What Is Moving The Markets Today

Woah, up over 250 points today! NICE! Hopefully it lasts... I am not getting my hopes up too much because I have seen too many rallies lose steam through out the day, but it is nice to see the markets in green. So why the pop today? We started the day off with a great speech by Ben Bernanke. This guy seems to really have gotten on his game as of late and the market is loving what he has been saying. Bernanke has given the markets the optimism that it has been lacking. Bernanke stated he expects a rebound in the economy this year and that the rules in the financial markets need to be overhauled. 

On top Bernanke's statement, we had Citi Group's Vikram Pandit come out and say that Citi was profitable in the first two months of the year and that he is very confident in Citi's capital strength. 

On Thursday we have the House Financial Services Committee's hearing on the mark to market accounting. If they decide to suspend those rules temporarily then it will allow banks to value their toxic assets at more than the market values them at which will really help their balance sheets.