Reply #1: Hope Fuels Palestinian Stocks

[bemildred]

Many investors see the 28 companies listed on the Nablus exchange as their best financial bet in an otherwise atrophied economy.

The tiny Nablus-based stock exchange, known as the Palestine Securities Exchange, has been around since 1997 but caught the imagination of ordinary Palestinians only during the last year.

The market's benchmark Al Quds index has more than quadrupled since January, breaking the symbolic 1,000 threshold for the first time Nov. 6 and briefly thrusting past 1,300 since then.

These days, merchants, taxi drivers and housewives with even modest savings are suddenly crowding offices like this one in downtown Nablus. Experts say the surge shows that Palestinians are starting to feel hopeful after five years of conflict, and that the 28 Palestinian companies listed on the exchange are seen as bargains.

Many Nablus investors have come to view stocks in these high-profile firms as their best option because of comparatively low interest rates offered by banks and because so many other industries have atrophied in the face of Israeli-imposed travel restrictions and periodic street combat here.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fg-palstox11dec11,1,173623.story?coll=la-headlines-business