Telling voters what they wanted to hear worked out well for Donald Trump. As Mexico shifts into election gear in 2017, another populist, anti-establishment figure will be hoping to follow in the US president-elect’s footsteps. Like Mr Trump, Andrés Manuel López Obrador is a love-him or loathe-him figure with a message that resonates with the underprivileged and the angry. In the case of Amlo, as the maverick […]
Via StockCats.com, A couple years ago I noticed a strange phenomenon that occurs around the end of each year – and the beginning of each new year. Dozens of necktie-clad stock market experts appear on CNBC (and in other media) and proclaim they “expect the market to rise 8-10%” the following year. Since this annual ritual seemed to encompass the boiler-plate narrative amongst the highly-paid Wall Street […]
A 2017 state budget plan released by Oman’s government on Sunday projected a smaller deficit but maintained tight curbs on spending because of low oil prices, which are hurting state revenues. Government spending this year is projected to total 11.7 billion rials ($30.4 billion) and revenues 8.7 billion rials, which would result in a deficit of 3 billion rials. That compares with the government’s original 2016 budget […]
Sherlock Holmes looks terrible. Tired, dishevelled and haunted, he shakes as his brother Mycroft says: “The roads we walk have demons beneath. And yours have been waiting a very long time.” Meanwhile, supposedly-dead arch-villain Moriarty repeats: “Did you miss me?” over and over again. And this is just the trailer for Sherlock season 4, which begins tonight on BBC First, available on OSN. With Sherlock boasting all […]
The women cowered behind a flimsy bedroom door. One of them dialed 911. Another clutched a stubby kitchen knife. Continue reading the main story Since leaving the corps in 2012, Siatta had been unable to switch off the habits of war. He was hypervigilant and struggled to relax. He watched people, sizing them up and scanning for threats. In the varying situations of everyday life, he constantly […]
ABUJA Nigeria’s government will seek a lasting peace settlement with militants in the oil-producing southern Niger Delta region in 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari said in a New Year’s message on Saturday. Attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria’s energy hub, coupled with low oil prices, helped push Africa’s biggest economy into recession – the first in 25 years – in the second quarter. Crude oil sales account for […]
Globalization, the path that the world economy has largely followed for decades, took some hefty blows in 2016. The election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and Britain’s decision to leave the European Union have raised questions over the future of tariff-free trade and companies’ freedom to move production to lower-cost countries. Borders are back in vogue. Economic nationalism is paying political dividends. “We […]
While you were doing your Christmas shopping, an old-fashioned takeover contest was being fought out in an obscure corner of the stock market. The target was MP Evans Group, one of the very few plantation companies left listed in London. The outcome shows that there are bargains to be found and that some institutional shareholders, at least, will take the long view over the quick buck. Evans […]
There are two stories we can tell about US higher education. In the first, public two- and four-year colleges face increasing student service costs, 20 percent less state support than they received before the recession, and a shortfall they pass onto students, who now graduate with an average of $30,000 of debt. In the second story, those institutions have contained costs, keeping tuition increases at inflationary levels, […]
The world was shocked this past week when mother and daughter Hollywood icons Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds passed away within just one day of each other. That shock turned to outrage when tasteless tweets by Cinnabon and comedian D.L. Hughley emerged via the online platform. Two Hollywood Icons Pass As we recently reported, famous Hollywood actress Carrie Fisher, who most famously appeared as Princess Leia in […]
Hindsight Capital beats the market, and all competition, every year. But how would it do over a decade? For the uninitiated, Hindsight Capital is an imaginary hedge fund that is blessed with perfect foresight, which features at this time of year in the Long View column. As real fund managers deploying real money have to hedge their bets, it always does far better than any of them […]
By Yashaswini Swamynathan Wall Street aimed to end 2016 on a positive note, setting up the Dow for its best annual performance since 2013 amid increasing optimism about the outlook for the economy. The markets have shown surprising resilience to major political events, such as Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president in November. U.S. stocks, […]
