Good Morning! Trump's TACO Truth Social post sent markets soaring as investors hoped for delayed Iran strikes. Apollo is capping withdrawals from its flagship private credit fund. And private capital investors are quietly swapping software for hard assets as AI forces a rethink.

Blackstone is weighing a stake in the Indian Premier League, the world's most lucrative cricket league. Larry Fink is warning against market timing, missing the market's best days can cut returns in half. And Wall Street is starting to scout college athletes.

OpenAI is guaranteeing PE firms 17.5% returns to compete with Antrhopic, Delmonico's is opening its first new location in 200 years, Benjamin Steakhouse launched a $1,000 hot chocolate drink, and how much sleep you actually need by age.

Want access to the same technology the world’s best sponsors use for their debt financings? See how Termgrid modernizes your workflow and boosts deal team productivity. Request a demo today.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

The Pod Shop Defection

For the past decade, landing at a multistrategy fund and staying there was the endgame. Get to Citadel, Millennium, Point72, or Balyasny, get handed billions in firepower, and collect multimillion-dollar paydays inside the most efficient risk machines in finance. That dream hasn't disappeared. But it's getting competition from a different pitch: own the business instead.

Traders leaving multistrategy giants accounted for 17% of hedge fund launches last year, nearly double the share from two years prior, according to Borealis Strategic Capital Partners.

The timing isn't random, multistrats just posted some of their best years on record, and top pod managers are doing the math. If they can raise outside capital, they no longer need to share the economics with the platform.

The tradeoff is real. Compensation is extraordinary but so is the pressure. Stop-losses are tight, drawdowns become career events fast, and underperforming teams get cut without ceremony. That structure works perfectly for the platform.

It's less appealing if your edge requires patience or the freedom to build your own culture. The pitch from independence (ownership, autonomy, carry) is starting to beat the multistrat pitch.

Goldman's latest allocator survey shows fewer LPs planning to increase multistrat allocations this year. Talent is now the bottleneck. The apex predators of hedge fund finance are competing not just for PnL, but for people, and some of those people are starting to say no.

Takeaway: The multistrat model still dominates, but the best traders are treating it less like a destination and more like a finishing school. Learn the system, build the track record, and leave to own the strategy. Wall Street's pod shops built the most powerful talent machine in finance. The irony is they may also be training their next generation of competitors.

PRESENTED BY TERMGRID

The Platform Leading PE Firms Use for Their Financing Workflows

Leading sponsors have stopped using email and spreadsheets for their debt financing. They’re using Termgrid instead.

Termgrid powers financing execution from NDA to close; managing term sheets, lender outreach, diligence, Q&A, and portfolio oversight in one platform.

With Termgrid, deal teams can:

• Access the world’s largest financing ecosystem: 1,600+ institutions (sponsors, advisors, banks, direct lenders, etc.) and 30,000+ professionals.  

• Execute and manage financings end to end in a single environment. 

• Build institutional memory across counterparties, transactions, and precedent terms.

• Increase deal team productivity by up to 84% (see case studies here).

You structure the deal. Termgrid powers execution.

Execution discipline is becoming a differentiator. Learn how leading sponsors are strengthening theirs. Request a Demo.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Apollo caps investor withdrawals from flagship private credit fund (FT)

• OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky dies of cancer at 43 (NYP)

• Trump's 'taco' post sends markets rallying as oil tumbles on Iran peace talks (Fortune)

• America's original steakhouse is expanding after nearly 200 years (WSJ)

• Private capital turns to heavy assets as software trade dims (BB)

• Blackstone weighs first-ever sports investment with cricket bet (BB)

• BlackRock's Larry Fink warns against trying to time the market (CNBC)

• Why Wall Street is scouting college sports stars (FT)

• OpenAI woos private equity firms with 'a sweeter deal' (LI)

• Oil prices slide as Trump announces 'productive conversations' with Iran (CNBC)

• Bank of America and US soccer launch 'Soccer at Schools' with David Beckham (Axios)

• Private credit is making bank investors antsy, too (BB)

• This $1,000 hot cocoa will cause your wallet to experience death by chocolate (NYP)

• Meet the CFO who turned Adobe's finance department into an AI lab (Fortune)

• Harry Styles' Pleasing brand sells sex toys — Wall Street remains wary (BB)

• How keeping private credit safe became Iowa's problem (WSJ)

• When it comes to private credit, 'some caution is reasonable,' (CNBC)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Rebound

• U.S. equities rallied, with the S&P 500 +1.2%, following signs of easing tensions in the Middle East

