Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Stocks continued to recover from oversold levels, with traders weighing renewed speculation that global central banks could moderate their aggressive policies to prevent a hard landing.

A rally in the S&P 500 put the gauge on track for its best two-day surge since April 2020. On top of the obvious short squeeze, another poor economic reading moved markets Tuesday. US job openings sank to a 14-month low — which may fit well with a Federal Reserve that’s extremely concerned about a hot jobs market.

Treasury yields dropped once again in a reversal of the surge that took place in the past several weeks. The dollar fell. Oil surged after OPEC+ said it was considering an output cut of as much as 2 million barrels a day, a million barrels higher than previously anticipated.

The debate over peak hawkishness has intensified after a dovish surprise from Australia’s central bank and bond buying by the Bank of England. The idea of a Fed pivot, however, has been met with a lot of skepticism. For one, there’s the perception that not much has fundamentally changed to sway officials from their primary goal to knock down inflation. 

Then, there’s the obvious fact that stock pessimism reached such extreme levels that a rebound would be just a matter of when. And that would be the main reason pushing stocks higher.

For markets that had been “nearly one-sided,” the liquidation of those positions is a big reason to squeeze in the other direction so vigorously, according to Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com.

“While it ‘feels’ like the markets may have bottomed out — which is certainly a possibility, a small possibility, but a possibility nonetheless — it is important to not get caught in another bull trap,” Razaqzada said. “We are still in a bear market and this could just turn out to be another relief rally.”

Read: Investors Grapple With Massive Market Changes, in Eight Charts

Key events this week:

• Eurozone services PMIs, Wednesday
• OPEC+ meeting begins, Wednesday
• Fed’s Raphael Bostic speaks, Wednesday
• The Reserve Bank of New Zealand meets, Wednesday
• Eurozone retail sales, Thursday
• US initial jobless claims, Thursday
• Fed’s Charles Evans, Lisa Cook, Loretta Mester speak at events, Thursday
• US unemployment, wholesale inventories, nonfarm payrolls, Friday
• BOE Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden speaks at event, Friday
• Fed’s John Williams speaks at event, Friday

Will earnings disappoint and push equities to new lows? This week’s MLIV Pulse survey asks about corporate earnings. It’s brief and we don’t collect your name or any contact information. Please click here to share your views.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 2.8% as of 11:13 a.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 3.2%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.4%
• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 2.9%
• The MSCI World index rose 3.1%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.8%
• The euro rose 1.4% to $0.9968
• The British pound rose 0.9% to $1.1425
• The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 144.38 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $20,110.65
• Ether rose 1.8% to $1,348.23

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.60%
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 1.87%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 3.87%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.4% to $86.48 a barrel
• Gold futures rose 1.8% to $1,732.90 an ounce

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(Bloomberg) — Cryptocurrencies advanced alongside US stocks as investors speculate central banks could soon pull back from aggressive interest-rate hikes.

Bitcoin, the largest digital coin by market value, rose as much as 3.3% on Tuesday to trade around $20,243, its highest since Sept 27. That’s in line with broader gains in US stocks. The S&P 500 advanced as much as 3% Tuesday morning. Ether, Binance Coin, Solana and other cryptocurrencies also advanced.

Bitcoin’s performance has correlated with the S&P 500 all year. “It’s very hard to find days where Bitcoin’s up and the markets aren’t up,” said Michael Purves, founder and CEO of Tallbacken Capital. He added that the opposite is also true: a decline in Bitcoin prices generally lines up with a decline in the equity markets.

However, Purves said the recent rally in crypto prices does not signal that more institutional investors are buying Bitcoin.

“This is just more of what we’ve seen,” he said. “Nasdaq up, equities up, dollar weaker, Bitcoin stronger.” 

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(Bloomberg) — Actress Eva Longoria is starting a cookware label with Heyday in the e-commerce company’s first celebrity partnership as it pumps investment into new consumer brands to be sold on Amazon.com Inc.’s marketplace.

The brand, called Risa, will debut Nov. 1 with a selection of multipurpose, nontoxic pots, pans and kitchen accessories in three colors, including a $225 set. Longoria, who came to fame with the 2000s comedy-drama series “Desperate Housewives,” is a cofounder and will have an equity stake in the business. Additional financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Heyday raised $555 million in funding in 2021 to acquire, start and grow consumer brands to be sold on Amazon’s marketplace. Heyday was valued at more than $1 billion in that round, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information.

The San Francisco-based company’s management sees the industry as a new digital version of consumer-packaged-goods conglomerates, like Procter & Gamble Co. or Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc. Investors include Raine Group, General Catalyst and PremjiInvest.

Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Rymarz said that Heyday currently has 20 brands on the market and is focused on three product categories: home, personal care and outdoor. An internal team courts entrepreneurs to gauge interest and feel out who might be a good fit as a partner.

“We’re building those inroads with entrepreneurs, partnering to incubate brands and to acquire brands,” Rymarz said in an interview.  

Celebrities are getting more deeply involved in the brands they put their names on, and Longoria has been adding new projects in recent years. In 2020, she joined Natalie Portman as a co-owner of Los Angeles’s new National Women’s Soccer League franchise Angel City FC, and last year she started a tequila label, Casa Del Sol.

“Cookware just seemed so natural for the space that I’m in,” Longoria said in an interview. She’s built a significant following in the cooking sector since writing her first cookbook more than a decade ago and will host an upcoming food and travel show on CNN. “Everyone knows I’m the biggest foodie.”

In cookware, Longoria said she was approached by other suitors in the past who wanted to license her name and likeness for potential lines, but all offers were just “slapping my name on something.” The arrangement with Heyday allowed her into the design process.

“In cookware and kitchenware there’s always a new gadget, a new thing, a new fad,” said Longoria. “I’d love to grow the brand with the ideas of functionality and safety.”

(Updates with launch date in second paragraph. An earlier version corrected the headquarters location.)

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(Bloomberg) — Goodwill is making its first big push online with GoodwillFinds, a curated marketplace of donated goods that seeks to compete with Poshmark Inc. and RealReal Inc., secondhand sites where resale has become sport to shoppers hunting luxury brands to flip for profit.

Launching with more than 100,000 items that typically fill the racks and shelves of brick-and-mortar Goodwill stores including clothes, toys and housewares, the site is also chock full of unique high-end finds like a retro red patent leather Gucci bag selling for $499.99, black suede Prada shoes priced at $220.00 and a Burberry sapphire crystal Swiss watch up for grabs at $230.85. 

The charity, founded over a century ago, made more than $5.4 billion in donated goods retail revenue across the US and Canada last year. It uses the net proceeds to help over 100,000 people get trained and placed in full-time jobs each year, GoodwillFinds Chief Executive Officer Matthew Kaness said in an interview.

There’s an added benefit to the planet as well.

“Goodwill is not just the OG of thrifting, it’s also one of the pioneers of the circular economy,” he said. (“OG” is a term that signifies a person or group is a well-respected originator in a category or industry.) “Last year, 3 billion pounds of items were diverted from landfills with the resale of donations made at Goodwill’s 3,300 stores across US and Canada.”

Although the amount of merchandise from big luxury labels has yet to be determined, the site is expected to have over a quarter million items by the beginning of next year, Kaness said, and a loyalty membership program catering to collectors seeking early access to the newest releases is in the works. On the marketing front, they are also planning to collaborate with social media influencers to promote their favorite finds to fans.

“To date, 90% of sales have been through non-digital selling channels, primarily by third-party marketplaces like Amazon and eBay that individual local Goodwills have spun up over the years, but this is the first modern marketplace with national scale and reach,” Kaness said. The vision for it came from a consortium of Goodwill members from across the country, including six who sit on the board and are piloting the e-commerce platform. Kaness, who is a retail veteran from Walmart Inc., Urban Outfitters Inc. and Modcloth, has as his goal to get all of the Goodwill stores across US and Canada online with the platform.

Growth in the resale market, which has outpaced traditional retail apparel and personal luxury nearly three-fold since 2012, is expected to outpace retail by three times through 2031, according to Morningstar. ThredUp’s 2022 Resale Report says the secondhand market should double by 2026, reaching $82 billion.

Deal activity has since picked up in the category with the $1.2 billion acquisition of Poshmark by South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. on Monday. 

“Watching the rise of these secondhand marketplaces and the success they’ve been having with customers moving online has served as a major impetus,” Kaness said. “I feel this is a revolution that’s happening in retail right now where secondhand has finally crossed over and is seen as a force for good and not just a good deal — and we’re the sleeping giant that has woken up and is taking our rightful place.”

(Updates with Poshmark acquisition in ninth paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) — Rivian Automotive Inc.’s shares rose after the automaker reported progress in ramping up production and reaffirmed its goal to build 25,000 electric vehicles this year.

The maker of the R1T pickup and R1S sport utility vehicle produced 7,363 vehicles in the third quarter and delivered 6,584 to customers, according to a statement. That’s up from 4,401 vehicles built in the prior quarter and 4,467 handed over to owners.

