Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

David Kuo, Co-Founder, The Smart Investor, discusses why the coming months will be tough, and whether Chinese stocks may be a more attractive investment instead, as well as reviews the first half of the year for the Straits Times Index, which finished little changed year-to-date.

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar chats with ST’s correspondents in the Asia-Pacific, the US and Europe. They talk about life as it goes on, amid the screaming headlines and bubbling crises. In this episode, she chats with ST's China correspondent Elizabeth Law.  China, which has maintained some of the world's strictest entry requirements, eased its quarantine policy for international arrivals in late June, 2022.  It was the most significant relaxation of curbs since the Covid-19 pandemic began, but does it mean Beijing is ready to be more tolerant of the virus? Highlights (click/tap above): 2:15 Elizabeth Law on recovering from Covid in a Shanghai hospital 4:13 Motivation behind China's decision to cut quarantine for international travellers; a big change from China’s Covid-zero approach? 9:17 Does living with the virus mean “lying flat”, the translation of the Chinese phrase "tang ping"? 12:59 What is “strategic disobedience”? 16:23 In a politically important year, will the Shanghai and Beijing leaders be impacted by the way they handled the Covid outbreak? Read Elizabeth Law’s article here: https://str.sg/wL8G Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong Kai Edited by: Teo Tong Kai  Follow Letter From The Bureau Podcast every first Friday of the month on our Asian Insider Podcast channel here: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Websites:  https://www.moneyfm893.sg/ http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo Read Elizabeth Law’s articles: https://str.sg/wL8c Follow Elizabeth Law on Twitter: https://str.sg/wL8p Read ST's Letters From The Bureau: https://str.sg/3xRd Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters --- Discover ST's special edition podcasts: Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2 Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn --- Discover more ST podcast series: Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts! #STAsianInsider

Duty free and travel retail is a global industry that has generated annual retail sales of US$68.6 bn in 2017. And with the travel and tourism industry on track to make a gradual comeback, players in the space, particularly in the travel retail space are anticipating a new way of travel amongst consumers, with events over the past two years shaping their leisure and spending intentions. Chris Pok, Chief Executive Officer, KrisShop shares with us how his company is evolving to meet the post Covid-19 consumer demands. 

In today's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss Spirit Airlines delaying their proposed merger with Frontier Airlines for the second time, Walt Disney Co introducing their first new cruise ship in a decade, what to expect from the upcoming US core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index and China’s NBS manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI numbers. 

In this episode of Stocks to Watch, Willie Keng, Founder of Dividend Titan discusses  SIA Rights and why it is attractive to invest in them now. Also with the Japanese Yen weakening, what will the business outlook like for Daiwa House Logistics Trust. And lastly, with Alibaba stocks losing over 44 percent value over the past one year, what expectations should we have for this particular stock. 

As the finance industry evolves, financial brokerage companies who have been around for decades are also seeing new companies and platforms entering the scene. And with growing popularity around the fintech sphere, companies are similarly shifting focus to cater to these new preferences and priorities, with more automation and digitalisation. But what do these changes mean for existing employees and job functions? Lisa Lee, Executive Director for Wealth Management and Talent Acquisition, PhillipCapital shares more. 

Vikas Pershad, Equity Fund Manager, M&G Investments discusses if investors should buy on the dips, what is driving his optimism for Japan and his expectations of a recession and the potential impact on markets. 

Manpreet Gill, Head of FICC Investment Strategy, Standard Chartered Private Bank discusses what are the next catalysts to look out for as markets trade on technicals and headlines. He also weighs in on the odds of a recession as opinions grow increasingly split among investors, business leaders and policy makers.

In today's The Breakfast Brief, we discuss consumer confidence falling more than expected in June due to concerns over an impending recession which has already seen spending cutbacks by US importers in Chinese manufacturing orders. Also, at the European Central Bank (ECB) forum on central banking, what insights can we expect from bank President Christine Lagarde from the ECB to fix the eurozone inflation mess.