Citi sets a record… how it could signal a market bottom by June…Dan Amoss on a “rescue” program that might work as advertised — and even touch off a stock rally… Buffett dispenses more pearls of wisdom… highlights of his annual letter to shareholders… Byron King on the energy crisis the government must solve… soon… U.S. still doesn’t have it that bad… the new Iron Curtain forming in the EU

1.87 billion shares of Citigroup exchanged hands on Friday. That’s easily a record, not just for Citi, but for any stock in the history of the New York Stock Exchange. Shares in the company dropped almost 40%, to $1.40.

The former record holder WorldCom traded 1.5 billion shares on July 1, 2002. The S&P 500 set a bottom three months later.

...

Ghosts of the fourth quarter haunt global financials… so begins the second act of the credit saga… Even the IMF needs a loan… $150 billion to back up struggling emerging markets… Not so fast, says Mayer… emerging markets will remain drivers of global growth… Jim Nelson with an industry likely to boom in 2009… Wayne Burritt’s short-term trading advice… with S&P 500 price targets… Plus, Russia-Ukraine gas dispute not yet over… a reader provides firsthand account.

And… action.

Fourth-quarter earnings season is in full swing. Many investors seem to have forgotten over the past few weeks, but American financials still look… umn, bad. Here’s the quick and dirty:

Citigroup, once the world’s second

...

While it's true that in the midst of the Monday Massacre where the Dow fell 777 points J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) was not spared -- the stock fell to $41 per share -- this was off near 52-week highs, once the U.S. mega-bank picked up what was left of failed retail bank Washington Mutual (WM) last Friday.

But JPM shares are surging strongly on today's rebound -- up $4 per share, nearly 10% -- as the Dow bounds up nearly 2.5% in Tuesday's mid-morning trading.  Perhaps waiting out the fall of WaMu was the strategic masterstroke of JPM's board, especially after the company did the same thing when Bear Stearns fell earlier this year.

Analyst estimate revisions seem to have turned around in the course of the last 30 days, as well.  Even though 6 analyst have recently revised September-quarter (Q3) estimates down, 3 have upped expectations for the bank's Q4.  In

...

Below are some additional thoughts on the latest MUFG-UB offer (these comments were originally posted in response to an article published by Reuters; edited for style/formatting). UB’s (UB: 73.25 +11.85%) Special Committee is very opportunistic and knows what it is doing. It has effectively taken its minority stake hostage vis a vis its board representation and a long-standing one at that for the Chief of the Committee. At the end of the day, there is absolutely no “reputation risk” as MUFG (MTU: 7.54 +2.86%) fears. Why? Nobody on Wall Street cares! So, is MUFG overpaying? Of course it is. Is it a good deal — yes, great for UBOC in this market. Will MUFG pay up even further as some Tokyo analysts suggest? Probably not. If so, it is even more concerning why there is such urgency on the part of MUFG. Meantime MUFG shareholders ...