Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli is the new CEO of InvestKL, ascending to the role in an unprecedented era of Covid distress and regional competition. How will KL fare in this beauty contest?

Stock splits are squarely on the horizon for US megacap tech companies like Amazon, Alphabet and even Facebook, says Jack Kouzi, Director for Strategy, VFS Group, even as he decries the sense or possibiity of a TikTok sale to a US company.

The Securities Commission has raised the approved gearing limit for Malaysia REITs from 50% to 60% with immediate effect. Loong Kok Wen, Regional Head of Property at RHB Research gives us the rationale why the regulators made such a move and who stands to benefit. She also explains her rationale for the sector call and what her top picks are. Image…

As the US counts down to its November presidential elections, we take stock of President Trump’s foreign policy direction and his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic with US Ambassador Kamala Lakhdir. What is the US’ end game in its increasingly antagonistic relations with China? How committed is the Trump administration to global cooperation in deal…

The Japanese economy is in dire straits with a GDP contraction of 28% but yet the equity market has recovered from the March lows. We ask Joe Quinlan, Chief Market Strategist at US Trust-BOA Private Wealth Management on the disconnect and if there are any buying opportunities. He also weighs in on the US elections and what actually will move market…

Melvin Ooi left as Head of Alipay in Singapore to join BonusLink Card last year as CEO. We discuss how he's repositioning the company, a pioneer in loyalty rewards, to make it relevant among millennials and whether there are plans to become part of a digital bank license application and its likely partners, or whether it plans to dispose its busine…

Folllowing a huge liquidity infused rally since its March lows, global share markets are now showing signs of lethargy. With US elections looming, investors are now asking whether markets are taking a breather or another rally could be on the cards. Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific Market Strategist, with AxiTrader, discusses. Image Credit: EPA-EFE…

Thomas Knudsen, CEO of Toll Group, the Australian-based logistics firm owned by Japan Post, has been hired to turn around a business that was already ravaged by losses, high debts and cybercrime before Covid-19. Here is his situation report as to the status of the business currently.

US markets have been on a sustained climb, lifted by technology stocks. But as the bull run continues, investors are starting to question whether the tech frenzy is now overdone? We ask this question of Tim Mulholland, President of TJM Limited, and also get his thoughts on US inflation figures and the trajectory of gold.…

As the stock market booms, it's vital to not get caught up in all the excitement and optimism. While it's important to invest, it must be done responsibly, taking your goals and risk profile in mind. On this edition of Ringgit and Sense, Roshan speaks to Dato Hamidah and Raymond Gabriel for their thoughts on investing principles, common investing m…

Palm oil inventory fell by 11% month-on-month to 1.7m metric tonnes in July due to higher export demand from India and EU and lower output. We discuss with Alvin Tai, Soft Commodity Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence on the outlook of CPO prices in view of resurgence of Covid-19, possible record high soybean output and the La Nina. Image Credit: Mohd …

Recent government stimulus packages have thrown a lifeline to a car industry hit hard by the implementation of the Movement Control Order in March. While Total Industry Volumes seem to have recovered since the disastrous 141 total vehilce units sold in April, it's still a long road ahead for many automotive players. So to help us get a sense of wha…

Overnight, US stocks briefly surpassed all-time highs reached before the pandemic, propelled by the tech sector. As we seek out what else we can expect, we turn to Vishnu Varathan, Head of Economics and Strategy at Mizuho Bank for his analysis on movements in US bond yields, the UK economy, and Malaysia's upcoming Q2 GDP numbers. Image Credit: Agne…

Education Malaysia Global Services is a one stop shop created by the government to accelerate the goal of 250,000 foreign students by 2025. But with Covid 19 and no new student visas being issued, is that target realistic? Mohd Radzlan Jalaludin, the newly appointed CEO tells us how he intends to overcome the challenges, his plans for promoting Mal…

With Gold seeing its biggest decline in 7 years and bond yields jumping, we reach out to Jeffrey Halley, Senior Market Analyst at OANDA for his insight into global market performance overnight. We cover some data expected out of the US, Singapore's latest GDP numbers, and the bright spots in the Australian economy. Image Credit: EPA-EFE…

DBE Gurney is now Lagenda Properties, and the firm has moved from poultry being its primary business to property. Roshan speaks to Dato’ Doh Jee Ming about the story and the rationale behind this, as well as their outlook for the year, optimism around affordable housing, and injection of assets into the business.…

The Morning Run speaks to Jack Kouzi on the potential impact to Tencent from the proposed Trump ban on WeChat, Huawei running out of chips, and his long term view on Chinese tech stocks.

