Posted on 02/20/2009 10:38:15 AM PST by jessduntno
Citi, Bank of America drop on nationalization concern By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bank of America Corp. shares hit a record low and Citigroup Corp. stock slumped to an 18-year low Friday, as the two financial giants faced investors' concerns they may soon be nationalized.
Citi shares dropped 21% to $1.99, their lowest level since early 1991. Bank of America fell 17% to $3.27, and earlier touched a record low of $3.19, according to FactSet Research data.
A Citigroup spokesman highlighted the bank's high Tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of financial strength, and said it continues to cut assets on its balance sheet, reduce expenses and streamline its businesses for future "profitable growth." He declined to comment further.
Citi is not having conversations with the U.S. government about nationalization, Reuters reported, citing two unidentified people close to the bank. However, those people also said the U.S. Treasury has not disclosed much more to Citigroup than it has to the broader public about its plans for the banking sector. "We see no reason to nationalize a bank that is profitable, well capitalized and actively lending," said Scott Silvestri, a spokesman at Bank of America.
Chief Executive Ken Lewis said Thursday during a senior leadership meeting that policy officials in Washington have assured him nationalization isn't an option being considered, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
If I could be confident that they won’t nationalize, I’d buy up some of the better banks stocks like gangbusters...they’re seriously undervalued at the moment.
We need Obama to make a statement NOW!!! What a poor excuse for a CEO.
sw
Obama wants this country to tank, it’s what he has wanted from the beginning
LOL, and how many of them would be in Bankruptcy now if it were not for the tax payers money. Undervalued hell, they will never pay back the tax payers.
“LOL, and how many of them would be in Bankruptcy now...”
You mean, where they should have gone?
“Undervalued hell, they will never pay back the tax payers.”
Why are we shareholders anyway? Or is a socialized banking system and centralized government a GOOD idea? I’ll take the capitalist system, thank you. GSE socialist experimentation got us into this, it ain’t going to get us out.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853&play=1
Fox Business channel is placing the blame squarely on Chriss Dodd for that "nationalization" comment.
>> If I could be confident that they won’t nationalize, I’d buy up some of the better banks stocks
For what it’s worth:
When can I stop making my mortgage payment to Citi?
>> When can I stop making my mortgage payment to Citi?
YOU’RE STILL MAKING YOUR MORTGAGE PAYMENT??? OMG! HAHAHAHA
oops, sorry, from what I heard on the news I didn’t think there WERE any more suckas out there.
Well, stop NOW! Get in tune with HopeyChange! Besides, you’re singlehandedly keeping Citi from going boots up!
Obama will be removed from office before this country goes totally in the tank. I have to believe that.
Im shocked the stocks are worth anything. It’s only the promise of government invervention on either the bailout or nationalization level that is keeping them afloat.
They issued trillions in paper and converted that paper *into* their assets. They have *no* actual assets against the trillions in redemptive paper they’ve issued.
They are catastrophically insolvent.
300 billion into the Citigroup blackhole meant 300 billion in cash was converted at the teller window in exchange for a 300 billion in their outstanding liabilities.
The Government can pour trillions into them. It’ll vanish the next day out the withdrawel window, and in exchange they’ll have fulfilled not a 10th of their outstanding obligations.
Phelps Calls Treasury’s Toxic Asset Plan a `Non-Starter’
Not ALL banks, but many banks are undervalued. There are plenty of banks under the radar that are doing just fine, but have low stock prices because of the simple fact that they’re banks.
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