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The Dow Jones industrial average closed up nearly 11 percent at 9,065 with a gain of 889 points. It was the Dow's second-biggest point gain in its history, after a 936 point rise on Oct. 13.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose 10.8 percent, 92 points, to 940.5. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 144, or 9.5 percent, to 1649.

Much like yesterday, when the markets lost money, the exchanges experienced extreme volatility late in the day. The Dow gained more than 750 points after 2 p.m. Yesterday, a wild swing sank the Dow by more than 200 points as hedge funds and mutual funds sold positions to cover margin calls, investors and analysts said.

In today's trading, the markets opened sharply up but retreated later in the morning after bleak morning reports about consumer confidence and housing prices. But investors brushed aside those concerns in the afternoon and launched into a buying spree as the Federal Reserve reported positive results from its program to buy up commercial paper to cover corporate IOUs that are used for everything from payrolls to equipment purchases.

Sales of longer-term commercial paper soared 10-fold after the Federal Reserve began buying the corporate loans, according to Fed data. Companies yesterday sold 1,511 issues totaling a record $67.1 billion of the debt due in more than 80 days, compared with a daily average of 340 issues valued at $6.7 billion last week, according to a report by Bloomberg.

"At long last there were tangible signs that the credit market was easing and government programs were beginning to work," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank. "This the basis of confidence and the underpinning of the economy."

The day started on a strong note with global markets rallying overnight because of the Japanese yen's decline against the dollar, a positive sign that Tokyo may be able to export its electronics and other goods to bolster its economy.

Japan's Nikkei stock index recovered from its 26-year low reached Monday, rising 6.4 percent to 7,622 points. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index rose 14.4 percent to 12,596, with investors lifting shares of financial heavyweight HSBC Holdings 20 percent.

In Europe, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose 2.3 percent to 199. The U.K. FTSE 100 was up 1.9 percent to 3,926. News that Porsche planned to take over nearly three-fourths of the stock of fellow German automaker Volkswagen lifted the German DAX index 11.3 percent to 4,823.

The activity overnight spurred an early morning rally in the United States with the Dow jumping as high as 300 points at one point on before falling back on a report by the Conference Board, a private research group, that its index of consumer confidence plummeted to an all-time low of 38 in October, compared to 61.4 in September. The report showed that consumers may be clamping shut their pocket books ahead of the holiday season, which could drive prolonged recessionary pressures, analysts said.

That report was compounded by bleak housing data: The S&P/Case-Shiller home-prices index fell 16.6 percent in 20 major metropolitan areas in August, compared to the same period last year.

Inflated expectorations: At a September "spit party" hosted by 23andMe, invitees supply samples for free genetic testing

If Greg Lennon is right, then the personal genome gold rush has a major flaw: There's not much gold there—not yet.

In the past year, companies have launched high-profile efforts to read the future in people's genes. For $399, a Google (GOOG)-backed startup called 23andMe collects saliva samples from its customers, looks at nearly 600,000 genetic variations in their DNA, and describes what these reveal about the donor's traits, ancestry, health, and risk of diseases. Another company in the headlines, Navigenics, not only extracts information from 1.8 million variations, or "markers," in a tissue sample, but also taps the expertise of genetic counselors and scientists at Harvard and other institutions. The price: $2,500, plus a $250 annual fee to get customized bulletins on the latest discoveries. "The technology lets you know who is at risk for Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases," says Navigenics Chief Executive Officer Mari Baker.

Not so fast, says Lennon, a PhD geneticist and entrepreneur. Contrary to the hype about genetic testing, this first wave of direct-to-consumer ventures is likely to be a bust, he believes. The slim, soft-spoken Lennon, 51, is in a good position to know. He's a veteran of both the government's Human Genome Project and biotech startups, and he has ridden the roller coaster of hype and failure. He predicts that the payoff from the explosion in knowledge about human genes—and from the business model espoused by 23andMe and its ilk—won't come for 10 years. Right now, the personal gene-testing companies glean medical insights from individual bits of DNA, rather than from whole genes. So far that may be no better than what is learned the old way, from family histories: "Most people can save themselves $1,000 just by asking Aunt Clara what runs in the family," says Lennon.

