Good Morning! Venezuela’s stock market jumped 17% after Nicolás Maduro was captured. U.S. energy stocks also rallied after President Trump said American oil companies will help rebuild the country’s energy system. JPMorgan formed a special advisory group to give top clients access to its “secret sauce.”

Hyundai is racing Tesla to mass-produce humanoid robots. Novo Nordisk launched the first GLP-1 obesity pill in the U.S., and Nvidia unveiled Vera Rubin, its next-gen AI platform, at CES 2026.

Plus: Apollo sold Coinstar, U.S. asset managers set a new M&A spending record, Tim Walz dropped his reelection bid amid a widening state fraud scandal, and the stealth tactic bosses are using to pull workers back into the office.

Tired of constantly checking your email? Blueflame’s email agents analyze incoming CIMs, decks, and transcripts and save you hours of combing through email manifestos.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Bankers Back in Their Bags

Before the 2008 financial crisis, Wall Street was where you went to get rich fast. Then Silicon Valley took over, minting tech founders and CEOs with nine-figure paydays while bankers watched from the sidelines. In 2025, that script quietly flipped back.

According to a recent regulatory filing, Jamie Dimon made roughly $770 million last year, the most lucrative year of his career and one of the largest single-year paydays Wall Street has ever seen.

That figure includes salary, bonuses, dividends, and stock awards, but the real driver was equity appreciation. JPMorgan was firing on all cylinders in 2025, and Dimon owned a massive slice of it.

Trading desks thrived amid hyperactive equity, bond, and commodities markets. Investment banking rebounded as M&A, IPOs, and debt issuance returned after a long drought. Consumer and commercial credit stayed stable. Analysts described it as a year where there was something for everyone across the bank.

JPMorgan added roughly $200 billion in market cap and is now pushing toward becoming the first trillion-dollar bank, currently sitting around $920 billion.

Dimon’s windfall was fundamentally an equity story. Over decades, he structured his compensation around JPMorgan stock and kept buying more. With JPMorgan shares up 34% last year and dividends amplifying the gains, earnings growth and multiple re-ratings compounded his wealth far faster than any annual bonus ever could.

It wasn’t only JPMorgan that had a blockbuster year. Large U.S. bank stocks gained about 29% on average in 2025, nearly double the broader market. Citi and Goldman CEOs each cleared more than $100 million, while Capital One CEO Richard Fairbank earned over $300 million, including stock sales and a $30 million bonus tied to its Discover acquisition. In every case, equity ownership drove the outcome.

Even with tougher capital rules and antitrust scrutiny, markets are open, deal flow is back, and volatility is feeding trading desks instead of hurting them. That combination hasn’t existed at scale in over a decade, and it’s exactly when big banks print money.

Takeaway: Banking delivered one of its strongest all-around years in a generation, and executives who owned their stock got paid like founders again. In 2025, the path to generational wealth rerouted back to finance. Move over Silicon Valley, it’s officially the Jamie Dimon era 🎵

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HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Oil markets respond to US action in Venezuela (CNBC)

• JPMorgan forms special advisory group to share some of the bank’s “secret sauce” with clients (CNBC)

• Nvidia launches Vera Rubin, its next major AI platform (YF)

• Hyundai takes on Tesla in race to mass-produce humanoid robots (YF)

• First GLP-1 pill for obesity from Novo Nordisk launches in the US (CNBC)

• Hedge fund Tribeca eyes Venezuela gold rush after 127% gain (BB)

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz drops reelection bid amid state fraud scandal scrutiny (CNBC)

• Apollo strikes deal to sell Coinstar (Axios)

• US asset managers break M&A spending record (FT)

• Smart rings poised to go mainstream after a blockbuster 2025 (BB)

• The stealth tactic bosses are using to get you back to the office (WSJ)

• Fed’s Kashkari says AI is causing a hiring slowdown in big companies (CNBC)

• Small-time crypto investors are facing violent attacks (BB)

• Venezuela's Caracas Stock Exchange rises nearly 17% in one day (MC)

• Office rents at Manhattan skyscrapers set to reach new heights in 2026 (NYP)

• Private-equity’s consolidation hopes may need to wait past 2026 (WSJ)

• Deutsche Bank shares exceed book value for first time since 2008 (FT)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• U.S. equities closed solidly higher, with the Dow outperforming the S&P 500 and Nasdaq

