Citi helped by better loans, hurt by choppy market

In this Jan. 6, 2012 photo, a Citibank customer makes a transaction at an ATM, in New York. Citigroup said Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, its income fell 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011due to lower investment banking income, an accounting charge, and a decline in the value of its assets. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

In this Jan. 6, 2012 photo, a Citibank customer makes a transaction at an ATM, in New York. Citigroup said Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, its income fell 11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011due to lower investment banking income, an accounting charge, and a decline in the value of its assets. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Citigroup's loan portfolio improved late last year, partly because Americans were better about paying down credit card debt. But choppy financial markets hurt its investment banking profits, and the bank missed Wall Street expectations.

The bank said Tuesday that profit fell 11 percent in the last three months of last year. Besides making less money on investment banking, the bank lost money because of a quirky accounting rule related to the value of its corporate bonds.

Citi made $1.16 billion, or 38 cents per share, on revenue of $17.2 billion. The results fell short of the 54 cents per share estimated by analysts surveyed by FactSet, a provider of financial data.

A year earlier, in the fourth quarter of 2010, Citigroup made $1.3 billion on revenue of $18.4 billion.

Citi's stock fell 3 percent to $29.76 in Tuesday morning trading. It has plummeted 23 percent in the past six months as investors worry about the losses Citi would incur if the Greek government can't pay its debts and the European debt crisis gets worse.

At year's end, Citi held $33.4 billion in debt issued by European countries and loans to businesses in debt-hobbled countries such as Greece, France, Belgium and Ireland.

"Europe remains a dark cloud," John Gerspach, Citi's chief financial officer, told reporters after the financial results were released. But he said the bank had hedged its bets well and was "highly confident" that the losses would be contained.

Citigroup's broad international profile helped its results. Its business and consumer loans grew 14 percent to $465 billion, with most of the growth coming from Latin America and Asia.

As Americans pay down debt, the bank's credit card portfolio is improving. The number of Citi customers late with payments by 90 days or more fell 30 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Its losses from loans fell 40 percent, a bigger decline than the bank had anticipated. That allowed Citi to take a profit of $1.5 billion from the reserves the bank had kept aside for such losses.

But the volatile stock and bond markets in the fourth quarter led to a decline of 45 percent in Citi's investment banking revenue, to $638 million. The bank made less money on debt and equity underwriting and fees from advising on mergers and acquisitions.

Citi, one of the worst-hit banks during the financial crisis, has been reducing the toxic loans in its portfolio ? a condition of its $45 billion federal bailout. Those assets declined 25 percent in the fourth quarter, reducing overall revenue.

The bank also took a loss of $40 million because of an accounting rule that applies to the value of the corporate debt that the bank sells to investors. The value of that debt rose in the fourth quarter, but the bank had to take a loss because it would have had to pay more to buy it back on the open market.

For all of 2011, Citigroup's income was $11.3 billion on revenues of $78.4 billion, compared to net income of $10.6 billion on revenues of $86.6 billion for the full year 2010.

This marks the bank's second straight full year of profits. Citi's results were badly hurt during the financial crisis, posting close to $40 billion in losses from 2008 and 2009 combined.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-17-Earns-Citigroup/id-877da64d6de04cc9a5c774a115a26424

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Kate Major: Jailed For Battery, Resisting Arrest!

Kate Major, Michael Lohan's on-off girlfriend and sparring partner, was arrested early this morning in Boca Raton, Fla., for battery and resisting arrest.

The hot mess former assistant of Lindsay Lohan was booked at 3:10 a.m. She was detained for resisting arrest and battering an officer with violence.

It's unclear if MiLo was involved in this ... but we wouldn't be surprised.

The fact that there's a permanent restraining order in place prohibiting Michael Lohan from being near Kate Major obviously wouldn't stop him, we know that.

Major was kicked off a plane in November and arrested for misdemeanor battery after getting into a scuffle with another passenger. No charges were filed.

