Watch the Bouncing Ball

The morning started with not-so-good news from Merrill Lynch. They are taking large write-downs, and the effect on the Dow was immediate and pronounced. For most of the day, large-caps were down about 1% or more. But by the afternoon, the picture changed, and the Dow and the S&P 500 ended up only slightly in the red. Microsoft announced that it is increasing its investment in Facebook. It will be a battle of the internet giants, as Bill Gates' baby and Google face off. NASDAQ stocks weren't as lucky today, ending down nearly 1%. DJIA -0.98 NASDAQ -24.50 S&P 500 -3.71