Oct. 28: Dow 9,065 (up 889 points); trading range, 958 points
Try to figure this one out:
Consumer confidence reaches the lowest levels on record since the survey began 41 years ago ...
Home prices in 20 major metro areas fall 16% year-over-year and have been falling for 20 consecutive months ...
And the market rallies to post its second-largest gain of the year.
Huh?!?
The volatile session ended with the benchmark index almost 900 points higher as bargain hunting and short-covering ruled the day, with some help from strength in the overseas markets.
A labor agreement at Boeing (NYSE: BA), and better-than-expected earnings at U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) and energy sector names Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) and BP (NYSE: BP) also added fuel to the market's fire (pun intended).
Greg Tucker is the executive editor of OptionsZone.com.
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