And what's with this week? The DJ is up 8% on the week, it's biggest weekly gain in over 20 years. I don't understand.

Stock markets hate uncertainty. Before last week, no one knew whether the war with Iraq would be this week, this month or in 6 months time.

Once France came out and rejected the "6 key tests", it was clear that there would be no 2nd UN resolution and that the US (and probably UK) would go to war within the next 14 days. Suddenly, the markets could predict the future with a lot more certainty - more confidence so indices rise.