*This is sponsored advertising content and the disclaimer at the bottom of this email MUST be read carefully.

Hedge funds made $7 billion short selling banks last month. March was the single most profitable month for short sellers in the banking sector since the 2008 financial crisis.

• The US Department of Defense is investigating what could be one of the most significant leaks of highly classified military documents in the country’s history. The documents include a wage range of topics, like sensitive information about the war in Ukraine, its allies, and US intelligence sources within Russia, all of which have turned up across multiple social media platforms and have the potential t harm national security.

• The US commercial real estate (CRE) market has $1.5 trillion in front-loaded debt coming due before the end of 2025. The looming maturity wall is raising concerns over the ability of small and regional banks—who have been rocked by massive deposit outflows over the past month—to provide financing to borrowers as declining property values add to refinancing risks.

• US job growth slowed in March with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 236,000 (vs. 239,000 expected). Despite the lower-than-expected gain, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% (not what the Fed wants to see) which suggests resilient labor demand and keeps pressure on policymakers to raise rates at their next meeting in May.

• Net-short leveraged fund positions in the 10-year futures last week reached their most bearish level in over a year. The ramped-up bets against benchmark Treasuries suggest traders anticipate the Fed will hike interest rates next month as the economy remains resilient in the face of turmoil in the banking sector.

• Wall Street’s biggest banks, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, and Citigroup, are facing difficulties complying with EU regulations that require investors to separately pay for investment research and trading services. A temporary waiver protecting US broker-dealers from having to register as investment advisers will expire on July 3, which means the banks will have to either register, move research teams, or cut off clients from US-produced research.

• As we head into earnings season, analysts are expecting a 6.8% drop (YoY) in Q1 profits for S&P 500 companies. They are also expecting annual revenue growth of just 1.8% for the quarter. The former would be the largest decline since Q2 2020 while the latter would mark the slowest growth since Q3 2020.

• A surge in supply from smaller oil producers like Nigeria, Iran, and Guyana threatens to undermine OPEC+ efforts to keep prices high. This new dynamic has commodities strategists rethinking previous calls for a supply crunch in the second half of the year.

• Meanwhile, investors are rushing to pull money out of oil exchange-traded products. WisdomTree’s Brent Crude Oil ETP (BRNT) saw its largest single-day drop since 2019 last week, while ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (UCO) experienced its biggest weekly outflows since March 2022.

*This is sponsored advertising content and the disclaimer at the bottom of this email MUST be read carefully.

• Pricesmart

• Tilray Brands

• Greenbrier Companies

Full earnings here.

• Underperformance: After 57% of active fund managers outperformed last year, only a third managed to beat their benchmarks in Q1 2023.

• Smashed: Nintendo’s The Super Marios Bros. Movie smashed box office expectations over its weekend debut, raking in $377 million and $206 million in global and domestic sales, respectively.

• Twitter vs. NPR: After receiving backlash for labeling National Public Radio as “government funded media”, Twitter has changed the description tag for the news organization to “state-affiliated media”.

• Chinese tech: Despite mounting losses at TikTok, ByteDance posted record profits totaling $25 billion in 2022, surpassing both Tencent and Alibaba for the first time.

• Trucking: Truckload rejection rates in the US have fallen below 3% for the first time since the pandemic began as capacity shifts from being unsustainably tight to dangerously loose.

• Monday: Wholesale inventories, consumer inflation expectations

• Tuesday: NFIB business optimism, Redbook

• Wednesday: Inflation rate, FOMC minutes, monthly budget statement

• Thursday: Producer prices, initial jobless claims

• Friday: Retail sales, import/export prices, industrial & manufacturing production, business inventories, Michigan consumer sentiment

• Low leverage: Limited overall use of leverage in Bitcoin markets during this year’s rally suggests the risk of liquidations on big price swings remains low.

• Web3 VC: Derivatives exchange operator Bitget has announced the launch of a new $100 million venture fund aimed at web3 startups in Asia.

• Crytpo funding: Cross-chain interoperability protocol LayerZero led a big week for crypto startup funding, raising $120 million in a Series B round which values the company at $3 billion.

• Mining bill: A bill aimed at regulating Bitcoin mining in Arkansas would protect miners against discrimination, entitling them to the same rights as data centers.

• DeFi exploit: A large portion of the $3.3 million in losses resulting from a smart contract bug on SushiSwap were recovered through a white hat security process.

Check out GritCRYPTO for more.

• Nutrition: Online vitamins retailed Sunday Natural is exploring a possible sale that could value the company at $655 million.

• Chinese IPOs: Shares in 10 Chinese companies surged by nearly 100% on their first day of trading under new rules in Shanghai and Shenzhen which remove regulatory approval requirements and caps on IPO prices.

• Slow M&A: Global merger & acquisition activity was slow in Q1, with only 3 pending deals announced valued at $10 billion or more.

