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The Middle East war is pushing countries to open new supply routes and turn to domestic resources to tide over the world's biggest energy crisis, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday."We are in the midst of the largest energy security crisis the world has ever faced -- and I believe this will reshape investment strategies globally, with parallels to the major changes the energy world witnessed after the oil shocks of the 1970s," said IEA executive director Fatih Birol."We are already seeing intensified efforts by both producer and consumer countries to diversify trade routes and energy sources -- such as advancing new pipelines and other supply infrastructure, on the one hand, and turning more to domestically available resources, on the other," he added in the World Energy Investment report by the energy agency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).The IEA estimates that global energy investment will reach $3.4tn in 2026, slightly higher than the previous year, with around $2.2tn devoted to power grids, storage, low-emission fuels, nuclear, renewables, energy efficiency and electrification.Alongside this, around $1.2tn is expected to be invested in oil, natural gas and coal.It nevertheless expects oil investment to decline for the third straight year in 2026, falling below $500bn despite rising crude prices.This is due to uncertainty over how long higher prices will last, project lead times, supply constraints and the tightening offshore rigs market, which are limiting short-term investment outside the Middle East.By contrast, investment in natural gas is "projected to rise to $330bn, the highest level in a decade, supported by a wave of new LNG export projects, particularly in the United States and Qatar," IEA said.At the same time, oil-importing countries are turning to energy sources available domestically, notably renewables, nuclear and coal, the report said.The IEA estimates that investment in renewables should reach around $665bn in 2026, including $365bn for solar alone.Investment in nuclear energy and is set to exceed $80bn annually while investment in coal should reach $180bn -- the highest in 10 years, it said.China alone will account for nearly 70% of global coal supply spending, and some Asian countries may seek to extend the operation of their existing coal-fired power plants in order to strengthen their energy security.The IEA said investment in electricity supply and infrastructure is expected to reach nearly $1.6tn in 2026, including around $550bn for power grids, while investment in battery storage should exceed $100bn. 

Investors’ daily waves of option sales are poised to slow a sustained stock rally back to record highs.Option-selling strategies have abounded in 2025, from exchange-traded fund overwrites to systematic zero-day to expiry trades and bank Quantitative Investment Strategies. On the other side, the dealers typically rebalance their positions each day by selling into rallies and buying dips.The slowing effect may be felt more on gains than drops, as JPMorgan Chase & Co strategists led by Bram Kaplan noted an increasing preference for selling calls over puts in recent weeks. Meanwhile, UBS Group AG points to a particular strategy — selling so-called iron condors — that is popular with retail traders.With investors focused on ever-shortening windows of volatility to manage risks, the influence of contracts expiring from zero to five days away has surged. Zero-day to expiry options in particular keep scaling new heights at about 60% of overall S&P 500 Index volume.The short iron condor strategy — where a trader sells a call spread above the current market level and a put spread below it — has become popular with some retail traders, boosting volumes. Positioning on one-day to expiry option trades in the S&P 500 — specifically via the short iron condors — may have helped contain recent rallies, according to derivatives strategists at UBS.“This 1DTE iron-condor flow is now leaving a very clear imprint on SPX options positioning profiles, to the extent that it may be influencing underlying price action,” said Kieran Diamond, derivatives strategist at UBS.The iron condor strategy is set up to collect premium as long as the market stays in a narrow range. Market makers holding the opposite side of such trades have more hedging to manage when the underlying price approaches the nearer call strike in the final 30 minutes of trading. The size of the spreads and the distance between the strike prices has increased in recent months, according to UBS.While overall market maker gamma positioning from 0DTEs is dynamic during trading hours, much of the flow is still from investors selling options. Dealer positioning is most extreme on the upside call strikes. The lower volatility on those increases the gamma per unit of notional, making the dealer hedging impact more pronounced.“The most significant risk sits to the upside, with SPX market makers managing very large long gamma exposure from the calls that the condor traders have sold to them,” said Diamond. “When managing this risk, market makers need to sell equities as the index moves up toward the strike, which makes it incrementally harder for the S&P to rally during the trading session.”The end of the day is particularly fraught. In the most extreme example from Oct. 24, S&P 500 dealer gamma reached a peak of around $90bn 10 minutes before the close, according to Diamond. This means that a roughly 0.1% move in spot would generate around $10bn in flow to be bought or sold.While that can be absorbed by the futures market, it isn’t without a price impact. In theory, markets may be more likely to gap-up outside of regular hours in Asia or Europe, as the dealer hedging needs subside at the close every day.“There were a number of sessions through October when the market seemed to struggle to break through the region where this long gamma is concentrated, but then rallied after the close once the majority of the options risk had expired,” said Diamond.That may offer opportunities to exploit such price distortions, for example buying a one-day option at the close every day and selling it back at the open the next morning. Dealer gamma resets daily from this flow, so positioning tends to flatten around the end of trading at 4 pm New York time.Some are sceptical about the market impact of a particular option strategy like the iron condor.“Of the 25 or so different things that are pushing markets in different directions, this is one of the 25,” said Chris Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna International Group.Murphy said it was simply “one of many factors” influencing the market. “It gets more attention than it deserves.”Also, there are questions about the sustainability of such systematic short option flows, especially if they are retail driven.“Any systematic short-option strategy generally harvests premium pretty well until a high volatility environment realises and then it kills the trade via convex losses,” said Garrett DeSimone, head quant at OptionMetrics. “Even if you have great risk management and you can time the exit points, you will likely end up being sidelined for such a long period that your investors will likely lose patience and redeem.”

