Market Trends Higher in Tentative Early Trading

The market is attempting another bounce at the open this morning after the major indices tanked yesterday, and it seems to be finding some footing in the early going. Futures were solidly in the green this morning, but investor beware: Futures, and stocks, have tried to bounce for the last three days in a row with little success.

In the opening moments, the battered Nasdaq Composite Index moved to the plus side after a lower start, gaining 12 to 3177, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up about 38 to 10,460. Most other major indices were stronger as well.

Each successive down day amplifies Wall Street's anxiety over where the market will find itself a firm bottom. Some say yesterday was it, as the Nasdaq crashed through its mid-April lows to its lowest close for the year, at 3164. The Dow and the S&P 500, meanwhile, stumbled down toward mid-April lows but didn't hit those levels, ending at 10,422.27 and 1373.86 respectively.

But trading volume is still nonexistent. In fact, Nasdaq volume slipped to a low not seen since January 1997 yesterday. A bottom is usually marked by accelerating fear, and accelerating volume to the downside. ...