Global usage of semiconductors is set to increase with increased automation and the onset of the internet of things. But with Covid 19, global supply chains have been disrupted while work was curtailed. So we speak to Chew Ne Weng, Managing Director of QES Group a testing company to find out if despite the challenges there will be growth especially…

The Morning Run gets into Apple stock supporting Berkshire Hathaway earnings, Saudi Aramco continuing dividend even as profits fell 73% on-year, as well as thoughts over whether the S&P 500 valuations are justified at this juncture.

Sabah is in the limelight in a big way. Its state assembly has been dissolved- a move disputed by opposition politicians- even while it remains among the most impoverished and hardest-hit by Covid-19. Add its proximity to the South China Sea, a key beachhead for the mounting US-China standoff, and the possibility that its (caretaker) chief minister…

With the US Dollar losing steam, Carlos Casanova, Chief Asia Economist at Coface tells us which currencies stand to benefit while giving us a view on the Ringgit. He also weighs in on the Philippine economy and how bad their recession will be.

Bankruptcy. While we've heard the term & probably used it in conversation, what does it really mean in Malaysia? Roshan explores this, as well as the implications and impacts of bankruptcy on an individuals life, and the way out of it. Roshan and Nirmala also discuss the common causes of bankruptcy, what happens to the individual's assets, how it c…

From Star journalist to financial analyst to fund manager, Dato' Seri Cheah Cheng Hye’s career has led him all the way from the Asian Wall Street Journal to co-founding what is now an asset management company with $12 billion in assets under management. We speak to him about how his company, Value Partners, is positioning itself in the wake of a pa…

Tony Nash, CEO Of Complete Intelligence tells us why markets in US are still hitting new highs while giving us his views on the direction of the US dollar and whether it makes a difference who sits in the White House this November. Image credit: EPA-EFE

The young may be an important part of the country's future, but jobs, housing and social mobility data shows that Malaysia is doing little for its young, potentially harming its prospects. Listen in as UMNO Deputy Youth chief Shahril Hamdan and Tharma Pillai, Co-Founder, Undi18, discuss how and why this happened and more. Image credit: EPA-EFE…

With scant commercial arguments in favour of a Tik Tok-Microsoft merger, Jack Kouzi, Director of Strategy at VFS Group, fails to see the point of such a transaction, not helped by threadbare US govt authority to engineer such a union. Image Credit: Olivier DOULIERY / AFP

With 25 years of experience in specialist eye care services, Optimax Holdings is now planning to list on the ACE Market, in a bid to raise RM21 million to fund their expansion. We speak to Sandy Tan, CEO of Optimax Holdings, to find out more about their expansion drive, as well as to talk about the choice to list at this point in their corporate li…

With few signs of the retail mania dissipating from the stock market, smart money is now pivoting towards gold, and the allure of ASEAN as the next growth region. Peter Lundgreen, CEO of Lundgreen's Capital, elaborates.

E-commerce transactions for essentials picked up significantly during the MCO. Leo Chow, CEO of Lazada Malaysia and former executive from Taobao discusses plans to maintain Lazada's lead as the biggest e-commerce platform operator ahead of Shopee.

Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook’s earnings may have justified their eye-watering rally, though concerns about how far behind Main Street remains is still a concern. Stephen Innes, Asia-Pacific Market Strategist, AxiTrader, sheds light. Image Credit: BERTRAND GUAY, ANGELA WEISS, Tobias SCHWARZ, Mark RALSTON / AFP…

This year Bank Negara has cut rates 4 times, taking the OPR from 3% to 1.75%. This is the lowest level since 2004. While the central bank has done this to help stimulate the economy, it’s also punishing savers as Fixed Deposit rates have also fallen. As savers look for the best rates for their cash, one of the options that has come up is Stashway S…

The New York Review of Books is one of the foremost intellectual publications in the US. This morning on the Breakfast Grille, we speak to its former editor, Ian Buruma, about his time editing the publication, as well as his long-term observations of the politics in East Asia. Image source: EPA-EFE

The Morning Run speaks to Vishnu for his expectations for US GDP numbers due tonight, whether we could see more stimulus to support the slowing economy, gold prices rising as the dollar falls, and whether Singapore could see more job losses. Photo Credit: John Guccione/Pexels

