Stocks soar on very slow day

Dow is up 193 (closing on the high), advancers over decliners better than 2-1 & NAZ was up 34. As typical of a summer Fri, NYSE volume continues low at only 0.9B (very slow). This was one of those days in the markets when all news was considered encouraging even though they gave more of a mixed picture. Financials had a great day helped by the Lehman (LEH) story at the opening.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 276.74

Change up 8.00

%change up 3.0%

Oil lost its big gain yesterday, bringing it near the 112 lows made earlier this week.

CLV08.NYM

--Crude Oil Oct 08

-114.52

- 6.66 (5.5%)

Oils were weak but the Alerian MLP index was up a couple to 267, off 1 from the opening (maybe influenced by oil's decline).

Slow day, stocks up big. The Lehman story while nice is not over. Fannie Mae (FNM) should make news next week, maybe with a recovery package from the FED after the close next Fri. Oil, housing, credit markets, retail continue with big problems. Here are some closing thoughts about the future of the economy from Warren Buffet.