US markets remained closed yesterday for Presidents' Day

US stocks closed mixed on Friday as investors weighed an optimistic CPI reading against AI software fears

Dollar is down 1.3% YTD at four-year lows after losing 9% last year 

Yen posted its best week in 15 months

Moderna beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates despite a continued decline in Covid-19 vaccine demand and forecast international growth despite a major regulatory setback for their seasonal flu vaccine (RT)

Wendy's beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates despite a 10% decline in US comps and issued a weak outlook as US challenges persist (WSJ)

What we're watching this week:  

Full calendar here

Cheaper than US Treasuries btw.

Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market.

Japan GDP grew 0.1% in Q4 (CNBC)

Goldman's top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler resigned amid Epstein ties (WSJ)

Slashed valuations and postponed deals puncture US IPO optimism (BBG)

Private credit's software bet is bigger than it appears (BBG)

AI bubble fears are creating new derivatives (BBG)

Fund managers are the most bearish on dollar in a decade (FT)

Hedge funds bought the most Asian stocks in a decade (BBG)

China's stock bull market falters with earnings set to underwhelm (BBG)

UK weighs rule changes to attract Chinese listings (WSJ)

Hong Kong weighs expanding private IPO filings to boost listings (BBG)

African startups doubled debt funding in 2025 but VC money dropped (BBG)

Wall Street bank CEO pay rose to 2006-highs (BBG)

BofA boosted CEO Moynihan's pay by 17% to $41M (RT)

PE megafund execs offer reassurance as software selloff hits their stocks (RT)

Big Tech stocks lose billions as AI spending fears hit valuations (RT)

Citadel's employee pay weighed on $5.3B gains (BBG)

Citadel accused an ex-PM of stealing secrets for Marshall Wace (BBG)

Investors sued Bill Ackman's hedge fund over Howard Hughes deal (BBG)

Chinese state firms are buying foreclosed real estate to slow downturn (RT)

US DOD and Anthropic are fighting over Claude usage (TC)

Companies are replacing CEOs are record clip with younger execs (WSJ)

IBM will triple US entry-level hiring in AI revamp (BBG)

KPMG fined a partner for using AI to pass a test about using AI (FT)

Job seekers are paying to get recruited (WSJ)

Warner Bros. Discovery is considering reopening talks with Paramount Skydance after Paramount's amended $108B hostile offer

UK asset manager Aberdeen will vote against PE firm Advent and FedEx's $9.3B take-private offer for Polish parcel firm InPost on valuation concerns

Australia's Macquarie agreed to acquire Aussie infrastructure and logistics giant Qube for $8.3B cash at a 28% premium

Saudi video game investor Savvy Games is in advanced talks to acquire Chinese tech giant ByteDance's video game unit Moonton for over $6B

German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd agreed to acquire Israeli rival Zim for $4.2B cash at a 60% premium

UK PE firm Rosebank Industries is in advanced talks to acquire US-based industrial part suppliers CPM and MW Industries for a combined $3.1B, including debt

Telkom Indonesia is reviving plans to sell a stake in its data center business at a $1B-$1.5B valuation

Philippine power company First Gen agreed to buy a 40% stake in Prime Infrastructure Capital's hydropower portfolio in a $1.3B deal

UK PE firm Apax Partners withdrew its $790M take-private offer for UK automotive service provider Pinewood Technologies due to market conditions

German exchange operator Boerse Stuttgart is seeking to merge its crypto operations with crypto trading infrastructure firm Tradias in a $600M deal

Indian pharma firm Alkem Laboratories' medical devices unit agreed to buy a 55% stake in Swiss medtech Occlutech for $118M

India will combine state-owned lenders Power Finance and REC to create a combined entity with $60B in outstanding rupee bonds

Hollywood exec Casey Wasserman is putting talent agency Wasserman Media Group up for sale amid Epstein emails, talent departures, and his focus on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Defense tech startup Anduril is in talks to raise $8B at a $60B valuation

Indian AI cloud startup Neysa raised $1.2B, including a $600M majority equity investment from Blackstone, Canada's OTPP, 360 ONE Asset, and others

Kings League, a seven-a-side soccer startup focused on content creators, raised a $63M funding round led by Alignment Growth 

Onodrim Industries, a European defence-tech startup, raised a $47M seed round led by Founders Fund, Lakestar, and General Catalyst

SpaceX is considering a dual-class share structure in its planned $50B IPO

GDS-backed Asian data center operator DayOne Data Centers selected banks for a US IPO that could raise $5B at a $20B valuation

Activist Elliott built an over 10% stake in $10B-listed Norwegian Cruise Line and may run a proxy fight

Activist Third Point built a stake in $9.4B-listed Spanish tech and defense firm Indra and is pushing for a merger with smaller peer Escribano

UK convenience store operator EG Group selected Bank of America and Goldman Sachs to arrange a US IPO that could raise $1B at a $9B valuation

Kazakhstan's sole railway operator Kazakhstan Temir Zholy is considering raising $1B in a dual local and foreign IPO

Philippine fintech Maya is considering raising $500M-$1B in a US IPO 

National Highways Authority of India is preparing to launch a $630M IPO of Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust

Indian data analytics company Fractal raised $313M in a India IPO

Indian insurance aggregator Girnar is seeking to raise up to $250M in an India IPO

BayPine-backed auto and tire repair chain Mavis Tire is weighing an IPO

German submarine components maker Gabler plans to raise $50M in a Germany IPO

Activist Sachem Head built a stake in Warner Bros. Discovery

Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are among lenders seeking to sell $4.7B of debt to finance Carlyle's $9.1B LBO of German chemical giant BASF's coatings business

Mexican state oil company Pemex raised $1.8B in Mexico's biggest debt sale ever and Pemex's first local debt sale in six years

Ares is leading a $1.7B private credit financing for Francisco Partners-backed Nordic software business EG

US call center operator Concentrix raised $600M of bonds with a provision that would force it to pay more interest if it gets downgraded

Bankrupt auto parts supplier First Brands is weighing moving some units into Chapter 7 liquidation to cut advisory costs and accelerate asset sales as cash runs low

Ares is seeking to recover $250M in loans to Eagle Football Holdings by selling or taking control of French soccer club Olympique Lyonnais amid a dispute with majority shareholder John Textor

BNP-backed European investment firm Capza raised $1.7B for a new private credit fund

India approved a $1.1B state-backed VC FOF to invest in deep tech sectors

Credit investor Brigade Capital raised $1B for its first dedicated private credit fund

India's Motilal Oswal Alternates said it had raised $930M for its fifth PE fund

European PE firm Verdane is in talks to raise a $710M multi-asset CV anchored by parking tech company EasyPark

Morgan Stanley Investment Management is mulling a $500M CV for eight India healthcare investments including Omega Hospitals and RG Scientific Enterprises

PE firm Union Capital Associates raised $450M for its fourth fund

Singapore SWF GIC pulled $250M from hedge fund Jain Global just 18 months after its record debut

VC secondaries firm Karmel Capital raised $170M for its newest AI-focused opportunity fund

Lightspeed partner Arif Janmohamed will launch his own VC firm with backing from Lightspeed 

Musk's X is looking to integrate stock and crypto trading directly into feed

Blockchain-based lender Figure started marketing blockchain-native shares

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Ray Dalio published a long-form article on Twitter on how the world order is breaking down. Nothing extraordinary if you've read any of his work before…