they report tomorrow. this is a good sign. >> jinm, thank you very much. that will do it for a busy hour. >> thanks for joining us, everybody. we'll see you tomorrow. the dow up 125 points. street signs begins right now. citigroup ceo out unexpectedly and the questions are piling up. why now? did he quit on or was he fired? and what exactly was going on behind closed doors? we have this big story from all angles. including hearing from our own mar maria bartiromo. plus apple with a little mystery of his own. and another d.c. backed alternative power company goes bust with a few hundred million bucks of your tax dollars in toe.

>> dow and s&p having their biggest gains in over a month and have turned positive for the month of october. a volatile day. at the moment, citigroup shares higher by about 1%. >> they are up today. but overall, mandy, citigroup has been a dog for the past few years. let's look at comparison with citigroup and some of its competitors. pandit took over on december 11th, 2007 and to be fair, he inherited a company with a lot of problems. this very busy chart is five years old. goes all the way back. and the only line you need to look at is the blue line at the bottom. that is citigroup. in five years, the stock is down 92%. only bank of america has been nearly as bad. jpmorgan clearly the

outperformer. but a little different on a one year chart. citi hasn't quite looked as awful. citi in fact actually one of the better performers over the past 12 months. second only to bank of america. the question is, guys, five years of pain, one year things looked like they were turning around. so why is pandit out now? maria bartiromo spoke with him just a short timing ae ago. we have jim cramer with us. bob, a lot of chatter down there. why now? >> we don't know, but let's fit the facts with the plus aable theory. the facts are he left suddenly after earnings.aable theory. the facts are he left suddenly after earnings. he meets with the board and says not a bad earnings report, let's talk about strategy and things i want to do and my compensation. and mr. o'neal, chairman, pushes back, things blow up. that at least fits the facts we

know it. i think we'll find out it's a battle over compensation or strategy. meantime you you see citigroup holding up with its gains. 1% on the day. we're in the midst of a nice rally and it doesn't have anything to do with citigroup. a lot is positive momentum out of europe. s&p 500 only ten points from a new closing high, 1465 is what we need to get over. notice the euro was strong again today and i know we don't want to get into europe, but that's also been a major factor. fi finally the home building stocks on the down side. index ask a out this morning. and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations.c. and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations.m. and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations.e morning. and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations.s. and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations.k. and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations. . and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations.a. and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations. . and as soon as it came out, it was in line with expectations. but i think they wanted a little more. >> slow growth environment. quite a boost to confidence

overall. thank you very much. i want to bring in now maria bartiromo because you spoke earlier to vikram pandit. what was your takeaway? >> if you look at the fact that the stock is down 90% in five year, one would conclude that perhaps there is real frustration that pandit has been unable to actually right the ship and unable to swlink ohrin assets as fast as insome would like. but he said it was his idea, it was time after five years of accomplishing what he set out to accomplish. number two, i said to him how does this all go down. explain what went on after your earnings. he said we released the earning. they were well received and they proved the company has executed well. then we did the call with analysts. after that call and after the earnings were out, vikram told me he called mike o'neal to discuss stepping down. number three, i said to him if

this was all planned and a part of an overall strategy that you've been thinking about for so long, why so abrupt in saying i'm stepping down immediately, i'm stepping down from the board, my number two is stepping down, why the abruptness of it. he said this shows we are organized. this shows the board has been ready for this eventuality, that we have a new ceo in place and that there is no sense in me the old ceo looking over his shoulder to critique what he's doing. he said i expect mr. corbat to continue what i have been doing, focus on emerging markets and core banking. pandit is well versed on risk. that's different from core commercial banking. so there is a bit of odds at these two guys o'neal versus pandit. one of my sources said they were like oil and water. more on that in a minute. number four, i said to him was

this really about compensation at the end of the day. they didn't want to pay you. quote, he said, maria, let's not forget i was the one who worked for a dollar when i needed to. i stepped up. no, it was about time after five years of accomplishing what i think we set out to do, we have done it. i said to him, are there any blowups that we need to know about, are we going to learn that there is a major scandal about libor, are we going to learn that the derivatives portfolio is out of whack, that the valuation keeps dropping. he said all of that would be disclosable, that i would have to disclose that. i would never walk away from this position if i felt this firm was not in very good shape. i feel good about leaving this where i am. the firm is at its peak. we set out to do what we want on do. now my analysis. frankly, i think it's about compensation. remember the year that's did work for a dollar. he lad said i'm not going to accept the big pay package.

i'll work for a dollar. in the meantime, he still got bashed by the populus and regulators. they have regulators living in that firm breathing down their back. i believe after the earnings were released, he discussed z with the chairman that he should be getting paid, what his counter parts at other banks are getting paid, o'neal pushed back. here's a commercial guy. commercial banking by very different world, higher paychecks in the institutional world. i think o'neal pushed back and vikram said i'm out of here. i'm not going to work for the samry not com mention sewer rat with the other banks. i do believe it was his decision to step away, but only because he would not get the pay that he was.

