This Week at InvestKaki:

• 😲 Trump fired Lisa Cook!

• 🔀 Temasek Reorganisation

• 😉 Nvidia Still Going Strong

• 🏦 Central Bank Independence Explained

• 📢 Spotlight on Eli Lily

Moving on, here are the news that shocked the world…

Trump Firing $SPX ( ▼ 0.64% ) : President Trump is firing Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook for allegedly committing mortgage fraud. Looks like central bank independence is down the drain [Read More] 🔀 

Nvidia $NVDA ( ▼ 3.33% )  : After negotiating a deal with Trump, Nvidia went silent on sales forecast for China. No matter, financial results for 2Q 2025 are going strong. [Read More]

Eli Lily $LLY ( ▲ 0.09% )  : Eli Lily’s daily obesity pill just passed its final-stage trial and is set to apply for approval with global regulators. [Read More]

Kohl’s $KSS ( ▼ 2.02% )  : Kohl’s not cooling off yet. 2Q 2025 earnings is a massive beat despite the search for a new CEO and declining sales [Read More]

Dr Pepper x JDE $KDP ( ▼ 0.68% )  : It sure is spicy. Dr Pepper is acquiring Dutch coffee and tea company, JDE Peet for US$18 billion to boost its struggling U.S. coffee business [Read More]

Here are the news covering the Asia market…

Cambricon Tech: Cambricon Technologies, a Chinese semiconductor company, saw its fortunes skyrocket as DeepSeek unveils its AI program that can use local Chinese chips [Read More]

Temasek: Temasek has reorganised its investment units into three - Temasek Global Investments, Temasek Singapore and Temasek Partnership Solutions [Read More]

JD REIT: JD’s property arm is planning to launch a Singapore-based real estate investment trust that is worth US$1 billion with Partners Group and EZA Hill Property [Read More]

Guocoland: Due to ongoing China property woes, Guocoland reported a 17% decline in earnings for 2025. However, its revenue is still up by 3% [Read More]

Lum Chang: Lum Chang’s debut is going well. Profit doubled for full-year 2025 even though it reported a revenue decline of 8% [Read More]

See below for our handpicked analyst reports:

When President Trump decided to fire Federal Reserve’s governor, Lisa Cook, many people took to social media to announce

“Death of central bank independence”

It’s hard to blame them. For months, President Trump has been pressuring the Federal Reserve and Jerome Powell to cut interest rates even though the Fed is supposed to be independent from the President.

So what is central bank independence?

Put simply, a central bank is independent when it has the freedom and power to conduct monetary policy without interference from anyone.

And that includes the President.

Why is this important?

A central bank’s role is to

• Promote stable economic growth

• Keep inflation low and stable

• Manage the financial system

Let’s say the economy is not doing too well, a central bank is supposed to reduce interest rates to stimulate consumption and investment.

If inflation is too high, it is supposed to increase interest rates to bring down demand and inflation.

If the financial system is in trouble, it is supposed to enact regulations and measures to help the financial system.

That’s how market investors and players have confidence in the central bank. They trust that the central bank will do its job without interference from anyone.

However, if for some reason, there is a certain someone who enacted tariffs in a haphazard way. Prices are going up, and the economy is not doing well.

And it looks bad on the person doing the tariffs.

He turns around and blames the central bank for not helping him.

Where is the confidence of a central bank being independent then?

Eli Lily is here. And it’s here to stay.

The drugs and pharmaceutical research company has just announced that its daily weight loss and diabetes pills, orforglipron have finished late-stage trials.

All that’s left now is to seek approval from the authorities globally.

So, why is this important?

Just last year, the Ozempic craze took over the world. It could

• Reduce blood sugar levels

• Most importantly, reduce eating appetite that helps with weight loss

Before this, the limitation for many diabetic medications such as insulin was that it made the person hungrier when taking the medication. Hence, they gained weight.

After that, metformin helped curb the hunger and also helped reduce sugar levels.

Now, GLP-1s drugs such as Ozempic and orforglipron even reduces your appetite, opening up a whole new market for weight losses.

Eli Lily’s daily weight loss pill’s results are

• 10.5% loss in its patient’s weight or 23 pounds in 72 weeks

• Most of its patients no longer are diagnosed as diabetic

All Eli Lily has to do now is to get approval for its drug to be sold, and a whole new revenue could open up for the company.

Hope the above is fruitful for you all..

Cheers,
James Yeo