Citigroup (C) 01 (May 08 - Nov 08)

[kennynah]

smart fella...

[blid2def]

Smart meh? Won't get one. Hahahahaa...

[kennynah]

u never know.... some fellas kan cheong spider.... throw to you at market order ....

[blid2def]

If I kena, then maybe I become kan cheong spider... I don't even know if I really want to own C shares. Hahaha... but like, dun queue for something, whole night do nothing... damn sianz. Hee hee hee.

[millionairemind]

Published November 21, 2008

Citigroup to close 7 SIVs after losses of US$2.2b

(NEW YORK) Citigroup will wind down seven failed off-the-books investment funds, ending chief executive Vikram Pandit's attempts to salvage them after at least US$2.2 billion of writedowns this year.

The company agreed to buy the remaining assets held by the structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, which have a current market value of US$17.4 billion, the bank said.

That's down from US$49 billion last December, when Mr Pandit pledged to support the SIVs - backed by bank debt and bonds linked to mortgages, student loans and credit cards - to minimise investor losses.

SIVs, which Citigroup invented in 1988, emerged 15 months ago as one of the first major strains in credit markets rocked by record high foreclosures on sub-prime mortgages. Their unravelling prompted US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to push for an industry-wide 'super-SIV' that ultimately was abandoned.

Citigroup's SIVs, which went by names including Beta, Centauri and Sedan, stood at US$87 billion in August 2007, as a slump in credit markets eroded the value of their assets.

On Dec 13, two days after Mr Pandit, 51, was named CEO, he announced a plan to take over the SIVs as Mr Paulson's proposal to prop up the market foundered. The SIVs were brought onto the bank's balance sheet, so its earnings became vulnerable to subsequent declines in the market value of the assets.

During the first nine months of this year, Citigroup took US$2.2 billion of writedowns on the SIV assets.

As of Sept 30, the SIVs' assets stood at US$21.5 billion of assets, net of cash, the bank said in Wednesday's statement. Since then, about US$3 billion of assets have matured or been sold, and the market value has fallen by another US$1.1 billion, according to the bank.

Citigroup shares tumbled 23 per cent to a 13-year low on Wednesday as investors questioned the survival prospects of the the second-largest US bank by assets.

The shares closed down US$1.96 at US$6.40 on the New York Stock Exchange and have fallen 33 per cent this week as some investors concluded that plans to shed 52,000 jobs and cut expenses by one-fifth will not restore the bank to health.

The stock's dive likely hurt some prominent investors, such as American Funds and AllianceBernstein, that bought more of the stock in the last quarter.

American Funds, a unit of Capital Group Cos, bought 26 million shares of Citigroup in the quarter that ended in September. It is now the biggest institutional shareholder of Citigroup and owned 426 million shares, or 7.8 per cent, of the banking firm as of Sept 30, according to Reuters data.

AllianceBernstein Holding LP raised its holdings of Citigroup by 20 per cent, or 22.7 million shares, in the latest quarter and owned 135.6 million shares, or 2.5 per cent, as of Sept 30.

American Funds and AllianceBernstein declined to comment on their portfolio holdings.

T Rowe Price Group Inc was another large backer of Citigroup, raising its holdings of the bank by 40 per cent, or 15.5 million shares, in the quarter that ended in September. T Rowe's total holdings of Citigroup shares stood at 54.5 million, or one per cent, as of Sept 30.

T Rowe spokesman Edward Giltenan said that the firm had 'significantly reduced' its holdings of Citigroup in the current quarter, but declined to give details.

Prominent fund manager Kenneth Heebner's Capital Growth Management LP is a new investor in Citigroup, buying 27.2 million shares, or a 0.5 per cent stake, in the quarter that ended in September. -- Bloomberg, Reuters

[kennynah]

Citigroup Weighing Options, WSJ Reports
11/20/2008 8:50 PM ET

(RTTNews) - Citigroup (C: News ), whose shares have received a drubbing in the recent sessions due to uncertainty over its financial health, may soon be finding itself on the block if reports published by the Wall Street Journal are to be believed. The Journal said Citi's executives have come down from a stance that the bank has ample liquidity and have begun discussing about different strategic options, including a possible sale of the bank.

The speculation comes close on the heels of an announcement by Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz that he will boost his stake in the bank to 5%. The bank's board is reportedly meeting on Friday to discuss the options.

[LenaHuat]

For a long time, I had been wondering when the Saudis will open their tightwads. Now that they have, I don't know how to interpret this

[millionairemind]

Hopefully our gahmen don't pick up the shorter end of the stick

Citigroup May Seek Merger as Stock Plunges Further
Topics:Banking
Sectors:Financial Services | Banks
Companies:Goldman Sachs Group Inc | Morgan Stanley | State Street Corp | Citigroup IncBy Charlie Gasparino, On-Air Editor | 20 Nov 2008 | 06:49 PM ET Text Size

Senior officials at Citigroup told CNBC that they will have to make a strategic change in the firm's direction, including finding a possible merger partner or raising cash in the coming days to arrest a sharp slide in the firm's stock price.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27829103

[kennynah]

For a long time, I had been wondering when the Saudis will open their tightwads. Now that they have, I don't know how to interpret this

that perhaps, C will not close shop, as a business....although whether it can remain an entity of its own...your guess, as good as mine...

[iam802]

It is now cheaper to buy C than DBS and UOB

Any FA opinion...whether to place bets on C or DBS or UOB ?