Cultivating A Digitally Agile Generation

Samantha Luan

Economic

Stocks

Forex

Summary:

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a fixture in education and work, nurturing digital agility will be essential for students to thrive in a constantly shifting technological world.

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a fixture in education and work, nurturing digital agility will be essential for students to thrive in a constantly shifting technological world.“It’s not about learning how to use a computer or virtual reality sets, because we realised these are going to change all the time. The ability for students to accept and be comfortable with the digital space, that, we feel, is very important to what we as educators need to cultivate,” said BK Gan, president and chief executive officer of Taylor’s Schools.The fundamental idea is to blend academic achievements through the development of digital agile capabilities by giving students an appropriate environment to challenge their minds and prevent cognitive outsourcing. Cognitive outsourcing is the action of handing over information collection and processing to others, and in this case, devices.

“It is critical that our kids in the classrooms do not outsource their thinking because the technology is now available for them to do that. We want to make sure that they are able to use it as a tool for entrepreneurial reasons.“Do you remember your house phone number? If you don’t, that’s cognitive outsourcing of your memory. Let’s say you want to drive somewhere. If you’ve been there before, do you remember the roads? People will most likely use Google Maps. Everything has been outsourced nowadays,” said Gan.To get students on track, computer science classes are made compulsory in the curriculum until Year 9, and students are tasked with coding on an application called Swift. Each child that graduates will carry the knowledge and ability to properly code an app.

James Abela, director of digital learning and entrepreneurship at Garden International School (GIS), shared that the AI chatbot on the GIS webpage was developed by students themselves. GIS is a subsidiary of the Taylor’s Education Group (TEG).These classes are also injected into the syllabus starting from kindergarten years, where educators will start from teaching children about computational thinking through hands-on activities involving small robots. This helps students develop problem solving abilities, but rather than calling it a ‘subject’, it is masked as a play activity for younger kids.

The essence of combining gamification of learning with technology and AI carries onto the primary and secondary school years, as well for the students to become more involved and attentive in class.Abela himself has previously written a book on how gamification of learning was able to help students stay engaged with their education throughout the pandemic lockdown. With AI and technology, the concept becomes much easier to implement.“It starts with the kindergarten kids to build their foundation, so they can think in a very logical way and look at new things in the digital space without fear, because we know that things will move very fast in the digital age,” said Abela.

“Learning through doing is so much more powerful than learning through a lecture, and that is why computing has become so powerful, because it is directly relevant and it encourages resilience.”He shares that the schools have spent at least a quarter of a million ringgit to invest in the proper technology to make the current curriculum a reality.One example of Taylor’s Schools initiatives is the 1:1 Apple programme, where the school’s partnership with the smartphone company provides students with an iPad as a technological tool for learning. The programme has been adopted since 2012 to reflect a student’s regular use of technology to cultivate skills in using technological tools efficiently and effectively.

This also helps keep up to date when rolling out new software for students to be kept in the loop of current technological developments.Taylor’s is cognisant of their students’ privacy, using Gemini as their chosen AI tool due to their agreement with Google to not use personal data in their AI training.

AI in the classroom

Educators can also be empowered by the usage of AI and technology by creating a classroom environment that can be catered to each and every student to realise their full potential.This allows students to experiment with a variety of options to express themselves and unlock new pathways to discover the most optimal learning methods for each child. With new technologies being introduced to the classroom, this becomes increasingly easier to implement.“If we want to truly personalise lessons, we can fully differentiate the task. The students have a choice to do a video, a podcast, to write it, or in some cases, maybe an art piece. It’s still the same task in the end,” said Abela.

“What matters is the quality of students’ thinking. The devices enable them to express themselves and give them options to learn in many different ways.”Additionally, using AI and tech in the classroom allows for teachers to be more in tune with the learning progress of the students. Abela shared how students who struggle with certain classes can privately receive support through their devices and software. This is also important as it reduces the embarrassment from peers from being singled out.The examination procedure, however, does not allow the use of AI to ensure that students do not exploit the technology by bypassing the critical thinking process, and must instead rely on their own cultivated knowledge to pass their tests.

