Welcome to the Mideast Money newsletter, I’m Adveith Nair . Join us each week as my team and I chronicle the intersection of money and power in a region that’s become one of the most influential in global finance. You can sign up here . This week : Dubai turns to a trusted executive to protect its prized DP World asset, Abu Dhabi creates a $237 billion financial giant, and Mubadala Capital chases ...
Welcome to the Mideast Money newsletter, I’m Adveith Nair . Join us each week as my team and I chronicle the intersection of money and power in a region that’s become one of the most influential in global finance. You can sign up here . This week : Dubai turns to a trusted executive to protect its prized DP World asset, Abu Dhabi creates a $237 billion financial giant, and Mubadala Capital chases “ complexity .” But first , let’s turn our focus to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has taken a significant step toward its goal of tripling foreign direct investment to $100 billion by 2030, putting an executive at its sovereign wealth fund atop the entity tasked with drawing that capital into the country. Fahad Al-Saif is taking over as investment minister, replacing Khalid Al-Falih at a critical juncture. Al-Saif, the new face of the Gulf nation’s push for capital, worked alongside Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan as Saudi Arabia started its debt program and began tapping global bond markets in 2016. When it raised a record $21.5 billion a year later, putting the kingdom on the map as one of the most active sovereign emerging-market issuers, Al-Saif was at the helm. Also Read: Banker Who Helped Lead Saudi Debt Boom Will Now Drive FDI Push More recently, he’s overseen investment strategy and global capital finance at the Public Investment Fund , which has been a driver of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ’s agenda to diversify the economy beyond oil, and is expected to soon unveil its strategy for the next five years. The appointment comes just as the kingdom starts to make tough decisions on spending. Officials have ordered sweeping reviews at its most ambitious projects spread across Neom, Jeddah and Riyadh, and are pivoting to areas that can ultimately draw more foreign investment, including sectors like artificial intelligence, tourism and finance. My colleague Zainab Fattah spotlighted an important element: Mecca. As of this year, Muslims overseas have a pathway to buy ...
Consumer confidence at its lowest level in two years, as young people in particular face money pressures Business live – latest updates The mood among UK households about their finances is “dismal”, according to research which suggested consumer spending remains sluggish and debts are mounting. Consumer confidence in the UK is running at its lowest level in two years, a survey by S&P Global found,...
Consumer confidence at its lowest level in two years, as young people in particular face money pressures Business live – latest updates The mood among UK households about their finances is “dismal”, according to research which suggested consumer spending remains sluggish and debts are mounting. Consumer confidence in the UK is running at its lowest level in two years, a survey by S&P Global found, as households worry about their debts, their future financial prospects, and their savings. Continue reading...
After posting massive gains in 2025, a jet engine behemoth just boosted its dividend by over 30%. Meanwhile, two key AI stocks also announced strong increases.
After posting massive gains in 2025, a jet engine behemoth just boosted its dividend by over 30%. Meanwhile, two key AI stocks also announced strong increases.
lucigerma/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored with Hidden Opportunities Elections are a normal aspect of any democratic society, and elections around the world inevitably come with promises and carefully crafted narratives from every candidate on the ballot. It is also common to pick and choose metrics to highlight candidates in the most favorable light possible. This isn’t a Republican or Democra...
lucigerma/iStock via Getty Images Co-authored with Hidden Opportunities Elections are a normal aspect of any democratic society, and elections around the world inevitably come with promises and carefully crafted narratives from every candidate on the ballot. It is also common to pick and choose metrics to highlight candidates in the most favorable light possible. This isn’t a Republican or Democrat phenomenon – it occurs across parties, ideologies, and levels of government throughout the democratic world. My investment strategy doesn’t involve making moves based on political promises, slogans, or headlines; I invest based on facts, data, and cash flows. That approach guided my recent article on discounted income opportunities from New York City real estate , where we looked past political noise and fears, and focused instead on operational resilience. History has been very clear that markets ultimately respond to numbers, not narratives. Today’s dominant political portrayal is that inflation is at its lowest level since the pandemic. While that may be true in a headline sense, the CPI report tells a more nuanced story once you look beneath the surface. Inflation has not disappeared; it has become selective. Certain categories continue to experience persistent price increases, particularly those tied to essential services and deeply ingrained consumer behavior. While broad averages mask these important realities, as investors, you can’t afford to ignore them. Two of the clearest examples are tobacco and utilities. Tobacco prices continue to rise rapidly due to taxation, regulation, and inelastic demand. The January 2026 CPI report shows that tobacco and smoking product prices are up 8.5% YoY. Similarly, utilities face mounting costs from AI infrastructure investment, grid maintenance, and growing electricity demand, with 6.3% YoY increase in electricity costs and 10.8% YoY increase in piped natural gas costs, per the January 2026 CPI report . St Louis Fed St Louis Fe...
Jetta Productions Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images Previous Coverage I originally covered C.H. Robinson Worldwide ( CHRW ) in early July last year and rated the stock a HOLD. At that time, there were some things to like about the business and some that gave me pause regarding where the company might go. Since the prior update, the stock price has surged significantly, rising more than 70%, great...
