KUWAIT, Sept 3 (KUNA) -- Young Kuwaiti investors seeking opportunities in the world markets through broker companies are looking forward to speedy profits and tend to forget that the matter requires being alert and waiting for the favorable chance.
Brokerage experts and dealers told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that such investors have to be fully aware that investing in the world markets requires understanding the "psychology of these markets", namely that one has to avoid taking the risk and has to wait for the promising chance.
Tawfiq Ahmafd Al-Baghli, Chairman and Managing Director of the International Financial Brokerage Group, said that trading in the world markets had come to be "familiar and profit-making in Kuwait."
He added that since his Group started as the first broker company in the country in 1996, investors have been on the rise and many other brokerage firms came to existence.
Al-Baghli stressed the necessity of communicating with the foreign markets "since Kuwait is part of the world's economy.
Asked what markets are preferred by Kuwaiti investors, Al-Baghli listed New York(NYSE), Tokyo and London in addition to trading over the company shares listed in the NYSE.
Power items such as oil, gas and gasoline are traded at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMAX), the world's largest physical commodity exchange while agricultural items such as coffee, cotton, soya beans are traded at the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT).
According to Al-Baghli, a considerable group of Kuwaiti investors is highly interested in investing in the world's capital markets. They are on the rise year after year.
By the same token, deputy director general of the Swiss International Financial Brokerage Company, Ahmad Shebly said that such investing through broker companies was increasing.
He urged brokers to provide their clients with the most accurate data so as to "secure credibility."
There are 13 brokerage companies in Kuwait subjected to the control of the Ministry of Trade, he added noting that there was high turnout especially from young investors on the activities of these companies.
Ali Al-Namash, a financial analyst, said that past experiences had shown that many broker companies did not commit themselves to the relevant "professional principles" as they enter speculations over metals and currencies; the result was huge losses.
Al-Namash added that the strict control by the concerned official bodies such as the Ministries of Trade and Industry and the Central Bank of Kuwait encountered these non-committed brokers for the sake of protecting the investors' rights.
Many fellow young investors fear investing in the world's money markets since they are not qualified to deal with the nature of these markets, even through broker companies at home that only provide technical support and let an investor make his own decision, Mesh'al Al-Sebei said, a young investor said.
"Many young investors took the risk but eventually returned to the local market, the safe haven where they can choose their target companies through reading their financial data," he added.
According to Al-Sebei many broker companies in Kuwait set a client's commission as a priority even at the expense of "beginners" who lack experience.
By Mohammad Kamal
