I tried to place an order yesterday through Scottrade and received a message that I needed to call a broker in order to place the order. I have placed orders before and have never received this message. I called a broker and he was able to place an order over the phone. An order for DCU just can't be placed via the internet.

The answer as to why, as told to me by the broker, is that DCU has been placed on a restricted list by the head office. They get a daily list of restricted securities and DCU is currently on the list. They are not informed as to why any security is on the list. Examples he gave me for any security to be on this list are, but not limited to the following:

-price volume movements
-potential stock manipulation
-strange trading patterns
-troubles encountered at other brokerage firms

He also was not able to tell me how long DCU has been on the restricted list or had any indication how long it might last. It's simply up to Scottrade's risk management people to determine when it should be lifted.

Ameritrade seems to be doing the same thing with DCU, so it would be interesting to know why.