FeedPosted Dec 28th 2009 3:00PM by Sheldon Liber (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Bad News, Rants and Raves, Middle East, Scandals, Economic Data, Politics, Serious Money, Recession, Financial Crisis
Best wishes to all and, next to world peace among people, we should hope for the same among world markets.
I have let some time pass before commenting on a recent example of how fragile a world we live in. This past year through a time of greater economic danger, fear and volatility than most of us has experienced in a life time, many people cannot fathom how close we came to the edge of Hades.
Continue reading Serious Money: Dubai Vaporizes $48 Trillion
Posted Dec 14th 2009 7:45AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Google (GOOG), Middle East, Market Matters, Citigroup Inc. (C), Economic Data, Financial Crisis

U.S. stock futures were higher Monday morning after Abu Dhabi came to the rescue of Dubai with a $10 billion bailout on a day some debt was to expire. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Citigroup announced it will repay its bailout funds.
Stocks are poised to build on Friday's momentum -- blue chip stocks finished on a positive note following better-than-expected reports on retail sales and consumer sentiment. However, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was marginally lower.
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures higher after Dubai's bailout, Citi repaying TARP
Posted Dec 2nd 2009 4:30PM by Connie Madon (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, Rumors, Press Releases, Middle East, Market Matters, Headline News, Financial Crisis
The Dubai crisis is not going away. Government owned Dubai World has scheduled a meeting with creditors to discuss the possible settlements.
What is most troubling is that the government of Dubai has refused to guarantee Dubai World's debt. That creates an international situation. While it has not been confirmed, it is believed that Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and local lenders Emirates NBD, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank are key creditors.
Continue reading Dubai World to meet with creditor panel to discuss debt crisis
Posted Nov 30th 2009 8:00AM by Melly Alazraki (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the Bell, International Markets, Middle East, Market Matters, Economic Data, Oil, Financial Crisis

U.S. stock futures declined Monday morning with Wall Street keeping its attention on the unfolding debt situation in Dubai and on retail, with early results from the holiday shopping season beginning to emerge.
[
Update: Futures turned direction and are now pointing to a higher start on Wall Street as investors were somewhat encouraged by the United Arab Emirate's central bank saying it would guarantee Dubai's World debt, and by the modest increase seen in holiday sales this season.]
In a shortened session on Friday, just as U.S. shoppers went scouring for Black Friday deals, U.S. markets sharply retreated, finishing the week with losses. Wall Street thus joined the decline in world markets, fueled by fears that Dubai World could default on $60 billion in debt. Global investors worried this could be a symptom of broader financial instability elsewhere in a still fragile world economy.
Continue reading Before the bell: Futures slightly higher with Dubai debt woes, retail in focus
Posted Sep 29th 2009 5:00PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Forecasts, Consumer Experience, Middle East, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Oil, Israel, Recession, Financial Crisis

Oil prices
dropped a bit today, as investors weigh news that consumer confidence took a hit in September.
Today's move was not a sizable one, but further evidence that investors are concerned over just how strong the current economic recovery really is. News came out today that
consumer confidence is down in September as more Americans are concerned over the weak job market.
Continue reading Oil prices fall as consumer confidence drops
Posted Sep 24th 2009 10:30AM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: International Markets, Good news, Industry, Competitive Strategy, Russia, Middle East, BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Mexico, Oil, Israel

The oil industry has been working hard to find new oil reserves, and so far this year
the efforts have been paying off.
It has been a year with some major discoveries that have put the oil industry in a good position to make it the year with the highest level of new discoveries since 2000.
A big reason for the increase in discoveries is improvements in technology that has allowed oil hunters to drill deeper and break through tougher rocks than they were previously able to do.
Continue reading A good year for oil discoveries
Posted Sep 11th 2009 1:40PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Middle East
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are investment funds for government money. Essentially, these are for countries that get huge amounts of capital surpluses, such as China.
Interestingly enough, SWFs are running into some problems as asset values have fallen across the globe. A report from the Monitor Company Group indicates that these funds suffered losses of roughly $67 billion in the past year.
At the same time, there has been a reduction in capital infusions, primarily because of the drop in oil prices.
Continue reading Dubai sovereign wealth fund says no to investments
Posted Aug 31st 2009 3:00PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major Movement, International Markets, China, Middle East, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Japan, Economic Data, Oil, Recession, Financial Crisis

Oil traders have been selling off the precious crude Monday, as a
steep sell-off of China's benchmark index raised concerns over the current state of both the Chinese and U.S. economies.
The Chinese Shanghai Composite Index took a beating to start off the week, trading down 6.74%, and raised fresh concerns over a global economic rebound. Today's sell off in the Chinese market was its biggest decline since June of 2008. The sell-off comes on the heels of a near 3% drop in the index last Friday.
Continue reading Chinese sell-off spooks oil traders
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