| Banks bitten as £5bn wiped off shares
THE gossip is as fine as the vintage wine at the New York headquarters of Citigroup, and it flows just as freely. At 399 Park Avenue in Manhattan, the management team of one of the world's largest banks enjoys access to nine private dining rooms and a menu prepared by a team of top chefs. Yesterday's dish of the day was humble pie. The resignation of Charles Prince, the chief executive, amid losses of as much as $18 billion (£9 billion), as a result of high-risk mortgages, triggered further losses of £5 billion in the shares of Britain's banks, leaving the public to question whatever had happened to the days when bank managers were cautious men who lunched at their desks on sandwiches from brown paper bags and carefully scrutinised, over half-moon spectacles, home-loan applicants.
Banking on Rubin
A month after foretelling a better future for Citigroup Inc., Charles Prince has no future of his own at the nation's largest financial institution. Instead, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, once co-chairman of Goldman, Sachs & Co., will be chairing the beleaguered bank, which may take until well into next year to get back on track after making bad bets on debt. Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Citi Europe and a member of the Citi management and operating committees, will serve as interim CEO. Prince's widely expected departure from the positions of chief executive and chairman came Nov. 4 at an emergency meeting of Citi's board, at which the company also decided to take $8 billion to $11 billion in writedowns. Citi already took a hit during the third quarter of $6.5 billion from asset writedowns and other credit-related losses.
Most dangerous country of the World
The cover of Newsweek's last issue dubbing Pakistan as the most dangerous country in the world, not merely stunned Pakistanis but the entire world, which earlier considered Iraq and Afghanistan as the most dangerous states. The cover stating " the most dangerous country in the world is not Iraq. But it's Pakistan" sent a wave of shock and anger all over Pakistan with analysts fearing the Newsweek's move as part of ongoing campaign against the country's nuclear programme. Ironically, the Newsweek's report does not contain any comparison or facts and figures about suicide bombings, killing of civilians, and personnel, and other terrorist incidents in Pakistan and Iraq. According to analysts, the Newsweek's report is totally baseless, and nothing more than a cock and bull story.
Stocks struggle for direction
Stocks continued to seesaw in Friday afternoon trade, leaving major gauges mostly lower, as Wall Street weighed more troubling news from the financial sector and a better-than-expected employment report. The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) edged lower with 2-1/2 hours remaining in the session, after falling by as much as 121 points earlier in the day. .
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