Good Morning! SBF’s trial officially kicks off in Lower Manhattan today. But surprisingly, some former customers who lost lots of money with FTX say they’re still doubling down on crypto.  

Jamie Dimon wants to turn JPMorgan into the next Silicon Valley Bank - after SVB’s collapse, Dimon sees an opportunity to target startups and venture capital firms.

Hedge funds using computers could start selling $30 billion worth of stocks soon. And Bill Ackman says the economy might just be tapping the brakes, and the Federal Reserve is probably done hiking interest rates.

Today is the final day to pre-order our Financial Modeling Course and get $100 off with the code: PREORDER.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Netflix Wants To Be Disney

Netflix used to rely on milking its subscriptions for all they were worth. But with new business drying up, the company’s pivoting to merch drops.

Right now $NFLX is dropping merchandise for their new live-action TV show "One Piece." But they also put together a collection for "Stranger Things."

Netflix has been keeping a close eye on its arch-nemesis, Disney, and how they've been raking in the big bucks with consumer products and experiences. Disney isn’t just making money off of streaming their shows - they’re also creating fan experiences and hawking merchandise to keep their viewers talking between seasons. 

And now, Netflix wants a piece of that diversified revenue stream.

And with their arsenal of original content, including hits like "Squid Game" and "Bridgerton," Netflix is gunning to keep viewers hooked even when their favorite shows are on hiatus.

This sudden shift is quite the revelation for Netflix, which used to brag about doing just one thing exceptionally well: selling subscriptions to a colossal catalog of shows and movies. 

Takeaway: Don’t be so sure Netflix can become the new Disney right away. Pivoting to merch comes with its own set of financial risks. Making products like figurines can take as long as 18 months, and Netflix has to roll the dice on whether a new series will hit the jackpot. And create too much merchandise, and you risk watering down a show's brand.

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks rose to start October after the government averted a government shutdown.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Sphere ($SPHR) +11% after the media and entertainment company debuted its Las Vegas venue last week.

• (+) Discover Financial Services ($DFS) +5% after reaching a consent agreement with the FDIC.

• (–) Instacart ($CART) -9% after forecasting a weak second-half outlook.

Private Dealmaking

• Carlyle bought a majority stake in two medical device businesses of Medtronic for over $7 billion

• Advent International and Warburg Pincus completed their acquisition of Baxter International’s pharma contract manufacturing business for $4.25 billion 

• Wells Fargo sold $2 billion of interest in Northwest Equity Partners’ investments

• Rithim Capital Corp bought the mortgage services business of Computershare Ltd. for $720 million

• SingTel sold Trustwave, a cybersecurity firm, for $205 million

• Bain Capital will invest $200 million into Masan Group, a Vietnamese food manufacturer and retailer

Get access to private deal flow here.

_{WHAT ELSE TO READ}

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_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Wall Street’s most hated regulator faces a threat (NYT)

• The big implications of soaring real rates (Axios)

• How bosses are getting Gen-Z wrong (YF)

• Retail theft is a very serious problem for the industry (Fox)

• Germany’s Birkenstock targets $9.2 billion valuation in New York IPO (CNBC)

• Bill Ackman gets SEC approval to find a mature unicorn (Axios)

• What happens when low uncertainty meets high confidence (YF)

• SoftBank-backed Lululemon rival Vuori said to plan IPO next year (BB)

• Nike’s earnings showed a consumer slowdown won’t derail all retailers (YF)

• If the government shuts down, so will IPOs (Axios)

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

The Experience Machine

Widely acclaimed philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark unpacks this provocative new theory that the brain is a powerful, dynamic prediction engine, mediating our experience of both body and world. From the most mundane experiences to the most sublime, reality as we know it is the complex synthesis of sensory information and expectation.

Exploring its fascinating mechanics and remarkable implications for our lives, mental health, and society, Clark nimbly illustrates how the predictive brain sculpts all human experience. Chronic pain and mental illness are shown to involve subtle malfunctions of our unconscious predictions, pointing the way towards more effective, targeted treatments.

Under renewed scrutiny, the very boundary between ourselves and the outside world dissolves, showing that we are as entangled with our environments as we are with our onboard memories, thoughts, and feelings. And perception itself is revealed to be something of a controlled hallucination.

Unveiling the extraordinary explanatory power of the predictive brain, The Experience Machine is a mesmerizing window onto one of the most significant developments in our understanding of the mind.

“The mind-bending research upends conventional wisdom about how humans interact with the world around them.”

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• 9 phrases people with good etiquette and manners always use

• 3 steps for taming public speaking anxiety

• The cash flow cheat sheet

• Tips for mastering leadership

• Morgan Housel on a few things he’s sure about

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Powerball Jackpot Tops $1 Billion for Monday's Drawing

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_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Freedom Of Attitude

“There are two franchised pack-and-ship shops about equidistant from my home.

One has a 4.5 rating and is reliably busy. The other has an astonishingly low 1.5 out of 5 rating.

The physical plant is virtually identical, and the marketing and promo are the same. The only difference is the owner running the second shop.

Tomorrow, he gets yet another chance to make yet another decision about what sort of attitude to bring to his day.

As Victor Frankl reminds us, this is our core freedom. To decide how to face the day.”

Source: Seth Godin

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day