Good Morning! Powell says he'll stay on the Fed board as a governor at least until his legal challenges are resolved. Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital joined a $150 million funding round for Hightouch, a generative AI platform for marketers. And junior bankers, fed up with grunt work, built a $2 billion AI tool to do it for them.

Blackstone is creating a new West Coast division, Blackstone N1, dedicated to its AI portfolio, including OpenAI and Anthropic. And Carlyle is betting on an Oracle Red Bull F1 racing deal to close the gap with Blackstone and KKR in the $150 trillion private wealth market.

Plus: New York City wants to redesign Park Avenue, the doctors leaving America for New Zealand, and the difference between anxiety and OCD.

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SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Ackman’s IPO Flop

Bill Ackman finally brought his stock-picking machine to everyday investors, and the market immediately flopped. Shares of Pershing Square USA, Ackman’s new publicly traded fund, closed 18% lower in their NYSE debut Wednesday, sliding from a $50 IPO price to closing at $40.90. 

The fund raised $5 billion, making it one of the biggest IPOs of the last decade, but the debut was not exactly the Main Character Energy Ackman was hoping for. He rang the opening bell with his wife, Neri Oxman, before shares started trading, and watched the fund open deep in the red.

The awkward part is that PSUS was supposed to be the vehicle that turned Ackman’s internet following into permanent capital. He has more than 2 million followers on X and has spent years becoming one of the most visible investors in the world. But most of the money in the offering reportedly came from institutions, not the everyday investors he wanted to reach. Some retail buyers also seemed wary of the structure. PSUS is a closed-end fund, and closed-end funds often trade at discounts to the value of their underlying assets. So plenty of investors apparently figured they could skip the IPO and buy it cheaper once trading started.

Ackman tried to sweeten the deal by giving IPO buyers one share of Pershing Square, his hedge-fund management company, for every five PSUS shares they purchased. Pershing Square itself also listed Wednesday under the ticker PS, opening around $24. Ackman has pushed back on calling PSUS a standard closed-end fund, describing it as “an investment management company in the body of a closed-end fund.”

The fund is expected to largely mirror Ackman’s main stock-picking strategy, with positions in companies like Alphabet and Uber, plus the occasional macro hedge when Ackman sees a big dislocation. Long term, that may work. Ackman has a real track record, real brand equity, and a very real ability to dominate the conversation. But the debut showed the limits of celebrity finance. A big X following can move a narrative. It cannot necessarily overcome closed-end fund math, IPO skepticism, and institutions looking for liquidity on day one.

Takeaway: Ackman wanted PSUS to be a retail-friendly investing platform powered by his brand, his track record, and his enormous online audience. Instead, the first trade looked more like a reminder that markets are still markets. The fund raised $5 billion, which is objectively huge. But closing down 18% is a brutal first impression for a vehicle built partly on the idea that everyday investors wanted in. Ackman may still win in the long term. But day one belonged to the people who waited for the discount.

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HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Powell to stay on board – Trump’s legal attacks have ‘left me no choice’ (CNBC)

• Goldman Sachs and Bain lead investment in AI marketing startup (WSJ)

• Where are all the data centers going to go? (BB)

• Blackstone forms new unit to oversee AI, high-growth tech bets (BB)

• Junior bankers sick of grunt work build $2 billion AI tool to do the job (BB)

• Carlyle banks on Red Bull F1 racing deal to catch up in wealth (BB)

• The doctors leaving America for New Zealand (WSJ)

• NYC unveils plan to put the 'park' back in Park Avenue (NYT)

• Banks, hedge funds, private credit are all competing. It's risky. (BB)

• OpenAI's drift from Microsoft to Amazon turns aggressive after subtlety (CNBC)

• Ex-Twitter CEO's AI startup raises funds at $2 billion valuation (WSJ)

• Lululemon founder takes aim at new CEO pick, escalates proxy fight (WSJ)

• Retailers flock to TikTok Shop to find new shoppers, sales growth (WSJ)

• Can we handle the Magnificent 10? (WSJ)

• UBS net profit climbs on investment banking boost (WSJ)

• Meme stock casualty Plotkin joins rich shifting assets into ETFs (BB)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• Stocks drifted lower as investors digested the Fed decision and awaited big tech earnings

