Monday Morning Musings

That certainly was a nice rally on Friday. I don't think most people were positioned for such a rally, which probably had a nice chunk of short covering included. If I had to complain about anything, it would be that volume was very low, which often means the rally lacked conviction.

Also, the rally did little to alter the technical backdrop of the market. So there is still plenty of work to do. That said, the financials are leading this morning, which is nice. Lehman (LEH) is holding its conference call, and the stock is up considerable. Since bottoming last Thursday, LEH has spiked +30%. Goldman Sachs (GS) has also bounced over the last few days, and they report earnings tomorrow.

Big-caps AIG and GE are both laggards this morning. The former ousted its CEO in response to poor performance, while the latter was downgraded at JPMorgan.

Asian markets were mostly higher, lead by solid gains in Japan and Hong Kong. Bond yields are flat, with the 10-year yield at 4.26%, after a big bounce on Friday. And oil is again higher, near $137.25, boosting energy shares.

I don't mind a weak market open, and the selling feels somewhat light to me so far. I would not be surprised to see the market find its footing and post a solid day today. We shall see.