Article: E-Trade Shares Plunge 59%; Investors Flee Ahead of Credit Write- Downs

Shares of E-Trade Financial dropped 59 percent yesterday after the company said that the value of its mortgage-backed securities had fallen significantly and that it would need to take larger-than- expected write-downs next quarter.

E-Trade, a New York financial services firm known as a pioneer in online stock trading, diversified after the Internet bubble burst and has one of the largest thrift charters in the United States, with $29 billion in residential mortgage and home-equity loans. The company bought online TeleBanc Financial of Arlington in 1999 as part of its move to enter new lines of banking.

E-Trade, which has a large operations center in Ballston, lost more than $2 billion of ...

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