A voracious thirst for petroleum makes the US one of the largest importers of oil. But for the past two weeks it has also scaled the ranks of exporters. Outbound shipments of crude have surpassed 1.2m barrels a day, more than last month’s daily production of Algeria, Ecuador or Qatar, each a member of Opec. The foreign sales underscore how the US has become more integrated into […]
The fact that farm incomes have come under increasing pressure over the past couple of years should come as little surprise to our readers (for those who missed our latest update, see: “Midwest Farm Bubble Continues Collapse As Farm Incomes Expected To Crash In 2017“). Unfortunately, at least according to Bank of America’s Global Ag Chemical team led by Steve Byrne, farmers shouldn’t expect a reprieve any […]
SoftBank is leading efforts to consolidate the space technology sector with talks to merge OneWeb, the US satellite start-up it backs, with Intelsat, one of the world’s largest commercial satellite operators. Bonds sold by Intelsat surged on Monday after it was reported that the deeply indebted satellite operator was nearing a deal with SoftBank to merge with OneWeb, which raised $1.2bn from the Japanese group and other investors in December. […]
Cairo, Egypt 27 February 2017 An academic study today revealed that Uber provides Egyptians with new economic opportunities against the current and anticipated economic challenges, especially the rising unemployment of the youth and the educated. The study, entitled A Glimpse into the Sharing Economy: An Analysis of Uber Driver-Partners in Egypt, by Dr. Nagla Rizk, professor of economics & founding director of the Access to Knowledge for Development […]
Qatar’s January trade surplus increased by 62.2 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the country’s Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics. The country’s surplus rose to AED10.9 billion ($3 billion) in January from QR10.7 billion in December and up from QR6.7 billion in January 2016. Qatar’s December trade surplus, which increased 21.7 percent from a year earlier, was its only monthly rise in […]
Gold’s almost 10 per cent advance this year will be in jeopardy should US president Donald Trump’s key address to Congress on Tuesday reignite the dollar rally and prospect for higher interest rates. The yellow metal has been one of the chief beneficiaries of the cooling this year of the so-called “Trumpflation” trade, which sent the dollar to a 13-year high in early January and helped buoy […]
French government debt has capped its best run since the aftermath of Britain’s vote for Brexit, underlining the rapid shift in investor sentiment towards the country’s presidential election which now looms over financial markets. The yield on the 10-year French bond dropped to its lowest in a month, as money managers and traders continued to take succour after centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron received the backing of potential […]
Saudi Arabia may increase its domestic gasoline prices by 30 percent from July, industry sources said, part of a reform plan by the world’s top oil exporter to align its fuel prices with global benchmark levels. In December 2015 the kingdom raised the price of 95 octane gasoline to 0.90 riyal ($0.24) per litre from 0.60 riyal. However, that still kept Saudi Arabia among the countries with […]
Arto Nummela, Chief Executive Officer at HMD Global, shows the new re-launched Nokia 3310 phone, ahead of Monday’s opening of the Mobile World Congress wireless show in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. Finland-based HMD Global is re-launching the simple Nokia 3310 model along with unveiling three new devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) Samsung’s product showcase Sunday is notable for what’s missing: […]
27 February 2017 Dubai, UAE: The global food industry needs to make fundamental shifts in its operations to advance food safety worldwide, the Global Halal Industry Platform held in Dubai today has heard. The Platform, organised by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Meteorogy (ESMA) and part of the educational programme of Gulfood, the world’s largest annual food event running at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) until […]
By Sam Forgione | NEW YORK NEW YORK Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), told CNBC on Monday that his conglomerate had purchased about 120 million shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL.O) in 2017 and that U.S. stocks were not in “bubble territory.” “Apple strikes me as having quite a sticky product,” Buffett said. He said Berkshire’s Apple stake, at 133 million shares, […]
On Tuesday evening, Donald Trump will head to Capitol Hill to deliver an address to both houses of Congress. Such speeches have provided the US president’s predecessors with the opportunity to convey three main messages: their assessment of the country’s overall situation, the domestic legislative programme they hope Congress will pass in coming months and the main areas of global focus — all this in the context […]
