Market Advance Goes Up in Smoke

Meredith Whitney's marriage to Fox Business commentator and former professional wrestler John Bradshaw Layfield has probably toughened her up, and maybe she even has learned a few wrestling moves. Her takedown of Citigroup and Chuck Prince will help erase yesterday gains in the blink of an eye:

A longtime banking analyst said late last night that Citigroup may be forced to cut its dividend or sell assets to stave off what she said was a $30 billion capital shortfall, moves that could pull down its shareholder returns for several years.

The analyst, Meredith A. Whitney of CIBC World Markets, downgraded Citigroup’s stock to sector underperform, from sector perform, and called for the bank to bring precariously low capital levels more in line with its peers.

“We believe the stock will be under significant pressure and could trade in the low $30s,” she wrote. NYT

With Citi (C-NYSE) printing new lows on the news the final straw might be breaking the camel's back. Wall Street CEO's have been under siege, and today's unflattering profile of a ganja smoking Jimmy Cayne could not be more blunt and begs the question: Did Warren Spector contribute to the hatchet job? Speaking of blunts, does Cayne enjoy taking a load off with a joint? "There is no chance that it happened," he said. "Zero chance." WSJ

The market is going gap much lower on the open. If you chased the market higher yesterday and are sporting a Halloween hangover, all we can say is, smoke 'em if you got em. New 52-week highs in the S&P 500 are looking less likely as yesterday's euphoria wears off.

Analyst Raises Doubts About Citigroup Dividend
New York Times

Bear CEO's Handling Of Crisis Raises Issues
WSJ

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