WASHINGTON (AP) -- Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sank, then recovered somewhat, on a gut-wrenching Friday as investors tried to ascertain whether the government will soon intervene to shore up confidence in the troubled mortgage finance companies.

Shares of both companies, which have been trading at levels last seen in the early 1990s, rallied after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President Bush scrambled to reassure the market about the companies' health, and after Sen. Christopher Dodd raised the prospect that the companies could be given access to emergency Federal Reserve lending.

Dodd, the Banking Committee chairman, spoke Friday to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Paulson and said the two are "looking at various options" for propping up the firms if they ultimately need help. Those include giving them access to the Fed's emergency lending "discount window," the Connecticut Democrat said. said. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve took the unprecedented step of offering direct loans to investment banks.

Freddie Mac's shares fell 25 cents, or 3.1 percent to close at $7.75 after earlier plummeting falling to $3.89 and then rising briefly into positive territory. Fannie Mae's shares fell $2.95, or 22.4 percent, to $10.25, after sinking as low as $6.68 earlier in the day.

Paulson sought for the second-straight day to calm investors panicked about out the financial state of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying the agency aims to keep the mortgage finance companies "in their