May 2008

Despite numerous calls for Citigroup to break the behemoth up, as expected Pandit dismissed that notion, saying the company is not a conglomerate or a financial supermarket but a "global universal bank." He argues being a universal bank, especially in emerging markets where the capital markets are undeveloped, is the best model for Citigroup. Pandit says that while any model works in good times, ... read more

Freiberg has left the stage and Pandit is back. With U.S. markets hurting, Citi seems to be focusing on emerging markets. According to Pandit the middle class in the emerging markets will grow to 1.2 billion by 2030, presenting a big opportunity. He says Citi is structured to compete aggressively in local markets. Citi is growing in Taiwan, India, Brazil, says Pandit, noting the company has ... read more

Pandit turns the microphone over to Steve Freiberg, Citi's head of its global consumer group which includes its debit and credit cards. Pandit did take the chance to admit one (of many mistakes) at Citi: cutting back on marketing in that unit. Pandit said that was a mistake but that there is a "lot of growth" in the Global Card business. Pandit vowed to cut costs and pour the savings back into ... read more

  Reports said Citi could unload $400 billion in assets, but Pandit took it a $100 billion further. Pandit said Citigroup has identified $500 billion in legacy assets the company will get rid of in an "orderly fashion" in the next few years. That could come in part via asset sales. Pandit said the company could have revenue growth of 8% to 10% over time and called for patience by investors as ... read more

  Citigroup meeting kicks off with CEO  Pandit taking to the stage to introduce the management team. Pandit calls Citigroup's restructuring one of the "greatest business transformations," and that he's confident his team will get it done. Pandit is using his opening comments so far to talk about what he's done: assets sales, shoring up capital etc. Pandit said Citigroup has established a ... read more

 Investors are angry. Shares of Citigroup (C )are down more than 50% since setting a high last spring of $55.55. The financial behemoth has taken a massive hit as the credit market malaise has wrecked havoc on most of Wall Street. While Citigroup has raised some $40 billion since November and widened its stock offering from $3 billion to $4 billion Citigroup's new Chief Executive Vikram Pandit is ... read more

Warren Buffett just finished up the media conference where he fielded dozens of questions from the International Press Corps. Every major newspaper from the U.K., China, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and of course the US were represented. He made some big news on a variety of subjects, namely: --Buffett telling Fox Business that even though the valuations of the top 30 Financials have ... read more

3:57pm ET On selling PetroChina holdings and why Buffett chose to sell after just a few years of owning it "If it came down to a better valuation, we would buy PetroChina again... The Chinese people are starting to realize their potential." --Buffett The last question from the crowd: What's your fondest hope for BRK?? "I hope for performance and I fully expect that what we've built ... read more

Regarding ISCAR's new Asia plant and high commodities prices: "The reason the plant was built in China is the country is growing...generally speaking, if you're creating a higher-valued product,... obviously the changing price of commodities...there will still be no substitute for the raw materials used in the products. Over time, our businesses will reflect the higher cost of ... read more

Hey gang, Below are some of the latest things Buffett and his co-hort Charlie Munger are saying to the crowd. "Berkshire has the best directors in America." --Buffett (Liz-note: BRK directors get paid $900 a year. Bill Gates and Sue Decker of Yahoo! are members of the board) "Business schools should teach only two courses: How to Value A Business" and "How to think About Stock Market ... read more