Today was one of those days where the news was tied to more hope and a decent start to earnings season than over any great breaking global news. A barely-decent 10-Year Treasury auction was not showing anything rotten, and it seems that the corporate credit markets are starting to open back up. News on deficits being another $1 trillion held nothing back for stock gains. Can you believe it, six straight days of gains in stocks? Cramer coming back after a holiday and saying that the bottom of the market has been seen for the year may have also gotten some comfort back in the game from retail investors.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,363.02 +146.75 (1.44%)
S&P 500 1,095.28 +16.53 (1.53%)
Nasdaq 2,242.03 +43.67 (1.99%)

Top Analyst Calls

General Growth Properties (GGWPQ), the mall operator that shuffled into bankruptcy protection last year, says it has applied to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) once again. The company hopes to begin trading on the Big Board as of March 5, using its previous ticker of GGP.

"Trading again on the NYSE will mark an important milestone in GGP's restructuring process," said CEO Adam Metz in a press release. The shares currently trade over the counter.

"Golf has Tiger Woods, novelists have Tom Clancy, and the investment community has stars such as Bruce Berkowitz, Bill Nygren, Charlie Dreifus, and Mario Gabelli," states Paul Tracy.

In his The Street Authority Market Advisor, he suggests, "These money managers are at the pinnacle of their craft." Here, he takes a look at these "celebrities" and some of their current top stock holdings.

"These money managers have all amassed prodigious gains over the years for their shareholders. Over the past few months, these gurus have come out with ringing endorsements for certain stocks. This isn't empty talk -- they are putting their money where their mouth is.

Last year I wrote a very positive Chasing Value article suggesting that USG Corp (NYSE: USG) looked like a value proposition when it was trading around $52 a share. We bought it and to say we were way too early would be very very kind because it dropped with the market in the summer and has only recovered slightly.

Even worse, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke are finally talking about a recession and USG is still laying off more workers, attempting to balance labor and product demand in a weak housing market and soft economy.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) is still the largest shareholder, owning over 17% of the outstanding shares. Most of what I liked last year holds true but the depth of the economic downturn shows little signs of improvement. Housing and most related construction service industries are just trying to survive. They have all cut back production.

There is little consensus when the economy might start to show significant signs of improvement, but there are few people who think it will be soon, and I have spoken with many in the business community who think it will be 18 months at least. However, timing the market is always difficult so I believe that the best you can do is try and buy solid companies on the cheap. The difficulties that USG is weathering now will turn into strengths in the future as it streamlines the enterprise, reduces debt, and plans for the future.