The markets seesawed today as an afternoon rally faded then revived, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Friday's bloodbath lingered into this morning, but a speech by Fed governor Randall Kroszner raised hopes for a rate cut, reports the Journal. The Dow closed up 44.95 at 13,566.97, the Nasdaq up 28.77 at 2,753.93, and the S&P up 5.70 at 1,506.33.
Bear Stearns led the financial sector's first advance in 9 days, Bloomberg reports. One analyst warns that the Nasdaq's climb will continue only as long as cheery reports keep coming from big companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon; Apple's better-than-expected third-quarter numbers, released after the markets closed, forestalled concerns for at least another day. (More markets stories.)