Imagine that you go to withdraw funds from your checking account, only to find that you must give your bank seven days prior notice of the action. Does that sound outlandish? This regulatory fine print has been made all too real for customers of Citibank (C).

In an informational snafu that got out of hand, Citibank notified its customers that it has the right, or the responsibility, to delay customers from retrieving their own money in certain rare instances. The misstep occurred when Citibank included this revelation on the statements of its customers nationwide.

Continue reading Citibank Trips over Regulations

Citibank Trips over Regulations originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A rose is a rose is a rose. Thank you Gertrude Stein for that observation. But a bank is not a bank is not a bank. That's because not all banks are serving the same market, nor are they all offering the same loans. If you're going to invest in banks, be sure you understand who they're lending to and what kind of loans they have on the books.

The first group of banks is community banks. As you might guess, they serve specific communities, usually within a fairly narrow geographic region. They rely on that region for their deposits with which they'll make loans, and loan demand. In other words, they serve a well-defined community. They know all the neighbors, participate in the local activities, have a high profile, hopefully do good things for a community.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Not All Banks Are Equal

Comfort Zone Investing: Not All Banks Are Equal originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that the FBI is looking into a potential computer-security breach that resulted in the theft of tens of millions of dollars from Citibank by computer hackers.

These hackers appear to be linked to a Russian cyber gang who targeted Citigroup's (C) Citibank subsidiary, including its North American retail bank and other businesses. This attack was detected over the summer, but there is a chance that it could have happened as much as a year earlier.

Continue reading Citibank Loses Millions Thanks to a Cyber Security Breach

Citibank Loses Millions Thanks to a Cyber Security Breach originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Friday, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) filed suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against rival Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) for allegedly breaching a credit-default swap agreement. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

The complaint alleges that Morgan Stanley, which recently announced that its CEO will step down, failed to live up to its obligations regarding the 2006 agreement. Citigroup's Citibank unit says it entered into CDS with Morgan Stanley to protect the bank against losses from a revolving credit line that it entered into with a collateralized debt obligation known as Capmark VI. The CDO was scheduled to mature in 2038, but its performance declined substantially after July 2006 as a result of the global financial crisis.

Continue reading Citigroup sues Morgan Stanley over credit-default swap agreement

Citigroup sues Morgan Stanley over credit-default swap agreement originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Citigroup cutting back on retail outlets

Citigroup cutting back on retail outlets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: When a loss is s win (GE, C, ADSK, IBKC, DELL)

Closing Bell: When a loss is s win (GE, C, ADSK, IBKC, DELL) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yep, you guessed it. Someone has devised an index to track the value of international and marketable art works. Michael Moses, founder of the Mei Moses Art Index, uses the recent auction prices of museum quality art to determine the appreciation of various works of art.

So now, let's take this a step further. Suzanne Gyorgy is the head of the art division for Citibank(NYSE:C). When she looked at the balance sheets of bank customers, she found that many of them included works of art as an asset group. Being creative and seizing on an opportunity, she set up a loan division at Citi that specializes in collateralized loans based on valuable art works. A client can obtain a loan of up to 50% of the underlying value of the art. To determine its value, Ms. Gyorgy has a nine member team of specialists in this field. Once the value is determined the loan can be made. Most loans fall between $5 million and $100 million.

Continue reading What is the Mei Moses Art Index?

What is the Mei Moses Art Index? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Closing Bell: Dow, S&P up, although markets remain mixed with no "New Deal" yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We're reading monthly about numerous U.S. financial institutions needing to turn to foreign governments for money to stave off financial disaster. While some investors cry foul, alluding to nefarious plots to take over America, Bloomberg examines uber-investor Warren Buffett's take on what's occurring in the economic world today.

Instead of some global plot against the U.S., Buffett says that investments by foreign government-controlled firms are fueled by U.S. spending overseas, not political motives. These so-called sovereign wealth funds are merely responding to some to our own activities.

"This is our doing, not some nefarious plot by foreign governments,'' said Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A), in his annual letter to shareholders. "Our trade equation guarantees massive foreign investment in the U.S. When we force-feed $2 billion daily to the rest of the world, they must invest in something here.''

Bloomberg reports that countries like China, Russia, and Dubai have deployed record central bank reserves to set up funds to invest as much as $2.9 trillion. We've already seen a flurry of activity. Investment funds from Singapore, Korea, Kuwait, and Abu Dhabi bought stakes during the past four months in the largest U.S. bank in terms of assets, Citigroup (NYSE: C), and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), the world's biggest brokerage.

Zack Miller is the managing editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.

Buffett: Not auctioning off America to the highest bidder originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

But Mulcahy certainly is not acquisition-averse; she has overseen Xerox's purchase of four companies in the past 15 months. She noted that Xerox hasn't ruled out deals with smaller companies that would help bulk up her company's software offerings.

Continue reading Xerox not lusting for Lexmark after all

Xerox not lusting for Lexmark after all originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In June, I wrote a nice rant about credit card offers I was receiving with the words "Remove contents before you discard." I thought, and others agreed, that the offer implied that I needed to open the envelope to avoid the risk of identity theft.

