Does anybody really know what's happening?

On a day when a consumer confidence report that showed Americans were more pessimistic about the economy in October than at anytime in 41 years, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 889.35 points, or 10.8 percent, to 9,065.12, closing above 9,000 for the first time in a week.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was 10.79 percent or 91.59 points higher, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq was up 9.53 percent or 143.57 points.

Stock analysts struggled to make sense of the gains. . .

“To say today is a turning point is no more than to say yesterday was the beginning of the end,” Mr. Silverblatt said. “I could make either argument, and I don’t believe either of them.” . . .

Crude oil fell 49 cents, to $62.73 a barrel. . .

Shares in Europe also finished higher. The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 index, a barometer of euro zone blue chips, rose 3.8 percent, while the FTSE 100 index in London gained 1.9 percent. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 1.5 percent.

And the DAX in Frankfurt was 11.2 percent higher. German shares were lifted by Volkswagen, which soared 95 percent, making the German automaker, with a market value of $367 billion, the most valuable company in the world — at least for Tuesday. The rise in the automaker’s shares appeared to result from a phenomenon known as a “short squeeze.”

My untutored take is that when you chum the waters sharks often come. Some sharks get a meal, others are taken as trophies. Nothing of lasting consequence happens except that the chum, sharks, and shark hunters have an interesting day. I have friends who are - were - chum.