Citigroup’s (Second) Bailout: 7 Things to Know

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Just got home from Thanksgiving visit to east coast. In my mail box was a letter from Citicorp telling me that effective December 1, 2008 They are raising my apr. from 5.99 to a min. of 14.99. I have not been late, there is no problem with my credit, however they are putting it to me because of their problem.
Why is is allowed by the government?

R Shaw of IL 1:05AM December 01, 2008

I think wall street and the banks, Auto's ,have all been playing poker and nobody kept track of it. All to fat to see there feet. Why dont they call it a hand out? And also how
many hand outs can USA withstand with two wars going on?
Old time lessons.

jack of NY 11:27AM November 25, 2008

A couple of comments, one of citigroups majors investors is a saudi, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, he is into Citigroup for over a billion dollars. Do we really want to be bailing these guys out?
Second any returns on these bailout loans should be returned to us taxpayers. Not go into a government general fund as the returns from the Chrysler bailout did. Send every taxpayer a check is what should happen. The government has proven they do not know how to handle money.

Ron of TX 3:17PM November 24, 2008

The trouble with these large banking concerns is their inability to react to changing conditions fast enough. They are just too big. Smaller, more nimble banks seem to still be loaning money for cars and mortgages while the bigger ones are holding onto the money because of the regulations the government has imposed for asset/debt ratio's. It's time the Fed let these "giant of the industry" fail and let the smaller regional banks take control. After all, they can't cover their world wide losses without the American consumer paying for it in the long run and for a long time. Hey Citi and B of A, shouldn't everyone be paying 27% on their credit cards?

Brian Vogler of NY 2:53PM November 24, 2008

Bailout number two?!?! To me, any government bailout (my tax money being used) be it for investment banks, automakers, financial groups, etc. should come with BIG strings attached. When I ask a bank for a loan, I have to show that I can pay it back with interest. Should be just the same for the big guys. No payback with interest plan in place, no loan! Chapter 11 may be the tonic that our financial system needs to get the message. Leave my money alone!

Happy Husband of MA 2:45PM November 24, 2008

Citigroup executives should be ashamed of themselves. As bankers, risk assessment is supposed to be their forte. Instead they have bought into a house of cards built on a shaky foundation of assets made of sand mixed with greed.
While the bank is apparently "too big to fail," and therefore must be rescued, I hope these executives will place their tails firmly between their legs and go back to the basic banking business of lending money at reasonable rates to people who can pay it back, while gradually paying back their own debt to Uncle Sam. Meanwhile, our country as a whole needs to focus on producing goods and services of real value rather than exporting dubious financial products that wind up fleecing our foreign business partners as well as U.S. taxpayers.
What a waste! Think what $45 billion dollars in taxpayer money could do for the U.S. educational system...

ed of CA 2:01PM November 24, 2008

Unlike the auto bailout, this bailout doesn't allow us to keep jobs or generate commerce plus, they were not adversely affected by the economic crisis. They caused it. After already giving them $25 billion, they are still foreclosing on our homes, charging us loan shark rates on our credit cards, and refusing to loan money to business resulting in more lost jobs and no commerce whatsoever. We should first demand a management change and a plan. What is to guarantee that, after we bail them out, they don't just go out and do the same things that got them to this point all over again only to have us left holding a lot of worthless stock. Get rid of those corporate jets and the high salaries and bonuses. Otherwise this is just more money after bad.
http://ewebsmith.com/gov/BankBailOut.html

Web Smith of CA 1:40PM November 24, 2008