Looks like Citi’s CEO Vikram Pandit’s recent attempt at a vote of confidence in his company and stock has led to sitting on $3.5 Million in (at least paper) losses, a drop of 50% in his recent $7 million investment (excluding options) just a few days ago.

Bloomberg.com: Pandit, Deputies Buy Citigroup Shares After Plunge

Pandit, 51, bought 750,000 common shares, paying an average of about $9.25 apiece, Citigroup said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also bought 100,000 preferred shares. In all, he spent about $8.4 million.

It now appears the board is “weighing options“.

Btw, I have no exposure to this stock (anymore lol), it’s just interesting to watch these historic events and processes unveiling at breakneck speed unseen before.

Quite a bit of panic out there today. Too bad the middle part was choppy. Anyways, I was looking at C, one of the ugliest charts out there, well of a company that is still listed and/or not government owned.

Alwaleed or not, I went to check out the bank’s Singapore branch website and look up info on funds insurance. Sure enough on the front page a large banner says: “Announcement on Deposits Guarantee in Singapore”. The main part says:

We continue to see rapid developments in financial markets around the world. Of particular note is the coordinated action by governments and regulators to instill confidence and stability in the global financial system.

In Singapore, you will be aware that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has announced that it will guarantee all Singapore dollar and foreign currency deposits of individual and non-bank customers from October 16, 2008 until December 31, 2010. This guarantee will apply to all licensed banks in Singapore, including Citibank Singapore Limited and Citibank NA, Singapore Branch. Under this guarantee, all individual and corporate customers, including
those under the current Deposit Insurance Scheme administered by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation, will enjoy protection from the Singapore Government on the full amount of their deposits for the duration of the guarantee.

With this announcement, all your savings deposits, current accounts, fixed deposit accounts and Supplementary Retirement Scheme bank accounts in Singapore are guaranteed by the Singapore Government.

This sounds fine. Although with Temasek / GIC / Who-Knows-What-Other-Company performance lately who knows what’s safe and what isn’t.

Scary stuff. Imagine if instead of emails the hackers did some other damage. Even with insurance and all that, it takes time, hassle, effort and sleepless nights to sort this kind of potential mess.

TD secrecy on tech breach irks advisers – InvestmentNews

Financial advisers are questioning the decision of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. to keep them in the dark after hackers gained access to their clients’ Social Security numbers, account numbers, phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

It found the offending code used to hack into its database about a month ago, she added.

I saw AAPL on the move this morning so I went to have a glimpse at the news. Couldn’t see anything really extraordinary that should move it but found another interesting article about the company.

Apple’s Macintosh computer business makes a comeback  – Aug. 22, 2007

But a funny thing has happened over the past couple of quarters. While Apple has been firing on all cylinders, and the iPhone is selling hundreds of thousands of units a month, its Macintosh business is the hottest line of all. It roared back in the quarter that ended in June to reclaim its status as the company’s largest revenue source and, at long last, break that 5 percent share barrier, according to IDC. Indeed, Apple’s U.S. Mac sales have grown at triple the rate of the rest of the PC industry since last fall, propelling it into third place in the U.S., behind Dell (Charts, Fortune 500) and Hewlett-Packard (Charts, Fortune 500).

I’m not really surprised. I’ve recently switched to a Mac after decades of using Microsoft OS’s, I’m obviously not that unique ;-)

Disclosure: I am (a recent) shareholder :-)

They chose not to reveal how much it would cost, and if it will come from the marketing department budget ;-) but it sure sounds good.

McDonald’s will make biodiesel from its own waste grease for trucking fleet – AutoblogGreen

Over in the UK, McDonald’s announced today that it will start using its own waste cooking oil to make biodiesel, which will be then used in its entire truck fleet of 155 vehicles.

Maybe I’ll see a big write-off in UK operations next time I get the annual report lol

Can’t really argue with this :-)

Absolut Sale: Sweden Selling Vodka Brand, Sweden’s Message in a Bottle: Absolut Is for Sale – CBS News

“The state shouldn’t make, sell or distribute vodka.”

I just received this in the email from my credit card company. It’s either the late hour or I’m just clueless about these things but WTF does this paragraph mean??

DBS Valentine’s Day Promotion

Bowl her over in the same rapture of adoration she gives you with our unfaltering Matthew Bear who is ever so resolute in helping you with your love quest. If she asks why there are only eleven radiant pink roses in the bouquet, whisper in her ears that she’s the twelfth rose.