THE RETURN OF THE 2006 PAYCHECK

It feels like the mid-2000s all over again, and not just because low-rise jeans are back.

THE RETURN OF THE 2006 PAYCHECK

Good afternoon,

It feels like the mid-2000s all over again, and not just because low-rise jeans are back. Wall Street CEO pay has officially climbed back to 2006 highs, with banking executives seeing massive compensation bumps. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is dealing with a headache as their top lawyer resigned over ties to Jeffrey Epstein, proving that past associations are still shaking up the C-suite.

The market mood is messy. Stocks finished mixed on Friday as traders tried to balance a decent inflation reading against growing fears that the AI spending boom might be hitting a wall. The S&P slipped for a second straight week, and the Dollar has quietly dropped to four-year lows.

Getting started.

The Pulse

As of 2/13/2026 market close.

Markets

  • US markets were closed yesterday for Presidents' Day.
  • US stocks ended mixed Friday as investors weighed CPI data against AI jitters.
  • Dollar is down 1.3% this year to four-year lows after a 9% slide last year.

Earnings

  • Moderna beat expectations for Q4 despite fading Covid vaccine demand, though they are facing a regulatory hurdle with their flu shot.
  • This week's lineup:
    • Today: EQT, eToro
    • Wednesday: Figma, DoorDash
    • Thursday: Walmart, Klarna, Wayfair
  • See the full calendar here.

Prediction Markets

Screenshot of a Polymarket prediction

Headline Hunt

  • Japan GDP grew 0.1% in Q4 (CNBC).
  • Goldman's top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler resigned over Epstein connections (WSJ).
  • Lower valuations and delayed deals are deflating US IPO hopes (BBG).
  • Hedge funds just bought the most Asian stocks in a decade (BBG).
  • China's bull market is stumbling as earnings look weak (BBG).
  • Fund managers are more bearish on the dollar than they have been in ten years (FT).
  • Wall Street CEO pay has hit highs not seen since 2006 (BBG).
  • PE execs are trying to calm nerves as the software selloff hits their portfolios (RT).
  • Big Tech valuations are dropping billions on AI spending fears (RT).
  • Citadel's employee compensation ate into their $5.3B gains (BBG).
  • The US DOD and Anthropic are arguing over how to use Claude (TC).
  • Job hunters are now paying to get recruited (WSJ).

The Deal Room

M&A / Investments

  • Warner Bros. Discovery is looking to restart talks with Paramount Skydance after a hostile $108B amended offer.
  • Aberdeen plans to vote against the $9.3B take-private of InPost by Advent and FedEx over price.
  • Savvy Games is close to buying ByteDance's gaming unit Moonton for over $6B.
  • Telkom Indonesia is trying again to sell a data center stake at a $1.5B valuation.

Venture Flow

  • Neysa raised $1.2B with backing from Blackstone and others.

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • SpaceX is eyeing a dual-class structure for its planned $50B IPO.
  • DayOne Data Centers picked banks for a US IPO looking to raise $5B.
  • Maya is considering a US IPO raising up to $1B.

The Debt Desk

  • Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are selling $4.7B of debt for the Carlyle/BASF deal.

Fresh Capital

  • Morgan Stanley Investment Management is considering a $500M continuation vehicle for India assets.
  • Capza raised $1.7B for a new private credit fund.

Crypto

  • Bitcoin bounced to $70,000 on cooling inflation after an $8.7B wipeout, though the charts remain bearish.
  • Global crypto ETPs saw $3.7B in outflows over the last month, with BTC ETFs bleeding another $410M recently.
  • Metaplanet posted a $619M net loss driven by its bitcoin valuation.
  • The CEO of a bitcoin trading firm was sentenced to 20 years for a $200M Ponzi scheme.
  • Tomasz Stanczak stepped down from the Ethereum Foundation.
  • OKX snagged a European license.
  • Trump Media filed to launch Truth Social ETFs.
  • Brazil proposed a national Bitcoin reserve.
  • Grayscale filed to convert its AAVE trust into an ETF.
  • The EU banned all crypto transactions with Russian entities.
  • X launched cashtags for in-timeline crypto trading.
  • With 3 million more Epstein documents released, it is a good time to revisit Bloomberg's deep dive into his financial web. They mapped out the connections across Wall Street—from hedge funds to brokerages and billionaires. It’s a heavy read, but necessary context.

Today’s Meme Pick

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