Good Morning,

Retail traders are buying dips and selling rips, metals traders are having their best year ever, Australia is courting Wall Street firms, Apollo's CEO blasted Europe's financial regulations, and thieves stole crown jewels from the Louvre in a historic four-minute heist.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 10/17/2025 market close.

Click here to learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks rose higher on Friday as investors continued to monitor US-China trade tensions and credit concerns at regional banks

  • Oil posted its third weekly loss on global supply glut concerns

  • Gold and silver rallied to fresh ATHs

    • Gold had its best week since Covid

  • Singapore dollar hit a five-month low versus dollar

Earnings

  • State Street beat Q3 earnings and revenue estimates on a 9% revenue increase, though net interest income fell 1% due to to lower short-term rates and changes in deposit mix (BN)

  • American Express beat Q3 earnings and revenue estimates and raised its FY sales outlook on strong demand for its refreshed Platinum card, which doubled US acquisitions (BBG)

  • Truist Financial narrowly beat Q3 earnings as net interest income grew just 1.2% and efficiency metrics came under modest pressure amid a cautious economic backdrop (INV)

  • Fifth Third Bank beat Q3 earnings on a 14% profit jump driven by strong fee income, but booked a $178M loss from exposure to Tricolor (RT)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Tuesday: Coca-Cola, Netflix, Capital One, GM, 3M, RTX, Lockheed Martin 

    • Wednesday: Tesla, AT&T

    • Thursday: Intel, American Airlines

    • Friday: Procter & Gamble, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Tu-tu-tu-du, Max Verstappen 🗣️

  • Sports trading is now on Kalshi. Trade all your sports predictions legally, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT to get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

  • Thieves stole crown jewels from Louvre in historic four-minute heist (CNBC)

  • US urged Ukraine to accept Russia's terms or get 'destroyed' (FT)

  • Bessent will meet with China's vice premier to defuse trade tensions (RT)

  • Apollo CEO says Europe is 'at war with itself' over finance regulation (FT)

  • Carlyle CEO says credit market volatility is on his 'worry list' (BBG)

  • Private credit's most popular fund structures are drawing scrutiny (BBG)

  • Cayman hedge funds hold $1.4T more Treasuries than reported (BBG)

  • Retail traders are buying the dip (BBG)

  • Metals traders are having their most profitable year ever (BBG)

  • China vowed steps to promote global use of yuan (BBG)

  • Australia woos Wall Street firms in China diversification play (BBG)

  • Rapid growth of ETF market triggers bubble fears (RT)

  • S&P Global downgraded France to A+ (BBG)

  • Ireland office woes hit PE firms from Blackstone to Brookfield (BBG)

  • Women-led VC funds seek to reshape Silicon Valley (AX)

  • VC A* Star Capital is heavily investing in teenage founders (TC)

  • Proxy firm ISS urged shareholders to reject Musk's $1T pay package (RT)

  • High-score borrowers are driving US credit card spending (BBG)

  • US auto delinquencies rose over 50% from 2010 (BBG)

  • Porsche named ex-McLaren CEO Michael Leiters as new CEO (BBG)

  • Apple beat ESPN to secure exclusive F1 streaming rights (BBG)

  • Rich families are writing mission statements to avoid inheritance fights (WSJ)

A Message from Litquidity

Introducing the AI Alpha Fund on Autopilot

As most of you know, I launched three strategies last year on Autopilot to offer investors the chance to invest alongside my highest conviction themes. The Litquidity Alpha Fund, Finance Chad Index and Basic Becky Index have been killing it since.

I recently expanded my portfolio with the new AI Alpha Fund to invest in companies across the AI value chain – from semiconductor leaders powering hardware, to infrastructure providers enabling scale, to application innovators transforming industries. This portfolio is designed for investors who want to ride the AI transformational wave and participate in the upside of the next global innovation cycle.

The AI Alpha Fund is one my strongest conviction themes on Autopilot, where I actively manage investments to capture exposure to innovation and trends across the evolving AI ecosystem.

Read more about my strategies on Autopilot here and check out the AI Alpha Fund.*

AI Alpha Fund

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Blackstone and TPG are in advanced talks to acquire medical device maker Hologic for $17B, including debt

  • Beauty product giant L'Oreal agreed to acquire luxury fashion group Kering's beauty division for $4.7B

  • Asia-focused real estate conglomerate Jardines agreed to acquire the remaining 12% stake it doesn't already own in hotel arm Mandarin Oriental International at a $4.2B valuation representing a 40% premium

  • Emirates NBD Bank will invest $3.1B for a 60% stake in India's RBL Bank

  • Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Ant Group agreed to acquire several floors of an office tower in Hong Kong's priciest districts for $925M

  • Abu Dhabi SWF Mubadala is exploring an acquisition of $850M-listed outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor

  • Medtech giant Boston Scientific agreed to acquire the remaining equity it doesn't already own in medtech Nalu Medical for $533M cash

  • UK PE firm Partners Group is preparing a sale of a $400M office in London's insurance district

  • BlackRock-backed French water and waste-treatment company Suez paused a sale of Chinese assets

