NEW YORK -- Wall Street stormed back after its worst week ever and staged the biggest single-day stock rally since the Great Depression on Monday, catapulting the Dow Jones industrials to a 936- point gain and finally offering relief from eight consecutive days of stock market carnage.

While no one was saying the worst was over for the staggering financial system or troubled economy, buyers returned to the stock market with gusto, with some saying stocks had been driven down to fire-sale prices.

The surge came as executives from leading banks were summoned by the Bush administration to Washington to a Treasury Department meeting to revamp the most costly financial rescue in the nation's history. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also participated in the discussions.

The Bush administration plans to spend an initial $250 billion of the $700 billion bailout buying stock in private banks, greatly expanding protections for the U.S. financial system out of deep concern for the faltering economy, industry and government officials said Monday night. President Bush planned to announce the details this morning.

While the administration refused to provide details in advance, industry and government officials with knowledge of the plan said it would include billions of dollars in spending by the government to purchase stock in banks as a way of providing them desperately needed money so they could resume more normal lending. The industry and government officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the details were yet to be formally released.

The Dow gained more than 11 percent, its biggest one-day rally since 1933, and by points it shattered the previous record for a one- day gain of 499, during the waning days of the technology boom in 2000.

"My screen is completely green, and I love that," said John Lynch, chief market analyst for Evergreen Investments in Charlotte, N.C. "But I'm not doing any backflips yet. We still have many challenges up ahead."

Stocks opened sharply higher and never looked back. The Dow was up more than 400 points in the opening minutes of trading, and by lunch hour had crossed back through the same 9,000 level it crashed below last week.

The rally intensified in the final hour of trading. In the moments before the closing bell rang, boisterous traders sounded horns on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, and raucous applause broke out.

"I would say this is closer to the bottom. I can't say this is the bottom," said Bill Schultz, chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pa.