Snowballing sell-off spreads worldwide

Dow fluctuating as financial crisis deepens

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Stock prices careened lower Friday in Asia and Europe and seesawed wildly in the United States, extending a stampede of selling that began on Wall Street a day earlier and deepening the global financial crisis.

President Bush tried to reassure Americans afraid for their life savings and their jobs. “Anxiety can feed anxiety,” Bush said Friday, “and that can make it hard to see all that is being done to solve the problem.”

Stock prices were swinging sharply on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials fell nearly 700 points soon after trading began, regained all of that deficit temporarily — then slid to a loss of more than 300 points shortly after Bush’s remarks.

The Dow was down about 370 points in late morning trading.

The Wall Street Journal reported that government officials are considering temporarily guaranteeing all U.S. bank deposits and billions of dollars of bank debt, in addition to possibly buying stakes in individual banks. The New York Times also said officials are reviewing a British proposal that also includes repayment guarantees for certain types of loans.

Administration officials told The Associated Press that several financial rescue plans are being reviewed, but no announcements are likely before finance ministers from the seven biggest industrial nations meet today cqFRI in Washington.

“The world is sending an unmistakable signal: We’re in this together, and we’ll come through this together,” Bush said of the international planning.

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