The Trump Acronym Trade

Author

Litquidity Capital
June 02, 2025

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Good Morning,

Megafunds are avoiding a prominent private credit ratings firm, Jamie Dimon supports a tax on carried interest, Apollo is keeping its 'foot on the gas' in dealmaking, DOGE is now targeting tech firm contracts, and traders are looking for clues in TACO, FAFO, MAHA and all sorts of Trump acronyms.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 5/30/2025 market close.

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Markets

  • US stocks fell after further US-China trade concerns

    • S&P and Nasdaq posted their best months since November 2023

  • US Treasuries posted their first monthly loss YTD on growing deficit woes

  • Gold broke a four-month win streak

  • Dollar notched its longest monthly losing streak since Covid

    • Dollar-Treasuries correlation fell to its lowest in three years

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: Campbell's

    • Tuesday: CrowdStrike, Hewlett Packard, Dollar General

    • Wednesday: Dollar Tree

    • Thursday: Broadcom, DocuSign, lululemon, Victoria's Secret

  • Full calendar here 

Prediction Markets

  • Tough weekend for New Yorkers :/

  • Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

  • Investors seek clues in Trump acronyms like TACO, FAFO and MEGA (RT)

  • Fed-favorite PCE index growth slowed to 2.1% YoY (CNBC)

  • Scott Bessent says US will 'never default' (BBG)

  • German bunds standout in global yield curve steepening (RT)

  • Jamie Dimon sees inevitable cracks in bond market (BBG)

  • High-yield bonds have historically outperformed private credit (BBG)

  • Chinese listing spree sparks revival hopes in Hong Kong stocks (BBG)

  • Macro hedge funds are a top pick for LPs in current environment (RT) 

  • S&P tech concentration is re-driving gains in momentum turnaround (BBG)

  • Hedge funds increased oil short exposure to the most in eight months (BBG)

  • Carry trades roar back as EM FX rallies (BBG)

  • Quant funds that dominate US options market move in on Europe (BBG)

  • Equity funds saw a second-straight week of outflows (RT)

  • Megafunds get wary of small firm rating over 3k private credit deals (BBG)

  • Apollo keeps 'foot on the gas' in dealmaking (WSJ)

  • Japan faces big decisions on tackling bond market volatility (FT)

  • Japan called on firms to find value beyond share buybacks (BBG)

  • ECB stepped up scrutiny of banks' exposure to private markets (BBG)

  • China isn't blocking rare earths exports (BBG)

  • Jamie Dimon supports a tax on carried interest (RT)

  • Vanguard expands 'Investor Choice' proxy voting program (RT)

  • Ackman, Druckenmiller-tracking ETFs are latest industry gambit (BBG)

  • HSBC closed its US business banking unit (RT)

  • Anthropic hit $3B ARR (RT)

  • Major record labels are in talks to license music to AI startups (BBG)

  • US consumers hit the brakes as imports sink by a record (BBG)

  • US consumer sentiment rebounded in late-May (BBG)

  • DOGE targets tech firms as it cuts more contracts (WSJ)

  • Rolex lovers splashed on used watches ahead of US tariffs (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • Australian investment manager Soul Patts and building-products maker Brickworks agreed to merge into a single $9B entity 

  • Carlyle and paint giant Sherwin-Williams are considering a joint bid for German chemical company BASF's $6.8B coatings unit, which also drew interest from CVC, Lone Star, Advent, Bain Capital, Blackstone, and Platinum Equity

  • Shale producer EOG Resources agreed to acquire O&G firm Encino Acquisition Partners for $5.6B, including debt

  • Healthcare system Ascension Health is in advanced talks to acquire ambulatory surgery company AmSurg for ~$3.9B

  • Early investors in EV battery maker Zeekr including CATL, Intel Capital, and Boyu Capital criticized Chinese automotive conglomerate Geely's $2.2B take-private bid as too low

  • 3i Infrastructure is exploring a sale of airport ground support equipment firm TCR, valuing its controlling stake at $860M

  • Blackstone lowered its final offer to acquire UK's Warehouse REIT to ~$634.4M after due diligence issues

  • Russia's Lukoil acquired Austrian oil giant OMV's stake in a Abu Dhabi natural gas project for $594M, marking OMV's exit from the venture

  • KKR increased its offer for Germany-listed IT services firm Datagroup by 7.4% to ~$511M

  • Taylor Swift re-acquired rights to her first six albums from PE firm Shamrock Capital for $360M, ending a long dispute with her former label Big Machine and manager Scooter Braun

  • Restaurant tycoon Greg Flynn and investment firm DRA Advisors acquired San Francisco's Market Center towers for ~$177M, taking over a distressed $417M mortgage at a discount in SF's largest office deal since 2022

