[Niagara]

Citi is dead. They destroyed any remaining shred of credibility they had left.

They took 3 days to respond to the rumor of a dividend cut. Which THEY DENIED.

Today, they went ahead and CUT the dividend 40%.

[lateStarter]

Don't worry. Tyler_JC will show up soon to explain everything. Not a problem. In the meantime, head on over to Kohl's or Home Depot and buy some shit!

[Alcassin]

Citigroup means Saudis - Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is the largest shareholder in Citigroup

[waronyou]

At an investor presentation in May, Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said shrinking the bank's $2.2 trillion balance sheet, the biggest in the U.S., was a cornerstone of his turnaround plan.

Nowhere mentioned in the accompanying 66-page handout were the additional $1.1 trillion of assets that New York-based Citigroup keeps off its books: trusts to sell mortgage-backed securities, financing vehicles to issue short-term debt and collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, to repackage bonds.

Now, as Citigroup prepares to announce second-quarter results July 18, those off-balance-sheet assets, used by U.S. banks to expand lending without tying up capital, are casting a shadow over earnings. Since last September, at least $100 billion of assets have flooded back onto Citigroup's balance sheet, accompanied by more than $7 billion of losses.

``If you start adding up all the potential exposures, it's a huge number,'' said Sam Golden, a former ombudsman for the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency who now heads the financial-industry practice for restructuring adviser Alvarez & Marsal in Houston. ``The banks will say that it was disclosed. Investors are saying, `Yeah, but it was cryptic. We really didn't know what you were telling us.'''
http://waronyou.com/forums/index.php?topic=475.0

[IndigoMoon]

Citigroup Posts $2.5 Billion Loss on Fresh Write-Downs LINK By LOUISE STORY
Published: July 19, 2008:
A year into the tight credit market, and the losses keep coming. Citigroup said Friday morning that it lost $2.5 billion, or 54 cents a share, in the second quarter. The loss was largely caused by $7.2 billion of write-downs of Citigroup’s investments in mortgages and other loans and by a weakness in the consumer market, which cost Citigroup $4.4 billion in credit losses and $2.5 billion to increase reserves.

But the chief executive, Vikram Pandit, positioned the $2.5 billion loss as progress. Last quarter, the financial conglomerate lost $5.1 billion. “We cut our second-quarter losses in half compared to the first quarter,” Mr. Pandit said in a statement. “While there is still much to do, we are encouraged by our progress.”

Citigroup is a barometer of the pain felt in all parts of the financial industry, and the company’s results show the downturn spreading from the credit markets to the real economy. Consumers — stung by high oil and food prices — are falling behind on their mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. Increasingly, that pain is being felt beyond the United States.

The bank has recorded more than $56 billion in credit losses and write-downs in the last four quarters. Citigroup lost more than $17 billion in that time. And its share price has fallen nearly 70 percent since the credit market began to tighten. In premarket trading, Citigroup shares rose as high as $19.27, after closing Thursday at $17.97.

Mr. Pandit has overseen sweeping asset sales to try to shore up the company’s balance sheet and free the bank of its riskiest assets. Citigroup said on Friday that it sold an additional $99 billion of assets in the quarter, and two-thirds of them were investments made under his predecessor, Charles O. Prince III, who was ousted last fall. The bank is also selling businesses like CitiCapital Diners Club International and its German retail banking unit. Those companies will bring in billions of dollars.

Citigroup’s revenue was $18.7 billion, down 29 percent, mostly because of its write-downs. In addition to mortgage bond deteriorating, Citigroup was hurt by a drop in the credit quality of companies that reinsure its bonds. Operating expenses were up 9 percent at $15.9 billion, in part because of charges taken while the bank lays off thousands. So far this year, the bank has reduced its work force by 11,000.

Citigroup’s credit card income fell around the world, with North America the hardest hit but growing problems evident elsewhere. Troubled spots included Brazil, India and Mexico where there was a rise in past-due payments and credit costs. Citigroup continued to be stung by lower securitization revenues, as the pipeline for repackaging loans into bonds remained frozen.

Bank executives said a recovery would take two to three years. “This isn’t like a sprint. This really is a marathon,” Gary L. Crittenden, Citigroup’s finance chief, said last week. On Thursday, Merrill Lynch announced a loss of $4.8 billion, surprising even the most pessimistic analysts. The loss was largely caused by another $9.7 billion in write-downs in mortgage investments. Merrill was forced to raise capital by selling assets like its 20 percent stake in Bloomberg, the financial data service mostly owned by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York.

Also on Thursday, JPMorgan Chase said its quarterly income fell 53 percent from the second quarter last year.

[cipi604]

They make it sound like '$2.5 Billion Loss = Peanuts'.

"We didn't lose an arm and a leg... just an arm. We are so proud that we lost just an arm and we are encouraged by our progress"

[heroineworshipper]

But it beat expectations. Buy, buy, buy.

[idiom]

Running out of money to lose maybe?

[mommy22]

This is anecdotal, I know, but this never happened before.
We have a credit card with Citi for the Upromise program (1% of each purchase goes toward a college account for your kids). We pay it off every month, and like clockwork, for the past 7 years, they have posted that 1% into our account at the first of the month.
This month, however, I checked to make sure that the amount was posted on our Upromis account, and it just posted, 30 days late for the month of June's purchases. I geuss they are trying to hold on to cash...who knows how many of these types of programs they have, after all, and how much 1% adds up to for 1000s of cardholders?

[vilemerchant]

They're certainly never late debiting the interest on the $14,000 I owe them

[vilemerchant]

I just went to log into my Text deleted ibank account to check on my mountain of debt and it gives me a link to this strange address by the Citi CEO, seems like he's trying to tell everyone in the world that everything is okay in the financial markets! I wonder if he really believes it. link

[idiom]

LOL. Proud of the community in New York, coming together.

You would think there were things being blown away and looter running in the streets.

Oh, I see...

[TreebeardsUncle]

Hello.
About 3 years ago, a couple of folks from Primerica, a subsidiary of Citibank, came buy looking for new suckers (er recruits) for their pyrmaid scheme (strategic expansion). When I arrived at their hole in the wall (er business office), and was subjected to their transparent indoctrination exercises (marketing and promotion efforts), I observed a lot of unjustified exuberance (irrational enthusiam, cock-eyed optimism ... There isn't anway of covering for that). Unsurprising the market peaked around that time.
When I was working in the Flash Products group for Intel in Folsom in the phase change memory group the company trotted out some shills (representatives) who didn't know much of anything to mislead the gathered herd of employees into thinking things were ok. Then an email was sent out by management saying to focus on one's work rather than being distracted by rumors about impending layoffs etc. That means keep your head down goat while the knife is drawn.

Expect the following companies to experience significant failures over the next 2 years:

GM
Ford
Chrysler
AIG
Washington Mutual
UBS
Beazer Homes
Citibank

[Dreamtwister]

Look at his body language. He looks scared.

[idiom]

Well his bunker has lovely shelves and broadband.

[RdSnt]

So,

" Let me tell you... we are one of a very, very, very select few companies with liquidity..."

So, most of the competition is thoroughly screwed? Ooops.

[emeraldg40]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dreamtwister', 'L')ook at his body language. He looks scared.

[Dreamtwister]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('emeraldg40', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dreamtwister', 'L')ook at his body language. He looks scared.

[mmasters]

Oh yeah he's a scared animal beneath the exterior. I've known a lot of what goes on inside the bows of Citi and it's one of the more ugly places on earth.

[hironegro]

love the slight zoom-in at 2:42!