Why The Market Moved

A 512-tick chart of 
Wednesday's trading on SPY:

Blue-chip stocks did a stunning see-saw today, traversing more than 3% intra-day.

Why? AP knows, or says they do.

They call it a see-saw day. Actually, it was more of a saw, since the see happened as a gap down at the open.

Here's why it happened, as recounted by AP market writers Tim Paradis and Stevenson Jacobs:

Stocks were down compared to Tuesday until about 1:15 p.m. Eastern because of

1. The European debt crisis (that's new news, yes?)
2. Tension between North and south Korea (that's pretty unusual, eh?)
3. A "foul mood" from the Gulf oil spill (it certainly makes me want to liquidate my shares)
4. Queen Elizabeth II's speech at the opening of Parliament, in which she said her new government would impose budget cuts (who would expect that of Britain's Conservative Party? Shocker!)

The rebound happened, they say, because of

1. Remarks by House Finance Chair Barney Frank that Congress may pass a mild version of financial reform (but didn't we expect that?)

Well, I'm glad that's settled. I'm putting my money on Barney, because he clearly is the key to recovery in the markets.