Gulf Stock Markets
8/29/2005)
Gulf Stock Markets
With all the talk of real estate bubbles in the US, investors should take a look around the world. Nine of the ten top performing stock markets in the world this year are in the oil producing countries in the Arabian Gulf.
It’s important to keep track of these markets. They have a direct bearing on what some of the largest and most liquid investors in the world are thinking. And Gulf investors will ultimately finance the rebuilding of Iraq through direct investments in businesses and property.
These markets are hot, hot, hot! According to my friends at the Global Investment House in Kuwait, the Global Index of the top 100 companies in the Gulf increased 15.6% in August, 73.6% year to date, 109.8% over the past 12 months, and 469% since December, 1999. These 100 companies have a current market capitalization of $628 billion. Real estate markets, if anything, are even stronger.