congressional hearings

Blue chips rallied near midday Tuesday after a volatile morning, as investors considered Hewlett-Packard's strong forecast and Congressional hearings on the $700 billion bank bailout and the automaker sector.

Atlanta hedge fund manager Michael Masters has been a star witness in two recent Congressional hearings on how speculators are supposedly driving up oil prices.

Masters and I don't see eye-to-eye on this issue, so I was surprised to get a call from him after my "Don't Blame The Oil Speculators" column went up on Fortune.com last week.