Good Morning and Happy New Year! Hope everyone had fun ringing in the start of 2024. But let’s talk 2023 - stocks ended the year with a big surge, and S&P 500 closed the year with a 24% gain. And tech stocks wrapped up one of their best years in the past two decades. Private deal making cooled, but Wall Street’s hoping it bounces back this year. Plus, the top 1% of 2023’s best ideas, and why you should stop overdoing everything for happiness in the New Year.

Join us for a special webinar on Mineral Rights Investing, hosted by Eckard CEO, on January 8, 2024, at 11:30 AM ET. RSVP here.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

New Financial Hub Just Dropped

One American city has sneakily slid into the #2 spot for finance jobs in 2023. And it isn’t Chicago, San Francisco, or even Miami. 

The finance industry has made a massive post-Covid boom in Texas… and Dallas has become the prime recipient. Last year, three of Wall Street’s largest banks opened up campuses in Dallas last year. Goldman alone wants to hire or relocate 5,000 employees to its new Dallas office.

And asset managers and buyside firms alike are getting in on the action. Fisher Investments, Atalaya Capital Management, Charles Schwab have a strong presence in the Lone Star state. For good reason - Dallas’ population is booming, and employees love both the cheaper housing and lack of a state income tax.

But a new Bloomberg report found that Dallas employees are making around 30% less than NYC analysts. And most of the finance jobs are still back-office work like operations. 

Takeaway: Dallas is now home to over 380k finance workers - leapfrogging Chicago (323k) and Miami (221k). But New York still takes the crown with over 809k employees in financial services. But there’s hope that more investment banking roles will open up in Dallas - JPMorgan alone has doubled the amount of investment banking analysts at its Dallas office over the past couple of years. The real head-scratcher is, who's willing to swap bagels for BBQ in the Big D?

_{SPONSORED BY ECKARD}

Join Us For an Exclusive Webinar on Mineral Rights Investments

Are you looking to build your wealth with passive income streams? Look no further! Eckard is pioneering access to mineral rights investments, an opportunity that has been largely untapped by individual investors—until now.

CEO Troy Eckard will tell you all about how the world of mineral rights investing works, and how you can generate passive income streams of 16%+, in an exclusive webinar for Short Squeez readers.

📅 Date: January 8th, 11:30am ET

🏢 Host: Troy Eckard, CEO of Eckard Enterprises (37+ years of experience in the minerals industry)

_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Why the most widely anticipated recession in history never came (YF)

• Private equity’s deal lament can’t last much longer (WSJ)

• Stocks end 2023 with a big surge (Axios)

• Goldman tops M&A advisory ranking as rivals maneuver for rebound (YF)

• 11 business/economic charts that explain 2023 (NYT)

• Tech stocks just wrapped up one of their best years in past two decades (CNBC)

• The entrepreneur who bet on his company in a fight with Apple (WSJ)

• McKinsey agrees to pay $78 million settlement over opioid consulting (YF)

• Everything Wall Street missed in 2023 (BB)

• These are the largest publicly-traded companies in each US state (YF)

• Chinese stocks are the big losers of 2023 (CNN)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks closed lower on Friday, but the S&P 500 was up 24% in 2023.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Fisker ($FSR) +16% after the electric vehicle company announced deliveries jumped 300% last quarter.

• (+) Boston Scientific ($BSX) +3% because the company expects FDA approval for its heart treatment drug in Q1.

• (–) Lyft ($LYFT) -4% after a downgrade by Nomura.

Private Dealmaking

• Vammo, a battery-swapping network, raised $30 million

• Paptic, a maker of wood fiber-based packaging, raised $25 million

• Lumu, a cybersecurity startup, raised $24 million

• Moreh, an AI content creation software, raised $22 million

• Eloelo, a gaming and livestream platform, raised $22 million

• AWAK Technologies, a portable dialysis systems maker, raised $20 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Willpower

Pioneering research psychologist Roy F. Baumeister collaborates with New York Times science writer John Tierney to revolutionize our understanding of the most coveted human virtue: self-control.

Drawing on cutting-edge research and the wisdom of real-life experts, Willpower shares lessons on how to focus our strength, resist temptation, and redirect our lives. It shows readers how to be realistic when setting goals, monitor their progress, and how to keep faith when they falter.

By blending practical wisdom with the best of recent research science, Willpower makes it clear that whatever we seek—from happiness to good health to financial security—we won’t reach our goals without first learning to harness self-control.

"An accessible, empirically grounded guide to willpower and how best to deploy it to overcome temptation."

_{DAILY VISUAL}

A Brighter Corporate Profit Picture

S&P 500 last-twelve-months (LTM) earnings per share price

_{BUYSIDERS AWARDS}

2023 Wall Street Oscars

In the most recent edition of Buysiders, we recap the best deals of 2023 across all major categories. This was no small feat, there was a flurry of deals across the year, with over $40Bn being announced on the final working Monday of the year.

Think of this as Wall Street's version of the Oscars. Whether you nod in agreement or shake your head in dissent, we unveil our picks for the 2023 Wall Street Oscars across these major categories:

1. M&A deal of the year

2. PE deal of the year

3. IPO of the year

4. Private Credit deal of the year

5. Honorable mentions

Access the full Wall Street Oscars here.

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Five Lessons

In the timeless wisdom of Seneca, we unearth five life lessons that transcend the ages.

First and foremost, detach your self-worth from the fleeting glitter of material success. In a society fixated on wealth, Seneca advocates embracing financial freedom without letting it dictate your value as a person. Strive for financial independence, but not at the expense of losing sight of life's essential priorities.

Seneca's second lesson echoes the Stoic emphasis on desiring less and living within one's means. The greatest wealth, he posits, lies in a poverty of desires. The third lesson revolves around making a meaningful impact on others, emphasizing the interconnectedness of humanity. Seneca urges living for your neighbor as a path to living authentically for yourself.

The fourth lesson strikes a chord with the philosophy of contentment, teaching us to find joy in appreciating our present achievements rather than incessantly yearning for more. Finally, Seneca underscores the supremacy of time over possessions. Time, he argues, is our most valuable asset, urging us to prioritize meaningful activities and relationships over trivial pursuits.

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• The best ideas from 2023

• For happiness in the New Year, stop overdoing everything

• A 7-word phrase that shuts down passive aggressive behavior instantly

• 5 strategic mindsets of exceptional leaders

• Productivity mindset swaps to have a happy new year in business

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day