Great Day in the Markets. No, Really.

Tremendous day in the markets, virtually across the board.

In the equity markets, the S&P closed up 4.08% (and over 1000 again!), the Nikkei surged 6.27%, and the FTSE 100 was up over 4% as well. Almost equally as important, the equity markets traded in a narrow range all day.

To that end, the VIX plunged 11.08%, closing below 50 for the first time in over a month.

The IG11 was trading around 180bps when I last checked.

Treasurys soared, swap spreads were lower, etc.

The list goes on. Most notable was the change in sentiment. The abject fear that has characterized the markets since Lehman's failure was nowhere to be found for long stretches of the day.

Today's reprieve will almost certainly prove to be temporary, but it was nonetheless a much-welcome breather.