By Matein Khalid The S&P 500 index trades at 2990 as I write. The risk-reward calculus on the broad index no longer flashes a buy signal to me. The economic data around the world has deteriorated at an accelerating pace, as the decline in global PMI’s, 9% fall in German factory orders and $13 trillion in in government debt trading at negative interest rates attest. Commodities prices […]
Arabian Post Staff A UAE bid to become a globally recognized internet security watchdog, empowered to certify the safety of websites for Firefox users, has failed with the browser maker Mozilla rejecting the country’s bid. Websites seeking designation as safe by internet browsers have to be certified by an outside organization, which will confirm their identity and vouch for their security. Mozilla said it made the decision […]
BY Aaditya Tangri We’ve all heard the dire warnings of our impending dystopian future. According to research by Deloitte, an estimated 35% of UK jobs are at high risk of automation in the next 10 to 20 years, whilst in the past 15 years technology has already contributed to the loss of over 800,000 jobs. Market research company Forrester predicts that 6% of US jobs will be […]
By Saifur Rahman Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the UAE’s first and largest Islamic lender, said, is set to acquire Noor Bank, enhancing Dubai’s position as the capital of Islamic economy and creating the region’s most powerful Shari’a banking group. The combined asset value is set to reach Dh275 billion post acquisition, it said. “The Board of Directors of Dubai Islamic Bank convened its meeting on 09/06/2019 and […]
By James M. Dorsey A public apology by a prominent Salafi scholar sheds a light on Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s version of ‘moderate Islam,’ his effort to shape the Middle East and North Africa in his mould, and the replacement of religion with hyper-nationalism as the source of his legitimacy. Claiming to speak in the name of the Sahwa or Awakening movement, Aidh al-Qarni, one of the […]
By Matein Khalid Citigroup, the third largest US money center bank, owns subsidiaries in Latin America whose pedigrees go back almost a century. For instance, Banamex, Citi’s subsidiary in Mexico, is the second largest corporate/retail bank south of the Rio Grande. So it was no coincidence that Citi shares got sandbagged to a recent 61 as President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico’s $350 billion exports […]
By Saifur Rahman The oil-rich Gulf countries have started to introduce permanent residency to wealthy foreigners in order to retain the existing businesses and attract more foreign investors to support the economic growth. Within days after Saudi Arabia announcing a ‘Green Card’ scheme for wealthy foreigners, the UAE on Tuesday announced a similar package – Golden Card – to retain the super-rich expatriates and attract more. Vice […]
By Matein Khalid I had published a column in the UK/MENA press arguing that the Uber IPO was “absurdly valued” last week. I was vindicated with a vengeance when Uber priced its IPO at 45, well below the level Saudi Arabia’s uber-sovereign wealth fund PIF invested $3.5 billion in the hose of Travis (now Dara) three years ago. Uber opened on the NYSE with a whimper, not […]
/By Matein Khalid/Are we on the precipice of another spasm of intercontinental contagion in the emerging markets like 2018, or the Asian flu, tequila crisis, Russian rouble default or the Turkish banking crisis in the 1990’s. Yes. The Shanghai Composite Index has plunged 12% and (17% fall for Shenzhen) since Trump got nasty on the tortuous US-China trade dialogue. The IMF cut its global growth forecast to […]
/Arabian Post Staff/ Emirates Group, which operates Emirates Airline – the world’s largest international carrier – reported a 44 percent decline in profits to US$631 million (Dh2.3 billion) in 2018-19 financial year ending March 31, 2019, despite achieving a 7 percent growth in revenue to reach US$29.8 billion (Dh109.3 billion). In line with the overall profit, the Group declared a dividend of Dh500 million (US$136 million) to its shareholder, […]
By Gaurav Sharma The oil and gas industry is on the cusp of profound operational changes underpinned by emerging technologies. The transformative impact of this new wave – labelled the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 – is being felt to such an extent that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has started factoring in probable additional global oil reserves courtesy optimised conventional and unconventional production. Dr Fatih […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| A new whitepaper published by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry on start-ups has called for closer cooperation between universities, government agencies and investment funds to expand the scope of investments that can support the growth of startups in the UAE. The whitepaper has been published in collaboration with Roland Berger. The findings were released during Dubai Startup Hub’s Entrepreneurship Advocacy event series. […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The current global energy transition