☕️ Kelana Jaya LRT to remain erratic until Q3 of 2023

1. MARKET SUMMARY

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE

765,859 — the number of visitors during the first two weeks of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, less than the gulf nation’s expectations of 1.2 mil, according to Reuters. A massive surge in visitors at this stage is unlikely, with only eight teams staying on in Doha. Cumulative stadium attendance at the first 52 matches was 2.65 mil.

Merriam-Webster revealed searches for the definition of “gaslighting” surged by 1,740% in 2022. Gaslighting is the act or practice of grossly misleading someone, especially for one’s advantage. The word derives its origins from Hamilton’s Victorian-era play set in London, where the lead character seeks to convince his wife that she is going insane by saying she imagines the dimming of the gas light in their home.

South Korea’s online comics — webtoons — are giving manga and anime a run for their money. Sales of webtoons in South Korea reached about USD800mil (RM3.5bil) in 2020, up from less than USD300mil (RM1.3bil) in 2017, according to a report last year from the Korea Creative Content Agency.

“The thing that is least perceived about wealth is that all pleasure in money ends at the point where economy becomes unnecessary. The man who can buy anything he covets, without any consultation with his banker, values nothing that he buys.” 

- William Dawson, author of The Quest of the Simple Life

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

Recession is not expected next yearRHB Banking Group’s chief economist Sailesh Jha told Bloomberg news that recession is not likely to hit the United States (US)’s economy next year. He believes the worst is behind us as the US had undergone a technical recession earlier this year.

A technical recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth in a country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Similar sentiment was shared by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM)’s governor, Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, earlier last month as she dismissed any recession risk in 2023. Despite that, Nor Shamsiah still acknowledged that 2023 will be challenging economically and for many people, it will feel like a recession.

Restoring local government elections will not be the main priorityLocal government minister Nga Kor Ming said that his focus for the ministry will not be mainly directed towards restoring local government elections, but instead, he will prioritise other areas to improve the well-being of the rakyat. Since the proclamation of the Emergency during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation in 1964, local elections have been suspended and since then, mayors and councillors in cities and towns across Malaysia have been appointed by state governments. Although this issue has been avoided by both sides of the aisle, restoring local elections is vital in propping up the essence of democracy in this country.

Kelana Jaya LRTs will remain erratic until Q3 2023Transport minister Anthony Loke stated that the country’s most used city metro line, the Kelana Jaya LRT, will continue experiencing occasional disruptions until new train sets arrive. For the Kelana Jaya line, 56 train sets have been designated to service the line. However, 18 of them (about 32% of the line’s fleet) are under maintenance and cannot enter service due to supply chain issues with some key parts, such as the tachometer (the component that regulates the speed of automated trains).

Najib is sure a busy man at the court

1. For the RM2.28bil 1MDB-Tanore trial, the Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Najib Razak to obtain documents related to investment bank Goldman Sachs and Zeti Akhtar Aziz as the court felt that the said documents were not relevant for the main trial at the High Court.

2. In the main trial, Joanna Yu, once the AmBank banker that handled Najib Razak’s personal bank account, told the court that she developed a close relationship with Jho Low, both as a banker and a friend. Jho Low, Joanna and others would normally meet at Jho Low’s apartment, which doubles as Low’s home office, to conduct meetings.

Malaysia, are you okay?

1. A motivational camp turned into hell on earth for about 60 primary school students in Serdang, Selangor, as most went home from the two-day camp in weak conditions. According to the students, the motivation camp facilitated by university graduates allegedly practised inhumane forms of punishment - such as being beaten with a broomstick or being hosed down in the middle of the field — towards the kids. Serdang police chief AA Anbalagan has confirmed that police reports have been made by parents of affected children.

2. A male in Terengganu was jailed for six months for criminal intimidation for threatening to expose his ex-girlfriend's nudes.

