Markets rally.

Stocks in Asia are set to follow the US higher after a rally in tech shares. The S&P 500 closed at the highest level in more than a month, and the Nasdaq 100 rose 2% to the highest level since September, led by an 11% gain for Tesla. Equities in Australia rose as trading resumed, and futures in Japan and Hong Kong gained. India’s equity market also reopens after a holiday while mainland China remains closed until Monday.

Billionaires & bankers, but no Biden.

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini | Agence France-Presse

(Jan 19) — The world’s elite flocked back to the Swiss ski village of Davos this week, celebrating the post-pandemic return of the World Economic Forum. But among the assembled billionaires, bankers, politicians and philanthropists, there was a low-level grumble: Where are the Americans?

Among the absentees was President Joe Biden, who presides over the world’s largest economy. Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken also were no-shows. Nobody from the White House was dispatched to the summit.

Three Cabinet secretaries attended — Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Trade Representative Katherine Tai. None of them delivered keynote speeches.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen traveled this week to Zurich — just two hours by train from Davos — to meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, then left for a previously scheduled trip to Africa.

— Bloomberg Politics

Davos problems.

Next week, the World Economic Forum holds its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where the business, political and academic elite will share insights and start framing plans for the year ahead. Here’s what’s keeping them up at night.

A glimpse into the notoriously opaque private markets.

Photographer: Bloomberg Creative Photos/Bloomberg

(Jan 5) — The pain – and the questions – kept coming as big name hedge funds took turns marking down the value of their stakes in private companies. Every time they wrote down holdings by millions – or even billions – of dollars, investors last year questioned whether they had gone far enough. Now, an exclusive Bloomberg News analysis offers a glimpse into one of the most opaque corners of the investing world, and the findings aren’t reassuring.