It merits a quick look, if you will.

Saudi index soars after removal of regulator
By William Wallis in Cairo
Published: May 15 2006 00:04 | Last updated: May 15 2006 00:04

Our man Wallis again conveys some of the surreality that is KSA markets (any KSA markets)

So, the ignorant bedou jouj sifr gits have gotten themselves all excited at the prospect of being bailed out, as the common view has it markets only go up, and if they do not, government should step in and share the risk, all Islamic style.

Get it.....?

Well, perhaps a bad joke based off of my near contempt for some of the underlying hypocrisy of people involved.

Regardless, we learn that an ex IMF man (well rep to IMF, might have spent all his time whoring or could be brilliant, name doesn't ring a bell)

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah announced on Friday the appointment of Adulrahman al-Tuwaijri, a former International Monetary Fund representative and head of the Supreme Economic Council, to take over the Saudi Capital Markets Authority (CMA).

And why?

He replaced Jammaz al-Suhaimi after the Arab world’s largest market lost nearly half its value in three months – $400bn (€309bn, £212bn) – ruining tens of thousands of Saudis who, with little access to reliable information on the true value of companies, borrowed heavily to acquire stocks at wildly inflated prices.

Well, zero transparency, huge crapshoot in a country where it is fucking hard to do anything the least bit interesting.....

What does one get?

Massive gambling.

Having encouraged the general population to ride the market as a means of accessing wealth generated by the oil boom, the Saudi authorities have come under strong pressure to intervene to halt its subsequent collapse. Analysts described the appointment of Mr Tuwaijri as a confidence-building measure. But they warned that alone it would not stabilise a market in correction.

Typical Saudi public economic policy. The entire fiasco.

At its peak in February, market capitalisation of the Tadawul All-Share index was driven to unsustainable highs worth nearly 200 percent of national gross domestic product.

One must confess that perhaps, at some point, a real market regulator might have stepped in.

But then KSA market is not a real market.

“The decline in blue-chip stocks has caused distress which has affected millions of citizens,” Mr Tuwaijri said on al-Arabiya satellite television news in his first comments following his appointment.

“I hope to see organised and balanced trading where the CMA plays its desired role, which inspires confidence,” he added.

Hmmm, on al Arabiyah....

Well, in any case, the market has to come down. Does he talk it down slow, or is the government going to do the typical Saudi thing and piss away billions on idiocy - say like trying to support unrealistic prices?

.....The United Arab Emirates markets also recovered in weekend trading. It was partly in response to the Saudi recovery and partly, analysts said, on rumours that senior officials instructed banks to stop liquidating their share portfolios and were now deciding whether to alter regulations to allow share buy-backs by listed companies.

UAE intervening too.

Such transparent markets.

The Saudi market is closed to foreign investors outside the Gulf, except through a limited number of funds. But Saudi investors have spread their own investments across the Arab world, giving the Tadawul All-Share index influence over other markets.

This last bit, re Saudis spreading their investments is crap by the way. Money has clearly gone into neighboring markets, but the Maghreb has not seen much. Well again, a reminder the Maghrebines only count when somene in Dubai wants to inflate market numbers.