Financials bounce right back

Talk about up and down. The financial sector has been all over the place this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 261.66 points higher, up 2.2%, at 12361.32, led by jumps of more than 8% in its components Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Bank Of America. The availability of liquidity, or a critical mass of buyers and sellers needed to guarantee the smooth functioning of markets, has worried traders and analysts for weeks. Hope has spread this week that the situation my be improving, but the fear of a few nasty surprises is still lingering. DJIA +261.66 Nasdaq +48.15 S&P 500 +31.09