It was a story from the U.K. Guardian newspaper towards the end of the trading session that sent stocks on a tear with commodity prices tagging along for the ride.
Reports that France and Germany had agreed to boost the Euro rescue fund to the tune of 2 trillion Euros, a substantial increase, gave rise to an even more substantial increase in Nymex crude and brent crude futures, along with equities. Metals have also come off of their lows. Nymex crude futures rose above $89 a barrel, or nearly 3 percent, while brent crude moved a percent higher to trade above $111 on the news.
Separately, natural gas prices fell off a cliff Tuesday, plummeting nearly 4 percent ahead of expectations of a storage build when the EIA releases its inventory report on Thursday.