Good morning and Happy Friday! Netflix tanked 10% after-hours as co-founder Reed Hastings announced he is leaving. Quantum stocks are ripping after Nvidia debuted AI models to boost the sector. And Emirates International Investment took a minority stake in Joe & the Juice at a $1.8B valuation.

Allbirds dropped 36% as its AI pivot came back to reality. Myseum, an obscure social media firm, surged 129% after announcing a rebrand to Myseum.AI. And Anthropic dropped its "less capable" Opus 4.7 following the Mythos release.

Plus: Apollo, Ares, and Sixth Street in early talks to fund an NBA European league, webcams of the insane West Village restaurant lines going viral, and 6 tips for a happier, healthier day.

Blueflame now has agentic content creation to accelerate your deal diligence and presentation. Request a demo today.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

The Golden Age of SPVs

The traditional private equity playbook was simple: raise a fund, deploy the fund, sell the assets, return the capital, raise a bigger fund. But that model is under serious pressure as PE fundraising hits its slowest pace in years, with sponsors taking longer to close new funds or settling for smaller pools.

Instead of waiting, more firms are going directly to investors deal by deal, using special purpose vehicles to back individual acquisitions without a commingled pool.

Liberty Hall Capital did this last year to acquire aircraft software provider Paxia, after its 2018 debut fund ran out of capacity. "There was a need for speed," said managing partner Rowan Taylor.

An SPV is a one-off vehicle for a single transaction, where investors buy into a specific asset with a specific thesis rather than handing a firm a blank check. Castle Harlan, which raised five U.S. funds before shifting to deal-by-deal in 2018, has since backed three direct deals in the past three years totaling $725M in enterprise value.

Houlihan Lokey's Anthony Martino calls it "the perfect storm for direct deals." Fundraising is slow. The generational wealth transfer is flooding family offices with capital looking for direct exposure. And investors want to pick their spots, not commit to a blind pool.

The tradeoff is real. These deals are hard to scale (Cascadia Capital's Michael Butler notes "herding the cats can get tough" at size), and LPs have to screen carefully. Partners Capital's Jennifer Fox Bensimon said her team avoids "backing the last deal they're ever going to do."

Takeaway: The commingled fund isn't going away. The biggest platforms will keep raising multi-billion-dollar vehicles. But the middle market is quietly experimenting with a more flexible model, and the fundraising drought is accelerating the shift. For investors, direct deals mean lower fees and asset-specific exposure. For firms, they're a way to stay active when the traditional machine stalls.

PRESENTED BY BLUEFLAME AI

The Deal Content Engine

Introducing agentic content creation in Blueflame AI.

Generate Microsoft Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations, and Word documents with Blueflame AI’s agentic content creation tools.

Automatically synthesize, structure, and format professional-grade outputs including pitch decks, CIM summaries, and financial models, all in one workflow.

This is AI designed for how deal teams actually work: fast, iterative, and under pressure.

Spend less time polishing outputs and more time on strategic thinking. What will you create first?

See Blueflame’s deal content creation in action.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Netflix stock slides as earnings beat estimates, co-founder Reed Hastings announces departure from board (YF)

• Quantum stocks on pace for a massive week after Nvidia debuts AI models to boost the tech (CNBC)

• UAE investor buys stake in General Atlantic's Joe & the Juice (BB)

• Allbirds stock now crashing after AI pivot sends it soaring 582% (Futurism)

• Another absurd AI pivot is propelling Myseum 130% (CNBC)

• Anthropic's 'less capable' Opus 4.7 debuts after Mythos (CNBC)

• Private credit giants are in talks to fund NBA's foray into Europe (BB)

• Can webcams help solve New York's restaurant line problem? (NYT)

• Charles Schwab to launch direct bitcoin, ethereum trading to compete with Robinhood (CNBC)

• Airline CEOs urged by lawmaker to lower fares if fuel prices come down (CNBC)

• Jet fuel prices double, leading airlines to increase baggage fees, raise fares (NPR)

• Tesla leans on Elon Musk's SpaceX to buoy sagging Cybertruck sales (BB)

• New York is funding private equity's real estate buying spree (NYS Focus)

• Private credit funds face more pressure as banks swap collateral (BB)

• QVC Group prepares for Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing (WSJ)

• PepsiCo CEO on $7 chips: We are committed to lower prices (YF)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• Stocks edged higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at fresh record highs

• Technology strength continued, supported by AI-driven momentum

• Global markets were mixed, with Asia stronger on China data and Europe more muted

• Treasury yields ticked higher, reflecting steady growth expectations

• Oil prices firmed, holding near recent elevated levels

Breaking Out to New Highs

• Markets have fully recovered from the geopolitical-driven selloff, reclaiming all-time highs quickly

