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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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ESG: Black Rock Raises Concerns About Sustainability Commitments
BlackRock will place greater emphasis on climate issues moving forward. The alternative assets manager worries that firms will stop prioritizing climate and sustainability issues in the face of COVID-19. A new stewardship document expands on the firm’s push on companies to disclose reports on their impact on water pollution and emissions.
Private Equity: Deal News on Victoria’s Secret, Expedia, and Norwegian Cruise Lines
Victoria’s Secret had a new majority owner in Sycamore Partners. However, the private equity firm is trying to walk away. As a result, shares of L Brands (NYSE:LB) – the current owner – plunged more than 20%.
Digital Assets: The Winklevoss-owned Gemini Exchange Gets Security Certification
The Winklevoss Brothers’ Gemini Custody and Exchange announced that it successfully completed the AICPA’s SOC 1 Type 1 examination, which covers the financial operations and customer reporting controls of the exchange and Gemini Custody.™
Liquid Alternatives: Uranium on a Roll as Supplies Taper; ETFs Trend Higher
Uranium, the radioactive metal used to power nuclear power plants, has gained 31% this year. Its price has shot up because coronavirus lockdowns have forced producers to idle mining operations. Meanwhile, nuclear power plants, designated an essential service, have maintained generation. With production down by a third, a demand-supply gap in uranium is pushing up its price.
FinTech: SoFi Flags Off Global Expansion With Hong Kong Acquisition
SoFi, the fintech that describes itself as the digital personal finance company, launches SoFi Invest in Hong Kong. The SoFi Invest platform will offer brokerage, automated investing and ETFs with the added benefit of commission-free trading. For Hong Kong, the platform will be a simplified mobile experience and also offer financial advice and education.
Venture Capital: Confluent Wraps Up Series E Funding of $250M
Open-source Apache Kafka startup Confluent Inc drew $250 million in a Series E funding round led by Coatue Management. Existing investors Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital also participated in the round. New investors Altimeter Capital and Franklin Templeton joined in the funding.
The DailyAlts Playbook: The Madness of Shorting Tesla, Expedia’s Capital Raise, the Belt Road Initiative, and “Gooooooold.”
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK April 22, 2020 The DailyAlts Playbook Talks About The Madness of Shorting Tesla, Expedia’s Capital Raise, the Belt Road Initiative, and “Gooooooold.” PRIME OVERVIEW Good morning, Yesterday, I received a text from a close friend who had an idea. He wanted to short a stock that was trading at nosebleed levels, had…
Artificial Intelligence: AI and Human Rights at Crossroads; MIT Dumps iFlytek
MIT and iFlytek entered into a research collaboration in June 2018. The Chinese AI company funded various research projects under the five-year agreement. These included human-computer interaction, new approaches to machine learning, and applied voice recognition. MIT terminated this arrangement in February and did not disclose the reasons.
Hedge Funds: Medallian Posts 39% Gain in 2020
The Medallion Fund, the flagship vehicle of Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, has scored a 39% gain through April 14, 2020. According to the Wall Street Journal, the fund gained roughly 10% in March. That gain was quite an outlier at a time that 75% of hedge funds reported losses due to the COVID-19 selloff.
Liquid Alternatives: World’s Largest Oil ETF Halts Trading on Tuesday
The USO Fund LP has halted trading. Yesterday, the fund was largely responsible for pushing WTI May crude prices into negative territory. Crude prices effectively collapsed by 300%.
The United States Oil Fund LP (NYSEARCA: USO) said in a regulatory filing today that it would suspend buying of crude. This action suspends USO Authorized Purchasers from buying new creating new baskets. The WTI May contract expires today.
Liquid Alternatives: Oil Makes History Pricing Below Zero; An ETF for the (Eventual) Rebound
The price of WTIC crude crashed to as low as minus $37.63 per barrel on Monday. The seemingly absurd pricing was triggered by the expiry of May’s future contracts scheduled for Tuesday. A trader would have to receive deliveries on any May contracts remaining open, and store the oil at exorbitant rates.
Digital Assets: StakedWallet Alleged to be Re-run of a Former Ponzi Scam
In a post in Medium, Jan Kowalski, a self-proclaimed hater of scammers, warns the unwary of the old chestnut: “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Kowalski writes about a very cool website called StakedWallet which promises returns of 1.5% daily on investments. Unfortunately, it bears an unholy resemblance to a previous Ponzi scheme and scam.
