On Tuesday J. P. Morgan surprised the market by moving its earnings release from January 21 to tomorrow, January 15th, the day before the options expiration.
Today Citi announced that it is moving its own earnings release to this week, on Friday.
Is there a significance to this?
Perhaps. One likely reason is that they did not wish to put their earnings out at the same time as an historic event with the inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday January 20, with what is likely to be considered bad news.
There is also a likelihood that Citi and JPM wished to 'throw their cards on the table' ahead of the initial decision by Congress with regard to the disposition of TARP funds which is likely to occur next week. Economic blackmail is de rigeur for Wall Street when it is back on its heels.
Whatever does happen, we are certainly in for an interesting month of January.
Citi Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2008 Earnings Review - Revised Date
NEW YORK -- (Business Wire) --
Citi announced it will review fourth quarter and full-year 2008 results on Friday, January 16, 2009, at 8:00 AM (EST), instead of January 22. Fourth quarter results will be issued via press release at approximately 6:00 AM (EST) on January 16, 2009.
A live webcast of the presentation, as well as financial results and presentation materials, will be available at http://www.citigroup.com/citigroup/fin. A replay of the webcast will be available at http://www.citigroup.com/citigroup/fin/pres.htm.
