My commute (of 30 miles each way).

Wouldn't it be harder to think of things that cost less?

Ok, in all seriousness is it worth buying a couple hundred shares? When the government undoubtably finally fixes Citi because they are "too big to fail" wont the price eventually increase quite significantly?

Interesting side note.

They recently sent my wife a letter asking her to settle her credit card debt at 55% of her total balance.. I'd say they're pretty hard up for cash now.

Anybody got some good advice to help us negotiate an even better settlement?

A lemon-berry fruit slush at Sonic. During Happy Hour.

you could... oh.. i don't know. just settle up your debt since people NOT paying off the cards are a good reason banks are in trouble as it is...

@jchabotte

Crap. I just paid off my CitiCard balance in full.

@B: I'm thinking that's what they meant; there are a whole slew of things that are more expensive than $0.99, including but not limited to a Bugatti Veyron ($1.2M) or a small country.

It is funny a ride on the subway is more than twice the cost of a share of Citibank. Wonder if that will still be the case when baseball season starts and people are riding the 7 train on their way to a ballpark named after Citibank, assuming they are still around by opening day.

@jchabotte: Wow, I wish I'd get an offer like that. Do you mind if I ask (approximately) how much her balance was?

@jchabotte: That's pretty surprising that they'd offer that, assuming you're current on you payments. If you do settle with them make sure that they're not leaving a negative mark on your credit. If they mark the account as "settled," any future lenders will see that and assume that you couldn't meet your obligations and had to settle the account for less. If it's Citi's idea, they better mark it as "paid in full."

I thought debit surcharges were a violation of the merchant agreement?

More than .97? How about everything at the dollar store.

@Josh Cramer: So credit card companies are raising rates, slashing available credit, and in general grounding our credit scores into the dirt at a time when it's almost impossible to secure new financing to manage our debt, but if they offer us a deal to settle our debts on their terms, we should say no thanks, it's out moral obligation to pay this balance, plus the 29% interest in full?

@jchabotte:

I'm curious as to what the balance was as well. I'm with citibank and have around 3,500 balance currently, at 9.99 interest.

@wgrune: Probably not, no. Citigroup is to big to fail because:

a. a ton of people own bonds/insurance/other contracts from them and we don't want to see these people screwed

b. a ton of people have bank accounts with them, and them crashing would make the FDIC be in deep trouble (they'd work it out, but it would be bad still)

c. they're interlocked in a whole bunch of other very complex ways with other parts of the economy.

None of these depend on the shareholders getting a dime.

If a big bailout comes, it will probably reduce the share price further, see fannie and freddie (each now under 50 cents a share)

Might just be me, but the comment reply button just takes me to the top of the page instead of letting me reply to a comment.

@coren: It's not just you. Something is going around today (although it's working fine in Opera).

@robotrevolution: No, you're thinking of credit. Debit surcharges happen all the time, usually with ATMs.

@howie_in_az: I think the game is think of what costs more than a share but not much more.

I'm hoping it dips to 19 cents so "a packet of sauce from McDonalds" can finally be a winner of something.

@Josh Cramer

You don't understand how this works. Credit card debt you owe to the bank is actually an asset as far as the bank is concerned. They lend you money that you pay back over time with interest (good for the bank, bad for you).

This American Life did a good show explaining this mess last weekend:

[www.thisamericanlife.org]

@Streblo: You could try living within your means. I highly doubt your credit card debt is from a small business you happen to run. ;)

What costs more than their stock price?

Your monthly account statement (printing, postages, etc) probably costs them more than a stock share.

Hehe, I heard this today and joked about buying stocks with whatever change was in my wallet. I wonder how many shares I could actually buy. I'll have to count.

time to use up those thankyou rewards, stat!

@wgrune: Are you seriously asking a public forum for sound financial advice?

Listen, I have this great bridge in Texas for sale...

Go talk to a financial advisor. Seriously. Not about whether or not to buy Citi stock; about how NOT to invest.

I wonder if next year I can write off my Citi CC payments as a donation. It kinda feels like I'm giving money to someone not as well off as me. Then I remember I hate corporate "fatcats" and I don't feel so bad.

Don't us silly taxpayers owe around 37% of Citi already? Well, our investment is drying up.

@ wgrune

Buying Citibank now is akin to throwing your money away on powerball tickets. The truth is, Citi really doesn't have any "equity" left in its capital structure. The stockholders capital was loaned to people that will pay it back when...When Citi starts charging a reasonable interest rate with no traps on their credit cards.In other words,never.

Lots of people see this enormous edifice called Citicorp with its big,impressive buildings and expensive advertising and snappy logo and think that buying the stock means that they will get a piece of that action.In essence, Citi is now controlled by the United States Government and any other lender that loaned them money.They effectively owe so much money that they can never repay all of their obligations. (They have admitted as much by converting some loans to common shares and eliminating their dividend on those shares)

Just because they are a recognized name doesn't mean that they are worth anything. The market is screaming that they will eventually be worth zilch. It would be wise to listen. Good luck.

@enderx: Small business, no. My credit card debt is entirely the result of buying large televisions, fancy cellphones, designer clothes, crystal chandeliers and delicious chocolate bonbons.

And by large Tvs and fancy cellphones, I mean helping my brother pay for surgery to reattach a finger nearly lost in a kitchen accident at the resturaunt he worked for (and has no health insurance). Someday soon the owner will settle the cost with him... but the finger needed to be paid for.

And by designer clothes & crystal chandeliers, I mean college textbooks and emergency car repairs when the wiring started catching fire and I needed to get to work or be really, really broke while in school.

Delicious chocolates.... what can I say. I love delicious chocolates. I guess cutting out that $3 / month on snickers bars would have made all the difference.

It's really not nice to be so judgemental of other people's debt.

Well, Safeway has bagels for 57 cents....or I could get two sticks of gum for the price of 1 Citibank share.

@oneandone: Gotta love the "Up on my high horse and lovin' it" crowd.

Lets get something straight, folks. There are certainly people out there who misused their credit. There are also respectable citizens who had nothing to fall back on in emergency situations. (not everyone has a rich relative to get an interest free loan from)

It's great if you could or can survive now without credit card debt. Good for you. It doesn't make you a better citizen or human being.

I would be buying GM stock instead as the GM land, facilities, equipment and work in progress will always be something.

Oops, that land is in Michigan, the equipment is old, the facilities even older and nobody seems to be buying the work in progress.

Maybe it ain't a good time to own any stock.

@slater: or, i dunno, a house?
a car?
diamonds?
gold?
half a gallon of gas?
a quart of milk?

Question:

My wife owes her school loans to Citi. If they go broke, does she still owe that debt?

Same boat... that'd be awesome if Citi went under and my student loans were canceled.

Answer: Yes, they will sell the debt to another lender and use the proceeds to pay off creditors.

I worked for Citibank years ago. They are greedy beyond comprehension. I hated the job and was not treated very well so I am enjoying the death of this monster.

DOWn, baby, DOWn!

@Ezra Ekman:

I was looking for a general answer, not sound financial advice I will cash my 401k in on. Thanks for being an ass though; that was helpful too.

@Josh Cramer: Really? People not paying off their credit card debt is a major reason that banks are in trouble?

And here I thought it had to do with credit default swaps, subprime mortgages, etc. Good to know it's just that people aren't paying their CC bills on time.