BEFORE THE OPEN

MARKETS:

• Nasdaq falls for second consecutive day.

• S&P 500 and Dow also decline.

• Tech stocks, including Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, and Meta, under pressure.

• 10-year Treasury yield briefly rises above 4%.

• Uncertainty around Fed rate cuts dampens investor enthusiasm.

• Market experiences short-term correction.

• Fed meeting minutes reveal no immediate rate cuts, but expectations for three cuts this year.

• Major averages rebounded in 2023 after a tough 2022.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching this week:

• Today: Conagra (CAG), Lindsay Corp (LNN)

  • Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) - expected: $.63 per share (-45.7% YoY) on $34.9 billion revenue (+4.5% YoY)

• Friday:

  • Constellation Brands (STZ) - expected: $3.00 per share (+6.0% YoY) on $2.5 billion revenue (+4.2% YoY)

Full earnings calendar here

HEADLINES

Fed Sees Rates Staying High for Some Time With Cuts Eyed in 2024, Minutes Show

TikTok Eyes $17.5 Billion Shopping Business on Amazon’s Turf

• Key takeaways from minutes of Fed’s December rate meeting (more)

• Dollar extends New-Year Rally as Traders Hope for Clues on Fed (more)

• Job openings nudged lower in November, down to 1.4 per available worker (more)

  • Unemployed Americans are being forgotten in a strong job market (more)

• US bankruptcies surged 18% in 2023 and seen rising again in 2024 (more)

• Manhattan home prices rise in early sign of a market rebound (more)

• Oil prices rise more than 3% on mounting Middle East tensions, OPEC pledge to support market (more)

• Shell joins BP in ramping up dispute with key US gas exporter (more)

• Morgan Stanley’s Gorman says proposed bank rules will change (more)

• Xerox to cut 15% of its workforce (more)

• Samsung to announce new phones ‘powered by AI’ on Jan. 17 (more)

• Disney will work with ValueAct to counter billionaire Nelson Peltz (more)

• GM’s 2023 US vehicle sales were its best since 2019 (more)

• SpaceX launches first cell service satellites with T-Mobile (more)

• Starbucks now accepts personal cups for drive-thru and mobile orders (more)

• Evercore sees private equity deals bouncing back as funds seek cash for partners (more)

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DEALFLOW

M & A | INVESTMENTS

• SoftwareOne acquires Novis Euforia, a SAP and cloud services provider (more)

• Dakota Wealth Management, an independent investment management firm, acquired C2C Wealth Management, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisory firm managing approximately $350M (more)

• Renovus Capital invests in Behavioral Framework (more)

• Myers Industries (NYSE: MYE), a manufacturer and distributor of industrial products, acquired Signature Systems, a company specializing in composite ground protection solutions, for approximately $350M (more)

• Traliant, a provider of online compliance training solutions, acquired Kantola Training Solutions, an eLearning company serving over 15,000 organizations (more)

• SonicWall, a cybersecurity company, acquired Banyan Security, a provider of security service edge (SSE) solutions for the modern workforce (more)

• Systm Foods, a provider of a functional beverage brand platform, acquired HUMM Kombucha, a company working in the field of a low and zero-sugar kombucha and gut health beverage category (more)

• Leeds Equity Partners acquired Big Blue Marble Academy (more)

• Advent-backed Imperial Dade purchases Insight Distributing (more)

• Proof of the Pudding buys Southern Crust Catering (more)

• Black Bay acquires Merichem Company’s technology business unit (more)

• PE-backed Mercer Advisors purchases $465M RIA Transitions Wealth Management (more)

• Arcline-backed DwyerOmega buys Miljoco (more)

VC

• Intel Corp. and DigitalBridge Group, Inc., a global investment firm, announced the formation of Articul8 AI, Inc., an independent company offering enterprise customers a full-stack, vertically-optimized and secure GenAI software platform (more)

• Remix Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small molecule therapies, raised $60M in funding (more)

• Aqua Security, a company specializing in cloud native security, raised $60M in funding (more)

• Radionetics Oncology, a clinical stage radiopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel agents for the treatment of a wide range of oncology indications, raised $52.5M in Series A funding (more)

• Vita Inclinata Technologies, a company specializing in intelligent lifting hardware and software for rescue crews and other field safety applications, raised $44M in funding (more)

• Apollo Therapeutics, a portfolio biopharmaceutical company focused on translating fundamental medical research into medicines, raised $33.5M in second close of its Series C financing (more)

• BioCentriq, a cell-based therapy contract development and manufacturing organization, raised $29.2M in Series A funding (more)

• Heranova Lifesciences, a biotech company for women’s health, raised $13.5M in Seed+ funding (more)

• Intrinsic, a startup building AI systems for Trust & Safety teams to keep up with abuse, raised $3.1M in seed funding (more)

• Vasa Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for cardiovascular aging, closed a Seed funding of $6M supplemented by $2.3M non-dilutive grant funding (more)

• iFlock Security Consulting, a boutique cybersecurity company, raised an undisclosed amount in funding (more)

• Graviton Biosciences, a NYC-based biotechnology company, raised an undisclosed amount in funding (more)

FUNDRAISING

• Baird Capital, an investment firm focused on B2B technology & services companies, closed its sixth U.S. venture capital fund with a total of $218M (more)

• NewSpring, a family of private equity strategies investing in the lower-middle market, raised over $180M for fourth growth equity healthcare fund, NewSpring Health Capital IV (more)

• Banner Ridge raises $2.15B for flagship Secondary Fund (more)

• Forward closes debut fund at $425M Hard Cap (more)

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CRYPTO

• Bitcoin pulls back before SEC's ETF decision. Here’s why (more)

• Goldman Sachs eyeing Bitcoin ETF role via BlackRock and Grayscale (more)

BULLISH BITES

💸 Ouch: Best-selling personal finance author, Robert Kiyosaki, says he’s more than $1 billion in debt.

🛳 Amazing: New AI satellite imagery show the clearest picture yet of human activity at sea.

👩‍🦳 New norm? AI-created “virtual influencers” are stealing business from humans.

💼 Get hired: How to get a job in the age of AI, according to a top LinkedIn exec.

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