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The so-called private-label mortgage market—in which financial firms serve the middleman role of creating giant pools of loans and selling them to investors—had more than $42 billion of issuance in the second quarter. That is the most since the pandemic started and almost the most for any quarter since the last financial crisis, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry research firm. Source: WSJ

The Chinese asset manager Huarong's $16B loss prompted the government to come to its aid. Fitch, the rating company, is shown to be more optimistic pointing to the extraordinary support coming from the authorities. On the other hand, Moody's downgrade cited the worsening state of Huarong's capital and profitability. As shown in the graphic below, the asset manager’s dollar bonds rallied in recent days as details of a recapitalization plan emerged. The firm’s 5% bond due 2025 was indicated weaker at 95.4 cents on the dollar Tuesday morning, close to its highest price since early April after gaining for seven consecutive days. Source: Bloomberg

Pfizer is looking to add to its portfolio with plans to buy Trillium for $18.50 a share, a 118% premium on the stock's 60-day weighted average price. Trillium’s two lead molecules, TTI-622 and TTI-621, block signaling proteins involved in blood cancers, and are both in human trials across several types of disease. They target CD47, a protein found on some cancer cells that cloaks them from the normal immune response, and send a signal activating the response. Source: Bloomberg

Samsung Group has launched a 240 trillion won ($205 billion) expansion plan that will generate 10,000 new positions over the next three years, as part of a sweeping investment plan aimed at consolidating the South Korean conglomerate's leadership in next-generation technology. Source: Bloomberg

Zetwerk, based in Bangalore, announced on Monday that it had raised $150 million in a Series * fundraising round led by D1 Capital Partners of New York. Along with current investors Greenoaks Capital, Lighspeed Venture Partners , Sequoia Capital, and Accel Partners, new investors Avenir and IIFL joined the rounds. Zetwerk is now valued at $1.33 billion, more than double the $600 million - $700 million it was valued at in its Series D round in February. Source: TechCrunch