|By Ole Hansen| Global markets went quiet ahead of the long awaited Federal Open Market Committee meeting this past week as the first rate hike in almost ten years seemed possible. In the end Janet Yellen and her follow central bankers opted for no change and the statement following the announcement was surprisingly dovish. While US activity and employment data remains strong the extreme market volatility in late […]
The crew of craftsmen at Nashville-based Railyard Studios designs and hand-builds unique furniture using century-old reclaimed railway materials. Rustic, industrial age tables, desks, storage, seating, and more, all with original details like maker’s marks, and reclaimed “date nails” that denoted when the rail was 1st installed. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s […]
INTERNATIONAL. Emerging Asian economies remain a challenging operating environment according to new risk ratings released today. In their first jointly produced economic and political risk ratings, Oxford Economics and Control Risks have evaluated the outlook for 164 countries worldwide, producing for each country a score based on a weighting of key political, economic, business and security risks. The ratings, drawn from the new Economic and Political Risk […]
|By Matein Khalid| The world’s emerging markets have been savaged by multiple economic, banking, currency and political shocks since 2011. Global emerging markets are far too diverse and nuanced to be analyzed as a single asset class but now trade at a 24% valuation discount to developed markets. The financial markets now price draconian scenarios for earnings, exports, sovereign credit, industrial production and economic growth. The shortage […]
Middle East By C. J. CHIVERS and ERIC SCHMITT September 11, 2015 The United States has confirmed the presence of traces of sulfur mustard, a chemical warfare agent, on fragments of ordnance recently used by the Islamic State in attacks in Syria and Iraq, according to two American officials familiar with the results of laboratory analysis of the samples. The laboratory tests, which were also performed on scraps of clothing from victims, […]
Huawei, a leading information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, has launched a new Joint Innovation Center (JIC) in Saudi Arabia together with Saudi Aramco and King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). Located in Dhahran Techno Valley Innovation Center, the centre will be dedicated to the oil and gas industry, jointly working with the leading oil and gas company and the university, said a statement. […]
UAE. Latest business survey data pointed to a robust and accelerated expansion in Dubai’s private sector output during August. Furthermore, the rate of business activity growth was the fastest seen since May, with all three monitored sub-sectors reporting stronger output growth in the latest survey period. The rebound in activity growth was underpinned by a stronger expansion in new business, which increased at the strongest rate in […]
UAE. JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, has today published a special report on the middle-income housing segment in the Middle East and North Africa region. The report highlights the social and economic impact of a marked shortfall in the required supply of middle-income housing, suggesting that significant efforts are needed to address the current imbalance. The report clearly outlines that this shortage […]
|By Matein Khalid| A month ago, I published a column predicting history’s first Made in China global recession. Wall Street finally agreed with me last week after we witnessed the most brutal crash in global equities since October 2008. I have predicated a 20% fall in US equities several times in the last three months and the 1000 point drop in the Dow last week only reinforces […]
On opening day of the 2015 Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco yesterday, company CEO Brian Krzanich (pictured) gave attendees a look at a prototype smartphone integrated with an Intel RealSense 3D camera. The camera would be contained in a Google Project Tango smartphone. Holding up the prototype phone, about the size of an average Android smartphone, Krzanich said the device would “breaks the limits of what […]
ABU DHABI // Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and a 21-gun salute greeted Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the Presidential Airport on Sunday. Sheikh Mohammed, also Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, welcomed Mr Modi and invited him to inspect the honour guard. He said the visit, the first by an Indian prime minister in 34 years, came within the context […]
UAE. July’s survey data signalled another increase in overall business activity across Dubai’s private sector economy, which marked five-and-a-half years of continuous expansion. However, growth momentum moderated to its weakest recorded since March 2012 amid softer contributions from all three key sub-sectors monitored by the survey. Private sector companies operating in Dubai are nonetheless still highly upbeat about their business activity prospects for the year ahead, according […]
