US stocks plummeted on Wednesday after Paulson revised the original $700 billion bailout plan and suggested that Treasury will not be buying toxic assets anymore. Best Buy Inc.'s gloomy fourth quarter profit forecast also weighed heavily upon market sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 411.30 points, (-4.73%), to close at 8,282.66. The S&P 500 dropped 46.65 points (-5.19%) to 852.30. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 81.69 points (-5.17%) to finish at 1,499.21, the lowest level since May 2003.

US Treasury secretary Henry Paulson abandoned plans to buy up financial institutions' toxic assets as part of $700 billion bailout plan. Paulson said in a statement that buying up mortgage assets "is not the most effective way" to use government funding. Paulson suggested that a part of bailout plan will now be used to revive the consumer credits market consisting of credit-card receivables, auto loans and student loans.

Financials suffered the most after Paulson announced the shift in Treasury’s focus. Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) plunged $1.16 or 10.74% to $9.64. This was for the first time in its trading history that the stock traded below $10. American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) lost 10.49% on reports that is seeking $3.5 billion from the U.S. government. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) plunged 9.04% while Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) fell 15.2%. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) finished at $66.79, down $7.89 or 10.57%.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) subtracted $1.52 or8.53% to $16.29.

Shares of Best Buy Co.(NYSE: BBY) retreated $1.91 or 8% to $21.97, after the largest U.S. electronics retailer said on Wednesday its full-year profit will be lower than it expected due to the ongoing credit crisis and worsening economic outlook. For fiscal year 2009, the company expects earnings in the range of $2.30 to $2.90 a share and revenue in the range of $43.7 billion to $45.5 billion. Vice chairman and chief executive officer Brad Anderson said in a statement "since mid-September, rapid, seismic changes in consumer behavior have created the most difficult climate we've ever seen.

Retailer Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) decreased $1.04 or 11.05% to finish at $8.37. The company posted a third quarter loss of $44 million or 10 cents a share compared to earnings of $33 million or 8 cents a share in the corresponding quarter in 2007. Revenue declined to $5.49 billion from $5.91 billion. The company however reaffirmed its guidance for fiscal 2008 earnings to be in the range of $1.30 to $1.50 per diluted share.

Shares of raw material producers were also hammered on broad commodity selloff. Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) sank 77 cents or 7.04% to $10.17. Among energy stocks, Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) fell 8.51% while shares of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) were down 5.12%.

Technology stocks drifted lower. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) declined $4.65 or 4.91% to $90.12. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) fell $20.46 or 6.57% to $291.  Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) lost 8.9%. Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) was down $2.11 or 6.35% to $31.14.

Late on Wednesday, the world's largest chipmaker Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) that it expects fourth quarter revenue to be $9 billion, "plus or minus $300 million,” down almost 14% from the previous estimate in the range of $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion. In a statement the company said its "revenue is being affected by significantly weaker than expected demand in all geographies and market segments." Intel tumbled over 6% in extended trading on Wednesday.

Shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) rose 16 cents or 5.48% to $3.08 on bailout hopes. Ford (NYSE: F) gained 4 cents to 2.22% to close at $1.84.

European stocks extended loss on Wednesday. The U.K. FTSE dropped 64.67 points or 1.52% to 4,182.02. The German DAX and French CAC fell 2.96% and 3.07% respectively.

Asian stocks finished in red on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 fell 113.79 points or 1.29% to 8,695.51. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 101.81 points or 0.73% to 13,939.09.

NYMEX Crude oil for December delivery fell $3.17, or 5.3%, to settle at $56.16, the lowest level in 21 months.

Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.