Hello and welcome to Equity, a podcast about startup activity, where we unpack the numbers and nuances behind the headlines.

It’s our Monday The Tuesday show, our short ramp into the week where we talk about the big picture to get our feet wet. We are a day late due to a US holiday, and I can tell later in the day from my schedule. But, better late than never, here’s what we got ourselves into:

• Yet another bad day for assets: stocks across the world were down overall, with software stocks taking yet another hit in the key US market.
• Microsoft wants to buy Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. That’s a lot of money for a game studio that was so recently covered in scandal? And really, does Microsoft need grow? Go on. It has already consumed several gaming companies and is worth north of $2 trillion. When will regulators, you know, regulate?
• Clockwise raises $45 million! This is a very neat ride from a very cool company, which Aisha Malik covered for TechCrunch earlier today. His message is here if you need more.

We resume our normal schedule starting tomorrow, now that the new year and the holidays are behind us. To work!