White Days, Wealth, Gulping Gas & SPAC Unofficial 👛

After hunting for deals for two years, Palihapitiya said his team just couldn’t find attractive targets. 

What changed? 

Times have changed. 

A regulatory crackdown on SPACs and investor apprehensions due to soaring inflation have crushed the SPAC market. On the stock market, all but one of the companies Palihapitiya took public are down at least ~40% from their initial listing price. This is strongly indicative of investor confidence in the market right now. 

On a tangential note: Not just SPACs, but the overall IPO market is facing its biggest freeze in over a decade. One reason? Today marks 238 days since the last big US tech IPO—the longest drought in more than 20 years.

Women know that we’re living through a tumultuous time. They also know that their financial health is tracking at the lowest level in over the past five years, due primarily to inflation, low consumer confidence, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

But despite this, women's interest in financial wellness has increased in 2022.

According to an Ellevest research, in 2021, women ranked financial wellness as the least important form of wellness — less important than physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness.

This year, in that same ranking, women were now three times as likely to see financial wellness as critical. What a difference a year — and high inflation — make. 

It may thus bode well for marketeers at Wall Street to cater to women’s risk awareness rather than try to change the supposed risk averseness.

This sporty all-electric car from the Netherlands is called ZEM (Zero Emission Mobility). It resembles a BMW coupe, but is unique: It captures more carbon than it emits.

Target: To minimize carbon dioxide emitted during the car's full lifespan, from manufacturing to recycling.

How? 

First, most of its parts are 3D-printed from recycled plastics. Second, the two-seater houses a Cleantron lithium-ion battery pack. 

How is this different from any other EV? 

There is a tiny flaw in the world’s original EV plan. Battery electric vehicles emit virtually no CO2 during operation, but production of these EV battery cells can create so much pollution that it can take EVs tens of thousands of miles to achieve "carbon parity" with comparable fossil-fueled models. In a way, neutralising the benefits of EVs. 

The ZEM car uses two filters that can capture up to 2 kilograms (4.41 lb) of CO2 over 20,000 miles of driving. This means, the car can absorb back all the CO2 from the atmosphere it created during the battery production stage.

Walmart is expanding into the wedding dress business just as marriages are expected to hit a four-decade peak. It will do so through Eloquii, a fashion startup, that it acquired in late 2018 for $100 million. 

The collection will officially launch on Oct. 13 at New York Bridal Fashion Week and will be available to customers via the Eloquii website.

Eloquii, which was founded in 2011 and caters to women sizes 14 to 28, has unveiled a bridal collection of 50 pieces. All of its bridal products are priced below $900 with dresses starting as low as $89.