The Beirut Stock Exchange’s BSI closed at 1,277.34 points on Sept. 26, representing a year-to-date improvement in the index of 7.79%. In contrast to the country’s weak economy, there was good news for several equities. Real estate firm Solidere edged above $17 in the last week of September after trading in the low to mid-$16 range earlier in the month on increasing demand. Banking stocks and GDRs, most importantly Audi and Blom, were buoyed by talk of regional investor interest for taking a sizeable stake in a local bank. In future telecom privatization steps, the government wants to open mobile operators to wider ownership by listing one third of their shares on the BSE. Good and bad news were supplied on the political and security side, starting with good through the defeat of the Nahr al-Bared insurgency. Deplorable to the highest extent was the murder of MP Antoine Ghanem; simple