This is why you should short Citibank

Quote from HoundDogOne:

This is a misleading article.

Citigroup has been downgraded to AA-
Still a VERY high rating.

In contrast...
New York State's rating is 2 notches lower at A

New York State paper is riskier than Citigroup paper...
And this is after months and months of media hysteria.
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Moody's also lowered the bank financial strength rating of Citibank N.A. to B from A-.

If it doesn't restore its ratios in the medium term, Citi could be facing a further downgrade.

Additionally, several Citi units were placed on review for possible downgrades, including Citibank Europe Plc, Citibank International Plc, Nikko Citigroup Ltd. and Citibank Japan Ltd.

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/new...ml?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
 
Quote from Retired:

Moody's also lowered the bank financial strength rating of Citibank N.A. to B from A-.

If it doesn't restore its ratios in the medium term, Citi could be facing a further downgrade.

Additionally, several Citi units were placed on review for possible downgrades, including Citibank Europe Plc, Citibank International Plc, Nikko Citigroup Ltd. and Citibank Japan Ltd.

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/new...ml?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
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Anything on "thestreet.com" is not news to anyone who trades bonds professionally.

I trade C paper every day...
Among at least 20 other global banks or investment dealers...
And the whole "sub-prime crisis" is a HUGE financial windfall for my firm...
Because volatility is my friend.

I don't care if it goes up or down... only that it moves.

People that publicly claim to know which way these securities are going are:

(a) Are LYING in order to sell you something...
Like brokerage services or a web site subscription or fund units.

(b) Hopelessly naive.
 
Quote from ASusilovic:

Citigroup: Morgan Stanley's Top Short Idea for 2008

Morgan Stanley is out pitching Citi (NYSE:C) as their top short idea for 2008. Near-term, the announcement of Vikram Pandit as CEO as well as the Fed should be a plus for Citi. But looking to 2008, MSCO sees 3 reasons to be short: earnings are deteriorating, they expect new management to deliver a dividend cut, not a breakup, and they expect further hybrid issuance, diluting current shareholders. The firm does not believe the stock has bottomed out as it is trading above trough multiples: 18% above trough PEs, 24% above trough P/B and 48% above trough P/TB + Reserves.

The firm has lowered their 2008 EPS From $4.01 to $3.55 due to higher losses against loans, CDOs, and SIVs, and due to slower top line growth in the IB and thinner net interest margins given wide LIBOR. They have lowered the forecasted dividend from 54c/quarter to 30c/quarter in 2Q08. MSCO is lowering their price target to $28 based on trough PE levels of 8.0x.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/57066-citigroup-morgan-stanley-s-top-short-idea-for-2008
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I would have been more impressed if they had issued this call before it lost 40%.
 
My old friend C note. The timing of this 'news flash' is almost comical and will hold true for for a short time. Seeking Alpha's contributers are almost always a good fade so perhaps a revisit to those wonderful range bars from just over a decade ago.
 
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

I would have been more impressed if they had issued this call before it lost 40%.
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Exactly...
People actually pay for and take seriously and post on forums...
These thinly veiled ex-post-facto rehashings of long past events.

But if these dudes accepted the truth that C has an EQUAL chance of going up/down in the next 6-12 months...
Then they would have to stop believing their own lies.

Such as...
Only a "genius" would have the steely discipline to subscribe to "thestreet.com".
 
Quote from HoundDogOne:

Exactly...
People actually pay for and take seriously and post on forums...
These thinly veiled ex-post-facto rehashings of long past events.

But if these dudes accepted the truth that C has an EQUAL chance of going up/down in the next 6-12 months...
Then they would have to stop believing their own lies.

Such as...
Only a "genius" would have the steely discipline to subscribe to "thestreet.com".
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Hey Dog,

My friend Jim Rogers was advocating shorting US banks since July. You can find his call here --

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSSIN29515920070705

He is still bearish on US financial companies, brokers, and banks.
I guess you either missed his call, or ignored it.

No everyone is as clueless as you are. :D
 
Quote from HoundDogOne:

It's always a great idea to "pitch" your direct competitors as "shorts"...
Especially if you have the same problems on your balance sheet.

But, of course, the irony is lost on everyone.
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about twelve months ago Jim Rogers was talking up base metals.

Anyone seen the price of Copper, Zinc, Nickel and Aluminium lately?

No wonder he packed up and left for China!

(I would have done the same thing in his position)

Jim Rogers is little more than a flim-flam man these days.
 
Quote from Retired:

Undocumented residents being recruited for home loans by Citibank

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060206-9999-1n6loans.html

"The local program, which uses tax identification numbers instead of Social Security numbers, is similar to programs run by small lenders � and two state agencies � around the country that have distributed millions of dollars to undocumented immigrants over the past few years."

"The local tax-ID program has kept a low profile � no Citibank or ACORN-issued news releases � because of the anti-immigrant backlash that the overall program has drawn. Citibank has processed 72 tax-ID loans nationally since October 2004, half in California."

This article explains why Citibank is in so much shit right now. I bet this is what's in their massive SIVs -- loans that have no secondary market, too ugly to reveal, and sinking fast.
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Citibank has its friendly deep pocketed Arabs to bail it out. Plus it's beginning to do well with it's Chinese ventures.

WAMU is the one I'd be shorting to oblivion.
 
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