Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen — and welcome to the last real week of summer. A metric s*ton of news has unfolded in the week we’ve been on vacation, most of it either (a) in international news or (b) foreign media coverage of Egypt. We’ve boiled it all down to its essence for you this morning to help you get back into the swing of things.

Our advice for today: (a) Quickly take stock of the five things that were most important to your work life before you went on vacation. Then think through (b) what five things are most important this week and (c) what five things will define your priorities as we slip into fall.

Five things we were all talking about in the week before the Eid holiday:

1. Will the fall window for Egyptian equity offerings slam shut in the face of the Emerging Markets Zombie Apocalypse? EGX boss Mohamed Farid expects 4-5 IPOs over the coming eight months (about right, if you ask us, provided the stars remain aligned). And the government looks set to push forward with stake sales at already-listed state-owned companies. But emerging market equities had “slumped into a bear market” territory, falling to a six-month low on the back of weak Chinese economic data and EM currencies taking a hit. Our explainer on what was (and is) going on is here.

2. Macro and confidence indicators were looking good across the board: Corporate earnings in 2Q looked reasonably good. Unemployment was down in 2Q2018. Hotel occupancy was on the rise (at last before the death of two British tourists in Hurghada). The purchasing managers’ index for July points to an ongoing private-sector recovery (and yes, it was out later than usual). And inflation cooled in July, falling to 13.5% after a surge in June.

3. It’s going to be a long winter for FDI — unless interest rates start trending down: Bloomberg’s declaration that traders looking for refuge from volatility will find it in Egypt was getting plenty of attention, as was DPI’s high-profile investment in a GB Auto financing company and Lightsource BP’s joint venture with Hassan Allam. On the other side of the coin, we think it fair to say there is now consensus that major foreign direct investment will be limited until Egyptian companies start to invest in themselves as interest rates (eventually) decline. Recent FDI announcements track largely to Saudi and Chinese companies. The CBE next meets to discuss interest rates at the end of September.

4. Everyone was up in arms about the real estate tax. Well, maybe not everyone. Maybe all the folks who sunk their savings into real estate prior to the float of the EGP, at which time second (and third and fourth and fifth) houses were the investment of choice for many. (Remember, that was a time when receipts for the future delivery of automobiles had effectively become tradable securities.)

5. Our dream of becoming an energy hub becomes real in January when Egypt is expected to make its first foreign sales of natural gas since before 25 January 2011. Israel looks like its backing natgas exports to Egypt, and there’s lots more exploration taking place.

What happened outside Egypt in the last week that’s of relevance to us?

• We need to pay a lot more attention to Arctic politics: Maersk launched a container ship on the Arctic Northern Sea route that could threaten the Suez Canal’s share of Asia-European trade.
• US stocks are now officially in their longest-ever bull market at more than 3,453 days. CNBC looks at what has (and hasn’t) changed since the run began.
• Saudi Aramco’s IPO is officially on ice, throwing into question “the core funding for the diversification that is needed to generate much-needed jobs and over time enable Saudi Arabia to eliminate its dependence on oil.” More in the Financial Times and Bloomberg.
• The Emerging Markets Zombie Apocalypse continues unabated, spurring outflows from South African bonds and hitting global miners and eurozone financials. Actively managed EM equity funds saw outflows of USD 2.9 bn in the first three weeks of August, Renaissance Capital suggests in a recent note, while EM bond funds have seen month-to-date outflows of USD 2.5 bn. Global emerging market funds have increased their exposure to China, Brazil and Indonesia and axed holdings from South Africa, Russia and Turkey.
• The USD came under a bit of pressure after Federal Reserve boss Jay Powell signaled last week that interest rate rises will be gradual.
• Elon Musk isn’t taking Tesla private after all, he said on Friday, “abandoning an idea that stunned investors and drew regulatory scrutiny.”
• Oh, and it was an insane week in US politics as associates of The Donald were convicted of wrongdoing and / or appeared to ‘flip’ and line up to testify in cases that could see him face impeachment proceedings. The New York Times has got your back if you need to catch up.

We’re heading into the 10-year anniversary of the global financial crisis, which most folks generally observe 15 September, the day Lehman Bros collapsed. Plans by some ex-Lehman bankers to hold a party in London to mark the occasion are already getting negative press. You can expect the torrent of “10 years later, we’re on the verge of another collapse” stories to begin flowing any day now.

Meanwhile:

Keep an eye on diplomacy this week: Investment Minister Sahar Nasr will be signing an unspecified agreement today with Korean Ambassador to Egypt Yoon Yeocheol and Transport Minister Hisham Arafat, according to an emailed press release. And the president of Vietnam is in town tomorrow for meetings including a sit-down with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Egypt is getting a toonie: The Finance Ministry is looking at the possible issuance of an EGP 2 coin in a bid to solve Egypt’s chronic shortage of change, according to a statement picked up by Al Masry Al Youm. The statement gave no timeline for the prospective issuance.

US Senator John McCain died overnight after a battle with cancer. The long-serving politician and war hero was a loud voice for an active US foreign policy, an outspoken critic of Egypt and a pure maverick, general in the best sense of the word. Read the New York Times obituary to get started.