Neuralink, EV's, and AI 🤖

Author

Jay Geris
May 27, 2023

Good Morning,

Govt rejected Spark offer to invest in disaster-proofing networks, Reserve Bank to ease loan-to-value ratio limits from next month, Artificial intelligence privacy warnings issued for companies, departments, Debt ceiling talks enter crunch time as negotiators get closer to a deal, Elon Musk’s brain implant company Neuralink announces FDA approval of in-human clinical study, Ford CEO Jim Farley says Chinese automakers such as BYD are its greatest EV rivals, and JPMorgan is developing a ChatGPT-like A.I. service that gives investment advice

Let's jump in.

Before The Bell

Markets

  • Markets were mixed over the past two days. The NZX 50 dropped -1.2%, to 11,830.03, the ASX 200 decreased -0.8% to 7,154.80, the S&P 500 grew +0.1% to 4,151.28 and the Nasdaq gained 1.1%. All treasury bond yields increased.

  • A.I. cryptocurrencies jump after Nvidia reports booming artificial intelligence demand (CNBC)

Earnings and Data

  • Milk prices in the world’s dairy powerhouse India have spiked 15% (CNBC)

News Summary

  • The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) today confirmed its investigating complaints of undercooked chicken at "various" McDonald's restaurants around the country (1 News)

  • Govt rejected Spark offer to invest in disaster-proofing networks (1 News)

  • The Reserve Bank is going ahead with loosening restrictions on bank property lending (1 News)

  • Warnings about keeping people's information safe when using artificial intelligence have been published by the Privacy Commissioner, directed at both the private and public sectors (1 News)

  • The New York City Banking Commission voted to halt deposits into the city's bank accounts at Capital One and KeyBank after the lenders failed to submit plans on their efforts to root out discrimination (RT)

  • More than 13,000 people were denied a vote in English local elections this month because of the government's new identification law, with those in poorer areas most impacted, according to a Reuters survey of local authorities (RT)

  • Urgent talks to raise the U.S. debt ceiling appeared to move closer to a deal Thursday (US Time), with only seven days to go before the United States faces an imminent threat of debt default (CNBC)

  • China’s gambling hub opens $2 billion USD resort with a giant copy of London’s Big Ben (CNBC)

  • Neuralink, the neurotech startup co-founded by Elon Musk, announced Thursday it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to conduct its first in-human clinical study (CNBC)

  • Ford Motor’s largest competition in electric vehicles isn’t U.S. leader Tesla or crosstown rival General Motors — it’s Chinese automakers, CEO Jim Farley said Thursday (CNBC)

  • JPMorgan Chase is developing a ChatGPT-like software service that leans on a disruptive form of artificial intelligence to select investments for customers, CNBC has learned (CNBC)

Deal Flow

Investments / M&A

  • Farmland investor NZ Rural Land Company has suspended dividends in favour of a share buyback, saying its share price materially undervalues the company (NBR)

  • Mid-market private equity investor Anacacia Capital has tasked Miles Advisory with finding a new owner for its majority stake in Pump Haircare Australia, just 2½ years after it bought the business (AFR)

  • A unit of billionaire Carlos Slim’s Grupo Carso is purchasing a 49.9% minority stake in Talos Energy’s Mexico unit for $125 million USD (BBG)

  • Deutsche Lufthansa AG agreed to buy a stake in Italian carrier ITA Airways, allowing the German airline to expand in Europe’s third-largest aviation market while letting Rome rid itself of an asset that’s soaked up billions of euros in state support (BBG)

  • Stratasys Ltd. agreed to acquire Desktop Metal Inc. in an all-stock deal that will create a leading 3D printer company valued at about $1.8 billion USD (BBG)

  • Investors in Aster DM Healthcare are in talks to sell a 30% stake in the company's India business for about $300 million USD, two sources with direct knowledge said, the latest potential deal in India's booming healthcare sector (RT)

  • EnBW has sold a minority stake of 24.95% in the transmission system operator TransnetBW to a consortium of banks, the German utility said on Friday, without disclosing financial details (RT)

  • The collapsed $20 billion USD Sun Cable renewable energy project has been rescued by part owner and Australian technology entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes, the company's administrators said on Friday (RT)

  • The owners of supermarket Asda and petrol stations company EG Group will announce a 10 billion-pound ($12.6 billion USD) merger of their operations in Britain as early as Friday (RT)

VC & Fundraising

  • Lithium play Sayona Mining had its broker Petra Capital formally launch its $200 million AUD raising on Friday morning (AFR)

  • Naked Life Non-Alcoholic Spirits, which sells a range of drinks to teetotallers to top the boring lemon lime and bitters, is getting ready to launch a $3 million crowd-funded raise (AFR)

Equity Raises

  • Cummins Inc. spinoff Atmus Filtration Technologies Inc. raised $275 million USD in an initial public offering, pricing its shares in the middle of a marketed range (BBG)

  • The Riyadh initial public offering of generic drugmaker Jamjoom Pharmaceuticals Factory Co. will raise 1.26 billion riyals ($336 million USD) after shares were priced at the top of a marketed range, ending a drought in listings in Saudi Arabia (BBG)

  • Adnoc Logistics & Services drew orders worth $125 billion for its $769 million initial public offering in Abu Dhabi, as investors flocked to the share sale amid a dearth in deals in other regions (BBG)

Debt

  • Cancer care business GenesisCare’s original lenders have sold about $US400 million ($600 million AUD ) of their holdings in the secondary markets, for as little as 15¢ in the dollar, as its advisers push for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (AFR)

Daily Picks

  • Auckland has had 91% of its annual rainfall - and it's not even June (Stuff)

  • AI Is Helping Create the Chips That Design AI Chips (BBG)

  • Whanganui - the home of the kiwifruit? (Herald)

Job Board

New Zealand

  • ASB rural banking graduate - Apply here

  • Waterman Capital investment analyst - Apply here

Australia

  • Citadel Securities graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Intern - Apply here

  • IMC graduate and intern roles - Apply here

  • Jarden

    • Graduate role - Apply here

    • Summer internships - Apply here

  • Macquarie graduate roles - Apply here

  • Optiver

    • Graduate role - Apply here

    • Internships - Apply here

The Daily Deck is sponsored by Industrial Equity, LLC

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