"Why should we buy the gold disc (original) and NOT the purple disc (DVD-R)?" Disc readers or players, use a laser to "read" what is on the reflective side of the disc. What a recordable disc (CD-R, DVD-R) does, is to simulate these pits and lands, which are "burned" using a laser beam on a layer of dye. He added that if cheap materials are used to create a stamped disc, it will logically not last as long as a recordable disc made with top-shelf materials. And no, it will not look or sound better, even if it was on a gold disc.

(May 8): Lynas Rare Earths Ltd’s shares surged after Malaysian authorities granted a six-month extension to the Australia miner to get its rare earths plant in line with environmental requirements. Lynas shares had their biggest one-day gain in more than two years on Monday, and closed 12% higher to A$7.37 (US$5) in Sydney. The Lynas rare earths refinery in Malaysia is the largest outside China, but has been dogged by environmental concerns and community opposition. Lynas is building an alternative processing plant in Australia, but it was unlikely to be ready by the Malaysian ban’s original start date in July. Read also:Anwar confirms Lynas given six-month extensionMosti rejects Lynas’s appeal to drop four licence conditions

Located in the thriving neighbourhood of Wangsa Maju in Kuala Lumpur, Sfera is to be built on a prime land measuring 2.27 acres next to Wangsa Walk Mall. Striving to make Sfera a serene haven in Wangsa Maju, this low-density development offers 494 units spread across two 37-storey towers, carefully placed and oriented towards the panorama of the surroundings. It is also worth noting that Sfera, being the first sky bridge residence in Wangsa Maju, has a unique sky roof concept that links both towers together. The mastermind behind Sfera — MCL Land — has established a legacy of building quality homes in both Singapore and Malaysia over the last 50 years. Sfera is the second project in Wangsa Maju after the successful launch of Quinn.

The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses suffered directly or indirectly arising from reliance on such opinions and views. All my friends are getting a part-time job while I’m still at home. I really want to get a part-time job because I want to save up some money for my university. I told him I want to get a part-time job but he won’t listen to me and told me to take care of my grandparents. If they do not accept this, you will need money to cover study, food, rent and utilities.

The Gabon-registered ship, capable of carrying some 700,000 barrels of crude oil, was coming through the South China Sea after offloading a cargo in China — and so was nearly empty. Out of its international crew of 28, officials report that 25 were rescued by passing vessels. There is little evidence of the owner, a Marshall Islands-registered company whose fleet contains no other ships, and no trace of insurance. An Aframax-class crude oil tanker observed in Iranian waters last year, the Pablo underlines the risks that come with the expansion of a dark fleet of aging vessels moving sanctioned oil around the globe. The explosion has made the ship unsafe to board, leaving it stuck off the country’s coastline for the time being.

(May 6): Kimora Lee, the former model and ex-wife of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Tim Leissner, is claiming shares worth around US$93 million (RM413 million) that he was ordered to forfeit as part of his 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) guilty plea actually belong to her. She claims she purchased those shares with money she earned from her modelling and Baby Phat clothing line, and they were wrongly included in a March order requiring Leissner to surrender more than 3.3 million Celsius shares. “Lee has established that she is a bona fide purchaser for value of the Celsius shares,” she said in the filing. “Leissner did not contribute any funds to the purchase of the Celsius shares and did not own the Celsius shares. According to the suit, Leissner pocketed Ng’s original US$1.25 million investment in Celsius, which has since grown in value enormously.

Adding to the bullish momentum, regional bank shares rebounded from declines tied to the collapse of First Republic Bank. The Dow and S&P 500 still registered losses for the week, however, while the Nasdaq ended with a slight gain for the week. Apple drove gains in other tech shares, but all 11 major S&P sectors were higher on the day. The estimated decline in first-quarter S&P 500 earnings has been getting smaller since the start of the reporting season and is now at just 0.7% year-over-year, Refinitiv data showed on Friday. The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 87 new highs and 104 new lows.

KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): Bursa Malaysia was higher at midday on Friday (May 5), lifted by buying interest in some heavyweights led by financial stocks. At 12.30pm, the FBM KLCI had improved 2.77 points to 1,428.76, from Wednesday’s close at 1,425.99. Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd slid 14 sen to RM7.10, CelcomDigi Bhd eased five sen to RM4.39, Tenaga Nasional Bhd added one sen to RM8.99, and IHH Healthcare Bhd improved six sen to RM5.86. The FBM ACE Index was 48.60 points lower at 5,164.70, and the FBM 70 index dipped 65.44 points to 13,459.67. Sector-wise, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 1.82 points to 169.63, the Energy Index eased 5.29 points to 828.19, but the Plantation Index recovered 18.12 points to 6,844.73, and the Financial Services Index improved 78.94 points to 15,667.73.

KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): Analyst turned less sanguine on stock market operator Bursa Malaysia Bhd, following the release of its first-quarter results, and several rated the stock as a "hold" with target prices (TPs) ranging from RM6.09 to RM6.54. Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research also maintained its "hold" call, with a TP of RM6.09, based on 22 times PER pegged to FY2023 earnings per share. “After two prior years of ADTV contraction, we are hopeful for a mild reprieve in FY2023 — we have pencilled in RM2.17 billion. Bursa’s share price was two sen or 0.32% lower at RM6.28 in morning trade on Friday, valuing the local stock exchange at RM5.08 billion. Read also:Bursa Malaysia's 1Q earnings down 17% to RM56m on lower operating revenue

“We believe there could be one more OPR hike by end-2023 to 3.25%. “Regardless, we maintain our forecast trajectory for monetary policy with end-2023 OPR at 3.25%, implying another (hike of) 25bps in 2H2023,” said the economists. “Bank Negara justified the current rate hike, as there are ‘no signs of excessive tightening affecting consumption and investment activities’. One of the key reasons that Bank Negara paused rate hikes in January was to assess the cumulative OPR adjustments,” Nazmi and Mas Aida explained. Read also:BNM makes surprise 25bps hike in OPR to 3%Local banks announce new interest rates after BNM hikes OPR again

Turnover rose to 3.48 billion units worth RM1.57 billion, from 2.90 billion units valued at RM1.52 billion on Tuesday. The FBM ACE Index was 103.32 points lower at 5,213.30, and the FBM 70 index erased 2.18 points to 13,555.11. The Main Market volume increased to 2.44 billion units worth RM1.39 billion, from 2.05 billion units valued at RM1.30 billion on Tuesday. Warrant turnover narrowed to 290.19 million units valued at RM48.60 million, against 323.60 million units worth RM67.76 million previously. The ACE Market volume grew to 741.52 million shares worth RM216.13 million, versus 529.03 million shares valued at RM152.17 million on Tuesday.

The KBW regional banking index fell 5.5% in its biggest daily percentage drop since March 13. Energy shares dropped along with oil prices as investors worried about a potential US debt default. The S&P 500 energy sector dropped 4.3%, the most of any major sector, followed by S&P financials, which fell 2.3%. With first-quarter reports over halfway through, analysts see aggregate earnings for S&P 500 companies declining 1.4% year-on-year, according to IBES data from Refinitiv Tuesday. The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 13 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 46 new highs and 407 new lows.

Pre-tax profit tripled to US$12.89 billion, beating an estimate of US$8.64 billion. The jump was partially driven by a reversal of an impairment linked to the delayed sale of its French retail arm and the booking of a gain from its purchase of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) UK business. HSBC is in the midst of a pivot to Asia while shedding unprofitable businesses in North America and Europe. It took over the UK operations of SVB for £1 (US$1.20 or RM5.57) this year, shortly after the failure of the California-based bank. Read also:HSBC CEO says SVB UK will form core of new global tech unit

This was despite a moderation in loan growth and current accounts and savings accounts (Casa). Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) said that loan applications increased month-on-month (m-o-m) by 29% in February and 23% in March after contracting from August 2022 to January 2023. “Including bank loans, total industry credit growth was 4.9% y-o-y, versus 5.3% y-o-y in February 2023,” he said. MIDF's top picks for the sector include Public Bank Bhd, with a "buy" call and a target price (TP) of RM5.08, and RHB Bank Bhd (buy; TP: RM6.74). Meanwhile, Maybank IB has made several "buy" calls for the sector, including CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (TP: RM6.60), Hong Leong Bank Bhd (TP: RM24.10), RHB Bank (TP: RM7.10), Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd (TP: RM22.20), AMMB Holdings Bhd (TP: RM5.15), and Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (TP: RM4.00).

(May 1): JPMorgan Chase & Co won the bidding to acquire First Republic Bank in an emergency government-led intervention, after private rescue efforts failed to fill a hole on the troubled lender’s balance sheet and customers yanked their deposits. JPMorgan will take over First Republic’s assets, including about US$173 billion (RM771.67 billion) of loans and US$30 billion of securities, as well as US$92 billion in deposits. The transaction makes JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank, even more massive — an outcome government officials have taken pains to avoid in the past. The bank advised its smaller rival in its attempt to find strategic alternatives, and Dimon was key in marshalling bank executives to inject the US$30 billion in deposits. The bank has been bought and sold several times over the years, with Merrill Lynch & Co paying US$1.8 billion to acquire First Republic in 2007.