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Good Morning,

WeWork is filing for bankruptcy, a federal jury found realtors liable for $1.8B in damages after conspiring to keep commissions for home sales high, Alphabet and Match settled Google Play antitrust claims, Druckenmiller is betting big on 2-year notes, Musk says Tesla is planning to make 200,000 Cybertrucks per year, and orange juice futures hit an all-time high.

Padel is the hottest sport in the world right now. If you want to keep up with the biggest stories in this industry, check out today’s sponsor, The Padel Press.

Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks closed higher as investors awaited the Fed’s monetary policy update

  • The S&P led indices with a 0.65% gain

• European stocks mostly closed higher thanks to lower-than-expected eurozone inflation

Earnings

• BP shares fell 5% after reporting a steep YoY drop in profit that missed analyst Q3 expectations (CNBC) 

• AMD beat Q3 analyst earnings and revenue expectations but forecasted weaker-than-expected Q4 revenue (CNBC) 

• Caterpillar shares fell 7% despite beating Q3 earnings and revenue expectations due to a softer-than-expected Q4 sales outlook (WSJ)

• Pfizer reported a narrower-than-expected Q3 adjusted loss due to inventory write-offs from lower-than-expected use of its COVID products; Pfizer missed analyst sales expectations (CNBC)

• What we're watching this week:

  • Today: PayPal, CVS, Qualcomm, Airbnb, Apollo, Albemarle, Etsy, Kraft Heinz, DoorDash

  • Thursday: Apple, Starbucks, Novo Nordisk, Shopify, Coinbase, Block, Eli Lilly, Moderna, Palantir, ConocoPhillips

  • Friday: Enbridge, Cinemark, Cboe

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Wages boost US labor costs, house price inflation picks up (RT)

• Jury finds realtors conspired to keep commissions high (WSJ)

• Zillow plunges after verdict on real estate brokerage commissions (BBG)

• Alphabet, Match settle Google Play antitrust claims before US trial (RT)

• Druckenmiller says he has ‘massive’ bullish bets on 2-year notes (BBG)

• Record-high US oil production surpasses 13M barrels a day (BBG)

• Biden unlikely to attend Dubai COP climate meeting (RT)

• Musk says Tesla aims to make 200,000 Cybertrucks a year (RT)

• Microsoft releases big Windows 11 update with Copilot AI assistant included (CNBC)

• The money has stopped flowing in commercial real estate (WSJ)

• Never mind Covid, investors want a Pfizer obesity pill (WSJ)

• PBOC vows more liquidity after surge in China money market rates (BBG)

• BOJ’s Ueda gets reality check on yen in March to normalization (BBG)

• Saudi Arabia’s lavish sports push earns it the 2034 World Cup (WSJ)

• Dozens killed in blast at Gaza’s largest refugee camp (WSJ)

• Orange juice prices hit all-time high amid bleak production (RT)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Zegona Communications will buy telecom Vodafone Group’s Spanish business in a deal valued at as much as $5.3B, including debt (BBG)

• Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC will acquire a 35% stake in Hotel Investment Partners from Blackstone Group in a deal that values the Spanish hotel group at over $4.2B (FT) 

• US urged a judge to block JetBlue Airways' $3.8B purchase of ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, arguing that the acquisition would lead to higher fares and fewer flights for travelers (RT)

• Late-stage cardiovascular treatment biotech firm Cytokinetics, which has a market cap of $3.4B, is exploring options after receiving takeover interest (BBG)

• Germany plans to buy a 25% stake in transmission system operator TransnetBW from majority owner EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg in a $3.4B acquisition (BBG)

• Asda, Britain’s third largest supermarket group, completed the acquisition of the majority of EG Group’s UK and Ireland business at a $2.5B EV (RT)

• Electronic instrument maker Ametek will acquire medical components maker Paragon Medical in a $1.9B deal (RT)

• American electronic products company Hubell will acquire Systems Control, a leading provider of substation control and relay panels, for $1.1B (GNW) 

• PE firms Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners will buy Australian energy market software provider Energy Exemplar from PE firm Riverside Capital in a deal worth over $1B (RT)

• Penfolds-maker Treasury Wine Estates will buy DAOU Vineyards in California for as much as $1B (BBG)

• Canadian Tire bought back a 20% stake in in its financial-services business from Bank of Nova Scotia for $647M cash (BBG)

• Eli Lilly will acquire the rights to develop and sell an experimental gene-editing technology for heart disease from Beam Therapeutics for up to $600M (BBG)

