Their paramount metrics: Fast revenue and earnings growth, strong balance sheets, healthy dividends, and visible price appreciation potential.

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"This is really tipping the balance in favor of the pro-regime camp in very visible ways, " an analyst in Damascus said.

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The problem is one of perception: jobs lost to imports or outsourcing are more visible to the lay public than the jobs created by exports and insourcing, even though they do tend to balance out.

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