Good Morning! Scott Bessent emerged as a potential contender to succeed Jerome Powell. Zuckerberg is reportedly so frustrated with Meta’s standing in AI that he’s dropping $14B to lure Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to join the company.

An internal JPMorgan survey shows employee morale has taken a hit since the firm’s return-to-office mandate, Blackstone will invest $500B in Europe over the next decade, and private equity is getting closer to investing in college sports.

Plus: Moody’s is raising concerns about retail investor exposure in private credit, why AI won’t kill stock pickers, and 8 hacks to organize your workday.

Find the markets that match your expertise, interests, and liquidity—and start trading on Kalshi today. 

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Outsourcing Alpha

Buy-side traders (the execution specialists inside asset managers and hedge funds) are quietly vanishing.

In recent years, a growing number of institutional investors have opted to shut down in-house trading desks altogether. Rising costs, shrinking margins, and the demands of 24/7 markets have pushed execution to the sidelines, and opened the door for a new sell-side revenue stream: outsourced trading.

Jefferies is wasting no time.

The bank is in the midst of a hiring spree, adding over a dozen traders to build out a new fixed-income outsourced trading desk, expanding beyond the equities offering it has run for years. Firms like Clear Street, Northern Trust, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Marex are all ramping up similar efforts.

The pitch to asset managers is clear: offload the complexity of trading, reduce costs, and gain access to more liquidity and markets. According to a 2024 State Street survey, 74% of institutional investors plan to outsource FX trading and 67% expect to do the same for derivatives.

For Jefferies and peers, it’s a sticky revenue stream, a way to deepen client relationships and capture flow without relying on traditional sales and trading.

But the model isn’t without risk. Critics argue that outsourcing execution to the sell-side, whose job is to profit from trades, introduces potential conflicts. Jefferies says its outsourced trading desk operates under strict information barriers and is fully segregated to avoid conflicts of interest.

Still, some buy-siders remain skeptical. After all, giving up control of execution means trusting someone else to manage your orders, and maybe even outperform your internal desk.

Takeaway: Jefferies has always been one of the most opportunistic firms on Wall Street, known for poaching MDs and being the last frontier for dealmakers. So it’s no surprise they’re charging into the void left by shrinking buy-side trading desks. For the buy side, it’s efficient. For Jefferies, it’s recurring revenue. But at the end of the day, trusting the house to place your bets is still a gamble.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Scott Bessent emerges as a possible contender to succeed Jerome Powell (YF)

• Zuck wants Scale AI CEO (CNBC)

• JPMorgan RTO mandate hurt morale (Barrons)

• Blackstone plans $500B European investment (BB)

• Starbucks rolling out AI-powered assistant for its baristas (CNBC)

• Private equity eyes college sports as players secure payday (Axios)

• Tesla jumps as Musk-Trump feud cools (YF)

• Why stock pickers won’t go extinct under AI (CNBC) 

• IBM just took a significant step towards useful quantum computing (YF)

• Apple may be the only tech company getting AI right (CNN)

• Moelis CEO-designate joins Wall Street in signaling dealmaking rebound (YF)

• Starbucks rolls out Microsoft Azure OpenAI assistant for baristas (CNBC)

• Moody’s warns of risks as retail investors pile into private credit (YF)

• Insurance broker Aon rides tailwind from tariff uncertainty (WSJ)

• The banks are re-tranching (BB)

PRESENTED BY KALSHI

AI is the New PM

AI is flipping the game on its head, and now you can use it to find trades on Kalshi.

Perplexity’s CEO recently dropped this prompt: “Browse Kalshi and find me the 3 most attractive bets. I want to be able to bet $5k on each, so ignore the super tiny markets.” Here’s what came back:

• Indiana vs Oklahoma City Winner

• May 2025 Inflation Rate (CPI YoY Above 2.4%)

• May 2025 Jobs report (Above 150,000)

Find the markets that match your expertise, interests, and liquidity—and start trading today.

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• U.S. stocks ended modestly higher Tuesday as investors monitored ongoing U.S.-China trade talks in London.

• Gains were broad-based, led by energy and consumer discretionary sectors.

• The NFIB Small Business Index ticked higher in May, ending a four-month decline and signaling improved sentiment.

• European markets were mixed following a better eurozone Sentix reading, while Asian markets were also mixed.

• 10-year Treasury yield dipped slightly to 4.47%, while the 2-year yield was steady near 4%.

