Good Morning! Trump Media is now worth more than Elon Musk’s X. Super Micro shares plunged 30% after its auditor EY resigned over integrity concerns. Meta stock fell after missing user growth expectations. Roaring Kitty exited his investment in Chewy, and Apollo’s co-founder, Josh Harris, says the big private equity firms have left alpha behind. Meanwhile, Reddit received an “upvote” from the market, closing 42% higher.

Plus, New York City rent has increased by 36% since before the pandemic, and Fort Lauderdale is transforming into a mini-Monaco.

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_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

$20 Decillion Fine

Google reported blockbuster earnings this week, but a Russian court isn’t quite ready to let Big Tech celebrate in peace.

Yesterday, the court upheld a staggering $20 decillion fine (that's $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) on Google, claiming the tech giant owes Russian media stations for blocking their content.

And while Google is one of the wealthiest companies in history - the company would still need to find more money than exists on Earth to pay Russia for the alleged fine. The world’s economy is estimated to be at around $100 trillion - which is really just a fraction of the fine Moscow is seeking. 

Google exited Russia in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine. The fine originally stemmed from Google removing pro-Russian stations from YouTube four years ago. Since then, Russia has doubled the fine daily as long as the accounts remain blocked.

There’s no chance Google will pay a single ruble, especially since it no longer has a bank account in Russia. This case only validates decisions by other major companies that also exited the country in recent years.

Takeaway: It’s hard for anyone to take a fine seriously that demands significantly more money than there is on the entire planet. And it doesn’t look like Google execs lost any sleep over the fine, as Google stock closed the day up 3%. Looks like Russia might have to accept "exposure" as payment on this one.

_{PRESENTED BY FENCHURCH LEGAL}

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_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Trump Media now worth more than Elon Musk’s X (Fox)

• Super Micro Computer stock tanks after accounting firm resigns (YF)

• Meta misses on user growth, warns of 2025 jump in AI spending (CNBC)

• 'Roaring Kitty' dissolves stake in Chewy (YF)

• Goldman Institute calls for ‘data center diplomacy’ in global AI race (CNBC)

• Apollo founder Harris says big PE firms have left alpha behind (YF)

• America’s economy just achieved the rare feat of a soft landing (CNN)

• UBS smashes third-quarter expectations with $1.4 billion in profit (CNBC)

• Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users (Verge)

• Eagle Football seeks to borrow $300 million to help repay Ares (YF)

• Everyone gave Reddit an upvote (CNBC)

• New York City rent has increased by 36% since before the pandemic (Timeout)

• If Trump wins, expect interest rates to rise (YF)

• Chipotle misses revenue estimates as same-store sales growth disappoints (CNBC)

• Wall Street sees lines blur between private credit and bank debt (BB)

• AI boom thrusts Europe between power-hungry data centers, environmental goals (CNBC)

• Fort Lauderdale turning into ‘mini Monaco’ (CNBC)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks finish modestly lower: U.S. equity markets closed slightly down on Wednesday, following a mixed Tuesday session. Economic data took center stage, with Q3 real GDP growth coming in at 2.8%, beating expectations but falling short of the Fed's GDPNow estimate of over 3%. The ADP Employment report showed private-sector job growth of 233,000 in October, the strongest since July 2023.

Corporate earnings also stayed in the spotlight, with Alphabet posting gains on strong earnings, while Microsoft and Meta are set to report after hours. Bond yields inched up slightly, with the 10-year Treasury yield ending at 4.28% and the 2-year yield at 4.17%.

Economy expands at a strong pace in the third quarter: The U.S. economy maintained momentum in Q3, with real GDP growth at 2.8%. Personal consumption was a major contributor, with spending on goods up by 6%, the highest in over a year. However, net trade weighed modestly on growth as imports (up 11.2%) outpaced exports (up 8.9%).

With healthy consumer spending and a solid labor market, the outlook for economic expansion remains positive, especially with recent support from easier Fed policies.

U.S. labor-market data in focus: Labor-market data continues to influence markets this week. Job openings dropped to 7.4 million in September per the JOLTS report, marking the lowest level since early 2021, though openings still exceed the number of unemployed Americans (6.8 million).

The ADP Employment report added evidence of labor market resilience, showing job gains across sectors. Friday's nonfarm payrolls report is anticipated to show an increase of 120,000 jobs in October, down from September’s 254,000 as recent strikes and natural disasters impacted employment.

The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.1%, suggesting that while labor demand is cooling, the market remains strong enough to support consumer spending.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Garmin ($GRMN) +24% after the tech company reported a 24% revenue surge.

• (+) Snap, Inc. ($SNAP) +16% after the social media company beat earnings; announced a share buyback program.

• (–) Super Micro Computer ($SMCI) -33% after the company’s auditor resigned over ethical concerns.

Private Dealmaking

• Bridgepoint bought Eckoh, a customer engagement software provider, for $219 million

• DoorLoop, a property management software provider, raised $100 million

• Outrider, a self-driving tech developer, raised $62 million

• Sana, an enterprise AI agent developer, raised $55 million

• InBrain Neuroelectronics, a neura technologies developer, raised $50 million

• Fligran, a French threat intelligence platform, raised $35 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

_ELECTIONS

US Election Forecast

• Kamala is Klimbing and cut down and narrowed Trump’s lead to 18-points on the prediction market Kalshi, with just over 4 days left until the election

• Get $20 to trade the election when you deposit $100 or more. See live odds and bet now

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

The Money Kings

Joseph Seligman arrived in the United States in 1837, with the equivalent of $100 sewn into the lining of his pants. Then came the Lehman brothers, who would open a general store in Montgomery, Alabama. Not far behind were Solomon Loeb and Marcus Goldman, among the “Forty-Eighters” fleeing a Germany that had relegated Jews to an underclass.

These industrious immigrants would soon go from peddling trinkets and buying up shopkeepers’ IOUs to forming what would become some of the largest investment banks in the world—Goldman Sachs, Kuhn Loeb, Lehman Brothers, J. & W. Seligman & Co. They would clash and collaborate with J. P. Morgan, E. H. Harriman, Jay Gould, and other famed tycoons of the era.

And their firms would help to transform the United States from a debtor nation into a financial superpower, capitalizing American industry and underwriting some of the twentieth century’s quintessential companies, like General Motors, Macy’s, and Sears.

Along the way, they would shape the destiny not just of American finance but of the millions of Eastern European Jews who spilled off steamships in New York Harbor in the early 1900s, including Daniel Schulman’s paternal grandparents.

In The Money Kings, Schulman unspools a sweeping narrative that traces the interconnected origin stories of these financial dynasties.

He chronicles their paths to Wall Street dominance, as they navigated the deeply antisemitic upper class of the Gilded Age, and the complexities of the Civil War, World War I, and the Zionist movement that tested both their burgeoning empires and their identities as Americans, Germans, and Jews.

“The incredible saga of the German-Jewish immigrants—with now familiar names like Goldman and Sachs, Kuhn and Loeb, Warburg and Schiff, Lehman and Seligman—who profoundly influenced the rise of modern.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Economic Boom Keeps Boomin’

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_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• 10 tactics to try if your boss doesn’t like you

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• Why you shouldn’t leverage a job offer for a raise

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_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day