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US and Iran are lighting up Hormuz again, PE firms are sitting on a nine-year backlog, hedge funds had their best H1 since 2021, BlackRock will launch a Nasdaq-100 ETF, and Wall Street analysts are forecasting a 47% upside for SpaceX in their sell side coverage debut.
Curious where finance is headed in 2026 and beyond? Check out Plaid's full list of recent Plaid Effects sessions, now on demand.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 7/7/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks slipped yesterday as traders digested new developments in the Strait of Hormuz
Nasdaq-100 implied volatility is at the highest versus the VIX since 2002
Swap markets priced in 32 bps of rate hike premium by year-end as traders hedge for a less hawkish Fed
Oil spiked
Coffee futures surged 19% by the most this century to reverse all YTD losses
Earnings
Prediction Markets
AOC is just 1 point away from being the market favorite to be the 2028 Democratic presidential nominee
Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market
Headline Roundup
Four states are seeking $1.4T from Meta after youth safety trial (RT)
US revoked Iran sanction waivers after Hormuz attacks (BBG)
Trump threatened to remove all US troops from Europe (FT)
PE firms are sitting on a nine-year backlog (WSJ)
Hedge funds gained 7.2% in their best H1 since 2021 (BBG)
Wall Street banks expect Q2 profit boost from SpaceX-led ECM surge (RT)
HSBC pulled back from riskier private credit lending (FT)
Wall Street analysts see 47% upside for SpaceX (BBG)
SpaceX falls below $2T market cap following Nasdaq-100 debut (WSJ)
BlackRock will launch a Nasdaq-100 ETF (RT)
Traders are the most bullish on dollar since 2015 (BBG)
The gold bull market has ended (BBG)
China's PBOC bought the most gold since 2023 (BBG)
China's DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip (RT)
Perplexity plans to use Nvidia's new CPU (RT)
Meta debuts first image model since Zuck's AI overhaul (FT)
Lawmakers probe Lutnick's ties to Cantor Fitzgerald deal (WSJ)
AI startup CEO pleads guilty to insider trading on lawyer tips (RT)
Walmart lowered prices on thousands of items (WSJ)
USA vs Belgium match drew a record 42M US viewers (WSJ)
A Message from Plaid
Curious where finance is headed in 2026 and beyond?
You could spend months trying to understand how AI is actually changing underwriting, fraud, and payments.
Or you could hear it directly from the teams behind the shift; no guesswork required.
The conversations shaping finance in 2026 happened at Plaid Effects. Leaders from Brex, Databricks, and Plaid went deep on AI, fraud, and what's actually changing in financial services.
Here's a look at what's available – from product deep dives to customer sessions:
How Brex rebuilds financial experiences with AI, not around it
Modern fraud defense with Protect's Ti3
AI guardrails that support growth with Databricks
Deal Flow
M&A / Strategic
Infrastructure engineering and construction firm MasTec will acquire electrical contractor Superior Group in a $1.65B cash-and-stock deal
The Private Department of Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi will invest $1.13B in EIG-backed MidOcean to develop energy and infrastructure in UAE
Norway's $2T SWF NBIM will acquire a 49% stake in luxury retail real estate PE firm Asana Partners for $500M
Cosmetics giant Coty agreed to transfer the Gucci Beauty license back to Kering in a $400M deal
Investment firm Apex will acquire a $21M minority stake in Canada's women soccer league Northern Super League
Banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are in talks acquire a payment infrastructure business owned by fintech Fiserv to by-pass laws that limit debit card transaction fees
EQT will acquire specialty medical patch maker Corza Biosurgery from GTCR's Corza Medical business
HSBC is exploring a sale of its HSBC Türkiye retail and corporate unit
PE firms Epiris and Octopus Investments and Africa's Telecel Group are among bidders competing to acquire struggling UK broadband provider TalkTalk's wholesale telecoms business PlatformX Communications
VC
Oratomic, a quantum computing startup, raised a $300M Series A co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital and Khosla Ventures
Geothermal startup Quaise Energy raised a $134M Series B led by Prelude Ventures
Nomos AI, a legal AI startup, raised a $120M Series C at a $1.2B valuation led by Khosla Ventures
EDX Markets, a digital asset technology firm combining an institutional-only trading venue with a central clearinghouse, raised a $76M Series C led by SBI Holdings
Tangos, an autonomous AI platform for financial crime investigations, raised a $20M seed round led by Red Dot Capital Partners
Handspring Health, a virtual mental health clinic for youth and families, raised a $19M Series B led by RPS Ventures
Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable
IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
The $28B US listing of Korean memory chip darling SK Hynix is multiple times oversubscribed
Chinese electronics manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry raised $3.1B in a Hong Kong listing priced at the top of a marketed range for a 13% discount
India property developer K Raheja delayed plans for a $700M India IPO
Indian insurance aggregator InsuranceDekho picked banks for a $400M India IPO
Nuclear fuel firm Standard Nuclear is seeking to raise $383M at a $3.55B valuation in its IPO
Angola plans to raise $320M in a record IPO of telecoms Unitel
Temasek-backed Indian gym chain Cult.Fit filed for a $100M India IPO
Intel-backed AI chip and software maker Syntiant filed for an IPO
Debt
Amazon plans to raise $25B in its final bond sale this year
Italy raised $6B in its first dollar bond sale since 2021
German online car parts retailer Autodoc is raising over $600M in debt financing to help buy back a 15% stake from Apollo
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Aberdeen-backed UK broadband provider Airband is seeking a new owner under a restructuring after racking up heavy losses, putting $267M of investor money at risk
Lenders to Getty Images started to organize after the firm scrapped a planned merger with Shutterstock
Funds / Secondaries
KKR-owned sports PE firm Arctos Partners raised $6.2B for a debut GP financing fund
Private markets investor Hamilton Lane raised $3.8B for its sixth flagship PE fund
Isogon Ventures is seeking to raise a $150M debut fund
Crypto Sum Snapshot
Trump's Bitcoin reserve faces hurdles as Treasury and Commerce departments fight for control
Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.
Exec’s Picks
Bloomberg Odd Lots sat down with pro-am prediction market traders Brian Golden and Daniel Reichman to hear about the efforts that go into spotting opportunities, the systematic biases among traders, how they feel about insider trading, and other major issues that surround the space. It's a good listen.
Totally unrelated to the Fourth of July and America spirit but betting against US stocks has never really proven successful. Check out Callie Cox's insights 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!
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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.