☕️ Bitter Rivals

Good morning.

Sydney shortseller John Hempton would rather spend time with ‘drug dealers and prostitutes’ than with whom exactly? Well, Bill Ackman, naturally. Yet, despite an acrimonious tussle over the Herbalife pharmaceutical bet that left Ackman $6 billion short, Hempton tells Capital Brief that Ackman is “broadly right” about his vitriolic campaign against select US university leadership.

Apropos of media allegations about Ackman’s wife, Neri Oxman, Hempton quipped: “You really don’t want to attack the wife of an ideological billionaire.” Wise words.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

The US has injected an energy-boost to an ASX listed uranium enrichment tech firm, Silex Systems, after announcing plans to develop an advanced high assay low enriched uranium, or HALEU, industry in the States. Shares in Silex have climbed 23% since Tuesday’s news, reaching $4.90 as of Thursday, after revealing it would submit a proposal to supply HALEU to the US.

Together with Stake | Invest on Wall St and the ASX

The quick sync

• The SEC’s approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETF’s has been touted as a revolutionary step for the crypto world, but will it really have much of an impact on the broader financial system? (Capital Brief)

• US headline inflation increases unexpectedly, causing stocks to tick down on doubt over an interest rate cut in March. (Financial Times)

• The Nikkei climbs over 35,000 for the first time since 1990. (AFR)

• Macquarie slashes staff from its Green Investment Group across Australia, Singapore, and UK after macro pressures hurt asset turnover. (Capital Brief)

• Australian port terminals owned by DP World could grind to a halt next week if the Fair Work Commission allows a stoppage after union negotiations fail. (The Australian)

• Atlassian investor Rich Wong warns Aussie startups not to get sucked in to the Silicon Valley Bubble. (Capital Brief)

• US aviation regulator opens formal investigation into Boeing, and all 737 Max 9 aircraft remain grounded after a loose bolt caused a cabin door to blowout mid-flight. (Bloomberg)

Trading floor

M&A

• Debt-laden BWX sells Sukin skincare brand to an entity controlled by its ex-CEO, John Humble. (AFR)

• Ripple Labs buys back $285m in shares, valuing the company at $11.3bn. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• Property fintech Futurerent secures $50m debt financing for US expansion through launch of Downpayments. (BNA)

VC

• Medtech startup MindEar receives a boost as global study reports 'clinically significant improvement' for the majority of participants. (BNA)

• Chinese VC firm HongShan, a recent Sequoia Capital offshoot, invests in an AI chip startup that competes with Nvidia in the Chinese market. (The Information)

People moves

• Matt Leibowitz, CEO and cofounder of online broker, Stake, has resigned after seven years at the helm. (AFR)

Together with Power Writing

This isn’t your typical course. We’re not your typical instructors. That’s why you should read on.

Power Writing was created by Kal & Christopher...

• Kal is a former Macquarie banker who started and sold Letter of Intent (yes, this very newsletter).

• Christopher is a former McKinsey partner and COO who took a startup from 0 to a $3bn IPO in 5 years.

In other words, we aren’t professors. We’ve seen firsthand the huge impact your writing can have on your professional performance. It sounds obvious, yet no one ever teaches you to write for work. We want to change that.

Don’t let those writing habits from your uni days — big words, long sentences, dense paragraphs with no formatting, conclusions at the end — hold you back at work. Learn the techniques to be concise and precise so your work gets recognised and you get promoted.

And the best part? You can probably expense it to that L&D allowance you never touch.

Start 2024 by levelling up. Learn more here.

The watercooler