Money Matters

“There’s a good chance that Lebanese stocks will jump 40% to 60% if there is a peace agreement this year,” proclaims Philip Khoury, vice president at Merrill Lynch in London. …

Relative breadth was again very narrow Perhaps the most influential variable in determining the success or failure of a portfolio manager is the relative breadth of the market. This measure …

SOLIDERE Solidere’s GDR found itself the beneficiary of positive investor expectations upon news of the planned resumption of peace talks between the Syrians and the Israelis. Even though the real …

Lebanon’s heavies in the banking industry are starting to release their 1999 profits, giving hodgepodge results. Bank of Beirut and Banque du Liban et d’Outre-Mer (BLOM) came out with fine …

Middle East Assurance and Reinsurance Co (MEARCO) wants to be a big player in the Lebanese insurance industry. You won’t find it in the top ten Lebanese insurance companies though, …

Salim Sfeir, sitting in his modest conference room at the Bank of Beirut’s headquarters, gives the impression of a mild-mannered chairman and general manager, content with where the bank stands. …

We recently went on a banking spree at a top foreign bank where we both have accounts. One of us queued behind six people waiting for a teller, which took …

Remember the hazardsof the Asiancrisis? Confidenceplummeting and hot moneyflying out of emerging marketswere major causes thatbrought a number of countriesto their knees. But itturned out to be one of thebest …

The world’s major equity markets have been in a linearuptrend since early in 1993. The most recent phase of thatuptrend began in October 1999, and has already carriedthe world index …

Here, in a nutshell, is our interpretation of what happenedin the financial markets in 1999. As the global profitscycle re-accelerated, deflation gave way to reflation,which led to worries about inflation. …