Mexico has been in the crosshairs this week as US president Donald Trump held true to his campaign rhetoric and ordered the construction of a wall along the Mexican border, with White House press secretary suggesting a 20 per cent tax on imports could pay for it. With relations between the two countries on course for crisis, has Mr Trump done enough to scare investors away from […]
The weak economic environment will continue to weigh on the financial profiles of banks in GCC countries in 2017 and 2018, according to S&P Global Ratings. In a new report, the ratings agency said it believes the three key risks are a difficult operating environment, a higher cost of risk, and lower liquidity. However, it added that most GCC banks have built sufficient capital buffers to remain […]
Mi dispiace, ho sbagliato numero* Well, what did BT’s chief executive, smouldering Gavin Patterson, expect? Italy is ranked 60th out of 176 countries in Transparency International’s corruption index, worse than Romania or Hungary. The “improper” management behaviour there had been going on for years, and would probably be going on still but for the call from a whistleblower. The BT board must now decide how far up […]
Credit: Michael Vadon Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Now that President Trump is in the White House, there are some breathless stories going around about the technology his administration is adopting. When Barack Obama came into the White House, he was the most connected president ever, an active user of an actual BlackBerry, before that concept became so terribly quaint. At the time, I covered the […]
By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. economic growth slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter as a plunge in shipments of soybeans weighed on exports, but steady consumer spending and rising business investment suggested the economy would continue to expand. Gross domestic product increased at a 1.9 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday in its first estimate of fourth-quarter GDP. That was […]
Donald Trump’s first week as US president has re-energised Wall Street bulls while sharpening concern about the risk of higher inflation and trade protectionism. The sense of fatigue that hung over much of January has been replaced by renewed enthusiasm for equities, as investors sent the S&P 500 to fresh highs and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finally broke above the 20,000 threshold. As the billionaire took […]
Buying cycles are already very long in the IT industry. With the rise of fake news and general mistrust in corporate media content of all kinds — those buying cycles will get longer. And sales and marketing costs will skyrocket for IT companies. As an IT buyer relying on high quality information from your peer groups won’t help much because their information sources will be also be […]
By Vikram Subhedar | LONDON LONDON The dollar extended its recovery against a basket of other currencies on Friday, while banks dragged European shares slightly lower following underwhelming results from Swiss major UBS. The two-day recovery comes after the dollar suffered a 4 percent drop in the three weeks from Jan. 3 reflecting doubts about how U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies will play out for the currency, […]
Maybe you are planning UAE’s wedding of the century; maybe you are just getting ideas for “someday” or maybe you aren’t getting married at all. No matter what your situation, there is much to marvel at this year’s Bride Show Abu Dhabi. Here are six highlights from almost 200 exhibitors that will appeal no matter what’s going on with your ring finger. • The Bride Show Abu […]
UBS finished a tough 2016 on an upbeat note, with an unexpectedly strong increase in fourth-quarter profits, and has predicted improved US investor confidence would this year boost its wealth management businesses. However, Sergio Ermotti, chief executive, warned the more positive US trends were not mirrored globally, and UBS’s shares fell 1.2 per cent in early trading as analysts raised concerns about unexpected fourth-quarter outflows of clients’ […]
Sitting in his spacious office in Doha’s West Bay, free from the entourage of assistants usually attached to CEOs of large, government-backed organisations, Rashid Bin Ali Al Mansoori appears relaxed and unhurried. He even responds, “How much time would you like?” when asked to confirm the length of our meeting. Al Mansoori, who has served as CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) since 2012, is frank about […]
(Image: CBSNews.com) With the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) having been dumped by new United States President Donald Trump on his first week in office, the question remains as to whether the remaining signatories will attempt to push through the deal by themselves or with China’s aid — or whether they will instead use a Chinese-led deal. The TPP, signed by its 12 member states in February 2016, was […]
