Since opening this Monday, the bulls have taken flight at Dow Jones and the index is descending steadily towards March lows of 11850. As I mentioned before, if investors can or are willing to hold the fort here, we can look forward to a sustained upswing for the next week or so, barring unforeseen disasters.

By BRIAN BLACKSTONE
January 10, 2008 12:43 p.m.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke opened the door to aggressive interest-rate reductions, saying downside risks to the economy "have become more pronounced."

His remarks support Wall Street's expectation that officials will lower the fed funds rate by as much as one-half percentage point when they meet at the end of this month.