Betting big

Bitcoin punches new all-time high, mystery options buyer bets $3 billion on stock rally, Ray Dalio says to fear the bond market, US-China hold first call since Geneva meeting, and the Treasury moves forward with killing the penny...

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Market Briefing
May 23, 2025

Good morning.

The Fast Five → Bitcoin punches new all-time high, mystery options buyer bets $3 billion on stock rally, Ray Dalio says to fear the bond market, US-China hold first call since Geneva meeting, and the Treasury moves forward with killing the penny…

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Calendar: (all times ET) - Full Calendar

  • Today:
    New home sales, 10:00A

  • Tuesday:
    Durable-goods orders, 8:30A
    Consumer confidence, 10:00A

Your 5-minute briefing for Friday, May 23:

BEFORE THE OPEN

As of market close 5/22/2025.

Pre-Market:

US Investor % Bullish Sentiment:
↑ 37.70% for Week of MAY 22 2025

Previous week: 35.93%. Updates Friday.

Market Wrap:

  • Futures dip slightly as yields remain in focus

  • Dow -15 pts; S&P 500 flat; Nasdaq futures -0.09%

  • S&P, Dow log third straight loss; Nasdaq up 0.3%

  • House passes Trump’s tax bill; Senate vote next

  • 30-yr yield hit 5.161%, highest since Oct 2023

  • Moody’s downgrade, deficit fears weigh on bonds

  • New home sales, building permits data due Friday

EARNINGS

Nothing watched today. See full calendar here »

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HEADLINES

Bitcoin surpassed $111,000 for the first time, with traders increasingly bullish on the prospects of the original cryptocurrency amid mounting institutional demand and Trump admin support.

An institutional investor’s multi-billion dollar bullish bet on US stocks has become the talk of the options market.

  • US-China hold first call since first meeting, signaling progress in trade talks (more)

  • Trump’s Next Hurdle: The bond market hates his tax bill (more)

  • Ray Dalio says to fear the bond market as deficit becomes critical (more)

  • Investors shift away from US bond market on fears over Trump’s policies (more)

  • Asian stocks rise and oil prices slip after Treasury yields ease (more)

  • Treasury moves forward with plans to kill the penny (more)

  • Anthropic launches Claude 4, its most powerful AI model yet (more)

  • YouTube Poaches Disney Official to Oversee Global Media, Sports (more)

  • Workday Gives Lackluster Growth Outlook Despite New AI Tools (more)

  • Intuit tops Wall Street estimates after tax season, issues strong guidance (more)

  • Jane Street Earns $2.3 Billion Riding India Options Trading Wave (more)

  • Texas business law overhaul would shield Musk pay package and up Delaware stakes (more)

DEALFLOW

M+A | Investments

  • OnlyFans owner in talks for $8 billion sale

  • BP seeks buyers for Castrol Lubricants unit

  • Opex Technologies receives growth investment

  • RollKall receives investment from Vista Equity Partners

VC

  • Awardco, an employee rewards and recognition platform, secured $165M in Series B funding, achieving a valuation exceeding $1 billion

  • LMArena, an open community platform for evaluating AI models, raised $100M in Seed funding

  • Rhino Federated Computing secured $15M in Series A funding to advance its platform for federated AI collaboration

  • Pixee, a cybersecurity solutions provider, raised $15M in Seed funding

  • StackHawk, an API security platform, obtained $12M in funding

  • Perpl, a decentralized perpetual contract exchange, completed a $9.25M funding round to expand its trading platform

  • Figure Technology Solutions, a blockchain-based capital markets platform, received strategic financing from Victory Park Capital

CRYPTO

  • US big banks hold early talks on joint crypto stablecoin (more)

  • Strategy’s up to $2.1 Billion preferred sale to test crypto rise (more)

  • Pictures give glimpse inside Trump’s memecoin holder dinner (more)

BULLISH BITES

📉 Why the bond market is barfing.

📚 Bill Gates: The 5 ‘best memoirs I’ve read’—one of the authors ‘changed the course of my life’.

📧 AI is helping executives tackle the dreaded post-vacation inbox.

🍷 Hamptonites stockpile the essentials (Rosé, Rosé, and Rosé) as Trump tariffs hit.

DAILY SHARES

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