Perhaps each household in Dubai will end up with its own PlayStation 3 console. The country's investment arm, Dubai International Capital, says that is has bought a "substantial" piece of Sony (NYSE: SNE), according to The Wall Street Journal. Cash-rich funds from several Arab countries have started investing in companies in the US and Europe.

The move makes a great deal of sense. Sony trades at about $49, down from a 52-week high of almost $60. Its LCD business did well in the last quarter and should show strong holiday results. The company's studio business has been solid.

That only leaves the Sony's game console business. The old PS2 video game platform still sells well, and there is some early evidence that the newer PS3 is selling better since Sony lowered its price. Nintendo's Wii has been outselling the PS3 in almost every market around the world.

Sony is not likely to be the last investment by Dubai. With the stock markets running down, there are plenty of promising companies with stock available at attractive prices. If someone has a lot of cash.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor of 247wallst.com.

Boeing (NYSE: BA)'s announcement Monday that it had won an order for 100 planes valued at $13.7 billion from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise caps a superior year for the aerospace giant, and provides solid momentum heading into 2008.

Dubai Aerospace, the Persian Gulf emirate's entity aimed at establishing a large airport and aviation-services company, said it ordered 70 Boeing 747 Next Generation planes, 15 787 Dreamliner plane, 10 777-300ERs and five 747-8 freighter planes. (Earlier, Dubai Aerospace also announced an order for Airbus aircraft valued at $13.5 billion: 70 A320s and 30 A350 XWBs.)

The Boeing order helps cap a very good year for the Chicago-based company. Boeing booked orders for 966 planes through Nov. 6. The latest contract win is somewhat of a surprise, as many analysts had expected global orders to begin to slow; so far, there's little indication of slowing demand from emerging market regions in Asia, Latin American and the Middle East. Boeing's shares fell 80 cents to $93.41 in Monday morning trading.

Further, a considerable portion of that demand is coming from Middle East sources. For example, with its order, Dubai Aerospace, through its capital arm, hopes to become a world-class aircraft leasing business based in Dubai.

The New York Times [registration] reports that the Carlyle Group and the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) are selling out to one of the countries -- United Arab Emirates -- from which two 9/11 hijackers -- Marwan al-Shehhi and Fayez Benihammad -- hailed.

Specifically, the government of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates' capital, will buy 20% of Carlyle Group, valuing it at $20 billion. While yesterday, NASDAQ announced that is was selling 19.9% of itself to Borse Dubai, the Dubai government-controlled exchange.

But not a peep of protest is emerging from the White House. And why should it protest? This is the decade where it's better to be a barrel of oil -- or a country that sits on oil -- than to be an American. After all, the price of oil is up 242% to a record $82 a barrel since its January 2001 price of $24 a barrel. Meanwhile, since 2001, the median family income adjusted for inflation has stagnated. Bernanke's bailout has slashed the dollar to record low levels against the Euro -- and since oil is traded in dollars -- that means people who drive will be paying more than ever.

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

In this corner, hailing from Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, is 91-year old billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, one-time amateur boxer know as "Rifle Right Kerkorian." And in the other corner, hailing from New York, is 71-year-old corporate raider and activist private equity investor, Carl Icahn, who is never afraid to go toe to toe with an opponent.

Let's get ready to rumble.

Round One begins: Kerkorian drops out of school and becomes a pilot. He gets his start in business buying surplus planes after World War II, as well as Las Vegas properties, becoming the landlord of Caesar's Palace. Icahn, meanwhile, establishes his reputation as a corporate raider during his hostile takeover of TWA in 1985, and becomes one of the inspirations for the character of Gordon "Greed Is Good" Gekko, the antagonist of the 1987 film Wall Street.

Over the past decade or so, Dubai has placed big bets on its ability to become the world's top tourist destination. Now Dubai is taking its plans to sin city itself, Las Vegas. Dubai World, which is the investment holding firm of the Dubai government, has decided to invest $5 billion in MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) for a 9.5% stake.

In addition, Dubai World will also be getting a 50% interest in the yet to be finished CityCenter development project.

The value of luxury retailing chain Barneys New York, currently owned by Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY), just got a little steeper. Over the weekend, Japan's Fast Retailing Company said it would pay $950 million to acquire the Barneys chain. Since July 5, Fast Retailing has been trying to beat out Dubai investment group Istithmar, which originally offered $825 million for the chain but has since upped its bid to $900 million.

The latest offer is 15% higher than Istithmar's original acquisition price and nearly 140% above what Jones paid to buy-out Barneys in December 2004.

Jones Apparel officials have responded by saying Istithmar has two business days to respond with an offer that, according to a statement published by the Associated Press, is "at least as favorable to Jones as the amended Fast Retailing offer." If Jones decides to deal with Fast Retailing, it will owe the Dubai suitor a $22.7 million break-up fee.

