Closing Bell: Stocks rally despite Fed rate decision; AIG, GS down, HPQ up

Today was another wild day; it was hard to feel good despite the late day rally. The FOMC decided unanimously to hold interest rates. That was initially greeted with disappointment but, as with most scheduled FOMC rate decision reactions, that sentiment reversed despite the fact that the FOMC is still talking about inflation.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA 11,063.01 (+145.50; +1.33%)
NASDAQ 2,202.36 (+22.45; +1.03%)
S&P500 1,214.06 (+21.36; +1.79%)
10YR T-NOTE 3.4910% (+0.008%)
52-Week Lows

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) may have some safety net after all as the Fed and regulators are meeting with AIG regarding an extended loan package for the AIG liquidity crunch. There were also reports that Hank Greenberg may step up to the plate and take it over. Shares were "only" down 15% right before the close today. Over 1 billion shares traded hands.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was down 2% right before the close after the company actually beat earnings. The problem is that their great earnings days are not here right now and traders still want to bet against financial stocks.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) was down over 11% right at the close today at $15.97 after the company warned that it was not seeing a recovery that it expected.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) announced it was looking at cutting up to 25,000 jobs in the EDS integration. That might not sound like a growth move, but it is a cost-cutting one. Shares were up over 7% at $48.62 in the minutes before the closing bell.