HOUSTON — Enron Corp.'s breathtaking descent from power-brokering dynamo to corporate junk ran its course Wednesday, when a smaller rival abandoned plans to buy the energy trader and its stock melted down to less than a dollar.

        The collapse made bankruptcy seem inevitable for a company that just months ago was the country's seventh-largest in revenue. It crumbled after revealing questionable partnerships and admitting that it overstated profits for four years.

        In quick succession Wednesday, two rating agencies dropped Enron's credit rating to junk, obliging it to make good on billions of dollars of debt it probably can't pay. Dynegy Inc. immediately backed out of an $8.4 billion acquisition plan that was already being renegotiated.

        Investors went on a record one-day rush to unload shares — 339 million of them — and sent Enron stock down 85 percent to 61 cents.

        Enron was valued at $80 billion little more than a year ago, its name gracing a Houston major league ballpark. By the end of the trading day, it was worth about $500 million — and one Enron share was worth less than a sixth the price of a hot dog at Enron Field.

        “I'm not sure they have any other alternatives (to bankruptcy), unless banks are willing to siphon more money into a black hole,” Prudential Securities analyst Carol Coale said. “Investors will not buy it.”

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