Commodities
Unlike the economy of Abu Dhabi, the big brother and richest emirate in the seven-emirate United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai’s economy is not directly dependent on oil. Dubai depends heavily on luxury real estate, tourism, logistics, and financial services for revenues. However, Dubai’s economy suffers indirectly when crude oil prices go south. Surprisingly, despite […]
... written on Feb 20 2020Singapore’s economy almost came to a standstill in the second quarter of 2019, thanks largely to the US-China trade war. Its economy grew by merely 0.7% last year, down from 3.1% registered in 2018. In essence, it had been the slowest economic growth since the 2009 (when its economy expanded 0.1%) Great Recession. Still, the country […]
... written on Feb 18 2020Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, was on cloud nine last year. Its currency – Thai Baht – was the champion not only among ASEAN countries, but also in Asia. In fact, the currency has been the best performing since 2018 (not only 2019). The currency appreciated a whopping 8% against the US dollar in 2019 […]
... written on Feb 08 2020As the deaths due to Coronavirus hit 427 people with 20,438 confirmed cases, global financial and business markets are increasingly affected by the epidemic. Crude oil is one of the commodities that has taken a serious beating. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading below US$50 per barrel in late trading Monday – hitting […]
... written on Feb 04 2020After a two year trade war, the U.S. and China finally signed a trade deal, popularly known as the “Phase One”. President Donald Trump signed the deal while Vice Premier Liu He signed the agreement on behalf of China. The trade deal came at an interesting time as the House prepared to send articles of […]
... written on Jan 16 2020Mahathir Mohamad, the world’s oldest prime minister, has been relatively quiet since the start of the New Year 2020 – for a good reason. The Malaysian prime minister, arguably one of the most outspoken leaders, has offended so many world leaders that he probably had lost count – from Myanmar to the U.S., China, India […]
... written on Jan 14 2020Oil giant Saudi Aramco priced its IPO (initial public offering) at 32 riyals (US$8.53) per share last Thursday, marking the biggest share listing in history – beating Alibaba’s record US$25 billion listing in 2014. In essence, Aramco will become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. Still, the IPO fell short of Saudi Crown Prince’s […]
... written on Dec 10 2019Mahathir’s previous policy of allowing so-called “minimal and manageable” corruption among the warlords of UMNO, the dominant political party he once led, has proven more damaging than anticipated. The tentacles of corruption have not only spread deep into government and private institutions, but also within government agencies founded to protect the poor Malay community. […]
... written on Dec 03 2019Investors, speculators and punters were cheering as the U.S. stocks hit fresh record highs on Friday on hopes for a US-China trade deal despite mixed economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) holds above 28,000 points on Monday, after the index hit the level for the first time after posting a fourth straight week of […]
... written on Nov 19 2019Aramco is the world’s largest oil company. It is also currently the most profitable company in the world, and based on the 2019 listing by Fortune, the company’s profitability is almost double that of Apple. As a private organization that produces about 10% of the world’s crude oil, Aramco’s revenue for the financial year 2018 was […]
... written on Nov 15 2019