· Phase 3 of MAG 5 Boulevard launched in response to huge demand for luxury mid-range units at the community · Dubai South’s strategic location a major factor driving demand, alongside the project’s convenient payment plan and state-of-the-art design 27 February 2017 MAG 5 Property Development (MAG 5 PD), the leading property developer of luxury mid-range developments and pioneering affordable housing initiatives, has launched MAG 5; […]
Monday 08:50 GMT Overview European stock markets are making gains, tracking another set of record highs for Wall Street’s main equities gauges. The rally reaches the region even after Asia missed out, with banking and commodity stocks leading a sell-off there. Hot topic US equity futures are pointing to further gains after a late rally on Friday pushed the S&P 500 up 0.2 per cent while the […]
o Food consumption in the GCC to expand at a 4.2 per cent from 48.1 million MT in 2016 to 59.2 million MT in 2021 o Consumers spending Dh250 worth of Prestige cookware/kitchenware products is guaranteed of winning something back! 26 February 2017o Food import bill is expected to have crossed US29.17 billion in 2016 o UAE’s packaged food import bill reached US$4.3 billion in […]
By Joseph Sipalan and Noah Browning | KUALA LUMPUR/DUBAI KUALA LUMPUR/DUBAI Malaysia welcomed Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Sunday for the start of a rare, month-long Asian tour, where the monarch will build ties and seek to draw more investments to the oil-rich gulf nation. The visit is the first by a Saudi king to Malaysia in more than a decade, as the Arab nation courts Asian […]
By Trevor Hunnicutt | NEW YORK NEW YORK Billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Saturday attacked what he saw as tricks used by U.S. companies to boost earnings and stock prices, but he defended one oft-criticized practice: share buybacks. “As the subject of repurchases has come to a boil, some people have come close to calling them un-American –characterizing them as corporate misdeeds that divert funds needed for […]
Corporate speeches usually avoid talk of a “difficult and dark” past. But this month Mark Cutifani, head of Anglo American, defended the South African mining industry’s record on opening up ownership to the country’s black majority. With the government planning to shore up black participation in mining, the next few months are the most critical in the sector’s 150-year history, Mr Cutifani said. Many “still don’t understand” […]
February 25, 2017 by: Arash Massoudi and Javier Espinoza Bain Capital has made a €3.6bn offer to buy Stada, as the bidding war between private equity firms for the German maker of generic versions of drugs such as Viagra nears its climax. The offer from the US-based buyout group values shares in Stada at €58 a share and comes two days after its rival Advent International also […]
Saudi Arabia’s economy is forecast to continue slowing this year, dragged down by negative growth in the oil sector, according to Jadwa Investment. Its latest report said growth in the oil sector will turn negative due to the kingdom’s compliance with OPEC production cuts, while non-oil sector growth should rebound but “remain subdued” during 2017. Jadwa forecast that growth in the non-oil private sector will accelerate from […]
Suppliers to Tesla and other electric carmakers are scrambling to secure shipments of the key battery material cobalt after a group of hedge funds amassed a large stockpile of the scarce metal. In a bold wager on higher prices, half a dozen funds, including Swiss-based Pala Investments and China’s Shanghai Chaos, have purchased and stored an estimated 6,000 tonnes of cobalt, worth as much as $280m, according […]
The five largest banks in the UAE are forecast to see profitability remaining “solid” over the next 12-18 months, according to ratings agency Moody’s. In the fourth quarter of 2016, Emirates NBD, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, First Gulf Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank posted solid profitability, said Moody’s Investors Service in a report. “We expect the five large United Arab Emirates banks’ […]
By Lewis Krauskopf | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned economic agenda has fanned the flames for Wall Street’s record-setting run, but some investors worry that his first major address to Congress next week risks dousing it if his plans look slow to execute or are overly vague. The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX has surged 10 percent since Trump’s Nov. 8 election, with optimism […]
Every year, Inrix releases its Global Traffic Scorecard, which ranks congestion on roads in 1,064 cities in 38 countries. And every year the report tells urban commuters what they already know—traffic sucks and is getting worse. But at least Inrix’s Global Traffic Scorecard uses data—500TB from 300 million sources covering over 5 million miles of road—to let us know exactly how much it sucks. And […]
