Michael Knepper

READ: https://lnkd.in/emGMYU2v The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released today offered a glimpse into the ongoing battle against inflation, with April showing a slight easing in price pressures, albeit remaining above levels that would immediately signal interest rate cuts. The CPI increased by 0.3% from March, slightly below expectations, yet still indicating a 3.4% increase year-on-year, in line with forecasts. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, also held steady at 3.6%, marking the lowest reading since April 2021. While this moderation brought a sigh of relief to consumers, it also fueled speculation in financial markets. Futures traders responded positively, raising the implied probability of Federal Reserve rate cuts in September. This reaction underscores the sensitivity of investors to inflation data and its potential impact on monetary policy decisions. However, while the CPI report offered a glimmer of hope, other economic indicators painted a more complex picture. Retail sales remained flat in April, suggesting that consumers may be struggling to keep pace with rising prices. Furthermore, wage growth failed to keep up with inflation, resulting in a decline in real earnings. These challenges present a dilemma for the Federal Reserve, which has been on hold since July 2023 amid stubbornly high inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a prolonged wait for clearer inflation data before considering rate cuts, likely delaying any action until September at the earliest. This cautious approach reflects the Fed's commitment to ensuring that inflation is on a sustainable path towards its 2% target, amidst lingering uncertainties surrounding supply chain disruptions and fiscal stimulus measures. #pointesouthpartners #cpianalysis #inflationtrends #fedpolicy #interestratecuts #economicindicators #marketreaction #monetarypolicy #consumerprices #coreinflation #retailsales #wagegrowth #economicoutlook #financialmarkets #feddecision #inflationdata #economicanalysis #marketvolatility #economicpolicy #macroeconomics #fiscalstimulus

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Interesting read about the proliferation of family offices in recent years and the driving forces behind that. In the Bay Area, we have seen significant growth in this space, and subsequent hiring. Family office roles appeal to finance and accounting professionals looking to leave the traditional PE, venture, or asset management firm structure. #FamilyOffices #BayArea #Finance #BusinessGrowth

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U.S. consumer prices (CPI) rose 0.4% in March. Just 4 months ago, #inflation was cooling and the Fed projected 3 rate cuts for 2024. With new data on #CPI and producer prices, rate cuts will likely be delayed until later this year. I'd expect #costofliving, #interestrates, and housing to be hot topics for some time, especially with upcoming elections. Business leaders, stay sharp and well-informed on this #data.

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Market expectations for Fed Funds Rate: -June 12, 2024: Hold -July 31, 2024: Hold -Sep 18, 2024: 25 bps cut to 5.00-5.25% -Nov 7, 2024: Hold -Dec 18, 2024: 25 bps cut to 4.75-5.00% -Jan 25, 2025: Hold -Mar 19, 2025: 25 bps cut to 4.50-4.75% -Apr 30, 2025: Hold

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"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."- Michael Jordan Private Credit & Bank JV Partnerships are a win-win-win, benefiting the Private Credit Manager, Banks, and the PE sponsor who they provide loans to. Strategic partnerships are highly beneficial for Private Credit managers to expand the origination platform and drive powerful synergies. The combo leads to enhanced market influence with a competitive advantage by strengthening market position plus enhanced deal flow. Like-minded partners start with commitment by senior leadership, a well-defined investment management plan, the desire to work together, alignment of credit cultures, and shared economics resulting in transparency, open communication, and success. Commercial banks serve the business community from SME’s to large corporations, offering cash management, checking/savings accounts, payment processing, term loans, revolvers, lines of credit, trade finance, investment and advisory and more. Commercial Bank regulations are costly and though capital intensive for banks, Private Credit managers further enhance financing options for companies, while banks continue to deliver the full range of services that help drive the corporate sector. PE sponsors have always relied on their banking relationships to finance their LBOs, utilizing the full range of bank services. With the advent of Private Credit offering financing solutions to PE, many pundits have adopted the narrative Private Credit competes with the banks. While in certain situations this is true, I take a different approach, one of partnership. From my vantage point, Private Credit & Banks are best when working together, and when a JV Partnership is formed it can create a powerful combination, a winning formula. Direct Lending funds are fast and furious, raising too much capital at times, illustrated by the fact that pacing has slowed, many Private Credit managers are chasing bigger deals at tighter spreads with looser covenants. Sticking with the Middle Market will prove to be the efficient frontier for Direct Lending, since wider spreads create higher returns, while tighter covenants result in better downside protection of principal. It also means that fund size should be constrained. Super-sized fund managers will debate this, of course, and the largest of funds serve an important role to compete in financing large LBOs with the BSL market. On behalf of Marathon Asset Management, we cherish our banking relationships and are grateful for all the services they provide to us. Marathon and our LPs might be well served by establishing a JV Bank Partnership that creates a wider aperture for our deal flow, a strong and rigorously underwritten pipeline of potential Private Credit deals with terms that our borrowers (PE Sponsors & their companies) can bank on. To paraphrase the G.O.A.T. "Talent + Teamwork + Intelligence + Partnership = Upper Quartile Performance (IRR/DPI/MOCI)" Stay tuned. 

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Actelis Receives New Significant Order for Major U.S. Department of Aerial Transportation Agency With this latest order for the company’s Cyber-Hardened Hybrid-Fiber Networking Solution, Actelis continues to demonstrate strong position within the transportation sector with new significant order FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Actelis Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASNS) (“Actelis” or the “Company”), a market leader in cyber-hardened, rapid deployment networking solutions for IoT applications, today announced that it has received a new significant order for a major aerial transportation agency operating underneath the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Actelis continues to expand its presence in the transportation sector with its cyber-hardened, hybrid-fiber networking technology that is used at traffic intersections, along major highways and railways, and at international airports around the world. Please continue reading = https://lnkd.in/e43UPpq7