Investments
Types of investments
Top Story
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.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Investments
Alternative Investments: Carlyle Group Reports Loss in First Quarter
Like most of the other publicly traded private equity firms, the Carlyle Group (NYSE: CG) recorded an accounting loss for the first quarter.
The loss is a result of mark to mark accounting rules than none less than Warren Buffett has labeled ridiculous. Without the markdowns, Carlyle had Distributable Earnings of $175 million for Q1 2020 on a pre-tax basis or $0.48 per common share on a post-tax basis. Over the last 12 months, the alternative asset manager had distributable earnings of $721 million, or $1.93 per common share.
Private Equity: Apollo Global Management Reports Q1 Earnings Report
Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) reported earnings for the first quarter of 2020. Apollo reported an accounting loss for the quarter thanks to mark-to-market accounting regulations. That said they generated Fee-Related Earnings of $228.1 or $0.52 per share.
Apollo Global also declared a dividend of $0.42 a share. Apollo intends to distribute to its Class A common stockholders quarterly substantially all of its distributable earnings after taxes and related payables over amounts determined by the executive committee of its board of directors to be necessary or appropriate to provide for the conduct of its business and, at a minimum, a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share.
They have paid out more than twice the minimum dividend over the past year.
Liquid Alternatives: Muni Bond Caucus Wants Fed to Help; NY Fed to Buy ETFs in May
Members of the House Municipal Finance Caucus have written to the Fed to buy municipal bonds of terms up to 30 years. The move comes as states’ finances are badly hit by the coronavirus and the municipal bond market is still struggling after it shut down to new issues in March. Separately, in a previously announced move intended to support credit markets, the Fed is gearing up to commence, as early as this month, two emergency corporate lending programs. These would buy up to $750 billion in debt and ETFs.
Venture Capital: Ninja Van Scores $279M in Series D Funding as the Pandemic Boosts Ecommerce
Singapore-based parcel delivery startup Ninja Van raised $279 million from top-notch investors as the coronavirus epidemic triggered a huge surge in online transactions from people forced to stay at home. The funding round was led by existing investor Europe’s GeoPost with two sovereign wealth funds. Other investors included Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital, ride-hailing firm Grab, Monk’s Hill Ventures, and Golden Gate Ventures Growth Fund.
Artificial Intelligence: Avoid Migraine Medications with This AI-Powered App
People suffering from chronic headaches and migraines face a painful dilemma: choose between the pain or the side effects of the medications to treat the pain. Statistically, about one in seven people are prone to migraine and one in 100 suffer from chronic headaches. However, a daily training session of just 10 minutes with an AI-powered app developed by Norwegian scientists can dramatically reduce headaches.
DailyAlts Playbook: Hedge Fund Returns, Elliott’s Litigation Finance, Uncle Carl, and Virtual Dinner with Hillary Clinton
The U.S. Treasury Department isn’t concerned about the Federal debt. Reports indicate that Steven Mnuchin and friends are looking to borrow a staggering $3 trillion during the second quarter. The government’s debt currently sits at $25 trillion with it on pace to run a deficit of $744 billion before factoring in the cost of COVID-19 on the U.S. economy. The U.S. borrowed $477 billion during Q1 and will also borrow another $677 billion during Q3, according to Treasury Department estimates. Just a reminder, gold is trading at $1,704 per ounce, while Bitcoin hovered around $8,900 on Tuesday morning.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Rallies as Halving Approaches
With halving now just a week away, is BTC repeating the script from its previous two halvings? On both the two previous occasions, bitcoin enjoyed sharp rallies post the halving event, though, in 2016, there was a dip before the rally commenced.
FinTech: Robinhood Raises $280 Million in Series F Funding Led by Sequoia
Robinhood Markets Inc, the pioneer of app-based, commission-free trading, homed in on two lucrative targets Monday. The fintech raised a $280 million series F funding at a valuation of $8.3 billion. The round was led by existing investor Sequoia Capital, with participation from existing and new investors including NEA, Ribbit Capital, 9Yards Capital, and Unusual Ventures.
Hedge Funds: Maniyar Trades With $1 Billion, and Other Fund Launches
Mayinar Capital Advisers has started trading with more than $1 billion under management. The fund, which spun out of Tudor Investment Corporation, launched Friday. It has already become a shining gem in a sea of coal for the industry. HFR reported recently that global AUM for hedge funds slumped under $3 trillion for the first time since 2016.
Liquid Alternatives: Buffett Dumps Airlines; What That Means For the JETS ETF
Investors who were bottom-fishing the airlines’ sector via the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSEARCA: JETS) are likely to view today’s (Monday) trading with some trepidation. Buffett, one of the world’s most respected and emulated investors, said over the weekend that he’d had it with airlines. Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) now has zero exposure to the pandemic-hit U.S. airline sector.
Digital Assets: Gold-backed Tokens Provider Cache Ties With Onchain Custodian
Cache Private Limited is licensed under Singapore’s Ministry of Law under the Precious Stones and Precious Metals Dealers (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act (PSPM Act) of 2019. The provider of fully-redeemable digital assets backed by gold has tied up for a custody solution with digital assets custody service provider Onchain Custodian Private Limited.
