Four Reasons to Believe in the "Bear Stearns Bottom"

3/24 - "Last Monday, I wrote on my blog that I thought it was likely we had seen the lows. Still, I wanted to see how the market fared on Tuesday, so I held off submitting my column. I never thought Tuesday would see such a huge rally, but it just reinforces my view."

"The technicals often do a better job of highlighting bottoms, even though you never truly know without hindsight...if you look back at any major market bottom in financial history, you will see that bearish sentiment always hits extreme levels. I saw that last Monday."

"I heard a lot of people saying that Monday's action didn't represent the type of capitulation lows that often mark significant bottoms. But the flip side of this argument is that when investors are braced for a cataclysmic session, and the market acts in the opposite fashion to expectations, maybe it is speaking just as loudly...I am not advocating a "V" bottom here, because I don't think the market will run away on the upside....But I think we will look back at the "Bear Stearns Bottom" as the lows for this period, even if they are tested soon."