Bloomberg Saudi Arabia plans to increase spending next year more than initially forecast as authorities take advantage of higher oil prices to spur economic growth and reduce unemployment. Public spending is expected to reach 1.106 trillion riyals ($295 billion) in 2019, 100 billion riyals more than the government had projected last year, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said on Sunday. Authorities …

Bloomberg America’s fastest-growing source of energy has a power problem. The Permian Basin, which produces almost 4 million barrels of oil a day, has expanded so quickly that suppliers of the electricity needed to keep wells running are struggling to keep up. The Delaware portion alone consumed the equivalent of 350 megawatts this summer, tripling the load from 2015. That’s …

Bloomberg Euro-area inflation accelerated in September amid a surge in energy costs, while underlying price moves remained more subdued. The core measure of inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food, fell to 0.9 percent from 1 percent. That’s a blow to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who just this week cited faster wage growth and a “relatively vigorous” …

Bloomberg The best-performing stock in Egypt this year might be about to reward investors even more as a turnaround plan moves forward and the company completes a long-awaited project. Qalaa Holdings SAE, the Egyptian investment firm formerly known as Citadel Capital, is pushing to end annual losses by selling underperforming assets and lowering debt before its flagship oil refinery venture …

Bloomberg It seems hedge funds are jumping on the $100 crude bandwagon. As speculation increases that global oil prices could again trade that high, money managers are piling on bullish wagers, while short-selling shrinks. They are the most optimistic on a rally of Brent crude in over four months. This week, the benchmark closed above $80 for the first time …

Bloomberg Mexico may finally buy US crude oil for the first time ever. After three years of announcements, negotiations, and potential deals, Petroleos Mexicanos is seeking to buy a trial cargo of 350,000 barrels for its refineries in October. The much-anticipated deal has been in the making since 2015, when US exports were still banned and Mexico applied for a …

Bloomberg US stocks delivered the best quarterly run in almost five years, luring retail investors back into the longest bull market on record just as Wall Street started sounding the alarms. Individual investors drew down cash balances at brokerage accounts to record lows as the S&P 500 surged 7.2 percent in the three months last week. Meanwhile, big banks from …

Bloomberg With little prospect of a restart for US-China trade talks, JPMorgan Chase & Co. now expects an escalation in tensions that will see higher American tariffs on all Chinese imports, sending the yuan sliding to its weakest against the dollar in more than a decade. “JPMorgan has adopted a new baseline that assumes a US-China endgame involving 25 percent …

Bloomberg Foreign buyers face higher taxes on their purchase of homes in the UK as Prime Minister Theresa May starts unveiling policy plans before her Conservative party conference. The government said it will launch a consultation to increase stamp duty on individuals and companies not paying tax in the UK Ministers are considering a rate ranging from 1 percent to …

Bloomberg September was the month when long-running failures to stop money-laundering came back to bite some of Europe’s largest banks. Regulators from Switzerland to the Nordic region and Germany reprimanded institutions for failing to do enough to prevent illicit money flows. While some paid for past misdeeds, others were chastised for continued shortcomings and even had monitors assigned to help …