What an October

The market ended the month positive. It was the best week since 1974, but also the worst month since 1998.

The Dow and the S&P 500 had their biggest one-week percentage gains since October 1974. The Nasdaq's 10.9% gain for the week was its best since the week of April 9, 2001.

Yes, the losses for the month were awful: 14.1% for the Dow, its worst since August 1998; 16.9% for the S&P 500, its worst since October 1987; and 17.7% for the Nasdaq, its fourth-worst monthly loss ever and its worst since February 2001. But all three indexes have made substantial gains from the intraday lows on Oct. 10: 18% for the Dow, 15.3% for the S&P 500 and 11.6% for the Nasdaq.

The Oct. 10 intraday lows -- 7,882.51 for the Dow, 840.54 for the S&P 500 and 1,542.45 for the Nasdaq -- now appear to be a bottom that should hold for some time.

[maybe..]