All Good Things Must Come To An End

I knew in the back of my mind for some time now, that Citigroup was experiencing drastic problems. Let it be financial or management problems which led to the end of a global giant, the days of being known as a financial supermarket has ended.

Financial supermarkets (a financial company who services all of their customers needs as a one-stop shop) has come to an end. Since Wal-Mart has been so successful in the past years as being a one-stop shop for their customers, financial institutions envisioned being as big, or even bigger as Wal-Mart on a global stance. But unlike Wal-Mart who grew based on their intangible assets (friendly customer service, stocked shelves at all times, 24 hours locations in most states, customer/employee retention) which distinguishes them from the competition, financial institutions ranked their worthiness based on loan/credit debt acquired. Too much leverage and dishonest management led to their downfall.

Sure we will still have financial supermarkets, but not as much as we did ten years ago. Maybe with this go-around, we can get it right.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/28654817

Bible In a Minute

I found this clip on another blog, and thought it was interesting and cute.

When is enough, enough!!

I was surprised that the Treasury Department bailed out Citigroup by lending $25 billion dollars. "Even so, taxpayers are now on the hook for nearly $250 billion of potential losses in the $306 billion portfolio, including commercial real estate loans, leveraged loans, and other assets representing 15 percent of Citigroup's $2.05 trillion balance sheet."  

Just in case anyone was wondering were our "taxpayer" dollars for the $700 billion bailout has gone, I have provided a link.  Now they are stating that the first bailout might not have been enough, and now we might need an additional $1 trillion bailout.

I have been against the bailout from day one because The Federal Government is sending a wrong message to Corporate America. They are basically stating that a company can grow as much as it wants, go global, trade on the NYSE or NASD, and don't worry about what will happen if you go out-of-business, the Treasury department will be there to bail you out. Why should taxpayer's be held accountable for mismanagement? Management is only concerned about making a profit and keeping there millions of dollars in pay, bonuses and stock options. I say, let the companies continue business as usual, and let the markets work themselves out.

The main purpose of the Treasury is for Monetary Policy and to help banks from failing. But has the United States become so greedy that we are willing to overlook risk analysis?

I understand that the Treasury has helped AIG and Citigroup, but why not help Fannie Mae, Washington Mutual, Freddie Mac or Lehman? Was the SEC auditing every major corporation's financial statements line by line? Why would Henry Paulson, with his extensive knowledge deny the beginning failure of the subprime lending market since early 2007?

And now that the bailout has been passed, many CFO's have doubts.  I think the market and economy will definitely start to improve in late 2009 into mid 2010. 

Citigroup - thrive or bust?

Citigroup is basically on life support at this point. Pandit laying off more than 50,000 employees, there stock currently trading below $5, which is not a good sign in the financial sector. When stocks trade below $5, they are usually delisted by the NYSE, but can stay on the exchange if they meet certain requirements. Citigroup's strategy is either to merge with another firm or raise capital. So far, there are rumors of three companies who might possibly consider a merger with the troubled institution. They are Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and State Street Bank.

Since Morgan Stanley is facing financial difficulties themselves, I do not think they are in the running. But if I had to take a wild guess, I would say Goldman Sachs. Why? Henry Paulson, the current Treasury Secretary and former CEO of Goldman Sachs. Paulson still has ties to the head honchos at Goldman Sachs, who are actually benefiting from the bailout of AIG (AIG owes Goldman $20 billion, which Goldman denies). So for example, let's say that Citigroup approaches the Fed for a bailout, I am sure that Paulson would be able to convince his team otherwise and have Citigroup merge to stay afloat. State Street Bank is the second largest owner of Citigroup, owning a little less than $5 billion, so that would be a good merger.

I would hate to witness another major bank failure. I do not think the economy can handle it.

Life gets no better than this

So I am sitting in Math class a few weeks ago trying to understand Algebra & Trigonometry and thinking to myself, is this necessary? Then all of a sudden I hear my Math teacher say "This is it boys and girls. Life gets no better than this. You see Hollywood, that is fantasy world. Success is owning a car and having a job. This is as good as it gets". The class was just stunned. I looked at him and said that I was happy he was not a counselor. And then I got to thinking, "Is this it to life"?

My definition of life and achieving success is much different then my teacher's. I know that everyone is put on earth for a reason, even though we might not understand it yet. And success, well, that is enjoying all the fruits of your labor. I owned a condo at one point, and I currently own a car. So, is this how good it will get?

Funny dates stories

I think I am one of a list of many who have the funniest date stories.  Here goes.

I was invited on a date to Madison Square Garden to watch the WNBA play.  I cannot remember who Liberty was playing at that time.  So he said to me that he always goes to their games and that he better not catch any of my boyfriends out here.  I was like ok, whatever that was supposed to mean.  I am not a women's basketball fan, but I liked Scottie Pippen, so I thought watching Liberty play should be interesting.  So we went inside and took our seats.  I sat on the inside seat while he had the aisle seat.  He made a trip to the to the concession stand for some snacks, like a good date should, and returned promptly.  I began to watch the game, which I must say, was quite interesting.  

Then all of a sudden, I heard something.  So I turned to my right, which is where my date was sitting, to find out what the commotion was about.  I looked up and there was my date's girlfriend who approached him and began yelling "So is this how you work overtime!!!"  Every person that was in the vicinity of our seats just locked into my date and his girlfriend arguing. So I kept my cool while he argued with her, but made sure to keep my good eye on her just in case she wanted to get a piece of me too.  They must of went on for about a good minute.  So she walked away and he proceeded to sink in his chair like a tortoise retreats into its shell for protection.  He says to me "I've never been so embarrassed before".  I replied, "Well you should be".

Needless to say, we never spoke again.

So what was your funny dating story?

The best things in life are free

Who says that you need money to have a good time.  Here is a cost-effective tip.

Why not have a girls or guys night out online?  How?  Do you own a web cam and have a computer with a built-in microphone (a phone would do if this feature is not available)? Well then, you are half-way there.  The cool thing is that AOL/AIM, Yahoo and iChat, just to name a few, have this cool feature in which you can actually contact someone on your list by starting a conversation. Just designate a time, and a list of your friends, and you are all set.

You will will actual save on gas, drinks, money,food and everyone is home so no need to wonder how your always drunk friend will make it back home :-)

Here are a list of goodies to have on-hand before connecting online:

1.  Drink of your choice, mines is a Martini

2. Food of your choice, wings always makes it taste better

Have fun on your night out!