Dhiren Barot, from London, plotted to create "massive explosions" by packing limousines with explosives and parking them underneath or near large buildings, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
The court heard that in the US, the 34 year old planned to target the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as well as the New York Stock Exchange, the Citigroup headquarters and the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey.
Barot pleaded guilty last month to taking part in a plot to stage deadly bombings in Britain and the United States, and is due to be sentenced this week.
At that time prosecutor Edmund Lawson said that the dirty bomb plan and three other projects were designed to be executed in a "synchronized, concurrent and back-to-back" attack with the limousine project.
But further details of the plots have emerged in the UK media, "The plan was to carry out massive explosions here and in the USA, the principal object being to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people without warning," the BBC quoting Mr Lawson said.
"There were plans for the detonation of a radiation dispersal device, more commonly known as a dirty bomb, the use of a petrol tanker to cause an explosion, and an attack on London's rail or Underground network," he said.
Barot, a Muslim convert from northwest London, was described by prosecutors as "a member or close associate" of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Thames plot
Specifically, Barot wanted to blow up an Underground train while it was beneath the Thames, potentially cracking open the riverbed itself.
"Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here and actually rupture the river itself," the prosecution cited Barot as having written.
"That would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etcetera that would occur."
Mr Lawson said Barot worked on his plans meticulously, spending "hours, weeks and months" in preparation. His plans for the Newark attack looked like a business proposal, he told the court.