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Good Morning,
Sydney Sweeney launched a lingerie brand, Citadel is joining the metals rush, private credit firms are selling debt to themselves at record rate, traders are the most risk-on since 2021, gold is moving vertically, and JPMorgan is pressuring its M&A bankers to catch up to Goldman.
Diversify beyond volatile stocks and bonds with Percent, a highly democratized private credit market for exclusive private credit deals.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 1/27/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks rose yesterday as investors digested the first batch of mega cap earnings
S&P hit a new ATH
Insurance stocks tumbled on news that US will hold Medicare rates steady
Korea's KOSPI index surged 2.7% in its best day in three weeks on US tariff dip-buying
India stocks are down 4% for their worst YTD start in a decade
Indonesia stocks plunged 7% after MSCI warned on investability
US Treasury-EM sovereign dollar bond correlations dropped to 0.3 to the lowest since August 2022
Gold and silver are vertical
Dollar tumbled 1.2% towards fresh four-year lows on Trump's dovish comments
Earnings
UnitedHealth Group beat Q4 earnings but issued a weak FY forecast with its first expected revenue decline in over 30 years as higher medical costs, enterprise 'right-sizing,' and a Trump decision to hold Medicare rates steady sent shares crashing 20% (CNBC)
UPS beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates and issued optimistic guidance despite another 30k jobs cut amid growing volume cuts from Amazon (RT)
Boeing beat Q4 revenue estimates on a 57% jump in sales with cashing rising for a second-straight quarter on its most jet deliveries since 2018, though wider losses tempered investor enthusiasm (CNBC)
Northrop Grumman issued a Q4 beat-and-raise on a record $96B backlog as heightened global tensions boost defense spending (BBG)
RTX beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates on a 12% sales jump and 'great momentum' with backlogs climbing to a record $268B (BRN)
Union Pacific reported strong Q4 earnings but posted a revenue decline as lower rail volumes were only partly offset by gains from land sales ahead of a historic merger with Norfolk Southern (WSJ)
GM beat Q4 earnings but missed on revenue estimates, projecting higher US vehicle production and flagging $4B in tariff costs despite an optimistic tone on operating performance (CNBC)
American Airlines missed Q4 earnings estimates as the government shutdown weighed, but projected FY growth on traction in its premium-focused strategy (CNBC)
LVMH beat Q4 sales estimates on improving China demand (RT)
What we're watching this week:
Today: ASML, Microsoft, Meta, Tesla, GE Vernova, General Dynamics, Starbucks, IBM
Thursday: Apple, Visa, Lockheed Martin, L3 Harris, Honeywell, Southwest Airlines
Friday: American Express, Verizon, Chevron, ExxonMobil
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
Another tough month ahead for the economic data bros.
Trade your knowledge on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market.
Headline Roundup
Trump will 'de-escalate' in Minnesota after ICE killing (CNBC)
US consumer confidence dived to a twelve-year low (RT)
Europe must overhaul regulations or risk economic decline (RT)
Europe will ease private credit reporting regulations (BBG)
Markets are the most risk-on since 2021 (BBG)
Dollar traders are paying a record to bet on a deeper selloff (BBG)
Big Tech's borrowing spree raises fears of AI risks in US bond market (FT)
Private credit continuation deals hit a record-high last year (FT)
Private wealth is the fastest-growing source of capital for secondaries (BBG)
5% of startups attract 50% of total VC funding (CT)
Canada is set for an IPO revival on renewed economic confidence (RT)
German investments in China rose to a four-year high on US trade wars (RT)
China went from lender to debt collector for Africa nations (BBG)
Africa taps Eurobond market as demand for riskier assets jump (BBG)
Record debt in richest nations threatens global growth (NYT)
JPMorgan told M&A bankers to do more to close the gap with Goldman (BBG)
Goldman Sachs added seven partners to its management committee (BBG)
Citigroup shuffled leadership in its investment bank (RT)
HSBC hit a $300B market cap for the first time (RT)
Citadel joins trading rush into metals as prices soar (BBG)
Third Point will target CoStar in its first activist campaign in three years (RT)
Chinese miners accelerate fundraising as global deals loom (BBG)
Amazon accidentally sent a layoff confirmation email to employees (CNBC)
$14B meme stock is developing a herbal remedy for autism (WSJ)
Michael Bloomberg's climate spending topped $3B (FT)
Sydney Sweeney launched new lingerie brand Syrn (YH)
A Message from Percent
The Math That Should Worry Stock-Only Investors
87% of U.S. companies with $100M+ in revenue are private. That means if your portfolio is 100% public equities, you're fishing in a pond that represents roughly 13% of the opportunity.
Institutional investors figured this out years ago. In H1 2025 alone, high-net-worth investors deployed $48 billion into private credit funds, following Apollo, Blackstone, and KKR into what Blackstone's head of private credit Brad Marshall calls 'a premium over what [investors] can get in public markets.'
Percent gives accredited investors direct access to this market:
Deal terms from 6 to 36 months
Full transparency into borrower data and deal structure
Over $2 billion in transactions facilitated since 2018. Thousands of investors. A 1.16% default rate on asset-based deals. This is the market institutions have been quietly dominating. Now it's your turn.