• Energy led gains on another move higher in oil prices

• Most sectors were flat to down, reflecting a pause ahead of key catalysts

• Bond yields climbed, signaling persistent inflation concerns

• Global markets were mixed, with Asia stronger and Europe softer

Fed Decision: Steady, But Not Unified

• The Fed held rates steady, as expected, but internal disagreement is rising

• Some policymakers want to stay patient, while others are already leaning toward cuts

• The overall stance still points to eventual easing, just not yet

• Inflation remains the constraint, especially with oil pushing higher again

• The takeaway: policy is stable, but conviction is weakening at the margins

Oil Back in Control

• Oil surged again, driven by geopolitical escalation and supply concerns

• This is reintroducing inflation risk into the macro narrative

• Higher energy prices are starting to reshape earnings expectations across sectors

• Energy and materials benefit, while consumer-facing sectors face margin pressure

• The market is once again balancing growth vs inflation trade-offs

Earnings: The Deciding Factor

• Earnings season is ramping into its most important phase with mega-cap tech

• Results so far have been strong, with upward revisions continuing

• Growth is being driven by energy, technology, and materials

• Importantly, earnings strength is broad, not concentrated

• Markets are holding near highs because profits are validating valuations

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Intel ($INTC) +12% after Google confirmed it will use Intel's EMIB packaging technology for its next-generation TPU chips.

• (+) T-Mobile ($TMUS) +6% because the company beat its Q1 estimates and raised its full-year postpaid net account adds outlook.

• (–) Robinhood ($HOOD) -13% after Q1 results missed on both lines as crypto trading revenue collapsed 47% year-over-year.

Prediction Markets

• Q1 GDP planned to be announced around 8am this morning.

• Trade on real-world events with Kalshi. Use code OWS to get a $10 bonus when you trade $10.

Private Dealmaking

• Kone agreed to buy TK Elevator for around $31.7 billion

• Chiesi agreed to acquire KalVista Pharmaceuticals, a rare disease biotech, for around $1.9 billion

• Aidoc, an Israeli medical imaging platform, raised $150 million

• Scout AI, a frontier lab for defense, raised $100 million

• Firestorm Labs, a supplier of portable drone factories to the U.S. military, raised $82 million

• Kashable, a provider of employee financial wellness programs, raised $60 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

HEARD AROUND THE STREET

Top Comments

We just rolled out unfiltered culture comments on Wall Street 360, giving you the real read on what life is actually like inside each firm.

Not the polished recruiting brochure. Not the campus presentation. The actual desk-level intel:

What the hours feel like.
Which teams are chill vs. sweatshops.
Where seniors are supportive.
Where “protected Saturdays” are more of a spiritual concept.
And which firms have great brands but brutal day-to-day vibes.

Pair it with our culture league tables and you can now see not just who ranks where, but why.

Some firms look way better once you read the comments. Others… let’s just say the brand is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

See where your firm stacks up.

BOOK OF THE DAY

Making It Without Losing It

Description:
A grounded and practical guide from Jess Ekstrom on sustaining motivation in a culture that constantly pushes for more. The book explores how to redefine success, avoid burnout, and stay driven without losing yourself in the process. It blends personal experience with actionable frameworks to help you maintain momentum while protecting your energy, identity, and long-term fulfillment.

Book Length: 256 pages
Release Date: April 22, 2025

Ideal For:
Professionals, founders, and high achievers who want to stay motivated, avoid burnout, and build sustainable success in a world of endless goals.

Motivation is not about doing more it is about learning how to keep going without losing who you are.

DAILY VISUAL

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Crowded Trade

Every obvious good idea attracts a crowd, and the crowd is the thing that ruins it. The neighborhood everyone agrees is the next big thing has already priced in the agreement. The career path everyone smart is funneling into has already been arbitraged. The investment thesis you read about in three different places last week is no longer a thesis. It is a consensus.

This does not mean contrarianism is automatically rewarded. Most contrarian ideas are wrong, which is why nobody believes them. But the meaningful returns, in markets and in careers, almost always come from being early to something correct, not late to something obvious.

If your reasoning sounds exactly like everyone else's reasoning, the upside has likely already left the building.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• How to have the right standards when you’re dating

• Does working less bring higher productivity?

• 3 ways EQ can help you improve your self-discipline

• The difference between anxiety and OCD

• How to tell if you’re breathing properly

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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