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Market Snapshot

📉 Banana Bits

• Emerging markets rallied as investors bet on progress in peace talks.

• China ended a three-year factory deflation streak after an oil-driven price bump.

• Trump warned Iran against turning Hormuz into a toll route.

• Carlyle restricted withdrawals after investors sought to pull 16% of funds.

• Mortgage rates dipped to 6.37%, offering buyers a small break.

• Consumer spending remains weak as inflation continues to bite.

• Samsung is investing $4B more into Vietnam’s chip production

Market News

The Rally Nobody Wants to Question

Global equities extended their rally as optimism over potential Middle East diplomacy boosted risk appetite.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, marking its seventh straight gain and longest winning streak since October, after Israel agreed to direct talks with Lebanon, easing fears of further escalation in the region.

WTO oil prices retreated toward $98 a barrel, signaling that expectations of easing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz may eventually materialize.

Markets largely ignored softer U.S. economic data, including slower GDP growth in late 2025 and weak consumer spending amid persistent inflation pressures.

Instead, investors focused on geopolitical developments and signs of stability in the labor market, as jobless claims fell to near two-year lows, giving the Federal Reserve room to remain patient on interest-rate decisions.

Meanwhile, the upcoming CPI report, expected to show a 0.9% monthly increase, the largest since 2022, could test the market’s optimism.

Corporate news added to the market narrative. CoreWeave secured a massive $21 billion AI computing deal with Meta through 2032, while Intel said Google will adopt future generations of its Xeon chips for data centers.

Elsewhere, Carlyle capped withdrawals from a $7 billion private credit fund after investors sought to redeem 15.7%, highlighting ongoing liquidity concerns in private markets.

Peel Take: Markets are trading almost entirely on geopolitics and oil prices right now. As long as crude stays below $100 and diplomacy headlines keep coming, investors are willing to overlook weak economic data, proof that sometimes peace talks can move markets more than earnings reports.

What's Ripe

Brown-Forman Corp. (BF.A) 11.4%

• BF.A spiked 11% after reports that Sazerac Company had approached the whiskey maker about a potential deal. Brown-Forman has also reportedly held discussions with Pernod Ricard regarding a possible merger.

• Peel Take: The takeover interest highlights growing consolidation pressures in the global spirits industry as producers seek scale, stronger distribution networks, and broader brand portfolios. With premium whiskey and global liquor demand becoming more competitive, larger players may look to mergers and acquisitions to strengthen market positioning and capture growth in international markets.

Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) 9.1%

• SNDK 9.1% to $851.92 after Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its Overweight rating and raised its price target to $1,000 from $800, signaling strong confidence in the company’s growth outlook.

• Peel Take: Nothing boosts a stock quite like a big price-target upgrade, especially when analysts are basically saying “there’s still a lot of room to run.”

What's Rotten

Texas Pacific Land Corp (TPL) 15.7%

• TPL fell 15.7% to a two-month low after news broke that Murray Stahl, CEO of Horizon Kinetics Holding and a board member at Texas Pacific Land Corporation, died suddenly on April 7.

• Horizon Kinetics owns roughly 15% of Texas Pacific’s outstanding shares, making it the company’s largest shareholder, according to Bloomberg data.

• Peel Take: Large shareholders can move markets even indirectly—when uncertainty emerges around a major stakeholder’s leadership or strategy, investors often price in potential changes to governance, voting influence, or future share sales.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc (CRWD) 7.5%

• CRWD fell 7.5% to $394.66, extending its volatile stretch. The stock remains 30.4% below its 52-week high of $566.90, though it still trades 21.6% above its 52-week low of $324.49, highlighting the sharp swings investors have seen over the past year.

• Peel Take: Even cybersecurity stocks aren’t immune to market turbulence—high-growth tech names often see big swings as investors reassess valuations and momentum.

🧠 Technical Trip

Interview Q&A from PJT

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📚 Lesson from the Library

🎥 DCF Modeling Course: Valuing Cash Flow, Not Hype

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🌟 WSO Academy Q4 Update

🎥 Sessions Now Automatically Recorded & Uploaded

One of the biggest improvements this quarter is that all mentoring sessions are now automatically recorded and uploaded directly to the student’s dashboard with summaries/notes rather than mentors having to remember to do this manually.

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🦈 Deal Dispatch

M&A, IPOs, And Other Notable Transactions

• Chobani raised $800M to ease its debt burden.

• CVC is hunting partners for its €10.9B Recordati buyout.

• Strong demand led lenders to trim Paramount’s financing package to $49B.

• Meta secured a $21B AI computing deal with CoreWeave.

📊The Daily Poll

Previous Poll:

What is the biggest risk if prediction markets get packaged into ETFs?

Market manipulation: 46.0% // Retail speculation: 8.1% // Pricing distortions: 27.0% // Regulatory gaps: 18.9%

Student Success Corner

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Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

Clarissa will create her summer reading list by randomly choosing 4 books from the 10 books approved for summer reading. She will list the books in the order in which they are chosen. How many different lists are possible?

Answer: 5040

Today

The cost to rent a small bus for a trip is x dollars, which is to be shared equally among the people taking the trip. If 10 people take the trip rather than 16, how many more dollars, in terms of x, will it cost per person?

How Would You Rate Today's Peel?

Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit, Mitchell, Fernanda, & Patrick

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