Together with

Good Morning,

Korea stocks had their best day ever after posting their worst day ever, Morgan Stanley cut 3% of jobs across all major divisions, Blue Owl shorts hit an ATH on private credit fears, Anthropic ARR hit $20B, and Trump said AI companies need 'PR help' after backlash over data centers.

On the Iran situation, the Gulf shipping crisis continued to worsen as US deepens its strikes. Though oil prices showed signs of stabilizing.

Tax day is 41 days out. Your K-1s might not land until September. Meanwhile your CPA is juggling 500 other clients, billing by the hour, and calling it a strategy. Every week costs you. Upgrade to OLarry's Private Client Tax Advisory. Year-round access, one transparent flat price.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/4/2026 market close.

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks rebounded yesterday as traders weighed economic data, steadying oil markets, and hopes for Iran diplomacy 

  • Korea's KOSPI index crashed 12% in its worst day ever

    • Korea's KOSPI index rebounded 12% in its best day ever

  • Dubai's DFM General index slumped 4.7% in its worst day since May 2022 after UAE markets re-opened

  • Aluminum surged to the highest since 2022 after Bahrain’s Alba declared force majeure

  • Dollar fell 0.3% in its worst day in three weeks 

  • Indian rupee fell to a record low

Earnings

  • Abercrombie & Fitch beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates on its 13th-straight quarterly growth though margins declined on tariff pressures (BN)

  • Broadcom beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates as AI revenue doubled on robust demand for custom AI accelerators and AI networking and gave strong guidance with a line of sight to over $100B in FY revenue amid progress from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta (CNBC)

  • Cracker Barrel beat Q4 revenue estimates and narrowed losses despite an overall YoY decline in performance after last year's failed logo change; the firm boosted guidance as turnaround efforts take shape (WSJ)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Costco, Kroger, JD.com, Victoria's Secret

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Also need a market on how long any leaders will last

  • Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

Headline Roundup

  • Senate rejected war powers resolution to pull back from Iran (CNBC)

  • US is 'actively considering' role in Iran after conflict ends (WSJ)

  • Gulf shipping crisis deepens amid US strikes on Iran (RT)

  • US-to-Asia oil shipment costs hit a record (BBG)

  • Fed's Beige Book reveals slight growth in economic activity (BBG)

  • OECD sees rising refinancing risk as bond sales surge (WSJ)

  • Global ECM activity is booming despite geopolitical woes (RT)

  • Money market AUM rose to record $8.27T in dash for cash (BBG)

  • Federal judge ordered US to begin refunding $130B in tariffs (WSJ)

  • Indonesia has suffered a series of market sentiment setbacks this year (RT)

  • Blue Owl shorts hit an ATH on private credit fears (BBG)

  • EM ETF inflows rise even as rout hits shares (BBG)

  • DoubleLine sees EM 'virtuous loop' despite Iran war (BBG)

  • Goldman says AI disruption will challenge lending decisions in future (RT)

  • KPMG named ex-Australia boss Gary Wingrove as new global CEO (FT)

  • Morgan Stanley cut 3% of jobs across all three major units (WSJ) 

  • Anthropic ARR hit $20B (BBG)

  • Big Tech group supports Anthropic in Pentagon fight (RT)

  • Defense contractors drop Claude after Pentagon's Anthropic blacklist (CNBC)

  • Trump says AI companies need 'PR help' after data center backlash (FT)

  • Record 6% of workers are raiding their 401(k) savings (WSJ)

A Message from OLarry

If your CPA is waiting, they're reacting, not advising. That's usually the first red flag we see, followed by a role reversal where you end up bringing the strategy ideas to them at year-end.

OLarry was created with this in mind. They are a year round Private Client service for individuals and businesses with complex taxes, all for a transparent flat fee.

Go beyond traditional tax filing with:

  • Unlimited Strategy: Unlimited year round service, whether you want to meet 4 times or 52 times per year

  • Zero Cross-Selling: Real strategy without the worry about being sold annuities, insurance or other financial products

  • Proven Track Record: Trusted by thousands of individuals and businesses

  • Multidisciplinary Advisory: Specializing in K-1s, Multi-State Compliance, Trusts/Estates, and Corporate Entities (S-Corp, C-Corp, Partnerships) and more

"Easily the best and most strategic tax convos I've had." -Raj, CEO

Book a free consultation today and get 10% off with code Execsum.

