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Dubai – healthy outdoor life for 10 months of the year

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Reflections from the week :
Ok a very full week so lets get cracking. Joanne still on her extended holidays and I am struggling to explain the virtues of office life to that of being at the swimming pool or beach in 36 degrees of sunshine. We got delivery of the new ( it MINE but we call it ‘ours’ ) ‘smoothie’ car although not without a number of ‘glitches’. My drivers licence was out of date. A few hundred dirham ( including a ‘dropsie’ to the policeman in the admin office !!! ) and an hour later and this was sorted. Then my mortgagecompany ( did I mention IT bought the car ) was not registered for owning cars. But nothing another few hundred dirham could not sort. Then I wanted a ‘status’ number plate. Now that was fun. Off to the Dubai Traffic Dept HQ, where groups of ‘turbanned’ men had lists of number plates that were for sale. A sort of ‘market day’ at the Police Station. Many hours and much confusion later we ended up with an ‘A’ plate (which was to suggest I have been in Dubai a long time so don’t mess with me ) and the number 2980 – which as a four digit number and puts real ‘engine status’ behind you. Whoa. And all that for just euro 1700 ( £ 1100 ). Ouch. And there was another 8 hours of ‘fun’ chasing documents , company seals, original company licence etc. So Monday became Wednesday. And here we are in a top of the market Toy !! Now I will have to protect it from every ‘scratch’ event that might come its way. I will probably end up walking further just to get a parking slot with no cars around it !! Just in case you are struggling to understand what Joanne got !!! Well the most gorgeously large (24) bunch of red roses you have ever seen. No NOT from ME stupid. From the garage/dealer. While the car was ‘cheap’ ( have I mentioned that before ) the insurance for the year cost more than a month at the Burj al Arab. They will really need to introduce driver rather than car based insurance here. Why should I have to pay for those underskilled F1 drivers on the Shaikh Zayed Road. But let me get back to being happy. Cost of a full tank of petrol ? Euro 16 ( £11.50 or Aussie 24 ). Cheaper than water !!!Now enough about MY new car. Lets have a moment on the old one. Yes it is being prepared for its trip back to Sharjah ( the dustbin for cars from Dubai ). But like some recalcitrant child it decided to ‘hit back’ on its last day in Dubai. Yes the gears gave out ( ie seized ). I had to abandon it in an hotel car park. The ‘crook’ who sold it to me from Sharjah was a little surprised to get a phone call from me – he must have thought I would have been well dead by now. I mean it was 15 months. But he did not realise that I had a resilient bank account prepared to meet the growing maintenance costs. But he has at least offered to ‘put it in his show room’ and wait for some other ‘goon’ to be attracted by his ‘lipstick convertible’. I still vividly recall those comforting words he uttered as I was passing over my payment ‘ uooo hif reely gut aa baggin ( ie bargain in English ) der’ !! I got ‘bagged’ alright !!Dubai is coming back to life after the Summer holidays. The stock market and property prices are already starting to reflect this ‘environment’ change. Also Dubai received delivery of its first dinosaur ( as opposed to white elephants of which there will be many ) this week. It is one of 109 dinosaur’s that will form part of the Restless Planet at the Mall of Arabia ( to be the largest shopping centre in the world ). They are being manufactured by the worlds foremost animatronics ( I did not make up the word and the spell check is not showing a mistake !! ) company. Japanese. As if that is a surprise. Anyhow our ‘childrens kingdom’ is starting to take shape.I obviously regularly tip property in this communique. But I have also stressed the country’s very substantial employment and business set up merits. Some months after arriving here I highlighted the number of branded ‘high street’ retailers that were missing from the super mall landscape. Boots was one. Unfortunately none of my dear UK estate agency friends took the tip and Clutton’s ended up ‘taking the prize’. H & M have now ‘entered’ by opening 3 stores. The missing ones where there is a real business opportunity - Tesco, Sainsbury,Dunnes, Spar etc. While there are fashion shop opportunities I think that space is more ‘full’ and less safe. The courier service was one previous tip as was the hair dressing business. So over to you. Don’t worry I don’t want a ‘slice’ of any of these but will just help where I can. I notice there are NO Aussie brands at the ‘barbie’ yet. Any ideas. Let me say one last time. Dubai represents the region of greatest wealth creating opportunity for anybody seeking to set up a business, franchise, personal career or other trading idea. Moving the other way, the region has the greatest pot of cash looking for overseas assets. The recent US$ 1.4 billion purchase of the Four Seasons ( UK) nursing home business can be added to the US$ 12 billion spent this year alone on P&O , Doncasters, Travelodge, Hamptons etc. Thames Water is also likely to fall to a US$ 13 billion bid from this region. Anyhow enough of the serious stuff. A sauna story ? I have two. One I will keep for next week. On Monday I engaged this elderly looking gentleman through my standard chat up line. ‘Howyea’. ‘ Guud’ came the American accented reply. Okay. Where to from here ? ‘You live in Dubai ?’ ‘Yep’…………. Ok so it was a slow start but we accelerated. He turned out to be a professor at the American University ( there are now 8 Universities in Dubai ). It was not long before he was trying to enrol me in an MBA for the ‘about to start’ new term. I mean is the steam in the sauna so dense that he can’t see my ‘age lines’ !! An MBA ? I am a business man. An entrepreneur. How could he be so stupid. What qualifications do you need to be a professor these days !! Where would I find the time – particularly now that Jo is here. So I went for the well thought out defense ‘I must give you my business card and you can send me the details. I have always been interested (and avoided ) in completing one’. ‘Dats guud Young Man’. ‘Wuud be guud to have you in the team’. When we left the sauna I smiled lots – apparently it makes you look younger !! – and advised how exhausting the night before had been –which hopefully explained away any betrayal of aging. A controlled use of oxygen in and out of the lungs probably completed the bodily picture .It all seemed to have worked as his parting comment as he left the changing room with my business card was ‘luuking farward to having you in the team’ –again !!

