In an economy besieged by sanctions and handicapped by corruption, the Tehran Stock Exchange offered a rare opportunity for making profits and creating wealth. That opportunity, however, has proved to be a mirage.
From a peak index of 2,065,114, the exchange — known as the TSE — fell to 1,631,941 last week, signaling a 20% drop, erasing millions of dollars of value of different portfolios and financial asset holdings. Iranian investors took to social media to share screenshots of their portfolios with all stocks in the red. Cartoonists found a new subject, while many individual investors mourned the loss of their savings in a market that many had promised to be risk-free.
