Good Morning! Discount retailer Big Lots filed for bankruptcy, with Nexus Capital acquiring the chain for $760 million. Apple unveiled the iPhone 16, alongside new Apple Watch and AirPods models. HSBC is considering merging its commercial and investment banks. NYC’s run clubs have become a crowded dating market. Elon Musk could become the first trillionaire by 2027. Starbucks’ CEO officially started his new gig. Plus, how to supercharge your networking skills and explain job hopping in an interview.

Evaluate your advisor’s performance—and reduce fees—at no cost with Rainbook.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

The Great Office Tracking Begins

With the rise in hybrid work and return-to-office, most firms have been playing a game of carrot-and-stick for the past few years. But PwC UK is finally throwing down the gauntlet… and they’re going to start tracking their employees’ locations.

PwC UK has had a 3-day-in-office (or with client) mandate for quite some time. The firm is struggling to enforce it, though - and it turns out most of its consultants and accountants are not adhering to the guidelines. 

So, starting on January 1st, PwC will track and share location data with its employees and managers. The firm says they’re giving its employees ample time to adjust to the rules. Some employees may have moved far from the office, so PwC is giving them a few months to straighten it out.

It’s not the first time a major firm has cracked down on remote work. Jamie Dimon has complained about the flaws of his bankers at JPMorgan working from home, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been vocal proponents of return-to-office as well. But this might be the first time we’re seeing a reputable firm like PwC use location data to enforce the return-to-office crackdown.

Takeaway: The United States has slightly different values as well as regulations from our European counterparts. While you can probably count on your employer tracking your badge swipes, it’s unlikely a major firm would come out publicly that they’re tracking your location… at least not yet. But who knows - it might only be a matter of time before we get the corporate version of 'Find My Friends.'

_{PRESENTED BY RAINBOOK}

Analyze Your Advisor (At No Cost)

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_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Big Lots files for bankruptcy protection, sells to private equity firm (CNBC)

• Everything announced at the 2024 Apple event (Mashable)

• HSBC weighs commercial, investment bank merger to shed costs (YF)

• Elon Musk on pace to become world’s first trillionaire by 2027 (Fox)

• NYC run clubs have become an oversaturated dating market (NBC)

• 6 issues Brian Niccol will have to fix at Starbucks as he takes over as CEO (CNBC)

• The more this Rolex costs, the more you want it (Wired)

• Sequoia Capital completes $861 million Stripe deal (Axios)

• What to expect from the AI-packed Apple iPhone 16 event (YF)

• Skype founder's VC firm raises $1.24 billion to back European tech startups (CNBC)

• The rise of fake influencers (Axios)

• AI craze is distorting VC market (CNBC)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

S&P 500 posted its first winning day in September as investors shake off recession concerns.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Palantir ($PLTR) +14% after the company joined the S&P 500.

• (+) JetBlue ($JBLU) +7% because Bank of America upgraded the airline.

• (–) Docusign ($DOCU) -5% following the sell-off after earnings.

Private Dealmaking

• Methanex bought the methanol business of OCI Global for $2.05 billion

• Nexus Capital bought Big Lots for $760 million

• Finally, bookkeeping software provider, raised $200 million

• Superluminal Medicines, a generative biology startup, raised $120 million

• 24M, a battery tech startup, raised $87 million 

• 6K, a North Andover, Mass., battery materials maker, raised $82 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Good Energy

What if depression, anxiety, infertility, insomnia, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer and many other health conditions that torture and shorten our lives actually have the same root cause?

Our ability to prevent and reverse these conditions - and feel incredible today - is under our control and simpler than we think. The key is our metabolic function - the most important and least understood factor in our overall health.

As Dr. Casey Means explains in this groundbreaking book, nearly every health problem we face can be explained by how well the cells in our body create and use energy.

To live free from frustrating symptoms and life-threatening disease, we need our cells to be optimally powered so that they can create “good energy,” the essential fuel that impacts every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing.

If you are battling minor signals of “bad energy” inside your body, it is often a warning sign that more life-threatening illness may emerge later in life. But here’s the good news: for the first time ever, we can monitor our metabolic health in great detail and learn how to improve it ourselves.

“Disease isn’t some random occurrence that might happen in the future. It is a result of the choices you make and how you feel today.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Air Conditioning Across Countries

_{PRESENTED BY KALSHI}

Monetary Policy Update: Fed Rate Decision Looms

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower interest rates at its upcoming meeting on September 17–18. The federal funds rate currently sits in the 5.25% to 5.50% range, with strong expectations of a 25 basis point cut.

However, with weaker-than-expected August labor market data, some are speculating that the Fed might cut rates by more than 25bps to stave off further economic slowdown. Traders on Kalshi are predicting a 78% chance of a 25bps cut, a 24% chance of a cut greater than 25bps, and a 2% chance of no cut.

What’s your take? Trade your thoughts on Kalshi now.

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Perspective

Imagine two stone cutters in medieval times, both hammering away at massive blocks of granite.

A traveler approaches the first and asks, "What are you doing?" The man, sweaty and irritated, replies, "I'm cutting this stupid rock." The traveler moves on to the second stone cutter and asks the same question. This man looks up with a gleam in his eye and proclaims, "I'm building a cathedral!"

Same task, vastly different perspectives. One sees drudgery, the other sees purpose. This isn't just a quaint parable - it's a powerful lesson in how our mindset shapes our reality.

Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, observed that even in the darkest circumstances, those who found meaning were more likely to survive. NASA janitors in the 1960s didn't just see themselves as cleaners, but as part of the mission to put a man on the moon.

Your perspective isn't just how you see the world - it creates your world. So, what's your cathedral? What greater purpose infuses your daily tasks with meaning?

Remember, the difference between a burden and a opportunity often lies not in what you do, but in how you see what you do.

Choose your perspective wisely - it might just be the most important decision you make today.

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Short Squeez Picks

• How to supercharge your networking skills 

• McKinsey’s 7S framework 

• The five dress shirts every man should own 

• Why answering work emails after hours is backfiring  

• How to explain job hopping in an interview  

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Memes of the Day