Economics & Policy

Perhaps the most crucial elements of any capital market, especially an emerging market, are confidence and liquidity. During the devastating days of the conflict between Hizbullah and Israel, both took …

The July war had many similarities to the outbreak of the 1975 hostilities – most notably in how it began, with a political party dragging the nation into conflict – …

During the 1960s and 1970s, Beirut was globally acknowledged as the banking center of the Middle East. Lebanese banks flourished and built up strong franchises by picking up petro-dollar deposits …

While some of the indications of summer tourist activity in Lebanon are encouraging, we must never forget that our economy is structurally weak. The tourist season this summer could well …

As tensions between Iran and the US have subsided somewhat, it may be time to revisit the crude oil market that monopolized so many headlines in recent weeks. While we …

There is almost unanimity on the precious metals among market participants. Almost every analyst, every brokerage house, and all speculative type players have their eyes glued to gold and silver. …

Founded by Marc Hochar, a former Lebanese investment banker who had spent his entire professional life (more than 13 years) in investment banking and global markets with US investment bank …

We have mentioned over the last six months, that the Gulf markets, and in particular the Saudi stock market had gotten ahead of itself. The metrics we used were always …

Even for the most extra-ordinary skier, neither acumen nor experience can prepare oneself for the mortal threat of an avalanche. Philippe Jabre learnt this last year. In February 2005, Jabre, …

For a long time, there was a widespread belief in Lebanon that the Lebanese sector was highly diversified given the large number of banks (at one stage, the sector had …