Another chapter in the continuing decline of Citigroup Inc., once the nation’s largest bank, was written Monday as the company was ousted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, to be replaced by insurer Travelers Cos. — a company with which Citigroup entered an ill-fated marriage a decade ago.

Cisco Systems (CSCO)  and Travelers (TRV)  will replace General Motors Corp. (GM)  and Citigroup on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes said.

The changes will take effect at the opening of trading on June 8.

The move was triggered by General Motors’ filing for bankruptcy earlier Monday. “A bankruptcy filing immediately disqualifies a stock regardless of a company’s history or its role as a cultural icon,” said Robert Thomson, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief for all of Dow Jones.

“We were reluctant to remove Citigroup at the height

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Barclays In A Pickle

That’s exactly the headline used in this Forbes story for a look at how investors remain worried about the financial services giant. It’s now due to report earnings on Feb. 9. 

As we have done here in this column since the latest market crisis impacted shares of Barclays (which is behind the issues of many popular exchange-traded notes), we continue to follow the situation. You can read the latest here.

Perils Of ETFs

In a column at MarketWatch.com, John Spence notes the march of exchange-traded funds and notes throughout the investing world. But he warns that the ETF world has become a kind of casino royale for every type of index on the planet. 

His lead says it all: “No matter how obscure the industry or how exotic the strategy, chances are someone has created an index and launched an exchange-traded fund or note

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There’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel— finally. Most of the really well respected, long term investors are advising their audiences to hang in there, to stop the panic selling, and to look for the great companies that have withstood the economic downturns of the past.

Buffet, Bogle, Gross, Schwab, and company offer sound advice— don’t run and hide, it’s time to hit the Wall Street Mall and go shopping! They’ve seen the indicators; they’ve been there before. So have many of you. Clearly, it’s time for action.

With IGV stock prices down 50% or more, and income securities as low or lower, Chuck Jaffe points out in MarketWatch that the case for loading up on managed Closed End Funds (CEFs) is a strong one. The great companies are in garage sale mode, and managed CEFs are selling at …

Today was a replay of yesterday with bulls doing more news cherry-picking [Durable Goods orders better than expected] while buying toward the close again perhaps from the same unknown source.

Don’t ya love headline writers? This one’s from MarketWatch.

Anyway, volume remains sluggish and breadth unimpressive.

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