Earlier I noted the strength in financials. A check of the action shows some truly mind-boggling moves - Citigroup Inc (C) up 57%, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER) up 30%, Morgan Stanley (MS) up 29%, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS) up 28%, KeyCorp (KEY) up 28%, and Hartford Financial Services (HIG) up 24%. It is not often you see these types of moves. Of course, these are not normal times for the financials. To help put today's pop in perspective, check out the daily charts.

Charts Courtesy of Thomson Financial

Here we see the dramatic plunge that has taken place over the last few months. That probably isn't a surprise to anyone following the market this year, but it does give us some context. While today's gains are large, they are nothing when compared the carnage that has taken place. This suggests that what we have on our hands is an oversold bounce. Such bounces can be violent, but they also tend to be short-lived.