Can Citigroup carry its own weight?
Over the past 80 years, the US government has engineered not one, not two, not three, but at least four rescues of the institution now known as Citigroup Inc. In previous instances, the bank came back from the crisis and prospered. Will Citigroup rise again from its recent near-death experience? The answer to that question concerns not only the 276,000 employees who work at what was once the world’s largest bank, but the US’ taxpayers as well. Even as Citi’s stock has soared from a low of $1.02 (Rs48) to its current $4.09—and the company has eked out a $101 million profit in the third quarter along the way—it’s still unclear whether it can climb out of the hole that its former leaders dug before and during the mortgage mania. If Citigroup remains stuck, taxpayers will be on the hook for outsize losses. Hurdles ahead: Citigroup headquarters in New York. Analysts at Fitch Ratings project that Citigroup will continue to be plagued with hefty loan loss provisions and that its operations wi
