DFM’s 8-year high opens way for a newer generation of investors to get in

DFM’s 8-year high opens way for a newer generation of investors to get in

There is a growing frequency of cold calls inviting people for international trading, from forex to equities to commodities. This has reached the point where the number of cold calls for financial markets have exceeded those enquiring about real estate.

Curiously, hardly any of these calls relate to the domestic financial markets. Despite an increasing number of free seminars being offered throughout the city (a welcome development), the thinking among the young expat populace has been that

* Foreign markets offer better returns;

* There is a greater sense of ‘drama’ with captains of industry regularly engaging with the social media; and

* Western equity markets do not require you to submit to the ‘establishment’. (Hence the rise of meme stocks like GameStop, Chewy and the like).

This manner of investing is analogous to sports trading and emblematic of the casino-like mentality that has gripped investors. Similar trends have been observed in the past, and the history is clear as a bell as to how these fads end, but the more important point is to reflect on the change in culture underway with regards to the domestic financial markets.

Despite all the talk regarding globalization, and the commentary on inflation, the fact remains that nation states