Citigroup

Temporary Stay of Execution - A month halt on foreclosures

hat tip to Calculated Risk:

Another "evolving plan". I think they will discover that there is no easy method for successful loan modifications (as FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair discovered when they took over IndyMac). I guess the plan is to buy down loans with the $50 billion - or pay a portion of the monthly payment.

CNN:

JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup Inc. announced plans Friday to temporarily halt foreclosures as the government works to finalize the details of a financial rescue package that could include billions of dollars in aid for struggling homeowners.

Bear in mind this is just two banks and it is only a month. On top of things, there is no real plan in place to help those about to be foreclosed upon, never mind the ones who already were.

ON FDL: Bad Bank or Nationalization: What will CDSs Cost Us?

On FDL, masaccio peers into the financial statements of Citi and Bank of America, to determine Bad Bank or Nationalization: What will CDSs Cost Us?masaccio. Suffice it to say that if the credit default swaps are honored, it's going to cost A LOT of money. Cram down, anyone? I think the answer is discussed in Institutional Risk Analytic's interview, The Big Banks vs. America: A Roundtable with David Kotok and Josh Rosner.

There is one notable quote from masacci, which is actually pulled from a Financial Times article:

If you havn't read Institutional Risk Analyst yet, you need to NOW

Last week ago, Institutional Risk Analytics interviewed Josh Rosner of Graham Fisher & Co and David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors, and the discussion is one of the most direct and revealing of the true political nature of the financial collapse I have yet seen. As I have written before, using reports from the Fed, FDIC, and Comptroller of the Currency, the financial problems are very tightly concentrated in a handful of the largest banks, with over 8,000 plus smaller and regional banks having declined to participate in Wall Street’s derivatives madness.

They will NEVER be held accountable!

It is becoming abundantly clear that Barack Obama is going to pursue the same centrist pro-Wall Street policies as did Bill Clinton, and Clinton's big money contributors.

Dylan Ratigan, the host of "Fast Money," is one of the few voices of taxpayer outrage on CNBC. Today he interviewed Obama economic advisor Laura Tyson. Keep yourself away from objects that you might be able to hurl at your computer screen, because it will be hard to restrain yourself.

Here's the link
[If someone knows how to embed the video, feel free to do so or let me know how]

A few "highlights":
- It's not appropriate to think of this as coming out of the taxpayer's hide.
- The interests of Wall Street and Main Street are one (Main Street should be glad we are bailing out Wall Street)
- This isn't a bailout, it's an effort to "restore normalcy"

Citigroup Stock Pounded? No Problem, Government to the Rescue!

Is this unbelievable or what? Millions of jobs on the line and Congress puts the auto industry through hell yet Citigroup stock drops and the Government immediately comes to their rescue.

Citigroup in Talks with Government for Rescue:

One option being considered is taking some of the risky assets held by Citigroup off its balance sheet, a move that would give the company more breathing room and put it in a better position to raise capital. It was unclear, however, exactly how that option might be structured, the people said. Another option would be for the government to make another cash injection into the company.

Citigroup Throws a Bone to Homeowners

Citigroup to stop some foreclosures and renegotiation some terms.

I guess they are jumping the gun in hopes the rules are not set down by the government.

It's $20 Billion, about 500,000 mortgages. Do these numbers not add up to you? Me either.

Will we see any transparency to prove they are really helping and renegotiating terms? Good question.

Citigroup Could lose Biggest Bank Status

Citigroup Could Lose Status as Biggest Bank:

Pandit, who took Citi's reins in December, said Friday he expects to shed $400 billion of assets he inherited within the next three years. Two-thirds of the divestitures will come from the company's troubled consumer banking division.

If Citi were $400 billion thinner today, it would have about $1.79 trillion of assets, just ahead of Bank of America Corp. (BAC), which cracked the scales with $1.74 trillion of assets at the end of its first quarter on March 31. When Bank of America completes its planned acquisition of Countywide Financial Corp. (CFC) later this year, it would surpass Citigroup, even with Countrywide's rapidly deteriorating mortgage assets.
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