Morning Brief

Ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s debut Jackson Hole address, financial markets remain obsessed with categorising him as either a hawk or a dove. But framing his monetary policy through conventional labels misses a much larger structural shift underway at the Fed. Dr. Ray Choy, Chief Economist at MARC Ratings, joins BFM’s Morning Brief to explore the policy philosophy driving Warsh's deliberate move away from forward guidance.

We discuss why traditional forward guidance may be damaging price discovery, how concepts like George Soros’s market reflexivity shape Warsh's worldview, and what happens when central banks start viewing markets as information sources rather than passive followers. Dr. Ray Choy also explores how a less vocal Fed could drive greater market data dependency and outlines the three structural signals to watch for during the Jackson Hole symposium.

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With less than ten weeks to go before the US midterm elections, all 435 House seats and one-third of the Senate are on the ballot. Against a backdrop of sliding approval ratings, persistent inflation, high interest rates, and foreign policy challenges, the elections are shaping up to be a critical referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term. Ambassador Robert Blake, Senior Managing Director at McLarty Associates, joins BFM’s Morning Brief to analyse the political landscape and what a shifted Congress could mean for global policy.

He discusses how low presidential approval ratings could threaten moderate Republicans in key battlegrounds like Maine, whether the math favors Democrats flipping the House or Senate, and how a divided Congress might impact executive orders, tax policy, and oversight of defense spending. Ambassador Blake also explores how progressive messaging could complicate efforts to win over crucial independent voters in swing states.

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Following Selangor’s overall victory at Sukma 2026, the state government declared September 1st a special public holiday, leaving private sector employers scrambling on short notice and workers unsure of their legal rights. Victor Gan, CEO of E2 Workforce Consulting, joins BFM’s Morning Brief to clear up the legal confusion for both employers and employees.

Tune in to discover:

Are private sector companies legally required to observe ad-hoc state holidays, or can work carry on as usual?

Can an employer simply credit an extra day of annual leave instead of paying public holiday rates or offering a replacement day?

What are the five non-replaceable compulsory national holidays under Malaysian law, and how do they differ from state declarations?

What common HR mistakes do companies make during short-notice public holiday announcements?

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A glacial collapse on the Nepal-Tibet border sent flash floods tearing through villages last Wednesday — but what actually triggered it, and were there warnings that went ignored? Search teams are still working, with hundreds of bodies recovered, more than a thousand people still missing, and Wisma Putra confirming 55 Malaysians among those unaccounted for. It's at least the third glacial lake or flood event on this same river system in two years, which raises the question of why no effective early-warning system is in place — and whether Kathmandu responded fast enough once the water came. With debris now blocking rivers and more flooding expected, we ask what has to change. We speak to Dr Amit Ranjan, Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

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Bitcoin has surged more than 20% over the past week, crossing back above the US$80,000 mark before settling just below it. Is this simply a reactionary rebound, or something more durable amid the so-called debasement trade?

Hann Liew, Founder and CEO of Halogen Capital, joins BFM’s Morning Brief to explore how a coiled crypto market was ignited by policy headlines, Treasury intervention, and record spot ETF inflows.

He also examines how Bitcoin is competing with AI for capital allocation, the potential spillover from 10- and 30-year Treasury yield spikes, and what upcoming policy signals from Jackson Hole mean for digital asset valuations.

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Is the AI infrastructure race creating a dangerous subprime-style debt bubble? While Wall Street worries over massive CAPEX and corporate debt issuance among big tech hyperscalers, new growth engines are rapidly opening up across sovereign clouds, neo-clouds, and Southeast Asian optical hardware suppliers. Jonathan Curtis, Portfolio Manager at Franklin Equity Group, joins BFM’s Morning Brief to explain why the economics of "agentic AI" and resetting legacy compute contracts support a multi-year growth runway, while exploring how potential policy signals from the Jackson Hole symposium could impact AI valuation multiples and discount rates.

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Satellite imagery reviewed by Reuters this week shows new Chinese installations on an islet near Antelope Reef in the disputed Paracels, shortly after Beijing completed the first phase of an artificial island at the reef — infrastructure analysts say could eventually support a larger military presence. Confrontations with the Philippines are growing more frequent, and Manila is responding by expanding its military drone fleet and deepening defence ties with Washington. Georgi Engelbrecht, Senior Analyst at the International Crisis Group, on where the dispute is headed, what it means for Malaysia's quieter approach to Beijing, and whether the long-delayed Code of Conduct is going anywhere.

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Malaysia welcomed over 21 million international visitors in the first half of 2026, a 2.5% rise on last year. But the headline growth masks a harder story: geopolitical tensions in West Asia forced the cancellation of more than 4,000 scheduled flights, pulling seat capacity below projections, even as arrivals from Singapore, China and North America held the numbers up. With Visit Malaysia Year now extended into 2027 and a packed second half of events ahead, Nigel Wong, President of the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents, on whether the industry can recover lost ground — and how Malaysia stacks up against Thailand and Vietnam.

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The government is reportedly fast-tracking a new e-Commerce Bill to replace the Electronic Commerce Act 2006, arguing that the current legislation no longer meets the needs of today’s digital economy. Ganesh Kumar Bangah, Executive Chairman of Commerce.Asia, joins BFM’s Morning Brief to explore what a modernised regulatory framework must address and deliver.

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Bursa Malaysia and FTSE Russell are expanding the FBM KLCI from 30 to 50 constituents in its biggest index overhaul in 17 years. Peter Kong, Head of Research at Kenanga Investment Bank, joins BFM’s Morning Brief to explore:

• Whether this expansion materially changes Malaysia's capital market appeal or if it is largely symbolic.

• How reducing banking sector dominance lowers overall index volatility while adding technology representation.

• Why not implementing a proposed 10% cap on individual constituent weights was a missed opportunity to reduce large-cap concentration.

• How entering the index could benefit newly added stocks.

• How a 50-stock index better aligns Malaysia with regional peers.

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