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Good Morning,
Happy Black Gold Monday to all who celebrate. Happy situation (and portfolio) monitoring to everyone else.
Columbia Business School Exec Ed and Wall Street Prep launched a comprehensive online program on AI for Business & Finance, covering everything from GenAI foundations to advanced ML, all while offering access to a global network of industry veterans. Learn more below.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 3/6/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks sunk on Friday as traders weighed soaring oil prices and a weak jobs report
Dow lost 2.6% in its worst week since last April
VIX hit its highest since last April
UK's FTSE 100 had its worst week since last April
Europe's Stoxx 600 lost 5.5% in its worst week since last April to erase all YTD gains
Israel's TA-35 index gained 7% last week
MSCI EM index fell 7% in its worst week since Covid
Global bond markets also tumbled in their worst week since October 2024
US 2Y yield rose 16 bps in its worst week since last April
UK 2Y yield rose 35 bps to the highest since October in its worst week since August 2024
Germany 2Y yield posted its biggest weekly gain since 2023
Oil surged 35% in its biggest weekly gain ever
WTI topped $110 bbl for the first time since the 2022 Russia-Ukraine invasion
Aluminum posted its biggest weekly gain since 2023
Dollar gained 1.4% in its best week since November 2024
EM FX fell 1.5% in its worst week since Covid
Bitcoin-stocks correlation surged as volatility returns
Earnings
What we're watching this week:
Tuesday: Oracle, Kohl's
Wednesday: Campbell's
Thursday: Adobe, Dollar General, DICK'S Sporting Goods, Ulta Beauty
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
This is going to be the worst decision of Trump's second presidency
Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market
Headline Roundup
Iran named Khamenei's son Mojtaba as new supreme leader (CNBC)
US is considering a special operation to seize Iran's uranium (BBG)
China wants a Trump visit despite Iran war (FT)
Iran conflict puts EM revival to the test (BBG)
Gulf SWFs face historic test amid regional crisis (RT)
Investors are headed to Venezuela to scout opportunities (RT)
Dealmakers see Iran conflict stymieing M&A (BBG)
US unemployment rose to 4.4% in weak jobs report (CNBC)
Hedge funds add short bets on US stocks amid rout (BBG)
Global equity funds saw their first outflow in eight weeks (RT)
US private credit defaults hit a record 9.2% last year (RT)
Private credit lenders have taken over to ~150 companies in Europe (BBG)
PIMCO sees private credit facing 'full-blown default cycle' (BBG)
Millennium poached four PMs from rival Citadel (BBG)
Phillips 66 changed its board to avoid new proxy fight with Elliott (FT)
Oracle and OpenAI ended plans to expand Stargate data center (BBG)
Kalshi was sued over Iran leader prediction market (RT)
Google raised CEO Sundar Pichai's pay package to $692M (FT)
Cluely CEO Roy Lee admitted to publicly lying about revenue numbers (TC)
Pentagon tapped former DOGE official to lead AI efforts (RT)
Iran ships are the only ones transiting through Strait of Hormuz (BBG)
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Deal Flow
M&A / Strategic
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, son of the founder of $114B-listed eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, is nearing a deal to buy out two of his siblings' stakes in Delfin, the holding company of EssilorLuxottica, to take his stake to 37.5%
PE firm New Mountain Capital scrapped a $32B deal with ex-president Matt Holt to sell five companies Datavant, Swoop, Machinify, Smarter Technologies, and Office Ally to Matt Holt's tech rollup platform Thoreau
CVC is seeking to acquire a 20%-30% stake in Belgian bank Belfius from Belgium at an $11.6B valuation
Toyota Motor-affiliated auto parts supplier Denso offered to takeover $8.3B-listed chip maker Rohm
KKR is exploring a sale of $3B sale of data center company CoolIT Systems
French rare-disease pharma firm Servier agreed to acquire Day One Biopharmaceuticals in a $2.5B cash deal at a 68% premium
Shipping firm Diana Shipping raised its unsolicited bid to acquire rival Genco Shipping & Trading to ~$1B, with Star Bulk Carriers agreeing to acquire 16 Genco vessels if the acquisition closes
German publisher Axel Springer struck a deal to buy UK newspaper Daily Telegraph for $770M
KKR will acquire a $235M stake in South Korean renewable energy firm SK Eternix from SK Discovery and local PE firm Hahn & Co.
