![]()
- Look Ahead: 'Risk On' Attitude Could Fuel Rally Further
- European Commission Objects to Sun Micro-Oracle Deal
- Obama Sees Strains Unless US, China Balance Growth
- JPMorgan Lifts Salary Freeze Amid Recovery
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Buffett to Sell Stakes in Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific
- Do You Know Your Coca-Cola Myths?
- Cramer: 5 Stocks to Play the Next Bull Run
- Electronic Arts Beats Street, Announces 1,500 Job Cuts
- Why Google is Paying $750 Million for Ad Mob
- Warren Buffett to Sell Stakes In Union Pacific & Norfolk Southern
- Nov. 9: Unusual Volume Leaders
- The Battered Businesses Behind Housing
- Modern Warfare 2's Record-Breaking Launch
- Merck’s Mega-Monday Morning
- Why are Traders Bullish on This Food Company?
- Profiting From Natural Gas: Strategists
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
MOST SHARED
- Obama Sees Strains Unless US, China Balance Growth
- Future of Marketing
- European Commission Objects to Sun Micro-Oracle Deal
- Oil Tomorrow
- Can Apple Top Microsoft as Most Valuable Tech Firm?
- Priceline Crushes Profit Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Mad Mail: Buy the Berkshire Hathaway Split?
- Nov. 9: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Framed for Porn – By a PC Virus
At least to the casual observer, Citigroup posted earnings Friday that weren't just bad, they were horrendous: A $5.1 billion loss, some $16 billion in writedowns from bad loans and layoffs to the tune of 9,000 workers.
![]() |
But in throwing in the kitchen sink--and everything else laying around the house--Citigroup [C
Loading...
()
] saw its shares soar 7 percent, taking the rest of the stock market along with it.
Call it the 'T' word: Transparency.
Even those bracing for more losses from financial firms see the logic of bad news translating into good news. Investors just want to know what's on their plate, even if they don't like the taste, and that's what Citigroup provided, along with a plan for recovery.
"The kitchen sink has gone in, but not necessarily all of the plumbing in the basement has been examined," said Diane de Vries Ashley, managing partner of Zenith Capital Partners in Florida. "There's no question that the earnings from the major houses have all been pretty spectacular in their negativism."
Will this continue? "To a degree, I think so," Ashley said. "Why is the stock market going up? It's beginning to look identified. It has a quantitative quality to it. It's not just rumors, it's not just speculation as to what it might be."
Ashley is one money manager bullish on financials now that the sector has suffered through months of plummeting share prices. Most market pros, however, think it's still too early for investors to jump in.
Like Citicorp on Friday, Merrill Lynch [MER
Loading...
()
] faced a similar reception from the market on Thursday, when it reported $6.5 billion in fresh writedowns and announced an additional 3,000 layoffs. Its stock gained a stunning 7 percent.
But despite this kitchen-sink mentality, some think traders are deluding themselves into thinking that the worst is over for the beaten-down big financials.
"These banks are such black boxes that even the people running them don't know what their writeoffs are going to be quarter to quarter," said Chris Mayer, banking analyst and author of the newly released "Invest Like a Dealmaker." "I think there are a lot of eager bottom-pickers still trying to snatch up financials, which tells me that the bear market in these things is not over."
Mayer and others believe the complex instruments the banks used to finance subprime loans make a clear picture on the extent of the fallout unclear, at least to this point. Only time, they say, will allow the damage to unwind and the institutions to regain Wall Street's faith.
- Do free market libertarians really believe what they say about ethics and shareholder value? The Big Money takes a look.
- Cramer did the research and found eight stocks that lead the pack. Read on to get his top picks.
- On the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, many in the former Eastern Bloc recall communism fondly.
- Software, biotech firms, even banks are watching a particular Supreme Court argument today.
- From politicians to CEOs to companies, here's your chance to vote for the winners and losers of 2009.
- A new sinister Internet viruses can turn you into an unsuspecting collector of child pornography.












