A Very Solid Day

After a weak opening stock prices straightened out and closed higher just like in the good old days. (i.e. prior to the feb 27 smash) The market internals that I follow were all good, too. This is yet another constructive day and interestingly the market has sort of resumed the uptrend of the past several months, albeit at a lower level. 20% up, 6% down looks and feels just like a bull market correction - sharp, fast, and severe - everyone seems to wait for the next shoe to drop but that doesn't happen and the feeding frenzy resumes. Of course, the market is still in a downtrend (for the time being) and the rally here is suspect in terms of its sustainability until it makes new highs and holds them. But for now it acts well.
Interesting analysis about up/down days in bull/bear markets. Since 1920, only about half of the worst % days in the Dow have occured during bear markets. Intuitively, one would think that it would be higher. In fact, since the stock market bottomed in 1933, there are have been two secular bull markets and two secular bear markets. During this time frame the S&P 500 tells a different story: looking at the worst 1% of all days (about 90), only about 25% occurred during bear markets. In modern market history, major down days seem to be in the territory of the bullish camp. This is not a reason to go long here but its another point to consider when thinking about Feb 27.