BAGHDAD -- While the rest of the world faces a financial meltdown, the Iraq Stock Exchange index has soared nearly 40 percent during September, boosted by increasing confidence in security gains. The ISX is only open two hours a day, three days a week and brokers track trading activity on the floor with colored markers and white bulletin boards instead of computers. But investors are seeing gains, especially in the hotel sector, even as markets elsewhere are taking a tumble. "I don't think that the current financial crisis will hurt our economy and especially this market because we are not connected to any of the global markets and we have very few foreign investors," said Omar Mouwaffak, a 73-year-old trader resting on a bench along the wall. Foreigners comprise less than 3 percent of the daily volume, officials said, but...
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