Has the Market Seen Its Low for the Year?

On Friday, stocks opened on an upside gap, had a late-lunch profit-taking, but
overcame selling with a late rally that produced a 2% gain. The gain was almost
entirely tied to expectations that this week's meetings
betweenFranceandGermanywould somehow result in a solution toEurope's economic
woes. The Dow surged from its near-term technical barriers, along with the S&P
500. Both followed the Nasdaq's punch through its September high the prior
Friday. For those companies that have reported earnings, about 70% have been
higher than expected, and that's obviously good news. But the flip side of
that is that most of the big movers have now reported, so there will likely be
an even greater focus on Europe andChina.