E*Trade Shares Plummet" Says Wall Street Journal. The article says, "E*Trade uses some $40 billion of customer cash from its bank and brokerage to make investments. The company said its $3 billion portfolio of asset-backed securities includes about $450 million of so-called collateralized debt obligations and second-lien securities," citing concerns that savers may pull deposits. Other brokerages using "bankerage" models, or FDIC insured deposit accounts instead of money market funds, have seen big losses on the re-investment side of their businesses.