It looked like the U.S. stock market had taken a deep breath and pulled its act together.
Maybe not so much.
After a harrowing few days in which stocks rocketed down, then zoomed up, then hurtled down, then up, then down again, then up again ... well, Tuesday opened with a calm, positive vibe.
That lasted until 3 P.M. EST, when the market dropped sharply, giving back all the day's gains and then some.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average -- a group of 30 iconic stocks, including Apple, that are supposed to represent the American economy -- opened the day up nearly 320 points, only to finish down 200 points. The S&P 500, which represents 500 major companies, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also opened up around 2% before closing the day down 1.4% and 0.4% respectively.
Those swings added on to a brutal day of trading on Monday, when the Dow opened at an alarming 1,015 points down and closed at its lowest point in 18 months.
Tech stocks seemed to suffer the most, with Facebook opening Monday down 12% and Apple down 10%, with Microsoft also down around 6%. Apple CEO Tim Cook was apparently sufficiently spooked enough to write to financial journalist Jim Cramer and express his confidence in Apple stock.
Let's ride again tomorrow... #BlackMonday pic.twitter.com/7H97Ys2hEl— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) August 24, 2015
But on Tuesday, tech stocks were among the stronger performers. Apple stock avoided the worst of the selling, ending the day 0.6% higher. Facebook rose 1.1%. Netflix was among the day's best stocks, up 4.8%.
The star was Best Buy, the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 index, which jumped over 12% as it said shopping was up.
Volatility like that is not unusual, but the depth of the recent drops caused some analysts, investors and pundits to immediately compare the current situation to that of previous crashes and panics. But this stock market dive was not even close to the worst we've ever seen.
There appeared to be two major reasons for the rebound. One had to do with China, whose economic struggles have defined a troubled few months for world stock markets. China is the world's second-largest economy, and its stock market has been in a crisis since late June. The country's government and its central bank have intervened with bailouts, currency devaluations, bans on stock-market trading and other measures, but nothing has stopped the ongoing troubles.
Today, however, China hit upon one thing that would work, at least temporarily: lowering interest rates. That cheered up U.S. investors, at least.
There's a reason for that. Lower interest rates usually spur people to take money out of their savings accounts -- which means, possibly, spending it and goosing the economy -- and they encourage people to borrow. The U.S. Federal Reserve, for instance, has depended on zero interest rates to help the American economy for over five years.