NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Peter Out. (Great name for a porn star, yes?) Yup, we had a big ol' rally early on today (the Dow was up almost 200 points!) and then she just ran outta steam late in the day. (Little profit takin', that's all!)

Still we moved ahead nicely, (and in these times, we should be thankful [oh, shut up!]) especially the NAZQUACK. Of course, this rally was mostly brought to you by Microsoft, or should I say by Federal Judge U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, whose ruling helped boost MSFT.

For the day the Dow climbed 53 points to 8,571, while Naz was up 35 to 1,396 (2.6 percent!) Hey watch me Mudvayne (Um, this is deeply disturbing. What are these guys thinking? "End of all things to come," will be released on 11/19/02), I mean Andy Serwer, on CNN's "American Morning with Paula Zahn," and Headline News. Read Loose Change to find out the best new rumor in Silicon Valley. Here's wazzup:

STOCKYARD Lots of moving parts this week. Election tomorrow -- you'd think it was the end of the world if you worked at CNN, like I do, and the Fed meets on Wednesday.

To rate cut or not? Who knows? Either way it could be perceived: No cut: it's bad because it means the Fed won't help. No cut: it's good because it means the Fed thinks we are strong enough not to need it. A cut: it's good because the Fed has helped us! A cut: it's bad because it means that Greenspan thinks we are in deep goo! See what I mean? It's crazy out there...

So MSFT was up way over $56 at one point, up more than $3, but closed at $55.68. Still up over $2.50 or 5 percent. Not a bad day! AOL got near $16! Funny, almost all techs rallied except Microsoft spoiled sports: SunW and Oracle (Serves you right to suffer, boys!).

Losers today: Home Depot and Lockheed Martin, down. Who says local papers don't hold any sway? This from Briefing.com: "Update -- Hearing talk that a Saturday article in the Paducah, Kentucky Sun is hitting LMT: the article indicates that a case filed against LMT in 1999 for filing false environmental reports for a Paducah gaseous diffusion plant has now turned into a criminal investigation. LMT down over $6 to $50 plus...

Hey, is there any question about Oklahoma being #1? ANY?

DREAM JOBS Okay, a week or so ago I asked for your idea of a dream job. Here are some of 'em:

"My dream job would be to publicly flog every economist/writer/expert/stock analyst/etc, who has given us commentary on what went wrong."...

"Dream job: Harvey Pitt's -- get paid for protectin' your friends. Sweet. -- C"...

"My dream job is being the organist at MLB games, preferably at Wrigley Field since I am a Cubs fan and would be sure to be gone fishing by October."...

"This would be a great time to be the vice-president of this U.S.A. and follow the example of our V.P. of today: lay low for weeks [months] at a time, raise big money for my party -- madbob."...

"Running a small-cap technology growth fund (I like challenges) -- Tom"...

Hey, did WB really say this? "If something is not worth doing, it is not worth doing well. -- Warren Buffett." Funny, either way!

Anyone ever been to Splitrock in PA?

Michele says "Alarming that SUNW is trading under 3. Best rumor rounding the Valley (yes, there still is one): Sun will buy Apple to FINALLY get some desktop Unix (as in Mac OS, baby -- and they said it couldn't be done). Started by the Merc's Dan Gillmor and the only thing stoppin' it is the ego issue -- could Scott and Steve's fit in the same room. Both do think highly of themselves, but they've also proven to be the shrewdest businessmen in the Valley-quick: name another tech exec who has been in the CEO spot as long (Intel's Barrett doesn't count -- he ascended by default)."

So did you hear that the Stones are doing this NBA promo thang? Okay fine, but I heard that Mick loves hoops! Liked to play and that his Dad helped bring hoops to Limeyland!

So Miami plays Sooners fo' the whole enchilada? Hope so!

Andrew Serwer is editor-at-large of Fortune magazine.

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