Good Morning! Oracle just posted its best day since 1992, soaring 36% and catapulting Larry Ellison past Elon Musk as the world’s richest man. CEO Safra Catz didn’t do too badly either, raking in $412 million in just six hours of trading.

Klarna jumped 15% on its NYSE debut, while KKR and Blackstone are betting big on India as their new Asian buyout hub. And Goldman finds that family offices are less exposed to private equity as they lean more heavily on public markets.

Plus: Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at a Utah college event, $900-an-hour engineers are coming for McKinsey’s AI business, and struggling hedge fund PMs are suddenly the hottest recruits on the Street.

Markets see a cut coming on September 17. Trade on the Fed’s move here.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Pokémon > S&P 500

Nvidia and Oracle may be stealing market headlines, but an under-the-radar asset class has quietly crushed the S&P 500: Pokémon trading cards.

Since 2004, Pokémon cards have delivered a 3,821% cumulative return, according to Card Ladder, compared with 483% for the S&P 500.

What started in 1996 as a Nintendo video game franchise turned into a $12 billion collectibles market, turbocharged during the pandemic as millennials rediscovered their childhood hobby. The boom hit the mainstream when Logan Paul paid $5.3 million for a Pikachu Illustrator card at WrestleMania in 2022.

For some, these cards aren’t just nostalgia. One Ohio account manager liquidated part of his collection to buy a $60,000 custom engagement ring and help pay for his wedding.

Another investor in Oklahoma values his 500-card stash at $100,000, treating it like a Roth IRA. In Arkansas, a father is building five binder “portfolios” for his children, storing them in a climate-controlled vault with family heirlooms to be handed down at milestones.

Despite offering no yield, no liquidity, and no intrinsic value, Pokémon cards are being treated like long-duration growth assets.

Prices hinge on rarity and authentication, and even a minor scratch can slash a card’s value. Enthusiasts argue they’re more durable than baseball cards (after all, Pikachu won’t tear an ACL and Charizard won’t get a DUI) but critics warn of bubble dynamics, counterfeit risks, and opaque supply.

Takeaway: The Pokémon card market may look like an alt asset, but it’s speculative collecting built on emotional arbitrage. The thesis is simple, millennials with disposable income will pay irrational multiples for pristine copies of their childhood memories. And while Wall Street preaches that sentiment has no place in investing, it has, ironically, been one of the best trades of all.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Oracle cements its role in the AI era with strong results (WSJ)

• Larry Ellison eclipses Elon Musk as world’s richest man (NBC)

• Oracle CEO Safra Catz nets nearly half a billion dollars in less than a day (CNBC)

• Klarna shares jump 30% following IPO (Axios)

• KKR and Blackstone pivot to India as Asia buyout hub after China dip (BB)

• $900/hour AI engineers encroach on McKinsey’s consulting turf (VB)

• Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event (AP)

• Potbelly sandwich chain to sell itself to RaceTrac (WSJ)

• Stagflation fears rise after steepest jobs downgrade in decades (YF)

• AI impact on workforce is small but not zero (CNBC)

• Retail investors’ access to private markets could be a double-edged sword (CNBC)

• California bill would put private equity healthcare deals under tighter scrutiny (WSJ)

• Goldman finds family offices have less private equity exposure (BB)

• Producer Price Index shows inflation cooled in August (CNBC)

• Crypto-treasury frenzy already running out of steam (BB)

• Hedge fund traders on a bad streak are the hottest recruits around (BB)

PRESENTED BY KALSHI

Will the Fed Cut Rates?

With less than one week from the September FOMC meeting, markets are pricing in an 80% chance the Fed cuts rates by 25bps.

The Fed will also release its Summary of Economic Projections, updating its outlook on inflation, unemployment, and future rate paths, making this one of the most closely watched decisions of the year.

Kalshi lets traders take a direct position on multiple outcomes (even on the words Powell will say). Their federally regulated prediction markets offer a clean way to express views on interest rates. Trade the rate cut here.

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• U.S. stocks rose, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting record closes after softer-than-expected PPI data.

• Technology and utilities led gains, while consumer discretionary and staples lagged.

• 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.05%, as bonds rallied.

• Asian markets rallied, with Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea all reaching record highs; Europe was flat.

