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Good Morning,
Trump denied personal involvement in DOJ's investigation into J Pow, PE LPs offloaded a record amount of fund stakes last year, Apple partnered with Google's Gemini to power Siri, CD&R is looking to raise one of the biggest PE funds ever, and Paramount sued Warner Bros and launched a proxy fight to thwart the Netflix deal.
Week two of 2026: New Year, New You energy is in full swing. Too bad the IRS still wants to talk about 2025. If you've outgrown 'tax prep' and standard filing check out OLarry, a proactive, year-round tax advisory service. All for a flat price.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 1/12/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks reversed losses to close slightly higher as traders digested the DOJ's investigation into J Pow
S&P and Dow hit fresh ATHs
Small-caps Russell 2000 hit a new ATH
Russell 2000 outperformed S&P for a seventh-straight day for its best relative win streak since 2019
Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 4% to a new ATH on local political optimism
China stock turnover jumped to a record $516B
Lebanese bonds rallied to their highest since Covid
Oil hit a seven-week high after Trump threatened to tariff Iran's partners
Dollar fell 0.3% in its worst day since Christmas
Yuan-dollar hedging costs hit a three-year low as yuan optimism grows
Earnings
What we're watching this week:
Today: JPMorgan, Delta Airlines
Wednesday: Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, Infosys
Thursday: TSMC, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley
Friday: State Street, PNC
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
Big 'nothing ever happens' sentiment surrounding J Pow's investigation
Trade your prediction on the Fed's independence on Polymarket
Headline Roundup
DeepSeek founder Wenfeng's quant hedge fund gained 57% in 2025 (BBG)
DOJ attack on J Pow revives 'Sell America' trade (BBG)
Trump denied involvement in DOJ's Fed subpoenas (NBC)
Senate threatened to thwart Trump's Fed nominee on J Pow probe (BBG)
Banks gear up for bond sales as Trump turns up pressure (BBG)
PE LPs offloaded a record $110B in fund stakes last year (FT)
Wall Street is set to report its best IB year since Covid (FT)
Hedge fund-lite trades are back from the dead with $153B (BBG)
Global AI race shows Asia leading as stocks start 2026 with a bang (BBG)
Data centers will need over $3T in investments through 2030 (BBG)
US regulators say credit risk for big bank loans is 'moderate' (BBG)
Middle East VC funding hit a record high (BBG)
Surging stock listings turbocharge India IPO fees to a record (BBG)
Alphabet became fourth company to hit a $4T market cap (RT)
Apple partnered with Google's Gemini to power Siri (CNBC)
Meta named ex-Goldman partner and Trump advisor Dina McCormick as president (RT)
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Deal Flow
M&A / Investments
Paramount Skydance launched a proxy fight to nominate directors to Warner Bros. Discovery's board to thwart its $83B merger with Netflix in favor of Paramount's $108B offer; Paramount also sued WBD
Italian lender UniCredit discussed buying a stake in $28B-listed peer BMPS after its recent pursuit of Banco BPM failed
Golden State Group, the parent company of NBA team Golden State Warriors, is selling a 5% stake at an $11B valuation
Activist hedge fund Engaged Capital will launch a proxy fight to install four directors at $3.4B-listed financial software maker BlackLine to push for a sale
Apollo, Temasek, PGIM, and ICONIQ will more than double their investment in home building products company QXO to $3B to support M&A
India's Kotak Mahindra Bank and Blackstone-backed Federal Bank offered to acquire $2.5B of Deutsche Bank's India retail and wealth managements assets
Patrick Drahi, the owner of telecoms group Altice, relaunched a sale of his 50% stake in German broadband network OXG Glasfaser at a $2.3B valuation
Blackstone is seeking to sell UK rental home business Leaf Living for over $1.3B
NBA is pitching investors on a new European league, targeting team valuations of up to $1B
Jacobs Capital is exploring a $585M sale of Swiss outdoor gear maker Mammut
UK medical products maker Smith & Nephew agreed to acquire US-based Integrity Orthopaedics in a $450M deal
B.Grimm Power, the energy unit of Thai conglomerate B.Grimm, acquired a 25% stake in New England Reliable Hydropower for $230M
US and Australia's Pinnacle Asset Management will invest $450M in critical metals producer ATALCO
CVC-owned communications and consulting firm Teneo will acquire Nordic M&A and strategy boutique Clarity Partners and PwC's business restructuring services unit in New Zealand
PGIM, the investment management business of Prudential Financial, is considering selling its loss-making India asset management unit
VC
French defense-tech startup Harmattan AI raised a $200M Series B at a $1.4B valuation led by Dassault Aviation
Liquid-cooling startup Accelsius raised a $65M Series B led by Johnson Controls
Stablecoin infrastructure startup VelaFi raised a $20M Series B led by XVC and Ikuyo
African autonomous defense startup Terra Industries raised an $11.75M round led by 8VC
Polar Light Technologies, a Swedish MicroLED display startup, raised a $6M round led by J2L Holding
Get real-time updates on any startup, VC, or sector on Fundable.
