Skip to main content

Citigroup: the latest government rescue

Is your company in danger of failing as the share price plummets? Fear not; government funded bailouts can have a restorative effect on stock prices, at least in the short term.

From Marketwatch, "Citigroup soars as US acts to backstop losses":

"Citigroup shares rocketed more than 60% higher Monday after federal officials agreed to a $326 billion rescue of the company that was once the largest U.S. bank as it pioneered the one-stop-shop model combining business and consumer financial services.

The government intends to invest $20 billion in Citigroup (C) and to guarantee as much as $306 billion of the company's troubled assets in a deal reached late Sunday evening. The agreement also gives the government control of executive bonuses, and it places limits on dividend payments.

The deal would likely make the government the largest Citi shareholder. The U.S. will end up with a 7.8% stake in Citigroup, Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden said on CNBC television Monday."

So the government has become the largest shareholder in a highly troubled bank (Citigroup). That's always a good sign...

And where is the money for this latest rescue package/government "investment" coming from?

You already know the answer to that question, I'll wager. But just in case, here's a summary view from the LA Times Money & Co. blog:

"Under the plan, Citigroup would absorb the first $29 billion in losses on a pool of $306 billion in troubled assets. After that, the government –- that is, taxpayers –- would shoulder 90% of any additional write-downs with Citigroup responsible for the other 10%."

So America, are you thrilled with your latest indirect purchase?

Related articles and posts:

1. "Citigroup gets US rescue from losses" - Bloomberg.

2. "Meredith Whitney on FT.com" - Finance Trends.

3. "Jim Rogers: 'let banks fail'" - Finance Trends.

4. "US pledges top $7.7 trillion to ease frozen credit" - Bloomberg.

Popular posts from this blog

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .

Jesse Livermore: How to Trade in Stocks (1940 Ed. E-book)

If you've been around markets for any length of time, you've probably heard of 20th century supertrader, Jesse Livermore . Today we're highlighting his rare 1940 work, How to Trade in Stocks (ebook, pdf). But first, a brief overview of Livermore's life and trading career (bio from Jesse Livermore's Wikipedia entry). "During his lifetime, Livermore gained and lost several multi-million dollar fortunes. Most notably, he was worth $3 million and $100 million after the 1907 and 1929 market crashes, respectively. He subsequently lost both fortunes. Apart from his success as a securities speculator, Livermore left traders a working philosophy for trading securities that emphasizes increasing the size of one's position as it goes in the right direction and cutting losses quickly. Ironically, Livermore sometimes did not follow his rules strictly. He claimed that lack of adherence to his own rules was the main reason for his losses after making his 1907 and...

Finance Trends 2019 Mid-Year Markets Review

Email subscribers of the Finance Trends Newsletter receive the first look at new articles and market updates, such as the following piece, sent out to our email list on Sunday (6/14).   Hello and welcome, everyone! If you received our last email notice over the July 4th holiday, you'll know that this weekend's newsletter will serve as a mid-year market update and a follow-up to issue #29, " How to Reinvest in a Rising Market ".   Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, let's start the show...  Finance Trends Newsletter: Our Mid-Year Market Review When we last spoke, back in February, the U.S. stock market was rallying off its December-January lows. As the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reclaimed their 200 day moving averages in February and March, it became increasingly apparent that a lot of retail investors (and perhaps some institutional investors) were left under-invested while watching this recovery move from the sidelines.  The U.S. stock ...