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Last updated: October 31, 2026, 3:40 PM ET
Tech and AI Selloff
Technology stocks suffered their worst day since June nytimes.com, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both sliding as investors grew uneasy about the scale of AI spending. Intel's wsj.com worst-ever daily decline marked the sharpest moment of a week that deepened the cracks in the AI trade. The AI selloff wsj.com fed on itself after disappointing results from Amazon and Intel, and the sector bloomberg.com has now fallen for a third straight week. Tech tumult nytimes.com has unsettled Wall Street as the huge spending commitments from tech giants come under scrutiny. Investors trimmed growth bets ft.com over concern about the US economy's exposure to AI, and stock volatility bloomberg.com spiked as options traders sought protection. OpenAI ft.com cut its funding target by $10bn to about $20bn at a $1.25tn valuation. Apple bloomberg.com reclaimed the title of world's most valuable company from Nvidia on Friday. Meanwhile, Nvidia wsj.com faced reports that a China-linked executive close to its CEO was under investigation for allegedly passing information to Beijing.
Crypto Hack
Binance's $6.3 billion hack nytimes.com has become the defining crypto story of the week, with the company pledging to reimburse affected customers. Rival exchanges ft.com rushed to add alerts and restrictions on fund movements, and Binance executives wsj.com were racing to cover billions in losses. Questions remain over what protections exist nytimes.com for crypto customers, and the episode has been cited as a stark reminder that crypto is not risk-free wsj.com.
Energy and Commodities
US natural gas futures wsj.com settled lower for a third consecutive week on a mild weather outlook, even as hedge funds bloomberg.com built the largest-ever short position on the commodity. Russia bloomberg.com extended its ban on most diesel exports through January. Lula's election victory ft.com sent agricultural commodities tumbling as the real weakened. Oil exports wsj.com continued to flow through the Strait of Hormuz under US watch.
Europe and Global Markets
Fitch ft.com moved France's outlook to negative from stable after an unexpected contraction in third-quarter growth, and French banks ft.com kept falling despite rising profits as political fears bit. Protests in France nytimes.com planned for Halloween added to investor jitters. The TSX bloomberg.com suffered its worst day since June, joining a North American retreat. Hong Kong bloomberg.com forecast its strongest growth in five years for 2026. The Bank of England ft.com is exploring easing a key limit on riskier mortgage lending, and the BOJ bloomberg.com accelerated ETF sales in a move that may help Japan's spending plans.
US Politics and Markets
US midterms ft.com are weighing on investors, with caution seen as warranted Obamacare premiums wsj.com will rise 13% in 2027, the second straight year of double-digit increases. Credit card rates bloomberg.com have emerged as a rare bipartisan midterm issue, and New York bloomberg.com projected its budget deficit will narrow by $3.5 billion on Wall Street gains.
Coming Up
Prediction markets nytimes.com face their first major accuracy test in the midterms. Trump nytimes.com will travel to Kansas and Iowa before Election Day.
Private Equity
Last updated: October 31, 2026, 4:40 AM ET
Venture Funding & LP Sentiment
LPs are piling into OpenAI and Anthropic techcrunch.com even as the mega-round concentration strains conventional venture pacing rules. Crunchbase's weekly tally of the largest rounds was led by physical AI news.crunchbase.com and manufacturing-focused startups, underscoring where capital is flowing. Travel tech, however, is heading toward a multiyear low news.crunchbase.com in funding despite the sector's AI push.
Mega-Deals & Valuations
Wellington Management and Sequoia Capital co-led a $1bn Series G peinsights.substack.com in Kalshi at a $40bn valuation. In South Korea, the government is wagering on startups sifted.eu to secure the country's place on the global stage.
Fundraising & Fund Performance
Ares Management raised $31bn peinsights.substack.com in gross capital commitments during the third quarter, with fee-earning income climbing 11%. On the liquidity front, Partners Group's flagship US evergreen private equity fund imposed another gate peinsights.substack.com after redemption requests reached $2.2bn.
Buyouts & Carve-Outs
Stonepeak completed its acquisition peinsights.substack.com of BMO Financial Group's transportation equipment finance carve-out and launched a new vehicle, Longview. TPG took control peinsights.substack.com of a 61.17% stake in Lotte Rental in a $990m transaction that Affinity had failed to close.
Talent & Industry Moves
Former EQT investor Doreen Huber joined Interface Capital sifted.eu, where she will focus on cybersecurity deals amid what she described as an "extremely scary" AI agent boom.
Events
Registration remains open for the TechCrunch Founder Summit techcrunch.com, with the event taking place November 4 at SoWa Power Station in Boston.
Coming Up
The Tech Crunch Founder Summit takes place November 4 techcrunch.com at SoWa Power Station in Boston.
Sector Investment
Last updated: October 30, 2026, 3:40 PM ET
Real Estate Fundraising
Digital Realty is reportedly targeting $3.5bn perenews.com for its cornerstone core debut fund. TPG has held a first close perenews.com on its fifth flagship fund, having raised more than half of the $8.5bn target as the manager shifts toward new strategies. Phoenix Property Investors is nearing final close perenews.com on Fund VII, and for the first time the Hong Kong-based firm could raise more capital for associated vehicles.
Consolidation and Independence
Genesta is trading independence for scale perenews.com as the boutique Nordic manager pursues a merger amid what its leadership describes as tough times for real estate.
Infrastructure and AI
Edward Casserley is moving infrastructureinvestor.com from Stonepeak to the investment team of KKR's recently launched AI infrastructure unit.
Private Credit in Asia
Capita Land Investment's Kishore Moorjani argues that Asia is private credit's next frontier, positioning the firm's approach as building a platform perenews.com rather than assembling a collection of loans.
Healthcare
Value-based care remains one of healthcare's largest bets on changing how care is delivered, and a discussion with TruHelm's CEO thehealthcareinvestor.com examines where those models are actually working.
Coming Up
Phoenix Property Investors expects its Fund VII final close perenews.com to follow shortly, and TPG's fifth flagship fund continues toward its $8.5bn target.