Once a prominent investor and fundraiser for the Democratic Party with ties to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Hassan Nemazee has now been accused of lying about his assets in order to secure a $74 million loan from Citibank. According to the federal complaint filed against him, Nemazee forged documents that tried to depict that he owned accounts with several million dollars worth of collateral.
 
Nemazee was a national finance chairman for Mrs. Clinton and has also maintained ties to a variety of prominent political figures by inviting them to his Park Avenue home. Now, though, he faces one charge of …read more

Dave Ramsey, the famous personal finance guru, is on FIRE about Citi and Bank of America. He’s so upset about a deal for the government to buy a stake in Citi – and the possibility that Bank of America could be up next — that he’s called for a boycott of both institutions. (Hat tip for this news: Financial Methods.)
But while Ramsey is upset about the quasi-nationalization of some banks that need some help, my beef with Citi is completely different. I’m less upset about the government’s new play — which doesn’t include just throwing taxpayer money at a bank …read more

The Dow jumped 889 points today, the second largest increase ever…and I don’t want to sound like the soothsayer, but beware the 900 point pop.

I know the market has been hammered and I know that many are factoring in an expected 50 basis point cut tomorrow from the Fed, but this makes no sense.  The Dow’s gain doubled during the last hour of trading. 
Financials led the Dow higher while techs led Nasdaq’s 9.5 percent jump.  Take a look at the price gainers list for each exchange: NYSE and Nasdaq.
Citigroup up 15 percent, AIG up 35 percent.  Moves like this are too big and too irrational to be …read more