Stocks of companies in bankruptcy trade for pennies

— -- Q: What has happened to the stocks of companies that have gone under?

A: "Gone under," could mean many things.

Do you mean companies that have seen their stock prices plummet? Do you mean firms that have been delisted from a stock exchange? Do you mean companies that have filed for bankruptcy reorganization? I'll take a stab at what I think you mean, but if I miss it, feel free to send another e-mail to clarify.

Usually when people say "go under" they mean firms that have filed for bankruptcy protection. BankruptcyData.com is a helpful source for data on companies that file for bankruptcy protection. On the site's main page, you can see a list of the companies that have filed most recently.

If you click on the "Research Center" link on the left-hand side of the page, you'll get even more information. The lists of the largest bankruptcies of all time or in particular years are especially interesting.

For instance, you can see that the largest public company filings for bankruptcy protection last year were Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, IndyMac Bancorp., Downey Financial and Tribune. If you're interested in other years, you can click around for the data you need.