"PARLOR GAME"

Such skepticism is surprisingly common among scientists. "I see personal genomics as a kind of recreational parlor game rather than a useful endeavor," says Dr. James P. Evans, professor of genetics and medicine at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "There's a potential for harm in false reassurance and false anxiety, but mostly it's a waste of money."

Of course, even parlor games can make money. And in the long run, Lennon, Evans, and others think that reading people's DNA will prove to be a tremendous medical boon. Lennon himself is a believer and continues to place bets on the field: His latest venture, called SNPedia, is a repository for all the data streaming from around the world linking genetic variations to health and disease. Launched in 2006 by Lennon and a computer-whiz buddy, it's a Web site supported by ads and licenses, which anyone can browse for free.

But Lennon and many academics contend that the claims of the new gene-testing startups are premature and overblown. 23andMe, which is also backed by biotech powerhouse Genentech and was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google's Sergey Brin, promises on its Web site to "help you understand how your genetics influences more than 80 diseases, health-related conditions, and traits." Another gene-testing company, deCODE Genetics (DCGN), also makes some grand claims on its deCODEme Web site: "You'll find out where your ancestors came from" and "make more informed decisions about your health." Yet the information we can extract from common DNA variations falls far short of a predictive blueprint for future health. It provides only small statistical links to illness, along with imperfect hints at a customer's origins.

This reality struck Lennon when he had his own DNA tested several years ago with the same basic technology now marketed by 23andMe, then analyzed it using his SNPedia database. Getting the results seemed exciting at first, he says. He was intrigued to learn he has genetic markers linked with an increased risk of heart disease and decreased risk for certain cancers.

Nikkei index plunges as Japanese Yen soars. Sony Corporation revised their financial outlook downward deepening the investors' fears on global Recession. Junko Kimura/Getty Images

The decisions were announced by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who stressed that the 185-nation lending agency would act with speed to provide support for countries whose economies are being buffeted by the crisis.

Strauss-Kahn said the loan for Ukraine was designed to bolster confidence and noted that the assistance was sizable in relation to the country's borrowing rights with the IMF.

In a separate announcement, Strauss-Kahn said the IMF staff had reached broad agreement with Hungarian authorities on a reform package that the country will implement as a condition for getting its own emergency loans from the IMF. Agreement on reforms is a necessary first step in receiving IMF assistance.

Strauss-Kahn said the IMF was ready to approve a "substantial financing package" for Hungary within the next few days after all the details of the reform program are put in final form.

He said the IMF's executive board would consider loans for Hungary under expedited procedures. He did not give a figure for how large the IMF loan to Hungary would be.

In his comments on Ukraine, Strauss-Kahn said in a statement, "The IMF is moving expeditiously to help Ukraine and this program is focused on the essential upfront measures needed to maintain confidence and economic and financial stability."

The decision to aid Ukraine came two days after the IMF announced it was supplying a $2 billion loan package to Iceland, whose banking system has collapsed amid the global credit crunch.

Iceland, the first Western nation to receive IMF assistance in more than three decades, and Ukraine will both be given IMF loans in an effort to stabilize their economies.

The IMF's executive board is expected to consider in the coming week ways to streamline its emergency loan programs as it braces for a stream of petitions from countries seeking support.

President Bush and other leaders of the Group of 20 major industrial and emerging market economies will meet in Washington next month to discuss ways to overhaul the global financial architecture to better cope with the current financial crisis.

The ongoing global turmoil has resulted in the biggest upheavals on Wall Street in 70 years and prompted Congress on Oct. 3 to pass a $700 billion rescue package for the U.S. financial system. Britain and other European nations have put forward massive resources to stabilize their countries' banks.