President Bush is trying to calm jittery investors, saying his administration is "on top of the situation" in dealing with the slumping economy.
Bush met Monday with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other top economic advisers as markets around the world remain in turmoil.
The president says he and his senior aides "agree that our financial institutions are strong." He admits, however, that "we're dealing with a difficult situation" with uncertain stock markets, oil prices at record highs and the dollar posting record lows.
On Wall Street it was a mixed day for the key averages, amid fears of a big sell-off connected to JP Morgan Chase's deal to buy Bear Stearns for $2 a share.
The Dow settled with a gain of 21 points at 11,972.
The S&P lost 11 points to 1,276.
And the Nasdaq composite fell 35 points to 2,177.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5 to 1 margin.
Volume on the NYSE topped 5.6 billion shares. Nasdaq stock market volume was 2.3 billion shares.
Crude oil futures fell sharply, with near-month crude down falling $4.53 to settle at $105.68.
Tuesday, the Federal Reserve holds a regularly-scheduled interest rate meeting. Analysts are looking for another cut in the benchmark rate.
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