is driving an “inevitable geopolitical shift” and creating “unique opportunities not seen in generations,” according to a Winton Group-backed advanced energy investment firm. This analysis by Dr Erich Becker, Founder and Managing Partner of London-based energy investment firm, Exergy Capital, comes as momentum builds across the world on the seismic shift towards cleaner energy sources, and with oil […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| 5G is expected to reach 30 million subscriptions for enhanced mobile broadband in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) by the end of 2024, representing 2% of total mobile subscriptions. This will make 5G the fastest generation of cellular technology to be rolled out on a global scale, according to the new MEA edition of the Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) Mobility Report. Key drivers […]
|By James M. Dorsey| Continued, albeit slower-paced US and Turkish leaks potentially provide insight into far more than the circumstances of the October killing of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. They focus attention on crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s strategic thinking as well as his tightened control of the kingdom’s media. In the latest disclosure, The New York Times, quoting anonymous US intelligence sources, reported […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced, awarding of an onshore block – known as Onshore Block 3 – to US based international oil and gas exploration and production company Occidental Petroleum. Onshore Block 3 covers an area of 5,782 km2 located in the Al Dhafra region. Existing 3D seismic data already covers a large part of the Block which, combined with its proximity to […]
|By Matein Khalid| Dropbox, founded by MIT students, venture financed by Sequoia Capital, is one of the world’s most valuable software startups. Even the Irish legend Bono of UB40 is an early stage investor. Its March 2018 IPO was a blowout. Dropbox broke syndicate at 21 and closed at up 50% on its first day. The shares peaked at 43 in June, but as Sophocles observed two […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Etihad Airways Engineering, EAD Aerospace, Lufthansa Technik and Envoy Aerospace have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form the Independent Aircraft Modifier Alliance (IAMA). IAMA aims to encourage aircraft owners and operators to modify and modernise their fleets through high quality equipment and rigorous inspections, irrespective of which IAMA members provide the engineering services. Aircraft modifications, such as the installation of new […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Orion Health announced a commercial agreement with Abu Dhabi Health Data Services, a new company established as part of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) between the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) and Injazat Data Systems, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Investment Company, to deliver a Health Information Exchange (HIE) platform. The HIE will be known as ‘Malaffi’ and […]
Ole Hansen With turmoil on every side, gold has re-emerged as a preferred safe haven with further upside. Meanwhile, prospects for a further recovery in oil seem limited by signs of slowing global growth. The direction of commodities in the early part of 2019 will continue to be influenced by decisions taken in Washington and by central banks last year. The economic fallout from US president Donald […]
|By Matein Khalid|If Asia is a growth warrant on the global economy, the omens look awful as the IMF just warned the financial glitterati at Davos. Asian equities were the victims of the grim macro investment themes in 2018. Four Federal Reserve interest rate hikes forced Asian central banks to raise borrowing costs to protect embattled local currencies. The Trump White House’s game of chicken on trade […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Groundbreaking for the UAE’s first tyre manufacturing plant by Chinese tyre company Roadbot was performed at KIZAD, Abu Dhabi’s industrial hub and part of Abu Dhabi Ports. Developed with a total investment of AED 2.2 billion ($614.37 million), the Roadbot factory is being built in KIZAD’s China-UAE Industrial Capacity Cooperation Demonstration Zone in line with international standards and equipped with latest innovative solutions […]
|By Matein Khalid| The epic political dramas of last week (Aunty Theresa’s Brexit plan was rejected by the House of Commons but she managed to survive a no-confidence vote by a narrow margin) strengthened the British pound, exactly as I had expected. Yet sterling has not managed to rise above 1.30 to the US dollar in the past two months and now trades at its lowest levels […]
I have gone gaga on software shares since 2013, when Satya Nadella redefined Microsoft – and tripled the valuation of the Evil Empire of Redmond in the next five years. True, Microsoft was the best Big Tech performer of 2018, an annus horribilis for the best and brightest of Silicon Valley. The world’s most exciting software shares were slammed by the bearish bloodbath on NASDAQ. However, when […]