Business shorts

1. SkyWorld Development Bhd is looking to go public with the public issuance of 208mil new shares and the sale of 192mil existing shares. Kenanga Investment Bank will be the adviser, underwriter and placement agent for the proposed initial public offering (IPO).

2. The planned 30% stake purchase in ERS Energy by Gamuda will make the latter as Malaysia’s largest renewable energy (RE) producer with over 800 MW capacity by FY2025. With the planned RM200mil deal, Gamuda is looking to guide ERS Energy towards a 20% to 30% annual growth trajectory beyond FY2023.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

China’s miscalculated move on Covid-19Chinese leaders have begun loosening zero-Covid controls, but it is facing a big issue — Beijing is running out of medical supplies as the Chinese capital combats a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, according to its health workers. Most of the country’s 1.4 bil people have never been infected and have received China’s domestically produced vaccines. Financial Times’ model predicts China could see one mil deaths from Covid-19 in the coming months.

German police uncovered an alleged far-right coup plot to overthrow the governmentGerman police have arrested 25 suspected members and supporters of a far-right group who were allegedly seeking to overthrow the government by force to install as national leader a prince who had sought support from Russia. The federal prosecutor’s office said the members were suspected of “having made concrete preparations to violently force their way into the German parliament with a small armed group”.

Russia hasn’t gone madRussian President Vladimir Putin said his “special military operation” in Ukraine is taking longer than expected. The good news is the threat of nuclear war has lessened. Putin said Russia will only use a nuclear weapon in response to an enemy strike. However, the leader went on to boast that Russia had the most modern and advanced nuclear weapons in the world.

All things Elon

1. Musk briefly lost his title as the world’s richest person on Wednesday, according to Forbes, following a steep drop in the value of his stake in the electric-car maker. This year alone, Musk has lost USD100 bil. Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of luxury brand Louis Vuitton's parent company LVMH, briefly overtook the title as the world’s richest — with a net worth of USD185.7 bil.

2. San Francisco authorities are probing Twitter’s office for a possible building code violation after photos of Twitter office space being converted into bedrooms surfaced. An ex-worker said new Twitter boss Elon Musk has been staying at the headquarters since he bought the firm.

Another Theranos executive sentenced to 155 months in prisonRamesh “Sunny” Balwani was convicted in July of 12 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the failed blood-testing start-up. The start-up falsely claimed its product could diagnose illnesses with a few drops of blood from a finger prick. Balwani was sentenced to 155 months in prison at the end of a nearly four-hour sentencing hearing on Wednesday. His lawyers say he plans to file an appeal. Balwani also had a romantic relationship with Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, who was earlier sentenced to 11.25 years in prison.

Famous first-person shooter game Call of Duty may be available on Nintendo gaming platformsMicrosoft Corp and Nintendo Co agreed on a 10-year deal to bring Call Of Duty to Nintendo gaming platforms. The agreement depends on Microsoft closing its USD69bil (RM304.01bil) acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc, which has been strongly condemned by Sony Group Corp. Xbox chief Phil Spencer said a similar offer was also extended to Sony to bring the famous Activision franchise to PlayStation consoles for a decade, but Sony rebuffed.

Weekend read: Little Rules About Big Things by Morgan Housel, the author of The Psychology of Money.

Housel has become one of my favourite authors. Points are concise and relevant. Check out his book here - I would easily rank it the top 3 books when it comes to money and investing. 

5. FOR YOUR EYES 👁👁

1. Which supermarket in Klang Valley is the cheapest? The team at MrMoney went to find out! An easier way to compare grocery prices - get the Hargapedia app, Malaysia’s leading grocery, health and beauty price comparison app that compares prices both offline and online.

2. Are you feeling the crunch? A recent survey carried out by RinggitPlus showed that Malaysians are not saving enough. The team at Bernama has carved out an infographic on this.

3. The World Cup is down to the final 8, to fight it out for the semi finals this weekend.

We will be taking a break on Monday. Selangor folks, enjoy your long weekend!