Volume stayed pretty consistent.  The lowest volume day we experienced was on Monday, which was the sell off to the bottom of the range (82).

Market rallied on bad economic news.  After an initial sell off right to support, momentum began to build towards the upside.  And we closed at the top of the range (88).

We closed above the down trend line from September.  Except for the day after Thanksgiving, which was the lightest trading day of the past year, this is the first time we have closed above the down trend line since the market began to sell off in early September.

When the market sold off on Thursday before the jobless claims Friday morning, sellers could not push the SPY to the bottom of its range.

And the thing I liked the most about this past week’s action?  Financials led the way.  In order to get a sustainable rally, financials will have to bounce.  From its all time high to its recent low, XLF sold off somewhere in the vicinity of 75%, which makes it much weaker than the market in general.  The government is committed to doing everything in its power to re-capitalize banks.  With the Citi bailout, the government told the market that it would re-capitalize banks, without much dilution to shareholders, which is very different from the message that was sent out with the FNM, FRE, and AIG bailouts.

But, HIG raising guidance is probably what did the job for financials.  Maybe the world as we know it isn’t coming to an end.  That, along with this article from the NY Post reminded me, that at some point, financial firms will be writing UP assets.  Just some food for thought.