SOUTH DAKOTA STRAIGHT TALK

A Reader correctly replied to the previous post I misstated that Citigroup reported they might be taking a write down and reducing their dividend. The fact is this was the comment by William Tanona, a Goldman Sachs analyst. I stand corrected.

It is important to get the facts right but the mistake does not diminish the message that there may be trouble brewing with credit card delinquencies and the financial condition of the South Dakota credit card banks bears watching.

Sidebar – There are interesting relationships between Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and the subprime mortgage meltdown; perhaps just accidental and certainly not a conspiracy but just interesting to note.

Consider – Goldman Sachs as an investment bank suffered little loss from the subprime bubble and even profited from it. For his alleged mishandling of Citi’s affairs, Charles Prince left his position of CEO and Chairman of the Citi Board and was replaced by former U S Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. Prior to serving to entering the Federal Government in the Clinton Administration, Rubin served as Vice Chairman and Co-Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sachs. Rubin worked at Goldman for about 16 years.