Out of the frying pan and into the fire? It may seem that way to Citi. The company's third-quarter earnings were abysmal; the $2.8 billion loss marked its fourth-straight losing quarter. Investment banking losses stemmed, once again, from writedowns: $5.2 billion for mortgage-related securities (lots of Alt-A loans) in addition to $919 million for bond insurance exposure and $792 million for leveraged loans.

And yet, the magnitude of the charges against Citi continued to decline, while charges related to its core consumer banking franchises continued to rise. In its core consumer operations, charges and reserve hikes totaled $9.1 billion, up 85 percent year over year. Citi would appear to be in a tough zone, one in which institutional credit issues have yet to clear even as the economy takes hold of its core consumer operations. A tough spot.

For more:
- here's an article from Forbes

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