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Good Morning,

Russia turns to Chinese banks as Visa and Mastercard pull out, UNC upsets Duke on Coach K's farewell, wheat and corn prices hit ATHs, Volkswagen is building a $2B EV plant, US gas prices hit $4 per gallon, oil shoots above $130 over the weekend, and the Russian Ruble is looking more and more like rubble.

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

• The crisis in Ukraine continues to weigh on market sentiment, dragging all three major US averages into the red to close Friday

  • Reports Friday morning indicated that Russian troops had seized Europe’s largest nuclear plant in Ukraine, which the US embassy in Kyiv called a war crime 

• On the other hand, the February jobs report came in better-than-expected with the economy adding 678K jobs (vs. 440K expected)

  • Wage growth changed little MoM which could make rising prices more difficult for everyday consumers to handle if inflation continues

• The VanEck Russia ETF finished the week down 60%+

• Prices for April deliveries of crude oil shot up over the weekend following more Russian attacks, mounting civilian casualties, and a push by US lawmakers to ban Russian oil imports

Earnings

• What we’re watching this week: 

  • Tues: Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bumble, Stitch Fix

  • Thurs: DocuSign

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Russian banks turn to China as Visa, Mastercard suspend business (BBG)

• Chewy cofounder Ryan Cohen takes large stake in Bed Bath & Beyond, pushes for changes (WSJ)

• WNBA star Brittney Griner is detained in Russia (NYT)

• Rival UNC upsets #4 Duke in Coach K’s home farewell (BBG)

• JPMorgan Global Chairman of investment banking Oken to join MidOcean (BBG)

• Volkswagen to build $2.2B new EV plant to keep up with Tesla (BBG)

• Russia targets media outlets with ‘Fake News’ law, blocks Facebook (WSJ)

• US national average for a gallon of gas tops $4, the highest price at the pump since 2008 (CNBC)

• Wheat prices hit record highs as war halts exports from Ukraine and Russia (FT)

• Angry dock workers in the UK are refusing to unload Russian oil due to Ukraine (CNBC)

• ‘The Batman’ tallies $128.5M at the domestic box office, second-highest opening haul of the pandemic era (CNBC)

• Berkshire Hathaway reveals $5B stake in oil giant Occidental Petroleum (CNBC)

A Message From FranShares

Last fall, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James passed $1B in career earnings, but only $330M of that came from his NBA salary. The rest? His endorsements, media company, and investments. One of James’ biggest investments? Franchises. Lebron owns 19 Blaze Pizza franchises across the country.The industrial logic of franchises is crystal clear — skip the whole “product-market fit” question and get to the “making money” part. Plus, you don’t have to try to day trade WWIII and inflation headlines to generate profits. 

The only issue? With an average startup cost between $100,000-$300,000, franchises require some serious commitment to get involved with – until now. 

Thanks to FranShares, investing in the franchise game is now accessible to savvy investors everywhere. The FranShares platform makes it super-simple to invest in franchises and generate wallet-stuffing passive income. 

• Start cashing in on your distributions after the ramp-up period

• Franshares aims to generate returns of 16% - 22% on high-quality and vetted assets

• Pay zero management fees

Want to invest like Lebron? Get the full scoop on FranShares here.

Deal Flow

M&A / Investment

• Australia’s AGL rejects higher $8.5B bid offer from tech billionaire, Brookfield (RT)

• Rival North Dakota shale drillers Oasis and Whiting nearing a potential $6B all-stock merger (WSJ)

• China developers Country Garden, Midea secure $3.3B M&A funding (RT)

• Insurance group AIA agreed to buy Bank of East Asia’s non-life insurance and healthcare services businesses for $278M (RT)

• UK health chain Virgin Active raised $118M and agreed to buy the nutrition assets of South Africa’s Real Foods Group (BBG)

VC

• Volocopter, a startup developing a fleet of eVTOL taxi aircraft, raised a $170M Series E at a $1.87B valuation led by WP Investment (TC)

• Indian fintech startup CredAvenue raised a $137M Series B led by Insight Partners, B Capital Group, and Dragoneer (TC)

• Audio analytics startup AssemblyAI raised $28M in funding led by Accel (TC)

• Fetch, a self-service truck rental marketplace, raised a $3.5M round led by NextView Ventures (TC)

• Mi Terro, a startup turning spent grain leftover from beer production into plastic packaging, raised a $1.5M round at a $10M valuation led by Astanor (TC)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Blue Owl Capital is planning to list assets from its Dyal Capital Partners business in a potential $10B UK IPO (BBG)

• E-commerce specialist ESW is weighing an IPO at a potential ~$4B valuation (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Healthcare giant CVS files for NFT and virtual goods trademark (TBC)

• Ukraine buys military gear with donated cryptocurrencies (BBG)

• Crypto exchange FTX sets up European unit (CD)

• Coinbase CEO Armstrong says crypto is a lifeline for Russian citizens, won’t ban them unless directed to by the government (BI)

Exec's Picks

• Over the weekend, Morgan Housel wrote a piece reflecting on the historical context of war and pandemics. Check out Surprise, Shock, and Uncertainty

• "Doomberg" wrote an interesting article detailing the significance and possible second-order effects of the West's sanctions on Russia. You can read their latest 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.

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