Good Morning! Volvo is finally admitting that their plan to sell only electric vehicles by 2030 was perhaps too extreme. Meanwhile, Verizon is nearing a deal for rival Frontier Communications in the telecommunications hunger games. In other M&A news, KKR and Bain are battling over Fuji, and Nordstrom’s founders are offering $23 per share to take the department store chain private. Meanwhile, job openings fell more than expected in July, a new era of easy money is dawning, and how private equity is in the middle of America’s penny problem.

Bring in the fall with Pumpkin Spice Lattes—just for taking a demo.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Teens Run $20M Portfolios

It used to be that, if you wanted to break into finance, it was pretty straightforward. You’d have coffee chats with your alumni, study for technical interviews, and get the coveted internship.

But now, some high school students are taking it up a notch, leading some top firms like Citadel to start recruiting early. Instead of summer camp, they’re participating in programs that provide the opportunity to run mock $20 million portfolios.

These boot camps are becoming popular in Hong Kong and Singapore especially - but students are using these camps to recruit for Wall Street roles in New York. Boot camps typically consist of 50 students, aged 15 to 18, offering an early taste of high finance.

Some of the top firms like Citadel and Morgan Stanley are digging into the talent pool early—like, high school early. They’re turning to these boot camps and will likely be giving the top talent early internships. 

These teenagers are ready to jump into a career in finance before they even pick their college or majors. And they have skill, too - one even notched a 43% return in the trading simulation by making over 150 trades in 80 minutes. 

It goes to show - students need to get their foot in the door early or get left in the dust. 

Takeaway: It’s almost a joke how early Wall Street firms are recruiting. Basically, the top talent is being pressured into picking internships before they even pick college majors, universities, or even what they’re wearing to prom. While perhaps these programs are outliers, on-campus recruiting still gets earlier and earlier every year. Hopefully, it won’t get to the point where kindergarten career day includes mock interviews with Morgan Stanley.

_{PRESENTED BY BILL}

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_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Volvo ditches aim to sell only electric cars by 2030 (Reuters)

• Verizon nearing a deal for Frontier Communications (YF)

• Blackstone just made a $16 billion bet on AI (QZ)

• KKR speeds up $4 billion Fuji offer as Bain circles (YF)

• Nordstrom founders offer $23 per share to take the department store private (CNBC)

• A new era of easy money dawns (YF)

• Private equity is in the middle of America’s penny problem (Axios)

• Job openings fell more than expected in July (CNBC)

• What investors are getting wrong about the VIX right now (YF)

• Ken Griffin’s Wellington hedge fund eked out 1% gain in August (CNBC)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks continued their slide as Wall Street weighs economic data.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) GitLab ($GTLB) +22% after posting a strong Q3 outlook.

• (–) U.S. Steel ($X) -17% as Biden prepares to block the company’s acquisition by Nippon Steel.

• (–) Dollar Tree ($DLTR) -22% after the company slashed its full-year outlook.

Private Dealmaking

• Arsenal Biosciences, a cell therapy startup, raised $325 million

• eGenesis, a human-compatible organs developer, raised $191 million

• Sakana AI, a generative AI startup, raised $100 million

• You.com, a search engine, raised $50 million

• Doccla, a patient monitoring solutions provider, raised $38 million

• Ziina, a payment solutions provider, raised $22 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Nexus

For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite allour discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?

Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power.

He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.

Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.

“Masterful and provocative.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

The Rise of Electric School Buses

_{PRESENTED BY HEBBIA}

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_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Network

Your network can be your net worth.

Building and maintaining professional relationships can open doors, create opportunities, and enhance your career.

How strong is your professional network?

Successful people like Richard Branson attribute much of their success to networking.

Attend industry events.

Reach out to people you admire.

Offer value before asking for favors.

Remember, your network is your net worth.

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• What’s wrong with saying ‘I hope you’re well’ in work emails

• 5 ways to use bad emotions to grow your emotional intelligence

• Try pile cleaning when your mess is overwhelming

• How to turn around a difficult work relationship

• Letting go in life is never simple

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day