Bush Vows Market Stability, IMF Warns of 'Meltdown'

President Bush and his allies tried to steady plunging markets today after meeting in Washington, but proposed no new plan, Reuters reports. International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned that the global economy was facing "systemic meltdown," but backed the G7's as yet undefined rescue plan, saying it would "unfreeze" markets in a few days.

At the White House, Bush expressed "confidence" in Washington's bailout, while in France President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel planned for a European crisis summit tomorrow. Germany is reportedly on the verge of unveiling its own $549 billion bailout. In a surprise statement, the G7 failed to back Britain's $86 billion liquidity injection plan—support that many on Wall Street called essential to calming markets. (More IMF stories.)