John Batchelor Show: Gold Bug Alert

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Photo by Zlaťáky.cz on Unsplash

Forbes: Italy Set To Stall In 2020 — Get Ready For Zero Growth Next Year

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Italy's economy is set to stall again.

The country just reported an annualized growth rate of 0.3% in the third quarter, which would seem to be uplifting news because the country started the year with three months of zero growth. Read more here.

Forbes: How A WhatsApp Tax Led To The Ouster Of Lebanon’s Leader

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A tax on using WhatsApp became the final straw for the residents of Lebanon, and it cost the country's leader his job.

Earlier this month, seething protestors took to the streets after the government said it would impose a 20% on the first WhatsApp call users made every day.

It doesn't matter that the tax quickly got reversed. The government's actions opened the flood-gates of accumulated wrath, leading to what analysts are calling "unprecedented" protests. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Brexit’s New Wrinkle -- The Pound

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If there is anything uncertain in the world, it is the future of Brexit. Only now, as the debate to hold a general election to reconsider separation itself boils up, a hidden wrinkle is emerging—over the state of the British pound. 

In the past two and half weeks, the country has been hit with unusual volatility in currency. In that time, the value of the pound has surged around 5%. And experts say that may only be the beginning; one way or another, there'll likely be more currency swings coming soon. Read more here.

Forbes: Chinese Investors Pile Into Gold As Economic Worries Surge

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Chinese investors are piling into gold bullion in a big way as worries over China’s economy and political system surge. Read more here.

Photo by Bruce Hong on Unsplash

Forbes: Investors Flee Stock Funds En Masse. You Shouldn’t

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Investors have a case of the jitters, which is prompting them to dump stocks.

So far this year, almost $100 billion got yanked from exchange-traded funds and mutual funds that specialize in buying equities, according to a recent report from iconic Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs. The specific total was $96 billion, which was the second-largest in the last decade-and-a-half. Read more here.

Terence Buckle, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Darden: Islamic Finance: Riba, Wakala and Other Basics Global Business Leaders Need to Know

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Islamic financing might once mainly have been limited to the Middle East, but that’s no longer the case. It is growing in size and influence across the world — now too big for leaders of traditional businesses to ignore. Read more here.