Now is the time to go to Egypt: Putting a smile on our faces this morning is Bloomberg, which included Egypt in its list of 20 destinations that will be “especially hot” this year. “Want to get the pyramids all to yourself? Now’s the time to go to Egypt, which has shed its years of social and political unrest but has yet to regain the crowds that long plagued its iconic sights.” Travelers will find that Egypt “offers a more rewarding experience than ever before,” Geoffrey Kent, founder of luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent says. Bloomberg says, “in addition to heightened safety, many brand-name hospitality firms have started recommitting to Egypt… Plus the government is finally opening the lush tombs of both Queen Nefertari and Pharaoh Seti I, after years of closed-door restorations.” It recommends going in March (for the amazing weather, naturally) and to avoid the heat of August. Other destinations on the list include Sri Lanka, Portugal, Finland, Peru, and Iran.

Is a cabinet shuffle in the offing? Reporters asked Prime Minister Sherif Ismail after yesterday’s weekly cabinet meeting if there was a planned cabinet reshuffle and he gave no definitive answer. “All options are on the table,” Ismail said, according to Ahram Gate. Cabinet spokesman Ashraf Sultan told that MBC’s Sherif Amer that a cabinet meeting to review ministers’ performance “does not necessarily point to a cabinet shuffle.” If there is a shuffle, could we please ask that the cabinet economic team be left untouched? Those folks are doing an awfully good job, and if we want policy stability (and we do), then we need some measure of stability at the cabinet table to ensure it.

The EGX30 hit a new all-time high yesterday, closing up 1.5% at 12,608 with foreign investors one again net buyers.

The Central Bank of Egypt should release figures today showing the stock of its reserves as of the end of 2016. We speculate it will be a pleasant surprise.

Merry Christmas to everyone who will be celebrating on Saturday. We wish you a wonderful holiday weekend with family and friends.

All we want for Christmas is a day off on Sunday, though we admit that despite reports of a handful of companies taking the day off, it’s looking very much like Cabinet will not be giving people Sunday off despite Christmas Day falling on a weekend.

Chocolate is one of the few things we like more than Apple products, so we are very pleased to bring to your attention Ahram Online’s Ten places to get a chocolate dessert for Christmas lunch in Cairo. To this list, we would add Nola Cupcakes’ incredible volcano cake and Cilantro’s classic hot chocolate, which is second in the world only to the drink served at Tolkien House in Zagreb’s Gornji Grad district.