IndyMac stock closer to zero; ‘no value left for shareholders’

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From Wall Street’s viewpoint, there’s virtually nothing left of IndyMac Bancorp now.

The stock plunged as low as 34 cents this morning and was trading around 40 cents at about 11 a.m. PDT, down from 71 cents on Monday. The price a year ago: $31.

After the close of trading on Monday the loss-ridden Pasadena-based thrift announced it would drastically shrink its business in a bid to survive.

But survival as a publicly traded company seems out of the question. Paul Miller, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., said today the stock was headed for zero. ‘We do not believe that there is any value left for common shareholders,’ he said in a note to clients.

Just because shareholders have lost everything doesn’t mean the bank has to close. But it doesn’t help IndyMac’s situation.

What about the bank’s stock listing on the New York Stock Exchange? It’s a formality at this point: The shares have been suspended from trading on the NYSE floor since June 26, when they first closed below $1. Instead, they’re trading on the NYSE’s all-electronic ARCA market.

Under NYSE rules, the exchange can act to permanently delist a company once the average trading price of the firm’s shares over 30 days falls below $1.

An NYSE spokesman wouldn’t comment on IndyMac specifically, citing exchange policy.

Stocks in IndyMac’s price range normally end up in the over-the-counter market, where they’re of interest only to hard-core speculators and day traders.