Companies in the Middle East have raised $2.5 billion in the equity capital markets so far this year, up 208% over the same period in 2007. The biggest deal of the year so far is PetroRabigh’s $1.2 billion IPO in January, led by HSBC. Short selling Betting that markets would go down has proved to be the best strategy for hedge funds so far this year, according to Edhec’s hedge fund index. Short sellers in the index show a positive return of 6.05%, compared with the worst-performing strategy, emerging markets, which fell 5.11%.