Apparently, naked shorting isn’t "illegal".  The SEC even thinks it helps market liquidity, at certain times.

The SEC’s website has this, in part, to say about naked short selling:

Naked short selling is not necessarily a violation of the federal securities laws or the Commission’s rules. Indeed, in certain circumstances, naked short selling contributes to market liquidity. For example, broker-dealers that make a market in a security⁴ generally stand ready to buy and sell the security on a regular and continuous basis at a publicly quoted price, even when there are no other buyers or sellers. Thus, market makers must sell a security to a buyer even when there are temporary shortages of that security available in the market. This may occur, for example, if there is a sudden surge in buying interest in that security, or if few investors are selling the security at that time. Because it may take a market maker considerable time to purchase or arrange to borrow the security, a market maker engaged in bona fide market making, particularly in a fast-moving market, may need to sell the security short without having arranged to borrow shares. This is especially true for market makers in thinly traded, illiquid stocks such as securities quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board,⁵ as there may be few shares available to purchase or borrow at a given time.

Ok, the Dow was up 277 points.  Why?  Well, why not?  Oversold conditions and a drop in oil; and you can’t forget the options week volatility.  Now the talking heads on financial media are giving all kinds of reasons for the move up, and, as always, talking about a bottom.  Traders tend to be afflicted with short term memory problems and can be highly excitable.  Curb those tendencies if you wish to make it in this business, or even if you want to make a profit in your retirement account.  Keep your eye on the big picture at all times.

EBAY and YUM report sometime after the close, but nothing yet.

I really don’t have much else to say (right now) about the market moves today.  I will have a summary tonight with some charts.  Thanks for all the comments today!  We really appreciate them.