Well today it was reported that the Spanish Recession has ended. Spain posted 0.01% growth [in Q3] from the last quarter, thus OFFICIALLY ending the Spanish recession. Here’s a good read on the topic from the WSJ.

MADRID—Spain’s central bank Wednesday said a two-year recession in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy ended in the third quarter, when Spain posted 0.1% growth from the previous quarter, in line with government projections. A return to growth for the currency area’s fourth-largest member is likely to feed hopes that the euro zone’s economy is finally healing[…]

There’s more but that’s what’s important. How does this affect the American Markets 3000 miles away? Well, many of Spain’s creditors were American, and being able to breathe a little sigh of relief that they might get some of their money back encourages more spending, driving the market up.