📈 Meet 'Grok'

Musk released his ‘Grok’ AI to combat ChatGPT, Jack Dorsey is taking a more hands-on approach at Block again, Washington Post is projected to lose $100M this year, Tesla is raising wages for German workers, and Kai-Fu Lee's AI startup hits Unicorn status in eight months.

☕️ Good Morning.

The Fast FiveMusk released his ‘Grok’ AI to combat ChatGPT, Jack Dorsey is taking a more hands-on approach at Block again, Washington Post is projected to lose $100M this year, Tesla is raising wages for German workers, and Kai-Fu Lee's AI startup hits Unicorn status in eight months.

Here’s your 5-minute briefing for Monday:

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BEFORE THE OPEN

As of market close 11/3/2023. Bitcoin as of 11/5/2023.

MARKETS:
  • U.S. equity futures remain flat after a strong week.

  • Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all had their best week of the year.

  • Factors like oversold conditions, positive earnings, and lower bond yields boost market sentiment.

  • November is historically a strong month for the S&P 500.

  • Earnings season continues with updates from companies like Walt Disney, Wynn, MGM Resorts, Occidental Petroleum, and D.R. Horton.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

  • Tuesday: Bumble (BMBL), D.R. Horton (DHI), KKR (KKR), Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

  • Wednesday: Arm Holdings (ARM), Walt Disney (DIS), AMC Entertainment (AMC), Twilio (TWLO)

  • Thursday: Tapestry (TPR)

  • Full earnings calendar here

NEWS BRIEFING

The prototype is in its first two months of training and is only available to a select group of users before a wider release. Musk is positioning xAI to compete with OpenAI, Inflection, Anthropic and others.

AI’s model outperforms Meta’s Llama 2 on certain metrics. Startup to offer open-source model; proprietary options later.

  • Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sits on record $157B cash pile (Read More)

  • The price of money is going up, and it’s not only because of the Fed (Read More)

  • Pimco, JPMorgan are gearing up for long winter in China markets (Read More)

  • Jack Dorsey to take a more hands-on leadership approach with Block’s stock down 80% (Read More)

  • Washington Post appoints William Lewis as CEO; to reduce headcount by 10% as the company is projected to lose $100M this year (Read More)

  • China’s fight against deflation may be far from over (Read More)

  • Bankers seek legal cover after backing $1.5T of ESG debt (Read More)

  • South Korea to ban short-selling of stocks until June 2024 (Read More)

  • Tesla raises wages for German workers amid union pressure (Read More)

DEALFLOW

M&A / Investments
  • Telecom Italia’s board approved the sale of its landline network to KKR in a $23.6B deal backed by the Italian government (Read More)

  • Origin Energy’s top investor AustralianSuper boosted its stake in the energy company by 1.2% to 15% after rejecting an improved $12.5B takeover offer from a Brookfield Asset Management-led consortium; AusSuper declined further talks with Brookfield (Read More)

  • British regulators cleared Cameco and Brookfield Renewable Partners' $7.9B acquisition of nuclear power plant equipment maker Westinghouse Electric (Read More)

  • Saudi Arabia expressed interest in investing up to $5B for a stake in $30B Indian Premier League, international cricket’s most lucrative event (Read More)

  • PE firm Platinum Equity is in advanced talks to purchase Kohler’s generators division for over $3B (Read More)

  • Polywood, a maker of recycled plastic outdoor furniture, is exploring options including a sale that could value the PE-backed company at ~$1B (Read More)

  • Buyout firm The Jordan Company is in exclusive negotiations to acquire medical equipment maker Tidi Products from Roundtable Healthcare Partners for at least $900M (Read More)

  • Ineos CEO Jim Ratcliffe is looking to invest $300M in Manchester United's infrastructure in addition to a $1.5B+ offer to acquire a 25% stake in the football club (Read More)

  • Greece's biggest power utility Public Power will acquire retailer Kotsovolos from British electrical retailer Currys in a $215M deal (Read More)

  • Investment bank Houlihan Lokey is in talks to acquire Triago, a placement agent best known for assisting private equity firms with fundraising (Read More)

CRYPTO

  • The US Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute over Coinbase's effort to move a dispute with users of the cryptocurrency exchange out of courts and into private arbitration (Read More)

BULLISH BITES

🤔 Silicon Valley billionaires say they're done buying up land for their utopian city

🚫 The workplace is becoming more political as Gen Z comes of age

😱 Dall-E 3 is so good it's stoking an artist revolt

✈️ Electric planes, once a fantasy, are beginning to take to the skies

DAILY SHARES