Top VC picks by Fundable

  • Media tech firm NEP Group raised a $700M investment from 26North

  • Blockchain project Tempo raised a $500M Series A at a $5B valuation led by Greenoaks and Thrive Capital

  • Dutch energy scale-up Return raised a $350M growth round from APG

  • HR startup Deel raised a $300M Series E at a $17.3B valuation led by Ribbit Capital and a16z

  • Mexican fintech Plata raised a $250M round at a $3.1B valuation led by Kora, Moore Strategic Ventures, and TelevisaUnivision

  • Astra Nova, a no-code tools for creators to launch blockchain-based entertainment experiences, raised a $48M strategic investment

  • Quilter, a startup automating printed circuit board design with AI, raised a $25M Series B led by Index Ventures

  • Counsel Health, a physician-supervised AI care platform, raised a $25M Series A led by a16z and GV

  • Oath Surgical, a startup building an AI-based surgeon-led network, raised a $24M Series A led by FPV Ventures

  • Weave Bio, an AI-native regulatory automation management solutions company, raised a $20M Series A led by USVP

  • Aboon, an AI-powered platform helping financial advisors launch and manage 401(k) plans, raised a $17.5M seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures

  • Open-source AI forecasting platform Probabl raised a $14M seed round led by Serena and Capital Fund Management

  • Splash, a skill-based social sports gaming platform, raised a $14.5M Series B led by Dream Ventures

  • Fourier Health, a clinician-in-the-loop AI platform, raised an $8.4M seed round led by Yosemite

Over 50 major VC deals over the weekend. Access all the data here.

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Activist HoldCo Asset Management built a sizable stake in $3.8B-listed Eastern Bankshares and is pushing for a sale

  • $27B-listed Chinese heavy machinery company Sany Heavy Industry is seeking to raise $1.6B in a Hong Kong listing

  • Some family members behind Samsung plan to sell a $1.2B stake as shares rally

  • Coca-Cola is weighing a $1B India IPO of its Indian bottling unit Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages

  • Emissions-control systems supplier Tenneco Clean Air India is planning to raise  $345M at a $2B valuation in an India IPO

  • Apollo-backed airline Grupo Aeromexico is seeking to raise a $315M in a long-awaited dual IPO in US and Mexico

  • Brazilian car rental startup Turbi is eyeing an IPO

SPAC / SPV

  • Chamath and Trump Jr.-backed SPAC Colombier Acquisition Corp. III filed for a $260M IPO

Debt

  • Morgan Stanley sold $8B of investment grade bonds

  • Indian state-run energy firms Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, and NTPC are selling a combined $880M in bonds as local yields decline

  • Jefferies sweetened pricing of a $810M leveraged loan sale by Centerbridge-backed plumbing products firm IPS Corp. meant to fund a dividend recap

  • A consortium of banks led by Morgan Stanley launched a $750M leveraged loan mean to support Comcast's pending spinoff of new cable-TV unit Versant Media Group

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Creditors to sub-prime auto lender PrimaLend are weighing pushing the firm into bankruptcy amid unpaid debt

  • Apollo, Sona, and Axebrook Capital are shorting debt of auto parts manufacturer Adler Pelzer on expectations of a failure to refinance 

  • Regional lender Zions fell 13% after disclosing $60M in fraud-linked loan write-downs

  • Regional lender Western Alliance tumbled 11% on exposure to the aforementioned loans

  • Sonder, an online rental company focused on boutique apartments, is pursuing an out-of-court agreement with creditors in a last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy

  • Clearlake-backed web services provider Newfold Digital is courting additional creditor support for its recent $100M restructuring with PIMCO and GoldenTree via side pacts with lenders that were not part of the original negotiations

  • Hong Kong's CK Infrastructure called for a re-nationalization of UK utility Thames Water amid 'high-risk' creditor plan

  • Hedge funds Cheyne, Man Group, and Contrarian are suing Dutch lingerie retailer Hunkemöller and its debt trustee alleging that Redwood Capital's takeover violated their creditor rights

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • LatAm alternative investment firm Patria Investments raised $2.9B for a LatAm infrastructure fund

  • Tech-focused Vista Equity Partners is planning to sell $1B in bonds backed by stakes in its private capital funds

  • Asian healthcare investment firm CBC Group raised $500M for its second healthcare-focused private credit fund 

  • Maelstrom, the family office of BitMEX-founder Arthur Hayes, is raising $250M for a new PE fund to acquire crypto firms

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • UK-based Nickel Digital Asset Management is employing a traditional multi-strat hedge fund model

  • DRW founder Don Wilson slammed exchanges for practices during crypto crash

  • Japan's largest banks MUFJ, SMFG, and Mizuho will jointly issue stablecoins

  • Public mining companies are raising billions in debt to fund AI pivot

  • Crypto miners riding the AI wave are leaving Bitcoin behind

  • Retail investors have lost $17B from exposure to crypto treasury firms such as Strategy

  • Chinese tech giants Ant Group and JD.com paused stablecoin plans due to government concerns

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec’s Picks

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.

Meme Cleanser

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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.

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