REJECTED!!!!! 206 Yea / 227 Nay

As the vote was shown on TV, stocks plunged and and investors fled to the safety of the credit markets, worrying that the financial system would keep sinking under the weight of failed mortgage debt.

The markets were highly volatile, with the Dow regaining ground to trade with a loss of about 360, then falling backing again, trading down about 480 at the 10,662 level.

With Wall Street nervous that the plan may not pass, the yield on the 3-month Treasury bill sank to 0.32 percent from 0.87 percent on Friday. That showed that investors were prepared to get meager returns on an investment as long as it was secure.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information.

More than enough members of the House had cast votes to defeat the Bush administration-pushed bill, but the vote was held open for a while, apparently as efforts were under way to persuade people to change their vote.

On Wall Street, stocks plummeted as investors followed the developments in Congress.