Why stocks are up

Here are the reasons making the rounds:

1)Today's lousy jobs report puts more pressure on House members to pass the rescue bill.

2)Today's lousy jobs report is less lousy than some on Wall Street had expected.

3)The Well Fargo deal for Wachovia is considered a better bet than the earlier Citigroup deal (and doesn't require federal intervention).

4)Cautious optimism that the rescue bill will pass the House.

5)AIG's plans to sell off a number of business units, while retaining its U.S. property and casualty businesses.

6)The Institute for Supply Management's service sector index slipped to 50.2 in September from 50.6 in August. The number was better than what economists had expected (anything under 50 indicates contraction).

The Dow is up 225 points. But it’s early.