But the Palestinian stock market seems unlikely to be a major beneficiary. He says the Palestinian market isn't big enough to attract any serious money. It's really too small for most emerging market investors to invest in. It's still very much on the outer fringes of even the emerging market universe. In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
Antitrust regulators are on a tear.
In the midst of the Microsoft trial and a high-profile action against Visa and MasterCard, the Justice Department is now targeting a proposed airline alliance. The government is suing to block Northwest Airlines from buying a controlling stake in Continental. Officials contend the combination of the country's fourth and fifth-biggest airlines would hurt competition, as Marketplace's Washington editor John Dimsdale reports. Their announcement sparked a series of additional deals among those bigger companies. With its lawsuit, the government is trying to draw the line against further consolidation in the industry, according to Barbara Beyer, the President of the Arlington, Virginia airline consulting firm, Avmark.