Episode 89: The infrastructure bill is full steam ahead
President Joe Biden's infrastructure deal turned out to be smaller than many wanted, but investors said it nonetheless represented a significant down payment on rebuilding America’s infrastructure.
“It’s not really a slimmed-down bill, it’s just more narrow in focus,” said Jay Jacobs, head of research and strategies at Global X, who runs the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE), a basket of U.S.-based companies that derive the majority of their revenue from infrastructure development.
Crypto non-grata: China's not playing games. Bitcoin plunged to a two-week low yesterday after China cracked down on miners. Chinese authorities reportedly ordered a halt to crypto mining, forcing the shutdown of many mining "farms." Mining computers use mountains of electricity to validate transactions and mine new coins. China relies heavily on coal power so that electricity burns a lot of "dirty" energy. Now, China is cracking down to help meet its climate goals. The authoritarian state also doesn't love the decentralized nature of BTC (#digiyuan-only).
Roth it to me: Peter Thiel and other billionaires are tax-dodging masterminds. The contrarian venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder have reportedly been using a Roth IRA retirement account to make tax-sidestepping startup investments for decades. Over the last 20 years, Thiel has quietly turned his Roth IRA — a humdrum retirement vehicle intended to spur Americans to save for their golden years — into a gargantuan tax-exempt piggy bank, confidential Internal Revenue Service data shows. Using stock deals unavailable to most people, Thiel has taken a retirement account worth less than $2,000 in 1999 and spun it into a $5 billion windfall.
Gender-neutral: California, here we come. The 2018 California law requiring female representation on boards of directors hasn't seen many objections in a while, but a federal appeals court ruled this week that an investor will be able to sue over the mandate. Creighton Meland Jr., a retired corporate attorney, and investor in OSI Systems sued with the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation; they're arguing that the law "unconstitutionally required shareholders to discriminate on the basis of sex when electing directors." Wall Street Journal
Friday Market Close
Dow 30 34,433.84 +237.02 (+0.69%)
S&P 500 4,280.70 +14.21 (+0.33%)
Nasdaq 14,360.39 -9.32 (-0.06%)
Filed IPO/SPACs
Couchbase, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based NoSQL database, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (BASE) and reports a $40 million net loss on $103 million in revenue for 2020. Couchbase raised nearly $300 million from firms like Accel (20.9% pre-IPO stake), North Bridge (13.7%), GPI Capital (13%), Mayfield (10.1%), and Adams Street Partners (5.4%). http://axios.link/3WlI
BuzzFeed, a 15-year-old digital media company, announced Thursday it plans to go public via a merger with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company. The company, merging with 890 Fifth Avenue Partners, is targeting a $1.5 billion valuation. BuzzFeed also plans to acquire Complex Networks, a digital publisher that specializes in streetwear, music, and culture.
LATAM
Dapp, a Mexican fintech, raised a $12.4M Series A funding round from G2 Momentum Capital and Kalonia Venture Partners. Dapp is a payment wallet that tackles the issue of card information theft and unrecognized charges, which is a prevalent problem in Latin America. The platform facilitates safe and secure e-payments for businesses through QR code verification. The funding will allow Dapp to start expanding across Mexico.