Alternative investments are speculative and possess a high level of risk. No assurance can be given that investors will receive a return of their capital. Those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest. Investments in private placements are highly illiquid and those investors who cannot hold an investment for an indefinite term should not invest. Private credit investments may be complex investments and they are subject to default risk.
Deal Flow
M&A / Strategic
PE firm CD&R is preparing to sell industrials company Indicor at an over $6B valuation
UK PE firm Permira is seeking to sell German pharma company Neuraxpharm for $4.8B-$6B
China's biggest sportswear brand Anta struck a deal to buy a 29.1% stake in German peer Puma from the Pinault family for $1.8B
Hong Kong-based financial services firm Rich Sparkle Holdings acquired a minority stake in TikTok star Khaby Lame's brand Step Distinctive in a $975M all-stock deal to commercialize and monetize Khaby Lame's fan base
PE firm GTCR acquired youth sports streaming service LiveBarn for $400M
Retailer Lands' End will form a JV with brand management company WHP Global in a deal that will see Lands' End get a $300M cash injection
European PE firm Oakley Capital acquired Global Loan Agency Services from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners
VC
OpenAI is in talks to raise $30B more from SoftBank as part of a $100B round at a potential $830B valuation
Anthropic is set to double its latest funding round from $10B to $20B at a $350B valuation led by GIC and Coatue on surging investor enthusiasm
Permira and Blackstone-backed UAE real estate portal Property Finder raised another $170M from SWF Mubadala, BECO Capital, and others
EPG, a modular data center infrastructure provider, raised a $100M Series B co-led by Forebright and Silicon Peak
Healthcare AI startup Tandem is raising a $100M round at a $1B valuation led by Accel
Mesh, a crypto payments interoperability startup, raised a $75M Series C at a $1B valuation led by Dragonfly Capital
Nordic digital bank Lunar raised a $55M funding round from Heartland, Orbit Alliance, and 100A
ElephantSqlDB, a quantum-augmented database startup, opened a $46M pre-IPO SAFE round to accredited investors
GenAI design startup Flora raised a $42M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures
Bill Gates' daughters' AI shopping agent startup Phia raised a $35M round at a $185M valuation led by Notable Capital
Fiddler AI, an enterprise AI observability and security startup, raised a $30M Series C led by RPS Ventures
Fulcrum, an AI platform for insurance brokerages, raised a $25M combined Seed and Series A round led by CRV
Gridline, a private-markets infrastructure platform, raised an $18.5M Series A led by FINTOP
Opendate, an all-in-one live-events OS, raised a $14M Series A led by High Alpha
AI finance agent startup Concourse raised a $12M Series A led by Standard Capital
Tenbin Labs, a tokenization protocol for on-chain capital markets, raised a $7M seed round led by Galaxy Ventures
Get real-time updates on any startup, VC, or sector. Try Fundable.
IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
Indian miner Vedanta agreed to sell an up to 1.59% stake in its Hindustan Zinc unit worth $500M
SoftBank-backed IP data provider Patsnap is weighing raising $300M-$400M in a dual Hong Kong and Singapore IPO
Debt
Germany raised $7.7B in a debut 20Y bond sale which saw a record $88B in demand
FedEx Freight raised $3.7B in its debut investment-grade bond sale ahead of its planned spinoff from FedEx
Japan's MUFG is considering issuing a SRT tied to $2.5B of loans
Banks and private credit firms are competing to provide $1.8B debt package for Permira's sale of German pharma company Neuraxpharm
Chile's state-owned copper miner Codelco launched a $1.5B dollar bond sale
Angola is seeking to raise $1.4B in a debt-for-health swap
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Distressed Chinese developer Vanke agreed to pay $417M to bondholders after securing one-year extensions on three bonds
Liquidators of collapsed Chinese developer Evergrande are expected to receive binding offers from buyers for its Hong Kong-listed property management unit Evergrande Property Services Group, with PE firm Trustar Capital, state-owned buyers, and others considering proposals
FAT Brands, the parent company of Fatburger, Twin Peaks, Johnny Rockets, and other restaurant chains, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid a CEO fraud indictment and cost pressures
Public transit tech firm Cubic Corp. will defer an interest payment on some debt just seven months after a restructuring which saw fresh equity injections from owners Elliott and Veritas Capital
Funds / Secondaries
Impact credit investor Enosis Capital partnered with AXA XL, the US unit of French insurance giant AXA, to insure a new $3B initiative focused on 'debt-for-nature' swaps
Private markets FOF HarbourVest Partners raised $1.1B for a private markets secondaries fund
European sustainability Investor Ambienta raised over ~$600M for a debut sustainable private credit fund
UK asset manager Aberdeen raised $566M for its fourth secondaries fund
Crypto Sum Snapshot
We published a Crypto Sum deep dive on the future of financial data and a notable builder in the on-chain data space: Pyth Network. The article breaks down the evolving state of real-time market data and explores Pyth's progress in building the 'Bloomberg Terminal' of Web3. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
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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.