Contributors

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  Boris Schlossberg

   serves as Senior Currency Strategist with Daily FX in New York, the largest retail forex market maker in the world. He is a monthly contributor to SFO Magazine with articles focused on understanding proper risk management, trader psychology and true market structure. He is also a featured expert at www.fxstreet.com and a frequent commentator for the CBS Marketwatch Currency and Bond Report sections. Mr. Schlossberg has been an independent trader since 1999 trading a variety of instruments including, stocks, options, futures and currencies.
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  Daniel Hanna

   is the international economist for Standard Chartered in the Middle East, based in Dubai. Previously he worked in London looking at the US and European markets. He is part of the award winning Standard Chartered Research team, whose latest citation was being rated best bank for FX forecasting over the last two years by Bloomberg. He has frequently appeared on CNBC and the BBC World Business Report.
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  Dimitri Metaxas

   is Digital Director for OMD Digital. With a track record of 300+ regional digital campaigns across 40 of the world's leading brands, He has been at the forefront of the digital marketing industry in the Middle East. Previously with Impact Proximity, Dimitri moved within the Omnicom Media Group to start up OMD Digital, a calculated network strategy to integrate digital media with its traditional counterparts. Prior to moving to the Middle East, Dimitri worked as Marketing Consultant for the Management Link in the UK helping companies undergo change management and improve communications strategies. Dimitri has worked as an “eMarketer” for 7 years and holds Bachelor degrees in Business and Marketing.
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  Dr Marc Faber

   whose life and predictions were the subject of a book Riding the Millennial Storm published last year. Asia's most celebrated investment commentator Dr Faber has made his reputation by making accurate forecasts about the most unfortunate events. He correctly predicted the NASDAQ crash in March 2000, and is very pessimistic about the outlook for Western stock markets in the next decade. Dr Faber recently moved from Hong Kong to Chang Mai in Northern Thailand, and his monthly Doom, Boom and Gloom report continues to attract widespread attention.
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  Dr. Abdullah Abonamah

   has a US patent in the area of 'fault tolerant computing systems' and has been the recipient of several research grants. He has also published many scientific articles in the areas of information technology, computer science and computer engineering. Dr. Abonamah was appointed to the position of Director of the ITI at Zayed University in January 2003. He came to this post from the position of Assistant Dean in the College of Information Systems.
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  Hajjaj Bukhadhour

   is an expert in oil trade, procurement & transport & logistics. Having long Working experience in investment, Oil and Shipping Industries. Currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kuwait Shipping Agencies and Vice President and Heading Technical and Operational functions of Shipping Industry and responsible for the Marine Operations, Repair & Maintenance, Technical Management, Manning Management etc. Also currently involved in the New Building Project and responsible for the New Purchases of high value assets.
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  Jeremy Likness

   is a world-renowned health coach and motivational speaker. He has been a freelance writer for more than a decade, publishing both print and web-based articles to audiences around the world. Jeremy founded Golden Summit Inc. in 2004 and built one of the most visited online health and wellness portals, Natural Physiques. He is also the author of Lose Fat, Not Faith: A Transformation Guide (ISBN: 0976907925), a book that focuses on the mental attitudes required to experience a lifestyle transformation that is part instructional, part autobiography.
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  Jerry de Leeuw

   is Managing Director of Mercurious, a derivative training and consulting company based in the Netherlands. In 1995 Jerry became a market-maker on the trading-floor of the European Option Exchange in Amsterdam, and established his own market-making company in 1999. He became a member of Euronext.Liffe, and had clearing-contracts with Fortis and Goldman Sachs. He has extensive experience in all kinds of asset classes and is specialized in derivatives, and is registered with the Dutch Security Institute.
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  Jihad Yazigi

   Editor of The Syria Report and graduated in International Business Administration from the American University of Paris. Jihad worked for several years as export manager and then export consultant. The Syria Report that went online on October 15th 2001, aims to fill the huge gap in Economic and Business Information from Syria. The country is currently opening up, although at a too slow pace, but it certainly is a potential important recipient of FDI.
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  Kathy Lien

   is the Chief Currency Strategist at Daily FX. She is responsible for providing research and analysis for DailyFX, including technical and fundamental research reports, market commentaries, and trading strategies. Prior to joining Daily FX, Kathy was an associate at JPMorgan Chase where she worked in cross-markets and foreign exchange trading. She has vast experience within the interbank market using both technical and fundamental analysis to trade FX spot and options. Kathy has written for CBS MarketWatch, Active Trader, Futures, and SFO magazines. She is the author of Day Trading the Currency Market (Wiley - 2005) and has taught currency trading seminars across the country, has appeared on CNBC, and is frequently quoted on Bloomberg and Reuters.
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  Kevin Coan

   provides your audio version of the top business stories featured on AME Info. The program is “BusinessCast” and can be heard at 18:00 UAE local time and on the streaming service throughout the evening. Based in the US, Kevin has been a radio news anchor in his home market of Cleveland, Ohio as well as Austin, Texas, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. He began his career as a DJ/presenter in high school, and now, a few years later he is up every morning at 5:30 scanning AME Info for the day’s top business news stories. BusinessCast is also available as ‘on demand’ audio. Kevin records audio, for broadcast and business, via his website at www.kevincoanmedia.com
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  Martin Diessner

   has worked in the marketing sector for more than 10 years and records an international employment history with global players like car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler, sports giant adidas-Salomon AG and one of the worlds' largest advertising networks, BBDO. Now working with Flip Media, Martin explores new worlds and challenges of entrepeneurship, focusing on innovative advertising products and media platforms rather than servicing clients in traditional project and account management. He is also the co-founder of Motion Group International which is one of the leading lifestyle and entertainment brands in Dubai.
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  Martin Lindstrom

