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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, aims to secure $1 billion in equity financing to compete with industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. The company, co-founded by Musk, has already garnered $135 million from investors, as revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Hedge Funds: Shades of LTCM Lurk, Only This Time It Could Be Much Bigger
Regulations hobbled banks’ risk-taking abilities after the last global financial crisis. But risk never really went away, it just switched masks. And hedge funds are the new face of unbridled financial adventurism, according to the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB).
Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman: Fewer Things to Buy Today for Private Equity
Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman confirmed our concerns about dry powder and higher valuations during an interview at the World Economic Forum. Schwarzman discussed the lack of opportunities with CNBC. The alternative assets executive cited higher asset prices, expectations for global growth, and lower interest rates for there being “much fewer things” to buy.
ESG: Best Buy’s CEO in the Dock for Alleged ‘At-Work’ Liaison
Current Best Buy CEO Corie Barry allegedly had a romantic relationship with a male colleague before taking charge as CEO in June 2019. Best Buy’s board is investigating the charge, made through an anonymous letter dated January 7.
ESG: Lately-turned Tesla Bull Jim Cramer Adds Fink To The Mix
Larry Fink’s emotionally charged plug for ESG ticks all the investment boxes for Tesla.
According to Cramer, electric car maker Tesla could be a beneficiary of BlackRock’s new-found love for everything ESG.
The DailyAlts Playbook – Trump’s Search for Ken Griffin, Souvenir Impeachment Pens, Family Office Flows, and Kyle Bass’s Hong Kong Warning – January 16, 2020
This morning, U.S. markets are ticking higher as markets largely ignore Impeachment drama in Washington and cheer the Phase One trade deal between the U.S. and China. The dollar is steady. Solid earnings from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing gave investors the sense that headwinds facing the global economy are calming.
Investment Company Institute: Funds are Pouring Money into Bonds
The Investment Company Institute cited the largest outflows of capital from mutual funds and ETFs since September. During the first full week of 2020, fund investors pulled $13.1 billion out of the vehicles.
Artificial Intelligence: Ex-Goldman CIO Makes Leap to Healthcare
Marty Chavez walked away from Goldman Sachs in late 2019. Now, he’s sitting on the board of artificial intelligence startup Paige. The New York-based firm uses AI to detect, diagnose, and improve the treatment of cancer.
FinTech: Visa Snaps Up Fintech Network Plaid for $5.3 Billion
Visa Snaps Up Fintech Network Plaid for $5.3 Billion. Plaid allows people to connect their finances to apps.
Fintech applications need to connect up with a user’s financial accounts to deliver true benefits of immediate updation and convenience.
Hedge Fund Westbeck Capital Management: Time to Bet on Canadian Energy
Westbeck Capital Management is turning its attention to beaten-down Canadian energy companies. The energy hedge fund believes that these firms will have stronger cash flows in the year ahead compared to their U.S. shale competition. The fund also says that U.S. producers are facing stronger production drops than the Canadian firms.
Hedge Fund Alden Global Capital Offers Buyouts to Tribune Publishing Employees
Tribune Publishing buyouts are coming. And it didn’t take long for newsroom jitters to become a reality. Just two months after Alden purchased a 32% stake in the publisher, it has offered buyouts to Tribune employees. The hedge fund is notorious for reducing employee headcounts and expenses at the publications it purchases.
Fintech: The Reserve Bank of Australia Sees Little Need for Libra Project
The Reserve Bank of Australia is the latest central bank to suggest that the Libra cryptocurrency project will not work. It also questioned the viability of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which have previously received support from central bankers like Mark Carney and Christine Lagarde.
The DailyAlts Playbook – PointState’s Redemption Woes, Crypto Whale Dominance, a Sleepy IPO, and a Contest to Fly around the Moon with a Love-Starved Japanese Billionaire.
