☕️ Shooting left right - gun enforcement, where?

1. MARKET SUMMARY 📈

2. NUMBERS AT A GLANCE 🔢

Nvidia insiders sold over USD1 billion in stocks in the past 12 months. Executives were capitalising on surging investor interest in AI. Over USD500 mil worth of the share sales took place in June 2025, when the chipmaker’s share price climbed to an all-time high, with even CEO Jensen Huang joining in the share sales for the first time since September. The sharpest share price increase came on June 25, with Nvidia’s shares priced at USD154.31 each, allowing the chipmaker to reclaim the crown of the world’s most valuable company (market cap of USD3.89 tril). The gains reflect the US stock market’s return to the AI trade.

The Malaysian government is looking to get 200,000 people discharged from bankruptcy by the end of 2025. According to Minister in the PM’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, about 186,000 people have been discharged from bankruptcy so far. This also followed an expansion of the Second Chance Policy announced during the tabling of Budget 2025, when PM Anwar expanded the policy to include younger people aged 40 and below who have debts not exceeding RM200,000. According to Azalina, a total of 25,578 bankruptcy cases recorded between 2021 to May 2025 from those aged below 25 up til beyond 55, with 10,145 cases involving the 35 to 44 age group.

Bitcoin whales who have been holding the cryptocurrency for 14 years have awakened. Three whale wallets transferred 10,000 Bitcoin each, with each transaction worth over USD1 bil. The wallets – “12tLs”, “bc1qm”, and “1GcCK” – received the cryptocurrency in 2011, when Bitcoin traded for about USD0.78 per coin. The cryptocurrency has appreciated by over 13,000,000% (130,000x over those 14 years. This is the latest in a trend of long-term holders cashing in their Bitcoin, preceded by an investor two weeks ago who saw almost USD30 mil in profit after cashing in the Bitcoin they had been holding since 2013, a 496-fold return on their initial investment of USD60,000.

3. IN MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

MACC’s day under the sun
According to the MACC, a company director who was initially arrested for allegedly laundering RM75 mil, is now believed to have bribed the CEO of a bank, RM8 mil, to secure RM400 mil in financing (that’s a 2% ‘commission’ rate). The RM400 mil was meant to finance a fibre network development project spanning 30,000km and connecting to the Southeast Asia region. Thank god, the project did not take off; however, MACC stated that the RM400 mil fund was traced to several offshore accounts and channeled to a non-existent investment firm.

In another matter related to corruption, the prosecution has listed 24 grounds in its petition of appeal on why the Court of Appeal erred in acquitting former Felda chairman Mohd Isa Abdul Samad of nine corruption charges. The prosecution insisted on reinstating the High Court’s 2021 decision where Mohd Isa was found guilty and was handed a six-year jail sentence and a RM15.45 mil fine. Previously, Mohd Isa was accused of receiving RM3.09 mil bribes from Gegasan Abadi Properties Sdn Bhd board member, Ikhwan Zaidel, via his former special political officer, Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, in return for approving the purchase of a hotel by Felda Investment Corporation Sdn Bhd (FICSB) for RM160 mil.

Coming back to MACC, the anti-graft agency is apparently adopting a policy of ‘kita tak nak pekerja MACC nampak macam orang yang makan rasuah’ as officers or personnel who are obese or do not meet the required body mass index (BMI) of 27 will not be eligible for promotion. MACC Chief Commissioner Azam Baki justified the move, aiming at emphasising the importance of health among MACC personnel, while also ensuring their fitness remained at an optimal level. MACC’s biggest loser challenge anyone?

Shooting left right - gun enforcement, where?
In Jitra, Kedah, two individuals have been neutralised by the police after the duo refused to stop their four-wheel drive vehicle after being asked by the police who were patrolling the area. Then, hours after the initial shootout, a third suspect was also shot dead in Bandar Puteri Jaya, after the suspect resisted arrest from the police. Upon further investigation by the police, it was uncovered that all three suspects were part of a criminal group that was responsible for a string of armed robberies, gangsterism and drug trafficking, incurring nearly RM6 mil of losses. We somewhat lost track of shooting incidents in the past month.

