Stocks soared today on hopes that the government will take loans off the hands of banks and move them to a new “bad bank” in order to repair the balance sheet of the banking industry. The KBW Banking Index rose 14.40% and the KBW Regional Banking Index rose 8.25%. The broader S&P 500 Index was up 3.36%.

The Bank Index was led by Fifth Third Bancorp, State Street Corporation, and Wells Fargo, which were up 36.40%, 31.35%, and 30.88%, respectively. Leading the Regional Banking Index were Webster Financial Corporation, Wintrust Financial Corporation, and Trustmark Corporation, which were up 36.39%, 22.66%, and 20.49%, respectively.