This is part of Taylor’s Schools’ responsibility to cultivate an ethical usage of AI and foster a sense of responsibility when using their digital skills.Abela shares an example where some of their students have made an exercising game, or “exergame”, where the gamification for fitness was applied as a responsible use of technology to make people healthier.“We don’t want to be simply teaching prompt engineering, because AI is already getting better at understanding people. What we need to do is look at the sources underneath,” he says.“You need to have curated content so that the students actually know what good, quality, trusted knowledge is. [Some people don’t use] AI because they know it can’t be trusted in terms of content, so in their younger years, we need to teach the children what is data and trusted sources.”

Taylor’s School continues to be cautious of the excessive use of AI by implementing a traffic light system in regards to students’ usage of AI in their learning. A green signifies that using AI will have no effect on their education, a yellow indicates that the use of AI may harm the learning progress, and red would mean that the use of AI will result in stunted learning.Educators also receive training for half a day every with levels of training to familiarise themselves and keep up with the evolving landscape of technology, be it anything from basics to to subject specifics. This is conducted throughout Taylor’s Schools with an estimated 1,500 garden teachers being trained across its operating regions.

Source: Theedgemarkets

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Adam

Commodity

Crude Oil Prices Firm as Oversupply Fears Ease, But Technical Pressure Remains

Daily Light Crude Oil Futures

Light crude oil futures are trading slightly higher on Tuesday, consolidating within a narrow $1.50 range for a third consecutive session.

After finding support at $55.96 on Monday—just above a key long-term level at $55.27—prices have rebounded to $57.67. Despite this modest recovery, upside momentum remains limited, capped by significant technical resistance at the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

At 12:46 GMT, Light Crude Oil Futures are trading $57.61, up $0.59 or +1.03%.

Oil Market Rebounds After Recent Lows

Oil prices are stabilizing following a steep decline on Monday, when they hit their lowest levels since early May. Traders reacted to concerns over a potential supply glut and deteriorating demand outlook due to the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. However, Tuesday’s recovery reflects easing fears of near-term oversupply and a growing sentiment that recent selloffs may have been overdone.

The market had priced in the impact of OPEC+ supply additions and slowing global demand. Yet, signs are emerging that fundamentals may not deteriorate as sharply as previously feared.

Both West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude have moved into contango—a market structure where near-term prices are lower than longer-dated contracts—often seen as a signal of weakening demand and ample supply. Still, analysts caution that the contango is not yet severe enough to suggest a major imbalance.

Analysts Question Severity of Supply Glut

Despite the contango structure, several analysts argue the current fundamentals do not support panic selling. Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank noted that market behavior doesn’t yet reflect conditions that would drive significant inventory builds.

UBS’s Giovanni Staunovo echoed this, saying the futures curve has not steepened into a “super contango,” which would signal a far more serious surplus as projected by the International Energy Agency.

These observations suggest that the oil market may be factoring in a less severe oversupply situation, potentially driven by stable demand trends and limited stock builds, rather than a broad-based glut.

U.S. Inventory Data in Focus

Traders are also closely watching U.S. inventory levels for confirmation. Preliminary estimates from a Reuters poll indicate that crude stocks likely rose last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell.

Official data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will provide clearer direction later in the week. Previous reports showed larger-than-expected crude builds but deeper product draws, offering mixed signals on underlying demand strength.

Short-Term Oil Prices Forecast: Bearish Bias with Limited Upside

Despite today’s modest rebound, the broader tone remains bearish as long as prices stay below key technical resistance levels. Continued downward pressure from the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, combined with a persistent contango structure, points to weak near-term sentiment.

While some short-covering may lift prices toward the $59.21 retracement level, traders remain cautious, with upside capped unless fundamental or technical catalysts shift meaningfully.

