Eagle Eye Opener: Egyptian President Says No More Privatization; Stock Futures Holding Steady; West Asian Gold Rush Sees Premiums Soar

Egyptian President: No More Privatization (AP)
New Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has announced that the Egyptian government will not privatize any further public sector companies, a move which will help the government’s finances. Sustained turmoil in Egypt following the removal of former President Hosni Mubarak has impacted tourism and other sources of government revenue.

Stock Futures Holding Steady (Bloomberg)
Stock futures that the market will change moved little early today, as earnings and consumer confidence numbers are due for release. “Cautious is the keyword for U.S. stocks, especially after this beautiful rally we’ve seen,” said Jacques Porta at Ofi Gestion Privee in Paris. “The economic data we’ve seen recently has not been consistently good enough to buy and not weak enough to sell.”

West Asian Gold Rush Sees Premiums Soar (Bloomberg)
Between Dubai and Istanbul, consumers are taking advantage of that region’s largest gold price slump in thirty years, and the resulting gold rush is pushing premiums through the roof. “Physical demand has been tremendous in a way I haven’t seen for a number of years,” said Jeffrey Rhodes, global head of precious metals at INTL FCStone Inc., who has worked in the industry for more than three decades. “The price collapse prompted a physical gold rush and the evidence of the extent of that is the prolonged period of high premiums that we’ve seen. Reports from the gold souks are that business is good.”