THE RACE TO RUN THE ECB

Dip buyers stepped in yesterday to push US stocks higher.

Europe's Stoxx 600 also reached fresh record highs.

This week's lineup:

See the full calendar here.

Today’s best isn’t permanent. (Polymarket)

ECB President Christine Lagarde will step down before her term officially concludes in 2027. (FT)

Bankers at JPMorgan are finding it nearly impossible to book a table at the bar inside their own new headquarters. (WSJ)

Japan announced $36 billion in US investments as part of a sweeping new $550 billion trade agreement. (WSJ)

The secondary market for real estate achieved a record $20 billion volume in 2025. (SL)

Bank of America officially rolled out a new loyalty rewards program to retain and attract customers. (RT)

Mark Zuckerberg took the stand to testify in a massive class-action lawsuit targeting social media platforms. (WSJ)

Intelligence suggests that Iran is actively preparing for a potential military conflict. (WSJ)

Activist investor Elliott is putting pressure on the $40 billion-listed London Stock Exchange Group to launch a strategic review of its portfolio. This includes its data unit, exchange operations, and a 51% stake in US-listed Tradeweb Markets.

The estate of the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has initiated the sale of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. The franchise is expected to reach a $6 billion valuation with proceeds slated for charity.

Blackstone, EQT, and CVC have all submitted competing bids for Volkswagen's diesel engine division, Everllence. The unit could command a valuation of up to $7.1 billion.

eBay has finalized a deal to buy the fashion marketplace Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion.

Elon Musk's xAI secured a $3 billion Series E from Saudi-backed AI firm HUMAIN. This capital raise arrives just ahead of a massive $1.25 trillion merger with Musk's SpaceX.

Ineffable Intelligence, a UK AI startup founded by ex-DeepMind scientist David Silver, is raising a $1 billion seed round. The deal is led by Sequoia and pegs the company at a $4 billion valuation.

Vestwell, an infrastructure platform focused on modern savings, closed a $385 million Series E. The round was led by Blue Owl Capital and Sixth Street Growth.

Western Digital intends to raise $3.2 billion by liquidating a portion of its stake in the flash memory spinoff Sandisk.

Activist investor Starboard Value has increased its stake in Bitcoin miner and data center operator Riot Platforms.

The Ivory Coast successfully raised $1.3 billion through a new eurobond issuance.

Private credit investor HPS, which is owned by BlackRock, led a $700 million private credit package for Elara Caring. The home healthcare provider is backed by private equity.

Blue Owl Capital is offloading $1.4 billion in assets from three of its credit funds. The goal is to return capital to investors and aggressively pay down debt.

Blue Owl has permanently frozen redemptions for a specific private credit fund that was marketed to retail investors.

MicroStrategy bought another 2,486 Bitcoin for $168M.

BitMine has grown its Ethereum treasury to 4.37M ETH.

A kidnap attempt on a Binance employee in France has the industry on alert.

Worried about quantum computers breaking Bitcoin? The threat is likely overblown. It turns out the vulnerable crypto isn't sitting in a few massive honeypots—it's scattered across more than 32,000 separate wallets, making a systemic heist incredibly difficult to pull off. If you've been losing sleep over this, this breakdown is worth a few minutes of your time.