The Standard & Poor's 500 index moved into bear territory and then was saved by a late rally sparked by word the European Union is looking for way to re-capitalize struggling banks.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 2.44 percent, or 153.41 points, to 10,808.71; the Nasdaq was up 2.95 percent, or 68.99 points, to 2,464.82 points; the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 2.25 percent, or 24.71 points, to 1,123.94; and the NYSE composite was up 0.94 points, or 64.11 points, to 6,638.40.
Hot Stocks
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) didn't dazzle with the unveiling of its latest iPhone, which is the fifth model but called the 4S. Shares were down 0.56 percent, or $2.10, to $372.50. Many Apple-watchers are speculating the company is biding its time until it releases a game-changing sixth iteration sometime in 2012.
Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) said it wouldn't meet target profit levels this year, but shares still ended up 4.78 percent, or $1.57, to $43.40, presumably on the good news coming out of Europe.
YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE:YUM) announced strong third quarter results after market close today, but shares were trading down roughly 2 percent in the after-hours trading. At the end of the regular day, the fast-food company was up 2.04 percent, or $0.99, to $49.44.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) has officially taken over British software company Autonomy Corp., and investors reacted positively to the completion of HP's biggest acquisition. Shares were up 3.69 percent, or $0.82, to $23.02.
Commodities and Currencies
Oil was down 0.81 percent, or $0.63, to $76.98 per barrel. Gold was down 3.38 percent, or $55.90, to $1,600.10 per ounce.
The euro gained 0.0132 against the U.S. dollar to 1.3324. The dollar gained 0.2900 against the Japanese yen to 76.9150. The British pound gained 0.0003 against the dollar to 1.5442.
International Markets
Despite the Wall Street's burst of late-session enthusiasm, overseas markets are trending down today.
Britain's FTSE is down 1.05 percent, or 89.36 points, to 8,456.12; Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 3.40 percent, or 571.88 points, to 16,250.27; Singapore's Straits Times was down 3.44 percent, or 90.38 points, to 2,531.02; and China's Shanghai Composite is down 0.26 percent, or 6.12 points, to 2,359.22.
Industry Watch
The office supply industry was the day's percentage leader, up 10.32 percent. Ennis Inc. (NYSE:EBF) was up 9.47 percent, or $1.16, to $13.30 on news of a pending acquisition.
The silver industry was the day's percentage laggard, down 3.69 percent.
Best and Worst
Stream Global Services Inc. (AMEX:SGS) was up 39.61 percent, or $0.61, to $21.5, becoming the stock with the day's largest percentage increase. There was no new news about SGS to indicate why the stock trended up.
Wowjoint Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq:BWOWU) was the day's biggest percentage decliner, down 36.84 percent, or $0.42, to $0.72. The only new news about the Chinese infrastructure equipment company was a press release yesterday detailing new business lines.