Want an Idea of How Far Bank Stocks Have Fallen?

I don’t buy many individual stocks.

For one thing, I don’t have the time to do all the research necessary and for another, I tend to get hopelessly attached to the ones I buy, even after common sense tells me I should sell.

Still, ever once in a while—say every 18 months or so—I will plunk down a little bit of money on what I think is a good idea. (It really isn’t investing; it’s more like entertainment. I don’t play Sudoku or Solitaire.)

Seeing how far the bank stocks had fallen, I figured I’d buy a couple hundreds shares of Washington Mutual. (My over-arching rationale was twofold: I figured at some point banks will have to have hit bottom, and my dad had been a huge Washington Mutual fan before he died.)

Since I trade so infrequently, I had to deposit some money--$1,000 in this case—in my account at Scotrade. (Their transaction costs are extremely low and their people pleasant and helpful.)

So, I wired the money electronically, got confirmation it was there, but when I tried to buy my 250 shares, I got this error message: “Order rejected due to insufficient funds.”

What gives, I asked the folks at Scotrade?

“If you want to buy any shares that trade at $4 or under we put a hold on your account, until we physical get the money from your bank,” I was told. “That’s what we do we all extremely speculative investments.”

So, this is what it has come to. One of the nation’s largest banks, and a stock that was trading at 39 less than a year ago, is now seen as a speculative investment

How low can you go?