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Good Morning,

Fox and CNN dropped Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon, earnings are outperforming pessimistic estimates, hedge funds are shorting treasuries, LVMH surpassed a $500B market cap, China guided banks to cut deposit rates, and 48% of US voters support a TikTok ban.

Want to invest in the company disrupting the $19.4B knee replacement industry? Check out today’s sponsor, Monogram.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks ended yesterday's session mixed with pressure from high-profile megacaps as investors brace for major corporate earnings this week

• Yield spread between US 1-month and 3-month T-Bill hit its widest ever amid debt default risk

• Money market traders priced in a 92% chance of a 25 bps Fed rate hike in May

• Oil recovered after posting its biggest weekly loss since the bank scare

• Dollar index hit a 10-day low

Earnings

• Credit Suisse posted a one-off $14B Q1 profit, in what might be the bank's last ever earnings report, due to the controversial write-off of ~$17B of AT1 bonds; it recorded $69B in quarterly outflows (5% of AUM) which instigated rival UBS's emergency takeover (CNBC)

• First Republic Bank beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates but revealed a worse-than-expected $100B in deposit outflows and announced a 25% workforce reduction causing their shares to plunge 13% (CNBC)

• Coca-Cola beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates fueled by price hikes and higher demand (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: UBS, Alphabet, Microsoft, Visa, Spotify, UPS, Verizon, Raytheon, McDonald's, PepsiCo

  • Wednesday: Meta, Boeing 

  • Thursday: Amazon, Intel, Snap, Eli Lilly 

  • Friday: Exxon, Chevron 

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• IPO market showing signs of life despite recession fears (BBG)

• ECB will keep raising rates unless wage growth slows (FT)

• BOJ will hold its first policy meeting under new Governor Kazuo Ueda this week (BBG)

• US stocks rise as ultra-pessimistic earning estimates fails to materialize (BBG)

• Europe's Stoxx 600 firms are expected to post a 2.5% decline in Q1 earnings (RT)

• Hedge funds place biggest ever short on benchmark Treasuries (BBG)

• Investors flock to 1-month bills on US debt ceiling jitters while shunning others (RT)

• Corporate insiders stepped up stock buying following banking crisis (WSJ)

• China guided banks to cut deposit rates further to boost spending (RT)

• UBS poached three Barclays execs in push to expand US investment banking size and scope (RT)

• LVMH become the first European company to surpass $500B in market value (CNBC)

• Citigroup's Asia wealth revenue surged 20% in Q1 (RT)

• UBS will retain its chief risk officer amid Credit Suisse takeover (RT)

• AI found to improve worker productivity (FRT)

• Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were unexpectedly fired from Fox and CNN, respectively (FRB)

• Apple cannot legally ban links to outside App Store payments (RT)

• Disgraced Frank founder Charlie Javice moved millions from JPMorgan to Signature Bank only to get caught up in its collapse (BBG)

• An ex-Barclays banker accused the bank of racial harassment after whistleblowing (RT)

• 46% of US voters support a TikTok ban (WSJ)

• Joe Biden formally announced a re-election bid (BBG)

A Message From Monogram

The $19.4B Knee Replacement Industry Could Get A Major “Realignment”

Monogram’s surgical robots and custom-fitting knee implants could permanently adjust the way surgeries happen – and they’re planning to list on the Nasdaq.

But you can invest now.

Currently, a whopping 92% of knee implants use cement with hacksaws, and manual surgery that is largely unchanged over the last 40 years.

With 100,000 knee replacements failing every year and 50% of revision surgeries related to poor alignment, there is a need for better-fitting knee replacement with minimally invasive surgery.

Monogram has already demonstrated their tech on cadaver surgeries in front of virtual audiences totaling 5,000+ people.

You can invest in Monogram before their planned Nasdaq listing.

Consider investing before their current round closes on l 5/10.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Business services corporation Carrier Global is in advanced talks to buy German industrial manufacturer Viessman for $12B+ (RT)

• Convenience store chain Maverik agreed to buy rival Kum & Go at a reported $2B valuation (AX)

• Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky proposed a $1.2B equity investment in French grocery operator Casino Guichard-Perrachon (BBG)

• Amphastar Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy low blood sugar drug Baqsimi from pharma giant Eli Lilly in an up to $1.08B deal (RT)

• Indian pharmaceutical firm Ipca Laboratories agreed to buy a 33.38% stake in peer Unichem Laboratories for up to $126.26M (RT)

• Goldman Sachs raised stake in Italian bank UniCredit to 7.62% (RT)

• Food giant Nestlé announced a JV with PE firm PAI Partners to house its European frozen pizza business (AX)

• Regional bank PacWest Bancorp is exploring a sale of its lender finance arm (BBG)

• Italy’s Treasury and German airline Lufthansa agreed to extend exclusive talks over the sale of ITA Airways until May 12 (RT)

• Credit Suisse ended plans to purchase investment advisory boutique M. Klein & Co following the bank’s purchase by UBS (BBG)

VC

• Cosmose AI, a firm using AI analytics to track in-store foot traffic, received a strategic investment from Near Foundation at a $500M valuation (TC)

• EquipmentShare, a startup helping construction companies with the digital side of things, raised $290M in funding led by BDT Capital Partners (FN)

• Epalinges-based medical device startup Distalmotion raised a $150M round led by Revival Healthcare Capital (FN)