Now Citibank is attracting controversy by mailing 3.5 million credit cards to department store customers who didn't ask for them. The cards are being sent to customers who who have had inactive accounts for more than two years.

According to CNN, "A federal law dictates that banks can issue credit cards only when customers request them or they replace existing cards. Citi considers the cards replacements to the Macy's cards already accepted by the customers."

Calling new cards sent to customers have been inactive for two years seems pretty aggressive, and consumer advocates have expressed concern that the personal information of customers could be breached.

Citi is playing pretty fast and loose with the law here. Customers shouldn't receive credit cards in the mail that they didn't ask for and don't want -- and that is exactly what is happening here.

Citibank mails new cards to inactive customers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A feature story in BusinessWeek provides a sad commentary on the immorality of the credit card industry: Citibank was offering college students $5-10 for every one of their peers that they can talk into filling out a credit card application. The former student credit card pusher featured in the story knew nothing about consumer credit when he was signing up his friends, and currently has $13,000 worth of credit card debt of his own.

What's wrong with this picture? Citibank was relying on an untrained salesforce being paid completely on commission: Student marketers were reportedly told by a Citibank representative that they could assuage students concerns by telling them that "It's easy to pay off your balance once you graduate and get a great job." Hmm. Another BusinessWeek story discusses the sad plight of a student who racked up so much debt he ended up dropping out to repay the money.

The marketers had no real training in the products they were pushing, and it's not hard to imagine that, in their eagerness to sign up other students, they engaged in deceptive marketing practices and did a poor job of explaining what their prospects were getting into.

Of course, Citibank had to have known that this would happen, but that was the beauty of it: By recruiting students to do it, they had no knowledge of or, in theory, responsibility for the deceptive marketing: a Chinese wall had been constructed.

This is an absolute travesty, and state attorney generals need to investigate credit card marketing tactics on and around college campuses. Students are being exploited and someone should end up in jail.

Credit card companies recruit students to prey on each other originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Citi's management depth and where it is going (acquiring Old Lane is a start)
• Citi's massive layoff announcement from last week
• What affect the subprime lending implosion is having on Citi

Continue reading Liveblogging Citigroup's Q1 earnings

Liveblogging Citigroup's Q1 earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) is the favorite conservative idea for 2007 from Dr. Mark Skousen, editor of Forecasts & Strategies and the host of the annual FreedomFest investor think tank.

"Citigroup is the most dominant banking institution in the history of the world. As the world's largest bank, it has over 200 million customers, and branches in over 100 countries. During the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese banks dominated the world. But Citibank has returned to its glory.

"What about the Citigroup, the stock? In addition to Citibank, Citigroup owns Salomon Brothers, Smith Barney, Traveler's, Primerica, and other financial services.

"And business is good. Profit margins at Citigroup are an outstanding 29%, and the bank has had a policy of paying a rising dividend for years, with a current quarterly dividend of 49 cents, or a 3.5% yield, one of the highest among Dow stocks.

"The stock is up 12% for the year, but continues to languish behind other financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, which has doubled in the past year. According to the technicals, Citigroup is in a clear investment uptrend. And despite being downgraded by several Wall Street analysts lately, Citigroup appears poised to move higher."

To see Mark's speculative favorite for 2007, click here.

Top Picks 2007: Mark Skousen banks on Citi's return to glory originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bank of America, Citigroup takeover targets? Pschaw. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 24 Nov 2006 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), $79.20 up 3.66% today; 52-week high $88.35; 52-week low $67.05. P/E 17.47. Latest quarter results show it is up 6% on LCD growth. I think that P/E is nice and low for a company which, despite its industrial roots, is really an innovative company that actually makes things that people want. A good 10% below the 52-week high sounds like lots of room to me.

Continue reading Dow 12,000: Where to go from here? Five stocks with room to zoom

Dow 12,000: Where to go from here? Five stocks with room to zoom originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, it would all be a joke if it did not have an impact on large amounts of money.

We frequently read, "analyst so and so initiates coverage with a buy /sell / hold and a 12 month price target of..."

Then, depending on a variety of factors like guru status, prestige of the company, size of portfolio under management, timing of release and competing news events, a stock price will make a corresponding move up or down. In other words, for no good reason!

Call me cynical. Worse, call me angry. The entire process and response of the market is maddening.

On occasion I have been challenged by readers questioning the extent of my knowledge in relation to their perception of my influence. Some have even wished I would slip from my giant soap box into a land of a thousand bubbles and be carried away by the same fear and greed influencing the masses. Whoa.

So what has me so upset? It is that the analysts so infrequently adjust their recommendations as to make them worthless. WHY, NO CONSTANT MISSION IMPROVEMENT? What good is it if Piper Jaffray issues a price target of $600 per share by the end of the year for Google (GOOG) and just lets it sit out there in investor land (never-never land maybe), until they feel they have sufficient egg on their face to change the call?

Continue reading Analyzing the Analysts - It's all a joke right?

Analyzing the Analysts - It's all a joke right? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.