12 billion ?

well, now that the Federal Govt has made a 12 billion dollar profit on Citibank, maybe the Media will start referring to TARP as an investment in the US Financial system instead of a bailout....yeah right. We have harped on this in the past but it BEARS ( no pun intended) repeating.......nobody was bailed out, the institutions that needed cash to stay alive we're told to sell themselves or the Treasury Secretary brokered the sale for them or they went under...............TARP was an interest free loan to hand picked Banks to encourage lending, so that MAIN Street could continue to get financing for car loans, etc etc..The Fed Govt took ownership (shares) in the Banks as collateral for the loans at their "all time" low prices....low and behold when the markets recovered slightly the fed had a windfall....Damm Wall Street Crooks....making money for the American public again........and TIS the season when we will hear about Wall Street Bonuses , when in fact , it is deferred compensation, no different than Union contracts with pensions and other perks......sorry there is one difference, whereas Govt Pensions are paid even if the Municipality is bankrupt, deferred Comp on Wall Street is a percentage of profits.....tuff year on the street, the Company didn't make money ? ? FU pay me...no bonus....

The U.S. Treasury sold the last of its Citigroup Inc. common shares in a $10.5 billion offering that capped the government's biggest bank bailout of the financial-market meltdown.

The stock sale, which was finalized Monday evening, means taxpayers will reap a profit of $12 billion on their $45 billion cash investment in Citi, the Treasury said. It also helps the government quell some of the criticism that it went too far in propping up the financial system, and allows the bank to shake the market stigma that it has effectively been a ward of the state.




The U.S. Treasury sold the last of its Citigroup Inc. common shares in a $10.5 billion offering that capped the government's biggest bank bailout of the financial-market meltdown.

The stock sale, which was finalized Monday evening, means taxpayers will reap a profit of $12 billion on their $45 billion cash investment in Citi, the Treasury said. It also helps the government quell some of the criticism that it went too far in propping up the financial system, and allows the bank to shake the market stigma that it has effectively been a ward of the state.