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- June 14th - This Week in Alternative Investments
June 14th - This Week in Alternative Investments
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Headlines
Apple’s AI play
Fanatics teaming with Sotheby’s
Good inflation news
Restaurants are back
Plus: A new episode of Smart Humans, one of the world’s oldest books, Terraform’s $4.5 billion settlement, and much more.
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Market Updates
Apple is partnering with OpenAI. The tech giant revealed Apple Intelligence, which includes a ChatGPT integration into its software, at its Worldwide Developer Conference. Apple users will be able to use AI to help with writing and editing, image generation and emoji creation. Virtual assistant Siri will also now use AI to answer queries. This partnership is a huge boon for OpenAI, the biggest private AI startup in the world, and a blow to its competitors, including Elon Musk’s xAI. In response to the partnership, Musk has threatened to ban Apple products at his companies, ostensibly due to security concerns.
Restaurants are leading a retail real estate resurgence. After struggling during and after the pandemic, retail properties are seeing declining vacancy rates and rising leasing demand, which has led to record-high rents. This is due in large part to the overall boom in dining out, with 2024 on track to be the best year ever for the U.S. restaurant industry. Restaurant and dining spending is projected to be over $1.1 trillion, up 5.4% from last year, and 28% higher than pre-pandemic numbers. Restaurants made up 19% of all retail leases last year, the highest for any category since tracking began in 2007.
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(CNBC)
Inflation in the U.S. was lower than expected in May. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad measure of inflation, was flat last month, compared to a 0.3% gain in April. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.2%, and also came in below expectations. Additionally, the producer price index showed a 0.2% decrease in wholesale prices, another sign that inflation is cooling. While the Federal Reserve again kept interest rates steady, chair Jerome Powell noted the encouraging inflation report. Wall Street now expects a rate cut in September, with a possible second one in December. This would provide a boost to a number of alternative asset classes, such as real estate, that perform better in lower interest rate environments.
Sotheby’s is partnering with Fanatics to sell high-end trading cards. The two companies agreed to team up on auctions featuring cards valued at more than $100,000. The first auction will be this September and features a 1948 Jackie Robinson rookie card that is currently owned by the fractional platform Rally. This continues Sotheby’s expansion into collectibles, as they already have a partnership with the NBA to sell game-worn items. Meanwhile, Fanatics is sunsetting the PWCC brand, which they acquired last year, and is launching Fanatics Collect, which will hold auctions, run a fixed-price marketplace, and handle vaulting and authentication.
Smart Humans Podcast
In the latest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Percent CEO and Founder Nelson Chu about private credit investing and optimizing yield.
Explore
More stories worth checking out
📝 Top Stories
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(Christie’s)
Not your typical book sale: The Crosby Codex, believed to be the oldest Christian book and oldest privately-owned book in the world, sold for just over its high estimate of £3 million ($3.9 million) at an auction at Christie’s.
Half a million new millionaires: The U.S. added 500,000 new millionaires in 2023, and high net worth individuals are increasingly investing into alternative assets.
OKC rising high: The Oklahoma City Council approved plans for a 1,907 foot tall building with more than 1,000 luxury apartments, which would be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere when completed.
🎨 Art
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(Christie’s)
Found at a bus stop: A twice-stolen 1508 painting by Titian is up for auction at Christie’s in July, carrying an estimate of £15 million - £25 million after being recovered in a plastic bag at a London bus stop.
Art Basel kicks off: The massive international art fair opened with worries of a stagnating market, but the first day of sales showed encouraging results, including a $20 million sale for Joan Mitchell’s “Sunflowers.”
⚾ Collectibles
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(cllct)
A new grail: A highly-graded copy of the legendary 1909 T206 Honus Wagner baseball card has emerged, with an estimated value of $25 million.
Rare stamp auction: Next week, Bill Gross’ stamp collection, worth an estimated $20 million, will head to the auction block, and the 1868 one-cent Z Grill is likely to become the most expensive U.S. stamp in history.
Disappointing jewels: The top three lots, all fancy-color diamonds, didn’t sell at the recent Phillips jewelry auction.
🪙 Crypto
Terraform’s settlement: The SEC agreed with the bankrupt crypto company also known as Terra, and its imprisoned CEO Do Kwon on a deal that includes a $4.5 billion penalty and a ban on trading “crypto asset securities.”
Paradigm shift: The VC firm raised a $850 million fund to invest into early-stage crypto and blockchain companies, as crypto VC investment continues to rebound along with the greater market.
💵 Private Credit
Private lenders hitting the bond market: Firms like Blackstone and Ares have raised over $13 billion on the corporate bond market this year, and are on a record-setting pace.
🏡 Real Estate
Office buyers getting discounts: Firms around the country are pouncing on distressed office buildings, buying them at values up to 70% lower than their previous sales, indicating that the market might have found its bottom.
Apartment occupancy staying steady: The 94.2% rate was unchanged month-over-month, though all five major metro areas in Texas are struggling with high vacancy rates due in part to the explosion in supply in the past few years.
Active listings growing: The number of active residential real estate listings on the market is up more than 35% year-over-year, and though the total supply still trails pre-pandemic levels, it represents good news for potential buyers.
🚀 Venture Capital
Tempus AI IPO: The healthtech startup that uses AI to process medical data debuted on Nasdaq and raised over $410 million at an implied valuation of $6.1 billion, at the top of its predicted range.
Sports VC: Former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital Group raised a $445 million fund to invest in sports related businesses, and is rumored to be targeting a professional women’s soccer team, Angel City FC.
Raspberry Pi IPO: The British-based computing startup raised over $200 million in its debut on the London stock exchange, and shares jumped by 38% in the first day of trading.
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