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Josh Kushner and Bob Iger will acquire the Lakers in a record deal from Guggenheim CEO Mark Walter after his firm came under federal investigation for fraud.
Elsewhere, Korea will require new leveraged ETF traders to complete training modules, the CEO of Norway SWF is nervous of collapse despite record H1 gains, and the ex-wife of Two Sigma's founder accused him of offering only $633M in their high-stakes divorce.
Plaid published a detailed report on the rise of AI-driven financial fraud and how earlier, connected data can help identify and mitigate risks. Get it here.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 8/12/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks inched higher yesterday on a tame inflation reading
S&P is at ATHs
US sold 10Y bonds at a 4.68% yield, the highest since 2008
Earnings
Cerebras missed Q2 earnings and revenue estimates but raised its FY outlook as AI demand remains "through the roof" (CNBC)
Nebius beat Q2 revenue estimates as demand for AI computing capacity accelerated, with four new major contracts worth over $1B each (CNBC)
Cisco beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates and offered strong FY guidance as it continues to grab market share in the AI hardware boom (CNBC)
What we're watching this week:
Today: Applied Materials, JD.com
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
Flew into LA yesterday. Can't complain🤝
Deposit $10 and get a $20 bonus with code LIT on signup, only on the Polymarket US app
Headline Roundup
Trump is considering calls for capital gains tax cuts (BBG)
US CPI rose 3.4% YoY (CNBC)
Hedge funds upped short AI bets in July (RT)
Leveraged ETF boom creates new ways to profit from volatility spikes (BBG)
Healthcare investing is now an AI short in disguise (WSJ)
US investors raise questions over credit secondaries valuations (P&I)
AI hyperscalers upend usual earnings stock swing pattern (RT)
Wall Street giants bet Nvidia's AI chips will defy the laws of finance (FT)
Norway SWF's CEO is more nervous after biggest gain since Covid (BBG)
Korea will require mandatory training for new leveraged ETF traders (BBG)
Singapore eyes single-stock ETFs and tie-ups to boost growth (BBG)
New 'Katsu Curry Index' aims to show how weak Yen really is (BBG)
World-beating rand carry lures traders to South African debt (BBG)
NYC launched a sweeping investigation into Polymarket and Kalshi (WSJ)
Paramount discussed creating a board to ensure CNN's independence (WSJ)
Meta's historic $1.4T youth addiction case heads to trial (RT)
Two Sigma's founder offered ex-wife only $633M in divorce (BBG)
A Message from Plaid
Financial fraud is on the rise
Sophisticated tools like generative AI combined with outdated fraud prevention platforms are giving criminals a leg up when it comes to fraud efforts.
Fraud doesn't start at onboarding. It starts outside your four walls, moving across accounts, channels, and organizations long before it hits your systems.
That's bad news for you.
The good news is, Plaid and Javelin have your back in this latest report.
Download their free report: Catch Fraud Risk Before Losses Hit.
You'll learn how 4 major fraud types are evolving, what signals most detection stacks are missing, and why catching fraud earlier starts with more connected data.
Deal Flow
M&A / Strategic
Paramount is open to a sale of CNN to resolve California's antitrust lawsuit over its $110B Warner Bros deal
Josh Kushner and ex-Disney CEO Bob Iger will acquire the Los Angeles Lakers from Guggenheim CEO Mark Walter for a record $12.5B after Walter came under federal investigation for fraud
Anthropic is in talks to acquire real-world AI startup Decart for $6B
Goldman Sachs will acquire options-focused ETF provider Neos Investments in a $2.25B cash-and-stock deal
Bank of America will a take 49.9% stake in Jio Credit, the non-bank lending arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries' spinoff Jio Financial Services, for $1.9B
Blackstone and Canada's La Caisse, PSP, and BCI will buy a 25% stake in Air Canada's Aeroplan loyalty program for $1.8B
A group led by activist hedge fund Trian Partners is exploring a bid for $1.6B-listed burger chain Wendy's
Activist Ancora Holdings is pushing to acquire adhesives manufacturing giant H.B. Fuller's building adhesives unit for $1.2B
KKR offered to take an 8% stake in power producer First Gen from parent First Philippine Holdings as well as the entire 11.6% public float
Uber invested in Galgo, a LatAm lender focused on motorcycle purchases
VC
AI coding startup Cogniton is in early talks to raise a Series E at a $40B valuation
Thrive Holdings, the OpenAI-backed firm AI roll-up investment firm, raised $2B in new funding at a $12B valuation from SoftBank, D1 Capital Partners, and Altimeter Capital
Energy storage startup Form Energy raised a $750M Series G led by T. Rowe Price
Unwell, the media company of 'Call Her Daddy' host Alex Cooper, raised an investment from at a $500M valuation from WME chairman Patrick Whitesell
Baselayer, an AI-driven business verification fintech, raised a $20M Series A led by Koro Capital and M13
Attestable, an Israeli cybersecurity startup focused on AI verification, raised a $20M seed round led by TLV Partners and Altimeter Capital
Entravel Group, a traveltech company offering white-label booking infrastructure, raised a $7.5M funding round co-led by Ethereal Ventures and Finality Capital
Cytix, a cybersecurity startup, raised a $7M Series A led by Northern Gritstone
Ex-Apple hardware chief Dan Riccio took a stake in 3D printer maker Formlabs company and became a strategic advisor
Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable
IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
Health-tracking wearable tech Whoop plans to IPO by next year after securing a $10B valuation five months ago
Situational Awareness built a 16% stake in $9B-listed Japanese materials and electronics maker Taiyo Yuden before cutting it to 4.4%
Chinese copper foil maker Londian Wason New Energy Tech raised $95M at a $2B valuation in a US IPO, the largest US IPO by a Chinese firm in a year
Indian contract manufacturer Zetwerk is preparing to publicly file for a $400M India IPO
Japanese machine maker DMG MORI is seeking to raise $300M in an overseas share sale
The Philippines' SM Investments Corp. plans to consolidate its mining assets under a single listed entity to create the nation's largest miner
Debt
Jane Street sold $14.6B of bonds in a broad overhaul of its debt load
Nvidia-backed AI cloud firm Lambda raised $925M in leveraged loans
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Germany is seeking non-binding offers for nationalized energy company Uniper
A US CRE fund run by Deutsche Finance Group will file for insolvency after its investment in a Boston life sciences complex soured
Delaware Life and Clear Spring Life and Annuity, two insurers controlled by Mark Walter's holding company TWG Global, are racing to divest outsized private credit loans linked to other parts of his investment portfolio including Guggenheim Partners
Funds / Secondaries
Monogram Capital Partners raised a CV for Mountaintop Beverage led by Apollo S3
Litigation-focused event-driven hedge fund Two Seas Capital is seeking to raise $1B in fresh capital
Crypto Sum Snapshot
SEC is preparing an "innovation exemption" to allow 24/7 trading of tokenized stocks
JPMorgan, Goldman, CitSec and 40 others tested trading over blockchain networks
Bitwise cut 14% of jobs with crypto industry under pressure
Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
ICYMI: F2 is building the agentic operating system for private markets and has underwritten over 22,000 deals 5x faster than manual workflows for private market firms just this year alone. Scale AUM, not headcount.
Also, what's with TikTok influencers pitching complex tax strategies to retail degens…
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.