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Good Morning,

Buffett’s Berkshire was a net seller in Q1, the labor market doesn’t care about higher interest rates, the White House is scrambling to handle the debt ceiling dilemma, US regional bank shares have recovered slightly, China’s forex reserves hit $3.2T, and crypto is regaining momentum.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rallied on Friday on a recovery in regional bank shares and a strong jobs report relaying signs of a healthy economy

  • All three major US indexes snapped a four-day losing streak

  • The Dow posted its biggest one-day percentage gain since Jan 6

  • The Dow and S&P logged their worst week since March

• Bitcoin regained momentum towards $30k

• The April CPI report will release on May 10th as the headliner of the week

Earnings

• AMC beat Q1 revenue estimates driven by the release of new hit films and new features to attract audiences to theaters, the stock climbed 4% in premarket trading before closing flat on the day (YF)

• Warner Bros Discovery’s Q1 revenue was roughly in line with estimates as the company is pivoting to video streaming and DTC offerings (CNBC)

• Lyft posted weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings as competition with ride-sharing rival Uber intensified, its stock fell 15% (YF)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Monday: KKR, Lucid, Palantir, Six Flags

  • Tuesday: AirBnB, Electronic Arts, Under Armour

  • Wednesday: Walt Disney, Beyond Meat, Robinhood, Wendy’s

  • Thursday: Krispy Kreme

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• US labor market defies rate hikes, posts strong job gains (RT)

• Scope Ratings placed US credit ratings under review for possible downgrade (RT)

• Scrambling to avoid default, White House weighs debt-limit fallback options (WSJ)

• Berkshire Hathaway dumped billions of dollars of US stocks in Q1 (FT)

• Western companies warn of hit from China’s slow recovery (FT)

• Russia launches mass strikes on Ukraine ahead of May 9 Victory Day (RT)

• US regional bank shares partially recover but fear of crash lingers (GN)

• Bank stocks are nearing a crisis-era technical threshold, raising warning signs for the broader stock market (BBG)

• US aims to tackle risk of uncontrolled race to develop AI (GN)

• US is investigating Goldman Sachs for its work for SVB (NYT)

• SEC awarded a record $279M to a whistleblower (CNBC)

• China forex reserves rose to $3.2T in April (RT)

• Bond traders bet on biggest Fed shift in decades on credit risks (YF)

• JPMorgan sees investors moving to gold, tech amid recession risk (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Apollo and Abhu Dabhi National Oil Company made a joint acquisition offer for petrochemical maker Braskem SA worth up to ~$7.6B (BBG)

• Sweden’s Assa Abloy AB, the world’s #1 lock maker, and US-based Spectrum Holdings reached a settlement with the US Justice Department regarding Assa’s $4.3B deal to buy Spectrum’s hardware and home improvement division (RT)

  • As part of this settlement, Assa agreed to sell its Emtek and Smart Residential businesses to the Canadian Fortune Brands for $800M to resolve antitrust issues (RT)

• A PE consortium of Warburg Pincus and Advent International are in advanced talks to acquire medical device maker Baxter International’s biopharma solutions business for ~$4B (RT)

• TPG is in talks to acquire investment firm Angelo Gordon for $2B+ (BBG)

• PE fund Cerberus and RE loan manager Axactor purchased a portfolio of distressed loans from Santander for ~$1.21B (RT)

• Singapore state investor Temasek is considering investing $100M for a 20% stake in Indian jeweler BlueStone (RT)

• Ant Group is considering selling a stake in its virtual banking unit in Hong Kong (BBG)

VC

• ace turtle, a technology-centric Indian retail company, raised a $34M Series B led by Vertex Growth, SBI Investment, Farglory, and more (PRN)

• Instruqt, a startup allowing companies to test software, raised a $16.3M Series A from Blossom Capital (TC)

• Altris, a Swedish sodium ion battery developer, raised a $5.4M bridge round from unnamed current investors and employees (FN)

• Kenyan fintech Fingo raised a $4M seed round led by HOF Capital (TC)

• Glass, a startup building an e-commerce marketplace for government agencies, raised a $3M round led by New Age Capital (FN)

• Asset Layer, a digital asset platform powered by blockchain, raised $2.4M in funding from nChain (PRN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• SF Holdings, China’s largest express delivery company, began preparations with banks for a second Hong Kong listing to raise $2B- $3B (BBG)

• Drug developer Acelyrin upped its IPO from $451M to $540M Friday morning, while shares jumped ~30% on its first day of trading (MW)

• Edible bird’s nest maker Yanzhiwu is considering a Hong Kong IPO of up to $200M (BBG)

• TPG-backed Indian wire and cable maker RR Kable filed for a $27.5M IPO (RT)

• Cosmetics maker Coty is eyeing a dual-listing on the Paris Stock Exchange (RT)

• AIG delayed its secondary share sale in life insurance and retirement business unit, Corebridge Financial, due to market volatility from banking crisis (RT)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Christmas Tree Shops, a home decor spinoff from Bed Bath & Beyond in 2020, filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday (BBG)

Fundraising

• Indian VC firm 3one4 Capital, famous for its contrarian investing approach, raised $200M for its 6th fund (TC)

Crypto Corner

• Binance faces US probe over Russian sanction violations (BBG)

• NY Attorney General seeks new crypto powers for state regulators (CD)

• Chinese users of FTX and Binance show holes in Beijing crypto ban (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• Farmland produces the food, fiber and fuel we rely on daily, and when prices rise, generally so do farmland values. When you invest in farmland, you invest in American agriculture and the enterprising farmers who support it. Join investors from across the U.S. in diversifying your portfolio with AcreTrader.*

• A few years back, Tim Ferriss wrote an excellent piece on “how to say no when it matters most” and his decision to stop investing in startups.

*AcreTrader Financial, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Farmland investing is speculative and involves high degree of risk, including complete loss of principal and not suitable for all investors. Past performance does not guarantee future results and there is no guarantee this trend will continue.

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