U.S. Stocks Open in Bull Mode

Updated from 6:51 a.m. EDT

Stocks in New York opened higher Thursday, following a report that the Treasury may take equity positions in U.S. banks. An encouraging earnings report from tech bellwether IBM (IBM) also was bolstering sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was gaining 127 points to 9385. It was one year ago today that the Dow closed at an all-time record high of 14,164. The S&P 500 was up 12 points to 997. The Nasdaq was better by 31 points at 1771.

On Wednesday, stocks traded chaotically before closing with losses after the Federal Reserve and central banks from other countries issued a coordinated cut in interest rates to alleviate the credit crunch.

Ahead of the new day's trading, The New York Times reported that the Treasury may take ownership positions in U.S. banks to improve confidence in the financial system. The U.K. has pursued a similar plan by taking partial national ownership in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays (BCS).

Bloomberg reported that BlackRock (BLK) and Pimco, a unit of Allianz (AZ), had both proposed to manage mortgage-backed securities to be bought by the Treasury as part of its $700 billion financial-sector rescue plan.

Separately, the Fed said it would grant insurance company AIG (AIG) up to $37.8 billion in exchange for fixed-income securities. The cash infusion comes on top of the $85 billion already lent out in September to keep the company from going bankrupt.

Among other insurers, MetLife (MET) has recently discussed a potential merger with Hartford Financial (HIG), according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The report said the discussions didn't lead to a deal, but that they indicate the strain the credit crunch has exacted from insurance firms.