   born 1970, founded his own advertising agency at the age of 12. Needless to say, Lindstrom has a highly unusual background. The rapid rise of his career has made him one of today's most respected branding gurus in the world according to the Chartered Institute of Marketing. He sits on several boards globally, and his clients include Disney, Mars, Pepsi, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, Reuters, McDonald's, Kellogg's, Yellow Pages and Microsoft.
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  Medhat Shaheedi

   is a veteran in Saudi economic issues for more than 15 years. Based in Riyadh, Shaheedi worked for the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat for more than a decade reporting and analyzing Saudi business trends. He now works for daily Al Hayat Saudi edition and writes for a half dozen of other Arabic publications commenting mainly on macro and micro issues that affect the Saudi economy and investments.
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  Monica Malik

   joined Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) as Senior Economist for the Middle East and South Asia region in early 2006 and has been covering the Middle East region since 1996. Responsibilities include ensuring that both internal SCB and external clients are kept up to date with key macroeconomic, social, political and financial market risks and opportunities in the region. Monica has completed a Ph.D. on private sector development in Saudi Arabia, at the University of Durham, England. Monica also has a Masters degree in Development Studies from University of East Anglia.
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  Paddy Briggs

   retired from the Shell oil corporation (for whom specialised in Marketing and Corporate Communications) in 2002 after 37 years service. In his "third age" he runs a brand and reputation management and training consultancy "BrandAware" and indulges his passion for Sport as a freelance sports writer. In this latter role Paddy has contributed to a wide range of publications in the Middle East (including the Khaleej Times and the Bahrain Tribune) as well as to magazines in the United Kingdom. Paddy is best known in Dubai (where he lived for seven years) as the author of the best-selling book of light verse "Jumeira Jane").
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  Pankaj Dev

   is the CEO and Managing Editor of Autoemirates.com, the region's leading car website which he started in 2002. He has more than 15 years' experience in the car trade, and since 2000 has also published 'The Auto Emirates Annual Buyer's Guide' which is regarded as an indispensable source of comprehensive and credible information on all new cars and 4x4s available in the Middle East.
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  Peter J. Cooper

   is the former founding Editor-in-Chief of AME Info and now a Consultant Editor to the website and freelance writer. He was the launch editor of Gulf Business magazine in 1996, and is an award-winning British financial journalist. He returned briefly to the UK in 1999 to complete his first book, Building Relationships, The History of Bovis 1885-2000, and started the AME Info news service in October 2000. An Oxford graduate, Cooper studied politics, philosophy and economics. He was also a trainee in the European Commission in Brussels as a specialist in the economics of developing countries.
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  Richard Lee

   is a Currency Analyst at Daily FX. Employing both fundamental models and technical analysis applications, Richard contributes regularly to DailyFX, Yahoo Finance and Comtex. Prior to joining the research team, Richard was one of the senior instructors for the FX Power Course, teaching thousands of traders the basics of currency trading, technical analysis and how to implement trading strategies. He has extensive experience in trading the spot currency markets, options and futures. Richard previously traded FX, equity and equity derivatives for four years as well as work for a private equity consortium before joining FXCM. He holds a BA in Economics as well as a BS in French with an emphasis in International Business from the Pennsylvania State University.
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  Sam Shenker

   is a Technical Currency Analyst for Forex Capital Markets (FXCM). Sam is the author of the Daily and Weekly Technical Research reports at FXCM. His reports include: Daily Technicals, Weekly Crosses and the Weekly Futures Commitment of Traders Report. Prior to joining FXCM, Sam spent a number of years on Wall St and has traded many different products, including: equities, equity derivatives and futures. He also specialized in research and analysis of high yield bonds, corporate bankruptcies, restructurings, reorganizations and venture capital. He holds a Bachelors degree in Finance and Business Management from Pace University and is an active currency trader. Sam is frequently quoted on FXStreet.
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  Steve Brice

   is Standard Chartered Bank’s Regional Head of Research Middle East and South Asia. Having worked in Singapore for 8 years, Steve was responsible for the research generated for the Consumer Bank globally, including responsibility for the Bank’s Tactical Asset Allocation model, and was also the Bank’s acting Chief Economist for East Asia. Previously, he held the role of Chief Economist for SE Asia for three years. Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank, Steve was the Regional Head of Foreign Exchange for I.D.E.A. Ltd (now IDEAglobal.com) based in London. Steve has a Masters degree in Macroeconomics with Finance from the University of Liverpool, England.
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  Waleed Al-Asfar

   has become a well known Arabic commentator on technology thanks to his 10 years experience as an Information Technology writer, journalist, translator and consultant. He was the Managing Editor and Technical support manager of BYTE Middle East Magazine. After that he moved to London to be the IT Editor of Asharq Al-Awsat leading Arabic newspaper. During his career Waleed has written many exclusive articles and was one of few Arab journalists who interviewed Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, and was the first who interviewed John Chambers CEO and Chairman of Cisco Systems during his first visit to the Middle East.
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  Wolfram Bielenstein

   holds the prestigious German Diplom Journalist graduate qualification, and was deputy head of the foreign news service of the German state radio station until 1990, with a staff of 70. Since then he has been working for the US construction company Heery International in Berlin, and as a freelance contributor to many journals. Bielenstein is a famous name in linguistic circles, and Wolfram's grandfather was Augustus Bielenstein, the compiler of the Lithuanian dictionary.