Bassem Mroue

Every time I meet my friend Charbel we remember the big mistake we made two years ago when we both planned to buy stocks in Lebanon construction company Solidere but never did. Then a Solidere share was being sold for 4 dollars while now it reached 25 dollars. It is unbelievable how much people in the region are focusing on Arab stock markets especially when we see how much shares rose last year and how great they have been doing so far this month. Many people, whether in countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain or Lebanon have for sure become rich because of buying and selling stocks. This business is spreading very quickly in the region with some people selling their property to buy shares. During the day when I tune to Al-Arabiya television, most probably I will see Zeina Soufan, Seba Audi or Nadine Hany speaking about stocks. The Saudi Stock Market is by far the largest in the region and is also the most active. Its index rose in the pas...

One of the most interesting assignments that I covered in my 14-year career as a journalist was the Hajj in Saudi Arabia five years ago. Luckily, that year was free of incidents such as what happened two days ago when more than 350 pilgrims were killed in a stampede as they were going to perform the ritual of stoning the devil. I was living in Cairo then and with thousands of Egyptians going to the Hajj, I was not able to find a seat on a plane to Saudi Arabia so I flew to Dubai and from there back to Jiddah, a trip that took about seven hours of flying instead of two hours directly from Cairo. Going to the Hajj, a person wonders how can more than two million people gather in the small area of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the adjacent areas of Muzdalifa, Mount Arafat and Mina, a small tent town that comes to life for few days every year during the Hajj. Most of the stampedes occur when the ritual of stoning the devil is performed, when most Muslims say it should be done before the ...

Most of the people who I asked where they spent New Year's Eve said they stayed at home. I don't know if it is related to the depression many Lebanese are suffering from these days because of the bad security and political situation in the country. What most of them are worried about is that 2006 be as bad, if not worse, than the previous year. On January 1, many people were talking about astrologers who appeared on Lebanese television stations. Lebanon's most famous psychic, Michel Hayek appeared on LBC television but refused to say anything about what he expects to happen in the coming year. In previous years some of the things he expected did happen. People who don't believe in astrology, and they don't appear to be many in Lebanon, say anyone can predict if he or she makes some analysis of the situation. That made me take the decision to make some predictions for 2006, maybe I can quit journalism and become a famous astrologer which for sure makes much more mone...