New York. London. Tokyo. Nablus? When it comes to making small fortunes on the stock exchange this West Bank city of Nablus does not immediately spring to mind.
But in this troubled city - more commonly associated with Israeli military incursions and Palestinian suicide bombers - there's something of an economic gold rush under way.
At a cramped Nablus brokerage, about 100 Palestinians can be seen huddling in small smoke-filled rooms, monitoring screens showing the share prices of listed Palestinian companies.
In a city with soaring unemployment, it is the Palestinian Securities Exchange, also known as the Nablus stock exchange, that is providing many ordinary Palestinians with their best bet.
Hamas jitters
Last year, the market's benchmark al-Quds index has seen the worth of the 28 companies listed nearly triple in value.
Following the shock Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections in January, however, the stock took a tumble losing about 5% of its value.
But the stock exchange's general manager Dr Hasan Adnan Yassin insists that the market is performing well and ‘there is no exchange in the world that is always rising’.
While he admits that the Hamas election victory did cause market jitters, he insists that the adjustment had started last December.
On last year's performance, Dr Yassin says the Nablus exchange is the best in the Middle East for investment ‘and possibly the number one in the world’.
Ordinary Palestinians seem to agree. Local shoe-maker Samer Mahlis says his business has been hit hard by Israeli road closures round the city and the influx of cheap Chinese shoes.
But now the 40-year-old says that his economic circumstances have been improved by the vaulting stock market.
Ten months ago, he bought $5,000 worth of stock. It's now worth $7,000.
‘This place is like a coffee shop to me,’ says Mr Mahlis, who comes to the brokerage almost every day.
Note of caution
Away from the brokerage, al-Arz ice-cream factory owner Zahi Anabtawi credits his investments with saving his 60-year-old family business.
Sitting in his office, he says: ‘In a way the stock market saved my business. My investments meant I could buy another ice-cream production line.’
With the Palestinian economy still performing poorly and local banks paying low interest rates on savings, many people here are prepared to take a whirl on the stock exchange, says Dr Yassin.
He says that one of the reasons for the dramatic increase in the value of the stocks is that they were undervalued in the first place.
The former economics professor also points to an overall drop in violence in the West Bank and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza this year, as indicators that things are slowly getting better.
But some experts are sounding a note of caution at what they see as a rush to invest.
Last August, the Palestinian Authority moved to guard the stock exchange from insider trading and established an oversight agency.
And there is also growing concern among some experts that people think they can only win.
‘People are doubling their money very quickly,’ says Dr Samir Abdullah, Director of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute based in Ramallah.
‘But I wouldn't advise any small investors to speculate on the market if they can't afford to lose the money.’
Dr Abdullah adds: ‘It's not an investment if the money was meant for their son's education.’
PALESTINIAN ECONOMY
GDP: $3.3bn
Population: 3.6 million
GDP per person: $934
Foreign aid per person: $469
Change in GDP per person since 1999: -38%
Poverty rate: 48%
Unemployment rate: 27%
Source: World Bank