• Global packaging company Greif plans to acquire jerrycans and plastic containers company I PACKCHEM Group in a $538M cash transaction (GNW) 

• GLIL Infrastructure acquired a 16.6% stake in its mobile towers JV Cornerstone from Britain's Virgin Media O2 for $437M cash (RT)

• Michael Rees, the billionaire co-president of asset manager Blue Owl Capital, is among bidders interested in buying a stake in NFL team Pittsburgh Steelers (BBG)

VC

• Military autonomous flying tech startup Shield AI raised a $200M Series F at a $2.7B valuation led by USIT and Riot Ventures (TC)

• Brazilian fintech QI Tech raised a $200M Series B led by General Atlantic (TC)

• Kasa Living, a tech-driven hospitality brand, raised a $70M Series C led by Citi Ventures and FirstMark Capital (PRN)

• SkyCell, a startup building smart containers for pharmaceutical transport, raised a $57M round at a $600M valuation led by Catalyst (TC)

• Imagine Pharma, a biotech company focused on the commercialization of its novel IMG-1 polypeptide, raised a $32.5M Series A led by IP Investors (PRN)

• Engine Biosciences, a startup using machine learning to discover oncology medicines, raised a $27M Series A extension led by Polaris Partners (BW)

• Neuros Medical, a bioelectric technology company, received $25M in growth capital from Trinity Capital (PRN)

• Espresa, a personal benefits platform designed for global enterprises, raised a $23M Series A led by Clear Ventures (PRN)

• IoT startup Wirepas raised a $22M round at a $100M+ valuation led by Highland Europe (TC)

• Senior-focused banking startup Charlie raised $16M in funding: a $7 debt facility led by TTV Capital and $12M Series A led by TTV Capital (TC)

• Promise Robotics, an AI-based industrial production platform for robotic construction, raised a $15M Series A led by Horizons Ventures (PRN)

• Berlin-based healthtech startup Aware raised a $15M seed round led by Lakestar (EU)

• GoodBytz, a robotics kitchen startup, raised a $12.7M Series A led by Oyster Bay (FN)

• Cambrium, a startup aiming to design sustainable proteins, raised an $11.6M seed round led by Essential Capital (TC)

• Guidde, an AI platform that automatically generates software documentation videos, raised an $11.6M Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners (TC)

• Redex Group, a renewable energy certificate solutions provider, raised a $10M Series A led by Aramco Ventures (FN)

• HR tech startup Spotted Zebra raised a $9.3M Series A led by Nauta Capital (FN)

• GreenLite, a startup streamlining construction permitting for businesses, raised an $8M seed round led by Trust Ventures (TC)

• Connectly, a startup that hosts a platform for businesses to create messaging campaigns and automate conversations with customers across messaging apps, raised a $7.85M Series A led by Volpe Capital (TC)

• Neteera, a Jerusalem-based contactless patient monitoring startup, raised a $6.7M Series B led by Aescuvest (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Latin America’s largest REIT Fibra Next is planning to raise as much as $1.5B in what would be Mexico’s largest IPO since 2018 (BBG)

• Healthcare payments software provider Waystar delayed its IPO until December of 2024 (WSJ)

SPAC

• Nuclear energy company X-Energy and Ares Acquisition Corp. mutually terminated a $2B deal to go public (RT)

Debt

• Morgan Stanley, Hyundai, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and 9 other blue chip companies raised a combined $22B in new debt, with Morgan Stanley raising $6B through a four-part bond sale (BBG)

• Xerox is selling a $500M leveraged loan to help fund its repurchase of shares formerly held by Carl Icahn (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• WeWork, once valued at $47B, plans to file for bankruptcy as soon as next week (WSJ)

• Solar-panel loan arranger Sunlight Financial Holdings sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection due to rising interest rates (BBG)

Fundraising

• a16z expects to target ~$3.4B for its next core early-stage and seed-stage funds (AX)

• KKR is raising a second Asian real estate fund and is looking to raise $2B-$2.5B (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• CFTC has paid $16M to whistleblowers this year, with a majority of the tips involving crypto (CT)

• ~86% of Tether’s (USDT) reserves were held in cash and cash equivalents in Q3, according to Tether (BBG)

Exec’s Picks

• Palmer Luckey joined Patrick O’Shaughnessy to discuss AI, VR, and the future of defense in a recent episode of Invest Like the Best.

• Derek Guy, aka the men’s workwear account on X, investigated whether or not Ron DeSantis is wearing heels inside his boots.

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