clipped from www.ft.com

From Jordan to Iceland

Jordan is the equity trader’s favourite pin-up. Of Standard & Poor’s own 52 world market indices, the Hashemite Kingdom is the only one that is still in positive territory this year, albeit by just 1 per cent. Given that investors are $10,500bn poorer than at the start of the year, on a free-float basis, with 40 per cent of that wealth destruction occurring in the last tremulous month alone, that is small consolation. All other emerging markets, the hope of decoupling theorists, have been creamed. One-time wondermarket India, for example, has lost more than half its value so far this year, with China and Russia not far behind. This year’s best performing developed market, the US, is down by almost 20 per cent, while the worst performing, Iceland, has lost 69 per cent of its value. To some, the silicone dunes of Jordan have never looked more alluring.