Gulf Markets:
GCC markets weakened noticeably during the week since the end of the long (very very long in the case of Saudi Arabia, about three weeks long) Eid al-Futr holiday. The Saudi stock market has tumbled over the past few days, starting right after the holiday, something that has made traders and the few 'investors' wish the holiday had been even longer. Some traders and 'investors' are demanding that the authortities halt trading in order to staunch the financial bleeding. Last week the market reached its lowest level for eighteen months, losing 4% last Wednesday. Over the whole week the market index lost 11%, prompting a scare among traders. The Saudi index has now declined by about 55% since last February. Some traders attribute the decline to the recent changes which unified trading into one daily session, but some analysts point out that these changes started only last week. Recently, the King has also issued a decree unifying the banks' daily working sessions to one session each day. Others have blamed negative statements by the country's central bank, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) for the decline. Earlier this year, after huge earlier declines in the Saudi market, King Abdullah initiated an investment fund composed of local stocks, and the announcement of that initiative pushed stock prices back up for a while. Detached analysts claim that the decline is partly related to lower petroleum prices as well as continued political tensions in the region.
In the UAE, both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets also declined sharply last week and some have attributed this to a close actual and psychological relationship with the Saudi market. In Qatar the Doha market edged closer to its lowest point, and it looks like the same story was repeated all over the GCC markets last week.

These developments will create new political pressures on the governments to intervene and feed the markets, intravenously if necessary as has happened in the past. The Stock Market directors of both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were sacked earlier this year due to either poor management or political pressure- most likely both- and shares moved up temporarily and perhaps irrationally. Still, some savvy traders probably realize that trying to replace the Exchange management may not work again- not so soon. Nevertheless there are some audible noises in the local press these days about dark unnamed speculating powers-that-be that have manipulated the market and fleeced the smaller investors/traders.

Gulf Tensions, Stability for Iraq...
United States, Britain, France, three other countries including Bahrain last week engaged in naval maneuvers in the Gulf. Reports indicate that they are practicing to intercede and stop ships carrying illegal material. Other Gulf states opted out of the exercises at the last minute. The Iranians for their part have retaliated by starting their own naval exercises and firing some new missiles that they claim to have the range to cross the Gulf. Meanwhile the potentially volatile Iran nuclear crisis has receded from memory in the United States for now as the battle for both houses of Congress rages, and as the administration seeks ways to stabilize Iraq. Iraq probably won't stabilize the way we knew it, certainly not the way some Iraqis and many neighboring Arabs wish. It will not stabilize until some alternative is agreed to as replacement for the old centralized Iraqi state that is now clearly deader than Nebuchednazzir, deader than Hammurabi.

Love, Marriage, and Tribalism in Arabia:
Al-arabiya TV reports that a Saudi court has ruled for the forced separation of a man and his wife, even though the young couple want very much to remain married and they have two children after three years of marriage. The court has agreed with family members, mainly brothers, that the man is not 'tribally' compatible and cannot remain married to his bride. The girl testified against the wishes of her family, but his 'honor' the shaikh/judge said no dice and declared the marriage void. The couple escaped from their home after the sentence since the family has already promised to marry her off to another man. The couple and their children were later arrested in Jeddah and accused of committing sin since she is not considered legally his wife.
The man has been releasd on bail, but the wife refuses to leave the prison on bail for fear of being married off to someone else. Which shows that the New Middle East is still quite different..... from old Europe and the USA, and that includes Texas.

Cheers
Mohammed