☕️ Inflation Magic

Good morning.

US inflation rates in October have cooled to 3.2% and may end the Federal Reserve’s historic interest rate hikes, which then spurned stock and bond market rallies.

But the Citadel founder says the fed should stay on message in saying the inflation genie can go back in the bottle and that it shouldn’t cut interest rates too soon.

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Market movers

Shares in Brisbane-based lab tester ALS Limited rose 8.5% yesterday despite posting a net profit after tax decrease of 9.4% and announcing its CFO’s resignation.

But in the face of challenging trading conditions the market seemed soothed by ALS’ positive outlooks in its key markets of life sciences and commodities testing.

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The quick sync

• Former productivity commissioner Melinda Cilento is backing the federal government’s remodelling of the research organisation (Capital Brief)

• China may inject at least 1 trillion yuan (US$137 billion) of cheap financing to its urban renovation and affordable housing programs. (Bloomberg)

• Marshall Wallace and Qube Research & Technologies are among the hedge funds profiting millions from betting against wind energy stocks. (Financial Times)

• Lawyers defending Optus in a class action over its 2022 data breach are refusing to hand over documents to a rival firm as part of the document discovery process, citing cybersecurity concerns. (Capital Brief)

• The US and China are likely to agree to formalise a channel for diplomatic talks on AI intelligence. (Semafor)

Trading floor

M&A

• Medibank, Intermediate Capital, and Partners Group vie for Cura Day Hospitals. (AFR)

• Macquarie Group is in the final stages of $500m-plus contest for Cura Group. (The Australian)

• RBA's interest rate hike takes toll on consumer confidence, survey shows. (Capital Brief)

• AustralianSuper increases Origin Energy holding to 16.5% with $8.65 share acquisition. (AFR)

• Pilbara Minerals speculation amid Azure Minerals $1.9bn competition. (The Australian)

• Telix Pharmaceuticals to acquire QSAM Biosciences in a deal worth up to $193.3m. (Capital Brief)

• Nuvei is set to acquire struggling fintech Till Payments for $47m. (AFR)

• Antony Catalano undeterred by Kerry Stokes' move, continues pursuit of Southern Cross Austereo. (SMH)

• Public Hospitality Group, led by Jon Adgemis, mulls portfolio split amid refinancing challenges. (AFR)

• Acquisitions by Autodesk, Atlassian, and Wisetech signal the wave of M&A in the Australian tech sector. (AFR)

• Analysts are skeptical about Incitec Pivot's fertilizers unit sale. (The Australian)

• ANZ to present five arguments in a bid to overturn ACCC's block on Suncorp Bank acquisition. (AFR)

• Macquarie Capital Principal Finance acquires a 15% stake in The Envest Group. (The Australian)

• AustralianSuper's increased stake dims confidence in Origin Energy's $20bn takeover deal. (AFR)

• Brookfield's Sydney tower reaches full occupancy with PVH Brands deal. (SMH)

CAPITAL MARKETS

• Wyvern Health taps Wyuna Partners for $25m equity raise for Sydney surgical hospital. (AFR)

• Splose secures $1.5m of planned $3m Series A target in 24 hours for NDIS sector growth. (BNA)

• Craig Hutchison's Sports Entertainment Group is at risk without cash injection or new investors. (SMH)

• Tic:Toc, not TikTok, handles 3% of Australia's mortgage market. (Capital Brief)

• GenesisCare divests assets in its US portfolio amid Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. (The Australian)

VC

• None

People moves

• Gresham Partners expands in Queensland with new hire for property investment business. (AFR)

The watercooler