Finally this week with all the Muslim, Christian, Jewish etc ‘conflicts’ that exist around the planet I thought it was worth relating a story I heard from one of my new Arab friends. Apparently the Prophet Mohammad had a Jew as a neighbour. The Jewish family was far poorer than the Prophet so Mohammad used ensure that reapings from
the harvest were shared with his neighbour. He also passed clothing to the kids. Indeed he treated the Jew more as a brother than a neighbour. In his preachings the Prophet Mohammad regularly taught his followers to do likewise.All I have to do now is find out where ALL THIS WENT WRONG. I hope none of my ancestors were responsible !!

Finally finally I see that Intel ( Irelands largest employer outside the government ) are about to shed 10,500 jobs – many of them in Ireland. Add this to the rising interest rate cycle in the Eurozone and I again must ask how Ireland is going to defy the basic logic of global economics.


UAE/Dubai news :
a) Dubai’s Vidya Chhabria ( ok she was originally from India but Dubai is a ‘subsidiary’ of India ) was listed by Forbes as one of the worlds most powerful women. Indeed the Middle East had 10% of the pool. The list included Oprah Winfrey and Queen Elizabeth.

b) Some of the financial reporting ‘interpretations’ by some local ( quoted ) companies in Dubai came to a head this week when PwC ‘withdrew’ as auditor to one of the regions largest property companies. The audited firm accused its client of booking ‘suspicious revenues’ in its accounts. The company Sorouh. It’s share price however remained stable.

Property Corner :
It still surprises me how many readers and readers friends buy in Dubai without checking out the value. I don’t wish to become a victim of enquiry flow but even good friends of mine have bought/are buying property that is so way over valued that I will probably get blamed – just because I live here. While I may not have the time to complete the transaction for you, I will give you a factual view and get somebody to help you through the journey.

