>>So why was that PPT buying rather than anything else?<<
The PPT could come in and see how much bang they can get for a buck. Last week no matter how much they tried they couldn't get any buying interest. Why not someone else? Because their are not many buyers out there.
They are doing good here just to prevent a hard selloff - I don't think they are ready or able to mount a significant rally without some kind of news (or a more believable rumor) to underpin it.
While I believe mlsoft gives too much credit to the PPT (no offence to him - he's a good trader), someone is sure buying up the futures this morning with what looks like intentions of supporting the markets.
The buying has a kind of rythm to it... if I could just get that down.