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Good Morning,

The Chiefs and Eagles are heading to the Super Bowl, core PCE index growth hit its lowest level since October 2021, Gautam Adani's companies are getting rekt after a bombshell short sell report, bankers in Asia are seeing large bonus declines, Yellen is nervous about a debt limit default, and David Solomon took a ~30% pay cut (to a modest $25M).

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose on Friday fueled by encouraging inflation numbers and better than expected GDP growth data 

  • The Nasdaq posted its fourth straight winning week, with the Dow and S&P also ending the week green 

• Gold is on track for its sixth straight weekly gain this week 

• It’s a busy week for major tech earnings which may make or break Nasdaq's 2023 rally

• We'll also receive the Fed's latest rate policy decision on Wednesday

  • Investors are expecting two more 25 bps rate hikes to end the rate cycle

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Tuesday: ExxonMobil, AMD, Snap, Spotify, Amgen, Caterpillar, McDonald's 

  • Wednesday: Meta, Peloton 

  • Thursday: Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Qualcomm, Eli Lilly

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Fed favorite core PCE index growth eased to 4.1% in December, its lowest level since October 2021; consumer spending also declined (CNBC)

• Wall Street warns of riskiest US debt limit showdown since 2011 (FT)

• US bond funds posted net inflows for a third straight week (RT)

• ECB rejected banking sector calls to ease capital rules to boost lending (RT)

• China's central bank will roll over lending tools to spur growth (RT)

• Median US rent dropped 6% in H2 2022 (CNBC)

• Gautam Adani's listed companies lost a combined $68B in market value amid Hindenburg's report (BBG)

• Chinese search giant Baidu to launch ChatGPT-style bot (BBG)

• Top bankers in Asia see pay cuts of 50% after drought in deals (BBG)

• Adani Group issued a 413-page rebuttal to Hindenburg's report (RT)

• Cathie Wood's ARK Innovation Fund is on pace for its best month ever (RT)

• Salesforce appointed three new board directors amid activist investor pressure (RT)

• China's smartphone sales fell 13% YoY in 2022 to lowest in 10 years (RT)

• DOJ is probing Visa on US debit card practices and competition (RT)

• South Korea fined Citadel Securities ~$10M for stock algorithm trading breaches (RT)

• Twitter users will be able to appeal account suspension (RT)

• Goldman Sachs slashed CEO David Solomon's pay 29% to $25M (CNBC)

• BlackRock steps up US lobbying spending amid anti-ESG attacks (FT)

• Djokovic equaled Nadal's record 22 Grand Slam wins with Australian Open victory (AP)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Dutch diagnostics firm Qiagen is weighing the sale of a minority stake in its bioinformatics division at a potential $1B+ valuation (BBG)

• Spanish electric utility company Iberdrola is looking to sell a portfolio of gas, wind and solar assets in Spain which could raise over $700M (RT)

• Saudi Arabia's PIF is reportedly interested in buying the remaining < 35% stake in EV maker Lucid it doesn't already own (RT)

• Belgian energy infrastructure firm Fluxys agreed to acquire Macquarie Asset Management's 23.6% stake in German gas pipeline grid Open Grid Europe (RT)

• German engineering company Bosch agreed to increase its ownership stake in Swedish machine industry company Husqvarna to ~12% (RT)

• Retail group Bestway built a 3.45% stake in UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's (RT)

• German industrial gas maker Messer is in talks with sovereign wealth funds to help finance a buyout of its JV with CVC Capital Partners (RT)

VC

• Boston Metal, a startup developing tech to decarbonize steel production, raised a $120M Series C led by ArcelorMittal (BW)

• Inscribe, an AI-powered document fraud detection platform, raised a $25M Series B led by Threshold Ventures (TC)

• Atomos, a startup building orbital transfer vehicles, raised a $16.2M Series A led by Cantos Ventures and the Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• United Internet's web hosting business Ionos plans to raise up to $545M at a target $3.7B market cap in a Frankfurt IPO today (BBG)

• Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises' $2.5B share sale is on schedule despite bankers considering changes due to a market rout in the group's shares (RT)

SPAC

• Pharmaceutical company Istesso is in advanced talks to merge with London-listed Hambro Perks Acquisition Co. at a 'several hundred million' dollar valuation (BBG)

Debt

• Goldman Sachs is interested in financing Italian soccer league Serie A’s media business (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Retailer Bed Bath & Beyond's efforts to find a buyer in bankruptcy stalled, putting the firm on a path toward liquidation ahead of an imminent Chapter 11 filing (BBG)

• UK regional airline Flybe canceled all flights, ceased trading and entered administration for second time in three years (FT)

Fundraising

• Blackstone is coming up short in its push for a record $30B buyout fund (BBG)

• PE giant Warburg Pincus raised $15.4B for its latest $16B flagship global PE fund to acquire companies across industries around the world (RT)

• Lower-MM PE firm Tritium Partners raised $684M for its growth-focused Tritium III fund (PRN)

• Michigan Capital Network raised $37.5M for its $50M fourth VC fund (MB)

Crypto Corner

• DOJ alleged SBF tried to influence witness through Signal messaging app (FT)

• SBF objected to tighter bail, accusing prosecutors of sandbagging him (RT)

• The Fed rejected crypto-focused Custodia Bank's application to become a member of the Federal Reserve System (RT)

• Crypto mining advocate Satoshi Action Fund sees green business in abandoned gas wells (AX)

• Crypto market resurgence has produced over 44k new Bitcoin millionaires (FB)

• White House urged Congress to ‘step up its efforts’ on crypto regulation (CD)

• SEC is probing investment advisers over crypto custody rules (RT)

Exec's Picks

• Linkedin published a list of last week's major company layoffs here.

• Everyone knows that real estate is the best path to building wealth over time, but there’s just one problem: you always needed plenty of upfront capital to enter this market… Until now. CrowdStreet, the nation’s largest online private real estate investing platform, lets you invest in large real estate projects alongside dozens, and even hundreds, of other investors. Get started today by joining CrowdStreet here.

• Bill Gurley shared some cool thoughts about why Jeff Bezos is "the best entrepreneur he's ever seen" on The Tim Ferriss Show.

• Jack Raines wrote a satirical piece on 11 things caused by 0% interest rates.

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