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks PointState’s redemption woes, Crypto Whale dominance, a sleepy IPO, and a contest to go around the moon with a love-starved Japanese billionaire.
Amazon Tells Users to Uninstall Fintech Browser Honey Over Security Issues
The browser extension Honey just lost a huge source of opportunity. Just weeks after PayPal purchased the browser extension for $4 billion, Amazon has told customers to uninstall it. The e-commerce raised questions about consumer privacy and said that the extension represented a “security issue.”
ETF Challenger WisdomTree Wants to Launch a Stablecoin
WisdomTree is pushing to launch a regulated cryptocurrency in the U.S. markets. The firm’s stablecoin would be pegged against a basket of assets – which could include government debt, the U.S. dollar or even gold.
BlackRock Joins Climate Action 100+
Climate Action 100+, an investor network that is pushing for disclosures into carbon emissions, has inked BlackRock to its roster. The three-year-old investor group is pushing for commitments to reduce fossil fuel-related emissions. The world’s largest asset manager joins firms like CalPERS, Allianz, and UBS Asset Management.
Alternative Investments: Sen. Ron Wyden Dismisses Ethos’ Response to .org Domain Sale
The protest over the sudden and non-transparent sale of the .org domain to an obscure private equity firm for $1.35 billion has three Democratic Senators embroiled in it. Last month, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., with Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., questioned whether nonprofit groups, free speech, and internet users would be harmed selling control of .org domains to Ethos Capital, a private equity firm.
CrunchBase: VC Deal Volume in 2019 Doesn’t Quite Match 2018
CrunchBase says that between 2010 and 2019, roughly $1.5 trillion spilled into VC deals. The bulk of that figure came from an acceleration of deal-making over the last few years, the report says. The report states that deals came in at $322 billion in 2018, with a huge uptick in late-stage investment. CrunchBase expects that 2019 VC deal-making will total $294.8 billion, which would be the second-largest figure on record.
Private Equity: Shoreline’s Inaugural Private Equity Fund Raises $300 Million
Private equity firm Shoreline Equity Partners, LLC began raising funds for its maiden buyout fund in March. It announced Tuesday the final closure of the fund at its hard cap of $300 million. Shoreline had set an initial target of $250 million for the fund.
The DailyAlts Playbook – More Fund Returns, Insider Trading Codes, AI Stock Picking and Black Swans – January 9, 2020
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks the largest debt swell since the 70s, Black Swan babble, more hedge fund returns, insider trading codes, and AI’s shift into stock-picking.
The DailyAlts Playbook – January 8, 2020
The DailyAlts Playbook talks Elon Musk’s dance moves, a pension battle over the XFL, the latest round of hedge fund performance numbers, U.K. financial crimes, and new AI guidelines.
The DailyAlts Playbook: January 7, 2020
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks pension allocations in 2020, the cost of Carlos’ freedom, Blackstone Group’s 2020 Surprises, and a ridiculous valuation for TopGolf.
Artificial Intelligence: Using Augmented Reality (AR) to Record the Skills of Retiring Workers For Posterity
Could the skills of retiring workers be lost before the next generation learns from them?
That danger no longer exists with developing technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). PTC’s president and CEO Jim Heppelmann says the company has devised an innovative technology to train both existing employees and the next generation of workers.
PTC’s Vuforia Expert Capture system enables expert workers to record their performance of a task using a wearable AR device such as the Microsoft HoloLens.
Byron Wien And Joe Zidle Release Their Ten Surprises for 2020
Byron Wien, Vice Chairman of Blackstone Group, and Joe Zidle, Chief Investment Strategist in the Private Wealth Solutions group, released a list of “Ten Surprises for 2020.”
Tim Melvin: Expectations for REITs in 2020
NAREIT – the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts — explored REITs’ strong 2019 performance and linked the sector’s success to a bounceback from 2018’s lackluster performance. Last week’s commentary quoted Matt Werner, portfolio manager at Chilton Capital Management.