I'd have picked up a few index fund shares myself except my little account doesn't trade all that fast.

Also, I think it's the end of a quarter. Portfolio managers may be trying to salvage some of their numbers.

I doubt it's an upward trend, but I'm getting curious: what would the market do if they started getting the idea that they'll have to save their own bacon?

At the bottom of this issue is the fact that the big wheels in finance very badly want an outcome where they can still be big wheels in finance, and don't want an economic collapse any more than anyone else. They're going to try hard to work this out. Not every CEO has a golden parachute, and sure as heck most of those on the second tiers and below don't.