The shares jumped 6.5% to $33.97 at 9:40 a.m. in New York. They plunged 69% this year through Monday’s close.

Rivian’s reiteration of its annual production target “should provide a boost to investor confidence,” Joe Spak, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets who rates the stock the equivalent of a hold, wrote in a report. Analysts at Oddo BHF noted that Rivian delivered nearly 90% of its quarterly production in the period, a sign it has improved its transportation logistics.

The production and deliveries were in line with expectations, Irvine, California-based Rivian said. The company also manufacturers electric delivery vans for Amazon.com Inc., one of its biggest shareholders. It has a contract to deliver 100,000 vehicles to the e-commerce giant by the end of the decade.

Rivian’s goal of producing 25,000 EVs this year across all its lines means it will have to build about 10,000 units in the final three months of this year.

(Updates with analyst comment in the third paragraph.)

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(Bloomberg) —

Chief, a US networking group for women executives, whose backers include Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s investing arm CapitalG, is expanding internationally with its first London clubhouse.

The firm will open its fifth flagship in Bloomsbury in January, and women executives are now able to apply for memberships that will start next year, Chief said in a statement. Benefits include access to its network as well as sessions with executive coaches, and membership fees are an average of £6,500 ($7,300) annually.

“The UK was far and away the No. 1 requested place” for expansion, said Carolyn Childers, co-founder and chief executive officer. She estimated that there are about 1 million women executives in the UK, from vice president to C-level. Chief’s members now number 20,000 and the waiting list is at more than 60,000. 

“Women are underrepresented in executive leadership positions across the UK, much like they are in most of the world,” Lindsay Kaplan, co-founder and chief brand officer, said in the statement. Canada is the second-largest foreign market of interest after the UK, she said. 

Both women said they were not deterred by recent turmoil around UK government policy that had led to a crash in the pound and a selldown in stock and bond markets. “In times of uncertainty, networks are very helpful. We’ve seen member engagement go up in difficult markets,” Childers said in an interview.

Companies across sectors are slowing hiring and starting layoffs, Childers said. “But as workforces constrict, they need to invest in the development of people, and that is ultimately our core strength.”  

Chief makes its profits from its fees, with companies sponsoring the vast majority of members. The company, which started in 2019, raised $100 million in a funding round earlier this year that valued it at $1.1 billion.

The funding will support the company’s expansion, Childers said. “We don’t anticipate having to do another fundraise in the near future,” she said.

(Updates with details on membership, fundraising from second paragraph)

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(Bloomberg) — Shares of South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. fell the most in seven years after the company agreed to buy online secondhand-fashion marketplace Poshmark Inc. in a deal valued at about $1.2 billion.

Naver will buy all of Poshmark’s shares for $17.90 each, a 15% premium to Monday’s closing price. After the deal is completed, Poshmark would become a standalone US subsidiary of Naver, and it would continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Manish Chandra and his management team, the companies said.

Poshmark climbed 13% at 9:44 a.m. New York time on Tuesday. The stock had lost almost two-thirds of its value since debuting in early 2021 in part due to sluggish growth overseas and increasing competition in the resale market.

“I think the market was surprised at the size of the deal,” Naver Chief Executive Officer Choi Soo-Yeon said in an interview, noting that this is the company’s biggest acquisition to date and first foray into Silicon Valley.

Naver shares sank 8.8% in Seoul. Citigroup Inc. analysts had earlier downgraded the stock to a sell rating, saying its price-to-earnings ratio was hard to justify when compared to other internet firms.

With the transaction, Poshmark will get access to Naver’s extensive e-commerce experience. Naver is one of the leading internet players in South Korea, combining search and cloud services with online shopping. The deal is aimed at creating a global player in online fashion, using the target’s social shopping technology.

“Poshmark will become a foothold in the North America market to expand our business in the region,” Choi said. “We will try out our technology through Poshmark’s services popular among the younger generation.”

Naver obtains a US brand that has grown rapidly in recent years. Poshmark has a community of more than 80 million registered users, across 90% of zip codes in the US, the companies said. 

Poshmark, which Chandra founded in 2011, is an online marketplace where users post photos of items they are selling and set their own prices, then ship goods once they are purchased. The company, which doesn’t hold any inventory, gets paid when users make a sale.

See also: Goodwill launches a resale site featuring Gucci, Prada

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which is expected to close by the first quarter of 2023, according to the statement.

Poshmark’s stock drop since going public isn’t unique among online resellers. Shares of RealReal Inc. are down more than 90% from its 2019 IPO, while ThredUp Inc., which went public two months after Poshmark, has fallen more than 80%.

