☕️ Fast money

Good morning.

Sydney's high frequency traders are having a vintage year, and their paycheques prove it. Capital Brief's Jack Derwin dug out the numbers. Optiver paid its 433 staff an average of $1.42 million last year, up from $1.14 million. IMC's average jumped 29% to $624,165 and SIG's rose 19% to $472,000.

It's been a well-leveraged perfect storm of war-driven volatility, AI-powered trading and Sydney's time zone advantage over Asia's most lucrative markets. And so far, the house is winning.

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Market movers

Shares in Commonwealth Bank had their biggest single-day fall on record after a quarterly profit that missed expectations, as analysts warned Labor's negative gearing crackdown would slash investor mortgage demand. Jarden analyst Matthew Wilson flagged CBA was the most exposed of the major banks given it holds the country’s largest investor loan book.

The quick sync

• The budget's $2 billion local infrastructure fund could finally force states to scrap rules blocking new homes, writes Jonathan O’Brien. (Capital Brief)

• The tech industry's loudest voices on CGT are obscuring the budget measures that will actually help founders, writes Jessy Wu. (Capital Brief)

• Abercrombie's exit from the Humm board may prove temporary. (Capital Brief)

• Two terms, two backflips. Albanese's credibility is on the line again. (Capital Brief)

• ‘A long way short’: Greens say Labor has ‘squibbed it’ on housing tax reforms (Capital Brief)

• Startups must show CGT fight is about Australia’s future, not founders’ taxes. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Goeasy introduces measures to defend against takeover bids after its stock plunged 76%. (Bloomberg)

• Healius hired UBS to explore a sale of Agilex Biolabs while warning of rising labour costs. (Capital Brief)

• MA Financial Group pitches the sale of battery storage company Akaysha Energy. (AFR)

• Mercedes-Benz agreed to sell seven Berlin dealerships to a Canadian buyer. (Reuters)

• The Federal Communications Commission approved EchoStar spectrum sales to SpaceX and AT&T. (Reuters)

• Brown-Forman rejected a USD15b takeover bid from Sazerac Company. (WSJ)

• BYD holds talks with Stellantis and others about acquiring European manufacturing plants. (Bloomberg)

• Blackstone abandons a USD4b deal involving New World Development due to governance and control disputes. (Bloomberg)

• Equinox Gold agrees to acquire Orla Mining in a cash-and-stock transaction. (Bloomberg)

• Charter Hall explored a potential takeover of Abacus Group. (The Australian)

• Insider Inc. acquires Bluecore to strengthen AI marketing capabilities ahead of an IPO. (Bloomberg)

• I-MED’s $3b+ sale process is being widened to more bidders amid valuation concerns and leadership turnover. (The Australian)

• Arm Holdings and SoftBank Group reportedly attempted a last-minute acquisition of Cerebras Systems. (Bloomberg)

• GoPro reviewing possible sale after receiving inquiries. (WSJ)

Capital Markets

• Perenti secured an $850m underground mining contract from Bellevue Gold. (Capital Brief)

• Australian bank shares fell amid fears that negative gearing reforms could reduce mortgage growth. (Capital Brief)

• Australia’s High Court dismissed Zip Co’s trademark infringement appeal. (Capital Brief)

• Commonwealth Bank of Australia recorded a $316m provision hit due to economic uncertainty risks. (Capital Brief)

• Temple & Webster reported its most profitable April after improving margins through cost optimization. (Capital Brief)

• Australia’s wage price index rose 0.8% in the March quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. (Capital Brief)

• Ownership Matters targets executive pay at DroneShield. (AFR)

• Aristocrat Leisure posted a 9% rise in half-year profit and expanded its share buyback program. (Capital Brief)

• Accent Group plans rapid expansion of Sports Direct stores, targeting $1.9b in sales by 2030. (AFR)

• VinFast planned a USD505m asset spin-off to strengthen its finances. (Bloomberg)

• SoftBank Group posted a surprise profit jump driven by gains from AI investments. (Bloomberg)

• Healius cuts its earnings outlook and plans to sell Agilex. (AFR)

• Automotive Superstore is raising $10m to accelerate growth in its online car parts business. (AFR)

• Nissan forecast a return to profit, signaling early success from restructuring efforts. (Bloomberg)

• BHP and Rio Tinto chiefs reject company break-up plans despite pressure for higher valuations. (AFR)

• SPC Global pursues a $90m recapitalisation to manage heavy debt burdens. (AFR)

• Alibaba revenue misses analyst estimates despite growth in AI monetisation efforts. (Bloomberg)

• Gina Rinehart lodges an appeal in an ongoing family royalty dispute. (AFR)

• Marketplacer valuation falls as private equity investors write down their stakes. (AFR)

• Birkenstock maintains its outlook as sandal demand remains resilient. (Bloomberg)

• Australia’s federal budget created winners and losers in healthcare, with Healius among the companies hit hardest. (The Australian)

• The bailout cost for Whyalla Steelworks surpasses $2.6b after blast furnace failures. (AFR)

• Morgan Stanley raised its S&P 500 target to 8,300, citing strong corporate earnings growth. (Bloomberg)

• Shares of NVIDIA and Tesla rose as their CEOs joined President Trump’s China trip. (Bloomberg)

• Fervo Energy achieved a valuation above $10b as its shares surged in its Nasdaq debut. (Reuters)

• High-frequency trading firms earned strong profits in Australia as market volatility surged. (Capital Brief)

• Fed's Susan Collins says rate hikes may be needed to curb inflation. (Reuters)

• Charles Schwab plans to use AI to reach, serve less-affluent customers. (Bloomberg)

VC 

• Australia’s startup sector must frame the CGT debate as an economic growth issue, not a tax fight for founders. (Capital Brief)

• Fractile raises USD220m to expand chip production. (Bloomberg)

People moves

• BHP appointed former BlueScope Steel CEO Mark Vassella to its board. (Capital Brief)

• JPMorgan reshuffles investment bank chiefs amid wider shake-up. (FT)

• Senate confirms Kevin Warsh to lead Fed in narrowest-ever vote. (Bloomberg)

• Special Broadcasting Service appointed Jane Palfreyman as managing director. (Capital Brief)

• Lendlease is nearing a decision on a new CEO after a difficult search during a period of weak performance. (The Australian)

• Corporate raider Gary Weiss becomes interim chairman of Webjet. (AFR)

• Microsoft’s LinkedIn is cutting jobs in latest industry cull. (Bloomberg)

The watercooler