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Good Morning,
Two Sigma staff hid assets for its founder's divorce, Ken Griffin said GenAI doesn't help produce alpha, CME is launching sports contracts, Jefferies' stock tanked, 777 Partners' co-founder was charged with fraud, and anti-DEI crusader Robby Starbuck was invited to speak at the biggest HR lobby event.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 10/16/2025 market close.
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Markets
US stocks closed lower yesterday on worries of worsening credit at regional banks
Nasdaq Banks index plunged 5.6%
South Korea's KOSPI index hit a new ATH high on trade deal optimism
US 10Y yield fell below 4% to a YTD low
US 2Y yield slid to 3.4% to the lowest since September 2022
Gold and silver surged to new ATHs
Gold is up 63% YTD
Earnings
Charles Schwab beat Q3 earnings and revenue estimates as total net new assets surged 48% to $134B on strong retail investor demand; daily average revenue trades also jumped 30% to $7.4T, fueling record revenue (BBG)
What we're watching this week:
Today: State Street, American Express, Truist, Fifth Third Bank
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
There's always next year.
Headline Roundup
Ken Griffin says GenAI doesn't help hedge funds produce alpha (BBG)
Ten loss-making AI startups have gained $1T in value this year (FT)
Trump will meet with Putin again (BBG)
Jefferies stock tanked as credit concerns grow on Wall Street (CNBC)
Fed reserves fell below $3T putting QT in focus (BBG)
US will offer auto tariff relief after lobbying push (BBG)
Australia unemployment hit a four-year high (RT)
Traders at top hedge funds take home 25% of profits (FT)
US IPO candidates have only four viable weeks to list this year (BBG)
Private credit is on defensive again over 'mark-to-myth' study (BBG)
Big investors scale back risky bond exposure after storming rally (FT)
Europe's biggest firms soar on earnings, setting tone for season (BBG)
Europe's IPO wave puts discount math at top of buyer checklists (BBG)
Over 200 firms are planning Hong Kong listings (BBG)
JPMorgan is shopping for banks in Europe and Latin America (RT)
Citadel Securities is seeking to expand in India (BBG)
Goldman's global co-head/CIO of public investing will retire (RT)
'Google backstop' adds new twist to data center financing frenzy (BBG)
777 Partners' co-founder Josh Wander was charged with $500M fraud (BBG)
CME will launch sports contracts to compete with Kalshi (BBG)
Webull is offering corporate bond trading to US clients (BBG)
Credit card data shows slowdown in consumer retail spending (BBG)
Rare earth firms boost lobbying as US expands investments (RT)
Major US business group sued over $100k H-1B visa fee (RT)
UBS and HSBC hire aggressively in $8T Taiwan wealth market (BBG)
US canceled a $500M tender for cobalt (BBG)
Wife of Two Sigma's founder said firm hid husband's assets in divorce (BBG)
Anti-DEI crusader Robby Starbuck will speak at biggest HR lobby event (WSJ)
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Deal Flow
M&A / Investments
Spanish lender BBVA failed in its $19B hostile takeover bid for peer Sabadell, ending an 18-month takeover battle
UK investment firm Baillie Gifford is seeking co-investors to acquire a stake in European app investor Bending Spoons at a $12B valuation
PE groups Carlyle and Boyu Capital are the lead bidders for a majority stake in Starbucks' China business, which could fetch a $4B valuation
Private markets investment firm StepStone Group and European real estate investor Greykite acquired an 80% stake of Spanish care-home provider Vitalia from European PE firms CVC and Portobello Capital for $1.75B
Electronic components maker Molex Electronic agreed to acquire UK engineering company Smiths Group's interconnect unit for $1.75B
Austria's Vienna Insurance Group agreed to acquire German rival Nuernberger Beteiligungs for $1.6B cash
PE firms CVC and Advent are in talks for Canadian financial services group Canaccord Genuity's UK wealth arm, which could sell for $1.4B
Consumer goods company Mammoth Brands agreed to acquire premium baby care brand Coterie for over $1B
Franchisee Yadav Enterprises acquired Mexican fast-food chain Del Taco from burger chain Jack in the Box for $115M cash
Crypto exchange Kraken acquired a US-licensed futures exchange Small Exchange from IG Group in a $100M cash-and-stock deal
Top VC picks by Fundable
Yogurt maker Chobani raised a $650M round at a $20B valuation
Indian quick commerce startup Zepto raised a $400M round at a $7B valuation led by CalPERS
Upgrade, a fintech startup offering credit and banking products, raised a $165M Series G led by Neuberger
Video game clip sharing platform Medal spun out a new AI lab General Intuition, which raised a $134M seed round led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst
Kuku, an Indian storytelling platform backed by Google, raised an $85M Series C at a $500M+ valuation led by Granite Asia
Wild Bioscience, a startup developing climate resilient crops, raised a $60M Series A led by the Ellison Institute of Technology
Autonomous delivery company Starship Technologies raised a $50M Series C led by Plural, Karma.vc, Latitude, and more
Stand Insurance, a startup reimagining insurance for catastrophe-exposed properties, raised a $35M Series B led by Eclipse
ExaCare AI, a company building an AI platform for post-acute care facilities, raised a $30M Series A led by Insight Partners
OneLayer, a private 5G management and security startup, raised a $28M Series A led by Maor Investments
Conceal, a startup building a browser-native security service edge platform, raised a $26M Series B led by Two Bear Capital
Hardware development startup Encube raised a $23M round from Inventure, Promus Ventures, and Kinnevik
Second Nature, a sales and service AI roleplay platform, raised a $22M Series B led by Sienna VC
UPCITI, an OS for cities, raised a $20M Series A led by Notion Capital
Strella, a customer research platform, raised a $14M Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners
Autonomous delivery logistics platform Airbound raised an $8.7M seed round led by, of Physical Intelligence co-founder Lachy Groom
Temple Digital Group, a startup building a privacy-focused trading platform for digital assets, raised a $5M seed round led by Paper Ventures
AI business creation platform Appy.AI raised a $5M seed round led by Four Rivers and Founder Collective
Space Quarters, a space construction startup, raised a $5M seed round led by Frontier Innovations
Stay up-to-date with your industry, competition, or trend of choice. Access the complete startup ecosystem here.
IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
Insurance tech firm Exzeo is looking to raise $175M at a $2B valuation in an IPO
Chemicals giant DuPont approved the spinoff of its electronic business Qnity Electronics
SPAC / SPV
Ripple Labs is leading an effort to raise $1B to accumulate XRP in a new digital-asset treasury
Newsmax is launching a $5M cryptocurrency reserve to buy Bitcoin and a Trump meme coin
Debt
Meta and Blue Owl sealed a $30B private credit and equity deal for the Louisiana Hyperion data center; Meta and Blue Owl will split ownership 20%-80%
Silver Lake, Affinity Partners, and PIF are adding over a dozen banks to its underwriting group to finance their $55B LBO of video game giant Electronic Arts after JPMorgan committed $20B in leverage loans
JPMorgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup are in talks with US to provide $20B in bailout loans to Argentina
Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are among banks looking to sell $1.2B of debt to finance PE firm Apax's $2B buyout of a unit of UK financial software company Finastra
Spanish lender Santander is seeking a SRT tied to $1.2B of LBO debt and corporate loans
Varde Partners-backed Spanish online lender WiZink Bank is planning a SRT tied to $640M in credit card loans
Energy company ChemOne is seeking $600M in private credit to fund CapEx
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten sold a $550M local perpetual callable bond at a 4.69% YTM, the highest in Japan this year
Peruvian electricity company Luz del Sur raised $400M in its first-ever international bond sale
Tokyo plans to raise $330M in its first-ever climate resilience bond sale
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
US is seeking an independent bankruptcy probe of the collapse of auto parts supplier First Brands
Fundraising / Secondaries
French PE firm Ardian raised $20B for its flagship infrastructure platform targeting energy, transport, and digital infrastructure
Bain Capital raised $14B for its fourteenth flagship PE fund
Activist hedge fund Elliott is raising $7B for its latest drawdown fund
European real estate investor Greykite raised $1.4B for its debut fund
Hedge fund D1 Capital Partners plans to raise over $1B for a new PE fund in a private markets push
AI-focused VC Radical Ventures raised $650M for its sixth fund to invest in early-stage AI
Small cap software-focused PE firm K1 Investment Management raised $160M for a continuation vehicle for enterprise software firm TeamDynamix led by SQ Capital
Crypto Sum Snapshot
YouTuber MrBeast is launching MrBeast Financial to foray into fintech, crypto, and banking
Trump's second term fuels a $1B crypto fortune for his family
Chinese firm Bitmain is giving a Trump crypto firm preferential access to tech
Strategy resumed Bitcoin buying at record highs
Crypto Sum summarizes the most important news on everything crypto. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
LinkedIn release their list of the Top Startups of 2025. Some familiar and not-so familiar names. See the list here.
Nick Maggiulli wrote a deeply introspective piece on the purpose of wealth.
Upcoming Events 🌴
UpSlide × Litquidity Happy Hour – Monday, October 20, NYC
Come hang out for some drinks and conversation Monday after work! We'll be at Loreley Beer Garden in the LES. RSVP here🍻
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Finance & Startup Recruiting 💼
Litney Partners
If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting venture between Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm), Litney Partners places talent at leading firms in PE, hedge funds, VC, growth, credit, IB, and fintech and is currently recruiting for some incredible roles. Head over to our website to drop your resume and we'd love to get in touch!
Next Play
If you're down bad, realizing finance isn't for you, and want to explore the world of startups (BizOps, chief of staff, strategic finance, etc.), fill out this form. Next Play will reach out to schedule a 1:1 video call if they think they can help as your own, personal startup matchmaker. They've grown their community to over 50k talented professionals and have deep relationships across the tech ecosystem.
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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.