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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (92436)	1/8/2009 2:05:15 PM
From: Sr K	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

Sears Holdings pops 21% on lower sales, higher Q4 profit outlook (but still down from a year earlier). "Kmart began operating its footwear department on January 1, 2009. Prior to that time, Kmart's footwear department was operated as a licensed business by another party. Also during the fourth quarter, we repurchased 2.9 million common shares at a total cost of $119 million (or $40.82 per share) under our share repurchase program."

To: mishedlo who wrote (92436)	1/8/2009 11:08:02 PM
From: Sr K	Respond to of 116555

As the TARP money turns: Citi exposed to $1.4bn loss over LyondellBasell By Francesco Guerrera and Julie MacIntosh in New York Published: January 9 2009 00:46 \| Last updated: January 9 2009 00:46 Citigroup is to suffer a $1.4bn loss on its loans to LyondellBasell, the chemical group that placed dozens of its subsidiaries under bankruptcy protection this week after failing to restructure $26bn in debt. Citi’s loss, to be recorded in fourth-quarter results mainly as a loan loss reserve, is another setback for the US financial services group and will put further pressure on its financial performance in the last three months of 2008. Citi reports fourth-quarter earnings on January 22. Citi on Thursday said its gross exposure to LyondellBasell, which is controlled by billionaire Len Blavatnik through his Access Industries, was $2bn. However, the US group has already taken about $600m in writedowns and reserves over the past few months. Other banks, including UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, now owned by Bank of America, are also believed to have exposure to the 79 LyondellBasell subsidiaries placed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. News of Citi’s exposure came as it emerged that the US group had lifted its opposition to a new bankruptcy law aimed at helping troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure. The decision by Citi, which has a huge portfolio of mortgages, to support the measure could prompt other banks to follow suit and smooth the law’s passage through Congress, lawmakers said. Under the proposed law, known as “cramdown”, bankruptcy court judges would be allowed to cut mortgage debts to make it easier for struggling homeowners to meet their payments. Analysts were surprised by Citi’s move as the measure could deprive the banking sector of much-needed revenues. But they argued that the US government’s recent decision to inject capital into several banks, led by Citi, had reduced their ability to oppose legislation. After a lender-negotiating session that ended just before midnight on Wednesday in New York, LyondellBasell won approval from a bankruptcy judge to borrow more than $2bn in order to continue operating. The company’s facilities will be arranged by Citi, Goldman, Merrill, ABN Amro and UBS. LyondellBasell has requested approval of an $8bn debtor-in-possession loan provided by a group of banks and other lenders, including private investment firms Apollo Management and Cerberus Capital. Apollo holds more than $2.2bn of the bankrupt company’s senior secured debt. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009 ft.com