SILVER COMES CRASHING DOWN

Good morning,

Gravity finally caught up with the metals market. Silver plunged 7% in its worst single-day drop in five years, dragging other precious metals down with it. It was a sharp reversal from the historic rally we saw just last week.

Equities also took a breather. Tech stocks led a pullback as investors locked in profits following recent all-time highs. Meanwhile, President-elect Trump is keeping busy on the geopolitical front, holding high-stakes meetings with both Zelensky and Netanyahu.

Getting started.

The Pulse

Markets

U.S. stocks slipped yesterday as traders sold off tech names following last week's record highs.
Bond market volatility has collapsed to a four-year low.
Precious metals took a beating after the Christmas rally.
- Silver dropped 7% in a single session.
The PBOC fixed the yuan at 7.03 per dollar. That is its strongest level in fifteen months.

Earnings

See the full calendar here.

Prediction Markets

Rumors of a bank blowing up are circulating again.
Trade your odds on Polymarket.

Headline Hunt

The U.S. offered a 15-year security guarantee to Ukraine (WSJ)
Trump met with Netanyahu to discuss the Middle East (BBG)
Tax changes are looming large for the U.S. economy next year (RT)
The economy is expected to ride a tax cut tailwind despite risks (RT)
Banks tapped the Fed's standing repo facility for $26B (RT)
Corporate bankruptcies are soaring as firms battle inflation and tariffs (WP)
Private credit BDC stocks are on track for their worst year since 2020 (BBG)
Canada's major pension funds will cut back on direct private equity deals (BBG)
European defense giants plan to return $5B to shareholders (FT)
The U.S. is using fraud laws to target companies pushing DEI initiatives (WSJ)
Agricultural giants are abandoning their pact to protect the Amazon forest (RT)
Andersen disclosed weak internal accounting controls in its IPO filing (WSJ)
Job seekers are now using dating apps to land interviews (BBG)
The ACCA scrapped remote exams to combat cheating (FT)

The Deal Room

M&A / Investments

SoftBank will acquire PE firm DigitalBridge at a $4B valuation.
BGH Capital agreed to acquire non-China APAC assets from Aspen Pharmacare for $1.6B.
BasePoint agreed to acquire UK lender International Personal Finance for $732M.
KKR secured negotiation rights to take Yomeishu private. The Japanese firm is listed at $500M.
GAM is opposing a $173M takeover of Honda subsidiary Yutaka by Samvardhana Motherson.
Meta acquired Chinese-led AI startup Manus.

Venture Flow

Traini, a pet emotional-intelligence startup, raised a $7.5M round led by Banyan Tree.

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

GSM, linked to VinFast, is weighing a Hong Kong IPO at a $20B valuation.
AirTrunk, backed by Blackstone, is eyeing a Singapore REIT IPO to raise over $1B.
Founder Chip Wilson launched a proxy fight at lululemon amid pressure from Elliott.

The Debt Desk

NNPC is in talks with Nexus Alliance for $2B in financing.

Bankruptcy Watch

United Site Services, backed by Platinum Equity, filed for Chapter 11 with plans to wipe out $2.4B of debt.
Summit Properties struck a $450M deal to acquire buildings from the bankrupt Pinnacle Group.

Fresh Capital

Aquilius raised $1.1B for a second APAC real estate secondaries fund.

Crypto Corner

Alt5 Sigma fired its auditor after the Financial Times asked about its lack of a license.

Today’s Meme Pick

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