Australia’s record of 26 years without a recession flatters to deceive. The gaudy numbers mask serious flaws in the country’s economic model. First and most obviously, the Australian economy is still far too dependent on “houses and holes.” During part of the typical business cycle, national income and prosperity are driven by exports of commodities — primarily iron ore, liquefied ...

Reuters Dubai’s leading real estate developer, Emaar Properties, pulled the emirate’s stock index lower on Sunday while Saudi Arabia’s index again retreated from major technical resistance. The Dubai index lost 0.8 percent to 3,644 points, pulling back from resistance on the August peak of 3,681. Emaar slid 2.1 percent after saying it expected to sell 20 percent of its local ...

Bloomberg Oil investors are back in the ring. Hedge funds are finding betting on West Texas Intermediate crude more attractive again, with total positioning on the US benchmark increasing to the highest in almost a year. The surge comes as oil prices have held steady above $50 a barrel—a key psychological level—for about two weeks. “In general, people are more ...