The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

Whole Foods is providing the world with a very interesting economics lesson. Immediately after Amazon bought the upscale grocery store chain, it cut prices substantially for many items on the shelves. As a result, sales have boomed by around 25 percent. Was the price cut a good move? Actually, the real lesson might be how little economics has to say. ...

Last week was relatively eventful for bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that has been attracting growing attention from investors, speculators and regulators. Considerable price volatility was accentuated by reactions to commentary (some constructive and some less so) about a “disruptive technology” that responds to specific client needs, is here to stay, and will likely gain greater systemic influence, but is still early ...

The political winds in Silicon Valley are shifting. As Bloomberg’s Eric Newcomer wrote on Friday, a spate of critical essays and surprising revelations have recently framed the big tech companies as all-powerful, unaccountable and primed for greater antitrust scrutiny. But if you want to get fully up to speed on the case against Big Tech, there are two new books ...

Bloomberg Equity markets were mixed on Tuesday, the dollar fell and Treasuries edged higher before as the Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting and investors awaited Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations. The S&P 500 Index churned near an all-time high, stuck in one of the tightest ranges in decades. The CBOE Volatility Index slumped below 10. Europe’s equity ...

Reuters Qatar’s stock index came slightly off a five-year low on Tuesday as local funds intensified their buying of those shares, while Saudi Arabia was the region’s worst performer. The Doha index had recorded 11 straight sessions of losses, reflecting a lack of foreign investor confidence in a speedy resolution to the Gulf diplomatic crisis. Local investors, however, have been ...

Bloomberg Uncertainty around Brexit may be mounting as political leaders from the UK and the European Union clash on the terms of separation, but that isn’t slowing down foreign investors from betting on Britain’s top peer-to-peer lenders. Varengold Bank AG, a Hamburg-based private banking firm, will provide £45 million (S$82.06 million) in annual funding for loans to small businesses arranged ...

Bloomberg The Swiss National Bank (SNB) gets flak for everything ranging from its investments to the strength of the franc. One group that can’t complain this year: its stockholders. Since January the SNB’s shares have more than doubled in value, touching a peak of 3,825 francs ($3,980) on Sept. 14. With some 48 percent of the central bank’s total stock ...

Bloomberg Australia’s central bank expects to see solid employment growth ahead as the economy gradually picks up, while noting risks from housing debt outpacing household income. In minutes of this month’s policy meeting, where interest rates were left unchanged, the Reserve Bank of Australia gave no signal policy was set to change any time soon. Employment growth had been broadly ...

Bloomberg A public rift between Thailand’s central bank and government on interest rates shows just how much of a dilemma the baht has become for the economy. The Finance Ministry is pushing the Bank of Thailand to cut interest rates to stimulate growth, in light of the strength of the currency and low inflation. That’s clashing with the bank’s aims ...

Bloomberg The pound’s dramatic reversal of fortunes this month has left analysts racing to catch up. Strategists are revising their estimates for the currency after its best week since 2009 saw it gain almost 3 percent as the Bank of England signaled it would look to withdraw stimulus “over the coming months.” Sterling touched $1.36 on Monday, while the median ...