Exec Sum

The record-sized rate futures bet blew up, KPMG and Deloitte were fined for exam cheating, commodities giants do not care to IPO, Fitch cut China’s credit rating to negative, options selling is helping temper stock market volatility, and retail investors are loving the risk.

Commodities chiefs say era of bribes is over, OpenAI’s new AI will be capable of reasoning, Costco gold bars are selling like hot cakes, Salt Lake City was the hottest job market last year, and US bond markets are perilously leveraged ahead of today’s CPI drop.

JPMorgan named potential successors to Jamie Dimon, stock markets are seeing historic levels of crunch and concentration, Dimon released his annual letter to shareholders, and an ex-JPMorgan banker left banking to become Pakistan’s finance minister without pay.

RBC fired its CFO, PIMCO slashed rate cut expectations, AustralianSuper is going big on private markets, Trafigura saw further high-profile leadership exits, big tech seemingly has a big cash problem, and Serena Williams’ VC fund now has 14 unicorns.

JPMorgan reshuffled leadership in IB, layoffs jumped to a 14-month high, commodity trading profits hit a record high, markets reacted to the possibility of zero rate cuts this year, and Amazon reportedly relied on Indian contractors to label purchases at ‘Just Walk Out’ stores.

Goldman UK’s gender pay gap problem got worse, virtually all PE assets were sold at discounts last year, women C-suite representation fell for the first time, two Trump SPAC investors pled guilty to insider trading, and Disney beat the activist pressure.

Citadel’s flagship fund is up 5.7% YTD, UK PE had a lucrative 2022, Blackstone’s REIT came under pressure, Goldman’s wealth clients aren’t interested in crypto, Trump sued Truth Social’s co-founders, and VC ‘megafunds’ may be history.

Citi cut jobs in some top IB groups, India is only second to US in ECM deals, Binance named its first board of directors, Ken griffin warned on US debt, yields surged on strong economic data, and Disney may win their heated battle against three activist hedge funds.

McKinsey is paying staff to leave, the private credit talent war is being fought in court, corporate borrowers are active like never before, global M&A picked up, SBF received 25 years without parole, and Zuckerberg is personally emailing individuals to join Meta.

BoE warned of PE bubble risks, McKinsey upped pressure on US consultants, Robinhood launched a credit card, global ECM rallied in Q1, US small-caps are severely underperforming, the Chemours scandal is heating up, and the FX carry trade continues to shine.

The Fed took a massive L last year, a BoE policymaker thinks markets are overhyping rate cuts, banks are buying bonds at record pace, EY dropped its appeal against sanctions, Latino entrepreneurship is soaring, and Jamie Dimon had a private lunch with the VP.

Cocoa is the new Bitcoin, Citigroup will complete its sweeping overhaul this week, Brazilian fintechs are being hit by loan defaults, Asian PE deal flow is at its lowest in nine years, and Reddit options traders are highly bullish while Trump’s SPAC options are betting on a crash.