Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Kingdom - House of Saud Trying to Placate the Masses

The House of Saud seems shaken by events taking place all around them:


IYADH (Reuters) - Saudi King Abdullah returned home on Wednesday after a three-month medical absence and unveiled benefits for Saudis worth some $37 billion in an apparent bid to insulate the world's top oil exporter from an Arab protest wave.
Before Abdullah arrived, state media announced an action plan to help lower- and middle-income people among the 18 million Saudi nationals. It includes pay rises to offset inflation, unemployment benefits and affordable family housing.
No, this isn't a geopolitical blog, it is a market blog.  These are market events.  These actions have the ability to become game changers, and we had better understand the events and their repercussions.  Should we start to see the "winter of discontent" spread to the House of Saud, watch oil, watch margins in just about every industry, watch global growth.  Park the Expedition, unpack the smart car.


Disclosure:  long just about everything that would get smacked.

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About Me

A student of the markets that has held portfolio management, analysis and trading positions for over 15 years.