FinTech: Moven’s Consumer Banking Accounts to Move to Varo
Moven announced last month plans to focus completely on the enterprise side of its business. It pulled the plug on its consumer banking unit after the coronavirus put paid to financing plans. Moven planned to close customer accounts by April 30. It now transpires that digital banking challenger Varo Money will take over these accounts.
Alternative Investments: The CAIA’s Blueprint for the Alternative Investment Industry
The CAIA has issued a comprehensive report “The Next Decade of Alternative Investments: from Adolescence to Responsible Citizenship” based on a survey of over 1,000 CAIA members.
The report expresses the Association’s thoughts on the future of alternative investments, as well as its four-point call to action for the industry.
Artificial Intelligence: Landing AI Launches Social Distancing Detection Tool for Workplaces
Landing AI, works to empower companies to become AI-driven organizations. On April 17, Andrew Ng tweeted that the company “created this AI to help our customers in essential industries maintain social distancing in the workplace. We hope many people can benefit from these ideas.”
Venture Capital: Marc Andreessen Pans Western Unpreparedness; Says It’s Time to Build
Renowned entrepreneur, software engineer, investor and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen writes a hard-hitting essay titled “It’s time to build.” He calls our unpreparedness for the pandemic a “monumental failure of institutional effectiveness.”
The DailyAlts Playbook: Free Oil, Gold at $3,000, Investment Debt, and Kim Jung Un
On Monday, oil futures fell into negative territory for the first time in market history. With expiration taking place today, producers were forced to pay traders to take crude off their hands at the delivery point at Cushing, Oklahoma. Crude for May delivery fell to negative $37.63 per barrel. This morning, the June contract fell 24% to $15.50, while the Brent crude contract shed nearly 19%.
Hedge Funds: Quintessential Capital Takes Short Position in Akazooactivist hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management.
Activist hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management is shorting music streaming company Akazoo (NASDAQ: SONG). The news sent shares of SONG down more than 22% on Monday.
ESG: Highly Rated ESG Bonds Have a Great First Quarter
A new report by MSCI said that bonds with higher ESG ratings outperformed the full bond market in Q1. The report suggests that highly rated ESG bonds can weather difficult economic challenges like the one we face today.
Liquid Alternatives: Tesla on a Tear, and ETFs That Could Ride That Trend
As this is written Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), is trading at $761.20, up $6.96, or 0.96%. If shares of the electric vehicle maker end today (Monday) in the green it will be the eleventh straight day of gains for the stock. The stock has risen phoenix-like from a low of $454.47 touched on April 2. That’s a gain of over 67% in those eleven trading sessions. And sure, ETFs holding the stock would benefit from the massive surge in its price.
Private Equity: KKR Outlook for the Road Ahead
McVey outlines his thoughts in his latest report titled Keep Calm and Carry On. He expects the economy to see a sharp downturn during the second quarter. McVey also expects more of a U-shaped recovery than a V-shaped one. He thinks that the economy may experience sustained demand issues as a result of the massive wave of unemployment in the United States and Europe. He does suggest that the increased unemployment benefits will offer full income replacement or many households allowing demand to at least maintains at a decent, but lower pace.
Artificial Intelligence: AI to Guzzle a Fifth of Global Energy by 2025; Magnetic Nanowires Could Slash That
Researchers have found that replacing silicon in neural training networks (hardware or software systems that function like human brains) by magnetic nanowires could slash energy consumption by a factor of 20X-30X. That would be a huge saving considering that data processing is expected to account for a mind-boggling 20% of global electricity consumption by 2025. At a rough calculation, that would equal to 5.5% of all CO2 emissions.
FinTech: Coronavirus, M&A, and Consumer Expectations Transform Payments
Marjan Delatinne, global head of banking, Ripple, writes in a post in Bobsguide that the payments industry is being transformed through mergers and acquisitions, innovation in technology and the new lessons from the coronavirus.
Venture Capital: South East Asian Startups and Coronavirus – Baptism by Fire?
The economic repercussions from the coronavirus or taking a severe toll on Southeast Asian start-ups. With revenues petering out, fresh funding in doubt and dwindling reserves of cash, these businesses are suddenly confronted with a new and basic reality – making ends meet.