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Good Morning,

Musk is seemingly competing with Genghis Khan in the children department, Harvard is under serious pressure from the Trump administration, Saudi firms are unfazed by volatility in their IPO plans, and couples are slashing wedding budgets amid the stock market rout.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/16/2025 market close.

Click here to learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks sank as markets reacted to J Pow's warnings that trade tensions may undermine growth and price stability

  • Silver market is set for its smallest annual deficit in four years

  • Dollar hit its lowest since March 2022

Earnings

  • ASML beat Q1 earnings estimates but missed on revenue as tariff uncertainty bites into their strong demand outlook (CNBC)

  • US Bancorp beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on tailwinds in net interest income and strong capital positioning (ZK)

  • Progressive beat Q1 revenue estimates but missed on earnings on higher expenses from losses, acquisition costs, and underwriting, though existing policies saw strong growth (ZK)

  • What we're watching this week:

    • Today: TSMC, UnitedHealth, Netflix, Blackstone, State Street, American Express

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Will Musk crash out after being exposed by WSJ? Or maybe the opposite??

  • 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

  • Fed in wait-and-see mode as J Pow warns on tariffs (CNBC)

  • China is open to trade talks if US officials show respect (BBG)

  • Foreign holdings of US Treasuries rose in February (RT)

  • BoC held rates at 2.75% and forecast a year-long recession (RT)

  • US retail sales rose by the most in two years amid tariff jitters (BBG)

  • PE goes 'risk off' in M&A pause (FT)

  • US leveraged loan issuance drought is about to set a record (BBG)

  • US attack on elite colleges threatens safest corporate bonds (BBG)

  • EQT sees exits slowing amid frozen capital markets (BBG)

  • Canada's OMERS loaded up on the dip (BBG)

  • Saudi firms continue with IPOs unfazed by volatility (BBG)

  • Japan insurers prepare plans to deploy trillions in upended markets (BBG)

  • PwC exit over a dozen countries to evade scandals (FT)

  • AI 'application' startups become big businesses in new tech race (FT)

  • Billionaires and CEOs are betting on cheap San Francisco real estate (BBG)

  • Temu and Shein are losing luster among US consumers (FT)

  • Zuckerberg failed in attempt to negotiate antitrust deal with Trump (WSJ)

  • TikTok's US public policy chief to step down (TI)

  • US asked IRS to proceed with revoking Harvard's tax-exempt status (WSJ)

  • US threatened to ban foreign students from Harvard (RT)

  • Musk DM'd women on Twitter to have his babies (WSJ)

  • Stock market rout is causing couples to cut wedding budgets (BBG)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • KKR is exploring a potential $10B sale of private jet operator Atlantic Aviation

  • OpenAI is in talks to acquire AI coding tool Windsurf for ~$3B in its largest potential acquisition to date

  • Bain Capital and CC Capital received a four-week extension to consider takeover bids for Australian wealth manager Insignia Financial, previously valued at $2.2B

  • Vista Energy acquired Malaysian state-owned O&G giant PETRONAS's 50% stake in an oil field in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale for ~$1.5B

  • Immersive tech company Infinite Reality agreed to acquire AI startup Touchcast for $500M in cash and stock

  • UK real assets investor Foresight Group will acquire battery storage firm Harmony Energy for $278M

  • Lyft agreed to acquire ride-hailing JV FreeNow from BMW and Mercedes-Benz for $198M to enter the European market

  • PE firm Partners Group is exploring options for its 49% stake in Italian toll-road payment business Telepass

  • Canadian alternatives asset manager Sagard agreed to acquire a strategic stake in secondaries investment firm BEX Capital

  • Mubadala-backed Brazilian ethanol and sugar producer Atvos is weighing a bid for three Raizen sugar mills in Brazil from the Shell-Cosan JV

  • Hong Kong family office NUO Capital agreed to take-private Italian coffee pot maker Bialetti

  • India's Lohia Aerospace is considering an acquisition of French aviation supplier Lauak, which is exploring a full or partial sale

VC

  • Auradine, an energy-efficient solutions for blockchain and AI infrastructure, raised a $153M Series C led by StepStone Group

  • Chapter, a medicare navigation platform, raised a $75M Series D led by Stripes

  • Luma Financial Technologies, a structured products and insurance solutions provider, raised a $63M Series C led by Sixth Street Growth

  • Caban, an alternative energy solutions for critical infrastructure, raised $50M in funding led by Ember Infrastructure Management

  • Coder, a browser-based cloud development environment, raised a $35M Series B-2 led by Georgian

  • Nyobolt, a startup building batteries capable of charging in minutes, raised a $30M round led by IQ Capital and Latitude

  • Digital insurance provider PolicyMe raised $22M from Blue Cross Life Insurance Company of Canada and Securian Canada

  • UK medtech Skin Analytics raised a $20M Series B led by Intrepid Partners

  • Capsule, an AI-powered video editing assistant for marketing, sales, and media teams, raised a $12M Series A led by Innovation Endeavors

  • Deck, an infrastructure for user-permissioned data access, raised a $12M Series A led by Infinity Ventures

  • Resolv Labs, a yield-generating stablecoin protocol, raised a $10M seed round led by Cyber.Fund and Maven11

  • Blue Onion, a subledger for retail and ecommerce brands, raised a $10M Series A led by Viola FinTech

  • Tundr, an Italian fintech simplifying corporate welfare, raised an $8.2M seed round led by 360 Capital

  • Japanese AR display technology startup Cellid raised a $7.5M Series C extension led by SBI Investment and IMM Investment

  • Bauplan, a Python-first serverless data platform, raised a $7.5M seed round led by Innovation Endeavors

  • EF Polymer, an Indian startup developing 100% organic absorbent polymers, raised a $6.6M Series B

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Betting game developer Hacksaw is considering a Sweden IPO

Debt

  • Brown University raised a $300M loan from an unnamed lender

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • Investment firm Crescent Capital raised $3.4B for its third European specialty lending fund 

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Panama City will accept crypto for taxes, other municipal fees

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

Exec’s Picks

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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.