I really have no idea why Mr. Oktiri is ranting about Nazi's and Canadians and such. For those of you who don't read French, Mr. Oktiri is accusing me of using for my nickname, Daliddleguy, a name similar to one of the many nicknames given to retired Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Which it is. Sort of like Bubba with retired President Bill Clinton. Its not clear how this equates with "cowardice". Also, he is accusing me of being a native of the Province of Quebec and hiding out in France. I don't really mind that "insult" either, since if I wasn't French, then being from Quebec would be my second choice. Obviously it makes him angry if someone likes Canada, which means he is going to be very angry, because just about everyone but him LOVES Canada. Back to Dubai, If I have to entertain Westerners then I stay at the Movenpick hotel which is very nice, and usually a little more reasonable than the rest. Its still pricy, but you can often get good internet deals. If you don't need use of the hotel bar for entertainment, then you could use a hotel in the suburb of Sharjah, which is cheaper (almost no westerners). Try this link for a hotel in Sharjah http://www.sharqhotel.com/hotel_rooms.htm (Hotels in Sharjah don't have bars for religious reasons) Speaking of hotels, if you ever want to visit Villefranche and see my trading set up, stay at the Riviera Hotel. For about 50 Euros (in high season!) you can get a small room with a balcony view of the bay. Chaio
My uncle has a good friend that owns a business in Dubai. He visits him a couple of times a year. Both of them tend to share your opinion Nana, ie there are some very good aspects of Dubai (money), but the lifestyle, for someone used to living in the west, is definite thumbs down.
It will be a shock to many people but you are somehow right Cutten! 10% of Dubai's economy is petroleum based.
I live here and its quite good for trading, theres new laws coming in force to do away with past hurdles so it should be ok. A great place to live and trade !!
So to conclude, for various reasons I shouldn't live in Dubai, Canada, Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, Hong Kong or Singapore. Gibraltar are killing the tax breaks and is apparently a hole, I'm fed up with London so..... We (Refco) do have an office in Miami and one in Sydney but orders go to chicago and Zurich respectively and the time differences are not good for european scalpers. Well I'd rather complain about a set of new things somewhere hot, at least it would be a change for a couple of years. I still want to trade in Dubai and had a good time living in Oman which is a lot less liberal. Roll on the Eurex hub, I still wanna go! Or I up the ante on the tnote trading and go across the pond, but that's one irritating accent Cheers for all the feedback, nowhere's perfect
The currency is as stable as the US dollar because it is pegged to the greenback. We will not have US-Dollars in ten years.
Dubai is a very nice place to live, people are nice and interresting, the restaurants are nice, clubbing is pretty good and the climate is good during most of the year. It's a great place to make contacts as well. It even seems as if it is possible to make money in the arab markets as well. It seems some of the people answering this tread have never been there, let alone lived there. Why on earth should it be harder to live in Dubai than in Singapore or HK for a westerner? Just plain old prejudice. And the best part is: No taxes.
Nymex To Open Dubai Commodities Exchange, by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus 21 February 2005 Plans for a commodities exchange in Dubai have been taken a step closer to fruition after officials from the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Dubai Development and Investment Authority came to an agreement last week. http://www.investorsoffshore.com/asp/story/storyinv.asp?storyname=18964
It is a very difficult task to open a financial intermediary in any country in the Middle East. There are tough trade barriers, heavy capital deposits required and few avenues open. Although Dubai is foremost among the Middle East in terms of modernization, it is still very difficult to open a prop shop or to have retail customers to come and trade in an office. I'm sure there are no prop shops there, and I have a pretty firm belief that day trading is not done except with brokers on phones or privately by individuals having accounts with a direct access. The insurance market, mortgage financing and Islamic finance are some of the financial instruments that have started up recently. Many still regard day trading and speculation as gambling (which is prohibited in their religion). The future looks bright as the young leaders of the UAE are beginning to change their outlook and with the advent of the DIFC, Dubai is all set to become the financial hub in the Middle East. Becoming a financial center is not possible when avenues are limited and constraints forced upon by governments. They have to make way for day traders, speculators, investors and hedge funds. Although this might not be possible in the very near future, more lies ahead. Because there is no current market for prop firms and day traders, but in future when there will, the first ones to step into the Dubai market will be very profitable. This thought claims my most importance. I'll be doing some research on it and see what the regulators have to say. Nana Trader, u got any clues as to how the government will react to such and idea?? Anyone having similar ideas??