Locals spend lavishly thanks to windfall from IPOs Essay

Locals spend lavishly thanks to windfall from IPOs - Essay Example "I took a Karwa taxi to the Industrial Area from the Old Airport locality on Friday evening and I paid QR30 as one-way fare It is too much," he said. Even a Qatari national, Yahya Abdul Rahman, felt the sheep were costlier this Eid. He blamed house rents as the single culprit for the rising cost of living and said he had let out four houses to expatriate tenant families and raised rents only marginally. "I have concern for them," he said of his tenants. The article mainly talks about how locals in Doha, Qatar enjoy affluent lifestyles as opposed to foreign expatriates. Expatriates are people who are temporarily living in another country, the culture of which different from the one they are from. The locals' and the expatriates' economic and financial differences are highlighted during the Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice, the most important feast of the Muslim. The feast is celebrated by sacrificing domestic animals, particularly sheep. The article narrates how it is easy for an average Qatari to purchase a fair number of sheep, while the foreigners struggle to buy even just one. The local Qataris can manage to be extravagant because of the "booming stock market" especially initial public offerings (IPO... He blamed house rents as the single culprit for the rising cost of living and said he had let out four houses to expatriate tenant families and raised rents only marginally. "I have concern for them," he said of his tenants. "Landlords are greedy," he said of property owners, his fellow countrymen. "Rising inflation is not good for all of us." Section: Local News Accessed 1/9/2006 from http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 1.2 Commentary The article mainly talks about how locals in Doha, Qatar enjoy affluent lifestyles as opposed to foreign expatriates. Expatriates are people who are temporarily living in another country, the culture of which different from the one they are from. The locals' and the expatriates' economic and financial differences are highlighted during the Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice, the most important feast of the Muslim. The feast is celebrated by sacrificing domestic animals, particularly sheep. The article narrates how it is easy for an average Qatari to purchase a fair number of sheep, while the foreigners struggle to buy even just one. The local Qataris can manage to be extravagant because of the "booming stock market" especially initial public offerings (IPOs). IPOs are the first sale of stock offered by a private company to the public, stocks being the element of ownership in a corporation. IPOs can only be offered once, many people take advantage of the opportunity. It is typical for the value of IPOs to rise on debut. However, many fall below the offering prices before the year ends. Because of this investing in IPOs are risky, as with all other investments. But even with the booming shares in the Doha Securities Market (up to 98% in 2005), economists raise concern that it might