Alternative Investing Report - December 9, 2024

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*as of 12/8; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

A screen-matched pair of Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” sold for $32.5 million at Heritage Auctions on Saturday night, breaking the all-time record for the most expensive piece of movie memorabilia. One of just four surviving pairs, they were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland museum before being recovered in 2018. The pre-sale estimate for the shoes was $3 million, with the final result zooming well past that mark. The last sale of a pair was for $2 million in 2012.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The eye-popping result speaks to the enduring popularity of “The Wizard of Oz,” and capitalizes on the recent success of the movie musical spin-off “Wicked” which has catapulted Oz back into the mainstream. Another prop from the original film, a screen-matched hat worn by the Wicked Witch of the West, sold for $2.93 million, a headline-worthy result on its own.

Join us on December 16 at 12 PM ET for a discussion about the future of film financing. Dive in with three industry insiders - FilmHedge founder Jon Gosier, Slated’s head of film finance Jay Burnley, and Republic’s head of film Marc Iserlis - about investment opportunities in this exciting asset class.

Global venture funding in November totaled $28 billion, down 12.5% from October, but up 33% year-over-year. Over a third of the total came from just two AI startup rounds - xAI’s $6 billion raise and Anthropic’s $4 billion raise. As a result of those rounds, late stage funding doubled year-over-year, while early (-20%) and seed stage (-33%) funding dropped dramatically in November. For the year, early-stage VC funding is down 9%, even as VC funding overall is up 17%.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Later-stage AI deals continue to dominate the sector, both in terms of fundraising and attention. For most of the year, VC firms have shied away from riskier, early-stage deals, and deployed their capital in bigger rounds to fewer, more mature companies, and November was no exception.

📊 Jobs report: The U.S. added 227,000 jobs in November, above the estimate of 200,000, though unemployment ticked up from 4.1% to 4.2%, making it slightly more likely that the Fed will cut rates during their December meeting.

🏡 November rent declines: U.S. apartment rents fell by 0.4% in November, but were still up 0.4% year-over-year with an occupancy rate of 94.8%, in line with historical norms. Detroit has seen the highest annual rent growth, while Austin has seen the biggest decline.

🏀 Caitlin Clark record card: A one-of-one 2024 Panini WNBA Select Gold Vinyl signed rookie card of the women’s basketball superstar sold for $234,850, a new record for any Clark card, and the 2nd highest sale of a women’s sports card ever.

🚀 TikTok divestment upheld: A federal appeals court upheld the law that requires parent company ByteDance to sell TikTok by January 19th or face a ban in the U.S. ByteDance is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court and also hopes that the incoming administration reverses the ban.

💵 Private equity outpacing private credit: In Q3, more assets were allocated to private equity strategies than private credit for the first time in 2024, according to iCapital, which has more than $200 billion in its alternative assets marketplace.

🎨 Rimbaud portrait: A drawing of the French poet Arthur Rimbaud by his lover, the writer Paul Verlaine, sold for $615,000 at an auction in Paris, well above the $100,000-$200,000 pre-sale estimate.

Monday: A rare Roman coin featuring Brutus, Julius Caesar’s assassin, will be auctioned at Geneva’s NGSA auction house and carries an opening bid of $850,000.

Tuesday: The Tom Brady GOAT Collection auction at Sotheby’s, featuring game-worn items and part of his luxury watch collection.

Wednesday: November inflation reports released - Consumer Price Index (CPI), Core CPI.

Thursday: Producer Price Index (PPI), Core PPI reports released; TIME announces its Person of the Year; Christie’s Jurassic Icons auction, featuring Stegosaurus and Allosaurus skeletons expected to sell for more than $5 million each.