stock exchange
stock exchangeIsrael News Photo:(file)

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's flagship index, the TA-25, has just illustrated Israel's lightning-fast economic recovery, registering at the same level as it did when Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed in September 2008.

The TA-25 is the list of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE)'s 25 largest stocks by market cap.

Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest investment bank in the United States at the time, declared bankruptcy due to the subprime mortgage crisis, resulting in an American economic collapse and global financial decline.

The Tel Aviv stock exchange, like stock markets around the world, also suffered as a result of the US economic failure, but the TA-25 index of blue chips is now back to where it was prior to the Lehman bankruptcy, less than a year after the catastrophe.

This week has seen gains across the board internationally, particularly in the US and Asia.  The TA-25 was up 3.3% Sunday, closing at 945 points, with the TA-100, Israel's index of the country's 100 largest stocks, gaining 3.2% to close at 878 points.  The Real Estate-15, Israel's 15 largest real-estate sector stocks, soared 4.4%. On Monday, the indexes declined somewhat, except for the Real Estate index.

In 2009, the TA-25 has regained a whopping 44 percent, with the TA-100 up 56 percent.

Shares of financial institutions - such as banks and insurance companies - and the Tel-Tech 15, TASE's 15 largest high-tech stocks, have also climbed significantly in 2009.