VC
Prediction market rivals Polymarket and Kalshi are in talks to raise new funding at ~$20B valuations
Groww, an Indian wealth-management and trading startup, raised a $200M equity round at a $7B valuation led by GIC
ModRetro, Palmer Luckey's retro game console startup, is seeking to raise funding at a $1B valuation
Food-production tech startup TARGAN raised a $100M growth round from Symbiotic Capital
AI-native cybersecurity startup Cylake raised a $45M seed round led by Greylock Partners
UniUni, a gig-powered last-mile logistics startup, raised a $30M round led by Rockets Capital
City Detect, a startup using AI to help cities stay safe and clean, raised a $13M Series A led by Prudence Venture Capital
Voomi Supply, a B2B HVAC and industrial marketplace, raised a $10M Series A led by Asymmetric Capital Partners
QFEX, a perpetual-futures exchange for traditional assets, raised a $9.5M seed round led by General Catalyst
Utexo, a Bitcoin stablecoin payments infrastructure startup, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Tether
Get real-time updates on any startup, VC, or sector on Fundable
IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, is facing regulatory hurdles for its India IPO plans that is expected to fetch a $150B valuation
AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems picked Morgan Stanley to lead a $2B IPO
Robinhood's flagship $660M VC fund debuted on the NYSE
Medtronic-backed diabetes management firm MiniMed raised $560M at $5.2B valuation in an IPO priced below a marketed range
Debt
SoftBank is seeking a $40B bridge loan to help finance its investment in OpenAI
Blue Owl led a $750M debt financing for Vista Equity Partners' $3B LBO of Swiss-American software firm Nexthink
A group of majority creditors to real estate investment firm Kennedy-Wilson will skip a debt exchange offer and seek a cash payment instead as part of an all-cash MBO led by CEO William McMorrow
KKR is seeking a $500M loan to back its $1.3B LBO of school operator XCL Education from TPG
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Brazil's regulator approved IG4 Capital's acquisition of a controlling stake in struggling petrochemical firm Braskem from Brazilian conglomerate Novonor; Braskem is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in US
Florida high-speed rail Brightline's credit rating was cut deeper into junk on rising restructuring risks
Luxury retailer Saks Global will shut 15 more stores as part of a restructuring
Susquehanna-backed crypto firm BlockFills hired advisors for a restructuring
Funds / Secondaries
BlackRock curbed withdrawals from its $26B HPS private credit fund after redemption requests spiked
Ex-Citadel PM Nico Dil launched industrials-focused L/S hedge fund NovaCore Capital with over $250M in backing from Squarepoint, Lighthouse, and others
Ex-NFL players Terrence Murphy and Reggie Bush plan to raise a $150M debut fund for new PE firm Synergy Sports Capital to invest in emerging sports leagues
Crypto Sum Snapshot
An AI agent freed itself and started secretly mining crypto
Crypto markets track war risk as Iran conflict endures
Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.
March Madness Bulls & Brackets Challenge 🏀
IT'S COMING – Get ready for the 2026 Bulls & Brackets Challenge 🏆🏀💥
March Madness is almost here. Litquidity and DFIN are teaming up for the annual Bulls & Brackets Challenge – and yes, there's real prizes on the line.
We're talking cool prizes, merch and accessories from Litquidity and DFIN, and a cheeky feature right here in the newsletter. Bragging rights included, obviously.
Bracket registration opens soon. If you were with us for last year's challenge, you know you wouldn't want to miss this one 👀
Make your bracket here:
We’re also getting the Litquidity community together for a viewing party on March 19 in NYC 🥳. Take some time off and reclaim some of that college pride. Space is limited so RSVP here!
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!
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.