Kate, who was once engaged to MiLo, checked into rehab shortly thereafter, but checked out just last week. Sounds like money and time well invested.

Major was released this afternoon and ordered to complete a mental health / drug evaluation and bring it back to the court within the next 48 hours.

Wonder how that'll turn out.

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/kate-major-jailed-for-battery-resisting-arrest/

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UK government sinks royal yacht idea for queen (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Britain's coalition government poured cold water on suggestions from a minister that taxpayers should fund a new royal yacht for Queen Elizabeth to mark her 60th year on the throne despite Britons dealing with severe austerity measures themselves.

The queen bade a sad farewell to the royal family's much-loved yacht Britannia in 1997 and Education Secretary Michael Gove recommended replacing it as a significant gesture to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, the Guardian newspaper reported.

"My suggestion would be a gift from the nation to her majesty; thinking about (Universities Minister) David Willetts' excellent suggestion of a royal yacht, and something tangible to commemorate this momentous occasion," the paper quoted his letter as saying.

The letter did make reference to Britain's current economic woes, but added that despite "and perhaps because of the austere times," the Jubilee celebrations should be greater than any that had gone before.

However, his idea was immediately scuppered by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg.

"I don't think this would be an appropriate use of public money given the state of the nation's finances," Cameron's spokesman told reporters.

Commentators said a taxpayer-funded new yacht for the royals would not have gone down well with the public who are facing spending cuts, rising taxes, pay freezes, high inflation, and job uncertainty as Britain's economy struggles out of recession.

Clegg joked the issue would be about "the haves, and the have yachts."

"Most people in the country would think the diamond jubilee is a wonderful occasion for us to celebrate together as a community and as a nation," Clegg told reporters.

"But I suspect that most people in the country would think, given that there is very little money around, that this probably would not be the top of their list of priorities for the use of scarce public resources."

Britannia, a 6,000-tonne ship with a crew of 230, was decommissioned shortly after Tony Blair's Labour party came to power in 1997. Media reported the queen cried when she bade it farewell, the only time she has shed tears in public.

At the time the Conservative Party had called for a replacement yacht -- at an estimated cost of some 60 million pounds ($90 million) -- but a poll showed 72 percent of Britons disapproved of using public money for it.

Buckingham Palace said it had no comment on the story.

(Reporting by Michael Holden, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/wl_nm/us_britain_yacht

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At UFC 142, Erick Silva disqualified for illegal blows

Erick Silva got his first UFC win in just 40 seconds. It looked like he had another quick win, but controversy erupted as soon as the 29-second bout was over.

From the opening touch of the gloves, Silva threw a knee, which caused Prater to fall to his knees. Silva followed up with several hits to the side of Prater's head. The bout was stopped by referee Mario Yamasaki, and it seemed like Silva was on the way to his second straight win.

But the official decision took longer than normal to announced, and Yamasaki explained to Silva that he was disqualified because Yamasaki said the blows were to the back of Prater's head.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan disagreed with the call, saying that the punches hit the side of Prater's head. Yamasaki said that he needed to make the call in the moment, and he saw the blows hit the back of Prater's head. MMA referees do not have instant replay.

Silva took the disappointment well.

"I have great respect for the referee," Silva told Rogan. "I don't think they were hitting the back of the head."

The bout will go down as a loss on Silva's record.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-142-erick-silva-disqualified-illegal-blows-035820320.html

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'Abraham Lincoln' Star Benjamin Walker Is One To Watch In 2012

Walker talks to MTV News about playing a vampire-killing president.
By Josh Horowitz

Benjamin Walker in "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox Film

MTV News' first couple minutes on the set of "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" last spring were freaky. There we were, on a soundstage in New Orleans, and yet standing in front of us was the 16th President of the United States himself. A Fox publicist's assurance that we were set to talk to Benjamin Walker, star and namesake of "Vampire Hunter," rather than the man who was gunned down in a theater in 1865, did little to diminish the creepiness, because we were starring at no actor but Honest Abe himself.

