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Quant hedge funds suffer worst day in two years, Josh Kushner tripled his wealth in one year to $17B, SEC charged an ex-BofA senior banker for $18M of insider trading, Anthropic's best model is struggling to attract users, and Trump suggested military intervention to bring down yields and interest rates.

Your tax extension ends in 52 days. Have you talked strategy with your CPA since April? If you've outgrown yours, OLarry does year-round tax advisory and filing for complex returns. One flat fee. No hourly bills.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 8/21/2026 market close.

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks rose on Friday on upbeat economic data 

    • Nasdaq-100 snapped a five-day losing streak 

  • Gold rallied to a three-month high 

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Tuesday: DICK'S Sporting Goods, Zoom

    • Wednesday: Nvidia, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, Kohl's 

    • Thursday: Marvell Technology, Workday, Best Buy, Dollar General, Ulta Beauty

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Canelo won't be the goat until he KOs Jake Paul himself

  • Deposit $10 and get a $20 bonus with code LIT on signup, only on the Polymarket US app

Headline Roundup

  • Trump floats miltary operation to lower interest rates (ES)

  • US business activity grew at its fastest pace in four years (BBG)

  • US hit Canada with 50% tariffs after trade talks fail (RT)

  • US long bonds risk deeper selloff without clear Warsh guidance (BBG)

  • Trump did not direct Bessent to intervene in bond market (RT)

  • Bessent's bond maneuvers give global debasement trade new life (BBG)

  • EM trade notches longest run since 2008 (BBG)

  • Private credit makes big pivot as direct lending funds shrink (BBG)

  • Corporate AI debt surge tests investor limits as fatigue emerges (RT)

  • Juicy yields draw junk bond 'tourists' to high-grade AI debt (BBG)

  • Quant hedge funds suffer worst day since 2024 on Bessent intervention (FT)

  • US buyers snap up Europe asset managers at fastest rate in decades (FT)

  • Goldman and JPMorgan are among the most bullish on Europe (BBG)

  • Apollo reveals data breach after hackers target financial firms (RT)

  • JPMorgan poached BofA's David Fishman as head of technology M&A (RT)

  • Anthropic's best model struggles to attract users as cheaper tools thrive (FT)

  • OpenAI cut developer pricing for GPT-5.6 by more than 20% (RT)

  • TikTok settled for $400M with US over child privacy concerns (NYT)

  • SEC charged ex-BofA senior banker in $18M insider trading (RT)

  • Josh Kushner tripled his wealth in one year to $17B (FRB)

  • Brands are 'maxxing' and 'mogging' as they adopt controversial trend (WSJ)

A Message from OLarry

K-1s from multiple funds. A rental in a state you don't live in. Trusts for your kids. Your extension ends October 15. Has your CPA called since April?

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Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

  • Italian lender BMPS launched separate all-stocks bids totalling $40B ‌for rival Banco BPM and wealth manager Banca Generali to repel a hostile takeover by Intesa Sanpaolo

  • Nvidia will acqui-hire AI startup Poolside for $6B and also invest $1B at a $12B pre-money valuation

  • A consortium backed KKR agreed to takeover Aussie insurance broker Steadfast Group for $5.5B for a 50% premium, which will include specialty insurance distributor Amwins will ​acquiring Steadfast's underwriting agency unit and Dragoneer Investment Group buying its broking unit

  • Indonesian telecom tower company Dayamitra Telekomunikasi is set to revive a ~$5B merger with rival Tower Bersama Infrastructure

  • Vista Equity Partners is weighing a sale of private markets software firm Allvue Systems at a $3B valuation, including debt

  • Malaysia ruled out a $1.9B acquisition of ID and passport supplier Datasonic Technologies 

  • Dutch PE firm Waterland Private Equity is in early talks to takeover $1.2B-listed UK  telecom services provider Gamma Communications 

  • Nvidia is in early talks to acquire Korean AI chip designer Rebellions

  • African conglomerate Dangote Group offered East African countries a 30% equity stake in the giant $5B refinery refinery planned for the region

VC

  • Alibaba-backed Chinese robotics startup Dexmal is in talks to raise a round at a $3B valuation

  • Starcloud, an orbital data center and in-orbit AI inference startup, raised a $250M Series A extension at a $2.3B valuation led by Manhattan West 

  • MarginEdge, a restaurant management and finance platform, raised an $80M Series D led by Schooner Capital and Ten Coves Capital

  • VC-backed coffee chain Blank Street raised a $75M round at a $650M valuation from investors including General Atlantic

  • Multiplier, an AI-powered data platform and coding agent infrastructure for the asset management industry, raised a $6M seed round led by Lux Capital

  • Nvidia invested in data center power developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Alibaba is seeking to raise 10.2B in a share sale

  • Chinese chipmaker YMTC plans to raise $4.9B in a China IPO following in the footsteps of rival CXMT's record listing

  • Samsung's battery unit Samsung SDI will sell $3.2B worth of Samsung Display shares back to display maker

  • UK AI cloud firm Nscale is seeking to raise $3B in a US IPO

  • SHEIN is seeking to raise $1.8B at a ~$27B valuation in its Hong Kong IPO

SPAC / SPV

  • Bitcoin treasury firm BSTR terminated a $1.5B merger with Cantor Equity Partners I amid market woes

Debt 

  • India's HDFC Bank raised a record $1.75B in an overseas bond sale

  • Singapore-based DayOne Data Centers is seeking a $237M loan 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Creditors to collapse property giant China Evergrande are likely to recover only 2% of $45B owed

Funds / Secondaries

  • Citadel offloaded over 80% of all stakes it acquired from Situational Awareness last month

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Binance is facing new scrutiny in crypto-friendly UAE haven

  • Crypto exec goes missing four years after predecessor went missing

  • Ray Dalio recommends gold and Bitcoin as debt crisis gets closer

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec’s Picks

*Security futures are not suitable for everyone. Leverage amplifies gains and losses. ninjatrader.com/ssf-risk

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.