• Dollar strengthened, while WTI oil climbed on geopolitical tensions after Israel’s strike on Hamas leadership.

Economic Data Highlights

• PPI inflation cooled to 2.6%, well below the 3.3% forecast.

• Trade services inflation fell 1.7% m/m, helping drive the overall decline.

• Core PPI dropped to 2.8% y/y, reinforcing evidence that tariff-related cost pass-through remains muted.

• This softer PPI reading could help moderate consumer price pressures in the months ahead.

Reported Earnings

• Chewy (CHWY) – Active customers grew modestly; autoship sales continued to drive revenue growth.

• Quantum (QMCO) – Posted higher subscription revenue and improved margins, though total revenue was slightly below expectations.

Earnings Today

• Kroger (KR) – Focus on same-store sales growth, gross margin trends, and digital grocery performance.

• Adobe (ADBE) – Key watch: Creative Cloud and Document Cloud ARR growth, AI adoption across product suite.

• RH (RH) – Investors focused on luxury home-furnishings demand, showroom expansion, and margin recovery.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Oracle ($ORCL) +36% after the software giant scored massive AI deals.

• (+) CoreWeave ($CRWV) +17%  because the company’s CEO says AI demand is overwhelming.

• (–) Chewy ($CHWY) -17% after the pet food company failed to live up to investor expectations.

Private Dealmaking

• Bending Spoons agreed to acquire Vimeo for $1.38 billion

• PsiQuantum, a quantum computing company, raised $1 billion

• DeepIntent, a healthcare advertising platform, raised $637 million

• Potbelly will be sold to convenience store chain RaceTrac for $566 million

• Strive Health, a kidney care startup, raised $550 million

• Aven, a provider of home equity–backed credit cards, raised $110 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

Blindspotting

Description: A deep-dive into the hidden gaps in leadership that trip up even highly capable people. Dubin, a clinical psychologist turned coach, lays out six common blindspots leaders often miss. He walks you through real-life examples and coaching sessions, helping you recognize what you don’t see, adjust what you thought worked, and build stronger, more resilient leadership from the inside out.

Rating: 4.8 / 5

Book Length: 256 pages

Ideal For: Leaders, managers, founders, and anyone ready to grow by confronting the unseen traits limiting their impact.

“Until you uncover your blind spots, you can’t move forward—or deliver on your goals as a leader.”

DAILY VISUAL

Tesla #1 For Cathie Wood

Want more? Visualize the markets with Carbon Finance

PRESENTED BY PACASO

Big Investors Bet on This “Unlisted” Stock

When the former Zillow exec who sold his last company for $120m starts a new venture, people notice. That’s why the same investors that backed Uber, Venmo, and eBay also backed Pacaso.

Disrupting the real estate industry once again, Pacaso’s streamlined platform offers co-ownership of premier properties, revamping the $1.3t vacation home market.

And it works. By handing keys to 2,000+ happy homeowners, Pacaso has already made $110m+ in gross profits in less than 5 years. They even recently reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO. 

And you can become a Pacaso shareholder before the investment opportunity ends September 18.

DAILY ACUMEN

Conviction Curve

Conviction is underrated alpha. Markets overreact because they are populated by weak hands—people who get shaken out by noise, volatility, or Twitter threads.

The money is made holding through drawdowns when your thesis is still intact. But conviction isn’t blind hope; it’s earned.

It comes from doing the work so thoroughly that when the market hands you a 30% drawdown, you can say, “My edge is still valid. This is a gift.”

Careers have conviction curves too. Most people abandon their side hustle, their writing, their startup, before the flywheel even turns.

They confuse boredom with a broken thesis. The magic often happens in the period of maximum doubt—right before compounding becomes visible.

If you want to beat the market or beat the average life, you have to sit through volatility. That means keeping a journal of your original reasoning, revisiting it regularly, and asking: “Has the world changed—or just the price?”

The best investors and the most interesting people have the stomach to hold their ideas long enough to see if they work. The alternative is playing hot potato with your own future.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• Breathwork boosts blood flow 

• 5 tweaks to make your home office inspiring 

• “Zone zero” exercise is trending 

• AI is solving America’s $1T manufacturing labor crisis 

• Common money tips that keep us broke

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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