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Good morning,

Goldman predicts four rate hikes which means there will probably be zero, Djokovic beat Australia's travel restrictions, AOC caught the 'vid, Eli Manning is now a PE guy, some schools (probably) colluded to restrict financial aid, stocks bounced back in the afternoon, JPow talks to the Senate today, new CPI print drops tomorrow, 'deltacron' might be fake news, and Zynga is getting bought out at $11B. I guess FarmVille was the original metaverse. Oh and Dawgs rolled through Bama last night 🤝

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• US stocks trimmed Monday morning losses in afternoon trading to bounce back and close right around even for the day; the Nasdaq snapped a four-day losing streak

• The 10-year treasury jumped above 1.8% in early trading, again pressuring tech stocks, but retreated in the afternoon

• JPow is slated to testify today at his nomination hearing before a Senate panel; investors will be listening closely for any potential hints about monetary policy

• Tomorrow investors will be watching the CPI data release where Dow Jones estimates show an expected 7.1% YoY increase

Earnings

• What we’re watching this week:

  • Wed: Jefferies

  • Thurs: Delta, TSMC

  • Fri: JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, BlackRock

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Goldman now expects four Fed hikes, sees faster runoff in 2022 (BBG)

• Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida to resign (WSJ)

• Dimon predicts 2022 will have best economic growth in decades, four Fed rate hikes (CNBC)

• Lawsuit alleges Yale, Georgetown, other top schools illegally collude to limit student financial aid (WSJ)

• Djokovic released from detention in Australia after legal victory, potentially clearing him to play in Australian Open (WSJ)

• Y Combinator released its new standard deal for investments that go through it's accelerator program (YC)

• Real estate mogul and convicted murderer Robert Durst dies at 78 (WSJ)

• Experts cast doubt over reported ‘deltacron’ variant, consider it likely result of lab processing error (CNBC)

• Broadway extends vaccine, mask policy to April 30 (BBG)

• Novavax says Covid vaccine shipments to Europe have started (BBG)

• Eli Manning throws himself into PE as partner at BVP (BBG)

• Hines launches $1B fund for undervalued US properties (BBG)

• Novartis-Molecular partners Covid drug could be approved in weeks (RT)

A Message From Kalshi

Charles Schwab and Henry Kravis LOVE This Asset Class.

Crypto and options traders are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into Event Contracts: an asset class that is cannibalizing the $600 trillion options trading industry. Traders buy “Yes” or “No” shares on whether events will happen. As the event becomes more likely to happen, the value appreciates.  

Kalshi, a Sequoia backed company, is the first regulated exchange and the only place where you can legally trade Event Contracts. December’s inflation numbers are released tomorrow and traders are making their final predictions today.

The first 500 clicks get priority access.

Deal Flow

M&A

• Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two agreed to buy mobile game maker Zynga in an $11B deal (BBG)

• Healthcare revenue management firm R1 RCM agreed to buy peer Cloudmed in a ~$4.1B deal (RT)

• Enterprise Product Partners will buy pipeline operator Navitas Midstream Partners from Warburg Pincus for $3.25B in cash (BBG)

• Medical products supplier Owens & Minor agreed to buy home healthcare company Apria for ~$1.45B (RT)

• Fast-casual restaurant chain Bob Evans is exploring a potential $600M sale (BBG) 

• US buyout firm Cerberus will sell its shares of German banks Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank which total ~$509M (BBG)

• Mining giant BHP will buy a 17.8% stake in Tanzanian nickel mine Kabanga Nickel for $100M (BBG)

• Japanese financial giant Mizuho to Buy Capstone to bolster its sponsors group (BBG)

• Tencent is nearing a deal to buy Chinese gaming handset maker Black Shark (BBG)

• Singaporean phone-services provider Singtel has begun talking with advisers about a potential stake sale of its Australian fiber business Optus (BBG)

• KKR reached out to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund in search of co-investors for its proposed acquisition of Telecom Italia (BBG)

VC

• KKR raised $4B for its second fund aimed at high-growth health-care startups (BBG)

• French retail marketplace Ankorstore raised a $283M Series C at a $2B valuation led by Bond and Tiger Global (TC)

• AI-enabled fintech company Qraft Technologies received a $146M investment from SoftBank (BW)

• IL MAKIAGE, a tech focussed beauty brand, raised a $130M round at a $1.5B valuation led by Thomas Tull, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, and First Light Capital Group (BW)

• Edtech startup Career Karma raised a $40M Series B led by Top Tier Capital Partners (TC)

• Akura Medical, a biotech company, raised a $25M Series A1 led by Cormorant Asset Management (PRN)

• Gameto, a startup trying to solve the problem of ovarian aging, raised a $23M Series A led by Future Ventures (PRN)

• Arive, an instant delivery service for consumer goods, raised a $20M Series A led by Balderton Capital (TC)

• SaaS management platform Zluri raised a $10M Series A led by MassMutual Ventures (PRN)

• Kodland, an online ‘digital skills’ school for children, raised a $9M Series A led by Redseed Ventures (TC)

• ChargeNet, a software/payment platform that integrates EV chargers, energy storage, and solar power, raised a $6.2M seed round led by Aligned Climate Capital (BW)

• Nigerian rewards and loyalty startup ThankUCash raised a $5.3M seed round led by 500 Global and Unicorn Growth Capital (TC)

• TurbineOne, a startup supplying tech to frontline responders, raised a $3M seed round from XYZ Venture Capital (BW)

• Polycarbin, a startup aiming to reduce plastic waste in life science and healthcare sectors, raised a $2M seed round from Ringbolt Capital and VoLo Earth Ventures (BW)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese cosmetics maker Chicmax is planning to IPO in Hong Kong as soon as this year (BBG)

• Car sharing service Turo files for IPO; shows revenue jump (BBG)

SPAC

• Pagaya increases PIPE by $150M in its $9B SPAC merger with EJF Acquisition Corp (BBG)

• Singapore-based online classifieds marketplace operator Carousell is in talks to merge with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp in a deal which could value the proforma entity up to $1.5B (BBG)

• Richard Branson hints at setting up a Virgin Group SPAC in the Netherlands (BBG)

Exec's Picks

• Babbel - If you've had ambitions of learning a new language for years, odds are you want to start speaking it confidently sooner than later. Turn to Babbel, the top language-learning app that helps users start speaking a new tongue in just three weeks. Start learning a new language.

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've got 40+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

If you're looking to hire candidates and want to post a job, all you have to do is hit "+ Hire Talent" on the top right of the job board. If you want the role to be featured on Exec Sum, check out our "Featured" and "Premium" tiers.

Big Swinging Decks

Lit and Mark are back this week with a new episode about mental health in the workplace, something that doesn't get talked about enough in on Wall Street. The duo hopes to bring about change by tackling this topic in a down-to-earth manner.

Plus, Lit provides some color on the Bain Capital Ventures scouting partnership.

Catch the latest episode on Spotify and Apple Music 🤝

Meme Cleanser

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