Wall Street’s bulls are making a brave stand. After Wednesday’s disappointing session, in which sizable early gains were wiped out by the end of the day, it looked as if the same lugubrious pattern might rule Thursday. However, a miracle bounce in the last hour saved the Dow, although the Nasdaq still closed modestly in the red.

Has the market shaken its five-month jinx? Considering Friday’s sizable plunge, probably not — at least not quite yet. For stock prices to reach a meaningful bottom, a few more optimists will have to run up the white flag. The capitulation stage could arrive very soon, perhaps during the first half of October (long known as the “bear killer” month).

This week’s news background was actually a bit more favorable than might have been expected. Weekly claims for unemployment insurance fell by a steep 37,000 (to 391,000, the lowest figure since April 2).

As you know, I follow this statistic closely to gauge the outlook for economic growth. If jobless claims can stay below 400,000 for the next few weeks (the four-week average stands at 417,000), the odds of a double-dip recession will drop to perhaps 1-in-3 and the stock market will breathe a big sigh of relief.

Also this week, the Commerce Department revised upward — yes, upward! — its estimate of Q2 gross domestic product. Quarterly growth, net of inflation, came in at a 1.3% annualized rate, up from the 1% early estimate and above the 1.2% foreseen by economists.

So, from an equity investor’s perspective, all is not lost. I’m sticking with my call for a vigorous year-end rally that will challenge, and possibly exceed, 1,300 on the S&P 500 index.

First, though, I suspect we’ve got to endure a few more scary bouts of selling. My technical indicators — notably the daily and weekly stochastic oscillators — aren’t yet at the thoroughly oversold levels that would mark a solid bottom.