The market for client-server software, for example, has jumped from $197 million in 1991 to an estimated $5.9 billion this year, according to Forrester Research.

We've seen the markets jump 35 percent a year for the past three years.

"The market jumped on the idea that the Germans were going to sell gold," Mr. Steel said.

While the German market was up just 5 percent in the first six months of the year, Austria's market jumped almost 33 percent.

The market jumped today in the last hour after a pool of funds came rushing in to buy stocks.

The market for municipal securities also jumped.

This spurred the Brazilian market, the Bovespa, to jump 3.49 percent, or 213.51 points, to 6,336.35.

And the markets, known more for speculation than attention to fundamentals, had already jumped on the rate changes.

Quite a few "free market" types have jumped in to attack the idea that governments have a responsiblity to provide services.

In the same period,the broader market jumped 27 percent.