Further down south in Johor Bahru, Johor police chief M Kumar said that the authority is investigating the link between a shooting incident that happened at a petrol station in Iskandar Puteri and a body laden with multiple gunshot wounds that was left at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital on Thursday. At the moment, the police have arrested three suspects in the Dang Wangi area in Kuala Lumpur, where two suspects are Malaysians and the other one is an Indian national. A Glock 19 pistol, a firearm licence, a magazine containing six 9mm bullets, a black Honda Accord and spent shell casings were seized during the arrest. Kumar insisted that this is an isolated incident and that there is no broader threat to public safety. Hm, okay. Watch incident here.

Business

Malaysia, Thailand may face an AI chip ban 
The US is considering restricting shipments of US-made AI chips to Malaysia and Thailand, as part of the move to crack down on alleged semiconductor smuggling to China. However, the rule is not yet finalised and could still change. At the moment, Malaysia has been classified as a Tier 2 country by the US and permitted to import only 50,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) over two years, with data-centre operators restricted to deploying a maximum of 7% of their computing capacity in any single Tier 2 nation. However, companies that meet US security requirements can purchase computational power equivalent to 320,000 advanced GPUs over the next two years.

TNB to pay RM5.05 bil in tax arrears 
The Federal Court has decided that Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) needs to pay RM5.05 bil of tax arrears, after the apex court ruled out the possibility of TNB claiming reinvestment allowance (RIA), which is meant for manufacturers. The court says that as a utility company, the applicable schedule is 7B of the Income Tax Act 1967, namely investment allowance, instead of 7A for reinvestment allowance. This court decision is untimely as TNB just announced a new electricity tariff rate, effective July 1, that may see TNB earning less from the majority of households in Peninsular Malaysia.

Shorts

1. Malaysia’s military will be getting new toys
   During PM Anwar Ibrahim’s overseas trip, PM Anwar announced that Malaysia will be purchasing maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and naval assets from Italian-based companies such as Leonardo and Fincantieri. Most of the military purchases are welcomed, as the country desperately needs to replace its ageing military assets. However, among the new purchases is the acquisition of a Fincantieri-built FCX20 corvette for the LMS Batch 3 project. This decision raises eyebrows as for the overall littoral mission ship (LMS) project, the fleet consisted of a rojak of Chinese, Turkish and soon-to-be Italian-built ships, which would lead to a maintenance nightmare.

2. Sarawak to increase the number of state seats 
   A Bill to increase the number of members in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly will be tabled during a special sitting on July 7. At the moment, Sarawak has 82 state seats, and with the increase in voters due to the lowering of the voting age, it has proposed to add another 17 seats, bumping the total seats to 99.

4. AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

The US gets funnier

President Musk on the way?
Musk is being serious when he said that he is setting up a new political party - the billionaire announced on his social media platform X that he had set up the America Party now, to challenge the Republican and Democratic two-party system. However it is unclear if the party has been formally registered with US election authorities and he did not say who will lead it. So can Musk actually run for US presidency? Apparently not, according to the law which specifies that one has to be born in the US to be eligible. Will the party succeed? Well, attempts to challenge the traditional two-party system in US politics is not new, but apparently it is difficult for them to gain strong enough nationwide popularity to pose a real threat. In the presidential election last year, candidates from the likes of Libertarian Party, the Green Party and the People's Party all tried in vain to stop Trump or his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, from winning.

