Citigroup

[Zelphon]

I shall start the 1st thread here then...

Is Citigroup a good counter to long amidst US and Global recovery???

Current price = USD 4.90
Book Value = USD 5.60
PE = 13.77

Pros:
1) Too BIG to fail !!!
2) Global-diversified operations

Cons:
1) Depreciating USD vs SGD, eroding gains
2) Virtually zero dividends
3) Perhaps still hiding tons of toxic assets

Anyway, I am vested recently..
Looking to hold this for the long term (i.e. 5 yrs and beyond)

Just asking for everyone's view on Citigroup...

[freedom]

too expensive to receive dividend from US stocks....

[arthur]

As of Yr 2007: Common Shares outstanding = 4994.58 (in millions)
As of Yr 2010: Common Shares outstanding = 29,058.40(in millions)

I had someone telling me his friend bought Citi at $3+ and expects the price back to $50+.
Okiez... Hopefully noone is thinking about that $50 before buying.

---

Financials build steam on mark-to-market accounting
High-profile bank stocks make sizable gains

"The revisions to the mark-to-market rule today should give a boost to profits of financial companies," said Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/financi...nting-ease
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/audit-r...hike-first

It makes me wonder if the banking industries reported profits thus far, are they still valid?

[Big Toe]

I have good memories of Citi group as I got it on the cheap($1.30) and sold off a while later for some decent gains($3.80)
This helped me offset my soured bet on fannie mae. Didn't expect the housing to be that bad, anyway another lesson learnt.
What hasn't happened before does not mean it will not happen.

Onto citi, as pointed out by arthur, there are 29B shares, that's a lot, compared to previous years.
Mr Vikram Pandit and the gang have said it would be not possible to restore dividends to pre-crisis level within this decade.
(i.e. 2010-2020) So it is also logical to assume that share prices will not go back to pre-crisis level within the next few years.
The govt still owns a chunk of it and they are busy unloading and when they finish, then we may not see so much selling, prices may start to appreciate in line with the broader economy.

As for the book value, I doubt Vikram himself knows what exactly their assets are and how much they are worth.
But kudos to him for dividing the bank up into the good/bad portion of it and divesting the bad side of it(citi holdings).

Citi is in the worst position amongst the big banks. On the other end of the spectrum you have JP Morgan.
But this may just be the incentive enough for us to invest. There is money to be made if it improves from worst to bad, but just bear in mid it will not shoot to $50 anytime soon.

[dra123456]

Is it really true that fund managers cannot buy counters that are less than USD5?

[nitenite]

Just got this from broker that Citi is having a reverse stock split of 10 into 1 which is normally followed by an immediate panic selling...now is abt 4.44

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42191140
For a definition of reverse stock split:
http://www.essortment.com/financial-defi...52101.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Reverse-Split-...id=4490091

http://www.businessweek.com/investing/in...rever.html

(not vested yet )

[CityFarmer]

Still troubled by issue dated back 2007...

Judge questions fairness of Citigroup S$730 million settlement

NEW YORK — A Manhattan federal judge yesterday signaled he will not rubber-stamp Citigroup’s proposed US$590 million (S$730 million) settlement of a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets.

US District Judge Sidney Stein asked lawyers for the bank and its shareholders to address several issues at an April 8 fairness hearing, including requested legal fees and expenses of roughly US$100 million, and the absence of payments by former Citigroup executives.

http://www.todayonline.com/business/judg...settlement