US stocks rebounded yesterday on US-Iran deal optimism 

US Treasuries also rebounded

The 220% rally in Venezuela's $170B of defaulted bonds stalled after government announced plans for a restructuring

India's central bank intervened after rupee dropped to a fresh record low

Nvidia beat Q1 earnings, revenue, and Q2 forecast estimates as data center revenue doubled to now account for 92% of all sales (CNBC)

Target issued a Q1 beat-and-raise as same-store sales rose 5.6% in its first increase in five quarters on new CEO Michael Fiddelke's turnaround efforts and consumer resilience (CNBC)

Lowe's beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on the back of 'spring execution' and 15% growth in online sales despite a 'challenging' housing backdrop (CNBC)

What we're watching this week:  

Full calendar here

OpenAI also began work for a blockbuster IPO. Crazy to think that OpenAI would've been Musk's third trillion-dollar enterprise

Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

JPMorgan banker says sex-assault allegations have ruined her life (WSJ)

Trump says Iran talks are in the final stages (CNBC)

Investor angst emerges in riskiest stocks on rate uncertainty (BBG)

PE's 'secondaries' escape hatch keeps unsold companies in limbo (FT)

AI boom is making Warsh's bond market bind even worse (BBG)

Morgan Stanley head of global tech M&A sees 'full spectrum' of AI M&A (BBG)

OpenAI face IPO unknowns despite court victory over Musk (BBG)

Goldman CEO slid into Musk's DMs on X to win SpaceX IPO lead (BBG)

SpaceX IPO ignites Wall Street's race to orbit (BBG)

SpaceX spent over $15B on latest Starship rocket (BBG)

Minnesota banned prediction markets (NYT)

SEC will delay launch of prediction market ETFs (BBG)

Biotech investors are tuning out the 'MAHA' chaos (WSJ)

Zuck does not expect more Meta layoffs this year after 10% cut (RT)

Intuit will cut 17% of jobs (RT)

Savings: $80,400 annually

Rewards: $54,000 annually

Regular use: 56% of employees (for an impact that extends well beyond the finance team)

Likelihood to recommend: 8.6 out of 10

Germany will seek to acquire a 40% stake from German investors in Franco-German tank maker KNDS to match France's ownership ahead of its IPO which could fetch a $25B valuation

Electric utility giant NextEra Energy agreed to buy Quantum Capital-backed O&G investor Caliber Resource Partners for $1.3B and separately set up a JV with Quantum Capital to manage its US shale assets just one day after announcing a record $67B merger with Dominion Energy

AION, a European consortium of telecoms Iliad and Orange, PE firm Ardian, energy supplier Electricite de France, and data center operator Scaleway will bid on an $11.6B project to build a major data center campus in France 

Providence Equity ​Partners is preparing to sell UK theater group ATG Entertainment for $5.4B

Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital, miner Vale, steelmaker Gerdau, and Aussie commodities logistics firm M Resources advanced to the second bidding round for a $5B Brazil port of commodities giant Trafigura and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital

$4.6B Japan-listed logistics firm NIKKON Holdings is exploring going private, with Bain Capital, Warburg Pincus, and Blackstone seen as potential bidders

German developer Erich Schwaiger's deal to acquire Frankfurt office tower OpernTurm from JPMorgan Asset Management and Singapore SWF GIC for $1B collapsed after he failed to raise funding 

Stablecoin giant Tether bought out SoftBank's $680M ownership stake in Bitcoin treasury firm Twenty One Capital

Medical device maker Medtronic plans to ‌acquire chronic pain medtech SPR Therapeutics for $650M cash

Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo is looking to acquire Warburg Pincus' 93% stake in Spanish private bank Singular Bank for potentially $350M

Media heir James Murdoch's family office Lupa Systems will acquire Vox's podcast network, news network, and New York Magazine in a reported $300M deal

South Africa's state-owned Public Investment Corp. is in talks to buy out minority shareholders of real estate developer Balwin Properties in an all-cash deal at a $130M valuation and de-list