• The speed of the rebound suggests strong underlying demand for equities

• Historically, similar breakouts have tended to lead to continued gains rather than reversals

• The rally is being supported by a mix of earnings strength, easing geopolitical risk, and resilient growth

Earnings and AI Momentum

• Semiconductor strength remains a key theme, with AI demand continuing to drive results

• Even strong earnings are being met with muted reactions, signaling a higher bar for companies

• Broader earnings trends remain constructive and increasingly diversified across sectors

Labor Market Remains Steady

• Jobless claims declined, reinforcing a backdrop of low layoffs and stable employment

• Hiring trends continue to point toward a moderating but healthy labor market

• This balance supports consumer spending without reigniting inflation pressures

• A steady labor backdrop gives the Fed flexibility to remain patient on policy

• Overall, the economy continues to show resilience despite recent shocks

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Him & Hers, Inc. ($EBAY) +11% after the FDA announced advisory meetings to potentially expand access to peptide therapies beyond GLP-1s.

• (+) Advanced Micro Devices ($AMD) +8% because the company inked a multiyear deal with Meta to supply up to 6 gigawatts of GPUs for AI data centers

• (–) Allbirds ($RGTQ) -36% after reality set in after Wednesday’s 582% short-squeeze frenzy.

Prediction Markets

• Earnings Call Special (today before markets open): Bank of America

• Trade on real-world events with Kalshi. Use code OWS to get a $10 bonus when you trade $10.

Private Dealmaking

• Choice Properties and KingSett Capital agreed to acquire First Capital REIT, which owns grocery-anchored strip malls, for around $6.8 billion

• Esco Technologies agreed to acquire Megger Group, a utilities testing and monitoring firm, for $2.35 billion

• Squared agreed to acquire Spire’s natural gas storage assets for $650 million

• Beeline Medicines, a precision immunology startup, raised $300 million

• Sygaldry, a quantum infrastructure platform, raised $105 million

• Slash, a vertical banking startup, raised $100 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

Young Money

Description:
A practical and thoughtful guide from Jack Raines on how to build wealth and direction early in life. The book blends personal finance with career strategy and mindset, focusing on how to make smarter decisions with money, time, and energy in your twenties. It emphasizes intentional living, long-term thinking, and avoiding the common traps that derail financial and personal growth.

Book Length: 256 pages
Release Date: August 4, 2026

Ideal For:
Young professionals and anyone in their twenties looking to build wealth, make smarter career decisions, and create a strong foundation for long-term success

The biggest advantage you have in your twenties is not money it is time and how you choose to use it.

DAILY VISUAL

Diamond Prices at Record-Low Levels

PRESENTED BY STELRIX

A Private Bank in Your Wallet

Family offices and private banking clients have accessed capital by borrowing against their assets for generations, using their portfolios as collateral while keeping investments intact and compounding. Traditional securities-backed lines require $100,000 minimums and weeks of underwriting, keeping this approach exclusive to institutional relationships.

Stelrix built that same infrastructure into a sleek gold card that connects directly to your existing brokerage. This equates to dynamic buying power and smart APR. Your credit and holdings remain untouched, so they can continue generating returns while you access spending power in real time. Limits are dynamic, based on your portfolio value. It’s like a private bank in your pocket.

Reserve your gold card today.

DAILY ACUMEN

Loudest Voice

The most influential person in your life is you, specifically the version of you that narrates your experience in real time, interprets what events mean, decides what you are capable of, and delivers a verdict on whether you are on track or falling behind.

Most people have never once examined whether that voice is accurate, fair, or even remotely on their side.

You would not tolerate from a friend the things most people say to themselves on an average Tuesday. The internal monologue runs constantly, shapes everything, and operates almost entirely below the level of conscious scrutiny.

Changing what you believe about yourself is not self-help. It is infrastructure work on the system running everything else.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• 6 tips for a happier, healthier day

• How to turn regret into a compass

• The key to true personal growth

• How to answer questions about a resume

• How to tap into your team’s circadian rhythm

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

📣 Partner With Us: Get in front of an audience of over 1 million finance professionals, business leaders, and policy influencers. Submit a partnership inquiry.

📊 Wall Street Comp & Culture Data: Get the most detailed comp, carry, and culture insights across 800+ Wall Street firms. Explore the data.

📈 Grow With Us: Work directly with the Overheard on Wall Street team to scale your finance brand. Schedule your free consult.

🧢 Wall Street Shop: Explore our collection of finance-themed apparel and merchandise. Visit the shop.

📬 Deals Newsletter – Buysiders: A curated roundup of major M&A, private equity, and VC activity. Plus access to private deal flow. Subscribe here.