Collateralized LeBron Obligations

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Anthropic is expected to project a $30T TAM to IPO investors, OpenAI's head of data centers Chris Malone quit, modern romance is getting a financial reality check, and LeBron James borrowed $300M from affiliates of then Lakers-owner Mark Walter months before joining the Lakers.

Defiance launched the first US-listed MLCC & Capacitor ETF, providing exposure to companies making AI components for pennies and selling by the trillion. Learn more here to trade the next AI bottleneck with Defiance.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

• US stocks rose yesterday as investors prepared for bellwether Nvidia earnings and bet on US-Iran diplomacy

  • Dow posted a three-day win streak

• Mexico is at risk of being downgraded to junk as it pays higher rates neighbors despite higher credit ratings

• Bitcoin hit a three-year high

Earnings

• DICK'S missed Q2 earnings and revenue estimates and lowered its outlook amid a 'challenging athletic footwear and apparel marketplace' (CNBC)

• Zoom beat Q2 earnings and revenue estimates on its strongest enterprise business growth in years (WSJ)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: Nvidia, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, Kohl's

  • Thursday: Marvell Technology, Workday, Best Buy, Dollar General, Ulta Beauty

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Woah when did this guy show up?? That's a tight field for 2028

• Deposit $10 and get a $20 bonus with code LIT on signup, only on the Polymarket US app

Headline Roundup

• Canada retaliated with up to 50% tariffs on US (NYT)

• Growth equity funds raised a record amount of capital in H1 (FT)

• Oura and Aggreko IPOs are latest sign of Europe losing out (BBG)

• China IPO rush shows strain with pace nearing 2023 frenzy (BBG)

• US leveraged single-stock ETF boom may be cooling (RT)

• Korea leveraged ETFs see $1B outflow as fervor cools (BBG)

• BOJ is expected to speed up QT (RT)

• Japan's only quant trading firm relocated to Singapore (BBG)

• Anthropic is expected to project a $30T TAM in IPO (WSJ)

• OpenAI's head of data centers Chris Malone departed (BBG)

• SpaceX is planning a $100B launch site in Louisiana (BBG)

• OnlyFans paid $700M dividend to founder year before he died (WSJ)

• JPMorgan relaxed restrictions on borrowing against SpaceX shares (FT)

• Activist Saba launched a proxy fight against a Ballie Gifford trust (FT)

• JPMorgan poached Citigroup's McDow as head of east coast tech IB (RT)

• Deutsche banker was charged with embezzling $700k from rich clients (FT)

• AI boot camps surge as workers race to learn new skills (BBG)

• US law firm revenues soared in H1 (RT)

• More US employers will drop weight-loss drugs in 2027 (RT)

• Modern romance is getting a financial reality check (RT)

A Message from Defiance ETFs

CAPA: The Defiance AI Capacitors Leaders ETF.

Every AI accelerator and data center depends on capacitors to condition power, regulate voltage, and filter signals. As chips draw more current at lower voltages, passive component content per system keeps climbing. Industry reporting indicates a single Nvidia GB300 server can require roughly 30,000 multilayer ceramic capacitors, with AI server MLCC demand estimated near 2 trillion units in 2026.

Supply is the other half of the story. High-end production sits with a handful of manufacturers behind steep technical barriers, and lead times on specialized parts have been reported beyond 20 weeks. When structural demand meets a supply base that expands slowly, the companies holding the capacity tend to hold pricing power.

CAPA begins trading today as the first US-listed MLCC & Capacitor ETF. CAPA seeks to track the BITA AI Capacitors Leaders Index, providing exposure to the companies making components that cost pennies and get purchased by the trillion.

Trade the next AI Bottleneck with CAPA ⚡

Distributor: Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. The Fund is new with a limited operating history. Before investing, carefully consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses in the prospectus at defianceetfs.com.

