Commodities
OPEC unsurprisingly failed to agree on anything (*yawn*), despite market got very excited about a potential output ceiling. “Hope is a powerful weapon and no one power on earth can deprive you of.” – Nelson Mandela wrote in a letter to Winnie Mandela in 1969. But that’s what OPEC members and other non-OPEC oil producers could […]
... written on Jun 03 2016A key goal of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 plan is to increase the number of women in the workforce from 22% to 30%. The vision, which was announced by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month, is supposed to prepare the kingdom for an era in which it does not rely heavily on oil. There’s […]
... written on Jun 02 2016Are you a business owner who employs a battalion of staffs or workers? More importantly, do you, as a boss, believe that young workers produce higher productivity than older workers and in a process which you didn’t even realise, have practiced age discrimination against your older workers who had fought for your empire during the […]
... written on Jun 01 2016Mention Brunei and a country ruled by an absolute monarchist come to mind. Hassanah Bolkiah, the country’s 29th Sultan, is notorious for his fortune – estimated at US$20 billion as of 2008 (according to Forbes). He was once the world’s richest man but despite his brother Prince Jefri’s pilfering US$15 billion from sultanate, and the plunging […]
... written on Jun 01 2016Born a slave in Maryland, Harriet Tubman was beaten and whipped by her various masters as a child. But 194 years after she was born and tortured, Tubman (born Araminta Ross; 1822 – March 10, 1913) is to become first African-American on U.S. currency. And she’s going to replace former President Andrew Jackson, a slave owner. The […]
... written on Apr 21 2016In the early Sunday, rumour mill was running at top speed announcing oil production freeze, before a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers in Doha could even start. Everyone who stands to benefit from higher crude oil price was rejoicing. The rumour was started after a Russian news agency, Tass, leaked a draft agreement […]
... written on Apr 18 2016There were some cheers when crude oil prices started moving north from below US$30 a barrel. It didn’t go any further than US$40 a barrel and has now retreated to below the figure. Nevertheless, nobody believes it could skyrocket at the same momentum it had tumbled though. And Moody’s isn’t impressed despite the jump from […]
... written on Mar 16 2016When Apple Pay was introduced back in Oct 2014, many were sceptical. Today, 16-month later, the scepticism remains. However, ExxonMobil may be able to change that with its newly launched service – pay for your fuel at any of its 6,000 gas stations using Apple Pay – starting today. Well, actually, you still need to […]
... written on Mar 09 2016Just like a salesman desperately wanted to meet his quarterly sales quota, or else risk being axed, the same can be said about Prime Minister Najib Razak. While the salesman needs P.O. (purchase order) from customers to justify his existence, Najib needs document from Saudi royal family to justify that the controversial RM2.6 billion was […]
... written on Mar 06 2016During its peak, the Daesh (ISIL, ISIS, Islamic State) was the world’s wealthiest terror group. When it captured the city of Mosul, the group was flushed with 500 billion dinars (US$452 million; £320 million; RM1.86 billion) kept in the Iraqi city’s central bank. They were also reportedly made off with a large amount of gold […]
... written on Mar 03 2016
