News
Each day, DailyAlts tracks major developments across the alternative investment world. Our content is procured from primary contacts in the industry and secondary sources across the web. Our goal is to give readers the most up-to-date news and engaging experience to open new doors and areas of knowledge. Our stories cover nine separate verticals of the alternative investment industry.
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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: Crypto Lender dYdX Sees Sharp Spike in Business Due to Virus
Coronavirus-related market volatility lent a huge boost to the lending activity of crypto lender dYdX. About 70% of the total amount of $ 1.14 billion which it lent over the past 12 months was borrowed during the virus-stricken months of February and March.
Artificial Intelligence: MIT CSAIL Researchers Find a Way to Reduce Emissions From AI
Researchers at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have found a more environmentally friendly way to train and operate AI models. By improving computational efficiency, they claim they can significantly reduce the amount of carbon emissions from that AI.
The DailyAlts Playbook: Long Agriculture, Short Peloton Rides, Crypto Sentiment, and the Slump in Hedge Fund AUM
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK April 24, 2020 The DailyAlts Playbook: Long Agriculture, Short Peloton Rides, Crypto Sentiment, and the Slump in Hedge Fund AUM PRIME OVERVIEW Good morning, “He told me to go into farming.” That was the opening line of a column I wrote in 2011 about famed investor Jim Rogers. When I was coming…
ESG: Morningstar Announces Deal to Buy Sustainalytics to Boost ESG Support
Morningstar, (Nasdaq: MORN) announced an agreement to acquire Sustainalytics, a globally recognized leader in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings and research.
Morningstar currently owns an approximate 40% ownership stake in Sustainalytics, first acquired in 2017. Under the terms of the deal, Morningstar will buy the remaining approximate 60% of Sustainalytics.
Hedge Funds: The Activist Leaves the Building
Frank Tuil is departing Elliott Management more two decades at the firm. The legendary French investor helped Elliott position itself as a top activist shop across Europe from the firm’s London office. Investors cheered him and investors feared him. Some of his most notable activist campaigns included efforts at French spirits maker Pernod Richard and…
Real Estate: Navigating the Perfect Storm for Commercial RE
This is the perfect storm for commercial real estate markets in the United States.
As 2020 started, the consensus opinion was that commercial real estate might see a slowdown in growth rates. However, thanks to an economy that was growing slowly but growing and low-interest rates, CRE would still be an attractive investment opportunity.
Venture Capital: Home Equity Financier Noah Goes From a $5M Round To $150M in Seven Months
San Francisco based startup Noah allows homeowners to cash their home equity in these difficult times. The startup just received $150 million in the form of platform capital which it will use to invest in homes as a portion of their equity.
Digital Assets: Crypto.com Now Adds USD Fiat Withdrawals via Bank Transfers
Crypto.com users can withdraw USD from their App by selling crypto to their USD fiat wallet and transferring USD funds from this wallet to their U.S. bank account(s) on the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. This is a frequently requested feature that further strengthens the utility of the Crypto.com platform,” the cryptocurrency company wrote in a blog.
FinTech: Fintechs May Not Get a Large Enough Chunk of PPP Disbursements
Fintechs are disappointed with the limited role they have played in getting Paycheck Protection Program loans into the hands of the smaller businesses. The first tranche of $349 billion in potentially forgivable loans meant for small businesses across the country was fully disbursed within just two weeks. Even though Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had promised fintechs a role in paying out these loans, the Small Business Administration (SBA) only allowed traditional banks to make these loans by the time the money ran out.
Artificial Intelligence: Self-driving Vehicles – the Ace up Tesla’s Sleeve
Tesla’s major advantage over other self-driving vehicles is hiding in plain sight (pardon the pun).
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) uses a vision-based approach that combines its cars’ suite of cameras and AI to navigate in self-driving mode. On the other hand, autonomous rivals such as Waymo and Cruise rely on LiDAR, a technology that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is rather dismissive about: “Anyone relying on lidar is doomed.” Tesla AI Director Andrej Karpathy explains the difference in a February lecture.
Liquid Alternatives: Retail Investors Burn Their Fingers in the USO ETF
Most thought the ETF invested in spot oil, while it bought oil futures and rolled them over.
And therein lies the difference, or for a lot of chagrined retail oil investors, a hole in their pockets. The United States Oil Fund (NYSEARCA: USO) took positions in front-month oil futures and rolled them over every month. It did not, as retail investors mostly assumed, invest in the spot oil market.
The DailyAlts Playbook: Peloton Purchases, Elliott Fines in France, Negative $100 Oil, and Blackstone’s Real Estate Portfolio.
THE DAILYALTS PLAYBOOK April 23, 2020 The DailyAlts Playbook: Peloton Purchases, Elliott Fines in France, Negative $100 Oil, and Blackstone’s Real Estate Portfolio. PRIME OVERVIEW Good morning, It’s Christmas here in Estero, Florida. I’ve purchased either my greatest present to myself or the single dumbest one. Time will tell. The golf club on which I…
Private Equity: Blackstone Reports First Quarter Earnings Before the Bell
Blackstone earnings (NYSE:BX) arrived before the bell Thursday. While the private equity firm fell short of analyst expectations, the firm still managed to generate significant cash flows in the quarter. The firm said that they had produced Distributable earnings during the first three months of the year of $.46 a share. The consensus Wall Street…
Alternative Investments: Bank of America Says Gold Will Hit $3,000
The Federal Reserve will drive gold prices to $3,000. That’s a prediction by Bank of America this week. In a report titled, “The Fed Can’t Print Gold,” the bank sees the yellow metal as a smart hedge against inflation. That price target represents an 80% return from the date of Monday’s report.
Private Equity: Where Oil Specialty Funds Go Next
Although oil prices have risen today, the price of oil remains at historically low-price levels. This is an opportunity for deep-pocketed private equity firms that own a diversified portfolio of companies.
However, it is a calamity for those funds that specialize in energy investing.
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.™
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.