 | | Doha ´city centre´ part of history |
 THE high sales pitch of the
shop-owners and the flurry of
activity among shoppers, trying
to drive a smart bargain at
Musheireb (popularly called
National), Souq Ahmed bin
Abdullah and the markets in the
lanes and bylanes
of the area
seen over the last
one week or so are
like the flicker of a lamp´s flame
before it dies out in a storm.
The traders are resorting to
distress clearance of their
stocks as the deadline. |
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|  |  | | Europe´s Real Problems |
| WHEN the history of the 21st
century is written people
will ask why it was that
Europe was found wanting
during its most intractable
economic crisis. They will ask why
Europe slept as an undercapitalised
banking system floundered, unemployment
remained unacceptably high, and
the Continent´s growth and competitiveness
plummeted.
Worse still, if a reconstruction plan
does not come soon, Europe´s leaders
will be charged with "the decline of... |
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| |  | | NO, WE CAN´T?
OR WON´T? |
| IF you were shocked by Friday´s
job report, if you thought we
were doing well and were taken
aback by the bad news, you
haven´t been paying attention.
The fact is, the United States economy
has been stuck in a rut for a year
and a half.
Yet a destructive passivity has
overtaken our discourse. Turn on
your TV and you´ll see some self-satisfied
pundit declaring that nothing
much can be done about the economy´s
short... |
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 | Global stocks dip as EU
talks go into extra time THEEU´s efforts to douse the fires
of debt contagion failed to hold the
line on Tuesday with stocks and
the euro slumping worldwide as
finance ministers went into new
talks.
Stocks nose-dived from Tokyo
to Frankfurt, while the European
single.
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|
| | ArcelorMittal on board,
Peabody may seal deal |  PEABODY Energy and
ArcelorMittal are likely to succeed
with their $5 billion
takeover offer for Macarthur
Coal, investors bet on Tuesday,
driving up shares in the world´s
biggest producer of pulverized
coal by 37 percent.
Shares in Macarthur soared
to just below the offer price of
A$15.50 a share, indicating
investors do not expect a bidding
war for steel-making ingredient
mined by Macarthur, in
contrast to the three-way battle
for the company last year led by
Peabody. Peabody then ran
into resistance from
Macarthur´s three key shareholders
— ArcelorMittal,
Korea´s POSCO and China´s
Citic — with its bid of up to
A$16 a share.
This time Peabody has locked... |
| | Oil prices sink on eurozone crisis |  WORLD oil prices sank on
Tuesday, extending recent
losses on investor tensions
over the worsening eurozone
debt crisis, which could curb
global appetite for energy,
traders said.
The market was dented by
the rising greenback, which
makes dollar-priced commodities
become more
expensive for buyers using
weaker currencies, hitting
demand.
New York´s main contract,
West Texas Intermediate for
delivery in August, slid $1.08
to $94.07 a barrel.
Brent North Sea oil for
August dropped $1.89 to
$115.35 in London midday
deals. Global markets
slumped on Tuesday, extending
Monday´s fierce sell-off as
concerns grew that the debt
crisis was spreading to heavily. |
| | Oil pushes US trade deficit
to $50.2 billion in May |
 THE US trade gap widened
sharply in May to its highest
level in 31 months as surging
oil prices helped push
imports to a near record and
exports fell slightly from
April´s record high.
The trade deficit totalled
$50.2 billion, the highest
since October 2008, and well
above the consensus estimate
of $44.0 billion from Wall
Street analysts surveyed
before the report, a
Commerce Department
report showed on Tuesday.
Imports rose 2.6 percent
to $225.1 billion, the highest
since the record of $231.6
billion set in July 2008 just
before the global financial
crisis took a huge toll on
global trade.
US stock index futures
dipped slightly on the news,
while the dollar pared gains
against... |
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