NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Bit of a bounceback on Monday. Recovering from the worst week on Wall Street in months (17 months for Nasdaq), stocks achieved some balance today. We shall see how sustainable, as we move into October!

So, the Dow climbed 67 to 9,380 while the NAZ was up 32 to 1,824. Hey watch me, Phil Bengston (the curse of being Vince Lombardi's successor), I mean Andy Serwer, on CNN's "American Morning," and "In the Money." Read Loose Change to find out about double negatives! Here's what is going on:

STOCKYARD Hello kids! Gee, it's great to be reporting on an up day. A day that you, me and Bill Hem-dawg Hemmer are making some money in our 401(k)s!...

Three exec criminal trials began today, you probably know about Kozlowski and Quattrone, but what about Rite Aid in Harrisburg, Pa.? Yep, Franklin Brown, former chief counsel of the big drugstore chain, is on trial in one of the biggest fraud investigations in history.

Four former Rite Aid execs, including the CEO and CFO, have already pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy. A fifth exec pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to report a felony. All these dudes will be called to testify against Brown, who faces 35 counts related to accusations that he helped create the false impression that Rite Aid was profitable in the late 1990s. The retailer later said it overstated profits by $1.6 billion. Wonder why poor Mr. Brown, 75, won't settle? Is he the Kaiser Sose of Rite-Aid?...

So the SEC subpoenaed Kenny Boy Lay, says he's not turning over documents. Ken says that's covered by the Fifth. Hmmmmm...

After the bell, Sun announced a $1 billion charge. First Bill Joy leaves, now this!...

I'm sure you saw that Manulife of Canada made a $10.4 billion bid for Johnny Hancock. (Hey Jim Schmidt!) Comes to about $37 a share for JHF, so why did the stock trade down to $33.82? No, the deal isn't in Canadian money!...

Anyway, techs were up and active, like Intel, which bumped up $1.10 to $28.37. Also up: Qualcomm, Flex, and Siebel!...

On the Dow, Corning -- which has come back (this stock was a $1 a year ago, is now almost $10) -- was up sharply. So was T-I (no, not Tiger Inn!)...

Hey P. Sellers!! How is that Women's Conference?! Say hi and write me back a quick report!

MORE EDISON FOLLY So it appears that Chris Whittle's little company Edison Schools (not Channel ONE!), is folding its tent and going private....

Good riddance, I say. Shareholders (never mind anyone else) never did right by this thing. So guess who is taking the company private??? A little company called Liberty Partners, a New York money management firm. Fair enough, but who are the folks behind Liberty? Get this, turns out Liberty's sole client is the Florida's public employee pension fund!!

That's right, the same organization that manages the pensions for thousands of Florida schoolteachers is buying the company that would put those schoolteachers out of business! Of course, that's a bit of hyperbole (but not by much...).

Even worse, I think, is that the deal, which looks to me to be for about $170 million (pension fund has about $93 billion), won't work out. Why? That's just the Whittle Way!!...

"The only difference between a rut and a grave... is in their dimensions." -- Ellen Glasgow (what did she know!)

AMERICAN JOBS REPORT This came in from Debbie: "My business was one of those ruined by offshore companies. In the 1980s I made as much as $50,000 a year doing medical transcription from home.

However, two years ago, the accounts I worked for decided to send the medical transcription to India. I was paid $0.10 a line to type the accounts, but the Indian transcriptionists are paid a mere $0.03 a line. Approximately half of all the transcription jobs are now done in India, thus leaving a lot of transcriptionists without jobs, or if they are able to find work, working for a pittance.

I now work twice as many hours for half the pay, since most U.S. companies are only willing to pay 7 to 8 cents a line. I hope that this information is helpful to you in pursuing this outrageous idea that Americans can't even work in their own country.

I guess what surprises me most is that President Bush keeps giving these little tax refunds to families trying to stimulate the economy, ignoring the fact that the real [issue] is encouraging the businesses from taking their companies offshore!" Thanks, Debbie.

Before Sophie had a choice, Hobson did. What about Hobsbaum. Or Beerbaum. And Toynbee. Know 'em all?...

Saw a Honda Hybrid the other day. I can't go there. Yet...

Professor said that while a double negative makes for a positive, there is no example of a double positive making a positive. From the back of the class came a sarcastic growl: "Yeah, right!"...

Hope you all are having a vunderbar Oktoberfest!! Yah? Yah!...

You know what kills me about Heidi Collins' Minnesota Vikings??? They start off like this (4-0), then fold. Randy Moss will do some freaky thing and then they fold...

Hey, the SI curse is in full force, see Ducks, Oregon. How they gonna regroup?

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

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