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Welcome back,
US ousted Venezuela's illegitimate socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and will take control.
Happy 2026, folks! Seems like we're in for another wild year.
Dive into 2026 with the most comfortable men's dress shirts in the game: Mizzen+Main.
Before The Bell
As of 1/2/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks continued to hover near ATHs to enter the new year on a high
Venezuelan bonds are rallying
2025 Markets Summary
S&P 500 posted a third-straight year of double-digits gains for just the sixth time since the Great Depression after gaining 16.4%
US bonds had their best year since 2020
US tariffs and trade wars, global central bank rate cutting (except Japan), AI optimism, Big Tech borrowing, global conflict, Europe's rearmament, and metals stockpiling were among the key market drivers of 2025
Global and EM stocks outperformed US in record-breaking rallies for the first-time in years as the dollar weakened 10% in its worst year since 2017
Bond spreads continued to trade at record lows
Metals surged to new highs in record-breaking rallies
Oil dropped 20% in its worst year since Covid
Cryptocurrencies declined
Earnings
What we're watching this week:
Wednesday: Constellation Brands, Jefferies
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
Where's ExxonMobil??
Put your money where your
mouthpolitical expertise is. Trade your prediction on Venezuela's leadership on Polymarket.
Headline Roundup
US ousted Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro (WSJ)
Bankers are gearing up for another year of mega deals (WSJ)
US received 48% of all state-owned investments in 2025 (RT)
SWF AUM hit a record $15T (BBG)
Asia senior IB hires jumped 60% (BBG)
Bridgewater and D.E. Shaw lead in stellar year for hedge funds (BBG)
Warren Buffett retired after posting 6,100,000% gain over 60 years (RT)
Retail investors had their best year ever (CNBC)
SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic prepare to launch landmark IPOs (FT)
OpenAI is the highest-paying tech startup in history (WSJ)
Brookfield is launching its own cloud business (RT)
Taiwan brokers froze buy orders for China military stocks and ETFs (BBG)
Tesla ceded title of world's top EV seller (BBG)
Peter Thiel opens Miami office amid proposed California billionaire tax (BBG)
World's richest added a record $2.2T in wealth last year (BBG)
Midwest is emerging as bright spot for affordability (WSJ)
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Deal Flow
M&A / Investments
OpenAI may acquire $18B-listed social media platform Pinterest
Indian fast-food franchise operators Devyani and Sapphire Foods agreed to merge in a $933M share-swap deal
KKR's $506M take-private bid for Japanese herbal tonic maker Yomeishu Seizo was struck down by top shareholder Yuzawa on valuation concerns
Bain Capital agreed to buy Korean activewear firm Echo Marketing for $344M
PE firm AE Industrial Partners is nearing a deal to acquire a 60% stake in a portfolio of space and propulsion businesses from defense contractor L3Harris
Native Alaskan investment firm Arctic Slope Regional agreed to acquire coin exchange and crypto business Coinstar from Apollo
VC
SoftBank-backed Germany travel website GetYourGuide is exploring a secondary share sale after it turned profitable for the first time; the startup was last valued at $2B in 2023
LLM startup Moonshot AI raised a $500M Series C led by IDG Capital
Arya.ag, an Indian agritech storage and finance platform, raised an $81M Series D led by GEF Capital Partners
Hyperspectral Earth-observation startup Pixxel is raising a $55M-$60M round led by Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal
Saudi cybersecurity startup DSShield raised a $54M investment from Merak Capital
Rewaa, a Saudi retail software startup, raised a $45M Series B round led by Wa'ed Ventures
Web3 gaming aggregator RuneSoul raised a $30M strategic investment from undisclosed investors
Banking infrastructure startup Knight FinTech raised a $23.6M Series A led by Accel
Self-custodial blockchain-based neobank Tria raised a $20M round from undisclosed investors
MangoBoost, a DPU startup, raised a $6.8M+ Series B from Ion Asset Management, AMD, and Samsung Electronics
Get real-time updates on any startup, VC, or sector. Try Fundable.
IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
SoftBank-backed Indian budget hotel chain Oyo Hotels' filed for an India IPO to raise up to $742M at a $7B-$8B valuation
Debt
Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises is seeking to raise $111M in a public bond issue
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Argentina is short $2.4B for January bond payments
Ethiopia reached an agreement in principle with bondholders to restructure $1B in notes that defaulted in 2023
Luxury retailer Saks missed a $100M+ bond payment and fired its CEO as its seeks $1B in DIP financing ahead of a potential Chapter 11 filing while negotiating forbearance with creditors
PE firm Lone Star bought $130M of defaulted debt on SF tower 600 California Street, which WeWork bought for $330M in 2019
First Brands founder Patrick James will invoke the Fifth Amendment at a Jefferies deposition amid a federal criminal probe, as creditors hired FTX investigator Nardello & Co. to examine the collapsed auto supplier's off-balance sheet financing
HSBC filed bankruptcy petitions against the Barclay dynasty's Aidan Barclay and Howard Barclay to recoup large debts owed by Logistics Group, the failed parent company of brands Yodel and ArrowXL
Connecticut regulators may liquidate and sue Golden Gate Capital-backed PHL Variable Insurance after finding the insurer in worse condition than expected
Belgium's Domo Chemicals' German subsidiaries filed for insolvency
Fundraising / Secondaries
Quant hedge fund D.E. Shaw paused cash returns to LPs despite 28% gains
Crypto Sum Snapshot
Trump Media unveiled plans to distribute new cryptocurrency to shareholders
PwC 'leans in' to crypto as Trump and lawmakers embrace sector
Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
Has AI reduced the workload in M&A – or just moved it around? Read UpSlide's The AI Paradox in M&A report to discover the truth from M&A professionals across the US and UK.
Bloomberg published a list of major hedge fund returns of 2025. An incredible year all things considered…
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!
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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.