The queues of unused railroad cars in sidings in Montana in the United States have shrunk dramatically in the last year in a sign that economic recovery is taking hold, investment guru Ralph Acampora said.

Acampora, a technical analyst famed for his 1997 call that the Dow Jones industrials index would reach 10,000, told the Invest10 investor conference in Geneva the worst of the financial crisis was over, despite continuing scares over euro zone debt and slowing Chinese growth.

"I think we're setting ourselves up for a very good 12 months. I don't know of any major surprise out there that's going to take the market down like Lehman," Acampora said.

Anecdotal evidence abounds that the global economy is not as precarious as bears maintain, he said, noting that the length of the queue of unused railroad cars deposited in Montana and used to transport containers of finished products had fallen from 20 miles a year ago to two miles this year.

Shrewd investors were well aware of the trend, he said, noting the acquisition of a large stake in the railroad company Burlington Northern Santa Fe by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway , which has also bought stakes in the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads. (Reuters)