Partly a short-covering rally. Even the most diehard shorts are getting nervous and taking  profit. 

And everyone's expecting a counter-trend rally.  Even CNBC was telling everyone to buy the financials today. 

Plus oil was down. 

Good volume today too. 

But it's nerve-wracking that we haven't gotten capitulation or a VIX spike.  That means any counter-trend rally may be choppy.  

But Alcoa's earnings came in afterhours, and they were okay.  So we're kicking off earnings on a positive note.  

Despite the positives, I'm not convinced THE rally has begun.  There may still be some chop before it truly starts.  But at least we have some positives in our favor.

Oh and yes, Heebner took it in the chin.  CGMFX was down -3.21%.  Commodites and global growth are still selling off hard.