U.S. stocks slid sharply after flirting with positive territory as investors weighed weak U.S. economic reports and continued worries about Europe against a better outlook for financial stocks.
It is likely the reversal of those elevated short positions served as a catalyst for positive price movement when the weak US job data was released and the BoJ announced that it will double its monetary base within two years.
The company said the outlook for 2013 was "somewhat more positive than a year ago, although the recovery remains weak by historic standards and pressure on many households' finances remains acute".
Barack Obama survived a presidential election against a weak opponent despite an underwhelming legislative record and his own failure to define the choice in positive terms.