• Abdera Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on antibody engineering, raised a $142M Series A led by Versant Ventures and Amplitude Ventures and Series B led by venBio Partners (FN)

• Cybereason, a Boston-based XDR company, raised a $100M Series G at a 90% discount to its mid-2021 $2.7B valuation led by SoftBank (AX)

• SPAN, a home electrification startup, raised a $96M Series B-2 led by Wellington Management (BW)

• Super.com, a savings app company, raised an $85M Series A led by Inovia Capital (FN)

• Mooncard, an expense management startup, raised a $40.9M Series C led by Orange Ventures and Portage (FN)

• Avalanche Energy, a fusion energy startup, raised a $40M Series A led by Lowercarbon Capital (PRN)

• Token, a secure wearable authentication solutions startup, raised $30M in funding: a $20M secured note and a $10M convertible note from Grand Oaks (FN)

• Community, an SMS engagement platform, raised $25M in funding from Salesforce Ventures, Morgan Stanley Next Level Fund, and more (BW)

• Haltian, an IoT startup, raised $24.3M in growth funding led by Mandatum Asset Management Growth Equity II Fund (FN)

• KoRo, a Berlin-based food brand, raised a $22M Series B extension from backers including SevenVentures, Associated British Foods, and Haub Legacy Ventures (FN)

• Quantum engineering startup Riverlane raised a $18.7M Series B led by Molten Ventures (FN)

• Anti-jamming startup infiniDome raised a $9M Series A led by Hanwha Aerospace (FN)

• Vector database and search platform Qdrant raised a $7.5M seed round led by Unusual Ventures (FN)

• Security and observability startup Sonet.io raised a $6M seed round co-led by The Hive and West Wave Capital (FN)

• Chiefy, a provider of a cloud platform that helps surgical teams embed quality and communication best practices, raised a $4.2M seed round led by LionBird (FN)

• Identity and access management automation startup Stack Identity raised a $4M seed round led by WestWave Capital and Benhamou Global Ventures (BW)

• Primo, a Paris-based platform for small businesses to manage devices without an IT manager, raised a $3.4M seed round led by Headline and Global Founders Capital (FN)

• Productive Machines, a startup reducing lead / cycle times for manufacturers, raised a $2.75M seed round led by UKI2S (FN)

• Shield, a security company focused on protecting users from online scams, raised a $2.1M pre-seed round from Kraken Ventures, Eterna Capital, and more (FN)

• Teahouse Finance, a decentralized asset management and strategy platform, raised $2M in financing led by AppWorks (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Johnson & Johnson's consumer health unit Kenvue is seeking to raise $3.5B+ at a ~$40B valuation in what could be US's biggest IPO this year (WSJ)

Debt

• PE firm Vista Equity Partners is in talks with credit funds led by Oak Hill Advisors for $6B to help refinance the debt of financial software developer Finastra Group (BBG)

• A group of lenders led by RBC began a $2.75B leveraged loan sale supporting Blackstone’s purchase of a unit of Emerson Electric; the loan is part of a $5.5B public market debt package replacing a $2.9B loan held by banks and $2.6B in commitments from private lenders (BBG)

• FC Barcelona reached a $1.6B financing deal with twenty investors including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan that will support its stadium renovations (FT)

• China Evergrande Group's $1.2B onshore bondholders will vote tomorrow to decide whether to join the group's offshore restructuring proposal (RT)

• Adani Ports, a group company of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, announced its first bond buy back of up to $650M (FT)

• Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group will delay the IPO of Vietnam's biggest retail company The CrownX and issue up to $500M in international convertible bonds (RT)

Fundraising

• European life-sciences-focused VC Forbion raised $1.43B across two funds (FBT)

• A private investment arm of JPMorgan raised over $1B for its inaugural growth-equity fund (WSJ)

• VC firm Polaris Partners raised $355M for its tenth fund (BJ)

Crypto Corner

• Binance lifted restrictions on Russian citizens/residents (CD)

• Coinbase sues the SEC for answer on rule specific to digital assets (TBC)

• Ex-OpenSea manager's trial kicked off in first NFT insider trading case (RT)

• Crypto transaction tracking business is on the rise (NYT)

• Visa is hiring software engineers as it plots its ‘ambitious’ crypto product roadmap (TBC)

• Zimbabwe needs $100M of gold to kick-start its proposed bullion-backed digital currency (BBG)

• Standard Chartered is forecasting a $100k Bitcoin rally by end-2024 (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Bloomberg covered Argentina’s central bank’s decision to raise interest rates to 81%.

• Check out this thread on a possible downward spiral in the Chinese real estate market.

• Want to chat social media growth, newsletter strategy, angel investing, Wall Street careers, or something else? Book a call with Litquidity here.

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We aim to place strong candidates at leading private equity, hedge fund, venture capital, growth equity, and credit funds, as well as investment banks.

To get started, simply head over to the Litney website and create your profile by dropping your resume / filling out the form:

• Good Day Farm - Senior Analyst (Little Rock, AR). The company is looking for an analyst that will play a role in driving revenue, market share, margins, and optimizing cannabis production / product allocation by performing quantitative analyses, building models, and communication recs to key shareholder groups. Ideal candidates have 2-5 years of experience in equity research or investment banking. More info here.

• Leading global fintech VC - Investment Associate (New York, NY). The firm is looking for associates with at least two years of investment banking, maybe a year or two at an early stage fund, but candidates must have something extraordinary and interesting about them. More info here.

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