I was watching NASDAQ futures most of the day and the action there occurred between 9:45 and 11 AM. It was a classic “ramp and camp” affair.

Investors seemed to like all the losses Merrill Lynch was taking in a perverse way with the thinking being--“Okay, they’re finally throwing them up…literally. No more hiding their putrid assets!” You buying this? Bulls were today and I’m not smart enough to know if they’re right “this time”.

Perhaps even more important for the rally was the continuing decline in oil prices.

Take your pick.

For yucks, let’s look at the Yahoo/Finance data today. They have everything with the NYSE backwards. Pretty funny but I’ll post the WSJ data which by the way doesn’t include third market activity which is growing.


































Meanwhile, back in the ICU, the patients are showing some vital signs. We’ve seen this before but what Merrill Lynch did today convinced many that financial companies are “coming clean”. To bulls and bottom pickers this means more companies will have to follow suit and that means the worst is over. That’s just what table-pounding bulls are thinking.