Dow Watch: Bank of America, AmEx Rally

Updated from 12:38 p.m. EDT

Nothing Wrong With That

(At 5:25 p.m. EDT)

That's about as convincing a start to the week as you could hope for. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was positive all day Monday, closing up 214.33 points, or 2.6%, to 8426.74. The last time it ended with a better number was Jan. 13.

As noted previously, the advance marked only the third time this year that the DJIA has opened a trading week with a gain. Since March 9, the index has soared 28.7%, and its year-to-date loss has been reduced to under 4%.

However, it's still trailing the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite in that regard, as both of those are now higher for 2009.

Financials were the best percentage performers on the index, led by Bank of America's (BAC Quote) 19.3% increase to $10.38. American Express (AXP Quote) added 12.3% to $27.28, and JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) rose 10.2% to $35.79. Those two were also most responsible for the point improvement, accounting for about 50 points of the total.

Meanwhile, Citigroup (C Quote) climbed 7.7% to $3.20. Intel (INTC Quote) was the leader from the tech side, rising 5.4% to $16.66 following a Morgan Stanley upgrade before the open.

On Tuesday, look for quarterly reports from Kraft (KFT Quote) and Disney (DIS Quote). Until then, enjoy this one.

Buy in May, and Stick Around

(At 12:02 p.m. EDT)

Sell in May, and go away. So they say. Well, we're two trading days into the month, and thus far it's been the buyers setting the agenda.

I'm aware this is an awfully small sample. I'm also aware that one session, Friday, ended with a gain of only 44.29 points. And that the second one isn't over yet, though barring a painful reversal, which yes, we've seen many times before, it looks likely to finish on the plus side. Maybe we will get this week started on a high note.