Good Morning! Everyone’s upset about the Delta SkyMiles changes - and the airline’s CEO is finally admitting they probably went a little too far with the overhaul. Tough news for Sam Bankman-Fried, who had his last ditch at a release from jail denied.

Hedge fund titan Ray Dalio’s feeling a little bearish - he thinks the U.S. is on a collision course with a debt crisis. And with some companies skeptical about the legal risk of generative AI, IBM is trying to ease clients’ qualms and says they’ll assume all of the risk.

Quick reminder: Our Wall Street Financial Modeling Course launches on October 4th. Use the code PREORDER to get $100 off.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Meme Stock King is Back

The king of meme stocks is back - and he became the new CEO of GameStop yesterday.

Ryan Cohen is a billionaire investor. He founded Chewy, the pet food company. He was one of the first to yolo a massive stake in $GME in 2020. And during the GameStop short squeeze, retail investors crowned him their king.

How did the meme stock king finally become CEO of GameStop? Well, Cohen’s an activist investor - he buys stocks he thinks are undervalued and then pressures management to do things he thinks will raise the value.

And he’s GameStop’s largest investor by far - he owns over 12% of the company. And becoming CEO could be another step for Cohen to try and turn around $GME.

Takeaway: If you’re feeling underpaid - just remember Cohen’s not accepting any compensation in his new role as CEO. But it’s an interesting role - with over a $600 million stake, Cohen has a lot on the line to maximize $GME’s share price. Look for the company to dabble in digital sales or even launch an NFT marketplace.

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks rose slightly on Thursday but are still on pace for the worst month of the year.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Peloton ($PTON) +5% after announcing a partnership with Lululemon.

• (+) Duolingo ($DUOL) +3% after UBS upgraded the language learning company.

• (–) Workday ($WDAY) -8% after management lowered its revenue outlook.

Private Dealmaking

• Sycamore Partners bought retailer Chico’s FAS for $1 billion

• Tendo bought MDSave, a health care marketplace, for $150 million

• Harbinger Health, a cancer screening startup, raised $140 million 

• Nord Security, a VPN provider, raised $100 million 

• Arc, an electric boat maker, raised $70 million

• League One Volleyball, a professional volleyball league, raised $35 million

Get access to private deal flow here.

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_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• How AI and better pay can address the cyber talent shortage (CNBC)

• This could be the toughest fundraising period private equity industry has ever seen (BB)

• Deals are coming back, just not as fast as Wall Street wants (YF)

• General Atlantic’s CEO wants to push beyond growth equity (BB)

• Oil surges to highest level in almost a year (CNBC)

• Why Netflix stock surged during the writers’ strike (Axios)

• Homebuying activity is falling off a cliff (YF)

• Apollo’s divergent path outshines Blackstone (Reuters)

• Microsoft considered investing billions in Apple to compete with Google Search (BB)

• U.S. M&A picked up in Q3 but lags 2022 (Axios)

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

The Fun Habit

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_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• The only habit linked to intelligence

• How to live out your values at work

• Are performance reviews useful?

• 3 ways to use AI to be more efficient

• How to deal with bad-boss energy

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Yield on US Treasury’s 5-Year Inflation-Protected Notes

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_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Life Semesters

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This method might make us feel young again, sans exams. And, just maybe, using a backpack as your briefcase might become the next big trend! 🎒😉

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day