Metalchica
24 October 2005, 10:00
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Foreign Equity: A U.S. Broker Deploys in Iraq (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112993810705876357.html)
Wall Street Journal
by Gene Colter
October 22, 2005; Page B3
Iraq has a constitution. Now comes another important step toward democracy: Getting the stock market up to snuff. That's where Sgt. Myles Larsen comes in. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the Northern New Jersey native wanted to serve his country but keep his hand in as a financial professional. His U.S. Army Reserves recruitment officer had a solution: Civil Affairs Command, whose mission in foreign lands involves deploying expertise learned pre-fatigues.
Which is how the one-time Jersey City-based broker for J.P. Turner & Co. LLC, a retail brokerage firm that has its headquarters in Atlanta, landed in Baghdad for a nine-month tour last fall, a few months after being called up to active duty. The stock market -- formerly the Baghdad Stock Exchange, now the Iraq Stock Exchange -- had been up and running again for months. But modernization was -- and remains -- the task at hand. Stocks trade on a cash basis. Bids and offers are marked up by hand on a board. There are brokers, but many investors don't use them. "Any Iraqi can go to the floor of the stock exchange" and trade, explains Sgt. Larsen, who reckons that aspect of trading will always have a place in a country where doing business face-to-face is part of the culture.
Stocks and Stripes: Sgt. Myles Larsen
From around 120 listed companies when Saddam Hussein was in charge, the rechristened exchange had fallen to 21 firms after the fall of Baghdad. It was back up to around 70 when Sgt. Larsen arrived, and is now close to 90. Trading is two hours a day, twice a week. Sometimes only a couple-hundred thousand shares change hands -- literally, in cash; there's no such thing as a margin account. On other days, total volume can reach five million, Sgt. Larsen says, which is pretty good business for a tiny market and partly explained by the fact that most stocks trade for the equivalent of pennies.
Sgt. Larsen spent much of his tour helping the exchange prepare for automation. But facts on the ground, to use a military turn of phrase, meant automation may remain a ways off. So he also undertook a study of the strengths and weaknesses of 15 Middle Eastern stock markets to give Baghdad a good idea what its strategy should be. Part of his vision is to capitalize on an economy that's more diverse than oil. Banks, a bottler, hotels and even a bicycle maker all feature in the market.
The sergeant also shared another passion with some of his hosts: wrestling. He and a Marine colleague ran workshops where they met some of the local talent that may go on to represent Iraq in international competition. The effort almost never got off the mat, because Sgt. Larsen didn't rotate in with his wrestling shoes in tow and had no luck locating any through official channels. But then an Iraqi coach and students showed up, bearing a pair as a gift. They fit him perfectly.
Now home, Sgt. Larsen remains a specialist with 353rd Civil Affairs Command at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, N.Y. Up next: the test to renew his "Series 7" license to trade.
Foreign Equity: A U.S. Broker Deploys in Iraq (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112993810705876357.html)
Wall Street Journal
by Gene Colter
October 22, 2005; Page B3
Iraq has a constitution. Now comes another important step toward democracy: Getting the stock market up to snuff. That's where Sgt. Myles Larsen comes in. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the Northern New Jersey native wanted to serve his country but keep his hand in as a financial professional. His U.S. Army Reserves recruitment officer had a solution: Civil Affairs Command, whose mission in foreign lands involves deploying expertise learned pre-fatigues.
Which is how the one-time Jersey City-based broker for J.P. Turner & Co. LLC, a retail brokerage firm that has its headquarters in Atlanta, landed in Baghdad for a nine-month tour last fall, a few months after being called up to active duty. The stock market -- formerly the Baghdad Stock Exchange, now the Iraq Stock Exchange -- had been up and running again for months. But modernization was -- and remains -- the task at hand. Stocks trade on a cash basis. Bids and offers are marked up by hand on a board. There are brokers, but many investors don't use them. "Any Iraqi can go to the floor of the stock exchange" and trade, explains Sgt. Larsen, who reckons that aspect of trading will always have a place in a country where doing business face-to-face is part of the culture.
Stocks and Stripes: Sgt. Myles Larsen
From around 120 listed companies when Saddam Hussein was in charge, the rechristened exchange had fallen to 21 firms after the fall of Baghdad. It was back up to around 70 when Sgt. Larsen arrived, and is now close to 90. Trading is two hours a day, twice a week. Sometimes only a couple-hundred thousand shares change hands -- literally, in cash; there's no such thing as a margin account. On other days, total volume can reach five million, Sgt. Larsen says, which is pretty good business for a tiny market and partly explained by the fact that most stocks trade for the equivalent of pennies.
Sgt. Larsen spent much of his tour helping the exchange prepare for automation. But facts on the ground, to use a military turn of phrase, meant automation may remain a ways off. So he also undertook a study of the strengths and weaknesses of 15 Middle Eastern stock markets to give Baghdad a good idea what its strategy should be. Part of his vision is to capitalize on an economy that's more diverse than oil. Banks, a bottler, hotels and even a bicycle maker all feature in the market.
The sergeant also shared another passion with some of his hosts: wrestling. He and a Marine colleague ran workshops where they met some of the local talent that may go on to represent Iraq in international competition. The effort almost never got off the mat, because Sgt. Larsen didn't rotate in with his wrestling shoes in tow and had no luck locating any through official channels. But then an Iraqi coach and students showed up, bearing a pair as a gift. They fit him perfectly.
Now home, Sgt. Larsen remains a specialist with 353rd Civil Affairs Command at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, N.Y. Up next: the test to renew his "Series 7" license to trade.