Jetta Productions Inc/DigitalVision via Getty Images Previous Coverage I originally covered C.H. Robinson Worldwide ( CHRW ) in early July last year and rated the stock a HOLD. At that time, there were some things to like about the business and some that gave me pause regarding where the company might go. Since the prior update, the stock price has surged significantly, rising more than 70%, greater than 6x times that of the broad market, as measured by SPY . Late last month the company announced their Q4 2025 earnings, so let's take a dive into that and see where the company might go from here. We'll also examine CHRW's valuation based on updated free cash flow numbers. And lastly, the stock had a rough day, Thursday, February 12th, tanking more than 20% following an announcement from Algorhythm Holdings ( RIME ) that their AI technology could drastically change the 3rd-party logistics industry. The risks section of this article will focus on this news and see just how much CHRW could be affected moving forward. Data by YCharts Q4 2025 Earnings As mentioned above, in late January 2026, the company announced their Q4 2025 earnings with non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.23, surpassing expectations by $0.10, on revenue of $3.91B, which missed by $70M and was a year-over-year decline of 6.5%. Additionally, GAAP earnings per share were $1.12, which was $0.02 short of the consensus. The North American Surface Transportation segment earned $2.8B in revenue in Q4, a minimal increase from the same quarter a year ago. These results were supported by higher volumes in truckload services but were moderately hindered by shorter hauling routes. The adjusted gross profit for this portion of the business rose nearly 2%, from $403.7M to $411.6M, mostly the result of a small decline in GP per shipment, but a similar rise in volume offset those struggles. Additionally, this segment managed to shrink their expenses by 0.3%, driven by efficiency gains, which were partially mitigated by...
In this article NVDA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT China is focusing on large language models in the artificial intelligence space. Blackdovfx | Istock | Getty Images China's rapid advancement in AI is threatening to shake up U.S. dominance in the market, with one analyst warning of a tech shock that is just getting started. Rory Green, TS Lombard's chief China economist and head...
In this article NVDA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT China is focusing on large language models in the artificial intelligence space. Blackdovfx | Istock | Getty Images China's rapid advancement in AI is threatening to shake up U.S. dominance in the market, with one analyst warning of a tech shock that is just getting started. Rory Green, TS Lombard's chief China economist and head of Asia research, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Monday that America's "perceived monopoly" on tech and AI has been broken by China. "I think the China tech shock is just getting started. It's not just AI, DeepSeek, and electric vehicles. China is moving up the value chain very rapidly... It's the first time in history that an emerging market economy is at the forefront of science and technology," Green said in a conversation with CNBC's Steve Sedgewick and Ben Boulos. China is pairing dominant-market level tech with emerging-market production costs, backed by its massive supply chain, Green said. He added that with Xi Jinping being like a "tech bro" that is chucking money into these sectors, it makes for a powerful mix that is really rapidly accelerating the China tech story. Indeed, Beijing quietly launched a 60.06 billion yuan ($8.69 billion) national AI fund last year, and has an initiative called "AI+" which will see the tech integrated across its economy, industries, and society. watch now VIDEO 9:47 09:47 'Xi Jinping is a tech bro': Analyst says China's rally has room to run Squawk Box Europe China is quickly catching up to the U.S. in the AI arms race , developing highly advanced models powered by homegrown chips, particularly through massive Huawei chip clusters and abundant low-cost energy. While U.S. chip giant Nvidia is viewed as the gold standard for semiconductors used to train AI models, Huawei is narrowing the gap by deploying larger volumes of chips and leveraging cheaper power to scale compute. TS Lombard's Green explained that a "China tech sphere" c...
georgeclerk/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images As a dividend growth investor, I'm not solely focused on a stock's starting yield. This is because, at 28 years old, I (Kody) presumably have plenty of time to compound. In other words, I'm more focused on the trajectory of the underlying company and its payout over time. One key requirement for prospective investments is reliable earnings growth over...
georgeclerk/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images As a dividend growth investor, I'm not solely focused on a stock's starting yield. This is because, at 28 years old, I (Kody) presumably have plenty of time to compound. In other words, I'm more focused on the trajectory of the underlying company and its payout over time. One key requirement for prospective investments is reliable earnings growth over 10 or 20 years (and decent forward-looking growth prospects). Combined with industry-safe payout ratios and investment-grade balance sheets, this can often fuel more dividend growth down the road. That brings me to BlackRock ( BLK ), which will be the topic of today. When I last covered BlackRock with a Buy rating in December , I thought its outsized net inflows in Q3 2025 were a positive. The company's significant net cash and cash equivalents/investment balance was another. Relative to my fair value estimate, shares were also marginally undervalued at the time. Two months later, I'm reaffirming my buy rating. BlackRock closed out 2025 with another quarter of impressive net inflows. This looks poised to continue as well. What's more, BlackRock could soon benefit from private equity/credit access being granted to 401(k) plans. That could provide a meaningful boost to its profitability. BlackRock's interest coverage ratio in 2025 was exceptionally strong. Shares are also a slightly better value now than they were in my prior article. Continued Net Inflows And 401(k) Private Equity/Credit Are Major Growth Catalysts For BlackRock BlackRock Q4 2025 Earnings Press Release On January 15th, BlackRock released its financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31st, 2025. The company's total revenue surged 23.4% higher over the year-ago period to $7.01 billion in the quarter. Put into context, this surpassed Seeking Alpha's analyst consensus during the quarter by $330 million . What was behind BlackRock's topline growth for the fourth quarter? As has been the case in past...
Social Security replaces only 40% of preretirement income, so you'll need something to supplement it. This could be money from your retirement plans if you have plenty invested. However, some people also want money from a paycheck coming in while they collect Social Security. If you're thinking about working while you receive your benefits, there are three key rules you need to know. Here's what t...
Social Security replaces only 40% of preretirement income, so you'll need something to supplement it. This could be money from your retirement plans if you have plenty invested. However, some people also want money from a paycheck coming in while they collect Social Security. If you're thinking about working while you receive your benefits, there are three key rules you need to know. Here's what they are. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading