A huge day in Europe boosted US markets with the Dow gaining 404 points on the day (3.9%). The gain was largely a result of a pre-market gap higher in prices with uneventful sideways consolidation price action throughout the trading day. The €750 billion ($957 billion) debt aid package arranged by the European Union and International Monetary Fund is having its intended effects on debt and equity markets within the Eurozone. The aid deal consists of €440 billion in loan guarantees, €60 billion in emergency European Commission funding and another €250 billion contributed by the IMF. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be setup to distribute the aid and manage the loans. Quite a few questions remain as to how this massive undertaking will be structured, how it will be run and what the incentives/disincentives will be for countries receiving aid. In general, the package has been modeled after the TARP plan enacted by the United States during the 2008 financial crisis.
I did some homework on European markets with the results below:
| Market | Day's Gain | YTD Return |
| United Kingdom (FTSE) | 5.2% | (0.5%) |
| Germany (DAX) | 5.3% | 1.0% |
| France (CAC) | 9.7% | (5.5%) |
PIGS | ||
| Portugal (PIS) | 10.6% | (11.3%) |
| Italy (MIB) | 11.3% | (9.8%) |
| Greece (ATHEX) | 9.1% | (19.0%) |
| Spain (IBEX) | 14.4% | (13.3%) |