Good Morning! Hope everyone enjoyed the Independence Day holiday weekend and is staying cool - 170 million Americans are under a heat advisory, with the West Coast bracing for record temperatures. Investors were quite satisfied with June’s job report and think it could raise pressure on the Fed to cut rates. Meanwhile, NYC apartment construction is grinding to a halt. Impossible Foods’ CEO is warning investors he could end up selling the company. The ‘Myspace for Gen-Z’ called noplace just became the #1 app on the App Store. Plus why Ken Griffin is hitting pause in the AI hype, and phrases to earn trust and boost credibility.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

The End of Free Checking?

JPMorgan is the largest consumer bank in the country, with over 86 million customers. And a top exec at the bank warned customers that they might have to start paying a fee for their currently free checking accounts. 

Marianne Lake, the CEO of JPMorgan’s consumer and community banking division, is placing all the blame on Washington regulators. Currently, regulators passed an $8 cap on credit-card late fees, as well as a $3 cap on overdraft fees (enforcement of these new rules is tied up in appeals court - banks sued because they don’t want it to become law).

Lake says that the new rules could erode JPMorgan’s revenue - and they’d have to make up for it by starting to charge for checking accounts. She also believes other banks might follow suit.

However, some critics aren’t convinced. They argue that banks are simply trying to maximize their profits and don’t necessarily need to pass these costs on to consumers. While a major bank like JPMorgan can absorb the hit to their profits, smaller community banks could be more adversely affected by the new regulations.

Takeaway: Chances are you’re probably not paying for a checking account right now and, if banks start charging for that, it’s going to be a little annoying. But we’ll see what happens - the laws are currently in appeals court. Given Wall Street's influential connections in Washington, there’s a chance these laws might not pass. But hey, at least you'll have a reason to finally read those bank fee notices!

_{PRESENTED BY PERCENT}

How Can You Add Private Credit to Your Portfolio?

In 2023, private credit averaged a 12% return¹ and the asset class is poised to grow to $2.3T by 2027.

As an individual investor though, alternative investments like private credit are often out of reach due to deal size and high minimums. 

That’s changing with Percent, one of the first platforms to offer private credit to everyday accredited investors and that’s already funded over $1 billion in deals to date. 

What can you find with private credit deals on Percent’s marketplace?

• Double-digit yield potential: Percent’s Q1 LTM net APY was over 14% after fees.

• Shorter term offerings: The average investment term is 9 months.

• Diversification: Investors can choose from domestic or international deals in small business loans, trade finance, merchant cash advances, and other forms of direct lending.

• Low minimums: Investments can start with as little as $500.

• Monthly cash flow: Most deals offer cash flow through monthly interest payments.

Visit Percent to create an account and view all offerings - plus earn a welcome bonus of up to $500 with your first investment.

_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• The latest on the June 2024 jobs report (CNBC)

• Extreme heat alerts in effect for 170 million Americans (Axios) 

• The ‘Myspace for Gen-Z’ takes No. 1 on the App Store (TC)

• June jobs report raises pressure on the Fed to cut rates (YF)

• New York City apartment construction is grinding to a halt (CRE)

• 10-year Treasury yield falls after unemployment rate rises unexpectedly (CNBC)

• Investors look to upcoming earnings to keep stock market rally going (CNN)

• Impossible Foods CEO tells investors they could end up selling the company (YF)

• Citadel’s Ken Griffin is hitting pause in the AI hype (Fortune)

• Citadel, Millennium extend streaks of gains (YF)

• AI gives Robinhood another arrow in its quiver (WSJ)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks closed higher after June’s jobs report.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Macy’s ($M) +10% after the retailer’s activist investor raised bid to buy the company

• (+) Instructure Holdings ($INST) +5% because of takeover reports by private equity firms.

• (–) Marathon Digital ($MARA) -4% because the now-defunct Mr. Gox is making payments in Bitcoin to creditors.

Private Dealmaking

• Function, a health testing startup, raised $45 million

• TechWolf, a talent management platform, raised $43 million

• Local Kitchens, a multi-brand restaurant startup, raised $40 million

• Onehouse, a data lakehouse company, raised $35 million

• Princeton NuEnergy, a direct recycler, raised $30 million

• LD Carbon, a Korean tire recycling startup, raised $28 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Lovers In Auschwitz

Zippi Spitzer and David Wisnia were captivated by each other from the moment they first exchanged glances across the work floor. It was the beginning of a love story that could have happened anywhere. Except for one difference: this romance was unfolding in history’s most notorious death camp, between two young prisoners whose budding intimacy risked dooming them if they were caught.

Incredibly, David and Zippi survived for years beneath the ash-choked skies of Auschwitz. Under the protection of their fellow inmates, their romance grew and deepened, even as their brushes with death mounted and David’s luck in particular seemed close to running out. As the war’s end finally approached and the time came for them to leave the camp, David and Zippi made plans to meet again.

But neither of them could imagine how long their reunion would take or how many lives they would live in the interim. They had no inkling, either, of the betrayals that would await them along the way. But David did suspect that Zippi harbored a secret—one that could explain the mystery of his survival all those years ago.

An unbelievable tale of romance, sacrifice, loss, and resilience, Lovers in Auschwitz is a saga of two young people who found themselves trapped inside a waking nightmare of the Nazis’ creation, yet who nevertheless discovered a love that sustained them through history’s darkest hour.

“Mesmerizing and inspirational.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

US Air Travel: No Signs of Slowdown

_{PRESENTED BY BILL}

Take a Demo, Get an Apple Watch

Celebrate Independence Day with a Free Apple Watch from BILL!

Declare your freedom from manual expense reports this 4th of July with BILL's Spend & Expense tool.

Book a demo of BILL’s expense management software and corporate card, and receive a complimentary Apple Watch.

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Growth

You're not a tree - if you don't like where you are, move.

You're not bound by your past or your circumstances. Carol Dweck's research on growth mindset shows that abilities and intelligence can be developed. What new skill could you learn? What limiting belief could you challenge?

Consider Elon Musk, who taught himself rocket science to start SpaceX. Or Vera Wang, who began her fashion design career at 40.

Your potential is not fixed; it's expandable. Every expert was once a beginner. Every skill you have now was once unknown to you.

Embrace the discomfort of learning. Remember, the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• 4 phrases to earn trust and boost credibility

• 3 hidden benefits of small talk

• How to use Napoleon's method of multitasking

• How your surroundings shape your mind

• How to pick a career that actually fits you

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day