Word: citigroup
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...market has been in what futures traders call a massive contango - that is, future prices of oil are at extreme highs relative to the current price. Therein lies opportunity: buying and holding oil now, then selling it in the future, can generate an almost risk-free profit. Citigroup has already leased a supertanker to store oil that it will sell later this year. (Read "A Brief History of the Oil Barrel...
...shares have similarly traded down since it landed its own loan guarantee deal from the government. In that bank's deal, the government agreed to pick up nearly $100 billion in losses. That hasn't stopped the bleeding at Bank of America, either. Bank of America stock, like Citigroup's, has continued to fall. The company's shares closed on Friday at $6.53, down from $7.18 in mid-January when it announced its deal with the government...
...doing so little to shore up confidence in the two banks. Some say it's because investors fear the problems at the banks are larger than the guarantees they received. What's more, both guarantees involve the two banks taking more losses before the government insurance kicks in. In Citigroup's case, the bank will have to swallow $29 billion more in bad loans before it is protected from further losses...
Another problem is lack of flexibility. Citigroup is just protected against losses in the $300 billion portfolio it sets up with the government. Any losses outside of that loan group are all Citi's. As a result, some investors are worried that Citigroup even with the new guarantees won't have enough capital pay for the loan losses it will have to realize. By some estimates, Citigroup's shareholder capital could be wiped out if just 2% of its loans go unpaid...
...often called the "bad bank" approach, because the government would set up an institution to buy up all the loans or bonds that are backed by borrowers who are nearing or in default. Sources say the FDIC has been against the loan guarantee plan, and only signed onto the Citigroup and Bank of America deals reluctantly...