Richard Bove--a veritable media figure these days, the "dean of banking analysts" according to Barron's--is bullish on Bank of America and Citigroup. Speaking of the latter, "If you think we are going into a depression, Citigroup is not going to do well, and the rest of the American banking system is not going to do well. If you think that the economy is going to turn around, which I believe is the case by the end of this year, then the profitability of the American banking industry is going to be explosive on the upside. If it turns around, banks are going to see a five-fold increase in their net income."

A five-fold increase? But as for the immediate future, the losses due to hiked reserves are going to "blow your mind they are going to be so big." There are lots of people who think as much. My sense is that it will be a lot harder to get through the short-term than people think. Some think it still ought to be broken up. We may see a dramatically different bank 12 months from now. 

For more:
- here's the article

Related Articles:
How much will TARP hurt Citigroup?
Does Pandit deserve more time?
Citigroup CEO saga gets more interesting
Citigroup's Pandit to get the axe?