Fortune's latest Quarterly Investment Guide couldn't be more timely.
Good morning. David Meyer here in Berlin, filling in for Alan.
The IPO market is red-hot this year and it shows no sign of slowing down, which makes it a great time to dive into Fortune‘s latest Quarterly Investment Guide, out this morning.
Start with Anne Sraders and Nicolas Rapp on the charts that demonstrate that heat—Q1’s IPO activity was up 677% year-on-year, and gross proceeds up 790%—and Ritholz Wealth Management’s Ben Carlson on the drivers behind the frenzy.
Then follow that up with Chris Taylor on some of the most intriguing confirmed and rumored flotations to look out for, from Robinhood (more on that from Rey Mashayekhi) and Duolingo to Nextdoor and Instacart.
Meanwhile, Shawn Tully has penned a data-driven guide to sniffing out the best deals, Jessica Mathews explains how regular folk can join the gold rush—while warning that retail investors do so at an inherent disadvantage—and Lucinda Shen dives into how Silicon Valley Bank thrived as a proxy and thus itself became one of the S&P 500’s best-performing stocks.
Finally, Adam Bluestein looks into the story of Boston biotech Ginkgo Bioworks, and how it found its way to one of the biggest SPAC mergers to date.
Separately, don’t miss Maria Aspan’s piece on how U.S. global competitiveness could be damaged if corporations and some lawmakers don’t start to take the national women’s employment crisis—grossly exacerbated by the pandemic—more seriously.
As U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Aspan: “You cannot have a strong workforce, a strong economy, and a strong democracy if women aren’t included…you need more investments in job training for women; more tech and digital education available for women; and more childcare, homecare and elder care.”
More news below.
David Meyer
@superglaze
david.meyer@fortune.com
Chinese crackdown
China's LinkDoc has reportedly becomes the first (that we know of) company from the country to shelve its plans for a U.S. listing, following a crackdown by Beijing on Chinese firms' overseas IPOs. See also: The crackdown's drastically negative effect on Didi Global's share price has sparked two suits by U.S. shareholders, who say Didi should have told them about its ongoing compliance talks with Chinese authorities. Reuters
Emissions antitrust
The European Commission has fined BMW and the Volkswagen group $1 billion for illegally colluding on emissions-reduction technology. The tech could have been used to reduce harmful emissions below what the law required, but the companies formed a cartel to avoid taking it that far. Daimler was also involved but escaped a fine as it blew the whistle. Financial Times
Google antitrust
Thirty-six U.S. states, plus D.C., have sued Google over the alleged abuse of its power over developers that distribute apps through the Android Play store. The suit is about Google's cut of the fees developers charge for in-app purchases and subscriptions, which is also the subject of a separate antitrust suit by Epic Games. Fortune
Tokyo emergency
Tokyo, which is about to hold the Olympics, will do so under a state of emergency. The measure will continue until August 22, which is just before the Paralympic Games begin. BBC
Millennials and Gen Z push for social change and accountability The Deloitte Global 2021 Millennial and Gen Z Survey, now in its 10th year, found that after a year of intense uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, political instability, racial discord, and severe climate events, millennials and Gen Zs around the world are determined to hold themselves and others accountable on society's most pressing issues. Explore the key trends
Gates governance
If either Bill Gates or Melinda French Gates decide within the next two years that they cannot continue working together as co-chairs of the Gates Foundation, French Gates will resign. The plan, announced yesterday, is apparently a backup plan for the continuity of the organization's work. Fortune
Dirty money
The EU is reportedly preparing to pull anti-money laundering duties from the remit of the European Banking Authority and give them to a new watchdog. There have been myriad scandals recently about banks handling dirty money, and the EBA has failed to crack down on the national regulators who failed to do their jobs. See also: Christiaan Hetzner's piece on Germany's "not even remotely sufficient" anti-money-laundering efforts. Politico
Comac take-off
Beijing is likely to soon grant approval for China's first passenger jet, the single-aisle Comac C919. Could the Chinese aerospace champion provide a serious challenge to the Airbus-Boeing duopoly? It already has nearly 1,000 orders and options, largely within China, and deliveries will begin this year. Even if it doesn't make many sales outside the country, its sales within China would mean fewer for Airbus and Boeing. Financial Times
TikTok resumes
Why not apply for a job via TikTok? The short-video phenomenon wants people to submit video resumes to companies such as Target, Chipotle and (former Fortune proprietor) Meredith via its platform. Marketing chief Nick Tran: "We can’t wait to see how the community embraces TikTok Resumes and helps to reimagine recruiting and job discovery." TechCrunch
This edition of CEO Daily was edited by David Meyer.
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