BEFORE THE OPEN

MARKETS:

• Flat stock futures post mixed trading session; August sees index losses

• Dow futures up 22 points (0.06%); S&P 500 near flat; Nasdaq 100 down 0.04%

• MongoDB, Dell Tech rise 4% and 7% on strong earnings; Lululemon up 1%

• S&P 500 loses 1.77%; Nasdaq sheds 2.17%; Dow drops 2.36% in August

• US inflation data shows cooling price increases; Core PCE up 0.2% MoM, 4.2% YoY

• Investors await non-farm payroll data this morning; Economists expect 170,000 additions

• Hope for slower economy, Fed rate pause lingers amid data

EARNINGS

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

• Full earnings calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

United Auto Workers Files Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against GM, Stellantis

Ford Makes UAW a Contract Offer

• August jobs report likely to point to slowing labor market (more)

• Biden says $15.5 billion of federal EV funding will prioritize labor standards (more)

• Trump Georgia trial will be streamed live, judge rules (more)

• Key Fed inflation gauge accelerates to 3.3% in July as high prices persist (more)

• Chinese banks plan deposit rate cuts to cushion pain from faltering economy (more)

• Country Garden downgraded by Moody’s as default pressure mounts (more)

  • China property crisis eeepens with 87% wipeout in developers' bonds (more)

• Putin moves to seize control of Wagner’s mercenary empire (more)

• Russians are the top home buyers from Dubai’s biggest developer (more)

• Workers stage Japan's first strike in decades over department store sale (more)

• Goldman drums up IPO renaissance hopes in deals-starved market (more)

• Arm prepares to meet investors ahead of blockbuster IPO, sources say (more)

• Tesla releases refreshed Model 3 ‘Highland’ with longer driving range in China (more)

• UBS flags cost cuts including 3,000 jobs after $29 Billion credit Suisse windfall (more)

• Apple reportedly tests 3D printing to manufacture the new Apple Watch (more)

• Microsoft to unbundle teams software in Europe in win for Salesforce’s Slack (more)

• Trump Media’s SPAC deal faces a make-or-break investor vote (more)

• Ambani’s Viacom pays $721 Million for Indian cricket rights (more)

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DEALFLOW

• Nvidia-backed CoreWeave seeks stake sale at up to $8 Billion valuation (more)

• Narayana hires Barclays to arrange $169 Million buyout loan (more)

• Realization Capital Partners Management, a venture capital firm, closed its second investment fund, Realization Capital Partners II, L.P., at $323M (more)

• EP Golf Ventures, LLC, a strategic investment partnership between Elysian Park Ventures and the PGA of America designed to support innovation in the golf industry, held the first closing of its first investment fund, EP Golf Ventures Fund I (more)

• Spencer Health Solutions, a pharma services and health technology company, raised $43M in Series D funding (more)

• Otto (formerly TeleVet), a provider of a customer engagement platform for veterinary clinics, raised $43M in Series B funding (more)

• FirstMate, a platform for NFT creators and admins to own more of their relationship with their collectors, raised $3.75M in funding (more)

• Martian Lawyers Club raises $2.2M for AI-based game personalization tech (more)

• Elemental Cognition (EC.ai), an AI technology provider focused on solving the hardest problems, raised $60M in Series B funding (more)

• Sortera Technologies, a material sorting company, raised $30.5M Series C funding (more)

• Alias Technology, an applied AI company creating social media applications leveraging generative media and multi-modal AI systems, raised $3M in Seed funding (more)

• Rent Butter, a provider of a tenant screening solution designed specifically for workforce and affordable housing, raised $3M in Seed funding (more)

• Occuspace, a developer of occupancy management technology, raised $3.6M in Seed funding (more)

• TeamSense, a provider of an attendance tracking platform for the hourly workforce, raised $4M in seed funding (more)

M & A:

• McLaren Applied's Lavoie buys bankrupt Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof (more)

• PSYC acquires Stock Day Media to bolster revenue production capacity (more)

• NexTier and Mars Bancorp to merge (more)

• InflowCX, a provider of strategic advisory, consulting, professional, and managed services, acquired NetFore, a software services firm (more)

• IFS, a global cloud enterprise software company, is to acquire Falkonry, Inc. an Industrial AI software company that provides automated, high-speed data analysis to the manufacturing and defense industries (more)

CRYPTO

• Binance to 'gradually' end support for BUSD products (more)

• Bloomberg increases likelihood of Grayscale spot Bitcoin ETF approval amid uncertainty (more)

• Bitcoin ETF euphoria recedes while weary Crypto advocates seek more clarity (more)

• Binance Asia-Pacific head Foong leaving biggest Crypto exchange (more)

• Bitcoin miners draw from Iceland’s surplus of renewable energy (more)

BULLISH BITES

🚗 How Kia Pulled Off a Massive Turnaround In the U.S….
Korean carmaker Kia is something of a Cinderella story. When Kia arrived in the U.S. in 1994, its cars were poorly reviewed and was seen as a low-cost value brand. Now, Kia is winning awards and commanding higher markups than its peers. U.S. sales have gone from about 12,000 units in 1994 to almost 700,000 in 2022... (continue reading)

💰 Mark Cuban’s Kids See Downsides to His Wealth: ‘It Sets An Expectation’…
His three children, ranging in age from 13 to 20, are keenly aware that people make assumptions about them due to their father’s wealth. “Sometimes I think [the money is] the part they don’t like,” Cuban, who has an estimated net worth of $5.1 billion, said. “Not that they want to be poor, but it sets an expectation... it’s how other people see them.” (continue reading…)

DAILY SHARES

Enjoy the holiday and see you back here Tuesday! Have any suggestions for MarketBriefing? We’d love to hear it. Share your thoughts here… -mb