UFC to take place at the White House next year
To celebrate 250 years of America’s independence next year, Trump has announced that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will take place at the White House grounds next year, with an audience up to 20,000-25,000. Trump is actually buddies with the UFC President Dana White, who has backed the president's political career from the beginning and endorsed his presidential bid in 2016, calling Trump a "fighter". He also described Trump as a "tough guy" and "the legitimate, ultimate, American badass of all time" after the failed assasination attempt on Trump last year. Speaking of friends with benefits. Btw, Trump fought on WWE before too:

The Unpredictability Doctrine: Trump’s“Madman” strategy
The world has seen a lot of Trump’s unpredictability over US policies so far, proving that his decision-making actually depends a lot on his preferences and his temperament at the spur of the moment. Political scientists call this the Madman theory, in which a world leader seeks to persuade his adversary that he is temperamentally capable of anything, to extract concessions. Trump seems to be using it for political gains - his own unpredictability a key strategic and political asset. Interestingly, while it might work gracefully in terms of the relationship with allies, the unpredictability could also become predictable, as adversaries dance along with his pattern. World leaders are increasingly becoming aware of Trump’s style, take Vladimir Putin of Russia who seems to be impervious to him thus far. Analysts are saying that what Trump did to Iran might also bring an opposite effect, perhaps making Iran more likely to seek nuclear weapons instead. In fact, Europe is growing more wary of his unpredictability, which could eventually lead to the bloc’s independence over the US. 

BBC journalists can’t take it any more with forced support for Israel
112 journalists at the British Broadcasting Company (BBC - whatcha thinking?) in the UK have spoken and they spoke loud. In an open letter addressed to the BBC management and signed by the journalists and 306 media professionals, the biggest scandal of Western journalism of our time has been exposed - the BBC has become the mouthpiece for Israel and their journalists are tired of being forced to be pro-Israel in their reporting. In essence, the letter voiced concerns following BBC decision to refuse broadcast of the documentary ‘Gaza: Medics Under Fire’, showing that BBC is an organisation that is crippled by the fear of being perceived as critical of the Israeli government.

The signatories are not asking BBC to take a side” but just to allow its journalists to “do their jobs in delivering facts transparently and with due context”. They also questioned the role of Sir Robbie Gibb, who is on the BBC Board and BBC’s Editorial Standards Committee - a person with close ties to the anti-Palestinian and racist Jewish Chronicle. The letter said that BBC repeatedly framed their stories around the false statements and claims of the Israeli state, treating them as credible despite the overwhelming evidence of Israel lying repeatedly and committing every single war crime and crime against humanity under the sun. Read the full letter here.

Israel army bulldozes homes in West Bank camps
Meanwhile, Israel continues to mercilessly demolish Palestinian refugee camps in the Tulkarem, West Bank, in the name of hunting for Palestinian militants. Thousands of displaced residents were given just a few hours to retrieve their belongings from their homes before the demolition began. As homes were destroyed along with its precious memories, residents fear that the clearance is not just erasing buildings, but also their status as a refugee and their “right of return” to the land they fled or expelled from since 1948. The army said it would demolish 104 more buildings in the Tulkarem camp this week.

Shorts

1. Russia: I see you, Taliban
   In its effort to gain political clout within the region, the Russians have become the first country in the world to recognize the Taliban government, saying that the recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields. Historically, Moscow was not very welcoming towards the Taliban - in 2003, Russia put the Taliban on its “terrorist” blacklist over its support for separatists in the North Caucasus. Change is the only constant. 

2. Mexican city councillor assassinated at a basketball game
   A local city council secretary in Apaseo el Grande, Guanajuato, Mexico has been shot dead by gunmen who burst into a sports hall where he was attending an amateur basketball game full of children and families. Guanajuato is a thriving industrial hub and home to several popular tourist destinations, but it is also Mexico’s deadliest state due to gang turf wars. Just last month, 11 people were shot dead and about 20 others injured in a shooting targeting a neighbourhood party in Irapuato, about 80km west of Apaseo el Grande.

5. FOR YOUR EYES 📺

1. AI so real that an elderly couple travelled 300 km from KL, wanting to experience this cable car linking Pegnkalan Hulu in Perak to Baling, Kedah. Seeing is no longer believing. Misinformation war this GE16? GE15 was on 19 Nov 2022. ChatGPT was launched 30 Nov 2022.

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2. Proton last week launhed its X50 facelift. Interior has class. Btw, if you want to buy a Tesla with some discount, we got promo code - ping us for it.