The Dow Jones Average closed down 369 points Monday, and that was the good news. At one point in the trading day the Dow had lost nearly 800 points.

The drop on Wall Street followed a gut wrenching day of trading around the world which saw prices drop 5% to 6% in Europe and 4% in Asia. Investors around the world worry that a global banking crisis will lead to a global recession.

Those fears also helped drive down the price of oil which late Monday was trading at less than $88 a barrel. The drop in oil was driven in part because the dollar gained strength against the euro.

Even before the markets opened in the United States, the Federal Reserve Monday morning announced new steps to pump more money into the system to keep credit from freezing up. The central bank said it will begin paying interest on commercial banks' reserves and will expand its loan program to squeezed banks.

While the U.S. Government is moving quickly to implement the $700 billion rescue plan passed by Congress, investors are realizing that the impact will not be immediate. President Bush on Monday again reiterated that recovery will take time. In the meantime many banks continue to have problems gaining access to cash.

Over the weekend, governments across Europe rushed to prop up failing banks. The German government and financial industry agreed on a $68 billion bailout for commercial-property lender Hypo Real Estate Holding AG, while France's BNP Paribas agreed to acquire a 75 percent stake in Fortis's Belgium bank after a government rescue failed.