In the wake of a $700-billion congressional bailout, Dow Jones industrials fell as much as 800 points today as investors reacted to the global impact of the credit crisis.

The Dow dropped below 10,000 for the first time since October 2004, finishing down 370 points at 9,956.

As markets plummeted worldwide, President Bush warned "it's going to take awhile" for the $700 billion financial rescue plan passed by Congress last week to bolster the economy.

Oil dropped below $90 a barrel, meanwhile, amid fears of a global recession.

(Story continues below)

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 was down 4.25 percent while Europe's markets took even bigger hits. The FTSE-100 lost 5.77 percent, Germany's DAX dropped 7.07 percent and France's CAC-40 plummeted 9.04 percent.

In London, major banks all recorded major losses, including HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and HSBC.

In other U.S. markets, the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 44 points, or 3.85 percent, falling to 1,057. The Nasdaq composite shed 84, or 4.34 percent, to 1,863. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dropped more than 23 points, or 3.79 percent, to 596.

In Germany, the collapse of a government bailout deal for Hypo Real Estate over the weekend threatened a bankruptcy on the scale of Lehman Brothers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel guaranteed all German saving one day after she rebuked Ireland for doing the same, the London Telegraph noted. Ireland and Greece have had to rescue all their banks, and the Netherlands has rushed through a second, more sweeping nationalization of the Belgian-Dutch bank Fortis.

Related offers:

The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve

Read the forecast about today's economic crisis: Whistleblower Single Issue - November 2007

Sen. Tom Coburn's "Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders into Insiders"

Rediscovering Gold in the 21st Century: The Complete Guide to the Next Gold Rush

Previous story:

Bailout plan fails as stocks plummet