Highs and Lows: The bane of small...

Highs and Lows: The bane of small bank stocks was apparent Tuesday as two thinly traded Orange County community banks were among the nation’s leading percentage gainers and losers in over-the-counter trading.

The stock price in struggling West Coast Bancorp leaped 42.9%, but any increase is likely to be a big jump when the stock is trading at less than $1 a share. The Orange-based holding company for Sunwest Bank of Tustin and other financial institutions saw its stock price gain 37.5 cents a share to close at $1.25 a share.

Meantime, stock in CommerceBancorp, which forced its chairman and chief executive to resign last week, fell 24.1% to $5.50 a share from Monday’s close of $7.25 a share. The Newport Beach parent company of CommerceBank was rocked by a soured commercial loans, and is suffering from reserves and write-downs which it must take in its commercial and construction loan portfolios.

But the big percentage swings mean little, said Mark Matheson, a research analyst at Cruttenden & Co. in Newport Beach. In each case, he said, there appeared to be only one trade on Tuesday.

“Maybe $4,000 moved the market for West Coast Bancorp,” Matheson said. “And someone sold 1,500 shares of CommerceBancorp. You have to expect to hold stocks in these small banks for a long time.”