☕ Pump and dump

Good morning. A warning to your speccy stock-loving, crypto-shilling mate... a Hotcopper punter who used 13 different accounts and various share bidding strategies to create the illusion of demand was handed a 2.5yr jail term. (although he was released on a good behaviour bond). More below.

Good morning. The Fed added another 25bps overnight and maintained that further rate raises might be needed. As we saw on in Aus on Tuesday, the US markets didn't love it with the Dow closing down 250pts. 

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MARKET MOVERS

*Stock data as of the market close. Commodities and crypto data in USD.

Market news: Buried in the last few slides of their Macquarie Australia Conference presentation, oOh! Media warned the media markets to be soft in Q1 and Q2.

The company's trading update flagged April as a particularly tough month -- with media revenue down 10% vs last year. However, it's still managed to keep Q2 revenues slightly ahead of last year so far.

THE QUICK SYNC

  • HotCopper pump and dumper gets prison, but released under bond. (AFR | YH)

  • How this Goldman Sachs managing director avoids burnout. (AFR)

  • Mike Cannon-Brookes recruiting climate tech army together with Startmate. (Australian)

  • Macquarie: Behind the scenes at Australia’s biggest investor conference. (AFR)

  • ‘Don’t circulate beyond us’: How PwC execs tried to fight tax crackdown. (SMH)

  • Westpac hit with damages claim over 100-hour weeks. (AFR)

  • CBA culls as many as 230 roles, with the bulk in IT departments. (Australian | SMH)

  • Dumb phones are on the rise in the U.S. as Gen Z looks to limit screen time. (CNBC)

TRADING FLOOR

 M&A:

  • IFM Investors uses creep provisions to add to its Atlas Arteria. (AFR)

  • 7-Eleven had been in extensive talks with Seven & i Holdings, the group that owns the 7-Eleven brand globally, before talks ultimately failed. (AFR)

  • KPMG sells BWX Digital to HealthPost and the founders of Flora & Fauna. (AFR | The Australian | BNA)

  • E&P Financial has added Santos to its M&A watchlist. (AFR)

  • Adrian Portelli places his the promotions and giveaway business, LMCT+ Group up for sale. (AFR)

  • Palisade Real Assets, I Squared, and ICG are on to the second round of Repurpose It's sales process. (AFR)

  • Pacific Equity Partners is among the parties taking an early look at Alinta Energy’s up-for-sale Pilbara power business. (AFR)

  • Mineral Resources has ruled out a potential buyout attempt on Liontown Resources. (The Australian)

  • South32 is believed to be lining up to take a look at the $US2bn Khoemacau copper mine in Botswana. (The Australian)

  • Quadrant is believed to be cooling on the prospect of buying cinema chain Hoyts. (The Australian)

 Capital Markets:

  • American Industrial Partners has lined up a four-broker line-up for Molycop’s mooted float. (AFR)

  • UBS is testing the waters for Redox IPO. (The Australian)

VC:

  • Safewill, Australia’s leading end-of-life planning platform, lands a $5.5m funding round from Reinventure, Carthona Capital, and Flying Fox Ventures. (The Australian)

Others:

  • Ord Minnett mining analyst Dylan Kelly joins Terra Capital as its new head analyst. (AFR)

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