FT : Viktor Orbán lashes out at German ‘bombshell’ energy package

Viktor Orbán lashes out at German ‘bombshell’ energy package
Hungarian premier joins EU leaders upset at lack of bloc-wide solution

Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has warned that Germany’s planned €200bn energy support package amounts to “cannibalism”, threatening EU unity at a time when member states are under severe economic stress because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Orbán on Monday echoed surprise and criticism from other member states complaining that the borrowing package unveiled by Berlin on Thursday risked distorting fair competition within the bloc.

“It came as a bombshell when Germany announced it was in a position to help its own companies with hundreds of billions of euros,” Orbán said at a press conference, complaining that there was no EU-wide solution to help European companies.

Germany has come under fire since announcing a “protective shield” for businesses and consumers struggling with soaring energy costs as policymakers elsewhere in Europe accused Berlin of failing to properly co-ordinate its response to the crisis and risking distortions to the single market.

Mario Draghi, the outgoing Italian prime minister, said last week that “faced with the common threats of our times, we cannot divide ourselves according to the space in our national budgets”.

Orbán’s attack will add to the tensions between Hungary and its partners over the response to the war in Ukraine. The Hungarian premier has long criticised the EU’s sanctions policy, saying it hurt the bloc more than Russia.

Hungary, meanwhile, announced it had received a special deal from Russia’s Gazprom, which agreed to defer its next six months of payments for gas above a certain price level by three years. The deal saves Budapest about €1bn at current spot prices of about €173 per megawatt hour, while the savings could balloon to €4.5bn with gas prices at €300/MWh, according to the government.

But Orbán was not alone in being wrongfooted by the scale of Germany’s intervention.

Speaking as he arrived at a meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, France’s Bruno Le Maire said member states were entitled to announce their own support measures to shelter their economies from surging prices, pointing out that Paris had done so itself. The total tab for France’s energy measures this year is about €24bn, according to its finance ministry.

But he warned that the eurozone needed a better-co-ordinated strategy and that interventions had to be targeted in order to avoid skewing the single market. “It is essential that we preserve a level playing field between eurozone member states and EU countries more generally,” he told reporters.

In an opinion piece published in The Irish Times and other newspapers on Monday night, two European commissioners said the German borrowing package “raised questions” and that it was important to avoid fragmenting the single market by setting up a race for subsidies. Paolo Gentiloni, economics commissioner, and Thierry Breton, internal market commissioner, called for a “European budgetary response” to the energy crisis.

Christian Lindner, Germany’s finance minister, defended the package, saying it was proportionate given the size of the German economy and that spending would be spread over two years. “It is a measure to protect the key structure of our economy,” he said.

The European Commission refused to say whether Berlin had notified it of the plan, which could breach state aid rules. A spokesperson said Brussels was in dialogue with the German government.

She also referred to comments from Ursula von der Leyen, the commission president, on Saturday: “Without a common European solution, we seriously risk fragmentation. So it’s paramount that we preserve a level-playing field for all in the EU in the single market,” von der Leyen had said.

A majority of member states are pushing for a cap on the price of imported gas, which would reduce the level of domestic subsidies required, but Berlin and others are blocking the move. Leaders will renew the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday at an informal EU summit in Prague.

Karel Hirman, Slovakia’s economy minister, who supports the gas price cap, told the Financial Times that countries such as his could not match Germany’s support for consumers. “Our energy market is sick and these electricity and gas prices are like a fever. We have to first reduce the fever,” he said.

FT : Tiger Global partner John Curtius to leave firm

Tiger Global partner John Curtius to leave firm
Prolific dealmaker oversaw a flurry of investments in software and business services

John Curtius, a partner at Tiger Global who oversaw a flurry of venture capital investments in software and business service companies over the past five years, is preparing to leave the firm, a high-profile departure that deepens the turmoil at the once high-flying hedge fund.

Curtius oversaw some of Tiger Global’s prominent software investments such as Databricks, Toast and Snowflake. He will leave the firm in 2023, said two people familiar with the matter.

Curtius, Tiger Global’s founder Chase Coleman and partner Scott Shleifer had begun discussing Curtius’s exit over the summer, according to two people familiar with the matter. Curtius plans to raise a new fund focused on early-stage software companies in 2023, said a source familiar with the matter.

