Episode 99: All major averages finished the week higher
Market News
All major averages finished the week higher for three straight weeks of gains, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising to a record close. Although inflation is a major overhang for investors right now, billionaire investor Jones believes inflation is the biggest threat to U.S. markets and that the Federal Reserve is not addressing the rising prices adequately, calling the central bank’s actions “the most inappropriate monetary policy that we’ve seen maybe in my lifetime.”
Sara Blakely became a self-made billionaire by founding Spanx. Now, she's sold a majority stake in the company to Blackstone in a deal valuing the shapewear brand at $1.2 billion. She'll stay on as executive chairwoman when the deal closes. Wall Street Journal
Microsoft's LinkedIn is removing itself from China's network. The software giant is shutting down LinkedIn in China, citing the country's intensifying pressure to censor. China was LinkedIn’s third-largest market, with 50M+ users. Microsoft plans to launch a new China-specific version of LinkedIn this year, which won't include social features: no ability to share opinions, news articles, or "some personal news."
PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) is in early talks to buy Pinterest (NYSE: PINS), per multiple reports. "PayPal rode a wave of digital-payment adoption over the course of the coronavirus pandemic to post record numbers of users and transaction volumes. That has propelled the stock, which would likely be used to help pay for any Pinterest deal, and given the company a market value of some $300 billion." — Dana Cimilluca and Cara Lombardo, WSJ
Friday Market Close
Dow 30 35,677.02 +73.94 (+0.21%)
S&P 500 4,544.90 -4.88 (-0.11%)
Nasdaq 15,090.20 -125.50 (-0.82%)
Filed IPO/SPACs
WeWork Inc. shares rose on their first day of trading Thursday, capping a journey to a listing that included the implosion of its initial public offering in 2019 and the ouster of its co-founder and chief executive, Adam Neumann. The shared-office company went public through a combination with BowX Acquisition Corp. , a special-purpose acquisition company. Shares closed 13.5% higher at $11.78 Thursday.
LATAM
Pomelo, a fintech founded by former Mercado Pago, Mastercard, and Naranja X executives, raised $35M – one of the largest Series A rounds in Latin America and just five months after announcing their $10M seed round. This round was led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from monashees, Index Ventures, Insight, QED, SciFi, Greyhound, and Box Group, as well as the founders of Affirm, Checkout, N26, Plaid, and Ramp, among others.