Saudi investors 'could withdraw US funds'

bbc ^ | 8/19/02

[Ranger]

Knew this threat was coming. Also FYI Saudi is running large accounts deficit right now, so some repatriation is also going to occur because of that. On the other hand I doubt Saudi princes are parking their money in the magic kingdom. More likely they are sending to Europe.

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

Yeah, the possibility is there. They can do real damage to the finacial well-beings in the country by such massive pull-out.

[babygene]

"Does this mean another $1 trillion in stock market losses as the Saudi's dump stocks?"

No, because the victims who get the money have to invest it somewhere...

[Guillermo]

I read a coupla months ago that Arab money was already flowing out of the US...

[babygene]

Our government should freeze their funds until the case is settled

[singletrack]

But what will they do with it then? Invest in Euros? Asian markets? The damage they do by pulling out of the modern world is less than the damage from allowing them to stay in the 21 century.

[laconic]

Let them take their money and go home with it (perhaps it will do a world of good for the people of Saudi Arabia instead of the kleptocracy that runs that country for the benefit of a very, very few). Sometimes you have to stand on principle, the consequences be damned.

[NerdDad]

Let the Saudis dump their stock and pull their money, maybe they can take it back to SA and invest it in camel droppings and sand piles.
The threat is empty. They can't get out of a down market because it would cost them too much. They don't want it in their own country because having it there would encourage their minions to revolt and the royals would lose it all. They can't pull it out of the US and put it anywhere else because there is nothing with that kind of value into which they can invest. They are smarting already because the price of oil is down. This is meaningless sabre rattling. They will count on the billions they have invested in US judges to start paying dividends if this suit ever actually gets started.

[leadhead]

Right on!

They pull out fast, it gives us Joe Schmoes a buying opportunity for some of their good investments.

It will also sink some of their unwise investments (that I never considered investing in) like AOL, Citicorp, etc.

Fools and their money are some party, as my Daddy always said.

[Real Cynic No More]

Well, if the U.S. is freezing the assets of terrorists, the answer is fairly simple.

[Paul Ross]

This kind of stupid threat to flee with their assets is also the solid basis for a motion by the plaintiff's attorneys for a pre-lien attachment.

All I can say is, Go Get 'Em Plaintiff's Bar!!!!

[GovernmentShrinker]

I wouldn't stress about it. Where the heck else are they going to invest that kind of money and get any sort of decent return? At worst, they'll yank their money from direct investments in the U.S., and then quietly reinvest it via offshore shell companies and hedge funds, and via Asian and European multinational companies who will in turn invest in the U.S. Their idiot sheeple will be impressed, and the spoiled brat princes will continue to rake in huge returns to fund their decadent globe-trotting playboy lifestyles.

[RightWhale]

They better withdraw their investments right away before they are frozen.

[Billy_bob_bob]

It would seem pretty obvious that their assets will be frozen if another serious terror attack happens anytime soon, and it has anything to do with Islam or Saudi nationals.

[aristeides]

Money invested in U.S. judges by the Saudis? I wonder if that judge down in Marco Island, Florida was one such judge.

[Osinski]

This is BIG money. Here comes more smokescreen as the elitists running this stock market con game try to pin the next big downturn on the Saudis. Trying to rouse the public into a war, while covering their sorry behinds.

[backhoe]

Just for perspective:

CIA -- The World Factbook -- Saudi Arabia

GDP: purchasing power parity - $232 billion (2000 est.)

CIA -- The World Factbook -- United States

GDP: purchasing power parity - $9.963 trillion (2000 est.)

[sinkspur]

This is BIG money. Here comes more smokescreen as the elitists running this stock market con game try to pin the next big downturn on the Saudis. Trying to rouse the public into a war, while covering their sorry behinds.

And you're a sucker because you actually believe that the Saudis are going to do this.

[Dog Gone]

This ain't gonna happen.