It is a very slow news day as we head into a long weekend for Eid Al-Adha (here) and Labor Day (in the US / Canada). Enjoy the lull while it lasts — we’re looking at a hectic fall, folks, between the abyss that is a packed legislative season for the House of Representatives — and the fun that will be planning and budgeting for 2018, which we believe will be more challenging than most folks are expecting.

How slow is the news? Bloomberg essentially uses this quote — “‘Geopolitical risk remains high, particularly in the U.S.,’ said Chris Diaz, who oversees about USD 2 bn as a money manager at Janus Capital Management in Denver. ‘Valuations in all risk markets, including EM, are fairly full in our view and this would be a reasonable time to reduce risk’” — to justify this headline: “Wall Street Vets From Dalio to Gundlach Warn on Emerging Markets.”

The Financial Times, meanwhile, is using dog and cat ownership as a proxy for middle class formation in EM (see The Macro Picture, below).

iSheep, rejoice: Apple has reportedly set 12 September as the date for the unveiling of itsnew iPhones and other products — including its 10th anniversary phone — and may do the deed at the new Steve Jobs Theater, which we think would be a rather nice touch. The Wall Street Journal broke the news yesterday. The outlook for our favourite computer maker is solid, the paper notes, writing, “Consumer demand for a new iPhone appears strong. In a recent survey [of US consumers], 52% of people planning to buy a smartphone in the next 90 days said they would buy an iPhone, the highest level since 2010, according to 451 Research, a market-research firm.” Apple Insider has a fast rundown on what you can expect at the event.

With tomorrow being our last work day before a five-day weekend, you would do well to set a reminder to turn on an “out of office” reply. Here to help you is the New York Times with “What You’re Truly Saying With Your Out-of-Office Reply.” Our suggestion: Be honest. In this day and age, you don’t have “limited access to your email” unless you’re paddling somewhere off the coast of Northern Quebec and your next stop is the Northwest Passage. Just let people know you’re on a vacation and will not likely see their email, so they should … contact someone else? Try again on 5 September?

PSA #1: Netflix has given a green light to season three of Stranger Things. Season two is set to drop this coming Halloween, and series creators the Duffer brothers have hinted that season four may be all they need to bring the storyline to a close.

PSA #2: John le Carré’s latest is due out on 5 September. The New York Times has a review here, and Amazon doesn’t yet list a Kindle edition. The Grey Lady also has an interview with Le Carré and non-fiction author Ben Macintyre that’s definitely worth a read if you’re into spy stuff.

PSA #3 comes from MoFA, which would like you to know that you need to enter the Schengen zone through the country that issued your visa. The warning came after a group of Egyptian travelers were turned back at Frankfurt Airport because they hadn’t obtained their visas from the German embassy. Ahram Online has the story.