• M&A optimism: Meanwhile, a Bloomberg survey of 17 merger arbitrage analysts, brokers, and fund managers suggests optimism over an increase in deal activity ahead after a flurry of private equity deals were announced in Q1.

• O&G: Exxon Mobil is in talks to acquire top shale oil producer Pioneer Natural Resources.

VERTICALLY INTEGRATED HELIUM PRODUCER. With prices at historic highs and dwindling reserves threatening supply, helium—whose countless industrial applications make it critical to global economies—is a hot commodity! Desert Mountain Energy is positioning itself to capitalize on this secular trend with plans to build North America's first vertically integrated, primary producer of helium.*

Invest in the fastest-growing asset class 📈 the Carbon Markets. The Bluesphere Carbon Exchange is the “Binance” of Carbon Credits. But unlike Crypto the Carbon Markets have FULL government support from the UN and countries worldwide. With plans to go public in 2023, now’s the time to get in on the ground floor.

*This is sponsored advertising content and the disclaimer at the bottom of this email MUST be read carefully.

Disclaimer: The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. All statements and expressions herein are the sole opinion of the author or paid advertiser.

Grit Capital Corporation is a publisher of financial information, not an investment advisor. We do not provide personalized or individualized investment advice or information that is tailored to the needs of any particular recipient.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEBSITE IS NOT AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSTRUED AS INVESTMENT ADVICE, AND DOES NOT PURPORT TO BE AND DOES NOT EXPRESS ANY OPINION AS TO THE PRICE AT WHICH THE SECURITIES OF ANY COMPANY MAY TRADE AT ANY TIME. THE INFORMATION AND OPINIONS PROVIDED HEREIN SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS SPECIFIC ADVICE ON THE MERITS OF ANY INVESTMENT DECISION. INVESTORS SHOULD MAKE THEIR OWN INVESTIGATION AND DECISIONS REGARDING THE PROSPECTS OF ANY COMPANY DISCUSSED HEREIN BASED ON SUCH INVESTORS’ OWN REVIEW OF PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN.

No statement or expression of opinion, or any other matter herein, directly or indirectly, is an offer or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities or financial instruments mentioned.

Any projections, market outlooks or estimates herein are forward looking statements and are inherently unreliable. They are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed to be indicative of the actual events that will occur. Other events that were not taken into account may occur and may significantly affect the returns or performance of the securities discussed herein. The information provided herein is based on matters as they exist as of the date of preparation and not as of any future date, and the publisher undertakes no obligation to correct, update or revise the information in this document or to otherwise provide any additional material.

The publisher, its affiliates, and clients of the a publisher or its affiliates may currently have long or short positions in the securities of the companies mentioned herein, or may have such a position in the future (and therefore may profit from fluctuations in the trading price of the securities). To the extent such persons do have such positions, there is no guarantee that such persons will maintain such positions.

Neither the publisher nor any of its affiliates accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss howsoever arising, directly or indirectly, from any use of the information contained herein.

By using the Site or any affiliated social media account, you are indicating your consent and agreement to this disclaimer and our terms of use. Unauthorized reproduction of this newsletter or its contents by photocopy, facsimile or any other means is illegal and punishable by law.

For Full Terms of Use Click HERE. For the Privacy Policy Click HERE.

Gritcapital.substack.com (“Grit”) is a website owned and operated by Substack. Grit is paid fees by the companies that make investment offerings on this website. Be aware that payment of these fees may put Grit in a conflict of interest with the investor. By accessing this website or any page thereof, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, in effect at the time you access this website or any page thereof. The Terms of Use and Privacy Policy may be amended from time to time. Nothing on this website shall constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, any securities to any person in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation is against the law or to anyone to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation. Grit is not an underwriter, broker-dealer, Title III crowdfunding portal or a valuation service and does not engage in any activities requiring any such registration. Grit does not provide advice on investments or structure transactions. Offerings made under Regulation A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") are available to U.S. investors who are “accredited investors” as defined by Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act well as non-accredited investors, who are subject to certain investment limitations as set forth in Regulation A under the Securities Act. In order to invest in Regulation A offerings, investors may be asked to fill out a certification and provide necessary documentation as proof of your income and/or net worth to verify that you are qualified to invest in offerings posted on this website. All securities listed on this site are being offered by, and all information included on this site is the responsibility of, the applicable issuer of such securities. Grit does not verify the adequacy, accuracy or completeness of any information. Neither Grit nor any of its officers, directors, agents and employees makes any warranty, express or implied, of any kind whatsoever related to the adequacy, accuracy, valuations of securities or completeness of any information on this site or the use of information on this site. Neither Grit nor any of its directors, officers, employees, representatives, affiliates or agents shall have any liability whatsoever arising from any error or incompleteness of fact, or lack of care in the preparation of, any of the materials posted on this website. Investing in securities, especially those issued by start-up companies, involves substantial risk. investors should be able to bear the loss of their entire investment and should make their own determination of whether or not to make any investment based on their own independent evaluation and analysis.