What we’re tracking on 5 December 2017
It’s PMI day: The Emirates NBD / Markit purchasing managers’ index for Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia will be out this morning at about 6:15am — or 10-15 minutes after we typically hit “send” on the day’s issue. Look for it here when it’s released.
Also today: It’s the last day of Solar-Tec and Electrix and the next-to-last day of both Cairo ICT and the PAFIX financial inclusion expo.
PSA- The Traffic Police are advising that motorists exercise caution amid heavy fog expected this morning. Major arteries into and out of Cairo and elsewhere to the north were already closed as of 5am CLT today on a third straight morning of heavy fog. With idiots driving against traffic on service roads and the prospect of gridlock on major arteries waiting for roads to reopen, you’ll want to check the highway reports before heading out. The folks at Youm7 have more.
International news stories likely to dominate chatter today include: Britain’s failure to seal an agreement to start post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union after politics in Northern Ireland reared its head (see coverage in the Financial Times or the NYT). Across the pond, the US Supreme Court is allowing the third version of Trump’s travel ban to go into effect while it is litigated in lower courts. The ban affects individuals from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, Reuters reports. Also included are citizens of North Korea and some groups of people from Venezuela.
Food for thought this morning:
A USD 1 tn emerging markets debt overhang in 2018? “A USD 1 tn wave of fixed-income debt is set to mature in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the coming year, posing a significant challenge for investors searching for returns, according to new research.” (Financial Times)
How do you put a price on investment research? In our continuing obsession with MiFID II, we re-up this great piece from the summer, and the prices vary wildly: Danske Bank said it wasn’t going to charge, Barclays thinks you should shell out USD 455k per year for its “gold” equities research. Goldman Sachs is a comparative steal at USD 40k per year for a 10-seat license, but that covers only “basic research.” (Bloomberg)
France has persuaded Saudi Arabia to help bankroll counter-terror operations in West Africa. Sounds like a recipe for success to us. (Bloomberg)
The undead return to work: In fairness, they’re being called the “unretired” and they’re among the 25% of retirees who return to work, most of them within five years of retiring. (Financial Times)
Should 6-Year-Olds Be on Social Media? That’s the question the WSJ asks after Facebook launched Messenger Kids. Gizmodo asks the better question: “Why the [redacted] should we trust Facebook to moderate its new kids app?” Enterprise’s house answer to each question: “[Redacted] no” and “You [redacted] can’t.” (Wall Street Journal)
And in our TBR pile: That’s “To Be Read” for the incognoscenti: How the Index Card Cataloged the World. (The Atlantic)