The Saudis invested here, not out of friendship for America, but because - in Moslem countries - interest is verboten, even on loans and investments; but they could get interest, compounded constantly, from US banks and bonds. I'm willing to bet that their sudden pull-out is not based so much on Saudi patriotism as it is on the Enron-type debacles. Soon they'll be back, making their secretive investments again, because the lure of un-Islamic interest is too tempting.
About 20 years ago Jane Fonda made a truly awful movie, Rollover, which displayed the economic sophistication of a junior high school student, to the effect that the Saudis already owned us, but if we complained about it then they would make the US economy collapse completely.
I think the thing that we all need to be aware of is that there are really only 2 markets in the world. the one which is dominated by America and American interests, and one which deals exclusively in camels and chick peas, and is stuck in some sandy 15th century backwater in the middleastern desert.
Where could the Saudi's move 10 billion dollars where it would not be to the benefit of Americans? Japan? Europe? Think again.
American interest are global. If any financial market in the world is supported with that wealth, then American interests (inevitably ) are supported. And to move that wealth anywhere other than the traditional financial markets is to render it useless for buying anything that the Saudi's value.
the money isn't going anywhere, if they want to be able to use it to buy anything made anywhere buy Riyadh. (and the last time I checked, Riyadh wasn't much of a manufacturing center.)