White House-linked family office Gillon Capital is in talks to buy a 55% stake in Canadian and Cuban mining company Sherritt International at a discount to its $65M market cap amid Cuba sanctions

Founders Fund, Valor Equity Partners, and Sequoia are set for over $100B, $60B, and $20B windfalls respectively from SpaceX in the biggest VC exit ever  

Wispr AI, an AI dictation startup, is seeking to raise a $260M Series B at a $2B valuation led by Menlo Ventures

Exa Labs, an AI search infrastructure startup, raised a $250M round at a $2.2B valuation led by a16z

Mercury, a fintech company providing radically different banking for startups, raised a $200M Series D at a $5.2B valuation led by TCV

Socket, a cybersecurity startup that safeguards open-source code, raised a $60M round at a $1B valuation led by Thrive Capital

Variational, an on-chain derivatives trading protocol and liquidity aggregator, raised a $50M Series A led by Dragonfly

Quartermaster, a maritime sensing startup, raised a $43M Series A co-led by First Round Capital and Quiet Capital

SignalPlus, a crypto asset derivatives trading service platform, raised a $40M strategic investment led by HashKey Capital

Catena Labs, an AI-native bank building tools to allow AI agents to conduct financial transactions, raised a $30M Series A led by Acrew Capital and a16z crypto

Sardine, an agentic risk platform for fighting financial crime, raised a $25M Series C extension led by National Bank of Canada

NanoCo, a security-focused OpenClaw alternative, raised a $12M seed round led by Valley Capital Partners

Quantum Bridge Technologies, a quantum-safe cybersecurity startup, raised an $8M Series A led by Primo Capital

SpaceX filed publicly for an IPO to raise a record $75B-$80B at a record $2T valuation

OpenAI is set to file confidentially for an IPO; the startup is valued at $850B

GameStop raised its stake in $53B-listed eBay from 5% to 6.6%; the firm is still keen on a deal and may even launch a hostile bid

Boutique investment bank Lincoln International gained 10% in its trading debut after raising $421M for a $2.3B valuation in an IPO priced at the top of a marketed range

Qatari conglomerate Estithmar Holding hired Rothschild for a Qatar IPO of its healthcare unit Apex Health

Futurecorp Space Acquisition 1, a SPAC led by ex-Surf Air Mobility, xAI, and SpaceX leaders, is seeking to raise $200M in an IPO to target businesses in space manufacturing, launch platforms, and defense

Dubai-based Averi Finance is in talks to reverse merge with South African miner Mantengu in an all-stock deal to list in South Africa

Bank of America and Citigroup are in talks to sell $30B of investment grade bonds, $12.5B of junk bonds, and $7.5B of dollar and euro loans in a $50B financing effort to back Paramount's $110B takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery

German defense giant Rheinmetall plans to raise $580M in its first public bond sale in 16 years 

A federal judge rejected Alex Jones' bid to shield his conspiracy platform Infowars from liquidation, upholding a bankruptcy court ruling that the assets aren't protected by his personal bankruptcy estate

Blackstone and Ardian acquired 33 PE LP stakes from Canada's CPPIB for $4B 

The Swiss Federal Pension Fund plans to invest $1.1B in private credit

Crypto firms are trying to leave the hype cycle for a more disciplined phase

Trump signed order for US government to update regulations to integrate crypto into TradFi and payments

Missouri sued crypto ATM operator CoinFlip 'for enabling scams'

1-3 years of experience in IB, PE, CorpFin, or a related field

A bachelor's degree in finance, economics, business, or a related field

Demonstrated experience executing M&A, capital markets, or strategic advisory transactions

Strong financial modeling and valuation skills, including DCF, comps, and precedents analysis

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

Strong attention to detail, robust analytical and problem-solving skills, and a proactive, detail-oriented and adaptable approach to work

By courtesy of WSJ, SpaceX's record-shattering IPO in charts and numbers.

Also, who really runs xAI? Bloomberg published a comprehensive and organized breakdown to make sense of xAI's management chart.