Economic Data Highlights

• NFIB Small Business Index (May): Rose to 91.5 from 89.7 prior, the first increase in five months.

• CPI Inflation: Headline CPI forecast at +0.2% MoM / +2.5% YoY; Core CPI at +0.3% MoM / +2.9% YoY.

• 10-year Treasury yield: Closed at 4.47%, down 1 basis point on the day.

Reported Earnings

• J.M. Smucker (SJM): Missed on revenue but maintained full-year guidance; softness in pet segment offset by strength in coffee and snacks.

• GameStop (GME): Posted a narrower-than-expected loss and announced a leadership shakeup to accelerate turnaround efforts.

• GitLab (GTLB): Delivered strong results on enterprise growth, with Atlas adoption exceeding expectations.

Earnings Today

• Chewy (CHWY): Reporting June 11 (After Market Close). Focus on active customer growth and profitability trends.

• Oracle (ORCL): Reporting June 11 (After Market Close). Key areas include cloud infrastructure growth and AI-related demand.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Insmed ($INSM) +29% after the biopharmaceutical company announced strong lung drug results.

• (+) SolarEdge Technologies ($SEDG) +12% because clean energy subsidies could be part of the new spending bill; UBS raised its price target.

• (–) J.M. Smucker ($SJM) -16% after the food company missed earnings.

Private Dealmaking

• Brown & Brown bought Accession Risk Management for $9.83 billion

• Horizon3.ai, an autonomous security startup, raised $100 million

• Linear, a project management tool, raised $82 million

• Runwise, a water consumption software maker, raised $55 million

• Octaura, a loan trading fintech, raised $46.5 million

• CX2, an electronic warfare startup, raised $31 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

The Power of Mattering

Description: A practical, research-backed guide showing how leaders can instill a sense of significance in every interaction—through noticing, affirming, and relying on people—to combat disengagement, loneliness, and turnover in today’s workplace.

Rating: 5/ 5 on Amazon

Book Length: 272 pages

Audible Length: ~10 hrs for this length

Ideal For: Leaders, managers, HR professionals, and anyone building high-trust, high-performance cultures. Especially timely amidst the “mattering deficit” many workplaces face.

"There is no greater need in the workplace than making employees feel valued and creating opportunities for them to add value.”

DAILY VISUAL

Want more? Visualize the markets with Carbon Finance

PRESENTED BY MEANWHILE

Bitcoin Life Insurance: For Those Who Think Generations Ahead

Forget steel empires and oil dynasties–you can build lasting, generational wealth for your loved ones with a Bitcoin-denominated life insurance policy today. 

A Bitcoin Whole Life Insurance Policy from Meanwhile allows you to lock in a secure, tax-advantaged Bitcoin payout that grows and compounds over time:

• Inflation proof: Premiums, death benefits, and policy values measured in Bitcoin

• Policy value compounds tax-free so you can avoid capital gains on growth

• Simple, direct Bitcoin inheritance–no tech savviness required

You can even borrow tax-free against your policy. How smart is that?

Secure your legacy with a Bitcoin life insurance policy today (no doctor’s visit required).

DAILY ACUMEN

Resilience

Resilience isn't about brute strength—it’s about emotional elasticity. In a world riddled with chaos, from political unrest to personal setbacks, our true superpower lies in how well we bend without breaking.

Resilience isn’t built by avoiding stress—it’s forged through it. A manageable dose of pressure fine-tunes your ability to recover, reboot, and reengage.

That’s why elite athletes spike their adrenaline before a race, and why calming rituals—like music, pets, or movement—help regulate emotional overload.

Resilience, then, is a dance: knowing when to dial up your energy and when to bring it down.

It’s shaped by far more than “positive vibes.” Genetics, temperament, your childhood environment, and whether you were encouraged to try, fail, and try again all matter.

But here’s the magic—anyone can learn it. Not through one-size-fits-all school programs (which often fall flat or worse), but through real-world experience, genuine support, and practicing emotion regulation like a muscle.

Want to build real resilience? Start by approaching hardship as challenge, not doom.

Seek meaning in adversity. Let values steer you. Accept failure as a natural companion to growth. And don’t just “bounce back”—rebound wiser.

The world isn’t going to get easier. But you? You can get tougher, smarter, and more flexible than ever.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• The best U.S. cities for working remotely

• 8 ways to organize your workday

• Procrastination is basically a made-up work

• Why your workplace needs more gracious professionalism

• How CEOs should manage their time

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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