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- 🍋 Sneaky Vacation Season
🍋 Sneaky Vacation Season
A new study found more Americans are taking quiet vacations this Fourth of July, plus Saks owner bought Neiman Marcus.
Together With
“We are getting back on a disinflationary path.” — Jerome Powell
Good Morning! Hope everyone enjoyed the Fourth of July holiday. It was the busiest holiday on record, with over 70 million Americans traveling. Hiring slowed down in June. The stock market hit record highs on Wednesday, but Bitcoin is tumbling to 2-month lows. One of the biggest bears in this bull market is leaving JPMorgan. KKR, Francisco Partners are vying to acquire Instructure and women’s soccer is drawing private equity interest as team valuations soar. Plus how much Hindenburg made on its Adani short.
Attention private equity professionals: You can go from CIM to an LBO model in less than 5 mins with Mosaic. It’s already used by funds like CVC and Warburg Pincus, get a demo here.
SQUEEZ OF THE DAY
Sneaky Vacation Season
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Hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July holiday. And while today is technically a work day, we’re curious - are any of you quiet vacationing?
71 million Americans were expected to travel this holiday, making it the busiest Independence Day of all time.
But with this being a popular week to work remotely, a new survey found that this is a popular week for quiet vacationing. That is, millions of Americans are at the beach, the lake, you name it - they’re taking time off without formally requesting PTO.
With the rise of hybrid work, it’s easier than ever to be at the beach without the boss knowing.
One of the reasons Gen-Z and Millennials say they’re not formally taking time off? They feel the constant need to be online and responsive.
Fourth of July is one of the least productive weeks of the year. Over half (53%) of Gen Zers and Millennials report they “barely get any work done” around the holiday. Yet, only 10% of employers close for the entire week, even though nearly half of Americans plan vacations around Independence Day.
Takeaway: A majority of Gen Z and millennial employees believe having the entire week off would make them more productive, motivate them to put in more effort, and take on more responsibility at work. It’s a small trade-off that could significantly boost employees’ focus during one of the “least productive” seasons of the year. Fingers crossed for a week-long break in the future—you might just find yourself working harder by hardly working!
PRESENTED BY MOSAIC
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HEADLINES
Top Reads
Private payrolls grew by 150k in June, less than expected (CNBC)
Wall Street is still worried about regional banks (YF)
Bitcoin slides to 2-month low as Fed signals it’s not ready to cut rates yet (CNBC)
KKR, Francisco Partners vying to acquire Instructure (Reuters)
Women’s soccer draws private-equity interest as team valuations soar (CNBC)
The short seller who took on Adani made surprisingly little money (CNN)
Southwest Airlines adopts poison pill to fend off activist investor (CNBC)
How the U.S. economy drowned the swimming pool business (Axios)
One of the biggest bears in this bull market is leaving JPMorgan (CNBC)
The biggest risk to Nvidia becoming a $10 trillion juggernaut (YF)
CAPITAL PULSE
Markets Rundown
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Markets were closed for the Fourth of July holiday, but on Wednesday, stocks closed higher because investors embraced inflation data.
Movers & Shakers
(+) Paramount Global ($PARA) +7% after Skydance entered an agreement to merge with the company.
(+) Tesla ($TSLA) +7% because the EV maker continues to rally after the Q2 deliveries report.
(–) Constellation Brands ($STZ) -3% after the beer and wine company missed sales expectations.
Private Dealmaking
DOF Group bought Maersk Supply Service for $1.11 billion
Runway, an AI video startup, raised $450 million
DNEG Group, a VFX company, raised $200 million
Nano Dimension bought Desktop Metal, a manufacturing company, for $183 million
Beacon Therapeutics, a gene therapy company, raised $170 million
Route, a post-purchase tracking startup, raised $40 million
For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.
BOOK OF THE DAY
The Catalyst
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/6b659d35-44a0-46ea-a897-9d0ec1bdde74/Screenshot_2024-07-04_at_10.58.43_PM.png?t=1720159921)
For over half a century, DNA has dominated science and the popular imagination as the “secret of life.” But over the last several decades, a quiet revolution has taken place. In a series of breathtaking discoveries, the biochemist Thomas R. Cech and a diverse cast of brilliant scientists have revealed that RNA―long overlooked as the passive servant of DNA―sits at the center of biology’s greatest mysteries: How did life begin? What makes us human? Why do we get sick and grow old?
In The Catalyst, Cech finally brings together years of research to demonstrate that RNA is the true key to understanding life on Earth, from its very origins to our future in the twenty-first century.
A gripping journey of discovery, The Catalyst moves from the early experiments that first hinted at RNA’s spectacular powers, to Cech’s own paradigm-shifting finding that it can catalyze cellular reactions, to the cutting-edge biotechnologies poised to reshape our health.
We learn how RNA―once thought merely to transmit DNA’s genetic instructions to the cell’s protein-making machinery―may have jump-started life itself, and how, at the same time, it can cut our individual lives short through viral diseases and cancer.
We see how RNA is implicated in the aging process and explore the darker depths of the supposed fountain of youth, telomerase. And we catch a thrilling glimpse into how RNA-powered therapies―from CRISPR, the revolutionary tool that uses RNA to rewrite the code of life, to the groundbreaking mRNA vaccines that have saved millions during the pandemic, and more―may enable us to improve and even extend life beyond nature’s current limits.
“Exploring the most transformative breakthroughs in biology since the discovery of the double helix, a Nobel Prize–winning scientist unveils the RNA age.”
DAILY VISUAL
2024's Hottest Summer Travel Destinations
Biggest change in share of flight bookings; percentage point increase in bookings from US to global destinations between June and August each year, 2019 and 2024
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Source: Axios
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DAILY ACUMEN
Gratitude
Gratitude turns what we have into enough. It's not happy people who are grateful, but grateful people who are happy.
Oprah Winfrey attributes much of her success to her gratitude practice. What if you started each day by listing three things you're thankful for?
Studies show that practicing gratitude can improve mental health, enhance empathy, and even boost physical health.
It shifts your focus from what's lacking to what's present. From scarcity to abundance. Start a gratitude journal.
Express appreciation to others. Savor the small joys.
Remember, it's not joy that makes us grateful, but gratitude that makes us joyful.
ENLIGHTENMENT
Short Squeez Picks
Whole Foods CEO’s No. 1 green flag he looks for in employees
3 signs to spot someone with good leadership skills
How to rise from middle to senior management
How to strike the right balance between confidence and caution
How to use Skinner’s Law if you’re unmotivated and need to get on track
MEME-A-PALOOZA
Memes of the Day
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