MetaFilter posts tagged with citibank

DOOOOOM! Oh wait, Nevermind. We're fine. You're still doomed though.

Lord_Pall — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:42:40 -0800

Some see an economic apocalypse. Others see an err.. economic apocalypse. But have no fear! A solution is at hand. Step 1 : Print up a lot of money. Auction it. Step 2: Take whatever people have lying around for collateral. Step 3. Make sure not to mention of what happens if you default. Make it anonymous. Tada! The banks are saved! Note - Not an economist but I found all of these to be interesting. Feel free to tear it apart and explain how this is misinterpreted.

Leave the SIV, take the cannoli

Asparagirl — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:24:33 -0800

At a time when fed-up American citizens are petitioning Congress to end the imprudent financial practices that caused the ~~housing bubble~~ ~~sub-prime mortgage crisis~~ ~~liquidity crisis~~ impending recession -- including the banning of SIV's and refusing any bailouts for Wall Street, banks, or mortgage companies -- the United States Treasury Department has just announced the creation of a giant-mega-ultra SIV called "M-LEC" made up of assets from several of the largest American banks. Already unofficially nicknamed "Sivie Mae" (or worse, "the Frankenstein Fund"), it would be an off-balance-sheet way for these banks to pool and price the ABCP's that they've lately been having trouble pricing and thus selling -- i.e. the liquidity crisis. But one financial blogger looks at this odd occurence using the film "The Godfather" as a reference point and concludes that something fishy is going on with Citibank, in particular. Phrases like "smoke and mirrors" and references to deck chairs on the Titanic are being thrown around the blogosphere. The suspicion grows: is the real problem facing these "too big to fail" banks "just" a temporary one of liquidity...or one of solvency? As Don Corleone might say, this wacky pseudo-bailout idea might be an offer that the Treasury Department can't refuse.

MattD — Fri, 16 Nov 2001 13:09:37 -0800

c2it to be free; PayPal raising fees. Will this spell the end of PayPal? Free c2it from Citibank can be used the same way the "old" PayPal could (for friends and roommates to settle up bills) as well cutting deeply into PayPal's core on-line auction settlement business (well over half its revenue), already under attack by eBay's Billpoint.