Who says that war is bad for the stock market? Israeli investors are pushing up the Tel-Aviv 25 more than 2% today, as traders view the war with Hamas favorably. With last night’s expansion of the war to include thousands of ground troops, tanks and artillery, one would have thought that the TA-25 would have reacted negatively. Clearly market participants believe that Israel will succeed with a swift and total victory, and the renewed security for southern Israel will be a boon for the local economy.

If heaven forbid, Israel were to get bogged down in an urban war, and suffer casualties, I am not sure that the market momentum would continue, but let’s all pray that Israel, is able to destroy the enemy without taking many casualties.

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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the

Trading halts were triggered in Tel-Aviv as the TASE dropped more than 11.2%. After curbs were lifted the market jumped to close down about 5%. It appears that one institutional investor dumped a ton of stock at the market price triggering the sell-off.

Keep in mind that much like in the US, where bailouts and stimulus have done nothing to stem market drops the same things appears to be happening in Israel as well. I’m Right..You’re Wrong has a great post about the Israeli treasury’s economic recovery plan. Clearly the market hasn’t taken well to the proposal to spend over 21 billion Shekel on government works projects.

The TASE major indexes are off about 50% YTD, and keep in mind that the general public is just waking up to this fact. Many have just started to cash out their pension plans and put them into government bonds. If this trend continues,

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and with offices in Caesarea, Israel, Zion Oil & Gas Inc. (ZN) is an exploration stage company looking for oil and gas in Israel. They explore for oil and gas in onshore areas between Tel-Aviv and Haifa. The company has a current market capitalization of $54.65 million and trades on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX).

Zion Oil & Gas Inc. holds two petroleum exploration licenses. These are the Joseph and Asher-Menashe Licenses between Netanya on the south and Haifa on the north. These licenses cover a total of roughly 162,000 acres. Mr. John M. Brown founded Zion Oil & Gas in April 2000. His mission for the company is to explore for oil and gas in Israel and reach production levels that will help Israel become an energy independent country. Incorporated on July 9, 2003, the company came into being because of an inspirational visit by

While one rock star, Barack Obama, gets ready to accept his party’s nomination for president in front of 75,000 screaming fans at a football stadium in Denver, a real rock star, Paul McCartney, has a greed to a performance in Tel Aviv. McCartney will make a pretty penny for the gig. According to a report in Globes:  “The cost of bringing ex-Beatle McCartney to Israel will reach NIS 30 million (about $8.5 million), half of which will go to McCartney and his promoters, while the other half will cover production costs. At a price of NIS 1,500 ($425) for a front row ticket and NIS 500 ($142) for a place on the park itself, the promoters will have to sell 50,000 tickets only to cover the cost.”

They are expecting over 70,000 people to show up. Of course this is without taking into account any sponsorship money.

McCartney will pull in