All three of the major indexes rose more than 2% today as the markets turned positive after more than a week of negativity.  For the Dow 28 of the 30 stocks that make up the index were higher led by American Express and Alcoa.  American Express (AXP) rose 6.6% while Alcoa (AA) rose 5% during today’s trading session.  The home builders rose today after an earnings report by Lennar (LEN).  Despite the bigger than expected loss reported the company announced orders surged during the first quarter.  Shares of Lennar rose by more than 17% on the day.  The construction service sector, the sector these home builders belong to, rose 3.27% today, outperforming the markets by more than 1%.  The retail sector also rose on the day led higher by earnings out of Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY).  The shares rose by more than 9% after the company reported a profit while analysts were expecting the company to report a loss for the quarter.  The retail sector rose 3.43% on the day led higher by the earnings out of Bed Bath and Beyond.  Also today oil jumped and closed the trading session above $70 a barrel again.  This jump in oil helped shared of Valero (VLO) which jumped more than 4% on the day.  All of this news contributed to the surge in the market today.  The jump in the Dow was the biggest since June 1st when the index surged more than 200 points in one trading session.  After hours the earnings continued to be reported and perhaps the biggest news came out of Palm (PALM).  The company reported a loss for the quarter but the loss of 40 cents a share was much better than the average analyst forecast of 62 cents per share.   After hours shares of Palm are up almost $2 or 14%.  The news from Palm should help the markets to continue the rally tomorrow and hopefully leave the Dow in positive territory for this week.  The Dow is currently down 60 points in the first four trading days of the week.