Together with
Good Morning,
Iran struck commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Goldman's private markets clients are glad about the Iran war 'distraction,' JPMorgan cut lending to private credit firms, and the Pentagon is headhunting Wall Street's top bankers for a $200B PE-style 'Economic Defense Unit.'
If you actively trade derivatives alongside your buy-and-hold investments, check out tastytrade. Their platform is tailored towards individual traders and is highly regarded for their low commissions and experienced trade desk team.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 3/11/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks closed lower as traders continued to monitor the Iran (and oil) situation
Dow fell to a YTD low
Oil volatility hit a fresh YTD high
US retail gas prices topped $3.5/gal to to hit the highest since May 2024
Retail coffee prices are at ATHs despite 17% YTD market drop
Aussie dollar climbed to its highest since June 2022 as the best-performing major FX this year on haven bets
Aussie hit a 35-year high versus yen
Earnings
Prediction Markets
Something in those $145 Florsheim shoes…IYKYK
Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market.
Headline Roundup
Iran strikes ships in Strait of Hormuz in conflict escalation (WSJ)
Iran says ceasefire depends on US pledging not to strike (BBG)
US and IEA will release record 400M bbl from strategic oil reserves (WSJ)
China emerges as unlikely haven amid Iran oil shocks (BBG)
US CEO economic confidence grows despite Iran war (BBG)
US CPI growth held steady at 2.4% (CNBC)
US YTD deficit decreased 12% to $1T (CNBC)
US is headhunting Wall Street bankers for an 'Economic Defense Unit' (SMF)
Goldman's private markets clients are 'glad' about Iran war 'distraction' (FT)
Ares held a town hall to reassure staff on market volatility (BBG)
JPMorgan cut lending to private credit firms (CNBC)
UBS urged a US judge to curb liability for Nazi crimes (RT)
Morgan Stanley is hiring contract staff in Hong Kong as deals surge (RT)
Bill Ackman's bid to emulate Buffett is finally unfolding (BBG)
Intel shareholder says board gave stake to US to avoid Trump criticism (FT)
VC megafunds are back (TC)
Liquid credit is hardest hit in the leveraged loan selloff (BBG)
Oaktree says credit markets are showing resilience (BBG)
SPAC deals are few despite billions in IPOs (BBG)
Prime brokers race to give Wall Street access to event bets (BBG)
Revolut secured a full UK banking license after four-year wait (FT)
BlackRock donated $100M for trades training in infrastructure push (WSJ)
Moody's cut NYC rating outlook to negative (BBG)
Howard Schultz moved family office to Miami amid new Washington tax (BBG)
Nvidia, AT&T, and MicroAI unveiled connected AI for manufacturing (YH)
A Message from tastytrade
You, me, and volatility
Staying on top of markets, a never-ending news cycle, and volatility that's...volatile is a lot of work. Let alone knowing what to do with your portfolio once you’re caught up.
No matter what the market is doing, tastytrade has the tools you need to stay up-to-date and trade your way through it.
With tastytrade you get advanced charts, in-feed news, and smart tools to help you quickly adapt your strategy when the market shifts. You can manage your entire portfolio (stocks, options, futures, FX, and crypto) all on one platform with low commissions.
tastytrade, Inc. and Litquidity are separate and unaffiliated companies that are not responsible for each other's products, services, or policies.
