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Andrew Tate got arrested in Romania, Biden signed the $1.7T FY 23 government spending bill into law, average weekly jobless claims remain below pre-pandemic lows, major US-listed Chinese tech firms are pulling out of Hong Kong IPOs, Chinese industrial profits contracted 3.6% in November, and OpenSea's CEO wants to distance NFTs from the crypto crisis.

NFL playoffs are right around the corner, and Sporttrade is the only regulated sports trading exchange that lets you trade in and out of sports at any time - just like stocks or options. You can download the app right now and start trading in New Jersey today!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• Growth stocks steered all three major US indexes sharply higher in a light trading session yesterday, as investors digested higher than expected weekly jobless claim numbers and corrected for recent tax-loss selling

• Oil prices fell for a second straight session on uncertain demand outlook as countries consider restrictions on Chinese travelers

• US dollar index slipped 0.4%, reversing initial optimism over China's reopening

Earnings

• Nothing to report this week

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Biden signed the $1.7T FY 23 government spending bill into law (AP)

• Average weekly jobless claims this year remain slightly lower than pre-pandemic lows (WSJ)

• Major US-listed Chinese tech companies are canceling Hong Kong-listing plans (TI)

• Chinese industrial profits contracted further to 3.6% YoY in November (RT)

• Italy will exit stake in bailed-out bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena in hopes to allow for several big banks in the country (RT)

• Italy's PM believes the euro zone's bailout fund serves no useful purpose (RT)

• US Virgin Islands sued JPMorgan over Epstein sex-trafficking scheme (NYT)

• Novartis will pay $245M to end antitrust litigation over a US drug launch (RT)

• Starbucks will update its rewards program in February 2023 (AX)

• US accused a Chinese jet of coming within 10 feet of an Air Force jet (RT)

• Russia launched its 'most massive' missile attack on Ukraine since beginning of the war (AX)

• Human rights lawyers are fleeing Hong Kong amid threats and intimidation (RT)

• Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania on human trafficking charges (TMZ)

• Soccer legend Pele died at 82 (ESPN)

A Message From Sporttrade

Buy, Sell, Hold – But Make it Sports

Take it from me, you don’t need to be a sports guru to trade sports.

Sporttrade is not another sportsbook. They’re not in the business of betting against you. They are not the “house”. This is trading sports. It was built for people like us in mind. It’s the only regulated sports trading exchange that lets you trade in and out of sports at any time - just like stocks or options.

As an exchange they match buyers and sellers, but instead of listing stocks, they list sports outcomes. Like “Eagles to win the NFC East”, or “Georgia to beat Ohio State.”

Let’s take the upcoming College Football games this weekend as an example. The University of Georgia, the #1 team in the country, is taking on Ohio State University, #4 in the country. Ohio State is currently trading at a “buy” of $31.5 (meaning they have a 31.5% chance to win the game), according to the market on Sporttrade.

Most people would be afraid to take that bet and if they did they would have to suffer until the end of the game to see if they won. But if Ohio State scores first, or holds Georgia from scoring, the value of that bet can go up and you can sell at the true market value for a profit whenever you want. And you can even take the other side of Georgia to win in hopes that they retaliate. Allowing you to bet on the momentum of the game, not just the final outcome. A sportsbook can’t offer that!

PLUS, Sporttrade is offering new customers to try it out risk free for up to $300!

Download on iOS anywhere. If you are in NJ or travel to NJ you can start trading today.

Pricing subject to change. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ) 21+

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• A unit of China Resources Land bought equity interest and debt in four property units worth $1.8B from China Fortune Land Development (RT)

• BC Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in B2B digital marketing services firm Madison Logic in a ~$750M deal (RT)

• Polish utility PGE will buy the owner of energy company PKP Energetyka PKPE Holding in a $433M deal (RT)

• Brazilian oil company Petroreconcavo agreed to buy oil company Maha Energy’s local subsidiary for $138M (RT)

• French biotech Cellectis will acquire a 19% stake in gene-editing tech startup Primera Therapeutics (RT)

VC

• Razor, a leading global aggregator of e-commerce consumer goods businesses, raised a $70M round led by L Catterton (PRN)

• Perception Vision Medical Technologies, a global AI cancer treatment company, raised a $14M Series A from Cherami Investment Group, Philips, JHF Investment, COCOCAPITAL Corporation and Strategy Capital (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Pinduoduo, a $104B Nasdaq-listed Chinese e-commerce firm, put Hong Kong listing plans on hold (RT)

• Full Truck Alliance, a $9B NYSE-traded Chinese commercial freight company, scrapped Hong Kong listing plans (RT)

Crypto Corner

• SBF met with White House aides on crypto policy before FTX collapse (BBG)

• Alameda Research sold $1.7M in crypto amid bankruptcy; it still holds over $112M in tokens (BI)

• Investors are converting ‘totally worthless’ NFTs into tax write-offs (GU)

• OpenSea's CEO is trying to distance NFTs from crypto crisis (FT)

Exec's Picks

• Ted Gioia wrote a great piece about Barnes & Noble's surprising turnaround story.

• The New York Times explained why Southwest had so many flight cancellations here.

• The Information published an interesting article about how dozens of companies now cater to providing debt financing to creators and influencers as individuals, not as companies. See below for a matrix summarizing the options available:

The Hiring Block 💼

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We aim to curate jobs across IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We'll sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're a company looking to hire candidates and want to list a job opening on our board and feature on Exec Sum, click the button below:

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