“We don’t think they’ll get a better deal than this,” Wedbush Securities analyst Tom Nikic said of Poshmark in a research note Tuesday. He said RealReal and ThredUp look cheap by comparison and the deal “may have created a ‘floor’ for this beaten-down group.”

RealReal climbed 22% in New York trading, while ThredUp rose as much as 19%.

LionTree Partners is working as Naver’s financial adviser, while Kirkland & Ellis is acting as Naver’s legal counsel. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is serving as financial adviser to Poshmark, and Goodwin Procter is legal counsel.

(Updates shares in third and 13th paragraphs.)

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(Bloomberg) — Tesla Inc. shares jumped Tuesday after Cathie Wood bought the company’s shares following their Monday’s plunge, prompted by a disappointing delivery number for the third quarter.

Funds backed by Wood’s Ark Investment Management LLC bought 132,213 shares in Elon Musk’s company on Monday, marking the firm’s first purchase of Tesla since mid-June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

Tesla shares rose as much as 4% to $252.2 in New York, after closing down 8.6% on Monday. It was among the biggest contributors to the S&P 500 Index’s gains Tuesday morning, along with Amazon.com and Microsoft. The benchmark gauge is also rising sharply, with only seven stocks in the index trading in the red. 

This is Wood’s second purchase in Tesla in 2022 after a year of selling down her stake. The first was in June, days after Tesla lost its crown jewel status in her main fund, a position it had held for about four-and-a-half years.

The latest purchases add to evidence that Cathie Wood is on a dip-buying binge again.

Ark had sold Tesla shares for at least five quarters in a row as of end-June, Bloomberg data show.  

The purchases on Monday were made by the flagship Ark Innovation ETF and Ark Next Generation Internet ETF.

Ark’s main ETF has plunged 60% in 2022 as historical tightening by the Federal Reserve and global recession fears batter growth stocks. 

(Adds details in first paragraph, updates stock move and details in third.)

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(Bloomberg) — Several environmental groups are calling on Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, Google, Twitter Inc. and other social media companies to treat inaccurate posts about climate change as harmful content akin to hate speech and lies about Covid-19. 

In a letter released Tuesday, the advocacy groups asked the companies, as well as ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok and Pinterest Inc., to disclose more about how they handle “climate disinformation.” Specifically, the letter calls on the companies to report this content category under Europe’s new Digital Services Act, which tracks how platforms moderate illegal and harmful media, imposing fines if they don’t meet certain criteria.  

“Social media companies bear responsibility for their role in amplifying and perpetuating climate disinformation but transparency, that would quantify the exact extent, has been lacking from all platforms,” the groups wrote. Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and 12 other environmental and public advocacy groups signed the letter. 

Starting in 2020, many social platforms began to change how they moderate climate change after years of a hands-off approach. Facebook and Google’s YouTube promised to reduce the spread of posts denying climate science. Pinterest said it would ban the content altogether. Critics argued that the platforms have struggled to enforce these rules. Facebook’s hub for accurate climate information was barely visited.

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(Bloomberg) — Payments-tech company Lightspeed Commerce Inc. hired former Alphabet Inc. executive Ryan Tabone as its chief product and technology officer as it seeks to reboot its growth plans. 

Tabone will help “shift the focus from acquisitions and integrations to innovation to address customers’ biggest challenges, such as cash flow and supply chain management,” Lightspeed said in an emailed statement. The company’s point-of-sale software helps retailers and restaurants with payment processing, inventory management, e-commerce and other services.

Montreal-based Lightspeed went on an acquisition spree after its 2019 initial public offering, using its shares as currency for deals. But the company was the subject of a short-seller report by Spruce Point Capital Management LLC a year ago and has slumped in the tech selloff. The Toronto-listed shares are down 78% in the past year. 

Until recently, Tabone, 40, was executive-in-residence and adviser for “other bets” at Google’s parent company. During his 15 years at the Silicon Valley giant, he helped manage the development of well-known products such as Chromebook, G Suite, Google Pay and Google Finance.

Read more: Lightspeed’s CEO Calls Its Commerce Platform ‘Recession-Proof’

“Every merchant spends so much time managing different pieces of the e-commerce stack,” said Tabone, referring to technology tools and platforms. Lightspeed has “a massive opportunity to simplify that.”

Tabone will lead a team of approximately 900 people, about one-third of the company’s workforce. He succeeds Guillaume Jacquet, who founded Chronogolf, a software platform for golf course operators that was acquired by Lightspeed in 2019.

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