MANILA More than three months have passed since $81 million was stolen in a brazen cyber-heist from Bangladesh’s central bank and sent to Manila – yet authorities in the Philippines appear no closer to nabbing those who laundered most of the money through a bank and casinos here. Nobody has been arrested, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) – the nation’s equivalent of the FBI – has […]
Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji/Files SEOUL Samsung Electronics said it had struck a deal with a Alibaba Group Holding for owners of its phones to be able to more easily make payments with Alipay accounts – a move it hopes will boost sales in the world’s biggest smartphone market. Users of Samsung Pay will also have the option of paying with their Alipay accounts without having separately access the Alipay […]
|By Matein Khalid| If ever there was a year to win or lose money big time in emerging markets, 2016 was it. As an investor in the world’s dark alleys (the Third World rebranded as EM!), I am forced to dissect geopolitical, government/monetary policy, foreign exchange, flows, positioning and current account, volatility and credit cycle trends across emerging markets to develop money making strategies. It helps that I […]
Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma attends the opening ceremony of the second annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen town of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, China, December 16, 2015. Reuters/Aly Song/Files SHANGHAI Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s chief Jack Ma has cancelled a speech at an anti-counterfeiting conference in the United States after the trade group behind it suspended the e-commerce giant’s recently gained membership. Alibaba has been dogged for […]
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) revealed a more than $1 billion stake in Apple Inc (AAPL.O) in a rare foray into the technology sector, which Buffett has largely shunned apart from a poorly performing investment in IBM (IBM.N). Shares of Apple rose 3.7 percent on the news, closing up $3.36 at $93.88. Berkshire made its investment in the first quarter, before the iPhone maker in April […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Saudi Arabia ranks among the top dozen foreign holders of U.S. debt, the Treasury Department disclosed, breaking its silence on the issue for the past four decades. “The stockpile of the world’s biggest oil exporter stood at $116.8 billion as of March, down almost 6 percent from a record in January, according to data the Treasury disclosed Monday in response to a Freedom-of-Information […]
SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) $1 billion investment in Chinese ride sharing company Didi Chuxing intensifies a race to acquire technology, talent and market access in a rapidly evolving global personal transportation market. Apple’s investment comes as auto and technology industry executives and investors are placing bets that self-driving car systems, electric vehicles and ride sharing will eventually converge to allow companies to sell rides in self-driving vehicles, […]
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook speaks during a event for students to learn to write computer code at the Apple store in the Manhattan borough of New York December 9, 2015. Reuters/Carlo Allegri/Files Apple Inc said on Thursday it has invested $1 billion in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, a move that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said would help the company better understand the […]
|By Matein Khalid| The April payrolls data demonstrated that US economic growth has hit a soft patch. The US economy only added 160 jobs in April, less than the expected 203,000 average in the first three months of 2016. One disappointing data point does not imply a macroeconomic trend reversal since the US economy added 2.8 million jobs between March 2015 and March 2016. Statistical and measurement errors […]
With at least four months to go before the much-anticipated iPhone 7 is released, Apple fan sites are buzzing with the latest rumor that the new device might lack the innovative Smart Connector feature. Introduced last fall with the new iPad Pro, the Smart Connector enables the transfer of both power and data between two Apple devices without the need for cords or Bluetooth pairing. For example, […]
|By Matein Khalid| Habib Bank Ltd is one of the Pakistan’s oldest, biggest retail/corporate banks, privatized last year with a 51% controlling stake held by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. Its recent price fall from 240 to 172 rupees (PKR, not INR!) is a compelling opportunity to own an undervalued, well managed proxy for consumption and credit offtake in a 190 million population country now […]
|By Matein Khalid| After five years of pathetic under-performance, emerging markets are easily the asset class to own in 2016, as Europe is hit by a resurgent Euro/Italian banking woes and Japan by institutional gaijin selling and a stronger yen. A dovish Janet Yellen has talked down the US dollar and deferred the timing of FOMC interest rate hikes. The Chinese Politburo and People’s Bank have managed to […]
