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 1. Rise and Fall of Tel Aviv Stocksby Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  The dramatic collapse of the shares in Tel Aviv, echoing the financial thunder heard around the world, has driven prices down by more than 40 percent as measured by major indices. Brave buyers who bought at what appeared to be bargain prices two months ago are counting their losses, but eventually the bottom, like the top, will arrive.
Politicians have jumped on the drop in the market to complain that pension funds have lost more than five percent in the values of their portfolios and that some investors' holdings have dropped more than 50 percent. Several party leaders have blamed former Finance Minister Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu's economic reforms for the current slowdown in economic growth.
However, a look at the charts shows that investors reaped huge profits the past five years.
The Tel Aviv 100 average, covering 100 popular stocks, was below 450 points in 2004 and then climbed to 950 by the end of 2006 as the Israeli economy soared, buoyed by Netanyahu's reforms. The index continued to rise in 2007 and reached 1200 in 2007 and in the beginning of this year.
Doom and gloomers warned at the time that things were getting out of hand, but investors considered a drop to 900 to be a bargain buying opportunity. They drove the index back above 1000 before the continuing financial crises in the United States destroyed confidence worldwide. The index crumbled in the past month, dropping from more than 1000 in June to 700 this week.
Bank HaPoalim and two large worldwide potash producers based in Israel illustrate the windfall profits investors made in the past few years and the huge losses for those who bought "at the top."
Israel Chemicals and Makhteshim rode a one-way street the past year as potash prices soared. Israel Chemicals rose from 3900 to 7200 shekels a share, but it has crashed to 3750 as the worldwide commodities bubble burst.
Bank HaPoalim share prices in the past four years rose from 750 shekels to 2250, but now are down to 953 shekels.
"Monday morning quarterbacks" will know in a few months if the bottom has been reached, but most analysts agree that the current prices reflect panic and distrust in the entire financial system, more than a lack of value.
They also point out that Israel is one of the best havens for investors because of tighter banking regulations that were put into force after the bank share crash more than two decades ago.  2. Dayan: Obama Camp Tricked Meby Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  Uzi Dayan charged that the Obama camp deceived him in an interview used to promote the Democratic presidential candidate. Former intelligence boss Ephraim HaLevy said he also was duped.
"It simply was deception," Dayan, a former deputy IDF Chief of Staff, told Voice of Israel government radio Monday morning. "These were respectable people but what they did was not respectable and what they did was unethical."
Dayan, HaLevy, reserve Brigadier-General Shlomo Brom and other former senior IDF officers were interviewed by a Jewish group backing Sen. Barack Obama. The Jewish Council for Education and Research took excerpts of their statements and put them together in a commercial that shows them supporting Sen. Obama.
Halevy is quoted as saying that Sen. Obama is a "good communicator" and that the next president must talk to Iran to stop it from becoming a nuclear power, implying that he backs Sen. Obama.
Dayan also stated the next president must talk with Iran , a policy supported by Sen. Obama and rejected by his Republican opponent Sen. John McCain.
HaLevy told Voice of Israel, "I said that Obama makes a good impression, but I also said the same thing about McCain. They asked me whom I support, and I responded that an Israeli should not express an opinion, but that was not in the video clip. I think it was an improper use of the interview with me." He said he was explicitly told the film would not be used for campaign use.
Dayan and HaLevy have demanded that the Obama camp delete their appearances in the film.
The commercial also quotes reserve Brig. Gen. Brom as saying that the Bush administration has harmed Israel and that Sen. McCain would continue President Bush's policies, implying that Israel would be better off with Sen. Obama as president. |
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