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To: Sarmad Y. Hermiz who wrote (106284)	7/19/2000 10:19:31 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

>I am very convinced that the downtrodden DD stocks like MXTR, HDD and WDC are on the verge of a big pop either this quarter or next. Sarmad, my point was rather than waiting for a return to favor, stay in stocks who are in favor, and don't leave them even if you personally think they're over valued. Btw If you want to be in bank stocks I'd recommend the only bank stock I currently own. The big 'C'. Simply amazing. >New York, July 19 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. financial-services company, said earnings rose 23 percent in the second quarter, driven by lending to companies. The parent of Citibank, Travelers Property Casualty Corp. and Salomon Smith Barney Inc. also announced a 4-for-3 stock split. Profit from operations rose to $3 billion -- almost equal to the combined earnings of Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. That was 87 cents a share, up from 71 cents a year earlier, or $2.45 billion. Earnings declined from the first quarter's $3.6 billion as stocks slid and bond underwriting declined. ``Salomon Smith Barney investment activity was not going to keep up the pace that it had first quarter,'' said Diane Glossman, an analyst at UBS Warburg LLC. ``They hung in there with corporate banking,'' Profit growth at the company formed by the 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group, outpaced revenue, which rose 10 percent to $16.4 billion. That's because Citigroup's consumer businesses, which include retail banking, mortgages, credit cards, finance and insurance, are growing more slowly than its corporate businesses. Citigroup shares rose to 68 from 66 11/16 in early trading on Instinet. Units Income gains in the consumer division of the company are coming largely through cost-cutting, analysts say. Income in the global consumer business -- which includes Citibank North America, credit cards, mortgages, insurance and the Citifinancial consumer finance unit -- rose 22 percent to $1.28 billion. The bank's international income rose 42 percent to $316 million, accounting for about one-quarter of the unit's total. That's up from about one-fifth last year. Earnings from Asia jumped 69 percent to $183 million as economies there extended their rebound and credit card use increased. Income at the corporate and investment bank climbed 24 percent to $1.54 billion. The unit includes Salomon Smith Barney Inc., the No. 5 U.S. securities firm by capital, as well as commercial insurance and Citibank's global corporate business. Salomon earned $641 million, up 5 percent from a year ago. The results ``demonstrate the impact of our market share gains around the world, the consistent growth of our consumer business, the company's discipline in managing risk and our continued investment in the future,'' said Sanford Weill, its chairman and chief executive officer. Revenue from trading at Salomon declined 9 percent as rising interest rates curbed bond underwriting and trading. ``You could not have expected bond trading to hang up there at the same level. The fixed income trading, because it's interest- rate sensitive, is the source of the weakness again here,'' said Glossman. While the bond market slump stunted Salomon's business, Citigroup's results mirrored those of other securities firms, which beat expectations. Wall Street had forecast Citigroup would earn 83 cents a share, based on the average of 16 published analyst estimates compiled by First Call/Thomson Financial. The whisper number for Citigroup was 85 cents a share. The stock split, the second in a little over a year, came as Citigroup shares rose 37 percent the past 12 months. Last April, the company split its stock 3-for-2. Citigroup shares rose 5/16 to 66 11/16 yesterday. They've returned 19 percent, making it the 8th best performer in Bloomberg Wall Street Index of 15 U.S. financial companies. Jul/19/2000 8:40 ET