Today is Monday, and the charts are green around the world. Stocks are rising, commodities are doing well, and the USD is weaker on the expectation that the Egyptian issue has been exaggerated by commentators, and that the strong resurgence of the U.S. economy justifies another leg for the equity bull market, as announced by the likes of Mark Faber and Mark Mobius.

In Egypt, the Vice President has declared the intention of the government to issue a draft list of changes to be made to the current system in order to allow greater openness, and faster democratization. Banks and the stock market are open today, and while demonstrations continue, it does appear like many in the democracy camp are impressed by the President`s new tactics. His pledge to step down, and to implement reforms within a credible timeframe certainly changes the picture in the country fundamentally. Although demonstrations calling for the departure of Hosni Mubarak are continuing, it is possible that the pressure is being kept on only to make sure that he doesn`t find the opportunity to withdraw his promises once the heat of the moment is gone.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., President Obama`s team is trying to keep as low a profile as possible in order to avoid becoming embroiled in a difficult and complicated problem the full details of which they may not even be able to grasp due to the diversity of actors and grievances involved. By siding broadly with the protestors, but at the same refusing to openly call the Egyptian leadership to quit, they seem to be hoping for an orderly transition to  a democratic system through the stewardship of Mr. Mubarak. It is too early to say if this strategy can work, but it seems more promising than the heavy-handed interventionist approaches of the neocons under the Bush administration.

The world market is on a rally mood, and this is likely to continue for a while. The Eurozone debt issue is on the backburner right now as speculators prefer to wait and see the size and scope of the E.U.`s new solution, and the market is confident that the rest of the world can continue to grow with U.S. demand and Chinese production creating the necessary bull dynamics over the short term.  At the very least, those who subscribe to this viewpoint have the Fed on their side, and historical experience shows that they are unlikely to fail barring a catastrophic change to the main scenario. We remain pleased with the direction of commodity prices, and especially gold, and see them as the best tool to bet on a bull market, however shaky and volatile it may turn out to be.