Esports has become a billion dollar industry. It reportedly generated US$1 billion in revenue for the first time last year, and although COVID-19 presents a stumbling block for 2020, the industry as a whole is expected to continue growing in the longer term. Roshan speaks to Tommy and Kevin to get their views on the state of the industry, the need …

The Morning Run speaks Jeffrey Halley about his expectation for US earnings this week, outlook on gold prices, his thoughts on today's US Federal Reserve meeting, and his view of Malaysia in light of yesterday’s court verdict in the SRC trial. Photo Credit: EPA-EFE

Despite a gloomy long-term outlook for the oil and gas industry, Ocean Vantage Holdings saw a strong debut on the ACE market. It was oversubscribed almost 16 times, and jumped from its issue price of 26 sen to close at 53 sen on IPO day, but is this optimism justified? Roshan gets into this with Stephen Yau, as well as their earnings outlook, expan…

We speak to Joe Quinlan for his thoughts on the gold price rally, expectations for the US Fed meet this week, and earnings for oil majors like Chevron and Exxon Mobile.

Despite a global recession and subdued capital markets, the plantation sector continues to be a magnet for corporate activity. So to give us a better picture of what is driving demand in this space, we speak to Ong Chee Ting, Regional Plantation Analyst at Maybank Investment Bank Research.

Medical and healthcare stocks have gotten a lot of attention recently, and few can boast the stock returns that medical bed manufacturer LKL International has seen this year. The stock is up 6 times since end-March, on the back of a boom in revenue due to COVID-19, but is this sustainable?

We speak to Kingsley about his outlook for US equities this week on the back of last weeks dip, his thoughts around FAANG earnings, and the kick off of earnings season in Asia. Image Credit: Timothy A. CLARY / AFP

Europe's embattled union may have finally agreed on a 750b-euro stimulus, but it brought into sharp relief the rifts between its frugal and extravagant members, reminding investors once again of its fragility. Thorsten Beck, Professor of Banking and Finance, City’s Business School, University of London, explains. Image source: EPA-EFE…

The Malaysian equity market has recovered from March low's while the broader economy has weakened with rising unemployment and weaker consumption. So why the disconnect? To find out, we speak to Patrick Chang, CIO for Asean Equities, Principal Asset Management & Alexander Chia, Head of Regional Equity Research, RHB Investment Bank. We also take a h…

With the exception of China, Asia’s economies appear to be feeling the true pinch from the pandemic and economic fallout, with South Korea and Australia facing consecutive quarters of contraction, even as job losses continued to mount. Carlos Casanova, Chief Asia Economist with Coface based in Hong Kong, discusses. Image source: EPA-EFE…

What are the differences between gold and stocks? Gold is the hedge as old as time. It’s widely regarded as a store of value, and it traditionally behaves inversely to the stock market. However in recent times we’ve seen stocks and gold go up together, with gold prices reaching all time highs, levels not seen since 2011, while the stock market is b…

With a push towards renewable energy, will Asia's oil & gas, power generation and coal companies survive the green revolution and change their business models in time? Patricia Yeung, analyst at DBS tells us which companies can make the transition because if not, they should see a decline in revenue and asset values. Image Credit: Ina FASSBENDER / …

Malaysian car sales have plunged, possibly to 15-year lows, but recent govt stimulus measures and the end of lockdown may have reversed the course, including for luxury cars, according to Nalin Jain, Managing Director of Volvo Cars Malaysia, who also discusses the country's auto policy, reports of a merger with its parent, Geely and global outlook …

Tesla and Microsoft results were released last night but which company actually met expectations upon a closer look? Tony Nash, CEO of Complete Intelligence helps us dissect the numbers while weighing in on the sharp rise on gold and silver's which is defying the historical correlation between asset classes. Image source: EPA-EFE…

As markets have recovered from the low's in March , what will outperform in the second half of the year? Jean Chia, Head of Portfolio Management and Research Office, Bank of Singapore gives us her view on the different asset classes and where to park your money considering the risks ahead which is Covid 19 and the US Presidential elections. Image C…

After decades of maintaining a National Poverty Line that many criticised was misrepresentative of the true scale of poverty in the country, Malaysia recently made the decision to revise the line to RM2,208. Philip Alston, a vocal critic of the previous line, commends this as a step forward, but is it enough?…

Banks, tech and aviation earnings form the subject of today's call with Jack Kouzi, Director for Strategy, V.F.S. Group, where the discussion also invoved Ant Financial's upcoming mammoth IPO and an emerging 'de-dollarisation' narrative.