Curtius joined Tiger in 2017 from hedge fund Elliott Management and reported to Shleifer, who runs the firm’s venture business.

According to PitchBook data, Curtius led more than 100 venture investments Tiger Global made into early- and growth-stage venture capital businesses, becoming one of the most prolific investors in Silicon Valley.

Within Tiger, Curtius became one of the firm’s most active investors, playing a major role in investing its private funds, which are separate from Tiger’s hedge fund. Among founders, Tiger was known for its speed in getting deals done, often beating out competitors by quickly agreeing to finance deals without requiring board seats.

Curtius is listed as a board member on just two of his investments, according to PitchBook data.

Tiger Global’s flagship fund has slumped 50 per cent in value this year, weighed down by a deep correction in public market valuations. In letters to investors, the group has noted it was hit hardest by public software holdings and the inability of its hedges to damp market volatility.

“We are grateful for all of his contributions to Tiger Global and have appreciated his work ethic and intellect,” Tiger Global management said in a letter to investors on Monday informing them of his departure, which was seen by the Financial Times.

In the letter, Tiger confirmed to investors that its public funds lost money for the third quarter and that it has marked down its sprawling portfolio of private venture capital investments every month this year.

“We head into the final quarter of 2022 having accepted that this is not a year in which the scoreboard will make us proud and with our minds set squarely on the future,” Tiger said in the letter.

Tiger Global and Curtius declined to comment.

FT : Tesla/Mobileye: assisted driving car chase speeds up

Tesla/Mobileye: assisted driving car chase speeds up
The valuation of both companies rests on long-term plans to create fleets of autonomous vehicles

Driverless cars have slowly begun to appear on the roads of American cities. As they become a reality, some of the hype surrounding the sector is settling down. Expectations for Intel’s Mobileye spin-off have been lowered. Once imagined as a $50bn company, the autonomous driving business is now expected to seek a valuation of about $30bn. Meanwhile Tesla has acknowledged that its “Full Self-Driving” software rollout will be slowed by the need for regulatory approval.

Advanced driver-assistance systems take control of driving functions such as emergency braking and maintaining speed. It is a stepping stone on the way to fully autonomous vehicles. Mobileye, which makes chips and software for assisted driving systems, is ahead. Of more than 100mn vehicles on the road with camera-based ADAS, most contain Mobileye software, according to Guidehouse Insights. Mobileye says that its systems will be used in another 266mn vehicles by 2030.

Intel bought the Israel-based company in 2017 for $15.3bn. Sales growth has outpaced the parent company. But Mobileye accounted for about 3 per cent of group revenue in the past quarter and has done little to support Intel’s falling valuation. It does not fit into Intel’s efforts to improve manufacturing technology in order to better compete with rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices. A listing will provide Intel with capital for its expansion plans. It is smart to keep majority ownership of the business, retaining shares with 10 times the voting rights of those it sells.

At $30bn, lossmaking Mobileye would be valued at 22 times trailing revenue. On the same metric electric carmaker Tesla, which Mobileye sees as a rival in the consumer autonomous vehicle market, is valued at 14 times. Tesla’s valuation dipped slightly on disappointing delivery numbers in the past quarter. Though at 343,830 vehicles, it delivered some 200,000 more than in the same quarter two years ago.

Part of the valuation of both companies rests on longer-term plans to create fleets of autonomous vehicles. Until robotaxis are deployed, however, such aspirations remain difficult to price.

>>> US After Hours Summary: RIVN +6.5% after reporting Q3 production and deliver

After Hours Summary: RIVN +6.5% after reporting Q3 production and delivery data; BLKB +6.7% as Clearlake Capital discloses stake; AXTI -7.4% falls on lowered guidance

