|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 […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the IFC Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Fund, a fund managed by IFC Asset Management Company, LLC (AMC), are investing $19 million in equity in Yellow Door Energy. The investment will support the deployment of lease-to-own rooftop and ground-mounted solar-power and energy-efficiency solutions to commercial and industrial customers in Jordan, UAE, and beyond. The investment is part of […]
|By Matein Khalid| I had recommended buying the British pound at 1.2700 against the US dollar in successive columns in the past two weeks. Sterling is at 1.3200 as I write, the trade is already hugely profitable. Cable has now closed above its crucial 200 day moving average in a clear trend reversal. As markets dismiss the risk of a no deal Brexit, I believe the pound […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Eni and OMV signed two new strategic equity partnerships covering both ADNOC Refining and a new trading joint venture, which will be jointly established by the three partners. In one of the largest ever refinery transactions, Eni and OMV will acquire 20% and 15% shares in ADNOC Refining respectively, with ADNOC owning the remaining 65%. The agreement […]
|By S. K. Basu| Since time immemorial Afghanistan has been a flashpoint of human history in Asia. From the days of the reign of the erstwhile Persian Empire till the time of invasion by Alexander, Afghanistan has continued to see bloody battles that stretched into the Colonial Era and the period the Great Games between British and Russian Empires, World Wars, the infamous Russian occupation to the […]
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| 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 […]
Merger mania in Wall Street media shares was a profitable theme for me in 2018, particularly since I owned 21st Century Fox shares well before Walt Disney made its epic bid for the Murdoch clan’s flagship brand, the parent of President Trump’s beloved news channel. The Fox deal meant 65% paydirt for my trading book as the House of Mouse made a takeover bid for the House […]
It is now far too dangerous to short the British pound, another fabulously profitable short since its fateful 1.50 high against the US dollar the night of the June 2016 referendum. The UK Foreign Secretary shocked me when he publicly warned that voting down Mrs. May’s deal to exit the EU would scrap Brexit. Sterling rose to 1.2850 on reports that the Tory Cabinet in Downing Street […]
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 […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Global trade enabler DP World announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 71.3% stake in Puertos y Logistica S.A. from Minera Valparaiso and other shareholders associated with the Matte Group. Pulogsa is listed on the Santiago stock exchange, and the acquisition will be effected via a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of the business. Under the tender process DP […]
|By Arabian Post Staff|Kizad, part of Abu Dhabi Ports, has launched Kizad Polymers Park, which will form an integral part of the polymers conversion ecosystem in the Emirate. The Park aims to be a major economic driver for the UAE, producing 300-400 kilo tonnes of plastic products a year, creating up to 7,000 new jobs, and contributing $2.5 billion to GDP by 2025. The potential export market […]
The Euro has been a disaster since its birth in 1999. Its monetary pathologies led to youth unemployment rates of 50-60% in Greece, Spain and the Italian Mezzogiorno. It gave a trillion-dollar windfall to German exporters at the expense of the hapless Club Med and amplified Berlin’s diktat over the lands once occupied by the Third Reich. It created the milieu for Brexit, the gilets jaunes riots […]
By James M. Dorsey Traditionally focussed on ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam, Saudi funding in the era of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has been streamlined and finetuned to ensure that it serves his geopolitical ambitions, primarily stymying the expansion of Iranian influence in the Middle East and North Africa and enhancing the kingdom’s global impact. The effort, however, has so far produced a mixed bag. Spending is […]
Hosts offering lodgings in the Middle East, travelers and tourists can now connect with each other on a new online platform, Baitoka.com. The Middle East saw $224 billion spent on tourism and travel in 2017. It is expected to reach $234 billion by the end of 2018, and forecast to rise by 4.6% pa to $365 billion by 2028. Coupled with a vacation rental market, also known […]
By James M. Dorsey As far as Gulf leaders are concerned, President Donald J. Trump demonstrated with his announced US troop withdrawals from Syria and Afghanistan that his insistence that the “world is a dangerous place” has never been truer. The troop withdrawals coupled with Mr. Trump’s praising of Saudi Arabia’s alleged willingness to foot the reconstruction bill in Syria, moves that emphasized his lack of geopolitical interest in […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The total value of international trade through Dubai’s free trade zones recorded 22 percent jump to US$107.35 billion (Dh394 billion) in the first nine months of 2018, according to a latest report. This represents 41 percent of the emirate’ total trade of the first nine months. Imports amounted to 54.5 percent at Dh215 billion, while exports and re-exports reached 45.5 percent at Dh179 billion. Overall, […]
|By Matein Khalid| I confess, I fell in love with South Africa’s Cape Town, though not its Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). 2018 has been an annus horribilis for both the rand and South African equities, with 30% losses for a US dollar investor, the fifth worse in the emerging markets. The euphoria after President Cyril Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma early this year did not last as South Africa […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Cosco Shipping Ports and Abu Dhabi Ports inaugurated CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal at Khalifa Port; positioning Abu Dhabi as the regional hub for Cosco’s global network of 36 ports and further connecting the Emirate to the major trade hubs along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The deepwater, semi-automated container terminal includes the largest Container Freight Station (CFS) in the Middle East, covering 275,000 square metres. The state-of-the-art […]
|By James M. Dorsey| A series of Gulf and Middle East-related developments suggest that resolving some of the Middle East’s most debilitating and devastating crises while ensuring that efforts to pressure Iran do not perpetuate the mayhem may be easier said than done. They also suggest that the same is true for keeping US and Saudi interests aligned. Optimists garner hope from the fact that the US Senate may […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Global trade enabler DP World announced the successful closing of the acquisition of 100% of the Unifeeder Group, an integrated logistics company with the largest and best-connected feeder and growing shortsea network in Northern Europe with connectivity to approximately 100 ports. Unifeeder operates the largest and most densely connected common user container feeder and an important and growing shortsea network in Europe, serving both […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The Arab Strategy Forum has issued a report that estimates the total cost of Iran’s nuclear programme to have exceeded US$500 billion since 2002.Furthermore, the costs of developing and operating infrastructure and facilities for the programme have added some US$50 billion to the bill. Specifically, the report states that the construction of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant accounted for the majority of the nuclear […]