Upgrade to OLarry

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

  • Blackstone's talks to invest $2.5B in Hong Kong property developer New World Development stalled as the Cheng family resists ceding control

  • US PE firm Arcline entered the race to acquire $1.7B-listed UK aviation parts maker Senior

  • Alcohol maker Phusion Projects is exploring a sale of canned alcohol beverage Four Loko at a $400M valuation

  • Centurium Capital, the Chinese PE backer of Chinese coffee company Luckin Coffee, is in advanced talks to acquire Nestle's Blue Bottle Coffee

  • US is weighing forcing Chinese tech giant Tencent to divest stakes in video game giants including Epic Games and Riot Games

VC

  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hinted at ending investments in OpenAI and ​Anthropic as the startups prepare to IPO

  • European small-satellite launcher PLD Space raised a $210M Series C led by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

  • LatAm neo-bank Ualá raised a $195M round led by Allianz X

  • Commerce-enablement platform Cart.com raised a $180M growth equity round led by Springcoast Partners

  • Industrial autonomous driving startup Oxa raised a $103M Series D led by UK's National Wealth Fund

  • Sleep tech startup Eight Sleep raised a $50M strategic round at a $1.5B valuation led by Tether Investments

  • Open-source FeatureOps startup Unleash raised a $35M Series B led by One Peak

  • Crossover Markets, an institutional crypto ECN operator, raised a $31M Series B led by Tradeweb

  • Signals-intelligence startup HawkEye 360 raised an additional $23M Series E round from Ghisallo, Principia Growth, and others  

  • Stablecoin infrastructure startup Cyclops raised an $8M strategic round from Castle Island Ventures, F-Prime, and Shift4 Payments 

Get real-time updates on any startup, VC, or sector on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Kenya launched its first IPO in 11 years, selling a 65% stake in state-run Kenya Pipeline Co. at a $1.3B valuation

SPAC / SPV

  • French quantum startup Pasqal will merge with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II at a $2B pre-money valuation

Debt

  • Energy tech giant Baker Hughes plans to raise $10B in a cross-border bond sale to help fund its $13.6B acquisition of Chart Industries 

  • TKO Group, the PE-backed owner of UFC and WWE, launched a ~$1B leveraged loan sale

  • Blackstone financed its $2.5B acquisition of residential services provider Champions Group from Odyssey Investment Partners with an over $1B private credit loan priced at a 450 bps premium

  • Irish lender AIB is seeking to issue a SRT tied to infrastructure project financing

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Spanish lender Santander has $267M-$400M of exposure to failed UK lender Market Financial Solutions

  • USPS hired restructuring advisors as it could run out of cash by 2027

  • Brazil authorities again arrested Daniel Vorcaro, the owner of failed lender Banco Master, for obstructing investigations

Funds / Secondaries

  • a16z crypto plans to raise $2B for its fifth fund

  • Ridgepost Capital-owned Spanish PE FOF Qualitas Funds plans to raise $115M for a debut secondaries fund

  • UK VC Molten Ventures plans to raise a secondaries fund

  • Torch Key Asset Management, a new PE firm focused on complex MM deals, launched with seeding from GCM Grosvenor

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • US and UK are split over crypto collaboration

  • Kraken's banking arm becomes first crypto firm to secure payments account with Fed

  • Wall Street regulators advanced crypto and prediction market plans

  • Iran's $7.8B crypto market draws fresh attention in war

  • Eric Trump called banks 'anti-American' over stablecoin fight

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec’s Picks

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

Get Hired

Meme Cleanser

🛒 Merch Store: Visit our merch store to shop our latest apparel, shoes, bags, accessories and more.

💵 Litquidity Ventures: Accredited investors & qualified purchasers within the Litquidity community can gain access to alternative investments such as venture, late-stage growth, and private equity through Litquidity Ventures. Interested? Fill out this form.

☎️ Book a call with Lit: Want to pick Litquidity's brain on business advice, insights, or just chat to say what's up? Buy his time here.

📧 Launch your own newsletter: Have great content ideas and looking to launch your own publication? We highly recommend beehiiv to get started.

*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.

Reply

Avatar

or to participate

Keep Reading