (more)

  • Moxie, a provider of management solutions to entrepreneurs who are launching medspas, raised $15.7M in funding (more)

M & A:

  • Trustly acquires French fintech SlimPay in €70M deal (more)

  • Dash Solutions, a payments and engagement technology provider, acquired Kyckglobal, a fintech company (more)

CRYPTO

  • Crypto scores landmark US legal win with Grayscale ETF ruling

    (more)

  • X (Twitter) obtains license to store, transfer, and trade Bitcoin and

  • Crypto (more)

  • Will Crypto ever be rid of influencers like BitBoy? (more)

  • Andreessen-backed India Crypto exchange reduces workforce (more)

  • Crypto’s latest craze Friend.tech is overrun by bots, ‘speculative games’ (more)

BULLISH BITES

🇪🇸 Barcelona Named Best ‘Workcation’ City for Remote and Hybrid Workers. Here are Other Cities that Made the List…
IWG, a flexible workplace company, compared 26 cities around the world grading them on a scale of 1 to 10. The research found that broadband speed is the number one essential for digital nomads — outranking cost of living and weather... (see the cities)

🏢 What to Do With a 45-Story Skyscraper and No Tenants?
Two bronze lions, each sitting atop eight lucky coins, flank the entrance to the HSBC Tower in London’s Canary Wharf, meant to bring prosperity and good luck to the bank and roughly 8,000 workers inside its global headquarters. However, HSBC’s plan to leave its Canary Wharf tower for a smaller site shows the global challenges ahead in repurposing unwanted office space for a post-pandemic world... (continue reading)

DAILY SHARES

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