As world stock prices continue falling, U.S. President George Bush is trying to reassure Americans and people around the world that his government is doing everything in its power to address the economic crisis.
全球股市继续下跌，美国总统布什争取让美国人和世界各国放心，美国政府正在尽全力克服这场经济危机。
President Bush says the U.S. financial rescue plan will, in time, put the nation's economy back on its feet.
美国总统布什表示，美国的金融拯救计划会及时让美国经济恢复元气。
"The plan we are executing is aggressive,' the president explained. "It is the right plan. It will take time to have its full impact. It is flexible enough to adapt as the situation changes, and it is big enough to work."
布什说：“我们正在执行的计划是雄心勃勃的救市计划。这是正确的方案，但是需要一段时间才能完全显现出来它的影响。随着形势的变化，这项计划还可以相应修改，非常灵活。该计划非常重要，一定能成功。”
The president spoke outside the White House Friday, hoping to calm anxiety among Americans and people around the world about the state of the U.S. and global economy.
布什星期五在白宫外面发表上述讲话，希望能够平息美国人民和全世界人民对美国以及全球经济的焦虑。
"This uncertainty has led to anxiety among our people. And that is understandable. But anxiety can feed anxiety," Mr. Bush noted. "And that can make it hard to see all that is being done to solve the problem. The federal government has a comprehensive strategy and the tools necessary to address the challenges in our economy."
布什说：“对目前经济形势的不知所措导致我们的人民非常焦虑。这可以理解。可是焦虑会引起更多的焦虑。那样就很难看到现在为解决问题所采取的各种措施。联邦政府有一套完整的战略和必要的手段来解决我们的经济难题。”
Meanwhile, leaders of the world's leading economies are meeting to look for answers to the global crisis. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven--the United States, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Canada - are in Washington for the weekend. Mr. Bush plans to meet with them on Saturday.
与此同时，世界主要经济体的领导人正在开会，商讨解决这场全球危机的对策。由美国、日本、英国、德国、法国、意大利和法国组成的7国集团的财政部长和中央银行行长这个周末将到华盛顿开会。布什计划星期六跟他们会晤。
"Through these efforts the world is sending an unmistakable signal. We are in this together and we will come through this together," he said.
布什说：“通过这些努力，世界发出了一个明确的信息，就是我们都置身于这场危机之中，我们会共同克服它。”
One possible remedy that may be discussed at the G-7 meeting is for governments to guarantee lending between banks.
这次7国集团会议中讨论的一种可能帮助走出危机的措施就是各国政府对银行之间的借贷提供担保。
Frozen credit markets and the prospect of a global recession have led to panic selling on the world's stock markets.
信用市场冻结，出现全球经济衰退的可能性导致世界各股市出现恐慌性抛售。
Asian and European stocks suffered major losses on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei Index dropped 881 points, more than 9.5 percent, finishing Friday at 8,276. It was the biggest one-day loss for the Nikkei since 1987. It was a similar story in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng plunged 7 percent, or 1146 points, closing at 14,797.
亚洲和欧洲股市星期五遭受重挫。东京日经指数下跌881点，跌幅超过9.5%，以8276点作收。这是日经指数1987年以来最大单日跌幅。香港股市的情况也类似，恒生指数下挫1146点，跌幅为7%，收在1万4797点。
Stocks in London, Paris and Frankfurt were also down sharply for much of the day.
伦敦、巴黎和法兰克福股市星期五大部分时间都是大幅度下跌。
Heavy selling led exchanges in Austria, Russia and Indonesia to suspend trading, and the losses on Australia's markets caused traders to call it "Black Friday." Mr. Bush discussed the financial meltdown with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday.
投资者大规模抛售股票，导致奥地利、俄罗斯和印尼股市暂停交易；澳大利亚股票交易商因为星期五股市下跌造成的损失而把这一天称为“黑色星期五”。
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points in the first few minutes of trading, then briefly surged into positive territory a half-hour later, but plunged again.
在纽约，道琼斯工业平均指数在星期五开盘几分钟就下跌600多点，半小时之后一度回升超过当天的开盘价，然后再次下跌。
This week's coordinated interest rate cuts by several nations' central banks appear to have had little or no effect on investors' confidence.
几个国家的中央银行这个星期联手降息，但是似乎对投资者信心产生的作用甚微或者没有作用。
In other financial news, the Commerce Department says the U.S. trade deficit declined by 3.5 percent in August, to $59 billion. But the deficit with China rose to more than $25 billion, the second highest on record. The overall trade deficit is expected to continue shrinking, as the economic slump leads to lower demand for imported goods.
在其它金融消息方面，美国商务部表示，美国8月份贸易逆差减少3.5%，降至590亿美元。不过，跟中国的贸易逆差增加了250多亿美元，是有史以来第二个逆差额最高的月份。随着经济不景气带动对进口商品需求减少，总的贸易逆差数字预计将继续下降。
One of America's biggest companies, General Electric, announced that its third-quarter profit was down by 22 percent. G.E. blamed the losses on its financing business.
美国最大的企业之一通用电气公司宣布，该公司第三季度赢利下降22%。通用电气认为，赢利下降是该公司金融业务损失造成的。
And Citigroup is suspending its bid to buy the troubled bank, Wachovia. That paves the way for Wachovia to be acquired by Wells Fargo.
此外，花旗集团暂停收购陷入困境的瓦乔维亚银行的竞标，从而为富国银行收购瓦乔维亚银行铺平道路。 |