Trump’s first month has traders ditching America-first wagers [Bloomberg via Yahoo!]
Instead of extending the period of US exceptionalism in global equities, the S&P 500 Index’s record run has still left it trailing European, Chinese and Mexican benchmarks. The dollar’s strength and bearish bets on US Treasuries are both losing steam. Even the breathless rally in cryptocurrencies and related stocks has wilted…. Investor sentiment has been growing steadily more bearish over the past month, reflecting worries that tariffs may spark quicker inflation, keeping the Federal Reserve from cutting rates further and weighing on growth.
“There was an overshooting of rampant optimism without investors really thinking it through,” said Eric Diton, president of Wealth Alliance.
Can AI Predict the Next Big IPO? Crunchbase Thinks So. [WSJ]
Like other startups that have been challenged by the emergence of generative AI, Crunchbase needed to pivot. At a leadership meeting convened to discuss its future, McConnell said the team decided it could make predictions using its most valuable asset: the proprietary data generated by the startup’s 80 million users.
That data isn’t the public information on a company’s profile. It’s all of the data Crunchbase doesn’t expose to its users, such as when company profiles have been edited, who edits them and what they’re editing.
The Corporate Transparency Act Is Back On [WSJ]
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which oversees the enforcement of the law, on Tuesday issued a notice that extended the filing deadline for most companies to March 21. FinCEN said it recognized that companies may need additional time to comply.
Capital One, Discover Shareholders Approve $35 Billion Merger [Bloomberg via Yahoo!]
The shareholder votes are among several procedural hurdles the firms must clear before the acquisition can be completed. While the Delaware State Bank Commissioner signed off on the deal in December, the companies are still awaiting approval from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Millennium Lures Team With $100 Million Bid as Hedge Fund Talent War Rages [Bloomberg via Yahoo!]
As the war to poach portfolio manager Chris Procaccini, 48, erupted among hedge fund giants, industry legend Izzy Englander intervened to secure a victory…. The billionaire hedge fund founder’s last-minute interception underscores just how fierce and expensive the talent battle has become between multistrategy giants, even several years after an explosion of assets began adding pressure to hire more and more people.
KKR lifts stake in Japan’s Fuji Soft, ending bidding war with Bain [Reuters via Yahoo!]
The two private equity powerhouses had engaged in a protracted bidding war for Fuji Soft. KKR’s two-stage tender offer values the company at roughly $4.1 billion…. Bain said on Monday that it would withdraw its takeover proposal but it was only on Thursday that it became clear that KKR had gained a stake of more than 53.2%….