Source: fxempire

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Adam

Stocks

NASDAQ 100 Technical Analysis

The Nasdaq 100 is pretty quiet in pre-market trading on Tuesday as we’re just hanging around all-time highs. We are slightly negative, but when I say it slightly, I mean just that, barely negative. All things being equal, I think a short-term pullbacks could end up being the order of the day for the NASDAQ 100, but I wouldn’t read much into it. I don’t think anything’s changing here. This is a market that’s been bullish for quite some time. And now that it closed above the 25,000 level again, it might attract a little bit more confidence in the upside. Either way, even if we pull back, I’m looking to buy the dip.

Dow Jones 30 Technical Analysis

The Dow Jones 30 is again just a few basis points negative in pre-market trading, basically just hanging out at the all-time highs. This tells me that the market is more likely than not to continue to be bullish, and I do think you have a situation where traders will offer short-term pullbacks in order to start buying as their plan, with the 50-day EMA underneath near the 45,750 level offering a short-term floor. Either way, this is the same situation. I just don’t have any interest in shorting this market. I do think that when it falls, it is more likely than not to offer buying opportunities.

S&P 500 Technical Analysis

The S&P 500 remains fairly quiet in the early hours on Tuesday, as it hovers around the 6,800 level. An area that I think a lot of people will be looking for a potential breakout. I do expect 6,800 to be a bit of a short-term problem. So, with that being said, if we can break above there, then I think that shows that more FOMO and momentum come back into the fray.

We still haven’t broken above the top of that wipeout candlestick from Friday, the 10th of October, but once we do, that wipes out the last vestiges of that little bit of panic after Trump threatened China with more tariffs. I think it’s really only a matter of time. And in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see it happen during the session. If we do pull back again, I think that offers a buying opportunity.

Source: fxempire

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Damon

Commodity

Precious metals have been clubbed like a bay seal this morning with Gold down 4%...

Silver is doing even worse, down almost7%...

A little context is useful...

Meanwhile, we note that silver's dramatic underperformance came at critical support levels against gold (at the 80x ratio that has been significant for years)...

Additionally, relative to crypto, gold had got back to a key resistance level (that acted as serious support for the BTC/Gold ratio twice before - the election and liberation day)...

On the 'bright' side, this decline has dragged gold and silver back from perilously overbought levels...

UBS traders say that the next level to watch is the Oct. 15 low at 4165, before 4095/4100 which held on dips on Oct. 14; then it is the 4060 level which briefly capped the advance on Oct. 8/9.

Source: Zero Hedge

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Samantha Luan

Forex

Political

Economic

It is no longer clear that Turkey provides a counterweight to Iran in the Middle East. Ankara has ambitions of its own.

Under the guise of leading a moderate Sunni axis and assisting the West against Iran’s radical Shia bloc, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey is advancing a far more ambitious vision: the restoration of Turkey’s regional hegemony.Ankara’s economic and diplomatic ties with the West, including its NATO membership, are tactical tools to attain regional hegemony rather than genuine commitments to shared interests with the United States. Turkey’s ultimate objective is to reclaim the influence once enjoyed by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled vast swaths of Asia, Europe, and Africa for over six centuries. It follows that these ambitions threaten US, Western, and Israeli interests alike.

The New Islamist Axis

The close relationship between Turkey and Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Shara, signals a dangerous realignment. Despite Western hopes that the collapse of the Iran-led axis in Syria would stabilize the region, the “Erdoğan-Shara axis” risks replacing one radical bloc with another.

Analysts such as Dr. Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak warn that Turkey is now the de facto powerbroker in Syria, directing events via its proxies. Turkish-led “joint operations commands” now reportedly coordinate activity across Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon. While this may weaken Iran’s footprint, it empowers Ankara’s Islamist ambitions rather than promoting peacebuilding in Syria.Israel and Syria are now publicly admitting to pushing forward a peace agreement under the auspices of the United States. Yet given Erdoğan’s strong influence in Syria, these ambitions may face hardships—or worse, come to fruition under an innocent guise that would later entail heavy costs.

