MARKETS RISE, INTEREST RATES SURGE TO END A HORRIBLE WEEK: Here's What You Need To Know

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After a brutal two-day global market sell-off, we finally got a modest up day. With little market-moving news, today's rally could be characterized as a "dead cat bounce."

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 14,799.4, +41.0, +0.2 %

• S&P 500: 1,592.4 +4.2, +0.2%

• NASDAQ: 3,357.2, -7.3, -0.2%

And now, the top stories:

• Everyone's still processing Wednesday's announcement from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who said that the Fed could begin to taper, or gradually reduce its stimulative bond-buying program. This seemed to be the catalyst that sparked selling around the world. But the selling, at least in the U.S. stock market, finally stopped.

• However, U.S. Treasury prices continued to fall, sending the 10-year yield as high as 2.53%.

• At around 6:00 AM ET this morning, the St. Louis Federal Reserve published an unprecedented statement on behalf of Fed President James Bullard who was against the Fed's decision to forecast a timeline for the taper. "President Bullard also felt that the Committee’s decision to authorize the Chairman to lay out a more elaborate plan for reducing the pace of asset purchases was inappropriately timed," said the St. Louis Fed in the release. "President Bullard felt that the Committee’s decision to authorize the Chairman to make an announcement of an approximate timeline for reducing the pace of asset purchases to zero was a step away from state-contingent monetary policy."

• Markets spent most of the day struggling to stay positive. But they got a nice boost in the afternoon after the Wall Street Journal tweeted: "WSJ's HILSENRATH - Analysis: Markets Might Be Misreading The Fed's Messages" and "WSJ's HILSENRATH: Analysis: Overlooked 'Dovish' Signals In Bernanke Press Conference"

• In other news, Shibor — China's version of LIBOR — pulled back a bit, allaying some fears that China was doomed for a credit crisis.

• Don't Miss: Wall Street's Brightest Minds Reveal THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARTS IN THE WORLD »

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