What will the new year 2018 be for investors around the world, following President Donald Trump's random decisions against global trade institutions and agreements and the arrest of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a number of princes and senior billionaires and his alliance with Mohammed bin Zayed in besieging Qatar economically and financially.
The world has undergone major transformations this year that have caused geopolitical, security and monetary turmoil in many parts of the world, and its repercussions continue to haunt financiers, corporate managers and global stock exchanges despite the insane gains in the Wall Street market and digital currencies, led by Petequin.
The beginning of the year has not been a comfortable year for international investors. President Donald Trump has sought to step down as president of the United States, dismantling the world financial system and sabotaging the World Trade Organization (WTO), whose laws protect the smooth flow of trade.
It also raised the nuclear tension with North Korea, which put the world at its peak on the verge of a nuclear disaster and practiced its many anti-peace and stability policies, the latest of which was its recent decision to adopt Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and its threat to countries that oppose it.
But despite the political and security tensions created by President Trump's policies, his domestic economic policies have helped revive the Wall Street market, which has seen its biggest rebound, with investors earning more than 25 percent this year.
The Dow Jones is about 25,000 points after the new tax law, which cut taxes on corporate profits from 39% to 35% to 20%.
The Dow will also benefit in the new year from the Tax Code, which will force US companies to convert their financial deposits from offshore funds and offshoring to America to benefit from tax breaks.
Thus, the US capital market looks likely to rise further in the new year, but in contrast, global financial centers may see a scarcity of dollars in 2018 as US deposits flee abroad and pile up domestically.
Bank of Montreal, however, does not expect a significant rise in the dollar in a report published by the Financial Times.
This is simply due to President Trump's control of the Federal Reserve, where Trump wants a weak dollar exchange rate, so that he can strengthen the competitiveness of US exports abroad and hit the competitiveness of foreign goods for local products in US stores. And thus can reduce the trade deficit with the countries of the world, which has become a determinant of its economic policies along with the principle of "America first."
But the dollar's equation and the growth of the US economy remain dependent on the results of the upcoming congressional elections, and whether Republicans will retain a majority or lose them amid Trump's short-term rivalries.
According to The Guardian, Donald Trump's tax-tax holiday may turn into a nightmare in the November elections, with 55 percent of Americans opposed to the tax bill, especially from the middle class and the poor, who see the project as benefiting the wealthy, Is in their favor, so there are fears that the equation of the Republican majority in Congress during the upcoming elections because of these taxes and many other reasons.
At the European level, the scene is different from America, where Europe has managed to control many of the hot issues that have affected the investment climate and threaten its cohesion as a homogenous economic bloc.
Since the election of French President Emmanuel Macaron in France last April, many of the troubling issues of the European economy have begun to fade, with the upsurge of populist currents that grew strongly and threatened stability in Europe. Greece was able to emerge from the worst financial crisis and the economy returned to growth in the second half of the year. The whole euro zone also emerged from recession to economic recovery and is heading towards growth at 2.0% in some of its countries.
According to EU President Jean-Claude Juncker's European Union speech last summer, Europe is moving toward building a "US-European" state. Thus, the expectations of JPMorgan, the largest US bank investing in European bonds, Euro and its rise over the next year.
At the British level, the "new Arab" notes that the British Prime Minister was able to sign the initial agreement with the European Union, after settling the bill "BRICAST" and the issue of the Irish border. Thus, Britain has been able to overcome the critical phase of the BRICEST negotiations and is ready to negotiate details of trade and economic relations with EU countries.
The Bank of England said Wednesday that Britain would make concessions on the issue of immigration and allow the European financial sector to continue its operations in the British financial district unhindered.
The bank believes that such measures will spur Europe to allow financial firms in Britain to continue trading with Europe through the so-called "commercial passport" and on the pace of progress in the forthcoming BRICST negotiations investors will deal with the pound sterling.
The Asia region remains the quietest, except for the possibility of a nuclear threat from Korea, directed primarily against America, but remains a sword on America's allies in Asia, especially Japan and South Korea.
As for the affected Arab region, the negative repercussions of the rise of Prince Mohammed bin Salman to power in Saudi Arabia are expected to continue on the investment, financial and economic stability in the Kingdom and in some Gulf countries. Where the Crown Prince, through his alliance with Mohammed bin Zayed, raised tension in the Gulf region, starting with the blockade of Qatar and pouring more oil on the war in Yemen and increasing hostility with Iran. These are all incendiary devices that could explode in the new year 2018.
The Saudi economy and private capital in Saudi Arabia is one of the largest investment and trade engines in the Arab and Gulf region. Therefore, the decisions taken by Bin Salman on the level of arrests on charges of corruption for more than 200 businessmen and emperors and the freezing of more than 370 bank accounts are expected to have a huge impact on the investment environment in the Gulf region and many Arab countries receiving Saudi investments.
So far, the results of Bin Laden's "Economic Vision 2030" project to change the country's economy to non-oil resources have been disappointing, with growth falling to near zero (0.1 percent), according to IMF estimates in the first half of the year.
Its dire investor policies have hit the investment climate, both on the Saudi stock exchange and in terms of the flow of foreign investment. Most of the partners of foreign companies operating in the private sector in the kingdom are either under arrest or under accountability or their bank accounts have been frozen.
According to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday, there are new lists freezing accounts and accounts that included even close relatives and those involved with those accused of corruption, so there is no longer a private sector in the Kingdom that foreign businessmen can deal with. The campaign also hit Saudi investments in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, particularly the real estate market and the Dubai Financial Center.