Episode 77: The Dow crossed 34,000 mark for the first time
The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 34,000 mark for the first time in history on Thursday, as Wall Street surged to new record highs after a slew of positive economic data, including soaring retail sales and a drop in the number of weekly filings for first-time unemployment benefits.
This week's bank earnings are evidence that the pandemic crisis is long over on Wall Street. Banks are riding high as the worst of the pandemic's economic impact sits in the rearview mirror. Banks had set aside billions of dollars worth of rainy day funds to offset loan defaults when COVID-19 hit. Goldman’s average balances in its prime brokerage business — the one that services hedge funds and worked with the Archegos Capital prior to its implosion — hit a record high.
Coinbase’s (COIN) highly anticipated direct listing went off with a boom. The cryptocurrency exchange platform initially blew past a $100 billion valuation — surpassing Target, Zoom, or CVS (for context) — before ending the day at around $86 billion. It's still triple the market cap of Nasdaq, which owns the exchange where Coinbase is now listed. Prices of Bitcoin and meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (Nasdaq: DOGE) soared to record highs today.
The mobility industry hit a major milestone Thursday as TuSimple (Nasdaq: TSP) became the first dedicated self-driving vehicle maker to go public. TuSimple raised more than $1.35 billion at a roughly $9 billion valuation on a fully diluted basis. Its shares ended the first day unchanged from their IPO price of $40 a piece. Self-driving trucks could take-off faster than robotaxis for a few key reasons: their routes are more predictable, they can save on fuel costs, and long-haul truckers are in short supply.
Markets Closed
Dow 30 34,200.67 +164.68 (+0.48%)
S&P 500 4,185.47 +15.05 (+0.36%)
Nasdaq 14,052.34 +13.58 (+0.10%)
IPOs/SPACs
Inspirato, a Denver-based luxury vacation club company is in talks to go public at more than a $1 billion valuation via Thayer Ventures Acquisition (Nasdaq: TVAC), per Bloomberg. Inspirato has raised over $100 million from firms like Kleiner Perkins and W Capital Partners, in addition to receiving a $9.4 million federal PPP loan. http://axios.link/3PDz
LATAM
Tech firm Torre raised $10M in seed funding from various executives and private investors of Apple, Facebook, and Space X. Torre is a professional recruitment and work-seeking network platform, reinventing talent acquisition and job matching services for remote workers. The platform currently serves over one million users across 180 countries, connecting Latin American talent with global companies. Torre uses AI technology to build clients a “professional genome,” matching employees with companies. With the growing levels of remote workers and increasing globalization of companies, Torre is serving a rapidly growing market.
Events
Earth Day Celebrate with ACG 101 - Register now for a virtual discussion with Robert Berezansky, CFO, PreZero US, and Elaine Salewske, Director ESG, Takeda Pharmaceuticals on how they are embracing Environmental, Social, & Corporate Governance (ESG) initiatives and what impacts they are having on their internal and external stakeholders. Furthermore, the benefits to broader society. The panel will be moderated by Laura Moreno Lucas, Founder, Pandocap, and ESG subject matter expert.
Women CFO Event with Jen Scales - Best-selling author, international business speaker, and TED talk veteran - David Nihill will be leading April’s Women CFO Event - “Hacking Public Speaking”. Event Date: Thursday, April 29th from 10:00 am - 11:00 am PST. Join Jen and all the amazing women in finance for this amazing event.