Eventually we composed ourselves, and an epic and whirlwind day on the set of director Timur Bekmambetov's adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's best-selling novel proceeded without a hitch. Now, we're rolling out our exclusive look at the set, including interviews with Walker, Bekmambetov and costar Anthony Mackie. It's all part of our Ones to Watch series, a weeklong look at actors and actresses set to have amazing years in 2012.

Out of his Abe getup and with "Vampire Hunter" set for release on June 22, Walker called us up to chat in greater depth about his experience in the genre mashup and why the film will show us Lincoln as we've truly never seen him before.

MTV News: Is it a daunting proposition knowing what's to come? This is a summer tent pole and you're the guy. Do you feel a little bit of that weight?

Benjamin Walker: Having never done it, I really don't even know what to be afraid of. I'm just taking it in stride.

MTV: Was this role, when you heard about it, something that was like, "Oh my god, that's something I'm dying to do?" Or was it something that took a little discussing with your team to say, "Hey, this would be cool for you."

Walker: Well, I had just finished doing a rock musical about Andrew Jackson, so I was already suited for it. What really got me excited was Timur. I liked his work, and as soon as I found out he was directing it, I wanted to be a part of it.

MTV: Can you give me a sense of what the process was like in getting the role? Did you have to go through multiple auditions and screen tests?

Walker: I met him in LA months before I got the job, and then he came and saw the Andrew Jackson show. There was a test that we did together with no prosthetics, and then we had the test Greg Cannom and Will Huff, the makeup artists. After that, the deal was closed, but we're talking about over the span of six or seven months.

MTV: What's the preparation for a role like this? What were the things you needed to get done before you stepped onto set for the first time?

Walker: First off, I had to lose about 30 pounds. I put on a lot of weight for Andrew Jackson, and Lincoln, particularly later in his life, was a very slight man. I learned ax fighting, which was a whole new martial art that they created for the film. Then I started brushing up on my Abe Lincoln history.

MTV: Was the weight loss easy for you to do?

Walker: Who can do that? It's the easiest way to do it, when a studio's willing to help you do it, and then you're training at the same time so you're exercising regularly and heavily. Certainly the easiest way to do it, but certainly not pleasant.

MTV: Tell me about Lincoln's fighting style.

Walker: The stunt guys and the fight choreographer, Mic Rodgers, who is a stunt legend, and a gentleman named Don Lee — all of these guys are martial artists and stuntmen. They created a form of fighting that would be unique to Lincoln at that time, that's never been in a movie before. As I'm learning it, they're creating it. It was really fascinating.

MTV: What is it comparable to?

Walker: It's comparable to a kind of bow staff fighting. If you imagine a shorter bow staff with a blade on the end of it, a kind of continuously spinning, ruthless and simultaneously graceful martial art.

MTV: When I was on set, I noticed the makeup on you was remarkable up close. I would imagine that you have to do this fighting stuff in that getup, obviously. That seems like a twofold challenge for you. Did that get in the way at all?

Walker: It became uncomfortable over time. You start to sweat under it. You're wearing a three-piece wool suit and fighting vampires and you're wearing a mask. It really becomes uncomfortable, but the men who created it, Greg Cannom and Will Huff, are absolute geniuses. If I ever felt frustrated, all I had to do was catch a reflection of this amazing sculpture that they had created on my face. The frustration would just fall away because I knew how great it looked.

MTV: Did your friends or wife visit you on set, and what did they make of your look?

Walker: Mostly everyone was creeped out by it because it's Abraham Lincoln, and I'm talking about where we're going to go have dinner.

MTV: So you didn't ever walk off set in downtown New Orleans as Abraham Lincoln?

Walker: No, because we're trying to keep it and how magnificent it looks as secret as possible. I was kind of sequestered to a tent anytime I was off shooting.