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: None

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: BLKB +6.7% (Clearlake Capital discloses 18.4% stake; firm may push for review of strategic alternatives), RIVN +6.5% (reports Q3 production and delivery data; remains on track to deliver on its 25,000 annual production guidance), GSM +3.9% (to restart silicon metal facility in South Africa), LMT +1.8% (LMT and others awarded up to $5.1 bln in modifications to previous US Navy contract), KRUS +1.3% (names new CFO), KZR +1% (receives FDA clearance of IND for Zetomipzomib), AMRX +0.2% (announces commercial launch of ALYMSYS), OXY +0.1% (WES and OXY to explore carbon capture systems), THS +0.1% (completes sale of a significant portion of its Meal Prep business), MOS +0.1% (North American Phosphates was negatively impacted by Hurricane Ian)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: AXTI -7.4% (lowers Q3 revenue guidance)

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: MRVI -7.2% (names Danaher exec as its new CEO), RCKT -5.3% (commences $100 mln common stock offering), OZK -1% (increases dividend), LILM -0.5% (stock offering), WES -0.2% (WES and OXY to explore carbon capture systems), FWRG -0.2% (provides update on Florida restaurants; all but 10 of 85 that closed have now reopened), OLN -0.1% (expects to cease methylene chloride and chloroform production at its Germany facility by 3Q23), CSV -0.1% (CFO to step down)

ARTnews : 3000-Year-Old Sarcophagus of King Ramses II’s Treasurer Found in Egypt

3000-Year-Old Sarcophagus of King Ramses II’s Treasurer Found in Egypt

The huge granite sarcophagus of King Ramses II’s treasurer, Ptah-em-wia, was discovered by archaelogists at Saqqara, an ancient necropolis roughly 20 miles south of Cairo.

The surface of the coffin was complete with inscriptions dedicated to the late treasurer, which helped researchers confirm identification. The inscriptions detailed his closeness to Ramses II and included emblems of deities such as the sky goddess Nut to protect the deceased.

The burial chamber and sarcophagus, which have remained undisturbed for thousands of years, could provide a greater understanding of Egyptian rule after the death of King Tutankhamun.

Ramses II is believed to have ruled during the 13th century B.C.E. and was known for being among the most important pharaohs to have presided over Egypt during the New Kingdom period.

This discovery comes on the heels of last year’s uncovering of Ptah-em-wia’s tomb by Ola El Aguizy, emeritus professor of archaeology at Cairo University, who is spearheading research done at the site, and her team.

Archaeologists noticed a vertical shaft in the center of the tomb’s courtyard. After digging out the 26-foot shaft with a bucket over the course of one week, El Aguizy then went down the shaft and found the sarcophagus. Because such tombs have usually already been raided by grave robbers or other interventions, it is incredibly rare to unearth a complete sarcophagus in its original tomb.

While the finds will continue to be studied, National Geographic captured the excavation as part of its eight-part documentary series Lost Treasures of Egypt.

Additional discoveries at Saqqara within the last year also include the 4,300-year-old tomb of an ancient Egyptian

ARTnews : How the Late U.S. Ambassador Donald Blinken Shaped Mark Rothko’s Legac

How the Late U.S. Ambassador Donald Blinken Shaped Mark Rothko’s Legacy

Donald Blinken, who died last week at age 96, may be best known for founding a venture capital firm and for his successes as a political liaison to Hungary during the Clinton administration while the country transitioning from Communism. But another important known part of his life story is the mark he left on the New York art scene.

During the 1950s and ’60s, he began to collect artists like Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning, and Phillip Guston. As Blinken once remarked, these artists were “just starting to make a mark” when he began buying their work.

Records in the Archives of American Art that were donated by Blinken in 2014 reveal his closeness to artists and museum figures. He was thanked by Phillip Guston for his efforts related to a review by art critic John Russell in 1974. He took meetings with David Solinger, the late attorney and then-president of the Whitney Museum at de Kooning’s studio to mull potential acquisitions for that institution.

But it was Mark Rothko with whom Blinken forged the strongest ties. The two first met in 1956. At the time, Blinken was just beginning to collect art and had begun conducting studio visits. To scout out the paintings he wanted, he relied largely upon instinct. At Rothko’s studio, Blinken purchased Three Reds through a handshake deal that only took a few exchanges with the notoriously guarded painter. The two forged a close friendship, and when a legal battle over Rothko’s estate ensued following his death in 1970, Blinken became a key figure in the controversy.

