Financials weaken midday. Traders are citing two factors:
1) Citigroup dropping below $4 just prior to noon ET for the first time since mid-August;
2) cautious testimony from Jon Greenlee, director of the Fed's Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation to the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee, Greenlee said, among other things:
1) "Poor loan quality, subpar earnings, and uncertainty about future conditions raise questions about capital adequacy for some institutions."
2) "the condition of the banking system is far from robust. Two years into a substantial economic downturn, loan quality is poor across many asset classes and, as noted earlier, continues to deteriorate as weakness in housing markets affects the performance of residential mortgages and construction loans."
The link to his testimony is here
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- Read More: Banks at Risk Over Property Loans—Fed's Greenlee
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