



AI to Make Australia the Lucky Country Once Again
Australia is emerging as a surprising beneficiary of new technological shifts, even as the country faces a growth hit from the Middle East war. Rapidly accelerating data construction is driving an unprecedented demand for copper, while battery solutions are fueling a massive consumption of lithium.…

Korea's AI Boom and the Rise of Leveraged Trading
South Korea remains the world's hottest stock market, surging more than 250% over the past 18 months led by semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which together account for over half of the entire Kospi index. Fueled by the global AI infrastructure buildout, retail investors have …

BlackRock on Crypto, Tokenization and Future ETFs
Exchange-traded funds are fundamentally reshaping how capital is allocated, skyrocketing to a $22 trillion global industry that Bloomberg Intelligence estimates will surpass $50 trillion by 2035. Investors no longer view them simply as vehicles for broad passive exposure. Instead, ETFs have evolved…

A Veteran's Warning on Asia's Private Credit Risks
The post-pandemic era transformed private credit into one of the hottest areas in finance as investors chased double-digit returns, creating a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Now, the narrative is quickly shifting as default rates climb, high-profile bankruptcies expose hidden leverage, and some ma…

Beijing Auto Show Heralds a Brutal EV War
The war in Iran and high oil prices are driving a surge in demand for China's electric vehicles abroad, with sales in March jumping more than 50% in countries such as Australia, Brazil and Germany. However, the domestic market paints a bleaker picture. Total domestic auto sales slumped 17% in the f…

Asia's Tech Giants Are Now Challenging the Mag 7
Earnings season is officially underway and Asia's technology giants are setting the early pace. TSMC, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have all delivered strong numbers, prompting analysts to significantly raise earnings expectations for South Korea and Taiwan – two of the world's best-performing s…

Singapore Bets Big on AI, Equity Market Reforms
Singapore's stability and business-friendly environment have long made it the regional hub of choice for tech giants such as Amazon, Google and ByteDance. However, the city-state's traditional role as a bridge between East and West is under pressure. Rising protectionism, technological decoupling a…

An Activist Investor’s Playbook for Southeast Asia
Corporate governance reform has acted as a major catalyst for stock markets in Japan and South Korea. Now, Southeast Asia is eager to get in on the action, with countries from Vietnam to Indonesia rolling out new measures to entice foreign capital back to the region. But is Southeast Asia – a marke…

How TSMC Powered Taiwan's Remarkable GDP Growth
Taiwan's economy defied all expectations to post a staggering 8.7% real GDP growth in 2025. This unprecedented expansion was driven by a boom in semiconductor sales, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) fueling a current account surplus of nearly 20% of GDP. The tech giant is so domin…

Iran War Drives New Global Urgency for Rare Earths
The Iran war is refocusing global attention on the critical supply chains that power modern military arsenals. Rare earths are essential components in advanced weaponry, from fighter jets to interceptor missiles such as THAAD and Patriot. However, with Chinese export restrictions increasingly targe…