After a pretty dismal day yesterday, the financial markets got off to a good start this morning with a pleasant surprise, the likes of which you’ve seen on Antiques Road Show. People in Spain were auctioning off junk — Spanish government bonds — and suddenly it was more valuable than expected. It was taken as a good sign on both sides of the Atlantic that the eurozone is a slightly more stable place than before.

Add to bond traders’ good fortune a 9.3-percent increase in new home construction projects here in the U.S., and you’ve got a little pre-holiday pick-me-up.

Ted Weisberg is the president of Seaport Securities. He’s been a member of the NYSE for more than four decades, but even with his own long view of the markets, he says yesterday was the kind of day that left him jokingly pleading, “Keep the cheese, just let us out of the trap.”

Weisberg says today’s rally could be just a case of holiday exuberance. It’s been a pretty joyless season on Wall Street this year. So, on a good and relatively uncomplicated day like today, let’s just enjoy the feel good factor.