Reuters (December 13)
“Conflict in the Middle East added geopolitical uncertainty to a luxury industry outlook already clouded by inflation, with shoppers in the U.S. and Europe tightening their purse strings while expectations for a strong post-pandemic rebound in China were derailed by a property crisis” On top of all that, Bergdorf Goodman and other high end retailers are already discounting adding to “concern that a lackluster Christmas could lead to inventory gluts – potentially dragging labels into a discounting spiral that would cheapen their image.”
Tags: Bergdorf Goodman, China, Christmas, Clouded, Discounting, Europe, Geopolitical uncertainty, Inflation, Inventory gluts, Lackluster, Luxury, Middle East, Outlook, Property crisis, Shoppers, Tightening, U.S.
Institutional Investor (December 1)
“Competition to manage middle eastern sovereign wealth has become fierce.” Five of the top ten sovereign wealth funds (by assets under management} “are based in the Middle East” with “roughly $2.92 trillion in assets.” Given “bleak fundraising prospects in the U.S. and Europe, managers are tripping over themselves to reach sovereign wealth funds” in the Middle East.
Tags: $2.92 trillion, AUM, Competition, Europe, Fundraising, Managers, Middle East, Prospects, Sovereign wealth funds, Top ten, U.S.
New York Times (July 14)
President Biden is in the Middle East hoping production may be increased, “but the oil crunch may already be easing. A report yesterday from the International Energy Agency suggests that the worst of the supply crisis may be over.” The IEA slashed its demand forecasts “for this year and next, pointing to high prices that would reduce consumption and slow the global economy.”
Tags: Biden, Consumption, Demand, Easing, Forecasts, Global economy, High prices, IEA, Middle East, Oil crunch, Production, Supply crisis
Wall Street Journal (May 17)
“It’s déjà vu all over again in the Middle East as another round of Israeli-Palestinian combat follows a tragic and familiar path: another spasm of violence, another media firestorm over civilian casualties, another wave of demonstrations around the world, another diplomatic kerfuffle as would-be mediators jostle, and another donnybrook in American politics over how Washington should respond.”
Tags: Casualties, Combat, Déjà vu, Familiar, Firestorm, Israel, Media, Mediators, Middle East, Palestine, Spasm, Tragic, Violence
The Economist (July 18)
“Big change is coming, as countries around the world adopt cleaner sources of energy. Peak demand for oil may still be years away, but covid-19 has given the Middle East and north Africa a taste of the future. Prices of the black stuff plummeted as countries went into lockdown…. Even when the virus recedes, a glut of supply will probably keep prices down. Faced with budgets that no longer add up, Arab states must adapt.”
Tags: Budgets, Change, Cleaner, COVID-19, Energy, Glut, Middle East, North Africa, Peak demand, Plummeted, Prices, Supply
New York Times (December 21)
The Twenty-Teens have “been fundamentally shaped by the technological creations of the young, in the form of social media and mobile apps; by the mass migrations of the young, from Africa and the Middle East to Europe and from Latin America to the U.S.; by the diseases of the (mostly) young, notably addiction and mental illness; and by the moral convictions of the young, from the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements in the U.S. to mass demonstrations from Cairo to Hong Kong.”
Tags: #MeToo, Addiction, Africa, Apps, Black Lives Matter, Cairo, Demonstrations, Diseases, Europe, Hong Kong, Latin America, Mental illness, Middle East, Migrations, Moral convictions, Movements, Social media, Technology, U.S., Young
Time (November 15)
“This has been one of the darkest weeks in the Hong Kong protest movement…. With the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump, Brexit paralysis continuing in Britain, and turmoil in the Middle East, the attritional protests in Hong Kong could easily end up neglected and forgotten. But now more than ever, Hongkongers need our solidarity.”
Tags: Brexit, Hong Kong, Impeachment, Middle East, Neglected, Protest movement, Solidarity, Trump, Turmoil, UK
OilPrice.com (October 9)
“Now that Brent has lost more than $13 since its mid-September spike many are saying that Middle East risk is underpriced. We’re taking a different view…. Washington and Beijing still pose more of a threat to oil prices than Tehran and Riyadh.”
Tags: Beijing, Brent, China, Middle East, Oil prices, Risk, Riyadh, Spike, Tehran, Threat, U.S., Underpriced, Washington
Reuters (September 16)
“The last thing the slowing world economy needs is a big and unexpected disruption in oil output.” The drone attacks “took out roughly half of Saudi Arabia’s crude output appear to fit that bill. But even fragile global growth can probably withstand this first cut.” However, if “sustained disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supply–or anything that heightens the risk of them–will buoy crude. That will deliver the deepest cut to growth.”
Tags: Crude, Crude output, Disruption, Drone attacks, Economy, Fragile, Growth, Middle East, Oil, Output, Risk, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Unexpected
Washington Post (October 14)
Trump’s reckless Middle East “ambitions have been revealed as the misguided fantasies they always were. The disappearance and alleged murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has exposed the real return on Trump’s gambits: a string of reckless acts by the Saudis and Israelis that have made the region more rather than less unstable.” Both Israel and Saudi Arabia “have exploited Trump’s indulgence to the hilt, taking actions they never would have dared under Obama or any other previous president.”
Tags: Ambitions, Consulate, Indulgence, Israelis, Istanbul, Journalist, Khashoggi, Middle East, Obama, Reckless, Saudi Arabia, Trump