Armageddon postponed

A bloke turns his back on the market for a week, taking a well-earned Eid break, and look what happens.

But in spite of financial journals of every colour tracing a path from Dubai to the next financial Armageddon, the markets have been remarkably cheerful. Don't they read the newspapers?
Clearly not, because the US closed comfortably green yesterday, and judging by the winking blue numbers that indicate the Dow future on my screen, it aims to do the same again tonight.
Asian markets, too, showed their economic illiteracy by closing in positive territory; India's Sensex, which took a pounding on Monday, finished up 1.7 per cent. London, Paris and Frankfurt are also looking pretty darned perky.

Our markets are having another grim day, which is hardly a surprise, although DP World has gained 6.5 per cent on the Nasdaq Dubai. Its free pass on parent Dubai World's restructuring is providing a spot of cheer on a gloomy bourse.

Gold is continuing its run, but market geeks - the guys who base their trades on charts instead of fundamentals - warn that it is moving awfully far from from support. It has traded above $1.000 twice before. In March 2008 and then last February. On both occasions it  
lasted only a day or two.

What they are watching now is not for further gains, but what gold does when it pulls back, as sooner or later it must. Provided support of just under $1.000 holds, the next technical target is $1.275.