Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street.

Klarna, which is known for its popular “buy now, pay later” business, announced Wednesday it has filed initial public offering documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Swedish payments company said in a statement that the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The timing of the listing is also subject to market conditions.

Analysts recently valued the company in the $15 billion range. At its peak during the pandemic-led surge in fintech stocks, the company had a valuation of $46 billion in a funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

But Klarna took an 85% haircut in its most recent primary fundraising round, in 2022, when the firm raised money on a valuation of $6.7 billion.

Next to SoftBank, Klarna’s roster of shareholders also includes major names in venture capital, including Sequoia Capital and London-based firm Atomico.

Klarna’s CEO, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, previously told CNBC in an interview that unfavorable rules in Europe on employee stock options could risk the company losing talent to other U.S. tech giants such as Google, Apple and Meta.

“When we looked at the risks of the IPO, which is a number one risk in my opinion? Our compensation,” Siemiatkowski, who is approaching his 20th year as CEO of the financial technology firm, told CNBC. He was referring to company risk factors, which are a common element of IPO prospectus filings.

Plans for an IPO have been in the works for some time. In a February interview with CNBC’s “Closing Bell” in February, Siemiatkowski said an IPO in 2024 was “not impossible.”

In August, Klarna said it posted a profit in the first half of the year, swinging into the black from a loss last year as the firm edged closer toward its hotly anticipated stock market debut.

Klarna’s decision to go for a stock market listing in New York represents a major blow to European stock exchanges, which have been trying to encourage local tech giants to list at home.

The London Stock Exchange, for example, has made reforms to make the U.K. a more attractive market for tech companies to list, including the ability for founders to issue dual-class shares that enable entrepreneurs to maintain control over a company’s strategy and direction.

Siemiatkowski hadn’t previously committed to listing in one market over another, and London was among the markets he was considering for Klarna’s IPO.

However, in 2021 he said that the firm was more likely to list in the U.S. than the U.K., given America is a high-growth area for the firm where it is seeking to gain more brand visibility.

Saudi Arabia’s massive Neom megaproject, a multi-trillion dollar plan to develop a swathe of land the size of Massachusetts, has replaced its CEO in a significant reshuffling as the kingdom faces questions over the economic viability of its ambitions.

Neom’s board of directors announced Tuesday the appointment of Aiman Al-Mudaifer as acting CEO of the company following the unexpected departure of Nadhmi Al-Nasr, who was put in charge of the project in 2018.

“As NEOM enters a new phase of delivery, this new leadership will ensure operational continuity, agility and efficiency to match the overall vision and objectives of the project,” a Neom statement said. It did not disclose the reason for the departure of Al-Nasr.

The region, as envisioned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is set to host hyper-futuristic cityscapes and structures including The Line — two parallel skyscrapers measuring at more than 100 miles long — and Trojena, a mountain ski resort capable of hosting the 2029 Asian Winter Games. The projects have faced skepticism and criticism from environmentalists and engineers in other parts of the world.

Neom’s leadership reshuffle comes at a period of changing financial pressures on the kingdom, as oil prices and demand forecasts remain subdued, and Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit widens. Budgets are facing cutbacks and projects are seeing delays, three people with knowledge of the matter told CNBC, speaking anonymously due to lack of authorization to speak to the press.

The Line, for instance, has been reportedly scaled back from an initial planned length of 106 miles to just 1.5 miles — which would still make it the world’s longest building. Neom executives have vocally denied these reports, calling them “false” and saying that work was continuing as planned.

“NEOM is a fundamental pillar of Saudi Vision 2030 and progress continues on all operations as planned, as we deliver the next phase of our vast portfolio of projects including THE LINE, Oxagon, Trojena, Magna and The Islands of NEOM,” the Tuesday statement from the organization said.

Saudi real GDP is expected to grow 0.8% this year, in a dramatic drop from a previous estimate of 4.4%, according to an October pre-budget report published by the Ministry of Finance. Saudi authorities also expect that the budget will remain in deficit for the next several years, as the kingdom prioritizes spending to achieve the targets of the Vision 2030 economic diversification program.

Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s fiscal breakeven oil price — what it needs a barrel of crude to cost in order to balance its government budget — was estimated by the International Monetary Fund to be $96.20 for 2024; a roughly 19% increase on the year before. It’s also 33% higher than the current price of a barrel of Brent crude, which was trading at around $72 as of Wednesday afternoon.

Oil prices may see a drastic fall in the event that oil alliance OPEC+ unwinds its existing output cuts, said market watchers who are predicting a bearish year ahead for crude.

“There is more fear about 2025’s oil prices than there has been since years — any year I can remember, since the Arab Spring,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, an oil price reporting agency.

“You could get down to $30 or $40 a barrel if OPEC unwound and didn’t have any kind of real agreement to rein in production. They’ve seen their market share really dwindle through the years,” Kloza added.

A decline to $40 a barrel would mean around a 40% erasure of current crude prices. Global benchmark Brent is currently trading at $72 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures are around $68 per barrel.

Given that oil demand growth next year probably won’t be much more than 1 million barrels a day, a full unwinding of OPEC+ supply cuts in 2025 would “undoubtedly see a very steep slide in crude prices, possibly toward $40 a barrel,” Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, told CNBC. 

Similarly, MST Marquee’s senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic posited that should OPEC+ unwind cuts without regard to demand, it would “effectively amount to a price war over market share that could send oil to lows not seen since Covid.”

However, the alliance is more likely to opt for a gradual unwinding early next year, compared to a full scale and immediate one, the analysts said.

The oil cartel has been exercising discipline in maintaining its voluntary output cuts, to the point of extending them.

In September, OPEC+ postponed plans to begin gradually rolling back on the 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts by two months in an effort to stem the slide of oil prices. The 2.2 million bpd cut, which was implemented over the second and third quarters, had been due to expire at the end of September. 

At the start of this month, the oil cartel again decided to delay the planned oil output increase by another month to the end of December.

Oil prices have been weighed by a sluggish post-Covid recovery in demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude oil importer. In its monthly report released Tuesday, OPEC lowered its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast from 1.6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.

The pressured prices were also conflagrated by a perceivably oversupplied market, especially as key oil producers outside the OPEC alliance like the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil are also planning to add supply, Gloystein highlighted.

Trump has also touted a “drill baby drill” policy for U.S. producers, vowing to cut energy prices in half.

For that to happen to retail gasoline prices, oil would need to drop to “below $40” per barrel, said Matt Smith, Kpler’s lead oil analyst.

Right now, retail gasoline prices are at a “sweet spot” at $3 per gallon, where consumers do not feel the pinch and input prices are still sufficiently high for producers, Smith added.