MTV: I'm anxious to see some finished footage in a trailer. Have they shown you much yet?

Walker: I've only seen some ADR material, and it's very, very exciting.

MTV: Did you guys shoot it in 3-D or are you posting it in 3-D?

Walker: If I'm not mistaken, we're posting it in 3-D.

MTV: Was the book itself useful? Had you read the book prior to this opportunity coming up?

Walker: I read the book as soon as I knew I was going to meet on it. It's helpful in terms of understanding the style and the seriousness with which we embrace this mashup, but there are going to be things in the movie that are surprises to people who know the book. But, also, we pay homage to what's great about the book.

MTV: My sense is — correct me if I'm wrong — that it feels like I was on the set of a Lincoln biopic because I didn't see any of the action stuff. It feels like it was all shooting extremely seriously and then you add that layer of crazy action and irreverence in that form. Does it feel like we're in a drama that's infected with action and violence?

Walker: It's more like we looked at Lincoln through the lens of that. What we do is embrace a dramatic story. It's in the title. You get it. Vampires. Now we commit to it, and you get to go on that ride.

MTV: Do you feel a little bit of resentment toward Mr. Daniel Day-Lewis? This guy can't let you be the one Lincoln of the year. You have some competition from the greatest living actor on the planet.

Walker: Luckily, they're very different movies.

MTV: What can you guarantee to me is better about your Lincoln movie than his Lincoln movie?

Walker: Our vampires will be much better than their vampires.

MTV: Although, I would like to see Daniel Day-Lewis fight vampires. You could do a mashup there one day. Are your presidential days behind you?

Walker: I would love to continue through the cannon of American presidents. They're fascinating people. America's story is a story that fascinates me. I'll never turn down a president.

MTV: Let it be known to casting directors everywhere.

Walker: It has to be a weird interpretation of the president, apparently.

MTV: A very specialized career you have going. 'Paradise Lost,' what's going on with that? Is that a stop? Is that a go?

Walker: It sounds like what they're trying to do is so ambitious they need a little bit more time to prep. They're looking for the summer, which is fine by me. It's also the kind of movie that if we're not ready, we don't need to start. They're doing something in a technological aspect that nobody's ever done in a movie. If they want a little extra time, they can have it.

MTV: I assume you're jazzed about that one. You like the script and you like the interpretation? We haven't seen many blockbusters made of poems in the history of cinema, but this will be something unique, I think.

Walker: That story is the story that began all stories. It's one of the greatest stories of all time. It's something I studied in school and I'm excited to be a part of.

MTV: Are you still doing some comedy in New York or elsewhere?

Walker: Oh yeah, Find the Funny is at Joe's Pub usually the first of every month. We're working out some kinks for the New Year, but we're certainly going to be starting out here shortly. It's something I love to do and something I love to be a part of.

MTV: That side of you is something we haven't seen on the big screen yet. Is that opportunity is exciting for you? To bring a little bit of that stage persona to the big screen work?

Walker: I think it would be a lot of fun. There's little greater in life than making someone laugh. If you can do it in the medium of film, it's even more rewards, I imagine.

MTV: Do you know what the next gig is, whether it's on stage or in front of the camera?

Walker: Well, the industry is coming back together after the holidays. There are a lot of possibilities. "Paradise" moving has changed some things. So far, I'm gearing up for the press tour for "Lincoln," which is going to be a huge undertaking.

MTV: Have you talked to friends and family that have gone through this sort of thing yet to know what you're getting into? It's a lot of sitting in hotel rooms and answering the same questions for hours on end, carpets.

Walker: I could probably ask you what it's like. You know better than anybody. You probably have to be much more miserable than I have to be.

MTV: I'm looking forward to seeing how glazed over your eyes are when I see you at your first junket. Will it be your first junket you've done?

Walker: You can reserve the right, because we know each other, to reach across the table and swat me, to bring me back to life if you need to.