In relation to making you money ? My latest view on Jebel Ali is that there is up to 100% gains to be achieved ( investment period two years ) and it represents the best property certainty in the world . Yes on the entire Planet. Apart from that , there are some projects at the Marina where value still exists. Given what residential
properties cost per sq ft in the UK , Ireland and Australia - Dubai is somewhere between 30% and 45% of the cost. And you will not have your property on or near beautiful sandy beaches. Nor will you have 10 months of great weather. Nor will you have so many of the worlds ‘biggest, largest and best’. Nor will you have a tax free environment. It is truly a Riviera destination. And I live here.

What to avoid :
This week there were some project launches that are so overpriced that I just want you all to be aware they will arrive in an exhibition near you in the very near future ( all the major UK and Irish cities have overseas property events in September ). So be careful. Ask through this email address – and get the honest answer/view.

Fun corner :
I am really starting to struggle with content – so please get your jokes to me.

A police car pulled along side a speeding car on the motorway. Glancing at the car, he was astonished to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting.
The policeman cranked down his window and yells to the driver ‘ PULL OVER’
‘No’ the blonde yells back ‘Scarf’ !!! See what I mean

11 women were clinging precariously to a wildly swinging rope suspended from a crumbling rock at the top of Mount Everest. 10 were blondes and one a brunette. As a group they decided that the only hope of surviving would be for one to let go as the rope would otherwise snap and they would all perish. For an agonising few moments no one said anything. No one was volunteering. Finally , the brunette gave a truly touching speech saying that she would sacrifice herself to save the life of the others.

The blondes all applauded.

And finally ( thank heaven for blondes !! )

A blonde guy gets home early from work and hears strange noises coming from the bedroom. He rushes upstairs to find his wife naked on the bed, sweating ( or glowing ) and panting. ‘Whats the matter’ he says. ‘I am having a heart attack’ cries his wife. He rushes downstairs to grab the phone, but just as he is dialing, his 4 year old son comes up to him crying ‘Daddy, daddy , Uncle Ted’s hiding in your wardrobe and he’s got no clothes on’.
The guy slams down the phone. Storms upstairs. Into the bedroom, passing his screaming wife. Rips open the wardrobe door. Sure enough there is his brother. Totally naked, cowering on the closet floor.
‘You rotten scum bag’ says the husband. ‘ My wifes having a heart attack and all you can do is run around naked, hiding and scaring the kids’.

Currency corner :
A few weeks ago I had an ‘ooops’ experience with currency corner. And now another one. Well this one was not too bad. Even with very good employment news from the US the dollar only responded positively temporarily ( was soon back above 1.28 and 1.895 ). The fact that even this good news did nothing to help the currency adds weight to the argument that it will go through my predicted levels. Inflation now looks under control ( even after the payroll figures yesterday ) so no need to increase interest rates further in the US. Something that cannot be said of the Eurozone or indeed the UK. So the yield differential narrows. Another support gone.

Then we have the trade and budget positions. Another nail for the coffin. So lets just wait for last weeks prediction ( which was a little ‘ballsie’ ) to happen. It was always going to be difficult to break through that strong support point of 1.2938.

Also the the Aussie weakened a bit this week. Don’t worry ‘Matties’ the slow growth in August is short term – although interest rates are on the rise.

Equity corner :
Hands up those of you who bought Stanley Leisure – tipped here 8 weeks ago. You would have bought at around £ 6.10. They did weaken a bit in the following weeks but this week the share price responded to a takeover approach. They are now £8.40 – YES 37% HIGHER. Not bad for a few weeks work. I have now sold and suggest you do the same. Did you also know that our Rank price ( tipped three weeks ago ) is now 13% higher. BP continues to be my ‘achilles’. How many weeks it is going to embarrass me ?? It did show some small recovery in the past couple of days but it is still a ‘blusher’. What else do I like ? Well we had a nice downward correction yesterday. So within a couple of more days I would expect you to be able to pick up ICI cheaply ( around the £3.60 ). Good to trade. But one needs to be careful of energy costs on their business.





David
Dubai - +971503781906 ( mobile )
+97143605981 ( land line )
+97143605982 ( fax )
PO Box No 123200, Dubai