Mohammed al-Harki is one of the few investors who bother to show up anymore at the Damascus stock exchange, waiting for a rally in share prices that have withered after nearly five years of war. The 52-year-old bought several million Syrian pounds in shares when the exchange opened in March 2009, just two years before the outbreak of the conflict, hoping to hit the jackpot. "The exchange is my passion, but sometimes I come here just to sleep," he said.