Stocks rise for third straight day with banks in the lead

Another day of good news for bank stocks pushed the market higher for the third straight day today, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 240 points, or 3.5 percent, to 7,170. Bank of America (BAC), recipient of $45 billion in government aid over the past six months, rose the most of any of stock in the Dow after Ken Lewis, its CEO, said it wouldn't need any more taxpayer money to stay afloat.

A big jump in oil prices didn't help ExxonMobil (XOM), which underperformed the market, gaining just 2.1 percent. And a day after its founder was named the world's richest man by Forbes magazine, Microsoft (MSFT) was the only Dow component to fall, closing down 0.6 percent at $17.01.