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

• Dealmakers are eyeing Warner Bros assets such as New Line Cinema and cable networks that might be for sale amid Paramount's antitrust fight to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $110B

• Apollo, IFM Investors, and KKR are the final bidders for a 64% stake in Canada's CPPIB and OMERS-owned UK port operator Associated British Ports, which could fetch a $14B valuation

• $7.6B-listed South African miner Northam Platinum received an unsolicited approach from a "major South African platinum producer"

• Med tech giant McKesson agreed to acquire Precision Medicine Group in a $2.25B deal

• RIA-focused PE firm Constellation Wealth Capital acquired a minority stake in RIA $7.6B RIA Confluence Financial Partners

• Commodities trader Gunvor is in talks ‌to buy natural gas-producing assets from Silver Hill Energy Partners for up to $1.5B

• Germany's Siemens Energy will separate its Transformation of Industry division

• AI presentation startup Gamma acquired Accel-backed design startup Lica

VC

• Autonomous trucking startup Gatik raised a $200M Series D led by QIA and Koch Disruptive Technologies

• Alice (fka ActiveFence), an AI trust, safety and security company, raised a $140M funding round led by Apax Digital

• UK AI image generation startup Stability AI raised a $76M Series B from Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Electronic Arts, AMD Ventures, and others

• Celera Semiconductor, an AI-driven analog IC supplier, raised a $30M Series B from Maverick Silicon

• Keenable, a web search infrastructure startup for AI agents, raised a $26M seed round led by Accel

• Mundo AI, a perceptual AI data and evaluation startup, raised a $20M Series A led by GreatPoint Ventures

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• SHEIN's $1.8B Hong Kong IPO is fully covered

SPAC / SPV

• Aerospace and defense company Ursa Major will merge with Bleichroeder Acquisition ​Corp. III in a $2.3B deal

Debt

• Pharma giant AstraZeneca sold $3B of euro bonds

• Irish lender AIB Group is in talks for an SRT tied to $3B of project finance loans

• Guggenheim Investments, the asset management arm of Mark Walter's Guggenheim Partners, may look to buyback portions of a $1.2B loan after it fell into distress

• LeBron James borrowed $300M from two life insurers linked to Mark Walter's Guggenheim months before he joined the then Mark Walter-owned Lakers

• Indian supermarket chain Avenue Supermarts plans to raise $105M in a local bond sale

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• PE firm Thoma Bravo conceded 40 debt sweeteners to creditors including BlackRock and Invesco on $5B of debt in cybersecurity software company Proofpoint

• Creditor holding $1.8B of debt in Aston Martin filed for discovery to obtain information about a $750M financing deal involving BlackRock's HPS

• A trustee accused EchoStar of engaging in $1.5B of 'unusual transactions' with its bankrupt subsidiary Hughes Satellite Systems

Funds / Secondaries

• $2B AUM Czech crypto investment firm RockawayX is seeking to raise $150M for a new liquid opportunities fund following its acquisition of crypto hedge fund Relayer Capital

• Nuveen, the asset management subsidiary of TIAA, raised over $1B for its fourth climate-focused CRE credit fund

• Asian VC Granite Asia raised over $500M target for a pan-Asia credit fund

• VC Reach Capital raised $265M for its fifth fund to invest in AI applications that 'expand human potential'

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Binance poached two compliance execs from Crypto.com

• Stablecoin card spending is forecast to hit $50B per year by 2028

• Pitbull announced his fourteenth album "Pitcoin"

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec's Picks

• $1T in leveraged loans mature over the next 3 years. Default rates are climbing. This 8-week certificate from Wharton Online + Wall Street Prep teaches the restructuring and distressed investing playbook. Starts October 5. Get the brochure.

• A&M Crypto: Institutional Digital Asset Advisory

  Alvarez & Marsal's crypto practice is the leading global digital asset advisory firm with 90+ offices, crypto-native operators, and clients spanning half the Fortune 500 to the largest crypto institutions. They offer strategy to hands-on implementation in stablecoins, tokenization/RWAs, custody and infrastructure, M&A, IPOs, and more. Looking for institutional guidance on your firm's crypto strategy? Talk to A&M Crypto.

• WSJ published a sweet summary on the web of hidden deals that snared Guggenheim's CEO in a federal probe.

• Also, Silicon Valley's latest status symbol is just some rare OpenAI-branded Swiss watches. Obviously unsurprising but fascinating collabs and designs nonetheless.

Financial Services Recruiting

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.