After Big Drops, Stock Futures Are Up

Yesterday, global markets fell as worries about Eastern European banks "led to a huge sell-off on Tuesday that began overseas and crashed ashore on Wall Street," according to the NY Times. The Dow fell almost 300 points, about 3.8%, while the Nasdaq lost 4.2% and the S&P 500 lost 4.6%, dropping under 800 points. Stock futures are rising this morning, and Bloomberg News suggests that may be partly due to President Obama's announcement about plans to stem home foreclosures. An fund manager said, "The market is very news sensitive and wants to hear concrete plans, it looks like Obama understood that now and will give more details. We may see a relief rally after markets haven fallen below the floor.” There is some bad news: Housing starts were at a record low last month and former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan says there needs to be more TARP funding.