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THE HEADLINES
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FUNEMPLOYMENT
They employing errbody out here.
The US unemployment rate dropped further, to 3.7%, according to the Labor Department’s report released on Friday. That’s good enough for the lowest jobless rate since ‘Nam (read: 1969).
Further, the economy added 134k jobs, its 96th straight month of gainz. For what its worth, the US economy was expected to add 185k jobs, a minor chink in the economic armor.
Wages, uncharacteristically stagnant over this period of unprecedented economic expansion saw 2.8% growth. For a number that has been hovering around the Mendoza line, 2.8% is the stuff of economists wet dreams.
Water Cooler Talking Point: “Consider this: it’s easier to get a job now then it was when a majority of men of fighting age were conscripted into military service. Yet your deadbeat roommate can’t hold down a job at TCBY.”
LIECROIX
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman announced a $45B investment in SoftBank’s second Vision Fund, bringing the countries total investment in Masayoshi Son’s firm to a total of $90B, or roughly $20B more than Disney’s massive purchase of Fox. You know, chump change.
The Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is Saudi Arabia’s sovereign national fund, is expecting a windfall of up to $170B as it sells off a stake in Saudi Basic Industries Corp. and raises funds via the IPO of state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco.
According to Bin Salman, the country has more than a little bit of faith in the SoftBank fund, hence the additional $45B. The Kingdom has already seen an estimated 20% return on its investment. Remember, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
SoftBank plans to raise $100B every few years as it continues its massive expansion changing the VC game in the process.
Water Cooler Talking Point: If anybody has a link to apply for the remaining $125B investment please hit me on the DM.”
IN OTHER NEWS
- Elastic, the data and search software provider, almost doubled on its first day of trading in New York. Shares opened at $36 and closed at $70, raising $252M in the process at a valuation of $4.9B. All this despite a massive selloff in the tech space.
- The Doug Heffernan’s of the world can’t seem to agree on a new contract with UPS. As part of the Teamsters union, 243k Big Brown drivers and sorters rejected a new contract that would compensate some UPS drivers less than their Amazon counterparts. Back to the negotiating table.
- Ford CEO Jim Hackett is living up to his name. The Chief Exec of America’s number two car company plans to “reorganize” some of the 70k salaried employees at Ford. In case you can’t read between the lines of corporate jargon, Jimmy Motor Cars is planning to do his best Donald Trump circa 2008.
- Hootsuite, every PR professionals best friend, is kicking the tires on a $750M sale. The social media scheduler, long an anchor of the Canadian tech scene has faced layoffs amid cost cuts.
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