Deal Flow
M&A / Strategic
Asset manager Janus Henderson rejected Victory Capital's $8.6B unsolicited bid and reaffirmed support for Trian and General Catalyst's $7.4B offer
Hospitality billionaire Tilman Fertitta is in exclusive talks to buy casino and hotel operator Caesars Entertainment for $7B after topping a competing bid from Icahn Enterprises
Uniform supplier Cintas agreed to acquire rival UniFirst in a $5.5B cash-and-stock deal to end a four-year pursuit
Nvidia agreed to invest $2B in $24B-listed AI infrastructure firm Nebius
Qatar-linked Irth Capital offered to take-private pizza chain Papa Johns at a $1.5B valuation
Ara Partners agreed to buy Gate City Power and Gate City Renewable Fuels portfolios from HF Capital while also picking up an interest in the JET retail network in an $875M deal
Netflix acquired Ben Affleck's AI film post-prod business InterPositive in a $600M deal
Blackstone revived plans to sell a Canary Wharf London office building for over $335M
Portuguese postal operator CTT is exploring options for its Banco CTT banking unit
Palmer Luckey's defense tech startup Anduril will acquire space defense firm ExoAnalytic Solutions
VC
Mind Robotics, an AI-powered industrial robotics startup spun out of Rivian, raised a $500M Series A at a $2B valuation led by Accel and a16z
Quince, a manufacturer-to-consumer retail platform, raised a $500M Series E led by ICONIQ
Vibe coding startup Replit, a, raised a $400M Series D at a $9B valuation led by Georgian Partners
Indian household-help app Snabbit is in talks for fresh funding at a $450M valuation
Chowbus, an AI-powered restaurant OS platform, raised an $81M round led by Prysm Capital and Left Lane Capital
Axiamatic, an AI agentic platform for enterprise transformations, raised a $54M round from Greylock Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners
Real-world digital experience testing startup Mozark raised a $40M Series B from IFC, RMB Capitalworks, and Kalaari Capital
Xscape Photonics, a developer of photonic interconnects for AI data centers, raised an additional $37M Series A round led by Addition
Swarm Aero, a UAV-swarm startup, raised a $35M Series A led by Two Sigma Ventures and Silent Ventures
Standard Kernel, an AI GPU-kernel optimization startup, raised a $20M seed round led by Jump Capital
Borderless commerce startup Outpost raised a $17.5M Series A led by Ribbit
Unreasonable Labs, an AI scientific discovery startup, raised a $13.5M round led by Playground Global
Depot, a software build-acceleration platform, raised a $10M Series A from Felicis, Y Combinator, and Pioneer Fund
Zymtrace, a GPU-optimization platform, raised an $8.5M seed round led by Venture Guides and a $3.7M pre-seed led by Fly Ventures and Mango Capital
Access the complete VC deal flow on Fundable
IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
SoftBank-backed Japanese payments fintech PayPay priced its US IPO below a marketed range to raise $880M at a $10.7B valuation
Hong Kong-based activist investor Oasis Management built a 6.75% stake in $18B-listed Japanese motor manufacturer Nidec
Walmart-backed Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart is launching a bake-off for an India IPO; the firm was last valued at $35B in 2023
Saudi miner Saleh Abdulaziz Al Rashed & Sons Co. raised $67M in a Saudi IPO
Debt
Salesforce drew just $50B in orders for its $25B bond sale priced at a 170 bps premium amid broader software concerns
JPMorgan kicked off investor discussions over the $20B financing for Electronic Arts' record $55B LBO
Amazon raised $16.8B in its first and the biggest-ever euro bond sale
Banks including JPMorgan are preparing a $7.15B debt package to help finance CD&R's $10.3B LBO of packaging company Sealed Air
Adani Energy Solutions, a unit of India's Adani Group, raised $500M in a private bond placement to Apollo
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Raizen, a Brazilian sugar and ethanol JV between Shell and conglomerate Cosan, reached an out-of-court agreement with creditors to restructure $12.6B of debt
Paresh Raja, the founder of collapsed UK mortgage lender MFS, allegedly used front company Twinwin to siphon funds from entities backed by Barclays and Brookfield-owned Castlelake
Funds / Secondaries
Cliffwater's $33B private credit fund redemptions hit 14%
CVC may target over $30B for its tenth flagship buyout fund, its biggest ever
Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital raised $10B for its targeted $15B flagship infrastructure fund
Energy investor Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners raised $1.5B for a targeted $2.3B second energy transition credit fund
MM PE firm Mangrove Equity Partners raised $250M for its fourth fund
Consumer-focused VC Coefficient Capital raised $290M for its second fund
Ares plans to establish its first Asia local currency private credit fund in Thailand
Crypto Sum Snapshot
DOJ is probing Iran's use of Binance to evade sanctions
Mastercard launched a crypto partner program with 85+ firms to power global on-chain payments
Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
Bloomberg published a deep dive on how the potential blockbuster IPOs of SpaceX and OpenAI are luring investors into murky SPV deals.
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!
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.