A disheartened Wall Street has suffered its third straight loss, as investors absorbed more dismal corporate reports and news that the government won't buy banks' soured mortgage assets after all.

Paulson To Banks: Continue Lending | Save Money

The Dow Jones industrial fell about 411 points to the 8,283 level, and all the major indexes fell more than 4 percent.

Macy's Inc. reported a sharp drop in sales, Best Buy Co. slashed its 2009 outlook on fears that consumer spending will keep eroding, and Morgan Stanley outlined plans to cut 10 percent of staff in its institutional securities group.

One silver lining for investors: Gassing up their cars is getting cheaper and cheaper.

Oil prices slipped below $59 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as investors come to grips with the prospect that global growth next year will slow more than originally feared, cutting demand for crude products such as gasoline.

According to AAA, the average price of gasoline fell to $2.22 a gallon.

Light, sweet crude oil for December delivery was down 60 cents to $58.73 a barrel, after falling as low as $58.55, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract overnight fell $3.08 to settle at $59.33, the lowest closing price since March 2007.

The latest decline in crude prices comes ahead of a report from the International Energy Agency, which some analysts expect will cut its 2009 oil demand forecast for the third consecutive month.

Paulson: Bailout Plans Have Changed

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that the $700 billion government rescue program will not be used to purchase troubled assets as originally planned.

"This market, which is vital for lending and growth, has for all practical purposes ground to a halt," Paulson said.

He said the Bush administration decided that using billions of dollars to buy troubled bank assets wasn't "the most effective way" to use the bailout package right now.

Paulson said the administration will continue to use $250 billion of the program to purchase stock in banks as a way to bolster their balance sheets and encourage them to resume more normal lending.

In addition, nonbank companies as well as banks and financial institutions would receive capital and more would be done to prevent home foreclosures.

Paulson also announced a new goal for the program to support financial markets, which supply consumer credit in such areas as credit card debt, auto loans and student loans.

The administration has been accused of not being tough enough with banks that are getting financial assistance. There are also complaints that troubled assets were not being bought as planned and that not enough is being done for people struggling with their mortgages.

Meanwhile, other problems have cropped up, such as pressure to give the auto industry $25 billion, and the need to pump another $40 billion into insurance giant AIG.

On Tuesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced a new plan to help struggling homeowners with mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s chairman said the plan falls short of the big changes needed to help millions of homeowners with distressed mortgages.