BEFORE THE OPEN

PRE-MARKET:

MARKETS:

• S&P 500 futures near flat line.

• Dow futures down 0.07%, Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.33%.

• iRobot drops 40% as EU likely to reject Amazon's bid.

• Congress passes bill averting government shutdown.

• Thursday gains end 3-day Dow losing streak.

• Nasdaq up 0.55% weekly, Dow down 0.33%.

• Tech sector surges on Bank of America's Apple upgrade.

• Upcoming earnings and economic data in focus.

EARNINGS

What we’re watching:

• Today:

  • Travelers (TRV) - expected: $5.00 per share (+47% YoY) on $10 billion revenue (+13.1% YoY)

Full earnings calendar here

HEADLINES

Red Sea Attacks Already Bigger Issue for Supply Chain than Pandemic, Maritime Advisory Warns

Reddit Plans to Launch IPO in March

• Jobless claims plunge to 187,000, lowest since September 2022 (more)

• Congress approves funding to avert US Government shutdown (more)

• US prepares rule forcing banks to tap Fed discount window (more)

• IPO market rebound hinges on post-debut trading, retail’s return (more)

• Tech giants drive stock gains as chipmakers rally (more)

• AG suit alleges Meta estimated 100K kids per day sexually harassed on Facebook, Instagram (more)

• Investors split over China risks as Beijing seeks to woo Davos (more)

• China is buying up US farmland, but just how much isn’t clear (more)

• Amazon’s AWS to invest $15 billion to expand cloud computing in Japan (more)

• Zuckerberg indicates Meta is spending billions on Nvidia AI chips (more)

• Macy’s to cut more than 2,300 jobs, about 3.5% of its workforce, and close five stores (more)

• Los Angeles Times plans 'significant' layoffs (more)

• YouTube and Spotify won’t launch Apple Vision Pro apps, joining Netflix (more)

• Activist investor Peltz seeks 'meaningful change' on Disney board (more)

• Lenovo bets its Motorola smartphone brand will be the third-biggest globally in 3 years (more)

• JPMorgan lifts CEO Jamie Dimon’s pay to $36M for 2023 (more)

TOGETHER WITH INCOGNI

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DEALFLOW

M & A | INVESTMENTS

• Hyundai Motor's India arm to invest $722M in Maharashtra (more)

• GIP eyeing up to 49% stake in Malaysian port operator, could value MMC Port at $6B (more)

• India's Haldiram's seeks to buy rival Prataap Snacks (more)

• Nextiva, a provider of customer experience solutions, acquired Thrio, a contact center software company with expertise in AI-driven customer experience (more)

• Aspen Power, a provider of a distributed generation platform, has completed three financings totaling $241M with J.P. Morgan, Lombard Odier, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (more)

• Alphathena, an AI-powered direct indexing platform for Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), secured a $4M investment (more)

• LiveRamp (RAMP), a provider of a data collaboration platform, acquired Habu, a data clean room software provider, valued at $200M (more)

• United Payment Systems, LLC (DBA Payzli), an end-to-end payment tech company, received a $6M investment from Esquire Financial Holdings (ESQ) (more)

• Accenture acquired Impendi, a sourcing and procurement services provider with a focus on private equity clients (more)

• AccessParks, a provider of broadband connectivity to RV Parks, National and State Parks, and MHC nationwide, raised an undisclosed amount in private equity funding (more)

• WCAS buys EquiLend (more)

• Charlesbank invests in Searchlight Cyber (more)

• Littlejohn Capital-backed Maysteel purchases Star Precision (more)

• Stellex-backed Fenix Parts purchases Stafford’s Auto Parts (more)

• Reservoir Neuroscience, a developer of new therapies for age-related neurodegeneration, closed a $4M financing round (more)

VC

• Focus, a new SocialFi app from DeSo that aims to disrupt the trillion-dollar social media/creator economy by rivaling X, Onlyfans, and Patreon, raised $200M from Coinbase, Sequoia, a16z, Social Capital, and others (more)

• Quantinuum, an integrated quantum computing company, closed a $300M equity funding at a pre-money valuation of $5B (more)

• DailyPay, an on-demand pay company, secured over $175M in debt and equity funding (more)

• Cleveland Diagnostics, a clinical-stage biotech company developing diagnostic tests for the early detection of cancers, raised $75M in funding (more)

• Digital Onboarding, a SaaS customer relationship company, raised $58M in Growth funding (more)

• Forta, an AI healthcare company improving access to dependable quality care, raised $55M in Series A funding (more)

• SmartLabs, a provider of flexible laboratory infrastructure and resourcing solutions, raised $48M in Series C funding (more)

• International Battery Company, a product and tech company specializing in the creation of eco-friendly, rechargeable batteries, raised $35M in funding (more)

• Lightship, an all-electric RV company, closed a $34M Series B financing (more)

• Oleria, a company providing adaptive and autonomous identity security solutions, raised $33.1M in Series A funding (more)

• Vicarius, a developer of vRx, an autonomous end-to-end vulnerability remediation platform, raised $30M in Series B funding (more)

• Kashable, a fintech platform that provides socially responsible credit and financial wellness solutions, raised $25.6M in Series B funding (more)

• Prismatic, a provider of an embedded integration platform (iPaaS) for B2B SaaS companies, raised $22M in Series B funding (more)

• Unbox, a provider of infrastructure for programmable exchange of value, raised $12M in Series A funding (more)

• Cetris Oncology Solutions, a precision oncology and translational science company, raised $10M in Series C funding (more)

• PredictAP, an ML enabled invoice ingestion & coding solution for real estate accounts payable, closed its $8M Series A financing round (more)

• Kusari, a software supply chain security startup, raised $8M in Pre-Seed and Seed Round funding (more)

• RocketStar, a company which specialized in space exploration and satellite services, raised $2M in Seed funding (more)

• BankingON, a provider of digital banking solutions, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding (more)

• Epicore Biosystems, a digital health solutions company, raised an undisclosed amount in funding (more)

FUNDRAISING

• Windjammer Capital Investors, closed its sixth fund, Windjammer Capital Fund VI, at $1.3B (more)

• KSL Capital Partners, an investor in travel and leisure businesses, raised $1.26B in its latest private credit fund, KSL Capital Partners Credit Opportunities Fund IV (more)

• Act One Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, closed its third fund, at $73M (more)

• Starwood Capital Group, a firm focused on real estate, announced the launch of Starwood Digital Ventures (more)

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CRYPTO

• Bitcoin slides back to $40,000 as post-ETF correction deepens (more)

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs scoop up another 10,600 BTC on day 5 (more)

• Donald Trump vows to 'never allow' Central Bank digital currencies if elected (more)

BULLISH BITES

🛟. Help wanted: Benioff, Bezos and Soon-Shiong want to save the news industry. They’re Losing a Fortune.

🏎 Robo race: AI-controlled race cars are here, and they’re about to compete on an F1 track for millions.

🤫 Underground: Crypto traders in China are meeting in laundromats and snack kiosks to get around government regulations banning the practice.

💰 Stealth wealth: A mystery buyer is paying more than $100M for this NYC penthouse on Billionaires’ Row.

🍪 Cookie cutter: The tyranny of the algorithm and why every coffee shop looks the same.

DAILY SHARES

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