Alternative Investing Report - February 4, 2025

*as of 2/3; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, CL50

The IPO market is expected to open up further in 2025, and TechCrunch compiled a list of companies that have either announced or filed for a public offering. The longest gestating and biggest potential IPO is the Chinese fast fashion company Shein, which has been trying to come out since 2023, and was last valued at $45 billion. Other notable candidates include fintechs Chime and Klarna, crypto stablecoin provider Circle, and AI chip company Cerebras.

➨ TAKEAWAY: Knowing which companies are potentially going public soon is especially valuable for private market investors, as these companies can see spikes in value and deliver faster liquidity than other startups. Successful IPOs can also boost interest in certain sectors, so a Klarna or Chime IPO could be good for the struggling fintech sector, which saw funding and dealmaking hit 7-year lows in 2024. Another sector to watch is space and defense, which has two companies, Voyager Technologies and Karman Holdings, that could go public this year.

Only a day before the initial ones were due to take effect, President Trump paused tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days, to allow for further negotiations over border security and other issues. The 10% tariff on goods for China is still scheduled to take effect today, but Trump expects to talk with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the coming days as well.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The markets made it clear that investors did not think the tariffs would be good news for the economy, and reacted positively to the news of the pause. Public markets, which had fallen worldwide, rebounded but were still largely down on the day. Crypto markets, which had seen double-digit losses the previous day, also rebounded, with Bitcoin crossing back above the $100,000 mark, and the overall market up 8%. Investors should monitor the negotiations carefully, and if there are indications a trade war might begin again in a month, markets are likely to once again react negatively.

🛵 First million-dollar motorcycle: A 1915 Cyclone V-Twin sold for $1.32 million, smashing the record for the most expensive motorcycle ever sold at auction, which had previously been $935,000.

🏡 Florida’s struggling housing market: Condo prices fell year-over-year in 92% of Florida’s markets, while single-family housing prices fell in 66% of them. Reasons include a comedown from pandemic frothiness, recent hurricanes, oversupply, the Surfside condo collapse, and rising homeowners insurance costs.

🤖 OpenAI v. DeepSeek: The American AI startup accused the upstart Chinese AI startup of training its models on OpenAI’s, effectively copying their IP. OpenAI also made its latest reasoning model free for all users, a direct shot at its Chinese competitor.

💵 Fortress targets $1B litigation finance fund: The hedge fund and alternative asset management firm is looking to raise $1 billion for its Fortress Legal Assets Fund II, double the size of its previous litigation finance fund, as providing funding to law firms to aid litigation has become a popular alt investing class.

🎨 Raphael painting coming to auction: This week at Sotheby’s, for just the 3rd time this century, a painting by the legendary Renaissance artist will be auctioned off. “Saint Mary Magdalene” carries an estimate of $2 million - $3 million, and it last sold in 2000 for $611,000.

🏀 Allen Iverson record: One of three copies of Iverson’s 1997 Skybox E-X 2001 Essential Credentials Now card, a PSA 5, sold for more than $700,000, nearly ten times more than the previous record for any Iverson card.

Ever thought about moving to the country and living off the land? This month, more than 4,800 acres of Iowa farmland across 18 different counties are going to auction. The selection includes eight different tracts of farmland in Hardin county, comprising 1,350 acres, and eight tracts in Guthrie county totaling 636 acres, both at public auctions. An additional 20 auctions will take place in February, both online and in-person.

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