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Wall Street enjoyed a happy ending to what was the worst January for the Nasdaq on record. At one point the market was up more than 2 percent on Thursday. The Dow settled with a 207 point gain. The S&P 500 gained 22 points. The Nasdaq was up 40 points. But the beginning of the session looked much different. The Dow tumbled nearly 200 points - as stocks fell more than 1 percent across the board. A report showing the biggest jump in unemployment benefits in over two years, fanned recession fears. And worries about the nation's financial sector also contributed to the early sell-off. But by mid-day the market erased its losses. Reassuring comments from bond insurer MBIA helped the turnaround. Despite a record quarterly loss and a $3.5 billion write-down, the company said chances of it going bankrupt were "virtually impossible." Analysts say if such an event were to happen - it would significantly add stress on the credit market. Shares of MBIA recovered from a a 17-year low - despite Standard & Poor's warning that it still may cut MBIA's debt rating. Fellow bond insurer AMBAC jumped over 9 percent. And other financial stocks bounced as well. Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase were among the most actively traded stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Google tracked the broader market higher. But after the close, the Internet search leader provided quarterly earnings and sales that did not meet forecasts. Hefty international sales led to higher fourth-quarter profits at Procter & Gamble. But the maker of such products as Tide detergent gave an outlook that was disappointing. Meanwhile, international sales also boosted Colgate-Palmolive - but its results were better received. Shares of P&G were up a percent. Colgate gained nearly 5 percent. It was mixed market in Europe. Worries about UBS and other banks pulled the German Dax and the Paris CAC-40 lower. But strong techs led a rally for the London FTSE. Conway Gittens, Reuters.