ikkyu2 (99.46)

Shariah and subprime

August 22, 2007 – Comments (1)

Everyone on CAPS, by now, is aware of the subprime debacle and its fallout. Speculating and thumbing on mortgage lenders, hedge-fund holding I-banks, homebuilders, home furnishers, and other corporations that even think about homes has become the order of the day/week/year. 

And no one is safe from the subprime debacle.  Right?

What if I told you that a version of the S+P 500 index existed that was completely insulated from the interest-bearing credit markets?  And as a side benefit it eliminated socially irresponsible stocks such as those dealing in the sale or trade of tobacco, alcohol, or pork?

Uh, yeah, pork.  Ok, so maybe bacon is a net social good; but this index isn't tracking it.

That's right - or maybe you already guessed from this post's title - it's the MSCI / S+P Shariah 500 index! 

 Further reading:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_banking

http://blogs.iht.com/tribtalk/business/globalization/?p=517

http://etf.seekingalpha.com/article/33583

http://www.morganstanley.com/about/press/articles/4797.html

Two things I haven't found are a way to track the index in real time and a way to buy stock in a fund that tracks the index.  I'd really like to know how they fared over the last couple of months.

What about you, Fool™?  Would you buy stock - in Shariamerica?