|By Matein Khalid| As a student of investing and the son of a painter/art historian, I cherish art as a visceral, spiritual value but am also intrigued by its historical linkage to banking and the financial markets. The happiest moments of my life have been spent in the Prado, Tate, Hermitage, Rijksmuseum, Ufizi, MOMA, Met, the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and so […]
The logo of U.S. memory chip maker MicronTechnology is pictured at their booth at an industrial fair in Frankfurt, Germany, July 14, 2015. Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) has told China’s Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd that its $23 billion acquisition offer is not realistic because U.S. authorities would block the deal due to national security concerns, according to people familiar with the matter. The Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker’s […]
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution that creates the basis for international economic sanctions against Iran to be lifted, a move that incited a furious reaction in Israel and potentially sets up an angry showdown in Congress. The 15-0 vote for approval of the resolution — 104 pages long including annexes and lists — was written in Vienna by […]
TEHRAN — Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, voiced support on Saturday for his country’s nuclear deal with world powers while emphasizing that it did not signal an end to Iran’s hostility toward the United States and its allies, especially Israel. “Their actions in the region are 180 degrees different from ours,” he said. Speaking after a special prayer marking the end of the Muslim […]
Redmond is acquiring field service management solutions provider FieldOne Systems to beef up its CRM business. Here’s the pitch in a nutshell: Consumers expect companies to engage with them in new, more convenient ways. That includes field service capabilities. Once it integrates FieldOne’s technology into Dynamics CRM, Microsoft is convinced that its clients can better manage and deliver service to customers in the field. “Field service management […]
Microsoft is touting the latest update to its operating system, due for release starting July 29, with the line, “It’s the Windows you know, only better.” Underscoring the distance that Microsoft wants to put between the new OS and the previous version is the fact that it’s named Windows 10 — there will be no “9” to succeed the less-than-beloved Windows 8. Windows 10 will also be […]
Google Inc’s (GOOGL.O) shares soared as much as 16.8 percent on Friday, crossing the $700 mark and adding nearly $68 billion to its market value, as strong growth in YouTube viewership allayed concerns about Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) push into video. The stock’s surge, which sent the Nasdaq composite index to a record intraday high, came a day after Google reported better-than-expected profit for the first time in […]
Relatives of three Americans imprisoned in Iran expressed optimism on Wednesday that the nuclear agreement reached in Vienna had removed a significant political obstacle to the United States government’s efforts to secure their release. But the relatives also said they had received no specific indications that anything had changed, tempering their excitement. “We obviously hope that this is moving on, and now we can see some movement,” […]
VIENNA — One by one, the roadblocks to a nuclear accord between Iran and the United States had been painstakingly cleared. But as the negotiations went into their third week in the neoclassical Coburg Palace hotel this month, a major dispute lingered over whether a ban on Iran’s ability to purchase conventional weapons and missile technology would remain in place. The American delegation, led by Secretary of […]
A man looks at a smartphone at the Intel booth during the 2015 Computex exhibition at the TWTC Nangang exhibition hall in Taipei, Taiwan, June 2, 2015. Reuters/Pichi Chuang Intel Corp (INTC.O) reported better-than-expected quarterly results on Wednesday as growth in its data centres and Internet-of-Things businesses helped offset weak demand for personal computers that use the company’s chips. Shares of the world’s largest chipmaker, which also […]
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday urged lawmakers to support the nuclear deal reached with Iran, saying that failure to put it into effect would increase the likelihood of war in the Middle East and accelerate a nuclear arms race in the region that would threaten the safety of the United States. “That’s the choice that we face,” Mr. Obama said in opening comments at a news […]
UAE. KPMG’s third annual ‘Top of Mind’ consumer survey, in conjunction with the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), has found that growth and top-line expansion, consumer trust and a sound omni-channel strategy are the top priorities for consumer company executives – both globally and in the UAE. KPMG and CGF surveyed close to 550 senior consumer, manufacturing and retail executives globally to gain insight into the economy, the […]
