JEDDAH, 24 July 2005 — One year ago, Saudis were unconcerned with the stock market. The knowledge of Saudis about the market changed completely in the past year; now the latest news of the stock market is the main subject of many gatherings, the Okaz newspaper reported. The stock market attracted the males and females, young and old. Even retired Saudis are enjoying spending most of their days in stock halls. Numbers of Saudi government workers are also spending a lot of time in stock halls monitoring stocks and delaying government administration.
Misfer Abdullah, a university student, said that the Saudi stock fever got to him when he first purchased stocks in Ittisalat Company. He said, “Since then, I have not stopped talking about the stock market. It became my No. 1 subject. I began reading about stocks to gain more knowledge about how to be a good stock investor. Many of my family members began to gain interest about the stock market. Even the old members in our family that are over 70 years old have become interested in the stock market. Two years ago, we would have considered someone crazy if he invested in the stock market because it was not clear at that time.”
Abdullah Al-Sheikh, another university graduate, said that the major change in interest toward the stock market is normal and very healthy. “This change triggered the business talent in people to invest their money saving,” he said. “Opening stocks for public underwriting was the main project many people were looking for. They found in these companies the perfect investment for their money after their money was sitting around doing nothing.”
Sami Al-Rasheedi said that investment in the stock market these days is very profitable for people that have great knowledge about it. He said that there is a great possibility of gaining a lot of profit as well as losing everything. He said, “I am not interested in the stock market but all my family are. Sometimes my father assigns me to watch some stocks to see if they are up or down.”
Meanwhile, many small time investors in the stock market have expressed their anger at the absence of transparency for the huge losses they suffered. According to Okaz, the small time investors are blaming the companies for not giving clear reports. They called on the Capital Market Authority to step in and force the companies to give clear picture.
Saad Al-Matrafi, small time investor in the stock market, said that some companies issue unclear reports. It is similar to a company that said that they won a huge project, but at the same time they say that they do not know the financial impact of this project on the company. He said, “There is a lack of transparency. Some companies announce the first half financial results and not the second half because they only want to show the good numbers.”
In another development, economy sources in the Kingdom have called to limit the amount of money transfer by foreigners out of Saudi Arabia every year, the Al-Riyadh newspaper reported.
The sources described these yearly money transfers as “huge losses” that are harming the national economy. Many government authorities called to give them the chance and to open investment channels for foreigners working in Saudi Arabia. The same sources calls local banks to open more accounts for them and to give them incentives to benefit from investing their money.
The sources said that 70 percent of workers in the Kingdom do not have bank accounts, which encourages the unofficial channels to transfer the money abroad.
