Here's Q4 cheat sheet: Citigroup is expected to write off about $19 billion. Merrill Lynch, about $12 billion, and JP Morgan Chase about $3.5 billion. The bad news is that will still leave Citigroup and Merrill Lynch (to a lesser extent JP Morgan Chase) uncomfortably exposed to CDOs. The Times says the worst is yet to come. So you can expect more of the same. Lots of angst about possible dividend cuts. Lots of talking with potential investors. Lots of layoffs. Lots of worry about shareholder reactions to the new sweetheart deals being cut. Unfortunately, the real estate meltdown is spreading. For the first time, a big developer, Levitt & Sons, has gone belly up.  

For more:
- here's the Times article 
- here's an article from the New York Times on spreading real estate woes