Lounsbury

Like the 70s but w localisation

Thu, 08 May 2008 17:21:17 +0000

Alberto Verme, Citigroup’s London-based co-head of global investment banking, is expected to announce on Thursday that he is moving from London to Dubai.

The Return of Lounsbury

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:44:02 +0000

Ahem

I am back.

Sorta.

As I noted in Aqoul, have been busy working on a company start up (and continue to be so) as well as ...hmmm, well I lost the password. Seriously.

No the open month, May and April are shot, but I shall try to start hitting short notes on Food & MENA, as well as energy prices and MENA. Long screeds are out given time constraints.

Behind the scenes credit

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:20:38 +0000

Plugs are being pulled. I am currently working on the wind up of a deal - big one, my baby. No going. We're restructuring, but that's just polite language for letting it die. But I understand the Chinese will come in. Fucking brilliant, the Americans are subsidizing their own loss of influence. Bloody morons, almost as full of themselves as the Edwardian cretins.

Bloody languages

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:36:57 +0000

I don't know what is more depressing. Working on a bilingual fucking financial model (sadly I have to take responsibility for the fucked up format and the crazed idea of having mere button pushing for flipping Currency and Language), or watching American politics. At least, I can say, that my hard working collaboratrices where appropriately tight clothes to ease my eyes while we try to make this rubbish work. I thought this would be easier than tracking two models given the client CEO's ... limited language skills. I was wrong. It was a dumb fucking idea.

Arab El Dorado & Hollywood

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:52:42 +0000

A mildly amusing article on Hollywood efforts to raise funds for the usual rubbish. From the Gulf. They might think about raising money for Bollywood films first. Now, building an idiotic real estate project based on an already successful film, that's Gulf style speculation. Building something based on another model.

US, Iraq & Bullying...

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:29:03 +0000

There is not much to say on this, other than the account seems about right and rather unsurprising in many ways given the demonstrated incompetence and public behaviour.

Echoing Obama to MENA

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:13:24 +0000

An interesting comment in The Wasington Post, whose main thesis is an approach like Obama's to race, to MENA would help. Of course I also think of race within MENA at the same time. But worthy of a think.

Lunatic Real Estate

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:15:34 +0000

Now and again one can question even the basic sanity of some decisions. Or the pure idiot cupidity. Real Estate and UK investors come to mind. In particular, from The Times (London) and this particularly inane note Fly-to-let: the best places to buy an investment property overseas:

Blockages

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:05:39 +0000

One of the more unfortunate developments in my new positioning is my inability to rant without too much worry. While Paranoia was the name of the game in commenting on Iraq, at least the massive number of people working on same or similar things, with same or similar backgrounds gave a level of cover. Now, not the case. Frustrating really. Ran into some issues I would love to talk about over this past week. Can't. That leaves blogging for thoughtfulness, of which I have not had much.

Bear Stearns

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:14:15 +0000

If I needed an even to say financial crisis is now the ordre du jour, this was it. The US is kicking off a global financial crisis of truly epic proportions.

Financial Issues: American Subprime, Crime & Emerging Mkts

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 12:31:22 +0000

Not particularly MENA, but of global importance as the Americans seem to have managed to have concocted all by their own little selves what may be the most intractable financial crisis we have seen in 30-50 years (with the vaguely amusing spectacle a major American money centre bank 'reassuring' its shareholders over getting enough cash from Arabs, etc), it is a moderately positive step to see the American federal investigators going after one of the leading sources of toxicity.

I am not much of a believer in criminalizing business stupidities, however the sheer enormity of the "problems" in sub-prime and the securitization of said mortgages give one the sense that more than mere stupidity and cupidity was involved at source.

Sympathy

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:59:44 +0000

Although I believe this lady is going to fail across the board, one has to be sympathetic. Having run across the blog, it appears to be a rather too typical story of Western woman falling for Maghrebine who convinces her to move to his home city without fundamental realistic thought.

Of course, the blog may not entirely reflect coping skills, etc., but certainly in my years in MENA I have seen a lot of these stories, with the woman not having the language or cultural skills and being thrown in on a sink or swim basis. Much the worse when said couple is trying to be entrepreneurial. Well, random blogs run across, and I am certain the owner would not be happy w such comments, but it gave me pause. Bloody glad I am not thrown into business in places I haven't the language basics, I know from experience it makes me quite cranky.

Gaza

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:25:05 +0000

Somewhere on Aqoul comments a commentator asked us to comment on Israel & Gaza. Here is my one and sole comment. Same same and now the Arab Sats are even more tediously over-focused on a few square kilometres of idiocy than usual. Boring. Until someone is ready to knock Israeli heads together to get reasonable engagement, nothing to see but more mayhem. I gave up on this ages ago.

Understatement - Dubai, unproven rental market potential

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:26:17 +0000

An amusing read in FT Money which besides making a questionable assertion regarding the Moroccan property market (at least as far as I can tell) amusingly states:

Another area to be wary of is Dubai. There has been a huge amount of development in Dubai, but rental demand is unproven. "Projects have been unbelievably ambitious and rental returns very seductive," says John.

Hundreds of thousands of luxury apartments are due to come on to the market in Dubai next year and developers are promising yields of 9-10 per cent. Sales agencies have also launched some very eye-catching deals to entice investors.

One agent, Damac Properties, is offering a free Bentley or BMW with each Dubai apartment purchase, as well as the chance to win a private jet or island, although the company was unable to provide details of the offer.

John says the question is what happens when the building stops: "They have built so many luxury places, but how many people will choose to holiday there?"

New Month, Open Commentary - March 08

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:13:46 +0000

Sadly, I almost did not realize it is indeed a new month.