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Good Morning,

Kalshi launched sports betting in all 50 states, Trump demanded that interest rates drop immediately, US will explore a national crypto reserve, and JPMorgan employees are voicing frustration over weak bonuses and raises, despite record profit and Jamie Dimon's pay increase.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose as investors digested mixed earnings and Trump's comments

  • S&P closed at a fresh ATH

• Europe's Stoxx 600 hit a fresh ATH, its first since September

• Canada's TSX index hit a six-week high

• US 10Y TIPS yielded 2.243%, the highest since 2009, in Treasury auction

• Gold is on track for a weekly gain as it teases a new ATH

• Dollar traded near a two-week low

Earnings

• GE Aerospace beat Q4 earnings estimates, forecast a strong FY, and hiked its dividend on progress in supply chain issues that hobbled production (RT)

• American Airlines fell 9% despite beating Q4 earnings estimates as its poor Q1 forecast lagged industry rivals (CNBC) 

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Verizon, American Express 

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• Kalshi launched sports betting in all 50 states!

• Trade your predictions on a range of events legally, only on Kalshi. Get a $20 bonus when you deposit $100 with code LIT on signup!

Headline Roundup

• Japan inflation rose to 3.6% (CNBC)

• Trump will 'demand that interest rates drop immediately' (CNBC)

• Trump accused BofA and JPMorgan for not banking conservatives (CNBC)

• Trump called for lower oil prices and a $1T investment from Saudi Arabia (RT)

• Private credit props up growing tech firms amid slow IPO market (BBG)

• Bond traders trim 2Y futures bets as tariff talk picks up (BBG)

• Credit trading volumes hit a fresh record last year (BBG)

• Wall Street's tech-powered bond trades hit a record $1T (BBG)

• Morgan Stanley says traders are waiting for chance to sell dollar (BBG)

• Taiwan retail investors bought record amounts of US assets in 2024 (BBG)

• China's Southbound bond outflows hit the highest since 2022 (BBG)

• Trade war fears among US firms in China hit a five-year high (RT)

• Emerging economies face 'sudden stop' of capital flows (RT)

• Hedge funds are scooping up European luxury goods stocks (RT)

• EQT's exits jumped past $11B in sign of PE recovery (FT)

• CalPERS looks to take-private deals as Trump hits renewables (BBG)

• Canada's OTPP sees chance to snap up cheap European assets (BBG)

• Jamie Dimon's pay rose 8% to $39M on record JPMorgan profit (WSJ)

• JPMorgan workers lament over weak pay despite bank's record profit (FRT)

• Barclays plans overhaul of CEO CS Venkatakrishnan's pay (FT)

• Activist Ed Garden's new firm made its first investment (WSJ)

• Walmart boosted store manager pay to ~$600k (WSJ)

• Costco shareholders voted against proposal to study DEI programs' risk (RT)

• OpenAI launched an AI agent (TC)

• Perplexity launched an AI agent for Android to rival ChatGPT, Siri, Alexa (RT)

• UnitedHealth named insider Tim Noel as CEO after assassination (BBG)

• Store closures hit the highest level since Covid (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Nissan-partner Mitsubishi may not join the proposed merger between Honda and Nissan 

• Hong Kong's CK Infrastructure Holdings is weighing a $4.9B sale of UK rolling stock company Eversholt Rail

• Singapore SWF GIC is in advanced talks to acquire indebted property developer China Vanke's 81.6% stake in VX Logistics, which was valued at $3.7B in 2022

• A consortium backed by industrial conglomerate GP Günter Papenburg raised its bid for German steelmaker Salzgitter to $1.2B

• HongShan Capital Group is nearing a deal to acquire iconic audio equipment maker Marshall for $1.1B

• Blackstone will acquire Potomac Energy Center in Virginia from Ares for $1B

• Angola plans to sell stakes in Banco de Fomento Angola, Standard Bank, and its biggest telecoms company Unitel, to attract investors