The Doomsday Clock, an imaginary timepiece representing humanity’s proximity to apocalyptic destruction, has been reset to show that mankind is now just two and a half minutes away from doomsday. Humanity Moves 30 Seconds Closer To Global Catastrophe On Thursday, Jan. 26, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the group of scientists that maintain the Doomsday Clock, moved the clock’s minute hand 30 seconds closer to midnight, […]
The directive to identify new ways to hasten the demise of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, has been widely anticipated by military commanders, who have begun drafting classified options to increase the pressure on the militant group, especially in Raqqa and Mosul, the stronghold in Iraq. Continue reading the main story Work on the directive was described by several current and former officials […]
BEIRUT: The Trump administration’s expressed interest in setting up safe zones for civilians in Syria was greeted Thursday with caution by Russia and Turkey, who have taken the lead in the latest peace efforts to end the Mideast country’s devastating six-year war.Turkey said it had always supported the idea, but both Ankara and Moscow said such plans would require careful consideration while a senior European Union official […]
January 26, 2017 by: Adam Samson and Mamta Badkar in New York The Dow Jones industrial and transportation averages on Thursday both closed at new highs in a bullish signal for one of Wall Street’s oldest investment theories. The two US equity benchmarks, which date back to the 19th century, have not recorded highs one after another since December, after which the duo began to diverge as the Trump […]
Hold on to your controllers, Agents; Tom Clancy’s The Division game is set to release the massive Update 1.6 together with new expansion, “Last Stand.” The update contains many features that will make surviving in the game’s post-apocalyptic New York City even more challenging. The 1.6 patch will be free-to-play on all platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. According to game developer Ubisoft, Update 1.6 will be […]
The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year and is not yet showing any signs of the slowdown that many economists predicted would follow the vote to leave the EU in June. The economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to a first estimate from the Office for National Statistics. Growth for the year as a whole […]
Consolidated Activity Highlights as at end-December 2016: USD 20.8 billion in Assets USD 17.1 billion in Deposits USD 5.2 billion in Loans Advertisement USD 2.1 billion in Total Equity USD 165 million in Net Profit Byblos Bank Headquarters, 26 January 2017 Byblos Bank overall results for 2016 were satisfactory given the difficult economic and financial conditions in Lebanon and the region. Lower oil prices and revenues in several countries […]
By Muyu Xu and Ryan Woo | BEIJING BEIJING As millions in China head home to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday with their families, 24-year-old Luoluo is busy answering messages on a mobile app from desperate men looking to hire an instant girlfriend whom they can present to mom and dad. On visits home during the holiday, which kicks off on Friday, single people are often […]
|By Matein Khalid| The election of a Manhattan property developer and (failed) casino owner as President of the United State has not been positive for most American real estate investment trusts (REIT’s). The sharp rise in US interest rates since the election and the Federal Reserve’s vigilance against inflation risk hits this classic “bond proxy” sector, with its reliance on leverage to boost investor returns. In addition, […]
Dozens of US exporters including GE and Boeing are squaring off against Walmart and other retailers as a radical Republican plan to tax imports divides the giants of corporate America. The rift in the business community threatens President Donald Trump’s pledge to overhaul the tax code for the first time in 30 years by undermining a blueprint that House Republicans are drafting for the White House. The […]
“She’s my toughest opponent,” said Serena Williams, who holds a 16-11 edge in their rivalry. “No one has ever beaten me as much as Venus has. She has a pretty good record against me, and we have a good record against each other. I just feel like, no matter what happens, we’ve won. She’s been through a lot, and I’ve been through a lot. And to see […]
January 26, 2017 by: Eric Platt and Joe Rennison in New York The combination of rebounding commodity prices and hopes for faster US economic growth under Donald Trump is helping some of the riskiest corporate borrowers secure cheaper financing and underlines investors’ growing stomach for risk. An expanding list of companies with a triple-C rating — deep within speculative territory — have been able to lock in […]