• Gains were broad-based, with all 11 sectors higher, led by technology and consumer discretionary

• European markets also advanced, with the Euro Stoxx 50 1%+

• Treasury yields edged lower, with the 10-year at 4.35%

• The U.S. dollar weakened, reversing some recent safe-haven strength

• WTI crude dropped roughly 10%, falling back below $90 per barrel

Geopolitical Developments

• Markets reacted positively after the U.S. announced a five-day pause in strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure

• The decision followed productive diplomatic discussions over the weekend

• Oil prices fell as fears of prolonged supply disruption eased

• A key signal to watch remains whether oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz normalize

• The strait handles roughly 25% of global seaborne oil trade, making it critical to global supply

• While the tone has improved, headline risk remains elevated and volatility could persist

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Apogee Therapeutics ($APGE) +20% after the biotech reported positive 52-week Phase 2 data for its eczema drug zumilokibart.

• (+) Palantir ($PLTR) +7% because the Pentagon designated its Maven AI system as a permanent program of record.

• (–) Estée Lauder ($EL) -8% after the beauty giant confirmed it is in talks to acquire Spanish fragrance company Puig Brands for roughly $10.5 billion.

Prediction Markets

• The likelihood of a recession hit a 2026 high point on Friday.

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

Private Dealmaking

• Berkshire Hathaway will invest $1.8 billion for a 2.5% stake in Tokio Marine

• Cencora will acquire the retina business of EyeSouth Partners for $1.1 billion

• Prestige Consumer Healthcare will acquire Breathe Right and other brands from Foundation Consumer Healthcare for $1.05 billion

• Grab will acquire Delivery Hero’s Taiwan business for $600 million in cash

• Kotak Mahindra Bank will acquire Deutsche Bank’s India retail unit for about $480 million

• Nimble, a web search and data platform, raised $47 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

World Cup Fever

Description: A vivid and deeply personal journey through nine FIFA World Cups, blending reporting, storytelling, and cultural insight from one of soccer’s most respected writers. Kuper captures the emotion, politics, and global significance of the tournament, showing how each World Cup reflects the era in which it is played. The book goes beyond the matches, revealing how football connects nations, shapes identity, and mirrors the world’s changing landscape.

Book Length: 304 pages
Release Date: March 3, 2026

Ideal For: Soccer fans, sports historians, cultural observers, and anyone interested in how global events reflect deeper social and political currents.

The World Cup is never just about football. It is a lens through which the world reveals who it is at a given moment in time.

DAILY VISUAL

Economy Cabin Keeps on Shrinking

PRESENTED BY DALOOPA

Plug and Play Finance Agents

The gap between high-quality financial data and easy-to-use AI has closed. With over 5,300 global tickers and the most comprehensive financial dataset, Daloopa makes it easy for you to transform your favorite AI platform into an investment research engine, with outputs you can trust.

Their Model Context Protocol (MCP) plugs directly into Anthropic’s Claude for Financial Services and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to add financial insights backed by the leader in fundamental data, Daloopa. It even says it, at the end the output: “Data sourced from Daloopa”. 

Don’t change the AI you use for your work, upgrade it. Try Daloopa’s MCP today.

DAILY ACUMEN

Fear

Most of the reasons you give for not doing something are fear wearing the costume of logic. The brain is extraordinarily good at generating sensible-sounding arguments for staying exactly where it is, and it will keep producing them for as long as you keep asking.

The tell is usually in the timing. The objections arrive suspiciously fast, before you've even properly explored the thing. Real reasoning takes longer than that.

When a decision feels settled before you've actually sat with it, it's worth asking whether you thought your way there or felt your way there and then thought backwards.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• How to dress for the office in 2026

• 2026 Forbes best vetted awards for travel

• How much sleep do you need, according to your age

• How ultrawealthy use smartphone apps to avoid millions in taxes

• What happens when you go 10 days without sunlight and fresh air?

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

📣 Partner With Us: Get in front of an audience of over 1 million finance professionals, business leaders, and policy influencers. Submit a partnership inquiry.

📈 Grow With Us: Work directly with the Overheard on Wall Street team to scale your finance brand. Schedule your free consult.

🔒 Short Squeez Premium – Insiders: Access exclusive content, including investment analysis, wellness features, career tools, and our full recruiting resource library. Upgrade to Premium. 

🧢 Wall Street Shop: Explore our collection of finance-themed apparel and merchandise. Visit the shop.

📬 Deals Newsletter – Buysiders: A curated roundup of major M&A, private equity, and VC activity. Plus access to private deal flow. Subscribe here.