Google (GOOG) is “arguably the broadest ‘Net play on ‘11 growth drivers,” writes Citigroup Internet analyst Mark Mahaney in a note to clients today, calling the stock is favorite large-cap Internet pick for 2011.
His other two favorites are Amazon.com (AMZN) and Priceline (PCLN).
Among the developments lifting the entire industry, Mahaney [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

So happy to accept this award.

Oh that’s right, ladies. Citi has actually beat Goldman Sachs (and Morgan Stanley) at something. True, it’s the number of times the bank tapped the Federal Reserve’s credit facilities but they will take what they can get!

Goldman Sachs tapped that ass an impressive 84 times, Morgan Stanley topped GS with 212 times in the period between March 2008 and March 2009 but no one was a match for Citi, which “used the Primary Dealer Credit Facility almost daily” through April 2009. Suck on that, Lloyd! Vikram runs this house.

Goldman, Citi, Morgan Stanley Used Fed Facilities Heavily [WSJ]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

When you’re applying for a gig on Wall Street these days, you’ve got to do something that will set you apart from the crowd. Jobs are scarce and while anyone can tell a firm why they should be hired, few go the extra mile to show. Armed with this knowledge and the knowledge that competition for positions at Citi is fierce, one recent applicant knew she had to raise the stakes. She didn’t just send Citi a resume and cover letter indicating her interest and qualifications– anyone can do that. She sent them an 11-page presentation entitled “I’m Always Awake With Citi: 9 Reasons Why You SHOULD Hire Me As Your Investment Banking Analyst” filled with headers like “Smart” and lotsa clip art. Perhaps it was the reasons, perhaps it was the fact that she appealed to someone at Citi’s love of its insomniac tagline, but we’re told she’s been asked to come in next week. (We’re also told she created similar presentations for other banks, such as BAML, which has also invited her to stop by next week, and that she has interviews set up with “several” firms. Citi may be her “dream,” but they’re not the only ones who should be offered a piece of this and girlfriend is a hustler.) Job-seekers, take note.

Subject: Citi Investment Banking Analyst Application

I’m here to apply for Investment Banking Analyst position in Citi, my dream job in dream company. I’m graduating business school in Dec 2010, so I can start work in January 2011. My cover letter and resume are attached and I will appreciate it very much if you could do me favor to talk a look or forward them to other hiring managers.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks very much.

Citi Cover Letter Presentation [PDF]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Shares of Amazon.com (AMZN) are up $8.85, or 5%, at $177.05 after Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney reiterated his Buy rating on the stock and his $190 price target, citing such various consumer surveys that appear favorable (and could be labeled insider information, I’d add!)
For example, Toy Insider’s “Hot 20 toys” [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Kingdom Holding Co. said the investment firm and its chairman, Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, invested $500 million in General Motors Co.’s recent initial public offering. The transaction represents 1% of the value of GM’s subscriptions, Kingdom Holding said Tuesday in a statement emailed to Zawya Dow Jones. The firm cited “the global strength of the General Motors brand, the relatively attractive offering price, and the company’s growth prospects in Brazil and China.” [WSJ]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) are up 89 cents, or 2%, at $44.14 in early trading following last night’s fiscal Q4 beat and better-than-expected forecast.
The stock has already received a few bullish notes this morning from Sanford Bernstein, Kaufman Brothers, and Citigroup, with the last of these raising their price target [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Pretty simple, really: nobody else has the skills to destroy investment banks, investor capital, etc. You think any shmoe on the corner could do that? I think not. Just like the NFL.

“Have you ever noticed,” the chairman of Citigroup, Richard D. Parsons, asked The Observer Monday evening, “that in the NFL, or in the NBA, or in Major League Baseball, this guy was a failure at Cleveland, and then he becomes the coach in Houston? These guys just move around from one team to another. Why is that? Because there isn’t a very deep pool of skilled talent that exists. “And so, too, for a lot of financial stuff: Not everybody who’s walking up and down Fifth Avenue at noon is capable of running a derivatives book,” he went on, voice low, sitting in the 57th Street offices of the firm Providence Equity, where he’s a senior adviser. “It takes a certain amount of skill and knowledge to be in that business.”

Where Are They Now? [NYO]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Shares of contract electronics manufacturers Jabil (JBL) and Flextronics (FLEX) traded down after hours last night following the Cisco conference call debacle – and the slide has continued today. Adding to the pressure: Citigroup analyst Jim Suva has cut his rating on both stocks to Hold from Buy.
Suva notes that [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

Lam Research (LRCX) shares are trading lower after Citigroup analyst Timothy Arcuri asserted in a research note that Samsung is likely to push out orders and delivery for equipment targeted at DRAM capacity expansion. He says Samsung is pushing out $750 million to $1 billion of equipment orders – and [...]

Article courtesy of BARRONS.com: Tech Trader Daily

From 2002 to 2007, Citi raised $2.8 billion from clients to invest in a couple of fund series called MAT Finance LLC, which invested in municipal bonds and was eventually leveraged 8:1 and Falcon, which invested in mortgage debt. Despite the former being marketed as “an attractive alternative to a bond index” and the latter receiving an S&P rating “equivalent to safe, medium-term government bonds,” anyone who bet on the funds lost what might be characterized as “a metric ass-ton of their money.”

For exampe, the funds a team of brokers from Smith Barney put their clients in fell an impressive 80% to 97% from May 2007 to March 2008. Though Citi claims no foul play and offered to cover approximately one-eighth of clients’ losses, the SEC still felt the need to launch an investigation into whether or not the bank’s employees adequately disclosed the funds’ risks and/or mismanaged them. And apparently investors are still pretty miffed about the whole thing, which one broker, Michael Johnston, intuited by the response he got from one when suggesting a sweet buyback deal that would’ve translated to the client only losing 72% and promising not to sue Citi.

Mr. Johnston** told client Robert Goldstein, president of Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian casino, of an offer from Citigroup to buy back his personal investment at what in his case would amount to a 72% loss. In an email to a Citigroup executive, Mr. Johnston described his client’s reaction: “1. Go f— yourself. 2. We’ll see you in court. 3. You’ll look good in stripes.”

Citi Debt Funds Probed By SEC [WSJ]

**Who said in an email to Citi executives, “Some of my most valued clients will never trust my judgment again.”

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker