It could have been a lot worse. Citi (C) reported a 27 cents a share loss for the third-quarter, which was better than the expected 38 cents a share. But it certainly wasn't as good as Citi's preferred headline of a $101 million gain before special items. No one was surprised that the stock tanked.

At JPMorgan Chase (JPM), strong trading results more than offset weak consumer-oriented results. But it was the opposite case at Citi. Strong trading results were not enough to offset the $9.4 billion on consumer losses, mainly credit card and mortgage related. It also added about $800 million to its reserves, much more than JPMorgan.

This does nothing to take the spotlight off of CEO Vikram Pandit. Once again Citi is finding itself the odd man out when it comes to earnings. It's still not clear if the worst is over or if it will soon be able to repay TARP funds. A winning strategy--other than somehow ridding itself of its bad bank--has also proven elusive. The board has a lot on its plate. 

For more:
- here's the release
- here's an article from TheStreet.com

Related Articles:
Citigroup (C) Earnings 3Q 2009
Goldman Sachs (GS) Earnings 3Q 2009
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Earnings 3Q 2009