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Chipmaker AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) has unveiled a range of innovative AI solutions spanning from data centers to personal computers. The AMD Instinct MI300 Series features data center AI accelerators, while the ROCm 6 open software stack introduces new features supporting Large Language Models (LLMs). Additionally, the Ryzen 8040 Series processors come equipped with Ryzen AI capabilities.
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Digital Assets: Paul Tudor Jones to CNBC on Bitcoin: “It’s a Great Speculation”
Paul Tudor Jones, the founder, and chief executive at Tudor Investment Corp. told CNBC that Wall Street could be having a grandstand seat at the historic “birthing of a store of value” in bitcoin. The storied investor trashed fiat currencies for the destruction in their purchasing power due to incessant money printing by central banks.
Artificial Intelligence: Mining Consumer Insights with AI-Powered Social Listening Tools
Social media listening tools, now powered by artificial intelligence (AI), are being used to discover consumer insights, measure their sentiments, and conduct marketing research. People don’t know what they want until you show it to them, said Steve Jobs. But ever so often, businesses can get a glimmer of what their consumers really want by listening to their social interactions.
Venture Capital: Uber Leads $170M Funding Round No 8 in Lime Electric Scooters
The pandemic has unleashed turmoil in urban transportation, and it’s showing up in deal-making. Lime, the electric scooter sharing service that was laid low due to lockdowns and social distancing, has managed to snag $170 million in its eighth round of funding. Uber (NYSE: UBER) led the round. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Alphabet’s VC arm GV, and Bain Capital, among others, also participated.
FinTech: April Was PayPal’s Strongest Month Since its IPO; “We will Hasten the Demise of Cash”
On Thursday, Paypal (NASDAQ: PYPL) declared its first-quarter numbers. President and CEO Dan Schuman’s remarks on the earnings call regarding PayPal’s post-quarter performance gave an insight into how the fintech’s fortunes are changing due to the COVID-19 crisis and shelter-in-place rules. His comments propelled the stock to a 14% gain for the day and an all-time high.
Liquid Alternatives: UBS launches “Socially Responsible ” UCITS ETFs
The UBS ETF (IE) MSCI USA Socially Responsible UCITS ETF (USD) invests in large and medium-sized US companies that meet ESG sustainability criteria. With the UBS ETF (IE) MSCI USA Socially Responsible UCITS ETF (USD), investors can choose between two share classes that differ in the allocation of income. In the case of the A-dis share class, the dividend is paid out and in the case of the A-acc share class, it is reinvested.
DailyAlts Playbook: Unemployment Woes, Economic Experiments, M&A Woes, and China… China… China.
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK May 8, 2020 DailyAlts Playbook: Unemployment Woes, Economic Experiments, M&A Woes, and China… China… China. OPENING BELL Good morning, Good morning, There is one figure – and one figure only that matters today. And the U.S. Labor Department reported it before the bell. The agency said that the U.S. unemployment rate hit…
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Nudges the $10,000 Mark, Fans Bullish Targets
On Thursday, Bitcoin briefly flirted with the $10,000 mark. That’s a very fast rebound from the massive sell-off Bitcoin suffered in March due to the impact of the coronavirus. At the time, it touched a low of $4,017, in what appears in hindsight to be a mouth-watering price. It is now trading at $9,850, showing an appreciation of 145%. According to Coindesk, high volume buying on spot exchanges such as Coinbase triggered the crypto’s lunge at $10,000.
Private Equity: Recapping the KKR Q1 Conference Call
The KKR conference call for the first quarter occurred on Wednesday morning. Executives at the firm revealed that although they were stung a little by the economic upheaval, KKR continues to prove its business model.
The company exited some businesses early in the quarter at an average of 3.5 times the initial cost. Although they are working remotely like the rest of us, KKR, in the 2-month window from March 1 through May 1, has closed on or in legal documentation on over $10 billion of new commitments across our fund platform.
Liquid Alternatives: Cannabis Growth Projections Impressive; POTX to Benefit
The Global X Cannabis ETF (NASDAQ: POTX) has bounced back smartly from its mid-March, corona-induced price swoon to $6.50. In a high-volume rebound, the ETF rose to $10.64, and thereafter it has moved sideways. However, it is currently ruling above the 50-day moving average, and increasingly it looks like it will soon resume its rally. Though the ETF was punished along with the rest of the market, things may have improved for cannabis fundamentally.
FinTech: Black Knight Reports Strong Q1 Earnings on Flat Revenue
Financial technology specialist Black Knight Inc. (NYSE: BKI) reported robust earnings during the first quarter. Earnings per share of $ 0.34 beat estimates by $ 0.08. Revenue of $ 290.8 million, which was up 2.7% year-on-year, beat estimates by $ 4.21 million. However, the fintech factored in the impact of COVID-19 and lowered its annual guidance.
Digital Assets: Franklin Templeton Snaps up Digital Wealth Leader AdvisorEngine
Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE: BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton, has acquired AdvisorEngine Inc. AdvisorEngine is a digital wealth platform and provider of technology and consulting services to more than 1,200 financial advisory firms. These firms manage over $600 billion in assets.
