I have no idea about Citibank specifically, nor about any other financial company. It really doesn't much matter, though, in my view. The whole house of cards is about to come crumbling down. It's not hard to read between the lines with what's been happening of late.
There's another thread pointing to the end of January Federal Reserve report showing that the country's financial system is essentially insolvent and the banks don't have the actual money to cover their obligations. The amount of paper debt across the board in the financial sector is staggering. The only reason it hasn't come crashing down (fully) yet is because of the 'plunge protection team' that Dr. Paul alluded to in a recent debate. With the Fed having recently cut 125 basis points (likely for political purposes to keep a huge market crash from occuring prior to Super Tuesday or for other reasons) and a continued downward trend on Wall Street, alongside Cisco's lousy future outlook released after the bell today which is likely to decimate the tech sector, there is little left to hang your hat on with respect to the American economy. The credit crisis is coming home to roost right now, and all of the last ditch desperate measures have all but been exhausted. There may be a few final things to be attempted, whether another rate cut or God forbid military hostilities to obfuscate the situation a little bit longer, but nothing they have left in their bag of tricks will stop the precipitous plunge that is now essentially upon us...
Most of the US economy is a house of cards (or pyramid debt hierarchy, if you prefer) at present. It's been propped up about as long as possible now, thus ensuring the largest possible crash into the floor as the bandaged pieces crumble.
This is truly an historic time. It will not be just one more financial institution that shakes the foundations of our economy in the near term. It will be many... And inflation is likely to get much worse very quickly now as the Fed continues to print money out of thin air to bail out the paper debts incurred by its minions in the banking community who have long used the people's US Mint to magically create their profit bearing capital out of thin air... Hold onto your hats. And pray that the madmen in power aren't nuts enough to do something insane on the world and/or domestic stage to shift attention from the root of the problem (that they fear may enrage the sheeple once they understand that problem source). When the power-brokers in Washington believe there's a chance for them to be singled out for responsibility as the sheeple suffer then is there the largest statistical possibility for a tragedy or emergency of sorts to skew the issue. They'd rather the entire population suffer terribly than take personal responsibility for the decades of corruption and abuse of power. It's always the cover-up that makes things worse...
p.s. Oh yeah, almost forgot: The exact same is essentially true about our government debt hierarchy. It will be interesting to see how international relationships between countries are effected when and if the dollar is no longer backed by something tangible (like oil through the widespread use of the petro-dollar) and/or by projected US military power. Sad to say, but if the tangible continued backing of oil cannot be ensured then don't be surprised if our govt falls back on more projected military power. An awfully tenuous thought right about now with much of the world [rightfully] pissed at us, our military stretched extremely thin, and a looming inflationary crisis at our doorstep...