Financial markets in 2016 endured an escalation of negative interest rates, the collapse and subsequent rebound in commodity prices and fluctuating stock market valuations. The test for investors began in week one, as fears of a China slowdown roiled stock indices weeks after the Federal Reserve began to normalise policy. Over the ensuing months, the Brexit vote and US election would prove significant mile markers, shift thinking […]
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; December 30, 2017 As the 10th anniversary year of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, draws to a close, industry watchers can reflect on 12 months that have marked a historic milestone for the company and a pivotal moment for the renewable energy sector as a whole. During the decade since Masdar was established, the UAE has cemented a global reputation for […]
Pirates have leaked ‘Pokémon Prism,’ the fan-made project that was shut down by Nintendo. The game, which is a ROM hack for ‘Pokémon Crystal,’ allows players to explore the region of Naljo and encounter both familiar and new Pokémon. ( ‘Pokémon Prism’ | Reddit ) Last week, Nintendo shut down fan-made video game Pokémon Prism just days before it was supposed to launch by sending a cease-and-desist letter to […]
Saudi Arabian commercial bank deposits rose to their highest level this year in November, a sign that a liquidity crunch due to low oil prices is easing as the government liquidates foreign assets to pay its bills, official data showed on Wednesday. Bank deposits climbed to 1.624 trillion riyals ($433 billion) from 1.610 trillion riyals in October, the fourth straight month-on-month gain, the central bank figures showed. […]
The Singapore government has invested significant resources and efforts in building up a thriving startup environment, but its inhabitants must now take risks and look beyond local shores. Jeffrey Paine, general partner at Golden Gate Ventures, believed Singapore’s startup scene had progressed well over the last six to eight years. He said a number of successful startups had grown and executed well in the region, as well […]
Singapore Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Friday shrugging off a second consecutive week of U.S. crude oil inventory builds, with a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report late on Thursday indicating an unexpected rise in crude stocks. U.S. benchmark West Texas intermediate (WTI) CLc1 crude futures were up 18 cents or 0.33 percent to $53.95 at 0105 GMT after settling 29 cents lower at […]
Wall Street’s most important equity barometer is on track for its biggest annual recovery since the beginning of the bull market, underscoring the sharp turn in investor sentiment following the worst start to a year on record. The S&P 500 index is poised for an 11 per cent gain in 2016, shaking off a brutal start that at its lowest point in February left it down 10.5 […]
“We have seen pro-Israeli presidents all along, and Israel First was the standard policy of the United States of America over the last 50-plus years,” Mr. Abdulla said. “But Trump is going much further than that. It seems he is even more Zionist than the Zionists.” Continue reading the main story Sympathy for the Palestinians has historically been among the few issues that united Arabs across political […]
Russia is set to round off a year of rejuvenated global standing with the distinction of watching its currency stand apart from other major economies and resist US dollar strength. The rouble has been the only major currency to appreciate against the dollar since the end of September and, so far this year, has outperformed rivals, up more than 21 per cent against the dollar to Rbs60.48. […]
The start of a new year is a time when many are angling to follow a healthier path. But aiming towards a 2017 filled with wellbeing and self-care does not have to be an arduous journey. Chiaro Campo, spa manager of the award-winning T Spa at the Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lake Como, Italy, shares 10 simple steps to promote wellbeing for the next 12 months and […]
(Image: file photo) Legacy vendors and the cloud The cloud has devastated revenue, growth and margins of legacy vendors. Any CFO can look online to see what similar capacity, performance, and higher availability costs compared to the huge capital costs of traditional RAID arrays. 2016 saw the world’s largest independent storage company — EMC — bought by Dell, after shopping itself to all the big system vendors. […]
By Jamie McGeever | LONDON LONDON European shares, the dollar and bond yields fell on Thursday, with traders using the quiet holiday period to book some profit on the rise that had lifted all three to multi-year and in some cases record highs recently. Weakness in European financial stocks helped push broader indices into the red, extending the slippage after soft U.S. housing data the previous day. […]
