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EU Hits Pause
The EU delayed approval of a U.S. trade deal amid tariff fears.
Ankit Sinha
February 24, 2026
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🎯 In this issue:
Banana Bits: Finance headlines that actually matter
Market Summary: Software equities are down amid AI jitters
What’s Ripe / Rotten: The tastiest and most disgusting stocks today
Technical Trip: Interview Q&A from CenterView Partners
Lesson from the Library: Build clean, defensible DCF models from forecasts to valuation.
Deal Deep Dive: M&A, IPO, and transaction breakdowns
The Daily Poll: See how you stack up
Market Snapshot
📉 Banana Bits
Nigeria signaled a major rate cut amid cooling inflation.
Dimon warned of pre-crisis behavior as rivals take bigger risks.
The EU delayed approval of a U.S. trade deal amid tariff fears.
Panama scrapped a China-linked port deal and leaned toward Western operators.
Jane Street was sued by a Terraform administrator for insider trading.
Market News
Software Equities Are Down Amid AI Jitters
Markets slipped as a fresh wave of AI anxiety combined with ongoing tariff uncertainty pushed investors out of risk assets and into safer bets.
The S&P 500 fell about 1%, led lower by technology and software stocks as investors grew increasingly concerned that artificial intelligence could disrupt company profits before delivering meaningful returns.
International Business Machines (IBM) plunged 13% after new AI tools highlighted potential threats to its legacy COBOL-based systems, while shares of DoorDash and American Express dropped more than 6%.
The selloff reflected growing nervousness that companies exposed to automation or digital disruption could face pressure as AI adoption accelerates.
As risk appetite weakened, investors shifted toward defensive assets. Treasury bonds rallied, sending the 10-year yield down to around 4.03%, while gold climbed above $5,200 as demand for safe havens increased.
B*tcoin moved in the opposite direction, slipping below $65,000 as speculative assets lost momentum. Trade uncertainty also weighed on sentiment after the White House proposed a new across-the-board 15% tariff on imports, reinforcing concerns that trade policy could remain a source of volatility despite recent court challenges to earlier tariffs.
Investors are now focused on several key events that could shape market direction in the coming days, including:
President Trump’s State of the Union address,
NVIDIA’s earnings report,
upcoming producer price data, and
labor market figures that could influence the Federal Reserve’s next rate decision.
Overall, enthusiasm around artificial intelligence is starting to give way to caution, and with tariff risks still lingering, markets are showing signs of moving more carefully.
What's Ripe
Arcellx Inc. (ACLX) 77.4%
ACLX surged 77% to $113.75 after Gilead Sciences said it had agreed to buy the biotech for $115 a share in cash, plus one contingent value right of $5 per share, for an implied equity value of $7.8 billion.
PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) 5.8%
PYPL gained 5.8% after Bloomberg reported that the company was attracting takeover interest, with at least one large rival interested in the whole company.
PayPal told Barron’s it doesn’t comment on rumors and speculation.
What's Rotten
Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) 16.4%
NVO sank 16%. New study data show Novo’s weight-loss drug candidate CagriSema wasn’t as effective as a rival medication from Eli Lilly
Blackstone Inc. (BX) 8.9%
BX fell 8.9%. So-called alts and business development companies, which engage in private credit, have come under pressure due to their exposure to software.
🧠 Technical Trip
Interview Q&A from CenterView Partners
👉 Want 1-on-1 recruiting help from CenterView Partners bankers & 2,000+ top mentors? Apply to WSO Academy
📚 Lesson from the Library
🎥 DCF Modeling Course: Valuing Cash Flow, Not Hype
Build clean, defensible DCF models from forecasts to valuation.
🦈 Deal Dispatch
M&A, IPOs, And Other Notable Transactions
Anthropic opened a $6B share sale, giving employees a payday.
Marsh is weighing a sale of PCS, its risk advisory arm for wealthy Asians.
Uber bought SpotHero, expanding from rides into parking.
PayPal’s weak stock is reportedly attracting potential buyers.
Honeywell agreed to buy Johnson Matthey’s catalyst unit for £1.33B.
📊The Daily Poll
Why did Panama end its China-linked port deal? |
Previous Poll:
What’s at stake with the 15% global tariff facing court heat?
Trade chaos: 44.1% // Legal showdown: 27.5% // Price spike: 17.6% // Policy gamble: 10.8%
Banana Brain Teaser
Previous
In a small snack shop, the average (arithmetic mean) revenue was $400 per day over a 10-day period. During this period, if the average daily revenue was $360 for the first 6 days, what was the average daily revenue for the last 4 days?
Answer: $460
Today
If money is invested at r% interest, compounded annually, the investment will double in approximately 10/7 years. If Pat’s parents invest $5,000 in a long-term bond that pays 8% interest, compounded annually, what will the approximate total amount of the investment be 18 years later, when Pat is ready for college?
Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten.
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Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit, Mitchell, Fernanda, & Patrick