Good Morning! Job openings plummeted to a two-year low, which might mean the economy is showing signs of the cool down the Fed wants. Uber finally posted its first-ever operating profit, after racking up $31.5 billion in losses. KKR is opening an LA office in a push to seize commercial real estate deals. And hedge funds are starting to throw in the towel on stocks after the relentless stock market rally.

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_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Apollo Gets a Makeover

When you think of Apollo, you’re probably picturing ruthless, modern-day Barbarians at the Gate. And for three decades, Apollo dominated the private equity game, tackling the hairiest deals on Wall Street. Apollo’s hardcore culture made investment banking seem like a walk in the park.

But the firm is trying to scale back its ruthless image. And the types of deals Apollo goes after are changing. Apollo’s CEO Marc Rowan is nerdy and the antithesis of former leaders Leon Black and Josh Harris. And Rowan says the traditional LBO game, the one Apollo mastered for three decades, just isn’t what it used to be.

With interest rates soaring, Apollo knows they can't afford to brawl over pennies on the dollar in distressed deals. Instead? The firm is all-in on credit. And if yesterday’s news that Apollo will lead Yellow’s bankruptcy loan deal is any indicator, expect the firm to play nice with its rivals.

And Apollo’s insurance business is driving most of the firm’s earnings. It might be a lower-profit-margin game compared to private equity, but it's the secret to unlocking stability and scalability.

Takeaway: Megafunds are getting even larger - Apollo has $600B in AUM, and Blackstone just became the first to cross the $1T threshold. But it’s looking like they’re taking the boring, safer path to win over investors. A secret of traditional private equity? It’s just not really that scalable.

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks closed lower to start August.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Caterpillar ($CAT) +6% after an earnings beat on the construction boom.

• (–) Coinbase ($COIN) -5% after the SEC asked the platform to halt trading on everything except Bitcoin.

• (–) JetBlue ($JBLU) -8% after the airline cut its year-end forecast.

Private Dealmaking

• Nile, an enterprise connectivity startup, raised $175 million

• Tradeshift, a supply chain startup, raised $70 million

• Airalo, an eSIM marketplace, raised $60 million

• Allonnia, a bioremediation company, raised $30 million

• Simbe Robotics, a retail inventory robotics maker, raised $28 million

• Entia, a remote cancer monitoring company, raised $20 million

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_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Apollo readies Europe’s first CLO reset in more than a year (BB)

• Investors dumping China load up on other emerging markets (Reuters)

• Platinum is the new gold (Forbes)

• AI could affect many high-paying white-collar jobs (CNBC)

• NATO launches €1B venture capital fund (Axios)

• Blackstone alumni’s debut fund expected to attract $1B (BB)

• Young rich Americans don’t trust the stock market (YF)

• How EVs are upending the 100-year-old auto supply chain (CNBC)

• Bitcoin is not crypto, the SEC confirms (Forbes)

• Brazil beat the world to rate hikes, now it’s leading on rate cuts (BB)

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

The Dealmaker

The Dealmaker is a frank and honest account of how a severely dyslexic child who struggled at school went on to graduate from Oxford and become a serial entrepreneur. It describes Guy Hand's career in private equity, first at Nomura and then as head of his own company, Terra Firma.

It looks in detail at the huge deals that Terra Firma has done over the years, involving everything from cinema chains and pubs to waste management, aircraft leasing and green energy.

And it offers a brutally honest appraisal of the deal that almost bankrupted him - the acquisition of multinational music recording and publishing company EMI in 2007, just as a global financial crash loomed on the horizon.

Above all, it takes the reader inside the previously very secretive world of private equity, explaining how this multi-billion pound sector operates and what opportunities it offers.

Both insightful and page-turning, it will prove inspirational and essential reading for all those concerned with or interested in the world of investment.

“An inside account of the multi-billion pound world of private equity and a masterclass on the art of deal-making.”

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• The No. 1 thing to do after applying for a job

• Why boredom is key for improving your productivity

• Choose to be untroubled by others’ definition of success

• How scheduling an ideal week makes your actual one more productive

• The best waterfront activities for everyone to enjoy

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Post-Pandemic Plunge

Pfizer’s quarterly revenue

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Tribal Echoes

We're all part of some 'tribe' - maybe your family, maybe your career circle, your neighborhood, heck, even your fave sports team. It's cool, right? A bunch of like-minded folks backing you up.

But here's the twist. Tribes aren't always just the cheer squad. They shape our thoughts, our beliefs, sometimes even before we realize it. From the country we're born in, to the team we're rooting for, each 'tribe' has its own rulebook we often feel compelled to follow.

And here's where it gets tricky. Not all ideas are great, are they? But when they come from our tribe, we may either turn a blind eye or, worse still, agree despite our better judgment, for fear of losing our tribe card.

What's the lesson then? Never underestimate the sway of your tribe. Let it inspire, not dictate. Question, don't just conform. After all, the strength of the tribe is the individual and vice versa.

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day