US stocks closed mixed yesterday as investors prepared for fresh economic data following an end to the longest-ever government shutdown

UK's FTSE 100 hit another ATH

Europe's Stoxx 600 hit another ATH

Singapore 10Y yields are down 1% YTD, the most among EM Asia 

South Korean won is near its lowest since 2009 as foreign investors dump stocks

Circle beat Q3 earnings and revenue estimates as USDC circulation more than doubled, though reserve return rate fell 96 bps to 4.15%, fueling concerns that lower rates will slow profits (BBG)

Cisco beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates and issued an upbeat Q2 forecast as $1.3B in AI-related orders underscored growing momentum in its AI initiatives (CNBC)

Foxconn beat Q3 earnings and revenue estimates on strong AI server demand and expects continued quarterly growth in H2 as AI and ICT product demand strengthens (CNBC)

What we're watching this week:  

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Trump signed funding bill to end longest US government shutdown (CNBC)

Congress released more Epstein files (CNBC)

Michael Burry accused tech giants of AI hardware depreciation fraud (CNBC)

October jobs and CPI data may never be released (CNBC)

Trump hosted Wall Street CEOs for a White House dinner (RT)

Hedge fund giants are muscling into red-hot private markets (BBG)

US insurers are binging on private credit (WSJ)

Elliott seeks to reassure investors as returns fall behind S&P 500 (FT)

Banks take big risks in $100B Australian block trade boom (BBG)

US is exploring rules that would upend shareholder voting (RT)

FTC is investigating ISS and Glass Lewis for antitrust violations (WSJ)

Asian stocks saw $10B in foreign outflows last week as AI rally stalls (RT)

US high-grade bond sales hit their highest level since 2020 (BBG)

PE firm Vista will cut staff and automate roles with AI (FT)

Polymarket re-entered US in beta mode (BBG)

Polymarket became Yahoo Finance's exclusive crypto prediction market provider (YH)

FanDuel is launching prediction markets (BBG)

PayPal re-launched in UK after two years (RT)

US card spending rose by the most since early 2024 (BBG)

Car loan delinquencies hit a record for riskiest borrowers (BBG)

US officially ended penny production (FT)

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South East Asian super apps Grab and GoTo are in talks to offer Indonesia SWF Danantara a minority 'golden share' stake to gain approval for a $29B merger 

$19B UAE conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim is weighing a stake sale

Chinese electronics conglomerate Hisense is mulling a merger of its consumer electronics unit Hisense Visual Technology and home appliance unit Hisense Home Appliances to form a $10B company

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz is in talks to acquire a 5% stake in Mercedes-AMG F1 Team from CEO Toto Wolff at a $6B valuation

PE firm CD&R is exploring an acquisition of $5.4B-listed packaging firm Sealed Air

Dutch lender ABN Amro Bank agreed to acquire NIBC Bank from Blackstone for $1.1B

PE firm Clearlake will acquire private markets FOF manager Pathway Capital Management for $1B

Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Global Student Accommodation acquired a portfolio of US student housing properties from SWF ADIA and Landmark Properties in a $1B deal

Global wealth management platform FNZ raised $650M in new equity capital from La Caisse, Generation Investment Management, CPPIB, and Motive Partners

Germany is considering buying a 25.1% minority stake in transmission system operator TenneT Germany

Infrastructure investor Stonepeak is in talks to acquire BP's Castrol lubricants unit

Luxury goods conglomerate LVMH acquired a minority stake in Swiss watchmaker La Joux-Perret

Italian stationery company Fila is reviewing options for its minority stake in India-listed peer Doms Industries

Renaissance Capital will be allowed to acquire Citigroup's Russian unit

Kim Kardashian's apparel brand SKIMS raised a $225M round at a $5B valuation led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and BDT & MSD Partners

Parallel Web Systems, an AI search startup founded by ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, raised a $100M Series A at a $740M valuation co-led by Kleiner Perkins and Index Ventures

d-Matrix, a startup building an inference platform for data centers, raised a $275M Series C at a $2B valuation led by BullhoundCapital, Triatomic Capital and Temasek

