Citigroup Woes Sink Stocks

Bleak retail numbers also contribute to steep decline

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 15, 2008 3:31 PM CST

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Citigroup Woes Sink Stocks — The Citigroup Center is photographed Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2008 in New York. Citigroup Inc. lost almost $10 billion in last year's final three months, the largest quarterly deficit in the bank's 196-year history, and slashed its dividend as it recorded a mammoth write-down for bad bets on the mortgage industry.... (Associated Press)

Stocks plunged today on news of Citigroup's big losses and surprisingly poor retail numbers. This is the worst start to a year by the S&P 500 since 1978, reports Bloomberg. "There seems to be no end of bad news,'' says one exec. The Dow was down 277.04 to 12,501.11, the Nasdaq 60.71 to 2,417.59, and the S&P 35.3 to 1,380.95.

Apple shares also fell fast after new offerings unveiled at MacWorld today failed to impress investors. Meanwhile, analysts say Citigroup may now have a tough time convincing the public to trust its forecasts. "We probably need to see the first quarter stuff pass before people are really going to believe what they hear," says one manager. (More stock market stories.)

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