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Good Morning,

JPow said inflation is way too hot, stocks closed slightly down, Nike crushed earnings, EU and Biden plan to warn China against helping Putin, Brazilian farmers are getting wrecked by fertilizer prices, Apple fixed its app glitch, and Warren Buffett is wheelin' and dealin' again.

Excited to reveal our newly designed website. Shoutout to our friends at Klyxx Creative for the outstanding work. We've also got a new "Non-Target" merch collection available in the shop. Cop 'em now or refer friends with your unique referral codes (found at the bottom of the email) to get them for free!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• US stocks closed slightly red yesterday to snap a five-day win streak after Fed Chair JPow said ‘inflation is much too high’ and brought up the possibility of potential 50 bps rate increases

• Crude oil prices rose 7%+, cresting $115/barrel

• Developments stemming from the emerging Covid variant and the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine will continue to be at the forefront of investors’ concerns

Earnings

• Nike shares jumped ~5% after hours after beating on both quarterly revenue and EPS, as both NIKE Direct and NIKE Brand Digital posted 15%+ sales increases (SA)

• What we’re watching today: Adobe

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• EU set to line up with Biden to warn China against helping Putin (BBG)

• Supreme Court Justice Thomas is hospitalized with infection (BBG)

• Boeing 737 crashes with 132 on board in China (BBG)

• EU to propose tapping €500M crisis fund for farmers (BBG)

• US sending Soviet air defense systems that it secretly acquired to Ukraine (WSJ)

• Powell says Fed will consider more-aggressive interest-rate increases to reduce inflation (WSJ)

• Brazil farmers caught in wrong-way bet on fertilizers as war drives up prices (BBG)

• Canadian farmers call for end to rail dispute as shipments halt (BBG)

• Apple resolves outage that hobbled apps and internal systems (BBG)

• Ketanji Brown Jackson stresses continuity at Supreme Court (WSJ)

• Biden sees risk of Russian cyberattack on US as sanctions bite (BBG)

• Oil thirst is forcing Biden to pivot US back to Saudi Arabia (BBG)

• US shale companies drilling more, but oil output growing little (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Prologis, the world's biggest warehouse owner, launched a ~$23B bid to buy Blackstone's portfolio of logistics properties (RT)

• Kohl’s has authorized Goldman to coordinate with select bidders for the retailer (BBG)

• Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy investment holding company Alleghany in an $11.6B deal (BBG)

• Data-center operator Switch is exploring strategic options which could include a sale; the company’s market cap stood at $7.2B as of Monday afternoon (BBG)

• Centricus Asset Management offered $3.9B+ for Chelsea Football Club (BBG)

• Food company Uni-President is in advanced talks to buy a controlling stake in grocer Carrefour’s Taiwanese operations in a potential $1.9B deal (BBG)

• Sony Entertainment agreed to buy Montreal-based video game development studio Haven Entertainment (BBG)

VC

• Ramp, a finance automation platform, raised $750M at an $8.1B valuation: a $200M round led by Founders Fund, $300M in debt from Citi, and $150M in debt from Goldman Sachs (TC)

• CommerceIQ, a retail ecommerce management platform, raised a $115M Series D at a $1B+ valuation led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (BW)

• SMB back office automation platform Finally raised a $95M Series A led by PeakSpan Capital (PRN)

• Strategy execution platform Cascade raised a $29M Series A led by Telescope Partners (BW)

• ForAllSecure, an application security testing platform, raised a $21M Series B co-led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and New Enterprise Associates (PRN)

• Plotlogic, a startup using hyperspectral imaging to add data automation to mining operations, raised an $18M Series A led by Innovation Endeavors (TC)

• Canadian payments startup Helcim raised a $16M Series A led by Information Venture Partners and Aquiline Technology Growth (PRN)

• Ursa Space, a satellite intelligence infrastructure company, raised a $16M Series C led by Dorilton Ventures (PRN)

• Games content moderation startup GGWP raised a $12M seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures (BW)

• Zestworld, a startup building a newsletter service for creator-owned comics, raised a $9.3M Series A led by General Catalyst (TC)

• French aerospace company Gama raised a $2M round from BPI, CNES, and more (TC)

IPO / Block Trades / Buybacks

• Alibaba ramped up its share buyback program to $25B (BBG)

Fundraising

• Brian McMullen, a senior MD at Stonepeak, left the alternative asset manager's infrastructure arm to launch a TMT-focused PE fund (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Ether outperforms Bitcoin on excitement for software upgrade (BBG)

• FTX’s European head plots ‘cautious’ expansion into UK market (TBC)

• Naomi Osaka partners with FTX to bring more women into crypto (TBC)

• Goldman Sachs makes first OTC crypto options trade as it expands digital assets team (TBC)

• Jefferies reduces FX prime brokerage; two of its unit’s top execs are departing to join the crypto industry (BBG)

Exec's Picks

• Take your crypto to the next level with Nexo. Invest in the hottest coins, swap between 300+ pairs and get up to 0.5% cashback, earn up to 17% APR. Open your account at Nexo till March 31 and receive up to $100 welcome bonus.

• Heading down to Miami next month for "Miami Tech Week", with events spanning the tech, finance, media, fashion, and crypto industries. More info about it here.

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 40+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

Meme Cleanser

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