Predictably, it was led by financials. The Bank Index rallied 12 percent after dropping 19.7 percent yesterday.
Bank of America rallied nearly 10 percent at 3 PM on disclosure that CEO bought 200,000 additional shares recently, along with five other directors, for a total of 513,000 shares.
How crazy has trading in financials been? Citi up 24 percent after being down 20 percent yesterday; JP Morgan up 24 percent after being down 21 percent yesterday; Morgan Stanley up 27 percent after being down 16 percent yesterday.
Crazy.
PNC generated some talk by saying they would not ask for more TARP money (they have already received $7.6 billion), that they don't expect to issue additional common shares; and they expect to pay their full dividend of $0.66. Problem is, the Street believes most banks (including PNC) will have to raise more capital and will be forced to cut their dividends, regardless of what they say now.
Techs had a great day on IBM's positive earnings and guidance. IBM was one-third of the Dow's gains today, up 11.5 percent, the best one day gain since January 2001.
Commodity stocks like coal, copper, and steel names were up 4 to 6 percent, and while they have moved mostly sideways since November, there have been many intraday trading opportunities, including today.
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