Wall Street rallied Thursday as news the U.S. government is considering a more comprehensive solution to the financial crisis.Reports said that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is considering the formation of a vehicle like the Resolution Trust Corp. that was set up during the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980's and early 1990's.
Wall Street hoped a huge federal intervention could help financial institutions jettison bad mortgage debt.
The latest developments came on the first day that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rules aimed against abusive short selling of stock in all publicly traded companies took effect.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 410.03 points, or 3.86 percent, to 11,019.69, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 50.12 points, or 4.33 percent, to 1,206.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index shot up 100.25 points, or 4.78 percent, to 2,199.10. For all three indexes, it was the biggest one-day percentage gain since October 2002.