HE Director of the Government Communications Office (GCO) Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor al-Thani met with a delegation from Meta led by Head of Service Industries for the Middle East and Africa Joachim Marciano.Discussions during the meeting focused on strengthening co-operation to develop national talent, on the sidelines of a training programme organised by the GCO on digital advertising strategies in collaboration with leading global digital platforms.

The Government Communication Office (GCO) is organising a comprehensive course on 'Digital Advertising Strategies' for representatives from government and semi-government entities this week. The program aims to strengthen national competencies and enhance institutional communication teams' ability to effectively leverage digital tools and platforms for promotional campaigns in alignment with Qatar's national priorities.Running from Aug. 31 - Sept. 4, the course is being delivered in partnership with major international platforms, including Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Google, YouTube, X, Snapchat and Amazon.The course brings together 72 communication and media directors and officials from 44 government and semi-government entities across the country to develop strategic planning in digital advertising while building expertise in utilising global digital platforms"The Government Communication Office remains committed to developing our national workforce's skills and equipping them with the latest digital communication tools and knowledge," said HE GCO Director Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour bin Jabor Al-Thani. "This strengthens their ability to design and execute effective promotional campaigns that keep pace with the rapidly evolving global media landscape while supporting Qatar's comprehensive development, in line with our Third National Development Strategy."HE Sheikh Jassim emphasised the value of strategic partnerships with leading global institutions and digital platforms, noting: " Through such collaborations, we deliver targeted training programs that meet specific government sector requirements, bring world-class expertise to our local talent, ensuring they remain at the forefront of digital communication and advertising innovation."The five-day curriculum covers essential digital marketing foundations and best practices for the government sector, with a focus on developing content strategies. Participants will learn to strategically deploy these platforms in government campaigns to maximise reach, impact and communication effectiveness.The program includes practical workshops featuring case studies of successful Qatari government campaigns, allowing participants to analyse outcomes and identify proven strategies. Attendees will develop end-to-end digital campaigns that reflect national priorities, from initial planning and development through to performance measurement.This training course is part of a comprehensive professional development series organised by the GCO to enhance Qatar's institutional communication capabilities. The initiative focuses on building national expertise in media and digital advertising, positioning government communication as a strategic driver in achieving the Third National Development Strategy.