TOP STORY
😱 OpenAI Fires CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft Blindsided

Just a week after OpenAI’s major announcement of the GPT Store, the company announced another shocking announcement: CEO Sam Altman has been fired. OpenAI’s board stated that Altman was not "consistently candid in communications," leading to his dismissal.

Following Altman's exit, OpenAI President Greg Brockman resigned, along with several senior researchers. OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will now step in as interim CEO.

Just a day after this announcement, the company's board is reportedly already engaged in discussions with Sam Altman about his potential return as CEO.

OpenAI president Greg broke down the timeline of events leading up to the firing:

Many are speculating that the ousting could be related to resurfaced tweets from Sam’s sister, Annie Altman, where she accused Sam and his brother Jack of abusing her when she was a child.

Annie Altman joined a Twitter spaces on Friday to address the tweets, saying she hopes Sam is “able to get the healing he needs just like I’ve been able to get the healing I need”.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest shareholder, was reportedly blindsided by the news, only learning of Altman’s ousting a minute before it became public knowledge. Microsoft has invested ~$13 billion into OpenAI's for-profit arm and controls a 49% stake in the company.

Microsoft CEO released a statement to address the firing, saying they “remain committed to our partnership, and to Mira and the team”

FROM OUR FRIENDS @ ADDY
🏠 addy Drops 4 New Properties!

Quality commercial real estate deals are usually out of reach for the average Canadian, but addy is here to change that. Our Vancouver-based friends have built an awesome app making it possible to invest in real estate developments for as little as $1!

Four properties have dropped on the addy platform that anyone can invest in:

1. A multi-family development in Mission, BC

2. A Student Housing Complex in Oklahoma, USA

3. 20 multi-family units at Atladore Townhomes in Calgary, AB (almost sold out)

4. An 84-unit purpose-built rental apartment in Calgary, AB

While most of addy’s features are free, addy has a membership that gives priority access to investment opportunities, special discounts for in-person events, and more.

Stephen from addy has offered our members 50% off the membership with the code BLOSSOM50 😎

SUPERINVESTORS
👀 Superinvestors Reveal Q3 Portfolio Changes, Top 10 Bought & Sold Stocks

This week, the ‘superinvestors’ revealed their Q3 moves. These portfolio changes were reported in 13F filings, quarterly reports required from institutional investment managers with over $100 million in assets.

Here are some notable changes from the superinvestors:

Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway)

• 👀 New Positions: Liberty Media ($LLYVK and $LLYVA), Sirius XM ($SIRI), Atlanta Braves ($BATRK)
   

• ❌ Sold: completely out of United Parcel Service ($UPS), Procter & Gamble ($PG), Mondelez International ($MDLZ), Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ), Celanese ($CE), General Motors ($GM), and Activision Blizzard ($ATVI).
  
  Reduced positions in Amazon ($AMZN), Aon ($AON), Chevron ($CVX), HP ($HPQ), Markel Group ($MKL), and Globe Life ($GL)

Michael Burry (Scion Asset Management)

• 👀 New Positions: Booking Holdings ($BKNG), Alibaba Group ($BABA), JD.com ($JD)
   

• ❌ Sold: Sold completely out of Expedia Group ($EXPE), Charter Communications ($CHTR), CVS Health ($CVS), MGM Resorts International ($MGM), Warner Bros. Discovery ($WBD), Geo Group ($GEO) + 17 other positions.
  
  Reduced positions in RealReal ($REAL) and Crescent Energy ($CRGY)

✅ Top 10 Buys in Q3 2023

• Meta ($META) - 11 buys

• Alphabet ($GOOG) - 11 buys

• Amazon ($AMZN) - 10 buys

• Disney ($DIS) - 8 buys

• Microsoft ($MSFT) - 8 buys

• United Health Group ($UNH) - 8 buys

• Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) - 7 buys

• Dollar General ($DG) - 6 buys

• Apple ($AAPL) - 6 buys

• Alphabet ($GOOGL) - 5 buys

❌ Top 10 Sells in Q3 2023

• Microsoft ($MSFT) - 18 sells

• Alphabet ($GOOGL) - 16 sells

• Visa ($V) - 14 sells

• Meta ($META) - 11 sells

• Alphabet ($GOOGL) - 11 sells

• Amazon ($AMZN) - 10 sells

• Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK-B) - 10 sells

• Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) - 9 sells

• Mastercard ($MA) - 8 sells

• Wells Fargo ($WFC) - 8 sells

The sectors that attracted the most attention in terms of net buys were Healthcare, Materials, and Industrials.

On the flip side, Information Technology, Technology, and Financials saw the most net sells.

TECHNOLOGY
📱 Apple Embraces “RCS Messaging” for iPhones in 2024

Apple announced plans to adopt the Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging protocol by late 2024, significantly improving the texting experience between IOS and Android users.

Features of RCS include:

• 🖼️ Allows high-resolution images and videos.

• 👀 Lets users know when their message has been read and when the other person is typing.

• 👥 Enhanced features for group messaging.

• 🔒 Offers improved security for message contents.

• ⚙️ Location sharing, file sharing, video calls, message reactions, and more.

While not directly mandated by the EU, Apple's adoption of RCS may be a proactive measure to appease regulators and weakens Google's lobbying efforts to regulate iMessage under the DMA.

 FROM THE BLOSSOM COMMUNITY

🎙 Top Discussions This Week

🗞️ What else you might’ve missed:

• Amazon ($AMZN) plans to start selling cars on its platform in 2024 starting with Hyundai.

• Microsoft ($MSFT) has launched its first AI chip the Maia 100, and a custom Arm-based Azure Cobalt CPU.

• Target ($TGT) surged over 17% after the company reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations.

• Apple ($AAPL) and Disney ($DIS) pull advertising off X (Twitter).

• Citigroup ($CITI) plans to begin layoffs soon as part of a larger corporate overhaul by CEO Jane Fraser.

• Walmart ($WMT) dropped more than 8% following its earnings report, signaling a cautious outlook.