Jones shares have dropped more than 2% today to hit a new 52-week low of $19.79. The stock may be continuing to real from its disappointing earnings report last week.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Things couldn't be better for our enemies. With oil prices at record levels and credit risk premiums widening, the heroes of American business, private equity firms, are losing out to the sponsors of the 9/11 attacks.

Reuters reports that Gulf Arab firms are absolutely delighted by the latest turn of events in world markets. With oil at record levels, more and more money is flowing into their coffers. And since American private equity firms have lost access to cheap money -- with investors having added more than 50% in July to the premium sellers of higher-risk bonds must pay over top-rated government debt -- the Gulf Arabs control the world's cheapest capital.

What will they do with their newfound financial firepower? Close at least $14 billion of private equity deals. For example, Taqa (Abu Dhabi National Energy Co.) wants to complete $4 billion worth of acquisitions in the next year. Dubai International plans as much as $10 billion in investments this year.

This is truly the promise of globalization realized. A handful of U.S. executives make a few hundred million more selling out to "folks" who are sworn to destroy the U.S.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) today reported better-than-expected results, proving its many naysayers wrong. The oil service giant posted EPS at $0.63 and revenues at $3.7 billion, both above the $0.56 EPS and $3.5 billion revenue expectations from Thomson Financial.

We already knew about the gain from the past KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) spin-off (not included in above numbers for ease of comparison), so that was already baked into the cake. The company noted a rebound in North America, saying "in June we experienced the highest monthly United States well stimulation revenue in our history." The Canadian operations, though, continued to be weak.

Halliburton has been redefining itself for the future, and the naysayers who have been arguing against the stock are probably scratching their scalps as they try to find a fault in the report today. Its corporate move to Dubai should help it compete for more Middle East contracts, its investments in Russia are paying off, it is still buying back shares (25.746 million at an average price of $35.37 in Q2 alone) and it's already spun-off KBR.

This was also one of Jim Cramer's "Top 9 for 2007" and is performing quite well, with shares up almost 3% at 52-week highs in early trading. Compared to other oil services stocks, this one is not at all-time highs, since it did trade north of $40.00 in early 2006 before some of its woes came to light.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

It's possible that Istithmar, the private-equity arm of the Dubai government, is grimacing today, after news of a higher bid for Jones Apparel Group Inc's (NYSE: JNY) Barneys New York unit surfaced. Under the terms of their agreement, Jones is allowed to weigh other offers for the Barneys unit until July 22 and can explore bids for the entire company through August 11. Jones said Thursday it received an unsolicited bid from Japanese clothing company Fast Retailing Co Ltd to acquire Barneys for $900 million. That's a 9% premium over Istithmar's $825 million offer.

Fast Retailing, which owns stores in more than 12 countries, says owning Barneys New York would increase its market diversification and boost its revenue. The company recently expanded its Uniqlo casual clothing into the U.S., and said last year it would target the U.S. retail market for acquisitions. Fast Retailing sees "potential top-line synergies" in buying Barneys.

For Jones, though, analysts believe the upscale unit has allowed Jones to "lessen its dependence on selling its wholesale lines to department stores." Should Jones decide to break up the in-place deal with Istithmar, it will have to pay Dubai a $20.6 million breakup fee, or $22.7 million if terminated after July 22. So far, however, the deal is still on the table.

Either way, a purchase of Barneys would show the increasing desire for upscale retail, and the increasing desire of companies from countries like Dubai and Japan to further expand into the U.S. market.

Don't feel too badly for Istithmar if their Barneys deal falls through. The firm also reportedly has interests in clothing retailer Loehmann's Holdings, various commercial buildings in New York and London, and investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners.

Istithmar has competition in its quest to acquire Barneys from the Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY). Japan's Fast Retailing Co has come forward with a $900 million bid, $75 million more than Jones had agreed to sell the unit for to the Dubai-based investment group.

Jones says it will begin talks with Fast Retailing. According to the Associated Press, "Headquartered in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi, Fast Retailing Co. operates the popular casual clothing chain Uniqlo. The retailer has expanded aggressively overseas, in such markets as Britain and continental Asia, with ambitions to challenge U.S.-based Gap Inc. It opened its global flagship Uniqlo store in New York City last September."

This should be interesting to follow, as investors from Japan and Dubai are battling for Barneys New York. Fast Retailing's offer is about 9% better than the agreement with Istithmar, and could lead to higher valuations for other high-end department stores like Bloomingdales, owned by Macys (NYSE: M).

Shares of Jones New York are up about 5% in pre-market trading.