• Markets largely shrugged off geopolitical headlines tied to Venezuela

• Safe-haven assets moved higher, with Treasuries and gold gaining

• WTI crude rose ~1.8% to around $58.30, lifting energy stocks

Geopolitics & Commodities

• The U.S. captured Venezuelan leadership over the weekend and signaled plans to oversee a transition of power

• Venezuela represents <1% of global GDP and trade, limiting near-term systemic risk

• Despite holding ~17% of global oil reserves, Venezuela produces only ~1% of global supply due to infrastructure constraints

• Large U.S. energy stocks rallied sharply, with several names up 5%–10%

Economic Data Highlights (Week Ahead)

• Wednesday: ADP payrolls, ISM Services, JOLTS, factory orders

• Thursday: Initial jobless claims, productivity, unit labor costs

• Friday: December nonfarm payrolls report

Labor Market Outlook

• Recent data remain mixed, with unemployment at 4.6%, largely due to higher labor-force participation

• Friday’s report is expected to show ~60K job gains and unemployment ticking down to 4.5%

• Broader trend remains low hiring, low firing, with monthly gains expected in the 50K–100K range

• Smaller labor supply may help keep unemployment near ~4.5% through 2026

Looking Ahead

• Venezuela-related developments appear to be a contained tail risk for now

• Markets remain focused on economic data and labor conditions as the primary drivers of near-term direction

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Coinbase ($COIN) +8% after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating to buy.

• (+) Chevron Corp ($CVX) +5% because investors bet the petroleum company could expand its Venezuelan operations.

• (–) Uber Technologies ($UBER) -3% after Melius Research cut its rating to sell.

Prediction Markets

• Chances of a rent freeze in NYC are up nearly 40%

• Trade on real-world events with Kalshi. Use code OWS to get a $10 bonus when you trade $10.

Private Dealmaking

• Harman International acquired the driver assistance systems business of ZF Group for $1.65 billion

• Apollo Global Management invested $1.2 billion into QXO, a building products company

• Kraken, a utility software platform developed within Octopus Energy, raised $1 billion

• TransDigm acquired Stellant Systems, a maker of electronic components for aerospace and defense, for $960 million

• Carlyle sold Tescan, a manufacturer of electron microscopes and scientific instruments, for $850 million

• AE Industrial Partners acquired a control stake in the space propulsion and power systems business of L3Harris Technologies for $845 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

BOOK OF THE DAY

The 12 Week Year

Description: A game-changing productivity and execution manual that challenges the traditional 12-month planning cycle and replaces it with 12-week “years.” Moran and Lennington show how shortening your execution horizon creates urgency, focus, and measurable progress - so you can accomplish in three months what others stretch over a year. It’s a practical framework for goal-setting, accountability, and disciplined execution. 

Book Length: 208 pages 
Release Date: May 20, 2013 

Ideal For: Entrepreneurs, leaders, productivity seekers, and anyone who wants a structured system to turn intentions into results faster.

“Stop planning a year — start executing a year every 12 weeks.”

DAILY VISUAL

The Remarkable Growth Story in Poland

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DAILY ACUMEN

Power of Posture

Amy Cuddy's research revealed something extraordinary: holding a "power pose" for just two minutes increases testosterone by 20% and decreases cortisol by 25%.

Your body doesn't just reflect your mental state, it creates it. Stand tall, and you become more confident. Slouch, and you become more anxious.

This works in reverse too: smiling activates the same neural pathways as genuine happiness, eventually making you feel happier. Charles Darwin observed this over a century ago, the free expression of an emotion by outward signs intensifies it.

Yet we ignore our bodies, treating them as mere transportation for our heads. Watch someone scrolling their phone: hunched shoulders, head down, shallow breathing.

Then watch someone after a workout: open chest, steady gaze, deep breaths. Same person, different body language, entirely different mental state.

How are you sitting right now? What is your posture telling your brain about who you are?

Sit like a winner, and you'll start thinking like one. Remember, you can't have a confident mind in a defeated body.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• How to follow the right star

• Neuroscience says how and why humans should hibernate in winter

• The perfect morning routine

• What’s communication debt, and how to avoid it

• Why staying calm is underrated for leaders

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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