About

The Market Watcher is a weekly letter on markets and money, written for people who earn and invest from the UAE — where there is no income tax, the currency is tied to the dollar, and nobody is building a pension for you.

What is in it

Each Friday's week in American and European markets; Abu Dhabi residential property, from our own analysis of the land registry's transaction records; gold, oil and Bitcoin when they move; the week ahead; and The Gulf Touch, a short explainer on one money question specific to living here. A monthly edition steps back over the whole month. Past explainers are collected in the guides, and every issue is in the archive.

Where the numbers come from

• Market levels and moves are measured by us, close to close over the issue's window — Friday to Friday, or month-end to month-end — from daily closing prices, rather than copied from someone else's dashboard.
• Abu Dhabi property figures are computed from the Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre's registration data for residential sales, across the 17 districts we follow.
• Every figure is checked against its source before an issue is sent. Where a sentence goes beyond the facts into a reading of them, it says so.

How it is paid for

The letter is free, and today it carries no advertising. We take no commissions, sell no financial products and are paid nothing for pointing you anywhere. If the letter ever carries sponsorship, it will be labelled as sponsorship, kept apart from the analysis, and no sponsor will see or shape the numbers before you do.

What it is not

It is educational commentary, identical for every reader. Nothing in it is personalised financial advice, and it never tells you what to buy or sell. For a decision about your own money, speak to a regulated adviser.

Get in touch

Reply to any issue, or write to watcher@themarketwatcher.ae. Reader questions are welcome, and some may become a Gulf Touch.