An informed political source reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani will head to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, tomorrow, Monday, November 11, to participate in the Arab-Islamic summit.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, “The participation of the Iraqi delegation in the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit, in Riyadh, will be headed by Al-Sudani and will include Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, and Al-Sudani will deliver a speech at the meeting.” 

He pointed out that “any developments will take place after the meeting, such as side meetings with the leaders of the countries participating in the meeting.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Saturday evening to participate in the ministerial meeting of the extraordinary joint Arab-Islamic summit.

A statement by the Foreign Ministry said that Minister Hussein began his visit by meeting with the Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammed Mustafa, where they discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Leaders of Arab and Islamic countries have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia in preparation for a summit to be held tomorrow, Monday (November 11), to discuss the war in Gaza and Lebanon and developments in the region, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

In late October, the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced the summit during the first meeting of an international coalition established to advance a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The summit is being held to “discuss the continued Israeli aggression on the Palestinian territories and Lebanon and developments in the region,” according to what the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.

It comes as an “extension of the joint Arab-Islamic summit held in Riyadh on November 11, 2023” at the initiative of the Arab League (Cairo) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Jeddah).

Saudi Al-Ekhbariya TV broadcast footage of the arrival of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

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Tishwash:  Sabah Sobhi: The first reading of the draft oil export law will take place next week

A member of the Iraqi parliament’s oil and gas committee confirmed that the first and second readings of the oil export bill are scheduled to take place in the Iraqi parliament next week, adding that there is agreement with the Shiite parties on certain conditions for passing the oil export bill.

“The main obstacle to oil exports was Article 12 of Budget Law No. 13 of 2023, as the second paragraph of that article, paragraph “c,” stipulated that the issue of production and transportation equals the cost of production and transportation in the federal Ministry of Oil. This means that all oil production and transportation depends on the federal Ministry of Oil’s estimates for all Iraqi oil fields.

 According to the federal Ministry of Oil, the cost of extracting oil in Iraq is about 9,000 to 9,000 dinars, while the cost of transportation is 1.2 cents, and oil companies are dealt with on this basis,” Sabah Subhi, a member of the Oil and Gas Committee in the Iraqi parliament, told Kurdistan 24.

He added, “Oil production in Kurdistan has been ongoing since 2007 and was the first stage of the export process, so an agreement was reached with the companies based on the government’s and companies’ share of the revenues, but since 2014 there have been attempts to stop the export of Kurdistan’s oil.”

Sabah Sobhi pointed out that “international security developments show that the Arabian Gulf is in danger due to tensions in the region, and the danger to Iraq in this case lies in the closure of the road to oil exports,” adding that “Iraq only has one port for oil exports, which is the port of Basra, and 95% of Iraq’s economy depends on oil.”

He continued, “Iraq exports about 3.5 million barrels of oil per day. If we consider the price of a barrel at $70, the total amount of sales will be an imaginary amount. Therefore, if Iraq is unable to export its oil, a disaster will occur, since Iraq’s economy depends on oil by 95%.”

He added, “Iraq is looking for another port to export its oil, and it has the Haditha crossing, through which Iraq has been trying to build an oil pipeline for years, and the cost of the project is estimated at two billion dollars.”

Sabah Sobhi stressed that “there is great pressure on the federal government to solve the oil problem before the arrival of winter in Europe, because there are many countries suffering from an energy crisis.”

He explained that “the first and second readings of the oil export project will take place on Sunday and Monday of next week.”

A member of the parliamentary oil and gas committee said, “The State Administration Coalition held a meeting on the issue of oil exports and everyone agreed to amend the project.”

He added, “I believe that the Shiite parties will agree to the project on condition that some of the project’s articles related to providing the governorates’ budgets and the issue of oil revenues are amended, in addition to some strategic projects for some of the central and southern governorates.”

Tishwash:  This is from Iraqi News

Financial assets hit new record highs ahead of 2024

 The year 2024 witnessed a large number of financial assets recording new record levels that they had never seen before, especially with the shifts in global monetary policy and developments in the political and geopolitical situation across different regions of the world.

This year, gold, Bitcoin, the US stock market, European indices, and technology stocks, especially the chip and semiconductor giant Nvidia, have all reached record levels never seen before.

These increases provided distinct investment opportunities for all investors and small speculators who benefited from the possibility of trading these assets through the best licensed trading companies in Iraq 2024 .

Geopolitical concerns and political developments

Despite the different factors that pushed these assets to record levels, there are one or two factors that are common in pushing them to record these increases. For example, geopolitical developments in the Middle East and fears of an escalation of the war between Israel and Iran supported the rise of gold. On the other hand, the boom in artificial intelligence was one of the most important factors that supported the shares of the technology giant Nvidia, which in turn boosted the US stock market.

Monetary policy shift of central banks

At the same time, there are stable factors that support all of these assets, the most important of which are developments in monetary policy and the shift of global central banks from financial tightening based on raising interest rates from the beginning of 2022 until the middle of this year.

The central bank of Australia, Canada, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve have all begun to cut interest rates as global inflation rates decline. In this regard, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in November for the second time this year by 25 basis points after cutting interest rates for the first time last September by 50 basis points amid expectations of a third cut in December by another 25 basis points, bringing the total expected interest rate cuts in 2024 to about 1 percent.

The Bank of England cut interest rates twice this year by 25 basis points each time, while the European Central Bank preceded all banks after approving three interest rate cuts amid expectations of an additional cut in the last months of the year. Cutting interest rates supports financial assets by withdrawing savings from banks with the decline in the interest they generate, as they are pumped into other assets such as the stock market with the aim of targeting a higher return, or gold, which is a store of value and does not bring interest, but it is a safe asset that investors resort to in times of uncertainty and for the purpose of hedging.

Is the beginning of the year marathon over?

There are currently some questions about whether what can be called the market bull marathon is over, especially for those who missed the start of the big rise. Gold has been accelerating since August of last year, while US indices have accelerated at the beginning of this year in what is known in the financial markets as the “Santa Rally”. In this context, it can be answered that the markets, despite the possibility of recording some downward corrections, the factors for continuing the rise already seem to be present, especially with Donald Trump clinching the presidency, amid expectations of adopting financial policies that may maintain the momentum of the index market’s rise.

At the same time, central banks have not finished their stimulus policy, which supports the rise of most financial assets, especially the stock market and some assets that enhance the value of the risk spirit.

NVIDIA is the world’s largest company by market value

The upside potential in the stock market looks promising, especially with some companies hitting record highs that seem unlikely to stop in the medium term. For example, Nvidia shares have seen exceptional growth this year, a growth that is expected to maintain its accelerating momentum amid estimates of the company’s ability to maintain an accelerated growth rate in graphics processing units. Its market value has tripled to briefly surpass Apple as the most valuable company in the world, with a market value of about $3.53 trillion, ahead of the technology giant Apple. Its net income rose from about $2.3 billion in the first half of 2022 to about $31.5 billion for the same period in 2024.

Microsoft ranked third with a market value estimated at about $3.19 trillion, followed by Alphabet with a market value of about $2.04 trillion. Meanwhile, Apple’s stock was affected by downward pressure after Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway announced a major sale of part of its stake in the company.

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