Whether you're investing in local markets or merely watching them, analysts play an important role (or at least they're <i>supposed</i> to): they help you push past the basic give-and-take of daily news and reveal what it all means. They give you context. Of course, they also help those of us who are covering the UAE's economy and companies to give you, our dear readers, a clearheaded perspective on the day's events.<br/><br/>But which analysts are most worth listening to? These guys. Here, in no particular order, are 11 of the best analysts and economic commentators in the UAE, as chosen by a few of the folks on the business desk at <i>The National</i>.<br/> <br/><b>1. </b><b>Chris Dommett, John Charcol. </b>Want the lowdown on the UAE's property market? Dommett is the man to ask. He's the chief executive of the regional office of mortgage advisory John Charcol and spends his days networking with everyone and anyone in the mortgage market. His finger is on the pulse of interest rates and the appetite of banks to lend to homeowners.<br/><b>Money Quote:</b> "There is a serious cash flow problem with the big developers ... They've stopped paying their suppliers and contractors. Everything relating to them is grinding to a halt. They need an injection very quickly."<br/><br/> <b>2. Marios Maratheftis, economist, Standard Chartered.</b> He can get a bit, ahem, technical at times, but that doesn't detract at all from his undeniable grasp of all things economic and all things UAE-related. His appeal: thoughtful analysis that isn't clouded by breadth of knowledge. Oh, and he basically foresaw the steep drop in Dubai's property market last year. <b>Money Quote:</b> <span class="SS_L3"><span class="verdana">"When you run surpluses, you have to save for a rainy day," he told London's <i>Evening Standard</i> in February. "So we have an umbrella that can save us from the rain, but we have to open it."<br/><br/></span></span> <b>3. </b> <b>Abdul Kadir Hussain, Mashreq Capital. </b> Hussain is a fixed-income maven in a region without much fixed income to invest in. That has put the Mashreq Capital chief executive in an interesting position, watching without too many peers as bond and sukuk markets develop in the Gulf. But it's his incisive commentary and keen grasp on all things fixed-income (and plenty of other things, too) that have made him an important voice. <b>Money Quote:</b> "You're not going get a hockey stick," he told Arabianbusiness.com in December. "You had a pretty sharp slowdown. Towards the end of the year I would expect things to stabilise and we will start looking at some growth in asset prices both in the equity markets, and potentially in the property markets." <b>4.</b> <b>Simon Williams, chief economist, HSBC.</b> Williams has to be one of the best-informed folks around about the economy of the UAE and the broader GCC. He's also a delight to talk to, and is markedly more upbeat than many of his peers about the prospects for Dubai's economy, a view that looks more and more plausible as local stock markets recover. <b>Money Quote:</b> "Real estate markets anywhere in the world are volatile ... but they tend to work themselves out as the real economy tends to perform well, as it does in the Gulf," he told <i>The Times of London</i> last November. "I still see very low vacancy rates across the UAE and rents are high. Those two key variables suggest that the property market will endure." <b>5. Chet Riley, Nomura Securities. </b> He's relative newcomer in Dubai, but Mr Riley has already emerged as one of the most salient analysts when it comes to property companies and the changing market for homes. He takes critical stances on companies, but acknowledges success when he see it, as he has done with Deyaar Development. <b>Money Quote:</b> "What people need to see in the market is stability and that is what this process is trying to achieve ... These announcements help but they are not a panacea. At an individual level, we've still got some big problems in the system. People can't get mortgages. It's going to take time." <b>6. Dr. Nasser Saidi, chief economist, Dubai International Financial Center.</b> Saidi works so diligently and is so prolific that it's almost hard to imagine how he does it all. In addition to his role as chief economist at the DIFC, he's the head of Hawkamah, a non-profit that advocates for better corporate governance standards. In the past few months alone, the group has studied corporate boards, advocated for transparency and urged for higher corporate ethical standards. Amazingly, Saidi manages to keep a level head and a sharp mind through it all. <b>Money Quote: </b> <span class="SS_L3"><span class="verdana">"All crises have an upside too," he told <i>Kippreport</i> recently. "Shrinkage of the financial pie has resulted in greater competition for the available capital, which in turn, has forced Gulf firms to adopt better corporate governance policies. This is clearly reflected in better transparency and disclosures."</span></span> <b><br/>7. Ali Khan, Arqaam Capital. </b> The region's local markets are Khan's purview, and he knows them well. So well that talking to him is always an educational experience. Plus, he's a very personable guy, and his quotes bring a little colour into what are (let's face it) relatively drab finance and economics stories. <b>Money Quote: </b> "If oil goes down to $10, everyone's feeling the same pain. Clearly, when oil collapsed, it was very hard to differentiate between Saudi, the UAE and other oil producers. Obviously a financial crisis didn't help, but when the wheels did come off, it was clear that there was no differentiation." <b>8. Ghassan Hasbani, Booz & Co. </b> The Middle Eastern telecom sector is a perfect storm of complex challenges - flush with cash, adapting to competition, rapidly expanding, dealing with new competition from every angle. Few people understand it better, or speak about it more fluently, than Ghassan, who hops between Riyadh, Beirut and Dubai. <b>Money Quote:</b> "If you look historically, telecommunications revenues have increased after every crisis since the 1970s. In tough times people tend to talk more, use telecommunications more. When they cut down on travel, on going out, on entertainment, they spend more time on the internet and the phone." <b>9. Eckart Woertz, Gulf Research Centre.</b> Economists are notorious equivocators, hedging and disclaiming all over the place. Not Woertz. He's possibly the most colourful of the UAE's economists, and for that fact alone earns a place on this list. <b>Money Quote: </b> "The currency union is dead with only four countries left," he told <i>The National</i> recently after the UAE withdrew from a planned GCC currency union. "And those countries remaining have substantial political issues." <b><br/>10. Raj Madha, EFG-Hermes</b> . EFG has a stellar team of analysts that includes Mr Madha, Fahd Iqbal, Simon Kitchen and Monica Malik, but Madha's on the list because of his insights on the UAE's banking sector, which has been all over the news during the global financial crisis. The UAE's banks are facing a sharp rise in loan defaults and a shortage of money to lend, and Madha has been one of the local commentariat's sharpest members. <b>Money Quote:</b> "We have in excess of 50 banks and we can manage with five to 10 banks," he told <i>The National</i> last December, predicting a wave of mergers among banks in the region. <b><br/>11. Robert McKinnon, Al Mal Capital. </b> Property stocks have been a hot topic during the past year or so, and McKinnon covers the sector with remarkable intelligence, drawing on years of experience working in emerging markets in South America. <b> <br/>Money Quote: </b> "The closer people get to defaulting, the more they panic," he told <i>The National</i> recently. "Developers themselves will have to take a lot of these assets, that they recognise as sold back, on their books. You are going to see a hit to their earnings also." (Photo credits: Marios Maratheftis: Delores Johnson / The National. Simon Williams: Ryan Carter / The National. Nasser Saidi: Pawan Singh / The National. Eckart Woertz: Philip Cheung / The National.)