Artificial Intelligence: Designing A Fair Taxation System – AI Rises to the Challenge
The AI Economist is an artificial intelligence system designed by American technology company Salesforce (NYSE: CRM). The program develops and tests the ideal tax system for a country inside a simulated environment.
Alternative Investments: An Interview With Tobias Carlisle, Founder of Acquirers Funds
This week, Tim Melvin sat down with Tobias Carlisle, founder of The Acquirer’s Multiple®. Tobias Carlisle is best known as the author of the #1 new release in Amazon’s Business and Finance The Acquirer’s Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market.
Venture Capital: Angel Investment in Michigan Rose 41% in 2019 to $73.7M
The 2019 Annual Research Report from the Michigan Angel Community is out. The report showed that angel investing in the high-tech sector in 2019 was in fine fettle. Both the number of angel investors and the amount they invested during the year grew impressively in percentage terms.
Hedge Funds: MHR Fund Management Files 13D on Loral Communications
The filing came after the announcement by Loral that it was in advanced discussions with Canadian Telesat co‑owner, Public Sector Pension Investment Board, regarding the combination of Loral and Telesat into one public company. As a result of the discussions, Loral felt it was in the best interest of shareholders to return a significant portion of the $243 million of cash that has on the books.
Private Equity: KKR Reports First Quarter Earnings
KKR (NYSE: KKR) had a massive Q1 loss on GAAP measures as a result of mark to market requirements.
Setting aside those marks, the firm said that After-tax Distributable Earnings and After-tax Distributable Earnings Per Adjusted Share were $355.3 million and $0.42, respectively, for the quarter ended March 31, 2020. After-tax Distributable Earnings Per Adjusted Share are 11% higher compared to the first quarter of 2019.
“Since February, we have seen more uncertainty and volatility than at any time since the financial crisis. KKR navigated the quarter well, and our results bear testament to the strength of our business model. We are enormously proud of the dedication of our employees and believe we are well-positioned to help our clients and communities for what lies ahead,” said Henry R. Kravis and George R. Roberts, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs in their statement.
Alternative Investments: An Interview with Jeffrey Chang of CBOE Vest.
Last week, Tim Melvin talked with Jeffrey Chang of CBOE Vest. His firm offers investment strategies called “defined outcome portfolios.”
These strategies help investors structure their portfolios to provide defined levels of growth, income, and risk.
Venture Capital: ApplyBoard, an Edtech Startup, is Canada’s Newly Minted Unicorn
ApplyBoard is an online platform that assists international students from around the world with their applications to study abroad. It’s a SaaS-enabled recruitment platform that was recognized in 2019 by Deloitte as Canada’s fastest-growing tech company.
ApplyBoard scored a phenomenal 12,525% GAAP revenue growth between 2015 and 2018.
On Tuesday it announced the closure of its series C funding round worth C$100 million (US$75 million).
FinTech: Cash-rich Revolut on the Prowl for COVID-hit Travel Aggregators
Nikolay Storonsky, chief executive of British challenger bank and fintech unicorn Revolut, says his company has “a real opportunity” to benefit from the pandemic. Speaking to the Financial Times, he revealed plans to use his cash hoard to buy corona-strapped, tech rivals.
Artificial Intelligence: Boeing Delivers AI-Enabled, Jet-Powered Drone to Australian Air Force
The Loyal Wingman, an unmanned jet-powered drone, could soon be flying alongside existing manned Australian military aircraft in teaming missions controlled by its artificial intelligence capabilities. Developed by Boeing Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force, it is the first to be designed, engineered, and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years.
Liquid Alternatives: A Fixed Income ETF for Exposure to Sukuks
Shariah is Islamic religious law that prohibits the earning of interest income. Therefore, the usual Western debt instruments such as bonds are not workable for Muslim investors. The Sukuk is an innovative structure that was introduced in 2000 in Malaysia. The SP Funds Dow Jones Global Sukuk ETF (NYSE: SPSK), is the first to offer access to Sukuk investments, a new asset class, in an ETF.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin, the First-Born Crypto, is Highly Bullish (Bloomberg Report)
The Bloomberg Crypto Outlook, May 2020 edition, issued by Bloomberg Senior Commodity Strategist Mike Mcglone, is unreservedly bullish on the prospects of Bitcoin. The “firstborn cryptocurrency” seems to be firing on all cylinders, being supported by favorable supply, demand, and macroeconomics.
DailyAlts Playbook: Coronavirus, Bond Bulls, an EU Slump, and Expectations for the Job Market
This morning, Johns Hopkins University announced that more than 3.65 million official cases of COVID-19 around the globe. States across the country will reopen their economies this week. Florida has opened restaurants with social distancing guidelines in place. California will permit clothing stores, flower shops, and bookstores to provide curbside pickup. And New York will let construction, manufacturing, and certain retail employees return to work. The official U.S. tally of coronavirus cases topped 1.2 million on Tuesday evening.
Community Banking – Seneca-Cayuga Bancorp To Become a Publicly Traded Stock
As part of the conversion and reorganization, the Bank would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of a new holding company. Shares of common stock of the Company held by persons other than the MHC (whose shares would be canceled) would be converted into shares of common stock of the new holding company pursuant to an exchange ratio generally intended to preserve the percentage ownership interests.