Teradar, a startup building a solid state sensor better than lidar and radar, raised a $150M Series B led by Capricorn Investment Group, Lockheed Martin, and others

Tenzai, an AI-native cybersecurity company, raised a $75M seed round led by Greylock Partners, Battery Ventures, and Lux Capital

Sweet Security, a cybersecurity startup, raised a $75M Series B led by Evolution Equity Partners

In-house legal AI platform GC AI raised a $60M Series B at a $555M valuation led by Scale Venture Partners and Northzone

House Rx, a health tech startup making specialty medication more affordable and accessible, raised a $55M Series B led by NEA and Town Hall Ventures

AI data analytics startup WisdomAI raised a $50M Series A led by Kleiner Perkins

TCab Tech, an eVTOL startup, raised a $43M Series B++ jointly led by Meridian Capital, HuaHan Capital, and Puhua Capital

Tavus, an AI startup building social and emotional intelligence into AI humans, raised a $40M Series B led by CRV

Code Metal, a startup building an AI-powered code translation platform, raised a $36.5M Series A at a $250M valuation led by Accel

Beside, a startup bridging the gap between AI and SMB professionals, raised a $32M Series A

Attentive.ai, an AI-powered takeoff platform for the construction industry, raised a $30.5M Series B led by Insight Partners

Arrived, a platform for fractional real estate investing, raised $27M in funding led by Neo

REBEL, a B Corp certified returns re-commerce marketplace, raised a $25M Series B led by MarcyPen Capital Partners

Lucky Energy, a clean energy beverage company, raised a $25M Series B led by Paine Schwartz Partners

Endolith, a biotech startup pulling critical minerals from low-grade ore using microbes and AI, raised a $13.5M Series A led by Squadra Ventures

Partner Robotics, a construction robotics startup, raised an ~$11M Series A led by China Growth Capital

Deductive AI, a startup using AI to improve root cause analysis and resolution, raised a $7.5M seed round led by CRV

Theo Ai, an AI-driven prediction platform for law firms, raised $6M in funding led by Run Ventures

German engineering conglomerate Siemens is directly spinning off its Siemens Healthineers medical equipment unit to shareholders through a $17.4B dividend-in-kind to reduce its ~$42B stake from 71% to below 37%

Innolight, a Chinese manufacturer of optical communication modules and devices, selected banks for a Hong Kong listing that could raise over $3B

UK PE firm Pollen Street is preparing to IPO UK insurer Markerstudy at an over $3.9B valuation

France's Saadé family acquired a 4% stake in supermarket chain Carrefour for $452M

Activist hedge fund Shah Capital raised its stake in $1.1B-listed biotech Novavax and is threatening a proxy fight if the firm does not explore a sale 

Swedish self-driving truck startup Einride will merge with Legato Merger Corp. III at a $1.8B valuation

French cosmetics giant L'Oréal is selling up to $3.5B of bonds to help finance its $4.7B acquisition of Kering Beauté

Applied Digital Corp received $2B in orders for its $2.35B junk bond sale to fund data center construction

UK utility Southern Water sold $886M of bonds

Struggling Hong Kong developer New World Development gave investors five days to accept a $1.9B debt-swap plan

Bankrupt auto parts supplier First Brands's ex-founder/CEO Patrick James regained control of his personal bank accounts after they were frozen

Developer Continental Properties is seeking to raise a $200M fund targeting suburban rental housing

Japan's MUFG's asset management arm will launch its first fund comprising of CLOs

Coinbase will exit Delaware and reincorporate in Texas

SEC will consider establishing a crypto token classification

JPMorgan started rolling out deposit token JPM Coin to institutional clients

Bloomberg Odd Lots sat down with author and The Economist's Wall Street editor Mike Bird to discuss how Chinese real estate became the biggest bubble in history.