As stocks plunged yesterday, Lehman Brothers was part of a financial group that helped lead the way, Winn-Dixie Stores saw nearly 25% of its market value bagged and investors found an appetite for Wendy’s International.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280.28 points, or 2.1%, to 13041.85, as 29 of its 30 members fell. Home Depot added 3 cents to 35.05 after agreeing to sell its wholesale distribution business at a discount.

The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 60.61, or 2.4%, to 2500.64, now less than halfway from its record close of 5048.62, hit on March 10, 2000.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 34.43, or 2.3%, to 1432.36, as gains were marked by just 14 members.

The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index declined 239.01, or 2.5%, to 9289.92.

Stocks were off steeply for most of the session after an indicator of American home prices registered a record decline in the second quarter, and consumer confidence weakened in August. The coup de grace was delivered in mid-afternoon, when minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting indicated inflation remains the central bankers’s “predominant” concern, throwing some cold water on hopes for a quick interest rate cut or an aggressive approach going forward.

“The blast of news certainly didn’t favor the market,” the chief investment strategist at RW Baird, Bruce Bittles, said. “It gave credibility to the potential for the U.S. economy to fall into recession.”