标准普尔500 股价指数收市为1,206.51，上升了4.33％；道琼斯工业股平均指数收市11,019.69，上升了3.86％；纳斯达克综合指数下跌了4.78％。分析人士认为，金融环境的起色暂不会让股票市场东山再起，不过利好消息称，政府可能有计划地隔离一些主要银行的严重亏损的资产，将会为股市带来暖风。
不少股票卖空者和投资者都打赌股价会下跌，尽管政府调节机构的已有所行动尽力减弱他们的负面情绪带来的影响，但危机的愁云还是没能轻易拨开。部分银行以及政府官员谴责股票卖空者在早前几个月的疯狂行为导致股价的急速下降以及雷曼投行的倒闭。
投资者现在都是求稳心态，更偏好于政府发行有价证券而不是那些短期的或私人债券。多种形式的法人贷款和银行贷款的借贷成本不断增加。根据伦敦银行同业协会拆借利率（即指银行同业之间的短期资金借贷利率）的标准衡量，投资者的恐惧心态仍未平复。 Investors Hungry for Hope
New York Times
The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed up 4.33 percent, to 1,206.51, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.86 percent, to 11,019.69 The Nasdaq composite jumped 4.78 percent. Analysts attributed the stock market rally not to a fundamental improvement in the financial environment, but rather to reports that the government might be planning to quarantine some of the worst assets held by major banks.
Sentiment was also buoyed when regulators announced actions intended to blunt the impact of short sellers, investors who bet that a stock’s price will drop. Some banks and government officials have blamed short sellers for the precipitous drops in shares of big banks over the last few months, including the decline that played a role in the downfall of Lehman Brothers this week.
Investors displayed a strong preference for safer and more tradable government securities than other short-term, private debt. The cost of several types of corporate and bank borrowing remained high and, in some cases, increased further. A gauge of fear — the Libor rate, which measures how much banks charge one another for overnight loans — remained elevated on Thursday.
