☕️ Spoiler alert

Two of the country's most prominent dealmakers are at it again

Good morning.

Two of the country’s most prominent dealmakers, who can’t seem to stay out of situations in their respective industries, are both at it again. Gina Rinehart, the country’s richest individual, is looking to play the spoiler in the second straight billion dollar lithium deal on the ASX - buying up shares in Azure Minerals shortly after a $1.6 billion takeover from Chile’s SQM was announced.

And on admittedly much smaller scale, real estate entrepreneur Antony Catalano is looking for a way into the Southern Cross Austereo - ARN situation as part of his plan to create a regional media giant.

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

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MARKET MOVERS

Market News: It may well be a tough Christmas trading season for retailers with the RBA poised to lift interest rates next month. But Super Retail Group was one of the strongest performers in an otherwise soft market on Thursday. The company earlier in the week at its AGM said like-for-like sales for the first 16 weeks of the new financial year were up for three of its four chains - Supercheap Auto, rebel and BCF.

Together with Stake | Invest on Wall St and the ASX

THE QUICK SYNC

  • The US economy grew at a 4.9% pace in the third quarter, faster than expected. (CNBC)

  • Country Garden’s missed bond payment triggers credit default swap payout. (Bloomberg)

  • Lenders, lawyers brace for regulatory blitz on open banking. (Capital Brief)

  • Sam Bankman-Fried takes the stand - but without jurors. (CNN)

  • Bell Rock lands a blow, but Whitehaven is winning the fight. (Capital Brief)

TRADING FLOOR

M&A:

  • Webcentral secures a $165m asset sale to European buyers, including Oakley Capital, covering email hosting and cPanel web hosting divisions. (AFR)

  • Euroz Hartleys buys Azure Minerals shares as the company signs a binding deed with SQM at $3.50 per share. (AFR | The Australian)

  • Antony Catalano has been sounding out Southern Cross Austereo’s CEO about a tie-up that could create a regional media giant. (Capital Brief)

  • G8 Education sells 31 loss-making childcare centers, resulting in a $26.5m cost. (BNA)

  • Private investor acquires Brisbane CBD property with H&M and Uniqlo for $145m from ISPT. (BNA)

Capital Markets:

  • Cuscal is finalizing IPO pricing next week after a global investor roadshow presenting an "infrastructure-like" opportunity. (AFR)

  • Vanessa Megan Skincare founder seeks to raise up to $2m through Birchal's equity crowdfunding platform for business growth, starting this week. (Smart Company)

VC:

  • None

Others:

  • Leaked Jarden accounts show the company is making losses in Australia. (AFR)

  • Jarden Group's internal auction sets the share price at $8 each, providing an opportunity for staff shareholders to adjust their holdings. (The Australian)

  • Westpac anticipates profit reduction in upcoming full-year results due to restructuring costs, asset writedowns, and customer refunds. (Capital Brief)

  • Angus Aitken briefly visited Dan Murphy's Sydney CBD store but left unimpressed. (AFR)

  • Crown Resorts records a $199m loss in the last fiscal year, marking its third consecutive year of losses due to various expenses. (SMH)

  • Chris Ellison invests in Wildcat Resources, a lithium company with rising market value due to promising drilling results in Western Australia. (The Australian)

  • Mike Cannon-Brookes on his climate side-hustles and the nuclear option (Capital Brief)

INSIGHT OF THE WEEK BY STAKE

The U.S. yield curve has received a lot of attention recently, mostly due to the rise of 10-year yields to 16-year highs. However, another interesting phenomenon is happening in the curve – 20-year U.S. treasury yields are higher than both 10-year and 30-year yields. Are investors pricing in a catastrophe in the middle of the curve? Not really. Twenty-year treasury notes are just an unusual duration for which demand has often been weak. Due to the lower liquidity, investors demand a higher discount for these bonds, and yields, being inversely related to bond prices, rise.

This is not financial advice.

THE WATERCOOLER