Investing

Followers of Tong’s Absolute Returns Portfolio would recall that we recently pared our exposure to US stocks. As we have written previously, even as US inflation rates declined from the 2021/22 highs, they will not return to pre-pandemic lows but will stay higher for longer with the reshuffling of global supply chains and accelerating deglobalisation. This means that interest rates too will not return to the lows of the past decade.

About four years ago, the Chinese government clamped down on the private tutoring industry, which banned the provision of for-profit tutoring for subjects taught in school curricula.

Like others, we had written extensively on US President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) goals on at least four occasions in the past three months alone (scan the QR codes below to read three of the articles). This article is another, but with a major twist.

Can prevailing high tariffs slapped on China exports to the US revive and benefit Malaysia’s struggling glove industry? While Malaysia remains the world’s largest producer of gloves, its market share has fallen from 63% in 2019 to about 45% currently (see Chart 1). A major turning point was the Covid-19 pandemic, when the sudden surge in demand and logistics disruptions led to a significant increase in glove prices, which in turn led to a stampede of new players into the industry.

Following last week’s coverage on agentic artificial intelligence (AI) as an emergent theme across both the tech and enterprise landscapes (see “What’s agentic AI, and how will it affect you and your investments?”, The Edge, May 12), this week we present the final list of stock picks for Tong’s AI Portfolio. While many companies on the longlist had strong merits, not all made the final cut — because, as always, price matters.

News of a 40%-70% increase in medical insurance premiums in late 2024 triggered a public uproar from aggrieved policyholders suddenly slapped with steep hikes in their premium bills. It sparked a nationwide debate on why and who is to blame. Since then, we have heard from almost all the major stakeholders, including government officials, Bank Negara Malaysia (regulator of the insurance industry), the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) and the big insurance companies. Not surprisingly, each has inevitably pointed the finger at one another.

Bursa Malaysia enjoyed a rare sterling year in 2024. The FBM KLCI was up 15.4% at its peak in August, and despite some profit-taking in the last few months of the year, the benchmark market index still logged its biggest annual percentage gain since 2010, up 12.9%. Last year was also the first year of gains for the FBM KLCI since 2020.

The global stock market plunged into turmoil on April 2 after US President Donald Trump declared “Liberation Day” and announced reciprocal tariffs worldwide. The sell-off marked the sharpest decline since the market crash in February 2020, at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Losses deepened when markets reopened on April 7 — a Monday — following the introduction of a global baseline tariff rate of 10% on April 5. The resulting three-day slide was again described as the most severe since Black Monday in 1987.

What should one invest in given the prevailing environment of extreme uncertainties and volatility? Global equities are swinging wildly, racking up big gains and big losses on a daily basis. Even the market pros are confounded. Tariffs — and especially the worsening trade war between the US and China — will have a real impact on consumer prices, inflation, as well as cost of doing business and thus, growth, margins and profits for companies. Much of which we have yet to see materialise. US consumer confidence has tumbled but spending, thus far, remains resilient.

US President Donald Trump has just committed a big blunder, and it is not the tariffs he has imposed per se, but the size of them. Confused? Read on.