Thursday night brought no progress on a rescue plan, as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's efforts foundered on Capitol Hill soon after 10pm.

By that point, only one Republican was still at the negotiating table.

The precarious financial situation was driven home as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Washington Mutual Inc. on Thursday night, the largest failure ever of a bank in the United States.

Washington Mutual's problem was bad mortgages. Their banking operations were quickly gobbled up by J.P. Morgan Chase in a $1.9 billion deal with the feds.

We shall see Friday morning if the combination of Washington Mutual's failure plus the backpedaling on Capitol Hill adds up to trouble for investors.

I'll admit this up front: I am not an expert on the financial markets. I won't pretend at all.

But I do have an eye and an ear for what is going on in the political markets. And right now, there has not been enough of a financial crisis to force the Congress to act.

It is clear that many Republicans - mainly in the House - want no part of the plan that evolved this week in negotiations between Democrats and the Bush Administration.

The $700 billion figure is too much for too many members of Congress, especially since no one is even sure how much money needs to be involved in a bailout, or rescue plan.

Democrats on Thursday basically tried to bluff their way to a deal, by getting a couple of Republicans to stand with them, and announce they had a deal in principle.

They couldn't deliver the goods, as their plan fell flat during Thursday's White House meeting with Congressional leaders and Senators Obama and McCain.

A week ago, Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chair Bernanke told leading lawmakers that a major rescue plan was needed. A week ago, Congressional leaders said they would get it done.

A week later, Congress isn't close to agreeing on anything, let alone approving a legislative bailout/rescue.

As we go to work on Friday morning, it might be time to pull out the ole Magic 8-Ball, just to see what kind of advice it has.

"Will the markets crash?" I ask.

"Ask again later," it says.

"Will there be a deal approved by Congress soon on a bailout plan?"

"My sources say no," the 8-Ball replies.

And my sources would agree with that as well. My best bet right now - next Friday - unless the markets crash before then.