Middle East: Febrile and fragmented

America may wish to pivot towards Asia and Europe may be turned inward, but the Middle East offers no respite, writes David Gardner

America may wish to pivot towards Asia and Europe may be turned inward, but the Middle East offers no respite, writes David Gardner

Middle East In a region that gave birth to all three Abrahamic faiths, fears for the future are growing among Christians as regimes that gave them protection yield to something less certain, writes David Gardner

ETF Database submits: As the turmoil in the Middle East spreads, many investors have fled a number of market sectors for the safe havens of gold and silver in order to wait out the storm. Arguably, no one sector has been more impacted than the emerging markets which have seen tremendous outflows thanks to a broad flight to quality by numerous investors around the globe.

Article written by Prieur du Plessis, editor of the Investment Postcards from Cape Town blog.The paragraphs below come courtesy of Mark Mobius, emerging markets guru and executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management.

Zacks.com submits: A study regarding Cepheid’s (CPHD) Xpert MTB/RIF test, which is meant for the detection of tuberculosis ((TB)), was published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was aimed at comparing the sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert MTB/RIF with the standard currently used.

Aimee Chin, Nishith Prakash, 21 July 2012Affirmative action policies in India, which give preferential treatment to historically disadvantaged minority groups, are extremely controversial. Do they correct one injustice by creating another? This column looks at the effects of ‘political reservation’ – quotas for representatives from certain ethnic backgrounds.

Tom Lydon submits: The rising intensity of unrest in Egypt has forced the Market Vectors Egypt (EGPT) exchange traded fund (ETF) to suspend share creation.