Stocks

Cut this out of yesterday's Wall Street Journal. What struck me was the performance of stocks of Arab countries in the Middle East (oh, and check Zimbabwe). We hear about the Iraq War has destabilized the region (which to me is a good thing given that the place was a cesspool of autocracy to start with) but the markets there have boomed. Markets, however, hate instability, so what gives? Now, I'm guessing that huge oil profits have something to do with this but I doubt it's that alone -- or even the primary reason. Is it coincidence that Egypt and Lebanon, both of which saw significant political opening in the last year, experienced some of the biggest market increases? I'm doubtful.