UAE. On 20 July 2015, the UAE announced its adoption of a Federal Law, Law No 2 of 2015 on Preventing Discrimination and Hatred (the “Law”). Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has announced that the law “guarantees the freedom of individuals from religious intolerance … and underpins the UAE’s policy of inclusiveness.” Although the main aim of the Law appears to be […]
UAE. Media outlets in the UAE and elsewhere have picked up on a variety of recent stories regarding the use of social media in the UAE. These stories include one about an Australian expat being arrested, jailed and deported after posting a picture of a car taking up two disabled parking spots. A similar story from earlier in the summer related to an appellate decision to overturn […]
While excess capacity and price volatility are among the key challenges faced by the steel industry, digital is shaping the future of metals in a complex business environment, said the managing director of Accenture metals. John Lichtenstein shared his passion for steel and how the industry can address growth challenges in an interview published by Accenture, a multinational management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company. What are […]
UAE. July data suggested that the UAE’s non-oil private sector regained some of the growth momentum that was lost at the end of the second quarter. Output and new orders both rose at sharper rates, contributing to a robust overall improvement in business conditions. Job creation was also sustained at a solid pace. On the price front, data highlighted divergent trends in July. The rate of cost […]
SAUDI ARABIA. Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector began the third quarter of 2015 on a positive note, with business conditions improving at the fastest pace in three months during July. Stronger growth of the sector as a whole was mainly driven by sharper expansions in both output and new orders, while purchasing activity also rose more quickly. However, data for employment bucked the general trend, as the […]
RAS LAFFAN, Qatar — The temperature hovered around 100 degrees on the jetty here, where a set of pipes were connected to a giant red-hulled ship. But the moisture in the air froze on the pipes and flaked off, creating snowlike flurries on the early summer evening. The incongruous sight is common on the Qatari ship, the Al Rekayyat, which carries a frigid fuel known as liquefied […]
|By Matein Khalid| Every global recession since the OPEC oil shocks of 1973-74 was triggered by a contraction in the $17 trillion US economic colossus. The failure of Lehman Brothers, the meltdown in US subprime mortgages, the impotence of the implicit “Fed/Uncle Sam” put, the ice age in the commercial paper and interbank money markets all tipped the US economy into recession in late 2008 and triggered […]
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar NEW YORK Has the “curse of the Dow” finally caught up with Apple? Shares of the iPhone maker have been in a rut since posting disappointing quarterly results in late June, falling to a six-month low of $113.25 on Tuesday. […]
DOHA, Qatar — Persian Gulf monarchies issued a cautious endorsement on Monday of the accord Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated last month to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. “This was the best option among other options,” said Khalid al-Attiyah, the foreign minister of Qatar, who hosted a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council that Mr. Kerry attended. In a news conference with Mr. Kerry, Mr. Attiyah said […]
FRANKFURT/SAN FRANCISCO BMW (BMWG.DE) and Apple (AAPL.O) may rekindle a courtship put on hold after an exploratory visit by executives of the world’s top maker of electronic gadgets to the headquarters of the word’s biggest seller of premium cars. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook went to BMW’s headquarters last year and senior Apple executives toured the carmaker’s Leipzig factory to learn how it manufactures the i3 electric […]
UAE. To preserve economic and social stability and continue with development plans, MENA governments are considering tax measures to broaden their revenue base and increase tax yields. The evolving tax landscape in the MENA region was discussed at the EY MENA Tax Conference held recently in London. The conference was attended by EY Tax specialists and senior finance and tax executives from major European companies with investments […]
|By K Raveendran| The deregulation of fuel prices in the UAE is no doubt a highly opportunistic move in the sense that the current oil price levels support market-driven pricing. But a major factor that prompted the decision is believed to be the recommendations of IMF. The UAE Ministry of Energy recently announced that domestic gasoline and diesel prices would be deregulated starting from 1 August 2015. […]
