Stocks Inch Up After Plunge

Stocks limped higher at the open today, after a punishing Monday session that left the Dow below 7,000, its worst levels since April 1997. Today the Dow was up 80 points in early trading, the Wall Street Journal reports, while the S&P and Nasdaq added 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively. Financial stocks were modestly higher, with Citigroup up 11% and Bank of America up 4.7%

“We can finally make a case for equities being ‘cheap’ for not only the first time in this crisis but for the first time in at least 14 years,” said Deutsche Bank strategists. But “given the magnitude of this crisis we may have to eventually see very cheap levels before we bottom. So cheap is helpful but not a reason to suggest an imminent sustainable bounce.” (More stock market stories.)