An Apple iphone 6 with Apple Pay is shown in this photo illustration in Encinitas , California June 3, 2015. Reuters/Mike Blake SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc’s first-ever drop in quarterly iPhone sales has spurred Chief Executive Tim Cook to turn the spotlight on prospects for its services business, but the field is rife with competition and may prove challenging for a brand based on gadgets. Second-quarter earnings […]
Today at Auto China 2016, Nissan unveiled the all-new Tiida, announced a Maxima launch, and further strengthened their presence in China through their Intelligent Mobility platform. Tiida is an example of Nissan’s Intelligent Mobility initiative, whereby the automaker envisions a world free from emissions and vehicular fatalities. “With Intelligent Mobility, we are making this vision a reality,” said Daniele Schillaci, Executive Vice President, Global Marketing & Sales, Nissan […]
BANGKOK After more than two years of riding high on growing demand for cloud data storage, Thailand’s hard disk drive exporters are bracing for a fall from grace. Data due later on Monday will likely show Thai exports of hard disk drives (HDDs) in March extended a run of double-digit growth after jumping 45 percent in the first two months of 2016 to $1.1 billion. The rise […]
|By Matein Khalid| While the S&P500 fell only 1.2% last week, things will get uglier in April and May. Fed chair Yellen is playing with fire in talking down US interest rates and inflation risk. The Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street’s barometer of greed and fear, does not capture the rising global financial and political risks at only 15. Market breadth, sector divergence, smart money flows, sentiment, leadership, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Diamonds are losing their allure and prices are dropping below the levels that prevailed a decade ago. And diamond’s loss is mostly the gain of vacations, fancy handbags and high-tech gadgets. Diamonds are now cheaper than they were in 2006, says a Bloomberg report quoting data from PolishedPrices.com. Over the same period, the price of luxury items like cars, shoes and fine foods […]
A globe-trotting American investment banker who’s built a career on deals with Russia and its state-run gas company, Carter Page says his business has suffered directly from the U.S. economic sanctions imposed after Russia’s escalating involvement in the Ukraine. When Donald Trump named him last week as one of his foreign-policy advisers, Page says his e-mail inbox filled up with positive notes from Russian contacts. “So many people who I know and […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Dubai-based Al Shafar General Contracting (ASGC) plans to revive its stalled IPO plan at an appropriate time, according to chief executive Bishoy Azmy. Al Shafar had made significant progress with its planned IPO last year, but the plan was put on hold in the wake of the market turning bad following the trouble in the global stock markets over problems with the Chinese economy. The company […]
|By Matein Khalid| I was surprised by the dovishness of the Federal Reserve’s FOMC policy statement last week given the white hot US labour market and metrics of wage inflation. Hence the $29 rally in gold, the plunge in the Volatility Index to 15, the fall in the US dollar and the surge in oil/mining shares. The Yellen Fed is still worried about deflation risk in China, Europe […]
|By Lawrence Williams| The most recent call by Goldman Sachs to once again sell gold short has not, so far been a good move by the investment bank, and it comments in its latest research that it is down 5% on the call – with a stop loss indicated at 7%. But, it also reiterates that it remains confident in its bearish viewpoint and that it still stands […]
|By Rani Molla & Andrea Felsted| You’d have thought negative interest rates would fuel a boom in diamonds, antiques and fine wine, as people look for an alternative to stuffing cash under the mattress. But you’d be wrong: prices for all three are falling. While some “collectibles” such as vintage watches, luxury handbags and old cars are holding up pretty well, others are struggling. The phenomenon of safe havens […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Wealthy Chinese, who are emerging as a new force in overseas real estate investments, are consistently raising their profile in the Dubai property market as well. According to Nakheel sources, Chinese bought 70 percent of its almost 600 townhouses sold at Warsan Villa close to its Dragoncity shopping mall, where Chinese merchants offer their wares in the biggest Chinese market outside mainland China. […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The benefits of this prolonged period of very low oil prices are diminishing for some corporate finance sectors or even starting to have a negative impact on others, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report. The exploration & production, oilfield services, building materials and steel industries continue to bear the immediate effects of low oil prices. The global oversupply, combined with additional exports […]
