Written by: Zack Miller | June 23, 2008
As the shekel continues to advance against most major currencies and especially against the US dollar, Israeli exporters are suffering. As Katsman wrote recently about software integrator, BluePhoenix (BPHX), 
currency issues are partly to blame as certain firms feel the pinch on shekel-based research costs and the double-whammy of a macro slowdown.
I’ve heard of Israeli start-ups beginning to hire more employees in the U.S. The wage differential is almost gone and given the onus of larger benefits packages for Israeli employees, Israeli firms are turning to offshore part of their engineering staff to America.
Imagine an engineer based in the Valley being cheaper than his counterpart in Tel Aviv?!
It’s nuts. (Continue »)
Written by: Aaron Katsman | June 4, 2008
Aaron Katsman
IsraelNewsletter.com
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s tough talk on the US Dollar helped support the greenback against the major global currencies, but it caused a minor rally against the Israeli shekel. As a reminder, the shekel has been one of the world’s strongest currencies over the last year, and its strength, while serving as a seal of approval on the state of the Israeli economy, has crushed exporters as well as many Israeli hi-tech’s that sell globally but keep their R&D local, due to the fact that their expense line has increased from the currency differential. (Continue »)
Written by: Zack Miller | March 10, 2008
This special report on the Israeli shekel appeared as part of our new subscription newsletter, Israel Opportunity Investor. You can find out more about the product and the opportunities we cover at www.israelnewsletter.com
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Throughout our research process at Israel Opportunity Investor, we get to spend a lot of time speaking with CEOs and CFOs of Israeli companies. What started as a whisper is now being echoed by industrialists, exporters, and investors. Israeli companies are beginning to feel the impact of a very strong currency. The Israeli shekel has been one of the world’s strongest currencies over the past 2 years and especially, over the last couple of months. Any Israeli exporter, from an orange distributor to high tech, is feeling the pinch of the strong shekel on their bottom line.
(Continue »)
