DOW BACK WITH A ROAR: INDUSTRIALS UP 288 AFTER THRASHING

Wall Street came roaring back on Tuesday.

Dow Jones industrials rose more than 280 points in a late buying spree that followed Tuesday's 512-point rout.

It was another day of wide swings. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 143.41 as trading began, retreated to a loss of 138.77, then shot up and down in spurts to finish the day at 288.36, at 7,827.43.

The Dow, which has fallen nearly 1,000 points over the past four trading days, was up 358.90 points at one time Tuesday in extremely heavy trading.

Broader indicators were also rising, including the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index, which plunged a record 140.43 points on Monday. It rose 75.65 points Tuesday.

Marsha Limbaugh of the Cape Girardeau branch of A.G. Edwards & Sons Investments said, "The trading Tuesday was heavy and very volatile as traders were looking for values in falling prices of blue chips."

Volume was large, said Limbaugh.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday, the volume had topped the 1-billion mark, still far off pace of the record 1.194 billion shares traded on Oct. 28, 1997.

"This is good," said Limbaugh. "Stocks are rallying sharply."

Looking to today, Limbaugh said the market should give some indications of what to expect the rest of the week."

Limbaugh and Joe Domian of Edward Jones Investments in Cape Girardeau said now is the time for investors to examine their portfolios.

"It's good to see that buying continued Tuesday," said Domian. "There wasn't too much silliness in the market Tuesday."

A lot of people took a hit Monday, said Domian. "But buyers are staying with quality companies."

The average bear market usually lasts about eight months, said Domian. "But this one shouldn't be average," he said. "Hopefully it won't last that long."

Domian said increased volatility is expected in days to come.

Domian and Limbaugh agreed that some panic was taking place as people rushed out to buy.

"We're recommending that investors check with their investment brokers," said Limbaugh.

The worst of this bear market could be over.

Historians say there have been 22 declines of 10 percent or more since 1925 -- an average of about once every three and a half years. And half of those eventually turned into 20 percent losses.

A bear market is defined as a drop of 20 percent from the high.

When the stock market dropped 512 points Monday, it marked a 6.37 percent drop. But for the year it was 19.3 percent.

Of the 11 declines of 20 percent since 1925, five have been since World War II. One was horrendous, say stock market experts. It came during the 1973-1974 bear market, with stocks falling 42.6 percent from peak to bottom, from January 1973 to September 1974.

Other 20-percent-plus declines since World War II: 21.8, June to November 1946; 22.3, January to June 1962; 29.3, December 1968 to June 1970; and 29.5, September to November 1987.

People are more aware of any stock market movements these days, said Domian.

Just as television brought the Viet Nam and Persian Gulf wars into homes, it also has delivered stock market quotations, magnifying results throughout the day and night.

Monday's plunge was the second largest point drop ever for Wall Street's best-known indicator. Only the Oct. 27, 1997, fall of 554 points was larger. But Monday's decline was only the 25th largest percentage drop. It was well behind the 22.6 percent collapse of "Black Monday," when it fell 508 pints on Oct. 19, 1987.

The drop Monday left the Dow down 19.3 percent from its July 17 record high of 9.337.97 points.

With Tuesday's gain, the Dow was just 81 points below the level at the end of last year, which was 7,908. The Tuesday rebound was second only to the 337.17-point gain of last Oct. 28, the day after the record fall. The percentage gain, while large, was not a record.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)