Analysts are expecting Jones Apparel Group Inc (NYSE: JNY) to announce a sale of upscale fashion retail chain Barneys New York any minute now. Sources have indicated Jones CEO Peter Boneparth is looking to sell the chain because of a decline in the company's stock price -- shares closed yesterday at $28.36, while trading in January for over $35. Additionally, having failed to sell the entire company nearly a year ago, Mr. Boneparth may be looking to take advantage of the highly competitive market for luxury goods.

Because of the desire for luxury goods, Barneys has been sought after by publicly-traded companies as well as private-equity groups. There is strong market speculation that Istithmar, the investment arm of the Dubai government, could be the victor in the race for Barneys. Istithmar has a global real estate portfolio valued around $7 billion, including owning apparel retailer Loehmann's Holdings, and has been in hot pursuit of other U.S. properties over the past year. Sources close to the matter believe Istithmar could offer around $825 million for Barneys.

In addition to Istithmar, rumors swirled recently that Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom Inc (NYSE: JWN) had been interested in the chain and considered making bids around in the $800 million to $850 million range price, but dropped out when both companies believed the price would escalate too high, perhaps as far as $1.4 billion.

A sale of Barneys would likely come, as the New York Times reported, as a "partial victory" for Mr. Boneparth. He had been oft criticized that he paid too high a price in 2004 for the chain, but may have the last laugh if the sale price turns out to be nearly twice as high.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, whose firms holds about 15% of Ceridian Corporation (NYSE: CEN), doesn't like the proposed $5.3B sale of the company to Thomas H. Lee Partners and Fidelity National Financial Inc (NYSE: FNF), and says he's going to find higher bidders, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that British bank Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) has drawn up plans to sweeten its $86B all-share offer for Dutch bank ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN), by substituting cash for some of the shares it is currently offering for ABN.
• Beginning today, Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is embedding its iTunes internet music download service in the British and Irish social networking site Bebo, reported the Financial Times.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Post has learned that a private-equity firm owned by the Dubai government is close to buying Barneys New York from the Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY).
• The New York Times reported that the Wall Street Journal is set to "shake up its newsroom" by reassigning and replacing several top editors.
• Golf equipment maker Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) is suing Fortune Brands Inc.'s (NYSE: FO) Acushnet Co, for allegedly violating five Callaway patents for golf clubs, reported the Los Angeles Times.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is about to purchase 13 hotels from All Nippon Airways for about $1.2B, doubling the number of hotels the investment bank owns there, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced it would delay shipping its new Leopard operating system until October, due to the summer launch of its iPhone.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the New York Times, citing people briefed on the discussions, Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM) is in talks to be acquired by private equity for more than $20B.
• The Guardian reported that exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky is planning the "violent overthrow of [Russian] President Putin".
• The New York Post reported that Dubai is looking at buying Jones Apparel Group Inc's (NYSE: JNY) Barneys New York for $950M. Contrary to previous reports, the suitor is not linked to Qatar's royal family, but is Istithmar, a private equity firm owned by the Dubai government.

WEBSITES:

• According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple has plans to release new iPods with Wi-Fi, reported DigiTimes.com.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), caught in a firestorm of criticism over its decision to relocate much of its senior management to Dubai, UAR, cranked up the spin machine today by announcing they will add 13,000 jobs this year, including some (exact number not disclosed) right here in the U.S. The corporation currently employs 104,000 people in more than 100 countries. Of those, around 11k work in the old home office in Houston.

Halliburton's employee numbers are about to plummet, however. Over half of the employees work for KBR (NYSE:KBR), and when the separation of this business from Halliburton is complete, probably next month, only about 45 thousand will remain as Halliburton workers.

What will be the company's next brand-rebuilding move? Keep an eye on the news for more face-saving (and contract-saving) moves. How about a makeover for the Statue of Liberty? Her gown is so 19th century.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) is headquartered in Houston. Since Texas was the oil capital of the world for quite awhile that made sense.

But Texas is not at the center of the oil universe any more. The distinction probably belongs to Saudi Arabia. And it looks like doing business in the Eastern Hemisphere is so important that Halliburton will move its headquarters to Dubai. "My office will be in Dubai, and I will run our entire worldwide operations from that office," Halliburton chief executive David Lesar said at an energy conference in Bahrain.

The move probably does not mean much in the scope of things, but it does send a signal to the oil industry that the US is not where it's at anymore. This is a US-born corporation with over $20 billion in annual revenue heading out the door.

Halliburton's job is to supply tools and services to the global oil and gas industry. It is an industry where the growth is not just in the Middle East but in other countries including Nigeria and Russia.

What is left unsaid in the Halliburton announcement is that perhaps being based in the US is not a particularly good idea anymore. Not only is the US a net purchaser of oil, it is also not popular with some governments in countries with vast oil and gas reserves. And that can be bad for business.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.