IPOs / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
Crypto wallet firm BitGo is seeking to raise $200M at a $1.96B valuation in an IPO; the firm was last valued at $1.75B in 2023
China-listed OmniVision Integrated Circuits rose 16% after raising $616M in a Hong Kong listing
China-listed GigaDevice Semiconductor rose 40% after raising $600M in a Hong Kong listing
Chinese brain-computer startup BrainCo filed for a Hong Kong IPO that could raise several hundred million dollars
Korean industrial robotics maker HD Hyundai Robotics hired banks for a Korea IPO
Chinese EV maker Xpeng hired banks for a Hong Kong IPO of its flying car unit
Debt
Italian administrators overseeing Europe's largest steelworks have sued former owner ArcelorMittal for $8B in damages
TD Bank Group is gauging investor demand for a SRT tied to a portfolio of $5B of corporate loans
Argentina secured financing from an unnamed multilateral institution to repay $2.5B to US from an FX swap agreement
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and UBS are leading a $1.05B debt financing deal backing Chinese PE firm HSG's $2.9B acquisition of Italian luxury sneaker maker Golden Goose from UK PE firm Permira
JPMorgan is lending telecoms firm Altice USA an additional $1.1B to refinance a $1B ABF from Goldman Sachs and TPG before an early repayment penalty kicks in
UK lender Standard Chartered raised $1.1B in a debut green bond sale
India's state-owned Power Finance Corp. plans to sell a $555M retail bond
Chilean chemicals giant SQM is seeking to sell $500M in dollar-denominated notes
Spanish lender BBVA is seeking to sell $444M of soured mortgages
Indonesia sold $2.7B of dollar bonds in Asia's first such deal this year
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
PJT Partners urged struggling Chinese developer Vanke's $1.3B dollar bondholders to call a default using cross-default provisions
Car rental firm Hertz lost its SCOTUS appeal to block $320M in make-whole premiums and interest owed to bondholders from its Covid bankruptcy
Struggling Brazilian petrochemical giant Braskem paid interest due Monday on its dollar bonds
Trucking firm STG Logistics filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and raised $150M in DIP financing with plans to slash interest burdens and reduce debt by 91%, amid contentious debt deal litigation
Fundraising / Secondaries
PE firm CD&R is seeking to raise $26B for its thirteenth flagship PE fund
European MM PE firm Apheon raised $1.5B for its sixth midcap buyout fund
Consumer-focused investment firm Bansk raised $1.45B for its second fund
Rosberg Ventures, the VC firm of 2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg, raised $100M for its third fund
Crypto Sum Snapshot
Strategy acquired $1.25B in Bitcoin in its largest purchase since July
Trump-linked World Liberty Financial launched World Liberty Markets, a $3.4B crypto lending platform
Standard Chartered will set up a prime brokerage for crypto trading within its SC Ventures unit
Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
Bloomberg published a profile on Tre Upshaw, the man seeking to arbitrage out insider trading on Polymarket.
Joachim Klement wrote a short but insightful piece on choosing between concentrated and diversified funds.
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!
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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.