Bankers' gloom contrasts with chipper corporates

By Mike Dolan and Ben Hirschler - Analysis

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - To gauge the mood of this year's annual gathering of government leaders and business chiefs, you could do worse than call up a chart of global stock markets over the past week.

That picture of stock prices plummeting on the eve of the World Economic Forum and their stellar resurgence by the weekend captures both the black pessimism of bankers in Davos and also the persistently upbeat views of many company bosses.

Tuesday's emergency U.S. interest rate cut had a lot to do with the market's about face, of course. But the manic-depressive nature of the marketplace during the week did mirror the equivocal outlook of many of the 2,500 delegates who made the annual pilgrimage to the Swiss ski resort.

Leaders of some of the world's biggest companies are preparing for a slowdown in 2008, yet many question whether even the United States will tip into actual recession.

And with China and India still booming, a global slump is simply not on their radar screens.

"There's a lot of confidence out there in the broader global economy," Mark Foster, CEO of Accenture's business consulting unit, told Reuters. "Everyone is looking to navigate some of the troubled waters ahead but I think they are doing it with an underlying sense of confidence."

Dow Chemical Co (DOW.N) boss Andrew Liveris put it more colorfully: "What's going on now should not have a "Chicken Little" atmosphere. The sky is not falling."

And that was not just a brave face put on for the media.