MTV: There was talk that you did a workshop for this "American Psycho" musical. Was that something that was fun? Is that something you're hoping might come together in another form?

Walker: I'd love to do it. The music was great. Duncan Sheik did the music. It's a very timely story right now. It's a musical about the deregulation of American finance through the lens of a crazy person. It's a lot of fun. The thing that's great about "American Psycho" as a play or musical is that it's funnier.

MTV: Were you a fan of Mary Harron's film? Obviously, Christian Bale was amazing in that as well.

Walker: That was an amazing movie.

MTV: A little bit of a different take, it sounds like. I guess accentuate the humor a little bit more.

Walker: A lot of the things that happened in the film were inferred through voice-over, with a stage play, it's direct address. You're literally having a conversation with the audience.

MTV: Is there Phil Collins? Is there Genesis in the stage play?

Walker: Oh, yeah. "Feel It Coming In the Air Tonight."

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677290/benjamin-walker-abraham-lincoln-vampire-hunter.jhtml

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"Game of Thrones" returns April 1 (Reuters)

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) ? HBO's fantasy drama "Game of Thrones" will return Sunday, April 1, the network announced Friday.

The network also announced that the movie "Game Change," about John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, will debut Saturday, March 10. It stars Ed Harris as McCain and Julianne Moore as Palin, with Woody Harrelson as campaign strategist Steve Schmidt.

The new series "Girls," from "Tiny Furniture" star and creator Lena Durham, will debut Sunday, April 15. "Veep," which stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a beleaguered vice president, debuts Sunday, April 22.

HBO also announced that "The Weight of the Nation," a four-part documentary about the nation's obesity epidemic, will debut Monday, May 14 and Tuesday, May 15, with two parts airing each night.

(Editing by Chris Michaud)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/tv_nm/us_gameofthrones

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Court's comments stir controversy at Aussie Open (AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia ? Nearly 40 years after she won the last of her 11 Australian Open singles titles, Margaret Court is back in the news at Melbourne Park for her opposition to gay marriage.

Her stance has spurred the creation of a Facebook group, "Rainbow Flags Over Margaret Court Arena," which is urging spectators to display rainbow-colored gay pride banners at the show court that bears her name during the Australian Open, which begins Monday.

"Politically correct education has masterfully escorted homosexuality out from behind closed doors, into the community openly and now is aggressively demanding marriage rights that are not theirs to take," the 69-year-old Court said in a December interview with The West Australian in Perth, where she lives.

"The fact that the homosexual cry is, `We can't help it, as we were born this way,' as the cause behind their own personal choice is cause for concern," said Court, who became a Pentecostal minister in the 1990s.

Rennae Stubbs, an Australian who has won four Grand Slam doubles titles, backs fans who want to show their support for gay rights at Margaret Court Arena.

"Margaret has said her feelings and it's public, and it has leverage," said Stubbs, who has been open about her homosexuality. "So I think this is the only way the people feel that they can be heard, through a sign of solidarity. As long as it (a protest) is done tastefully, that's the most important thing for me."

Court's stance has put her at odds with former WTA Tour stars Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King.

Navratilova told TennisChannel.com that "seems to me a lot of people have evolved, as has the Bible. Unfortunately, Margaret Court has not. ... Her myopic view is truly frightening as well as damaging to the thousands of children already living in same-gender families."

Kerryn Phelps, former president of the Australian Medical Association and one of Australia's most influential gay spokeswomen, has called on the Victoria state government and Tennis Australia to drop Court's name from the 6,000-seat show court arena named in her honor.

"Time to rename Margaret Court Arena," Phelps tweeted this week.

Tennis Australia said in a statement that although it respects Court's playing record as "second to none ... her personal views are her own, and are definitely not shared by Tennis Australia."

"Like the WTA, we believe that everyone should be treated equally and fairly. ... TA does not support any view that contravenes these basic human rights."

Court won her last Australian Open title in 1973.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_sp_te_ne/ten_australian_open_controversial_court

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