Second-Half Rebound -- in Recklessness

Index	Close	Change
Dow	9177.15	+57.56
S&P 500	1003.86	+5.72
Nasdaq Composite	1754.84	+20.91
Nasdaq 100	1295.77	+15.20
Russell 2000	478.88	+5.11
Semiconductor Index (SOX)	402.08	+11.35
Bank Index	913.64	+19.90
Amex Gold Bugs Index	151.84	-0.16
Dow Transports	2572.89	+27.31
Dow Utilities	242.01	-0.34
NYSE advance-decline	+672	-525
Nikkei 225	9755.63	+120.28
10-year Treasury Bond	3.71%	+0.074

Editor's note: This column, which reflects market activity from the day before, originally appeared July 14 on RealMoney.com. To sign up for RealMoney, where you can read Bill Fleckenstein's commentary every day, please click here for a free trial.

Last night's party in world equity markets continued this morning when our casino exploded higher right out of the blocks. The first few hours were as speculative as any I have witnessed, vs. the fundamentals, with no discernible catalyst other than motion begetting more buying. In the first few hours, the big averages were up 1.5%, the Nasdaq was up 2%, and the more speculative stuff was up a multiple of those numbers.

Upgrading Intel: The Sequel: Swept along by current sentiment, the morning papers carried several arm-waving stories that proclaimed an imminent turnaround in technology. Similarly, Intel(INTC Quote) was again upgraded by a dead fish, for the fourth or fifth time in the last week or so, and again based on nothing more than hype. It's very reminiscent of the mania, when dead fish would unilaterally raise their price targets -- just because. So, you can file "analyst" behavior, particularly in technology, under: a perfect example of how little has changed since the bubble.

The early-morning glow/euphoria and the blast that it precipitated lasted until lunchtime. Then we traded sideways for a few hours, before seeing the rally fizzle to some degree in the last hour or so. There was a rumor about an error in the futures market, which saw a decent-sized selloff in a short space of time, with about 45 minutes to go. Whether it was an error or not, I do not know. But I do know that on the rare occasion lately when we've had a sharp break in the futures, this seems to be followed by a rumor about somebody having hit the wrong button. It's as though the market's never supposed to go down.

Of course, I notice that whenever the futures go straight up, you never hear this story. In any case, today was a fine day for speculation across the spectrum, as can be seen from the box scores or a look at individual stocks, even if some of the fluff came off the rally late in the day.