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.

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Sneaky Vacation Season

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}

CIM to LBO Model in < 5 Minutes

Ever get a CIM on a Friday evening and have to grind all weekend just to get the LBO model in good shape for your VP to review? What if you could build an LBO model in a fraction of the time without sacrificing accuracy? Enter Mosaic.

Mosaic is changing the game for private equity professionals. Transition seamlessly from a CIM to an LBO model in under 5 minutes, without a single error or a faulty template.

Plus you can add all the complexity you’ll need. Want to explore an IPO exit scenario? Just activate the IPO exit module and see the results unfold in real-time. Dividend recaps. M&A. Cost savings. Extended investment hold periods. Mosaic can do it all.

The best part? All Mosaic models can be exported into fully functional Excel models with working formulas so you can audit everything each time.

Already trusted by thousands of professionals at funds like CVC, Investcorp, Onex, Warburg Pincus, and New Mountain, Mosaic is making waves in the industry.

Ready to see Mosaic in action? Request a demo today.

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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

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.

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The Catalyst

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.”

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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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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.

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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

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Memes of the Day