Meredith Whitney's Longstanding History Of Publicly Humiliating Men Well Over 6 Feet Tall

Author:
Publish date:
Updated on

We all know CIBC analyst downgraded Citi to market underperform, predicted the bank would be forced to cut its dividend and sell its most valuable assets, and called for erstwhile chief executive Chuck Prince to be unceremoniously thrown out on his ass in an October report that earned Whitney her first death threats and had Mike Mayo muttering (through tears) to himself, "I wish I had balls like that," but apparently it wasn't the first time Mer chose to perform a bilateral orchiectomy with an audience watching. Whitney's husband, former football player and pro-wrestler John Layfield, AKA "Death Mask," recalls for BusinessWeek how he first fell for the girl, when they were guests on Fox's Bulls and Bears in August 2003, discussing the future of Citigroup. He was the bull, she was the bear:

"She asked me why you would want to own a financial stock during a time of rising interest rates, and she was right. She humiliated me on national TV...[we] were married in February, 2005."

What an awesome biatch! Carney thought to himself when he read the anecdote this morning in a little locked room. But we needed some assurance that these weren't two isolated incidents. Whitney's appearance (via phone) earlier today on Bloomberg TV provided that affirmation. How does she feel about Abu Dhabi's $7.5 billion, 4.9 percent investment in Citi? Not good! "$7.5 billion is not enough money by a longshot," Whitney told BTV. "Not enough, too late...[Citigroup] needs at least $30 billion dollars...[this injection] only partially mitigates the $11 billion charge in the 4th quarter. Citigroup needs to sell off better assets at a discount and cut their dividend [in order to deal with, among other things, the fact that C] has the single highest exposure to high LTV ratio mortgages, and the [imminent] default rates on those loans, which will be alarming."
No idea what she's talking about but loving that 'tude (JC's abbrev.).
Earlier: Some Analyst Love
The Analyst Who Rocked Citi [BusinessWeek]

Related

News

Meredith Whitney: Citigroup Should Just Give Up

Earlier today, we wondered if, in light of the news that Vikram Pandit had resigned as CEO of Citigroup, analyst Meredith Whitney's opinion of the bank had changed. Choice comments that Whitney has made about the Big C in the past have included: "Citigroup is in such a mess Stephen Hawking couldn’t turn this company around"; "Citi is like an old broken-down Victorian house"; and Citi “has no earnings power, isn’t going to grow, hasn’t been investable in four years." She also once told Maria Bartiromo that the only way she'd change her mind about company would be if she received "a new brain." Still, sometimes analysts change their tune when new blood is brought in and, like former FDIC chair Sheila Bair, perhaps some of her beef with the bank had been a personal dislike of Uncle V. Now that he's gone, is she seeing Citigroup in a new light? Not so much, no. In the wake of CEO Vikram Pandit‘s surprise departure this morning, Whitney, founder and CEO of Meredith Whtney Advisory Group LLC, issued a note cautioning clients to be wary of Citigroup even under new leadership. “Citigroup is ‘the incredible shrinking bank,’ and the least interest of the big four, in our opinion,” Whitney said. “No CEO will be able to change these facts in the near-term. It appears the board feels the same way, as they have appointed an unknown to the outside to the new CEO position, Mike Corbat.” [...] On Tuesday, the stock has wavered between gains and losses on heavy trading volume in reaction to Pandit’s resignation. Shares are up 29% this year through Monday’s close. Despite signs of incremental improvement, Whitney isn’t backing down from her bearish stance. “Any seat in Citigroup’s court should come with a warning label,” Whitney says. Meredith Whitney: No CEO Can Fix Citigroup [WSJ] Earlier: Meredith Whitney Cannot Stress Enough How Little She Thinks Of Citigroup

News

Meredith Whitney Cannot Stress Enough How Little She Thinks Of Citigroup

Meredith Whitney is a banking analyst made famous by Citigroup downgrading Citigroup in late October 2007, saying that the bank was facing a $30 billion capital shortfall and later telling the press "Citigroup is in such a mess Stephen Hawking couldn’t turn this company around.” In the years since she's had less than flattering things to say about the firm and as recently as March 14, 2012, told CNBC that Citi "has no earnings power, isn't going to grow, hasn’t been investable in four years" and "is like an old broken-down Victorian house." (In the same interview, she told Maria Bartiromo that the only way she'd change her mind about the big C would be if she received "a new brain.") So it probably surprised a few people when, earlier this month, she upgraded the bank. But please, do not get the mistaken impression that she's suddenly in love with the place or has developed any feelings for it whatsoeverWhile her latest move was seen as an endorsement of Citi, Whitney said not to read too much into the call. "It certainly doesn't mean I'm running into the loving arms of Citigroup or I've become bullish on Citigroup. What it means is I don't see any near-term negative catalyst for the company," she said. "In the collective it's not that interesting of a stock." Ya hear that, Citi? Not if you were the last two people on earth! Whitney 'Wildly Bullish' on Certain US Markets, But... [CNBC]