... and a few more headlines that just might have some part to play in the markets' futures:
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U.S. Stocks Decline on Citigroup's Loss, Drop in Retail Sales By Eric Martin
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. stock market resumed its January tumble after Citigroup Inc. reported a record loss, retail sales unexpectedly dropped and falling oil prices dragged down energy shares.
Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, declined to a five-year low in New York Stock Exchange trading after cutting its dividend by 41 percent and writing off $18 billion for mortgage defaults. Chevron Corp., the second-biggest U.S. oil company, dropped the most in seven weeks. Apple Inc. tumbled to the lowest in two months on the Nasdaq Stock Market after new products failed to impress investors.
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Citigroup Posts Record Loss on $18 Billion Writedown (Update5) By Bradley Keoun
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. posted the biggest loss in the bank's 196-year history as surging defaults on home loans forced it to write down the value of subprime-mortgage investments by $18 billion.
The fourth-quarter net loss of $9.83 billion, or $1.99 a share, compared with a profit of $5.1 billion, or $1.03, a year earlier, the New York-based bank said in statement. Citigroup reduced its dividend by 41 percent and is selling $14.5 billion of preferred stock to investors including the government of Singapore to shore up depleted capital. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit eliminated 4,200 jobs and plans more cuts.
The results are ``unacceptable,'' Pandit said today on a conference call with analysts and investors. He was installed in December after Charles ``Chuck'' Prince stepped down amid mounting subprime losses. ``We need to do better, and we will.''
U.S. Economy: Retail Sales Drop as Expansion Falters (Update2) By Bob Willis and Courtney Schlisserman
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly dropped in December, capping the weakest year since 2002 and pushing the economy closer to a recession.
Sales fell 0.4 percent, the first retreat since June, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Separate figures from the Labor Department showed producer prices eased at the end of a year that saw the biggest annual jump in more than a quarter century.
The pullback among consumers, whose spending propped up the economy through the housing slump, is eroding profits at retailers from Sears Holdings Corp. to Williams-Sonoma Inc. Coupled with downward revisions to October and November, the decline in sales means economic growth in the fourth quarter was about 1 percent or less, some economists said.
Citigroup, Merrill Receive $21 Billion From Investors (Update3) By Yalman Onaran
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co., two of the largest financial institutions in the U.S., turned to outside investors for a second time in two months to replenish capital eroded by subprime-mortgage losses.
Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank, is getting $14.5 billion from investors including the governments of Singapore and Kuwait, former Chairman Sanford Weill and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the New York-based company said today in a statement. Merrill, the largest brokerage, will receive $6.6 billion from a group led by Tokyo-based Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the Kuwait Investment Authority and the Korean Investment Corp.
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Bank of America Will Cut 650 Investment Banking Jobs (Update1) By David Mildenberg
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp., the second- largest U.S. bank, plans to cut 650 jobs from its corporate and investment bank and sell the prime brokerage unit that caters to hedge funds.
The bank is slashing its so-called structured products business, which packaged and sold real estate loans to investors, and will reduce investment banking in Europe and the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis said in a meeting with reporters today in New York.
Lewis, who told investors in October he'd had ``all the fun I can stand in investment banking'' after about $2 billion of writedowns and trading losses, said today the bank is still committed to the unit. Bank of America remains a market leader in syndicated lending and leveraged finance, and the business is important to the company's success, he said.
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Hedge-Fund Deposits Declined 33% in Fourth Quarter (Update2) By Tom Cahill
Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Hedge-fund inflows declined by 33 percent in the fourth quarter as subprime-mortgage losses caused some investors to delay new deposits, according to data compiled by Hedge Fund Research Inc.
Fund managers attracted $30.4 billion in the final three months of the year, compared with $45.2 billion in the third quarter, the Chicago-based research firm said today in an e- mailed statement. Investors put $15.8 billion of new cash into hedge funds in the year-earlier quarter.
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Call it what you will, it's not good.
Bernanke will ride to the rescue very soon I think.
dub
ASX Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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