1. U.S. Consumer Confidence Rises for First Time in Six Months
2. Mattress Merger Faces Regulatory Roadblock
3. JetBlue’s Second-Largest Shareholder Is a Retail Investor
4. Hedge Funds Boost Stocks as Risks Ease
5. Harris Proposes Tax Cuts for U.S. Families
6. Global Stocks Mark Best Week in Nine Months
7. Revolut Employees Cash Out $500M in Shares
1. U.S. Consumer Confidence Rises for First Time in Six Months
The University of Michigan released data today showing that in early August, the U.S. consumer confidence index rose from 66.4 to 67.8 for the first time in the past five months, exceeding economists’ expectations of 66.9.
The survey shows that consumers expect the inflation rate to reach 2.9% in the next year, the same as the July survey. Consumers expect the 10-year annualized inflation rate to be 3%.
Reportedly, one reason for the rise in consumer confidence is that Biden announced he would drop out, and Vice President Kamala Harris is running.
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2. Merger of Two Mattress Giants BlockedNewly disclosed government documents show that bedding giant Tempur Sealy had attempted to acquire its biggest competitor — Mattress Firm.
A Texas judge who filed a lawsuit seeking to block the deal stated that a Tempur Sealy executive wrote in a May 2022 PowerPoint presentation that acquiring Mattress Firm could completely eliminate future market competition.
Last month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court against the $4 billion deal. Currently, Tempur Sealy is the world’s largest bedding company, owning brands such as Tempur-Pedic and Stearns & Foster.
On the other hand, Mattress Firm is owned by South African retail giant Steinhoff International Holdings and has 2,300 stores across 49 U.S. states.
Tempur Sealy had planned to remove all competing brands from shelves after acquiring Mattress Firm.
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3. JetBlue’s Second-Largest Shareholder Is a Retail Investor
JetBlue Airways’ second-largest shareholder is not an institutional investor, but an individual retail trader — Vladimir Galkin.
The 45-year-old Vladimir is the executive chairman of a Miami-based electronics wholesale platform. He has accumulated an 8.1% stake in JetBlue, worth as much as $132 million, second only to passive investors BlackRock and Vanguard. Most of his funds came from profiting on meme stocks such as GameStop.
He stated that he enjoys investing in high-risk companies favored by activist investors like Carl Icahn. He revealed that he has made a good amount of money by following these figures. Though not a day trader, he considers investing in public companies a hobby.
In February this year, Carl Icahn secured two board seats at JetBlue.
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4. Hedge Funds Increase Stock Positions as Risks Ease
ony Pasquariello, global head of hedge funds at Goldman Sachs, stated that the current market and macroeconomic environment is gradually improving, and many investors still focus on purchasing high-quality assets.
Tony, who tracks hedge fund positions, found that many speculative trades have disappeared. After the sharp selloff over the past two weeks, many systematic quant funds are expected to purchase large amounts of blue-chip stocks, regardless of the market trend in the coming weeks.
Tony also noted that although volatility in the stock market has surged in recent weeks, long-only funds have not been shaken. Besides hedge funds, many corporations also took the opportunity to repurchase shares.
Goldman Sachs data shows that companies repurchased over $5 billion worth of stock each day last week.
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5. Harris Proposes Tax Cuts for U.S. Families
oday, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, during an event in North Carolina, announced her economic platform, which includes tax relief for U.S. families and homebuyers.
With more than 80 days remaining until the November presidential election, both Trump and Harris are vying for every vote. Trump previously announced his protectionist economic plan focused on controlling inflation and suppressing oil and housing costs.
Harris stated that if elected president, she would do everything possible to provide opportunity and economic security for the middle class.
Harris said she will continue to release more details of her economic plan in the coming weeks.
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6. Global Stocks Mark Best Week in Nine Months
As of today’s market close, stock markets around the world recorded their strongest weekly gains so far this year, mainly due to inflation data this week that eased Americans’ concerns about a recession.
This week, the S&P 500 rose 3.9%, posting its best performance since November last year, and is now just 2% below the all-time high set in July.
Joe Mazzola, Head of Trading and Derivatives Strategy at Charles Schwab, said that most of the market’s panic has now dissipated. Although data shows the U.S. economy is slowing, this is expected during a rate-hike cycle.
The MSCI World Index of developed country stocks also posted its best performance in nearly a year.
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7. Revolut Employees Cash Out $500 Million
K fintech company Revolut achieved a $45 billion valuation in its latest round of internal share sales, showing no sign of weakness amid a broader fintech downturn.
Revolut is currently the most valuable startup in Europe, and the UK government hopes it will choose to list in London instead of New York.
Revolut stated today that Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, and Tiger Global have purchased employee-held shares worth $500 million.
The CEO said he is very pleased to offer employees an opportunity to cash out.
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This content is sourced from Financial Times, Bloomberg, and The Real Deal, among other financial news outlets.