daytrade diaries... february 10

Morning traders.

Market wrap: Australian stocks look set to bounce back this morning after expectations of a bailout for debt-laden Greece sparked a bull run on Wall Street.

U.S. stocks had their best night in five weeks on hopes that this correction has run its course. The Dow surged 150 points or 1.52%, the S&P 500 was up 1.3% and the Nasdaq 1.17%.

The local March SPI 200 futures contract jumped 40 points overnight to close at 4514, pointing to a bright open on our market.

Hopes for a resolution to Greece's debt problems rose on reports that Germany is working on an aid package and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet left Australia early to attend a European Union Council meeting tomorrow. Greek shares jumped 5% in response, but a European benchmark ended the day unchanged. Worries over European debt loads have been weighing on global stock markets for weeks.

"It seems unlikely that the European leadership will leave Greece to fend for itself so the question is the final look of any deal or support," a U.S. investment strategist told MarketWatch. "I think the market is more confident that Greece is going to get some support."

Also helping sentiment in the U.S. were analyst upgrades from Morgan Stanley, a positive earnings report from Coca Cola and a dip in the U.S. dollar, which boosted resource prices. The dollar index was recently down 0.67% as investors abandoned its "safe haven" appeal for riskier assets.

Crude oil futures charged 2.85% higher to $73.94 a barrel. the spot gold price added more than $14 or 1.3%, trading recently at $1,075.80 an ounce. The recoveries delivered healthy gains for U.S resources stocks - an index of precious metals miners jumped nearly 4% and oilers rallied 2%. Also notably strong were airlines, up 7.7%.

Industrial metals enjoyed a strong night despite evidence of soft demand ahead of the Chinese new year holiday. "China's immediate demand will be muted because they already will have bought to cover their needs for the New Year period," an analyst told Reuters. However, other market observers tipped a strong pick-up in demand when Chinese buyers return from their break. In London, copper rallied 2.9%, aluminium 2.6%, lead 4.6%, nickel 2.6%, tin 2.6% and zinc 5.1%.

European markets closed marginally higher just as news of a possible bailout for Greece first appeared. Britain's FTSE rose 0.38%, Germany's DAX 0.24% and France's CAC 0.15%.

TRADING THEMES TODAY

UP WE GO: A strong night for commodity prices and U.S. equities is great news for anyone who held stocks overnight. However, it's worth noting that there was nothing very substantial in last night's news to support a rally. The bounce looks to be built on hope and speculation as there is no guarantee that the EU will stand behind its debt-laden quartet. Yet. Nonetheless, there's a reasonable chance that this bounce will last a day or two, so let's make hay.

EARNINGS BELLWETHERS: There are earnings results due this morning from two of our market's big guns: BHP and CBA. Their outlook statements should have a big influence on how our market fares today. Among others due to report today: CPU, SGP, BLD and SMX.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Monthly consumer confidence figures are due at 10.30 am. Monthly home loans are announced at 11. 30 am. Chinese trade balance data are tentatively scheduled for 3 pm. Tonight in the U.S.: trade balance, crude oil inventories and the Federal Budget balance.

Good luck to all.