Alternative Investing Report - October 17, 2024

*as of 10/16; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

Retail vacancy rates remained below 5% for the 11th straight quarter, as core retail sales hit a new record high in August. More consumer spending is leading to greater leasing demand for businesses, with fast-food restaurants and discount retailers in particular snapping up open space. As people continue to shop in person, the retail sector is the only one within commercial real estate that has a lower vacancy rate now than it did before the pandemic.

➨ TAKEAWAY: With the economy performing well and the Fed rate cut saving consumers money on loans and credit card fees, consumer spending is likely to increase, especially with the holiday season coming up. This could lead even more demand for retail space, and with limited retail construction, expect vacancy rates to continue to stay low.

The Donald Trump-backed crypto platform World Liberty Financial opened its WLFI token sale on Tuesday but immediately ran into problems, as its website crashed and it fell well short of its $300 million target. According to its website, 827 million tokens have been sold at 1.5 cents each, for a total of $12.4 million. It currently has just under 10,000 unique holders, meaning less than 10% of the 100,000 pre-approved accredited investors have bought in so far.

➨ TAKEAWAY: With no official whitepaper or business plan, it is still not clear what World Liberty Financial will do or what the token will grant its holders. The WLFI token is nontransferable as of now, so any investors are taking a leap of faith that interest in it will rise if it ever becomes available to the general public.

🚀 Adams Street VC fund: The private equity firm closed on a $1.2 billion venture fund that will focus on early stage funds as well as direct and secondary startup investments. This is a strong positive signal for the venture industry as most private equity firms have been avoiding the asset class the past two years.

🚘 $14 million Jaguar: A 1957 Jaguar XKSS, one of only 16 ever made, is hitting the auction block in early November at Sotheby’s, and carries an $11 million - $14 million estimate.

🏡 Neutral market: Though the average U.S. home value fell by 0.3% in September, Zillow’s market heat index shows a balance between buyers and sellers, as both new listings and buyer demand increased last month.

🪙 Stripe adding crypto: The global payment processor is introducing the ability for merchants to be paid in stablecoins, powered by the blockchain firm Paxos. This will allow users to pay with Pax Dollar (USDP), Paypal USD (PYUSD) and Circle’s USD Coin (USDC).

💵 BlackRock joint venture: The asset manager is reportedly teaming with the India-based firm Jio Financial Services to set up a new private credit venture, as private credit demand rises in Asia.

🚀 Fintech funding declines: Q3 saw a 25% decline in total global funding to $7.3 billion, while the deal count dropped 16% to its lowest level since 2017. Over half of the top early-stage deals happened in emerging markets outside of the U.S. and U.K.

For all the discussion about generative AI art created by humans, there’s been less talk about AI-created artwork. Sotheby’s is hoping to change that with its first ever auction of an artwork created by AI, in this case, the robot artist Ai-Da. Ai-Da is a robot that paints and is powered by a neural network that generates images. The artwork, called “A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing” will be auctioned on October 31 and carries an estimate of $120,000 - $180,000.

_{** Disclosures: Investing is risky. Bonus offers subject to terms and conditions, visit robinhood.com/hoodweek for more information. Margin is not suitable for all investors. Robinhood Gold is offered through Robinhood Gold LLC and is a subscription offering services for a fee. Brokerage services offered through Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), a registered broker dealer.}