THE BILLION-DOLLAR AI BLITZ

The S&P and Dow enjoyed their best day since May.

The Dow reached the 50,000 milestone for the first time.

Japan's Nikkei 225 jumped 4% to a new all-time high following PM Takaichi's election.

EM sovereign debt outperformed US Treasuries by more than double last year.

Corporates in Mexico and Turkey are raising dollar debt at negative spreads.

Bitcoin recovered most of its losses from the recent selloff.

Crypto volatility reached its highest point since the FTX collapse in 2022.

This week's lineup:

See the full calendar here.

Consistency wins gold. (Polymarket)

The call for a Fed-Treasury accord from Warsh has sparked a $30T debate. (BBG)

Banks are pushing for faster European IPOs to minimize market risks. (FT)

Germany is seeing its best start ever for M&A with a $26B spree. (BBG)

Bankers at Goldman, JPMorgan, and BofA are seeing bonus pools climb over 10%. (BBG)

Investors are moving toward small-cap value as tech faces risk aversion. (RT)

Software sector drama has hit Wall Street speculators hard. (BBG)

Hedge funds still managed positive returns during a volatile January. (RT)

BlackRock's bond chief Rieder is moving away from US credit in favor of EM. (BBG)

Bessent attributes gold volatility to "unruly" Chinese trading. (BBG)

Blue Owl reports no "red flags" in tech even as shares hit record lows. (BBG)

Big Tech is projected to spend $560B on AI capital expenditures this year. (BBG)

Global chip sales are expected to reach $1T this year. (RT)

Goldman has teamed up with Anthropic to automate back-office roles. (CNBC)

SpaceX is pushing back its Mars timeline to keep the focus on the 2027 moon landing. (WSJ)

College graduates are currently less likely to find employment than trade workers. (WP)

Netflix is pursuing an $83B all-cash acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, while Paramount Skydance is working to clear antitrust hurdles for its own tender offer for WBD.

TPG has agreed to take a majority stake in Sabre Industries from Blackstone's Energy Transition Partners at a $3.5B valuation.

Nordic Capital is looking into a sale of the Danish firm Conscia at a $2.4B valuation.

Westbrook Partners is selling its Ritz-Carlton hotels in New York and DC to Gencom and Trinity Investments.

Hellman & Friedman is in discussions to take BILL private amid pressure from activists like Elliott and Starboard Value.

9fin is in negotiations to raise $150M at a $1B valuation.

Anchorage Digital launched a secondary sale at a $4.2B valuation after a $100M investment from Tether.

The National Stock Exchange of India is preparing for an IPO that could raise $2.5B at a $63B valuation.

TK Elevator has chosen banks for a Germany IPO that could value the company at $30B.

RAC has selected banks for a London IPO targeting a $6.8B valuation.

Blackstone is finalizing a loan of more than $3.5B for Firmus Technologies to expand its data centers.

UniCredit is advising PKO Bank Polski on a potential risk transfer.

Poland issued $1.4B in Samurai bonds in the Japanese market.

Blue Owl raised $2.5 billion for its first secondaries fund focused on GPs.

Recent market selloff triggers hedge fund speculation regarding ETFs.

A mysterious user transferred 2.565 BTC directly to Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet.

BlackRock’s IBIT ETF hits record-breaking trading volumes.

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson discloses a staggering $3 billion loss.

Coinbase halts trading on 25 perpetual futures markets.

Coinbase sees unprecedented liquidations in its crypto-backed loan sector.

CNBC reports that gold’s and silver’s volatility is now feeding a new wave of machine‑learning‑driven hedge funds and algo strategies, which are using the metals’ big swings as a “signal factory” while still staying disciplined on drawdown caps and liquidity rules. See the piece here.