My Two Cents on Citi
Gary Kaltbaum is an
investment advisor with over 18 years experience, and a Fox News Channel
Business Contributor. Gary is the author of
The Investors Edge. Mr.
Kaltbaum is also the host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Investors
Edge” on over 50 radio stations. Gary is also editor and publisher of “Gary
Kaltbaum’s Trendwatch”…a weekly and monthly technical analysis research report
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I had to put my two cents in on this CITI thing. So many are saying how
positive the news was. What is positive about:
A company who has been buying billions of its own stock back at higher
prices…now selling at much lower prices.
A company that has to pay higher than junk rates to obtain the cash. In a sad
irony, who is the subprime borrower now?
The 11% interest rate is not even tax-deductible. And are they raising this
money just to pay the dividend?
Very simply, it is my opinion that this was a sheer act of desperation and
urgency. This move telegraphs that there is billions more to go for CITI…and
that Meredith Whitney was right while CITI lied about their situation. For me,
there is nothing bullish about this news. If you feel differently, I would love
to hear from you.
By the way, I am not saying it will be a repeat but just remember what
happened to the BAC/Countrypuke Financial disaster.
I am still in the camp we can bounce here back into the longer term 200 day
moving averages for the major indices. That would be DOW 13,200 and S&P 1480.
Again, this is not a bullish call…but a call based on the fact there is only
22 days left in the year for the boys to make things better. The S&P just went
back above positive for the year on Tuesday…and am sure that will not be good
enough for them. Any bounce is a bounce in a bear phase though. Until I see a
follow through day, the market remains in a downtrend. If one occurs, I will
deal with it. My bigger interest now is January. Markets top in January. If the
internals do not improve markedly…look out.
Gary Kaltbaum