NATO’s “Double Agent”

Even as Turkey seeks to curb Iranian and Russian influence, its hardly an ally for either Israel or the West. At an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in June, Erdoğan openly backed Iran, a country recognized by the US as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, declaring, “We are optimistic that victory will be Iran’s,” while accusing Israel of igniting the region. His statements reveal both solidarity with sanctioned adversaries and claims to regional leadership over the Islamic world.

Meanwhile, Erdoğan continues to whitewash Hamas, recently describing it as a “resistance movement,” not a terrorist group, in an interview with Fox News. The Turkish president significantly escalated his rhetoric since the beginning of the Gaza war, accusing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing “genocide” in Gaza, “no less than what Hitler did.” He proudly leads massive rallies around the country, even going as far as threatening to “invade” Israel last year, “just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya.”

Indeed, Turkey has been hosting and harboring Hamas leaders on its soil for years, providing them with financial networks in defiance of US sanctions. Turkey’s ties with Hamas are longstanding and deep—politically, financially, and operationally. Hamas has established real estate companies, investment funds, and sham NGOs in Turkey, an enterprise whose scale has turned Turkey into a major Hamas financial hub, overseeing assets worth more than half a billion dollars.Hamas operatives have also received training in Turkey, returning with funds and directives to escalate attacks against Israel. Inter alia, this was proven in documents seized by the IDF in the Gaza Strip, exposing Hamas’ “Shadow Unit”—an undercover squad that left Gaza to Iran via Turkey for guidance and sponsorship in 2019. Ankara justifies its support through euphemisms that attempt to distinguish Hamas as a political, rather than a terrorist entity.

No Longer the Lesser Evil

Meanwhile, Ankara has been building the largest military around the Mediterranean, expanding defense exports to $7.1 billion in 2024, and gaining combat experience in Syria, Libya, and the Caucasus. Though lacking stealth aircraft and a long-range ballistic missile arsenal, Turkey seeks to fill these gaps through US arms purchases.

Erdoğan’s threats go beyond Israel. In 2022, he threatened to launch ballistic missiles at Greece. Turkey still illegally occupies Northern Cyprus, a move firmly condemned by the European Union, of which Cyprus is part. During a July 2024 visit to the territory, Erdoğan declared his intention to establish a military base there.

The West’s hope that Turkey will counterbalance Iran’s Shia axis misreads Ankara’s intentions. As recent Iran-Turkey defense dialogues demonstrate, the two share growing military and intelligence cooperation despite sectarian differences. In 2025, Tehran’s defense minister hailed Turkey as a partner in facing “the challenges before the Islamic world.”Finally, Turkey’s nuclear ambitions should keep the West alert. Though Turkey lacks an independent nuclear arsenal, it hosts 50 US-controlled warheads and is now signaling a civilian nuclear drive that could evolve militarily. In September 2025, Ankara announced plans for domestic reactor development and nationwide bunker construction, including nuclear shelters.

Systemic Islamization

Under Erdoğan, Turkish society has undergone systematic Islamization, a reverse of Atatürk’s secular legacy. The government cultivates a conservative Sunni extremist ideology, mirroring Iran’s revolutionary model.

Turkey courts Western engagement through trade, defense procurement, joint military exercises with the United States, and a rhetoric of partnership—as illustrated in Erdoğan’s latest visit to Washington to meet President Trump. Yet this dual-track strategy—appearing as a NATO ally while empowering jihadist actors—mirrors Iran’s former guise as a stabilizer against ISIS.Turkey’s assertive foreign policy, Islamist orientation, and cooperation with US-designated terror groups have increasingly rendered it an unreliable ally and emerging revisionist power. Its neo-Ottoman aspirations pose a strategic challenge that Washington, NATO, and Jerusalem can no longer afford to ignore.

