The Quartet has taken a lead in the effort to resume peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that collapsed more than a year ago over the issue of Israeli construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.The last round ended after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a 10-month limited moratorium on settlement construction, something Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had demanded to continue negotiations.”The Quartet envoys will be meeting with the parties in Jerusalem on October 26 … with the aim to begin preparations and develop an agenda for proceeding in the negotiations,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
Citigroupâs economic surprise index for U.S. economic data may be about to yield a nasty one for stock market bulls. The measure turned positive for the first time since April 29 when the Standard & Poorâs 500 index closed at its highest level for the year so far.
Thatâs a bad thing: it means the equity market, which is poised for its second week of gains since July, may be getting ahead of itself in pricing in good news. The latest U.S. economic readings including the September payroll report, while not stellar, have generally come in stronger or less weak than forecast. The Citigroup index gauges whether the actual data surpass or miss market expectations. Its rise leaves investors all too exposed to bad news.
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“It will definitely be larger than MSM Malaysia Holdings
IPO,” Sabri said in the news report, referring to the listing of
its sugar arm that was valued at 2.4 billion ringgit.Felda Global Ventures proposed listing could be bigger than
Bumi Armada’s $890 million IPO this year and signals
some optimism within weaker market conditions that has already
delayed and even cancelled IPOs globally.Sabri did not give a value for the new listing that is
scheduled for the middle of next year.Felda Global officials were not immediately available for
comment.Felda Global is the commercial arm of the Federal Land
Development Authority, the world’s largest owner of mostly oil
palms and rubber estates that total 850,000 hectares.The land authority helps rural settlers develop agriculture
commodities. The land belonging to these small farmers is
roughly half a million hectares while the rest comes under
Felda.In a separate interview with a local television station,
Mohammad Isa Samad, the chairman of the land authority said land
belonging to the small farmers will not be included in the
listing.