FinTech: Chinese Social Media Giant Tencent Builds 5% Stake in Afterpay
Chinese tech, gaming and social media giant Tencent (HKG: 0700) has bought a 5% stake in “buy-now-pay-later” company Afterpay (ASX: APT). Users on Tencent’s instant messaging platform WeChat can make payments, and book hotels and flights. In a media release, fintech Afterpay said it was pleased to welcome Tencent as a “substantial shareholder.”
Venture Capital: Meat Substitutes Make Their Mark Amidst the COVID Crisis
Welcome to foodtech, another sector whose fortunes have turned amidst the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Within foodtech, plant-based proteins are stepping in as meat substitutes to meet the shortfall in meat supply due to the closure of large meat processing plants across the U.S.
DailyAlts Playbook: Buffett Ditches Airlines, Wall Street Movies, Black Swans, and Stimulus Estimates.
This morning CNBC is covering the Berkshire Hathaway meeting the same way that ESPN covers the day after “The Last Dance” on ESPN. The big focus is on Buffett’s message “Nothing can basically stop America.” But my two key takeaways – as I assess Buffett’s career and philosophy – center on Berkshire’s decisions during March. My generation is one that looks at Buffett as a nice grandfather who likes to spend time with the family – not the ruthless businessman who was able to get General Electric to pay him 10% in 2008 on top of $3 billion in stock. It’s one of the reasons why people say “You mean the guy getting ice cream with his grandkids in HBO’s Too Big to Fail.”
Artificial Intelligence: Canada’s Scale AI Invests $3.4M in Eight Projects to Fight COVID-19
Scale AI invited projects that can utilize technology and AI to combat COVID-19 in Canada. There was a bumper response, and Scale received as many as 120 applications within three weeks.
Scale AI is a startup accelerator with a mission to develop a world-class Canadian AI ecosystem. It has received $230 million from the Government of Canada and $53.4 million from the Government of Quebec.
Private Equity: ICANN Rejects Deal to Sell .Org Registry to Ethos Capital
The board of directors at ICANN rejected the sale of the .org registry to private equity firm Ethos Capital. The possible $1.135 billion deal effectively died today after months of debate over the decision to transfer the registry from the non-profit Internet Society (ISOC) to Ethos. Many advocates pressing against the deal argued that it would saddle the company with debt and force it to raise prices on users of these internet addresses.
Hedge Fund: Teleios Presses for Changes to Maisons du Monde Board
Activist fund Teleios Capital Partners is pressing for changes on the board of Maisons du Monde.
The fund said it plans to push to appoint two independent board directors to the French furniture company. The hedge fund currently holds a 19.9% stake in the company, according to a statement released on Thursday.
Liquid Alternatives: Why the Risk-Reward on Grain ETFs Makes Sense
Speaking to Tom Lydon at the Inside ETFs conference, Sal Gilbertie, CEO, Teucrium, observed that agricultural commodities such as grains were an excellent diversifier.
Artificial Intelligence: Barclays Bank Deploys AI With Tech Partners
Barclays Bank, UK, (LON: BARC) which is ranked 20th on the S&P Global’s list of the top 100 banks, has taken many initiatives for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its operations. Its model is to outsource the deployment to technological partners, rather than develop the software in-house.
Digital Assets: Andreessen Horowitz Raises $515M for its Crypto Fund II
Andreessen Horowitz, the hallowed venture capital firm from Silicon Valley, has pulled off a coup by raising $515 million for its second crypto-facing fund. The fund will invest in late-stage networks, payment blockchains as well as decentralized finance (deFi) initiatives.
Venture Capital: Pivot Bio, Potential Disruptor of Synthetic Fertilizers, Collects $100M
Pivot Bio is an agriculture tech startup that uses microbial technology to supply plants with clean nitrogen. The company’s products will displace the synthetic nitrogen from commercial fertilizers, reduce emissions, and increase crop yields. It raised $100 million in a Series C round.
FinTech: The IRS is Swamped; MetaBank and Fiserv to Load Stimulus Cash on Visa Pre-paid Cards
Outdated technology, budget cuts and the sudden enormity of the task to pay out stimulus checks to millions of Americans may have swamped the IRS. However, the Treasury is lending a hand and has approved MetaBank (NASDAQ: CASH) and Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) for the issue of Visa (NYSE: V) prepaid cards pre-loaded with stimulus payments.
Hedge Funds: The Einhorn-Musk Battle Takes a New Turn on Twitter
We might not have live sports right now. But we do have the constant jarring back and forth between Greenlight Capital and Tesla Inc. The former’s founder David Einhorn is one of the most prominent hedge fund managers shorting Elon Musk’s company. On Thursday – the day after Tesla’s earnings report – Einhorn questioned the financials of the electric vehicle manufacturer. Specifically, he wanted more information about the firm’s accounts receivable, costs, stalled factories, and the effects of international currency shifts.
Alternative Investments: A Conversation with Meb Faber of Cambria Investments
This week, we sat down with Meb Faber of Cambria Investments to discuss his investment approach and how it can help investors miss the massive sell-offs that occur in the stock market. We also discuss his tail risk strategy that uses Treasury Bonds and options to hedge equity portfolios in turbulent times. Meb Faber is the author of seven investment books and the host of The Meb Faber Show Podcast. Cambria Investments offers 11 different Exchange Traded Funds based on Meb’s investment philosophy.