It is now unavoidable to ramp up demands on Erdoğan before any further strengthening of the Turkish-Western alliance—if not reevaluate Turkey’s role in the West’s security architecture altogether. The West currently underestimates Turkey’s ambitions, focuses on short-sighted moves while ignoring its destabilizing and aggressive military moves and ties with radical terrorist groups.The logic of “the lesser evil”—choosing Turkey over Iran—has run its course. It is of the essence to shift from accommodation to vigilance with Turkey, scrutinizing its role in keeping regional stability and participation in the global security burden sharing, and its status as a legitimate Western partner. Until it changes its course, Ankara has now established itself as a strategic competitor, rather than a partner, to the US international security interests.

Source: The National Interest

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Adam

Commodity

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, after a fall in the previous session, on easing concerns about an oversupplied market and the trade dispute between the U.S. and China, the world's top two oil consumers.

Brent crude futures were up 33 cents, or 0.54%, at $61.34 a barrel at 1150 GMT. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) contract for November delivery , set to expire on Tuesday, was up 54 cents, or 0.9%, to $58.06.

Prices hit the lowest since early May on Monday on the concerns about oversupply and slowing economic growth resulting from an escalation in the U.S.-China trade dispute and OPEC+ pushing ahead with plans to add more oil to the market.

US CRUDE STOCKPILES LIKELY ROSE LAST WEEK

Both WTI and Brent have shifted to contango market structures, where prices for immediate supply are lower than for later delivery and which typically indicate that near-term supply is abundant and demand is declining.

Still, some analysts said the concerns over an oil glut were overblown.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said the market structure had not yet shifted to levels that would encourage large stock builds.

"This may signal a market reluctant to fully price in the anticipated surplus — perhaps reflecting expectations that the glut will prove smaller than feared," he said.

The International Energy Agency's forecast for a massive surplus would lead to a strongly upward-sloped futures curve, called super contango, but that has not emerged so far, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said in a note.

One of the main factors supporting the market has been oil inventories and fuel demand. A preliminary Reuters poll on Monday showed that U.S. crude oil stockpiles likely rose last week while those for gasoline and diesel are expected to fall, ahead of weekly reports from the American Petroleum Institute and the EIA.

For the week ending October 10, crude builds were more than expected, while gasoline and diesel stocks declined more than forecast.

Source: reuters

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Michelle

Commodity

Economic

Gold prices fell over 3% on Tuesday, as the dollar firmed and investors booked profits after expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts and sustained safe-haven demand drove the yellow metal to a fresh record high in the previous session.

Spot goldwas down 3.5% at $4,203.89 per ounce, as of 09:05 a.m. ET (1305 GMT), its steepest fall since November 2020.

U.S. gold futuresfor December delivery fell 3.3% to $4,217.80 per ounce.

Prices scaled an all-time peak of $4,381.21 on Monday and have gained over 60% this year, bolstered by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, rate cut bets and sustained central bank buying.

"Gold dips were being bought as recently as yesterday, but the sharp jump in volatility at the highs over the past week is flashing caution and may encourage at least short-term profit-taking," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.

The dollar indexrose 0.4%, making bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Wall Street looked poised for a calm start, with futures trimming earlier losses as investors assess a wave of largely positive earnings from corporate giants.

"Better risk appetite in the general marketplace early this week is bearish for the safe-haven metals," said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, in a note.

Traders now await the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data, delayed due to the ongoing U.S. shutdown, due on Friday. September's figures are expected to show a 3.1% year-on-year rise. Markets expect that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its meeting next week.

Gold, a non-yielding asset, tends to benefit in a low-interest rate environment.

Investors are also awaiting U.S. President Donald Trump's upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week.

Spot silverdropped 5.2% to $49.68 per ounce.

"Silver is stumbling badly today and has dragged the entire complex lower," said Wong.

"It appears we have a short-term top at $54 and while sentiment wobbles under $50, silver is likely to trade sideways with substantial volatility as long as gold remains relatively firm."

Elsewhere, platinumshed 4.3% to $1,568.25 and palladiumlost 5.8% to $1,410.