Citigroup (C): Analyst Meredith Whitney Cuts Another Bank's Throat

Oppenheimer bank analyst Meredith Whitney has taken a dim view of bank earnings for some time. Her research has caused sell-offs in big financial company shares on more than one occasion.

But, with the Treasury putting all of that cash into money center firms, it should have been safe to assume that Whitney would give the industry a little breathing room and spend more time with her husband World Wrestling Federation star John "Bradshaw" Layfield.

It looks like Layfield will be home alone.

Apparently, Whitney wants to spend more time looking at financial company balance sheets. In the process she has decided that Citigroup should be her next victim. "We continue to believe outsized expenses and negative operating leverage represent the largest challenge for the company, " the Oppenheimer & Co analyst, who met with Citigroup CFO Gary Crittenden, said, according to Reuters.

Whitney expects the bank to post a loss of $2.87 a share in fiscal 2008, and a loss of $2.65 a share in fiscal 2009.

Douglas A. McIntyre