Regional equity markets

Beirut SE   Current year high: 1,180.99                Current year low: 939.02 >  Review period: Closed Nov 26 at 946.14 Points         47 Week Change: -15.2% Beirut in November not only consistently beats international financial centers like London, New York, and Tokyo in terms of weather quality but in 2010 also proved again that the Beirut Stock Exchange is hardly swayed by global selling pressures — Irish debt or North Korean artillery assaults — that scared investors elsewhere. The BSE has its very own chimeras, the current one can be christened Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) phobia. This fear influenced the pattern of Lebanese share movements, making for a dull second half of 2010. Weakness in the share price of real estate stock Solidere, whose year-to-date drop of 22.5% contributed a large chunk to Lebanese index drops in 2010, seems to have no remedy until the STL storm has run its course