Would a $700bn bail-out end the crisis?

Friday's bounce-back on global stock markets sounded like a sigh of relief at the end of an unprecedented week.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson effectively said that he was sick of dealing with individual banks in trouble and instead was going to bail out the whole system by buying up the toxic debt that is causing all the difficulties.

"This needs to be big enough to make a real difference and get at the heart of the problem," Mr Paulson said.

It is certainly big - there will be $700bn (£379bn) available to buy up debt based on mortgages.

Investors seemed to believe on Friday that the measures would, at least in the short-term, provide some much-needed stability.

"If you look at the reaction in the stock, Treasury and (interest-rate) swaps markets, they're all telling you that this is a good thing and that you're taking some of the fear and risks out of the system," said Mike Kagawa from Payden & Rygel in Los Angeles.