Anti-Houthi militiamen on Tuesday at the entrance to Aden’s international airport, which they recaptured from Shiite Houthi rebels. By SAEED AL-BATATI and KAREEM FAHIM July 14, 2015 AL MUKALLA, Yemen — Southern fighters battling Houthi rebels seized control of the international airport in Yemen’s port city of Aden on Tuesday, dealing the Houthis their most significant defeat in the city since they stormed it more than three months ago, witnesses and […]
Video | Accord is ‘Bad Mistake,’ Netanyahu Says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the nuclear agreement would enable Iran to continue its “aggression and terror” throughout the region. By ISABEL KERSHNER July 14, 2015 JERUSALEM — Furiously denouncing the accord to limit Iran’s nuclear program on Tuesday as “a historic mistake,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would not be bound by the agreement and warned […]
|By Matein Khalid| Last week was a roller coaster and the Nikkei Dow closed at 19,800. Abenomics has had a seismic impact on Japan’s economy, financial markets and banking system. The yen has fallen from 76 on the eve of the election in 2012 to 122 against the US dollar. Corporate profits have exploded. Land price rises, job growth, bonuses, capex and consumer spending have lifted Japan […]
A worker works on a Samsung outdoor advertisement installed atop an office building in central Seoul March 23, 2015. Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji/Files SEOUL With four days to go in a landmark proxy battle, a Samsung firm is going all out to coax a legion of undeclared investors into backing an $8 billion merger with a sister company that is key to the future of the country’s biggest family-run […]
Reporter’s Notebook By DAVID E. SANGER and MICHAEL R. GORDON July 11, 2015 VIENNA — Absent real pronouncements 11 days after the hard-and-fast deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran, people have begun looking to the balconies to determine if a deal is imminent. Well, one balcony: Mohammad Javad Zarif’s, Iran’s foreign minister, who on Saturday spent a lot of time in the sun. As the diplomacy churned on, Mr. Zarif was reading […]
An employee stands in front of the Apple flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York April 22, 2015. Reuters/Brendan McDermid/Files WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO U.S. government antitrust regulators are looking into claims about whether Apple’s treatment of rival streaming music apps is illegal under antitrust law, according to three industry sources. Apple recently launched a new music streaming service, Apple Music. It also provides the App Store platform […]
UAE. Private sector businesses in Dubai signalled further strong increases in business activity and new orders in June, though the rates of expansion moderated to 27- and 53-month lows, respectively. Despite softer increases in activity and new work, Dubai private sector companies were increasingly optimistic towards the year-ahead, with the degree of positive sentiment reaching a 19-month high. Furthermore, increased confidence towards the business outlook underpinned the […]
DUBAI // Why do women wear black and men white? Is everybody in the UAE rich because of oil? These were just some of the questions and misconceptions young Emiratis tackled about women and life in the UAE from visitors to the UAE pavilion at Milan Expo 2015. The questions posed by curious visitors covered religion, history, women’s rights and education. The Emiratis hope their answers helped […]
If you read the news regularly, you read about data breaches and massive hacks just about every week. That can make you a little nervous about safeguarding your financial information. A new MasterCard survey reveals you are not alone. Seventy-seven percent of consumers are anxious about their personal and financial information being hacked. In fact, the fear of a hack is higher than the fear of compromised […]
|By Matein Khalid| De Gaulle dissed gold as a “barbarous relic” and Lenin sneered the yellow metal was fit only to “pave capitalist latrines”. So what? Gold has been an monetary metal in human history for centuries, back to the time of Pharonic Egypt, the Inca Empire, King Midas and the Spanish conquistadores of Mexico. While President Nixon removed the gold/dollar Bretton Woods linkage in 1971 and […]
SAN FRANCISCO Microsoft Inc’s (MSFT.O) future in mobile devices likely hinges on the software maker’s ability to convince developers to create apps for the phone version of Windows 10 after its ill-fated Nokia acquisition helped trigger 7,800 layoffs. The job cuts announcement is an acknowledgement that its 2013 $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia was never going to help paltry sales of its Windows Phone, and that it […]
UAE. Middle East employers must learn how to adapt to the unique demands of Generation Z in order to attract and retain new talent as we enter a new era of digital revolution, regional experts have warned. PA Consulting Group says failure to grasp how to motivate and communicate with this entrepreneurial group of people may threaten the survival of those organisations reluctant to change. A three-part […]
