Just Look at the DOW

A 600 point swing - what a day:

U.S. stocks rallied the most in two months on speculation lower borrowing costs and a plan to bail out bond insurers will restore confidence in the financial system.

Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. banks, helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average erase a 326-point loss and sparked the biggest advance in financial shares in five years. Centex Corp. and D.R. Horton Inc. led a gauge of homebuilders to its steepest gain since at least 1994 on expectations the Federal Reserve's surprise 0.75 percentage point rate cut yesterday will spur construction.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 28.08, or 2.1 percent, to 1,338.58, its first advance in six days. The Dow average rose 298.98, or 2.5 percent, to 12,270.17. The 30-stock gauge climbed 632 points from its low of the day to its high, marking its biggest swing since July 2002. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 24.14, or 1.1 percent, to 2,316.41.

``The bond insurers scare people to death,'' said Harry Clark, who oversees about $1.3 billion as chief executive officer of Clark Capital Management in Philadelphia. ``It's big sighs of relief around Wall Street and that's fueling a rally.''

Ambac Financial Group Inc. and MBIA Inc., the two largest U.S. bond insurers, posted the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after New York State regulators met with banks to discuss raising new capital for the insurers. Benchmark indexes posted a rally in the final hour of trading that erased declines spurred by forecasts of slowing sales at Apple Inc. and Motorola Inc.

Via Bloomberg.com