• Struggling EV maker Nikola is exploring a partial or full sale amid a cash crunch

VC

• Retro Biosciences, a Sam Altman-backed biotech aiming to increase human lifespan, is raising a $1B Series A led by Sandro Salsano

• Neko, a body scanning startup co-founded by Spotify founder Daniel Ek, raised a $260M Series B at a $1.8B valuation led by Lightspeed Venture Partners

• Fundraise Up, a fundraising platform for nonprofits, raised a $70M minority growth investment led by Summit Partners

• Method, a platform helping fintechs build repayment functionality into apps, raised a $41.5M Series B led by Emergence Capital

• Tive, a startup helping companies track the status of their shipments in real time, raised a $40M Series C led by World Innovation Lab and Sageview Capital

• Baya Systems, a software for chiplet-based systems, raised a $36M+ Series B led by Maverick Silicon

• Indian autonomous mobile robotics startup Ati Motors raised a $20M Series B led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and NGP Capital

• Basetwo, an AI platform for manufacturing engineers, raised an $11.5M Series A led by AVP

• StormHarvester, a UK-based automated water management software provider, raised an $8.4M Series A led by YFM Equity Partners

• Palona AI, an AI suite to accelerate growth of D2C and consumer facing businesses, raised a $10M seed round led by UpHonest Capital, Fusion Fund, and more

• Lanai, an enterprise AI navigation system, raised a $10M seed round led by Juxtapose

• Passbolt, an open-source password manager for teams, raised an $8M seed round led by Airbridge Equity Partners

• ENAPI, a platform for centralized EV charging software, raised a $7.8M seed round led by Voyager Ventures

• In-space fueling startup Spacium raised a $6.3M seed round led by Initialized Capital

• Coval, a platform for simulations of AI voice and chat agents, raised a $3.3M seed round led by MaC Venture Capital

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Venture Global LNG raised $1.75B at a $60.5B valuation in a downsized US IPO

• Saudi online brokerage Derayah Financial is preparing a local IPO at a potential $2B valuation

• Philippine water company Maynilad Water Services is preparing a $500M local IPO

• Vodafone sold its remaining 3% share in India's Indus Towers for $326M and increased its stake in India's Vodafone Idea 

• Lender Northpointe Bancshares, which is backed by PE firm Castle Creek, filed for a US IPO

Debt

• Clinical trial technology provider Clario raised $4B in private credit led by Blackstone

• The Philippines raised $3.3B in a dollar and euro bond issuance

• A lender to defaulted Chinese developer Shimao Group is in talks with private credit firm to offload a $1.3B maturing loan tied to a key restructuring asset 

• UK sports streaming platform DAZN secured $1.1B of debt financing from nine banks to finance its acquisition of Australian pay-TV and streaming company Foxtel 

• Japan's Nippon Life Insurance raised $520M in a euro bond sale 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

• Bankrupt Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family agreed to settle OxyContin opioid-related lawsuits for $7.4B as part of a controversial bankruptcy plan

• CarePoint Health, a nonprofit healthcare system in New Jersey, will seek US bankruptcy court approval for a restructuring

• Dollar-bond holders of distressed Hong Kong developer New World held talks with PJT to discuss whether ongoing loan talks could risk a default 

Fundraising

• Francisco Partners closed its third private credit fund at $3.3B

• Fengate Asset Management closed its fourth flagship infrastructure fund at $1.1B

• PE firm Frontenac closed its thirteenth fund at $900M

• GCM Grosvenor raised $800M for its debut Elevate FOF to back emerging and diverse PE managers

• MM PE firm Incline Equity Partners closed its second Ascent fund at $500M

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• Co-founder of crypto wallet startup Ledger was kidnapped in France

• Trump signed executive actions to boost crypto and AI growth 

• EU Commission will investigate depth of EU safety net for stablecoin holders

Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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  Join UpSlide's webinar on January 30th and learn how to transform your teams' pitching process and beat the competition this year. Register today.

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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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