Good Morning! Hope y’all had a great MLK Jr. day. U.S. banking giants cut 17k jobs last year, and Citi is starting 2024 by announcing it will slash 20k jobs, 10% of its U.S. workforce as part of Jane Fraser’s restructuring program. And banks are posting rough profits across the board, thanks to souring loans. Plus what the boom in private credit means for the economy, why the time of day is crucial for success, and Naval’s top 25 book recommendations.

Here are NYC Short Squeez readers’ favorite coffee shops’ power rankings:

1. Starbucks (18.2%)

2. Blue Bottle (17.0%)

3. La Colombe (14.9%)

4. Dunkin (12.7%)

5. Blank Street (10.4%)

You can invest in whiskey now. Today's sponsor CaskX allows you to invest in Bourbon and even visit the distilleries to see the impact your investments are making.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

BlackRock’s Big Bet

You’ve probably heard of BlackRock - the company that seemingly owns all of America (according to FinTwit).

And on Friday, the asset manager announced a $12.5 billion acquisition of asset manager Global Infrastructure Partners.

The deal will make BlackRock the world's second-largest infrastructure investor, behind Australia's Macquarie group.

This is BlackRock's largest acquisition since the firm bought Barclays Global Investors back in 2009. And for $3 billion in cash and 12 million shares, BlackRock gets to add GIP's $100 billion in assets under management to its war chest.

This deal is the biggest acquisition of a private equity firm of all time. GIP’s chairman, Adebayo Ogunlesi, will stick around to run the infrastructure group at BlackRock. He will also join the ranks of Africa’s top 20 billionaires.

The timing of this deal, however, has raised some eyebrows. Just days before the acquisition, BlackRock announced it would lay off 600 employees or 3% of its workforce. The deal is expected to close in Q3. 

BlackRock is bullish on the infra space and projects the sector to grow from $1.2 trillion in mid-2022 to $2.5 trillion by the end of the 2027 (16% CAGR).

Takeaway: BlackRock is trying to capitalize on the infrastructure craze. Tons of private equity firms like Blackstone, Apollo, and Ares are making waves in the space. In an era of high-inflation, BlackRock wants to bet on stable, cash-generating assets like airports and marine terminals. And supply chains and decarbonization have become huge trends as well. BlackRock has over $9 trillion in assets under management as is, and this deal will further solidify the firm’s dominance.

_{SPONSORED BY CASKX}

Tap The Bourbon Market (Before Everyone Else)

The bourbon industry is booming.

All across Kentucky rickhouses are being built at a record pace, but even with the expansion distilleries can’t keep up with demand.

Now, with CaskX you can profit from the bourbon boom by investing in full barrels of bourbon from distilleries across the United States.

This week, CaskX is giving Short Squeez readers the opportunity to get early access to a range of new bourbon investment offerings that won’t last long as soon as they hit the market.

Click here to get early access to new bourbon investments.

_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• US banking giants shed over 17,000 employees in turbulent year (Reuters)

• Citi will cut 20,000 jobs, or 10% of the U.S. workforce (CNBC)

• What the boom in private credit means for the economy (BB)

• Bank profits mostly fall in fourth quarter (YF)

• JPMorgan rises above rivals with record annual profit of $49 billion (YF)

• Morgan Stanley agrees to pay $249 million to settle block trading probes (WSJ)

• Oil prices rise after US-led strikes in Yemen (CNN)

• Wall Street’s biggest banks are set to stampede the U.S. bond market (BB)

• Bill Ackman is creating an activist organization to fight antisemitism (CNBC)

• What's going on with Boeing 737 Max 9 planes (Axios)

• Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, got married (NBC)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks closed slightly higher on Friday as investors made sense of inflation data.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) NextGen Energy ($NXE) +11% after a bullish day for uranium stocks.

• (–) Tesla ($TSLA) -4% after price cuts on the Model 3, production halt at German factory.

• (–) United Airlines ($UAL) -11% because the airline found loose hardware on its Boeing 737s.

Private Dealmaking

• BlackRock will buy Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm with $100B in AUM, for $12.5 billion

• Thomson Reuters offered to buy Pagero Group, an e-invoicing provider, for $627 million

• NineDot Energy, a battery engine storage developer, raised $225 million

• D-Orbit, a satellite operators logistics provider, raised $109 million

• 1X, a humanoid robotics company, raised $100 million

• Hyperexponential, a modeling software provider for insurers, raised $73 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Gut Check

We may believe that we are the masters of our fates, but in reality, we are at the mercy of hundreds of trillions of single-celled organisms that exert control over every aspect of how our minds and bodies function.

These are the diverse species of microbes living in our guts, mouths, and skin that work together synergistically to communicate with each other and with every system in our bodies.

You are your microbiome’s home, and it wants to take care of you, but first you have to protect it. In Gut Check, Dr. Steven Gundry reveals the emerging science proving that Hippocrates was right – all disease begins in the gut.

When our microbiomes are out of balance, it affects our immune systems, our hormone levels, our mental health, our longevity, and our risk of developing autoimmunity, heart, and neurodegenerative disease, as well as arthritis, diabetes, and cancer.

Yet, not all hope is lost: disease can also be healed in the gut if we choose to treat our microbes right.

“The secret to good health.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Car buyers are getting some leverage back as inventory jumps back up

US retail inventory at car dealerships and parts stores

_{SPONSORED BY DANELFIN}

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Stocks labeled “Strong Buy” have outperformed the market every year by an impressive +20.08% on average since 2017.

What’s more, the Danelfin Best Stocks strategy delivered a +191% return between Jan. 3, 2017, and Aug. 15, 2023, crushing the S&P 500’s +118% return in that time.

What are you waiting for? See which stocks are rated 10/10 for FREE!

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Generous Ask

“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”

That’s problematic advice.

Taken to an extreme, it turns us into hustlers.

The alternative is to realize that the best asks are actually offers.

When we offer to help someone get to where they were going, we’re approaching the relationship with generosity, not selfishness.

What work would we need to do to have sufficient skill, insight and reputation to be able to offer someone else a chance to reach their goals?

That’s how we get. Not by asking, but by offering.”

Source: Seth Godin

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• The hidden power of everyday rituals

• The ultimate guide to what middle managers need in order to excel

• How Blackjack can help you become a more successful leader

• Why the time of day matters for success

• 25 books recommended by Naval

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day