Last night I said I thought the market was very close to a bounce. Could today be the day? Maybe. The markets are strong in early trading, but lately all you have had to do was watch the last hour of trading, so we'll have to see if we can hang on to these early gains.

Asian markets surged overnight. Hong Kong spiked +14%, after falling -12% the day earlier. Japan rose +6.4%. And Europe is strong too. Germany is currently +8% higher.

The dollar is taking a breather today, after a huge, multi-day run. The Yen is also lower today, which is a good sign. The 10-year yield is higher at 3.76%.

There were some strong EPS reports this morning, from companies like X, BP, OXY, and VLO. The energy sector is bouncing as a result. It also helps that oil is higher this morning.

The CaseShiller home price index showed home prices in 20 major metro areas fell -16.6% yr/yr as of August. Only 2 areas posted gains, and one of them was Cleveland?!? Go figure. Maybe people are getting excited about the Cavs prospects this year.

The FT is reporting that Boeing (BA) has reached a tentative agreement with its union. This would be great news from the aerospace industry.

The VIX is -7.5% lower at a still high 74. I remain astounded that the VIX has not broken its recent, sharp utrend line.

long VIX puts