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Good Morning,

The holiday hangover continued across markets, except for China who hacked the US Treasury 🧐

Save today for that IB job tomorrow! Check out Wall Street Prep for the financial modeling course used by major investment banks to train their their analyst / associate classes. Get 20% off with code HOLIDAY20. Offer ends tonight!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks slid further in another light holiday-season trading session 

• Asian stocks snapped a five-day win streak

• Germany's DAX index gained 19% YTD to cap its best two-year rally since 2013

  • Euro Stoxx Banks index is on course for its best year-end close since 2010 after gaining 21% YTD

• US yields fell after a recent climb to multi-month highs

  • Corporate credit spreads are at their tightest since mid-2000s

• Bullish oil bets rose to a four-month high

• Gold is set for its best year this century

• Dollar is set for its best year since 2015

• Hong Kong dollar rose to its highest since mid-2021

• Brazilian real capped a 21% YTD rout despite central bank push

• Cocoa futures surged 14% in its biggest daily jump since May 

• US stock markets will close on Jan 9th in honor of Jimmy Carter's passing

Earnings

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Bears and contrarians suffered yet another embarrassing year. Maybe next year they finally get it right?

• Trade your predictions on a range of event on Kalshi. Get a $20 bonus when you deposit $100 with code LIT on signup!

Headline Roundup

• US Treasury was hacked by China (BBG)

• Investors still like multi-strat hedge funds despite Ken Griffin verdict (BBG)

• Treasury's elite bond dealers will struggle to handle $50T debt (BBG)

• Euronext says PE deals will boost IPO market momentum in 2025 (BBG)

• ETFs saw a record-high $1T in inflows this year (WSJ)

• Stock-picking mutual funds saw a record $450B of outflows (FT)

• Gold's 26% gain stands out in mixed year for metals markets (BBG)

• Indian stocks are set for record yearly flows from retail investors (BBG)

• London lawyer hiring frenzy hits record as pay wars rage (FT)

• Bill Ackman expects Trump to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (RT)

• FDIC gave BlackRock a January deadline to accept deal on bank stakes (RT)

• US completes $4.3B payouts to Bernie Madoff ponzi victims (RT)

• US pending home sales hit a 21-month high (RT)

• GTA VI is set to break records despite gaming slowdown (FT)

A Message from Wall Street Prep

Save Today To Ace Those Interviews Tomorrow

Finance nightmare, a short story:

Target undergraduate school. 4.0 GPA. Great extracurriculars. Tons of opportunities for the new year.

You're set. Your job is a lock and you're breezing through the interviews. The end is in sight, as long as you crush the case study. You're well on your way... until you can't remember how to run a DCF model.

And just like that, everything falls apart.

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If you don't want to be a back-office guy, make sure you stick the interview with Wall Street Prep.

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Singaporean foods giant Wilmar will acquire Indian conglomerate Adani Group's 31% stake in their consumer goods JV Adani Wilmar in a $2B deal

• $940M-listed online ticket marketplace Vivid Seats is exploring a sale after receiving takeover interest

• China Three Gorges agreed to buy a Spanish solar plant from Canada's Northleaf Capital Partners in a ~$450M deal, including debt

• Vacation-rental property management firm Casago will acquire peer Vacasa in a $129M deal

VC

• Mideast ready-to-eat meal service Calo raised a $25M Series B led by Nuwa Capital

• Quantum computer startup Qolab raised a $16M Series A led by Octave Ventures

• OmniOps, a Saudi AI infrastructure technology provider, raised $8M from GMS Capital Ventures

• Saudi edtech and rehabilitative technology platform YNMO raised a $5M round led by Wa'ed Ventures

• Brazilian healthcare AI startup Carecode raised a $4.3M pre-seed round from a16z, QED, and more

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese lender Yibin City Commercial Bank is seeking to raise $241M in a Hong Kong IPO

Debt

• Bitcoin financial services startup Fold raised a $20M convertible note from ATW Partners backed by Bitcoin

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF is the most successful ETF launch in history (BBG)

• MicroStrategy acquired another $209M of Bitcoin (BBG)

• Check out Crypto Sum for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

• Ian Cassel wrote a great piece reminding us that our investing failures are solely ours to own.

• Howard Lindzon's latest piece touches on increasing FOMO across markets. Perhaps even 'FOMF,' if you will.

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

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