Bailout plan's effect not expected to be swift

Though crucial details of the package remain unknown -- including how much the government would pay for the radioactive mortgage loans and securities -- the agreement itself should help to stabilize financial markets, especially the badly scarred credit markets, they said.

In practical terms, it would finally give institutions of all sizes a way to toss off the albatross of billions of dollars in troubled assets that weighed on their operations and, in some cases, threatened their viability.

Beyond that, the ambitious size and scope of the package should calm jangled nerves and bolster overall confidence in a financial system that has been badly shaken in recent weeks. The failure to cobble together a package could have been disastrous, experts said.

"Wall Street will applaud the simple fact that we have an agreement," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer at Johnson Illington Advisors. "It may not be perfect or quite what Wall Street wanted but it's better than nothing."

The bailout even could prove to be a boon for some Wall Street Goliaths, including well-regarded money-management firms Pacific Investment Management Co. and BlackRock Inc., that have dodged the mortgage meltdown and even thrived. Such firms could earn millions of dollars if hired by the Treasury Department to help manage assets it buys.

The stock market and possibly the credit markets are likely to rally today if Wall Street follows the pattern it has after previous government interventions, such as federal actions to push Bear Stearns Cos. into a takeover by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But those other rallies were short-lived, and once the initial relief of the current bailout wears off, it's doubtful that the banking system or the credit markets would immediately spring back to life, experts said.

It could take weeks for the arcane but essential nuts-and-bolts elements of the plan to become clear. And even when they do, it's unlikely that banks would quickly reopen the spigots and provide free-flowing credit to businesses and consumers.