Iran asks Gulf states to 'come to their senses', warns against attacks – Fars

DUBAI, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Iran called on Gulf countries to “come to their senses”, saying that any aggression against the country will be met with crushing response, the Iranian supreme leader’s military advisor was quoted as saying by Fars news agency on Thursday.

“The enemy is fully aware of the preparedness of Iran’s armed forces and knows that it will regret it if it commits any aggression,” advisor Hossein Dehghan said.

Binance.US To Begin User Registrations Next Week

Cryptocurrency trading platform Binance.US is set to begin user account registrations for customers across most US states on Wednesday, September 18.

The platform will also start accepting deposits of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and Tether (USDT) stablecoin from that date.

In a blog post, the recently joined CEO Catherine Coley said the user can select the tier of verification required to achieve their desired withdrawal limits during this initial registration phase. After verification, one can make deposits across the initial selection of digital assets.

Coley said the digital asset pairs will go live in phases for trading on Binance.US, based on the platforms Digital Asset Risk Assessment Framework.

Binance had announced its partnership with U.S.-based BAM Trading Services Inc. in mid-June to launch cryptocurrency trading platform in the U.S. as Binance.US.

Binance.US operations will be led by local FinCEN-registered US partner BAM, which will provide the exchange platform to serve the U.S. market. Binance will license its matching engine and wallet technologies to BAM.

Binance.US will initially provide desktop/mobile web access for its users and is looking to develop an app version for iOS or Android in the future.

U.S. leading economic indicator index flat in August, trends point to continued but slow growth

The leading economic index was flat in August after a big gain in the prior month, the Conference Board said Thursday. The recent performance of the index is consistent with "a slow but still expanding economy," said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director for economic research at the Conference Board. Strength in housing permits and credit growth offset weakness from manufacturing.

Tunisia's ex-president Ben Ali dies, says foreign ministry

TUNIS (AFP) – Former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the first leader to be toppled by the Arab Spring revolts, died on Thursday (Sept 19) in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia’s foreign ministry told AFP.

“We had confirmation of his death 30 minutes ago,” the ministry said, without giving further details.

Ben Ali was 83.

(This story is developing)

Haiti: Protesters blame President Moise for fuel shortage

PLEASE The protests have escalated throughout the year since Haiti’s supply of subsidised fuel from Venezuela was cut.

Days of protests over petrol shortage have brought parts of Haiti to a standstill. Roads have been blocked and some schools, banks and government offices have been shut.

President Jovenel Moise is facing renewed calls to resign, with protesters blaming him for the fuel shortage, as well as for rising living costs and widespread corruption.

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi reports.

Scott Galloway explains who gets hosed from WeWork's IPO disaster

• NYU professor of marketingScott Galloway, has saidWeWork is an overvalued company. Now that the companypostponed its IPO and lowered its initial valuation, some of his predictions seem to be realized.
• Galloway explains who is affected most byWeWork’s IPO disaster. Between J.P. Morgan andSoftBank, SoftBank is going to see the impact sooner.
• For more business hot takes, visit Section4.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

EIA reports a bigger-than-expected weekly rise U.S. natural-gas supplies

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 84 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 13. The data were expected to show a build of 76 billion cubic feet, on average, according to analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.103 trillion cubic feet, up 393 billion cubic feet from a year ago, but 75 billion below the five-year average, the government said. October natural gas NGV19, -3.15% traded at $2.561 per million British thermal units, down 7.6 cents, or 2.9%, from Wednesday’s settlement. It was trading at $2.59 before the data.

Syria rebuilding: Jordan fears US sanctions will block efforts

As war winds down in Syria, neighbouring Jordan plans to rebuild country but possible US sanctions may block them.

Construction companies in Jordan are hoping the end of the war in neighbouring Syria – when it eventually comes – will be good for business.

But the threat of US sanctions on them are dashing their hopes of restoring business ties, broken by the eight year long war.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Chappelle reports from Amman.

Real IPOs ‘happen in the private market’ says Light Street Capital’s Glen Kacher

Glen Kacher, chief investment officer of Light Street Capital, said that in today’s equity markets, "We think the [initial public offering] happens in the private market and that the public IPO is just another bite of the apple," at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha Conference Thursday. Kacher said that the typical tech company is remaining private for an extra four years relative to previous averages, and that four years of extra time is "being funded sometimes by public investors," like pension and mutual funds. "You’ve got this new liquidity there and they’re filling their coffers with capital." He added that this has led to a situation where public capital is no longer needed, and it is not worth it for executives to take the money in return for share dilution. Kacher’s comments echoed those made by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton earlier Thursday morning, when he worried that "If growth opportunities have shifted to a substantial extent to our private markets, and investors don’t have access to them, that’s not good." Clayton added that private markets often offer investors "better opportunities" to earn returns.