STANDPOINT by Atique Naqvi

Arabic Coffee being served to guests. The introduction of 280-character on Twitter last year has revealed the true character of Arab tweeples. There has been an 80% rise in the use of the word 'Please' and a 50% rise in the use of the word 'Excuse Me' in Arabic tweets, according to Twitter. If you are familiar with Arab culture, you'd know that Arab hospitality is renowned for its warmth. Guests are honored in most of the Arab communities contrary to the media-created perception that have turned all good Arab people into a crazy bunch of rabble rousers and trouble makers. And Arabs are generally polite. The sentence may sound like it's straight out of Ripley's Believe It or Not. Believe me, it's not. Culture, tradition, and religion play an important role in an Arab's daily life, and all direct Arabs toward being polite and to be a good host. Even the three Abrahamic religions of the Middle East stress in politeness and hospitality. And n

US President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have met to open doors for a more inclusive and safe Korean Peninsula despite what the liberal media tells you. By Atique Naqvi, aka Syed Atique Hussain, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un during the Singapore Summit When it comes to selective cynicism, no one demonstrates it better than the liberal media. It's about the historic summit between the United States and North Korea. The coverage of networks such as CNN and BBC indicate a heavy bias against Donald J. Trump. People may have reasons to hate the current US President but at least give credit where the credit is due. The CNN news network, which considers itself as the torchbearer of the so-called anti-Trump movement in the United States, seems to have a blind faith in Trump bashing. The same goes for the BBC, as instead of focusing on the confused and the lame-duck British leadership, the UK broadcaster has found a soft targe

If there was a crystal ball, it would definitely be found in the offices of futures traders. In the absence of a crystal ball, traders rely on news, reports, strategy and a fair amount of good luck to make money. ** By Atique Naqvi, aka Syed Atique Hussain, Boston, United States Energy futures fluctuations help investors make or lose money. It's a game played in big volumes. From political events to evolving business equations and, of course, demand and supply mechanisms decide the energy futures market in 2018. While the oil prices are witnessing an upswing in early 2018 from the sluggish price levels in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the global energy commodities’ futures market looks positive for now. Before looking into the impact on energy futures in 2018, there is a need to clarify some basic concepts. Futures are standardized contracts for the future delivery of specified assets, according to Tim Plaehn, a US-based financial expert who writes advisory notes for several f

As Natural Gas is a cleaner fossil fuel than crude oil, analysts say its demand will grow faster than other hydrocarbon energy mix. ** By Atique Naqvi, aka Syed Atique Hussain, Boston, United States CO2 emissions from natural gas are around 40% lower than coal. As oil prices touched $70 a barrel at the beginning of the third week in January 2018, the general oil and gas industry sentiment looks positive for this year. Charif Souki, who is considered as the energy guru in the United States, told CNBC the same week that the natural gas industry would require more than US$150 billion of infrastructure investment over the next five years. Souki, co-founder, and chairman of LNG firm Tellurian says investments in the natural gas infrastructure are proving to be a bigger hurdle for the sector’s growth than many people think. Also, North American natural gas businesses are anticipating “The Great Return of The Alaskan Ridging” owing to the US President Donald J Trump’s decision to

Despite a slowdown, growth in Africa is set to return in 2018 and 2019, according to the World Bank. ** By Atique Naqvi, aka Syed Atique Hussain, Boston, United States The GDP growth in Africa is expected to strengthen to 2.4 percent in 2017. As the population increases in Africa’s 54 countries coupled with strong economic growth, the energy demand is set to rise as well for the next few decades. Major oil and gas producers in Africa such as Nigeria and Angola, and smaller producers such as South Sudan, Niger, Ghana, Uganda, and Kenya will witness the big shift in terms of energy exports. One of the biggest future trends in the oil and gas sector is expected to affect exports of African energy. British Petroleum in its latest research says that Africa is experiencing the fastest demand growth owing to urbanization, rising population, improved infrastructure and strong economic growth. At the same time, one of the biggest domestic challenges is the per capita energy consum

With new conflicts around the world, the refugee crises not only pose humanitarian challenges but also a huge economic challenge. ** By Atique Naqvi, aka Syed Atique Hussain, Boston, United States The number of persons of concern is about 70 million by mid-2017. As the global economic disparity increases and regional conflicts escalate, the number of people who are affected have increased 240 percent since 2005. The United Nations have a broad category where Persons of Concern, include refugees, asylum seekers, internally-displaced. In 2005, the number of persons of concern was just over 20 million, and by mid-2017 that number has increased to around 69 million. The humanitarian crises have worsened in 2017, with new conflicts in Myanmar. From August 2017 until the first week of December about 600,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar fearing alleged prosecution from state-backed extremist Buddhist groups. Also, Syria and parts of northern Iraq continu

Cryptocurrencies have excited the risk takers and day-dreamers around the world, but the investment bankers might turn the elusive money into something tangible.**  By Atique Naqvi, aka Syed Atique Hussain, Boston, United States Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have become financial celebrities. With the exponential rise of Bitcoin, about 750% since the first quarter of 2017, there has been a renewed interest in cryptocurrencies or the blockchain system. Though small and retail investors have been the driving force behind the rise of cryptocurrencies, investment bankers and asset managers are also watching closely at the ‘new money’ as a credible and a legit asset class. The interest from big investment bankers has probably prompted Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange to launch Bitcoin Futures.  The investment banking has witnessed a good year in 2017, and before delving into the cryptocurrency aspect, let’s examine the state of the se

With a huge human capital, India could easily turn its economic challenges into opportunities if the institutions of the government of India overcome hurdles such as corruption. ** By Atique Naqvi, aka Syed Atique Hussain, Boston, United States India will be among the top 3 economic powers within the next 10-15 years. India Gate in New Delhi. Corruption continues to be the biggest hurdle in India’s economic growth, say senior business executives surveyed by the World Economic Forum in 2017. The business-friendly government in New Delhi has taken several measures in the past few months to boost the growth of the seventh largest economy in the world, but small businesses are yet to recover from measures such as demonetization and the introduction of unified Goods and Services Tax (GST). With 1.34 billion people, the country is on the move. A recent World Economic Forum report says globally India sits between France and Italy. “Its GDP growth recently dipped to 5.7%; s

Concerns over the safety of nuclear power plants have marred the investments in the sector, but with new technology, the landscape is set to change in the next few years. ** By Atique Naqvi aka Syed Atique Hussain, Boston, United States Total energy investment worldwide was around $1.7 trillion. The positive outlook for the global economy is fueling investments in several sectors of the economy including energy. The public and private sector investments, international trade and favorable employment figures are boosting the overall spending in the global markets. The investments in capital-intensive projects and usage-intensive sectors such as energy are on the upswing, and nuclear energy is not different. The International Monetary Fund in its World Economic Outlook Report released in October 2017 says the global growth forecast for 2017 and 2018 is 3.7 percent and 
 3.8 percent, respectively. “Notable pickups in investment, trade, and industrial product