In 1976, Rothko’s legal executors were dismissed after Rothko’s heirs sued for fraud. Blinken was appointed president of the Mark Rothko Foundation that year. Through a court order, the organization was awarded a large tranche of works that were not left to the artist’s family members.

To ensure that Rothko would have lasting presence in public collections, Blinken oversaw donations around 1,000 of the works more than 30 museums across the United States and abroad. Doing so effectively kept these works out of the market. Almost 300 paintings and works on paper went to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where Blinken had once served as a trustee. Others went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney, and the Guggenheim Museum.

Blinken would go on to leverage his ties with the National Gallery and organize exhibitions dedicated to Rothko. In the process, he would ask himself: “Is this what Rothko would have wished?”

In 1985, Rothko’s daughter said the resolution realized the troubled artist’s wishes and ended a years-long conflict.

The father of the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, he stayed close to the political circuit and cultural efforts. Blinken’s wife Vera serves as vice chairman of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that places art in U.S. embassies abroad. The junior Blinken took to social media last week to attribute his life in public service to his father.

In 2017, Blinken told the Financial Times about the privileged time in which he had access to artists like Rothko. Today, he speculated, that kind of access would be “impossible.”

ArtNews : Nefertiti’s Undiscovered Tomb May Be Near Tutankhamun’s Burial Place,

Nefertiti’s Undiscovered Tomb May Be Near Tutankhamun’s Burial Place, Former British Museum Curator Says

The site of Nefertiti’s tomb, one of the longest-running archaeological mysteries, has left experts puzzling for centuries. But this week, a former British Museum curator argued that he may have found a clue that could eventually lead to its discovery.

Speaking to the Guardian, Nicholas Reeves, who formerly worked in that London institution’s Egyptian antiquities department, argued that Nefertiti may have buried in a hidden area near the burial chamber of her stepson Tutankhamun. His suggestion is still only just a theory, however, as radar scanning failed to prove it as the truth.

His theory rests on painted cartouches that appear on the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb that show him being buried by Ay, the pharaoh after him. According to Reeves, these may have covered over similar images that show Tutankhamun burying Nefertiti.

If Reeves is correct, it could mean that Tutankhamun’s tomb is even bigger than Egyptologists have long thought it to be—and that they will be one step closer to finding Nefertiti’s burial place.

Reeves told the Guardian, “Far from Tutankhamun having been buried in the expanded, unused tomb of a private individual, it looks very much as if he was merely an interloper within the outer section of a significantly larger, queenly tomb … An unusual state of affairs this may seem, but in fact the arrangement is far from unique.”

Tutankhamun’s tomb, which is rich with antiquities and painted decorations, has long been the source of fascination among the general public. It was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, who, some recent research claims, almost definitely plundered from the tomb after exhuming it.

As the 100th anniversary of the find fast approaches, there has been heightened speculation about where Nefertiti’s body may lie. Zahi Hawass, a controversial archaeologist who was once Egypt’s former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, recently claimed that he had found Nefertiti’s mummy, along with another belonging to Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun’s wife. He teased plans to reveal these mummies to the public in October.

WWD : Bella Hadid and Coperni’s Viral Moment Generates $26.3 Million in MIV

Bella Hadid and Coperni’s Viral Moment Generates $26.3 Million in MIV
Videos of Bella Hadid having her dress spray-painted on at Coperni Friday have blown up on social, becoming part of "pop culture," according to Launchmetrics.

VIRTUAL VALUE: The spectacle of an almost-naked Bella Hadid having her dress spray-painted on at the Coperni show Friday night has gone way beyond fashion circles, blowing up on social media to become a moment of “pop culture,” according to Launchmetrics.

In the 48 hours following the show, the media impact value of the moment was measured at $26.3 million, including $20.9 million on social media.

Launchmetrics, which assesses the MIV, a monetary value calculated from online posts, interactions or articles, will release fuller data on the initial impact of Paris Fashion Week for brands on Thursday.

Hadid’s most impactful post, featuring a video of the moment, had generated $1 million by Sunday evening and more than 2.8 million likes, while Coperni’s accounted for $210,000 in MIV.

By way of comparison, Kim Kardashian’s post on her personal account after her runway appearance at Balenciaga’s couture show in July generated $935,000 in MIV.

As reported, Coperni’s designers Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer teamed with Manel Torres, the head of Fabrican Ltd. and inventor of the Spray-on fabric, who personally applied the innovative material with the help of an assistant after Hadid entered the runway wearing only a thong.

>>> US Close Dow +2.66% S&P +2.59% Nasdaq +2.27% Russell +2.65% VIX 30.10 -4.81%

Closing Stock Market Summary

The equity market had a strong start to the week, month, and fourth quarter. The major averages all closed with sizable gains. The S&P 500 was flirting with the 3,700 level at today's highs, after closing below 3,600 on Friday. There were several catalysts in play fueling the upside momentum, but one of the biggest drivers was offsides positioning.

There has been a lot of hedging with put options for further downside, a pickup in short-selling activity, and certainly some extreme bearish sentiment readings. Today's market, though, went against the grain in all respects, which is why there were outsized gains hot on the heels of an outsized loss last month.

Another support factor was the big drop in Treasury yields. That move came in response to the UK abandoning its plan to cut taxes for higher earners and to weaker-than-expected ISM Manufacturing and Construction Spending data out of the U.S. The 2-yr note yield, which reached 4.22% overnight, fell nine basis points on the day to 4.11%. The 10-yr note yield, which reached 3.80% overnight, fell 14 basis points to 3.65%.

There was also growing speculation among market participants that today's weak economic data and concerns about financial instability will compel the Fed to take a softer angle with its rate-hike approach. That narrative, however, was not supported by the fed funds futures market. There was little change, versus Friday, in the expectation that the terminal fed funds rate will be 4.25-4.50%.

Nonetheless, the stock market can sometimes have a mind of its own and will trade off a predilection in an oversold market that will create the most bang for the buck. October, therefore, started with a bang as new money got put to work in a vast array of beaten-up stocks. Apple (AAPL 142.45, +4.25, +3.1%) was a case in point. It fell 8.1% last week on earnings concerns, but jumped 3.1% today on heavy volume and no good news of note.

Market breadth figures reflected the broad based buying today. Advancers led decliners by a 5-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a greater than 2-to-1 margin at the Nasdaq.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in the green led by energy (+4.8%), today's top performer by a wide margin thanks to rising oil prices. WTI crude oil futures rose 5.0% to $83.50/bbl in response to reports that OPEC+ will be considering a production cut of more than one million barrels per day at Wednesday's meeting.

Meanwhile, the consumer discretionary sector (+0.2%) brought up the rear thanks to a huge loss for Tesla (TSLA 242.40, -22.85, -8.6%) after the company reported lower-than-expected deliveries for the third quarter.

Another piece of corporate news in play today was Credit Suisse (CS 4.01, +0.09, +2.3%) being confronted with concerns about its financial condition. Credit Suisse executive, however, rebutted such concerns, saying the bank has a strong capital base and liquidity position. That view seemed to placate investors for the time being, as the stock rebounded from a 5.6% loss to close the session up 2.3%.

Looking ahead to Tuesday, market participants will receive the August Factory Orders report (consensus +0.4%; prior -1.0%) and the August JOLTS Job Openings report (prior 11.239 million) at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Reviewing today's economic data:

  • Final IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI September reading came in at 52.0 after the prior reading of 51.8
  • ISM Manufacturing Index for September was 50.9% ( consensus 52.0%) after the prior reading of 52.8%
    • The key takeaway from the report is that it connotes a moderation in manufacturing activity that coincides with rapidly rising interest rates, and it will contribute to slowdown concerns that could, in turn, offer the market reason to think the Fed won't be as aggressive with its rate hikes as it is suggesting it could be.
  • Construction spending fell 0.7% in August (consensus -0.2%) after a revised 0.6% decline in July (from 0.4%)
    • The key takeaway from the report is the continued downturn in residential spending. That is an offshoot of rising interest rates that have weakened homebuilder sentiment, as higher mortgage rates have also worsened affordability for prospective buyers.

Dow Jones Industrial Average: -18.8% YTD
S&P Midcap 400: -20.2% YTD
S&P 500: -22.8% YTD
Russell 2000: -23.9% YTD
Nasdaq Composite: -30.9% YTD