Art of the Trade Deal

Author

Litquidity Capital
July 28, 2025

Together with

Good Morning,

Jensen Huang had heaps of praise for Trump, Meta poached ChatGPT's co-creator, Goldman returned to lead ETF market-making, Palantir became a top 20 most valuable US company, an early crypto investor cashed out of $9B in Bitcoin, and US agreed to a trade deal with EU, with China still on deck.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 7/25/2025 market close.

Click here to learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks rose on Friday as investors digested positive earnings and braced for potential trade deals, economic data, and another big earnings week

    • S&P rose for a fifth-straight day to a new ATH

    • Nasdaq hit a new ATH

    • S&P and Nasdaq posted their 14th and 15th record close this year respectively

    • 'Magnificent 7' stocks hit a new ATH for the first time since December

  • Munis are trailing Treasuries by the most since 2020 

    • Treasuries are up 3% YTD

    • Munis are down 1% YTD

  • Dollar had worst week MTD to break a two-week rally as tariff deadline nears

  • Euro rose to its highest versus pound since 2023

Earnings

  • Booz Allen Hamilton beat Q2 earnings estimates but missed on revenue as DOGE cuts and federal contract cancellations, though it maintained its FY outlook (INV)

  • Volkswagen reported a $1.5B H1 hit from tariffs and cut its FY sales and profit margin forecasts as tariffs added to troubles amid on-going stiff competition from Chinese EVs (RT)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Waste Management, Whirlpool

    • Tuesday: Boeing, Spotify, Starbucks, UnitedHealth Group, Visa, PayPal, UPS, Booking Holdings

    • Wednesday: Meta, Microsoft, Robinhood, Kraft Heinz, Carvana, Ford, Hershey

    • Thursday: Apple, Amazon, Coinbase, Reddit, Mastercard, Strategy, CVS Health, Roblox

    • Friday: ExxonMobil, Chevron

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • IF the files are released…

  • Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

  • Jensen Huang says 'America's unique advantage' is Trump (YH)

  • Data deluge brings a 'moment of truth' for markets this week (BBG)

  • US and EU agreed to a trade deal (CNBC)

  • US and China are expected to extend tariff deadline again (CNBC)

  • Experts are worried about quality of US economic data (RT)

  • Eurozone companies warned of slowing economy and China competition (RT)

  • Fed is set for contentious debate as investors eye fall rate cut (BBG)

  • Investors weigh market impact of possible early J Pow exit (RT)

  • PE LPs refuse to roll over investments as returns dwindle (FT)

  • Investors are flocking to cheap stocks (WSJ)

  • Traders hedging stocks are increasingly dabbling in exotic options (BBG)

  • EM credit hedge funds eye risk-mitigation as rally blooms (BBG)

  • Hedge funds' bullish gold wagers rose to the highest since April (BBG)

  • Goldman S&T clients started shorting speculative tech (BBG)

  • Chinese investment into Hong Kong surged to a record high (FT)

  • Goldman returned as lead ETF market-maker after eight-year exit (BBG)

  • Palantir became a top 20 most valuable US company (CNBC)

  • Shanghai bourse gives bond investors a taste of high yields with new framework (RT)

  • Meta will stop selling political ads in EU (BBG)

  • Citi launched 'Strata Elite' credit card for $595 to rival Amex and Chase (BBG)

  • UVA Darden School of Business ended DEI partnerships (BBG)

  • Citadel Securities won case over SEC audit trail funding (BBG)

  • Meta Superintelligence named ChatGPT's co-creator as Chief Scientist (TC)

  • Trader claiming he made 97% of hedge fund's revenues sues over bonus (FT)

  • Personal data of viral women's dating app Tea was leaked (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • KKR is in talks to acquire Asian digital infrastructure provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres for over $5B

  • Brand management firms Authentic Brands, Bluestar Alliance, and WHP Global are among suitors in talks to acquire fashion brand Marc Jacobs from LVMH for ~$1B

  • Financial services firm Marex agreed to acquire market maker Winterflood Securities from UK lender Close Brothers for ~$140M in cash

  • Beyond ONE, the owner of Virgin Mobile Mexico, is in exclusive talks to acquire Spanish telecom giant Telefonica's Mexican unit

  • Berkshire Hathaway-backed truck stop chain Pilot Travel Centers is exploring a sale of its water-management services unit

VC

  • Enterprise banking fintech Ramp is in talks to raise a $350M round at a $21B valuation led by ICONIQ

  • OSL Group, an Asia-based regulated digital asset platform, raised a $300M equity financing round

  • Buena, a proptech startup simplifying real estate ownership, raised $58M in funding including a Series A led by GV

  • Swift Navigation, a startup providing centimeter-accurate positioning for vehicle autonomy, raised a $50M Series E led by Crosslink Capital

  • Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company, a company generating a confidence infrastructure for AI agents, raised a $15M seed round led by NFDG

  • Domain registrar Freename raised a $6.5M Series A led by Entree Capital

  • Olto, a startup helping B2B teams demo and sell software, raised a $5.1M pre-seed round led by Nexus Venture Partners and The General Partnership

  • Data Guardians Network, an AI training data platform, raised a $5M pre-seed round led by Hamoud Al-Rumayyan

  • Capitalize.io, an AI-based platform that transforms data into deals, raised a $4M seed round from Lerer Hippeau and Sway Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Intel is planning to separate its networking and communications unit into a stand-alone company and began the process of identifying investors

Debt

  • South Africa approved $5.3B in guarantees to support state-owned rail and port operator Transnet SOC amid ongoing financial struggles

  • Banks are preparing $2.3B in debt financing for Swiss fragrance and taste company DSM-Firmenich's animal nutrition and health unit, which is close to being acquired by CVC

  • UBS and Citigroup offloaded $2B of hung debt tied to Patient Square Capital's $4.1B LBO of dental and animal health firm Patterson

  • Morgan Stanley sold a $280M Panda bond in the first by a US company

  • EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure completed a $235M asset-backed bond offering to refinance construction debt and bankroll future data center development

  • Ares provided $134M in funding to struggling UK broadband provider TalkTalk Telecom, less than a year after a major financial restructuring

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • US talent agency VShojo shut down after clients alleged the firm withheld hundreds of thousands of dollars

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • European PE firm IK Partners raised $2.2B for its fourth small cap fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • A Bitcoin whale cashed out of 80k Bitcoin for $9B via Galaxy Digital

  • Crypto lenders dial up risk with 'microfinance on steroids'

  • Companies load up on niche crypto tokens to boost share prices

  • Tyler Winklevoss accused JPMorgan of halting Gemini's onboarding over criticism of the bank

  • Stablecoins craze pits central bank against lawmakers in South Korea

Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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    Download their free guide to learn what matters when choosing a data provider.

Finance & Startup Recruiting 💼

Litney Partners

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out our recruiting firm, Litney Partners. Established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm), Litney Partners has placed strong candidates across leading firms spanning private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, private credit, investment banking, and fintech. Head over to our website to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

We are able to move faster than most firms due to our paralleled reach, decades of industry expertise, and ability to attract top caliber candidates.

Next Play

If you're down bad, realizing finance isn't for you, and/or are curious to explore the world of startups (BizOps, chief of staff, strategic finance, etc.), fill out this form. Next Play reviews every submission and will reach out to schedule a 1:1 video call if they think they can be helpful as your own, personal startup matchmaker. They’ve grown their community to over 50k talented individuals and have strong relationships across the tech ecosystem.

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.

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