Aurora Acquisition Corp. (AURC)

Welcome back to The Interchange, where we take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. Better.com finally went public last week, and the stock's performance was worse than expected.

Sometimes things go better, sometimes things go worse.  Other times a mortgage lender goes public just as new American mortgage applications slump to the lowest level in 28 years.

In today's market, the company feeling considerable heat today is Better Home (NASDAQ:BETR), also known as Better.com. At the time of writing, BETR stock has plunged more than 93% from yesterday's close.

Shares of Better.com are getting hammered into the ground Thursday morning after the digital mortgage company completed its long-delayed SPAC merger and began to trade as a public company for the first time. When Better first announced plans to go public in 2021 at a $7.7 billion valuation, it was a different time.

Shares of mortgage lender Better Home & Finance Holding Co. BETR, -94.90% fell flat in the company's public debut, falling 93% in morning action Thursday on their first day of trading since the completion of Better's merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. The company announced Wednesday that its previously disclosed merger with Aurora Acquisition Corp. had been completed.

Mortgage demand isn't what it used to be: Both home purchase and refinance application volume have dropped below their booming levels in 2020 and 2021.

A company that gained notoriety when the CEO canned 900 staff via Zoom is seeking a stock market listing. Online mortgage originator Better.Com is planning to go public via Aurora Acquisition Corp, a SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company).

Despite a bleak outlook for home buying, online mortgage lender Better.com has pushed ahead with its long-awaited plans to go public.

A former short squeeze favorite is back on top of Fintel's Short Squeeze Leaderboard this week. The market analytics platform provides a detailed screener and leaderboard listing the most likely short squeeze stocks every week, as determined by quantitative analysis.

There have been some rather incredible moves among highly shorted stocks in recent days. Among the short squeeze stocks in focus for many investors is trucking company Yellow (NASDAQ: YELL ), which saw an incredible move higher (and lower) over the past two weeks as it made various announcements tied to its bankruptcy.

Three small issuers began trading this past week, two of which were eligible for inclusion in our IPO stats. While most IPOs are biding their time through the August break, the SPAC market is churning out deals. Three IPOs are currently scheduled to list in the week ahead, although other small issuers may join the calendar during the week.

We didn't think we'd see the day. Digital mortgage lender Better.com's proposal to combine with Aurora Acquisition Corp. via a SPAC (special purpose acquisition) has been approved by shareholders, the company confirmed today.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aurora Acquisition Corp. (“Aurora”) (NASDAQ: AURC, AURCU, AURCW), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, and Better HoldCo, Inc. (“Better”) today announced that Aurora's shareholders voted to approve the proposed business combination (the "Business Combination") with Better and each related proposal at an extraordinary general meeting of Aurora's shareholders (“Special Meeting”) held earlier today, August 11, 2023. Aurora's sponsor, directors and execu.

Shares of Aurora Acquisition (NASDAQ: AURC ) — a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that has no operations of its own but exists to merge with a private business enterprise — popped sharply on Wednesday in anticipation of a critical shareholder vote. Aurora seeks to merge with mortgage automation platform Better.com, a deal delayed multiple times in part due to controversies.

Aurora Acquisition (NASDAQ: AURC ) stock is rising higher on Monday after the company got an update on its planned SPAC merger with Better. A letter filed by the company details that the SEC has declared effective the SPAC merger between Aurora Acquisition and Better.

Aurora Acquisition (NASDAQ: AURC ) stock is screaming higher today, up 160% as we speak. As a result, AURC stock is clearly trending on Friday.