  • 49ers Enterprises and health entrepreneur Andrew Cavenagh agreed to acquire Scottish soccer club Rangers FC with a ~$27M capital injection

  • Aldi owners, the families behind Aldi Süd and Aldi Nord, held talks on a potential merger to form a joint holding company

  • Eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica agreed to acquire ophthalmology group Optegra from PE firm MidEuropa

VC

  • AI Startup Perplexity is in talks to raise a strategic investment from Samsung

  • Abridge AI, a startup using AI to transcribe medical conversations, is raising $300M at a $5.3B valuation in a funding round led by a16z

  • Space startup Firefly Aerospace raised $50M from Northrop Grumman

  • AI-driven bookkeeping and tax solutions startup Uplinq raised a $10M Series A led by Next Coast Ventures

  • Speech tools startup Rime raised a $5.5M seed round led by Unusual Ventures

  • Assisterr, a startup allowing users to create and monetize AI agents without coding, raised a $2.7M round at a $75M valuation led by Google for Startups, Outlier Ventures, Web3.com, and others

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • No-fee banking fintech Chime plans to launch its IPO today at an $11B valuation

  • Valterra, the $11B platinum business being spun out of mining giant Anglo American, will debut a secondary listing in London today

  • European satellite operator Eutelsat Communications is in talks with France, UK, investor Fonds Strategique de Participations, and shipping company CMA CGM to raise $1.7B, which would increase France's stake from 13.6% to 30%

  • Trump Media raised $1.4B in a share sale to fund Bitcoin purchases

  • Japan's largest listed life insurer Dai-ichi Life agreed to acquire a ~$1.1B, 15% stake in UK money manager M&G via on-market purchases to become its largest shareholder as part of a distribution partnership

  • Pinkfong, creator of the viral 'Baby Shark' video, filed for a South Korea IPO at a potential $500M valuation

  • Adani Group's Adani Energy approved raising $502M in a qualified institutional placement

  • A shareholder in First Abu Dhabi Bank plans to sell a roughly 1% stake worth about $480M, fully exiting its position in the UAE lender

  • Philippine casino operator Hann Holdings filed a prospectus for an IPO to raise up to $212M

  • a16z-backed virtual chronic care provider Omada Health plans to raise ~$150M at a $1.1B valuation in its IPO

  • UK fully exited its stake in lender NatWest, completing its return to private ownership 17 years after its financial crisis bailout

Debt

  • Brookfield is arranging ~$3B in debt financing led by Morgan Stanley to support its $9B acquisition of Colonial Pipeline-operator Colonial Enterprises from KKR, Canada's CDPQ, Shell, infrastructure owner IFM Investors and industrial conglomerate Koch

  • EV maker Rivian is seeking to raise $2B in high-yield bond sale to refinance existing bonds

  • Trump Media raised $1B via convertible bonds to buy Bitcoin

  • French lender Credit Agricole is issuing $590M in floating-rate Samurai bonds for the first time in a decade

  • Dolce & Gabbana secured $170M in new debt financing, partially backed by state insurer SACE, to fund expansion in beauty and property sectors

  • Indian PE firm Multiples raised $58M in private credit from HSBC and Nomura to back its acquisition of a controlling stake in digital product engineering platform QBurst Software Services

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Investment firm TPG Angelo Gordon submitted a topping bid for Citgo parent PVD, aiming to exceed Red Tree Investments' $3.7B offer in a court-led auction to repay Venezuela's creditors

  • Distressed Hong Kong developer New World Development is seeking more banks to join a $2B loan backed by Victoria Dockside to support refinancing

  • Ukraine will skip a $665M payment on GDP-linked government debt after failed restructuring talks with creditors led by hedge funds

  • Saks revealed an over $100M adjusted loss and $275M in overdue supplier payments days after securing a $350M lifeline

  • Builder.ai faked reciprocal transactions with India's VerSe Innovation from 2021 to 2024 to inflate sales, as it heads toward bankruptcy

  • Anne Wojcicki, the founder of 23andMe, asked a bankruptcy judge to reopen an auction for the genetic testing firm amid fresh financial backing from a Fortune 500 company

Fundraising

  • Natixis Investment Managers affiliate Flexstone Partners is exploring an eventual LP stakes sale of its third $230M pan-Asia MM PE FOF 

  • Japanese IT firm Fujitsu launched a second corporate VC fund with a $105M commitment

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Fintech giant Stripe is in early talks with banks about stablecoins

  • New generation of crypto ETFs that generate yield is poised for Wall Street debut

  • BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF drew record inflows in May rally

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

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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.

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