The market looked sluggish Tuesday morning, but it suddenly came to life around midday and there was a scramble to add long exposure. There wasn't any obvious catalyst for the positive turn, but the anxiety was sensed about being left behind when things went green.

Volume picked up from very light levels Monday, but it was still lackluster. One of the challenges since the lows of March 2009 has been how often we have had rallies on diminishing volume. Logically, it makes sense that a market rising on increasing volume would have stronger momentum, but it hasn't mattered much lately.

The fact that buyers suddenly jumped in for reasons that weren't obvious tells us that they are worried about being underinvested and missing a year-end rally. We continue to have plenty of nervous news flow to keep skepticism high, which is a big reason this market keeps chugging along.