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Stocks plunged on weak corporate earnings which continue to underscore recession fears.

Freeport, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, said quarterly profit fell by a third and would curtail planned mine expansions because of weaker metals prices and current economic conditions. Shares of Freeport-McMoRan dropped 10.8%.

Caterpillar Inc, a maker of excavators and bulldozers, missed profit expectations, sending its stock down 5.1%.

Texas Instruments warned of slowing sales for its widely used analog chips, while DuPont cut its full-year forecast.

Technology shares also fell driving the Nasdaq down more than 4%, ahead of results from iPod maker Apple and Internet company Yahoo.

These were just some examples of weak corporate earnings that's reverberating in the global economy.

In Asia, stocks also plunged in the early morning trading today, with their own weak corporate earning outlook. Nikkei, for instance, opened 3% lower.