The United States has slapped Egypt and four other countries with new screening protocols for air cargo; we have details in this morning’s Speed Round, below.

In an unrelated trade development, US President Donald Trump also imposed yesterday tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels in what Reuters positioned as “the first of several potential trade restrictions.” Exporters including South Korea have already pledged to contest the sanctions on washers, which start at 20% and run as high as 50% pas the first 1.2 mn imported units.

Otherwise, you can look forward to a day dominated by plenty of chatter about the macro backdrop:

The IMF will report on its second review of Egypt’s economic reform program this afternoon. Based on statements from senior officials following the review and the board’s approval of the USD 2 bn tranche, we expect to hear nothing but positivity and confidence.

The IMF was also positive in its global economic forecast as it released the January update of its World Economic Outlook. The IMF expects global growth for 2018 and 2019 to clock in at 3.9%, an upgrade of 0.2% on the back of global output growth in 2017. “This forecast reflects the expectation that favorable global financial conditions and strong sentiment will help maintain the recent acceleration in demand, especially in investment, with a noticeable impact on growth in economies with large exports,” said the report. The IMF was particularly pleased with the US’ tax reform, which is expected to stimulate further growth.

The aggregate growth forecast for the emerging markets and developing economies for 2018 and 2019 is unchanged. Growth in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan region is expected to pick up in 2018 and 2019, but remains subdued at around 3.5% notes the IMF. You can catch the landing page of the report here, or read the full document (pdf).

The take home message from the IMF forecast, per the Wall Street Journal: “The world’s economies are growing in rare harmony, [and] synchronized expansions tend to be self-reinforcing — they can have staying power.”

It’s day one of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Pity the bn’aires: The heaviest snowfall there in 20 years has seen the Swiss town buried in six feet of snow (that’s just under 183 cm) in the past six days. Folks are showing up late for speeches and (the horror) are having problems landing their helicopters. The program for the gathering is here on the event’s homepage.

What to expect at WEF? An agreement early this morning to end the shutdown of the US government suggests The Donald may well still attend, so there will be the expected gnashing of teeth there. Some are predicting hand-wringing about Big Tech amid calls for tighter regulation of players including Google, Facebook and Amazon. And there will be the usual stuff about the brittleness of the global economic recovery and the future of capitalism, the Financial Times notes in its tee-up. Also look for a flurry of reports competing for attention, Bloomberg notes in its day-one scene setter.

One of those reports is the WEF’s “inclusive development index,” which rates more than 100 countries on “growth, equity and sustainability.” The list is dominated by small, wealthy European nations, with the top five slots going to Norway, Iceland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Denmark. The list is split into 30 advanced economies and some 77 emerging markets.

Egypt ranks #70 on the EM list, which is led by Lithuania, Hungary and Azerbaijan. We’re one slot behind South Africa and one ahead of Zimbabwe. The landing page for the report is here or you can go read the thing in pdf here.

Speaking of EMs, Bloomberg has come out with its 2018 list of most (and least) attractive emerging markets. Mexico and Turkey appeared to top the list of the most attractive EMs, because their real effective exchange rates are more competitive than the average of the past 10 years. China and India are the least attractive on historically high valuations, and their economic growth is unlikely to be as fast as it has been in the past decade, estimates show. Don’t look for Egypt in here: It was among the four of the 24 MSCI emerging market countries that was excluded for lacking data.

In miscellany this morning:

• Morten Hansen’s Great at Work, which argues that you need to work less (and far more selectively) to achieve more, has made it to the FT’s list of business books of the month of January. We’ve already pre-ordered; it’s due out 30 January.
• Amazon has opened “the store of the future” which features no checkouts. Instead, hundreds of cameras and sensors follow your every move. Not creepy in the least. The New York Times and the FT both have the story.
• Former KPMG execs, including some who had made partner, have been hit with conspiracy charges in the US after being accused of misusing confidential information, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Elsewhere, the Journal’s takeaway from Milan fashion week is that you should never get rid of your old clothes. They’ll be back in fashion eventually.

Finally: The (blessed) failure of the sand storm to appear yesterday has us questioning the infallibility of the national weather service. Our favourite weather app tells us we’re looking at a high today of 19°C, a 20% chance of a sprinkling of rain on Thursday and a cooler day on Friday, when the daytime high is forecast to be 16°C.