again, this is my analysis. he's sticking by the story that it was his idea and he feels he's accomplished what he set out to. >> maria, thank you. we have learned that the chairman of citi and new ceo will be holding an analyst conference at 4:30 p.m. and of course we'll bring coverage of that. and i want to bring in jim cramer because i know you have a slightly different take on the resignation or otherwise of vikram pandit. >> i've not spoken to vikram pandit today. i've spoken with a lot of people at the bank. and the way that you hear is a little bit different obviously because they're not going to say, yeah, what happened is he came in here and wanted a lot more money and we said no. what they're saying is it's not compensation. again, vone versus the other. no hidden blow ups.

but there was a sense last night they said you're not going to get us where we have to go. where did citi have to go? in pandit's world, 65% to 70% international. the bank for the brics. the biggest in mexico and asia. that had been his mandate. he was following up on that mandate. and you saw from yesterday's quarter he's been winning. that was a magnificent quarter. but the second thing is how about the regulators. is he going to be able to get the dividend, get the money back? fresh guy can go in front -- >> can i bring up a third thing which is maybe more to the conspiracy side. john havens also resigned. if it was purely about vikram's pay, what was it about havens? maybe they did have very separate reasons for leaving. but you have to admit, jim, you've been doing this a long

time, mandy, you've been doing it a long time. there's a smell test that maybe is not quayet fully passed. >> i agree. and if it was about compensation, why does havens go. they were joined at the hip. >> or were they considered a package deal. >> i know they were very proud of this quarter, so obviously it seems like the stock was on on the incline because of the quarter. it is easier to go to the regulators and say the guy who submitted the last plan, he's now gone. mere's corbat, he's got the plan. and corbat's very likeable guy. a lot of people really like him. >> do you think he's the guy with the right plan at the company? >> he's not the last guy. and maybe the regulators -- sheila bair was on "squawk on the street" today. does she have an ax to grind? she thinks pandit is a joker. pandit is not a joker.

>> the vast majority of the people who wrote in said they think that something fishy is going on. but if we take pandit at face value it's perfectly if he does resign after the board said we want to let you go and he said i resign. >> in the discussion i've had with people at the bank, there was a belief that the team stayed together despite the government. earnings stayed together. is it better off than four years ago? this is a bank that wanted to be the emerging market bank. and this quarter was the one where you you say yippee, they did it. and that's why the stock's been acting so well. >> you ran a hedge fund, though. you're a very smart guy. harvard, harvard law. could you run a bank? >> no, i spoke to havens all the time. >> you understand my point.

pandit was a hedge fund guy who made a ton of money. they called him the accidental ceo. kind of the slotted in when chuck prince got the boot and running a bank is very different than running a hedge fund. >> havens ran the day to day and he did a terrific job. i think. it was vikram's vision to be an international bank because he felt that the united states would have very little growth. that was a good call. havens was magnificent numbers guy. so you have this great duo owe. so no surprise that the duo leaves. come a corbat is a fresh face. this was a great quarter, but i think that when you go in front of the regulators, the first thing you can say is, and i bet you this is the same discussions as bank of america, which is if we put a new guy in there --

>> and you wrote an excellent piece up on cnbc.com about the board room blood letting. only two wall street ceos from the darkest days of the financial crisis that are left. bla blankfein and dimon. we need to get rid of the people whose names are associated with the dark days. >> thank you for the plug for my story. i almost for got that you wrote it. and you can see at the bottom of your screen, sandy weill saying he applauds the decision to name michael corbat as ceo. >> every time i ever spoke with the people at citi, they discredited sandy weill's vision of a bank. so it's realistic that he would discredit those who discredited -- >> so many discredit misthere, like two negatives make a positive. >> everybody has an ax. i'm trying to figure out what my ax is in this one. >> how about another ax.

not the body spray which smells great by the way. it's the ax swinging on wall street. doug braunstein looks like he'll be transitioning out of the ceo role to something unnamed. state street may face the ire of shareholders and possibly the ouster. now you have pandit and havens. two people left. what do you think in a bigger perspective is happening on wall street? it's been a blood letting. >> the group is hated by america. america hates the bankers p. pandit by the way did the right thing. he said i'm sorry. people in washington and capitol hill liked pandit. sheila bair hated him. tim geithner liked him. federal reserve neutral. but i think that there is a stench in this group and i think people in general they welcome any change at the banks

including our president. >> oh. >> i was thinking about something else given -- >> that's politicizing it. >> he inherited a bad situation much like our president. things have started to turn but maybe hasn't turned fast enough and perhaps pandit can it get forced enough and you wonder if that mood might extend to the national picture. >> no, i'm not going there. >> obviously the banks had very few friends anyway. >> pandit made $56.4 million since taking over and that does not include i believe the millions he made selling his hedge fund to citi. >> one of thins people have to realize having been friends with a lot of -- not anymore, it's a different world. everyone's a millionaire. they make more money would i

just the interest off their portfolio. did vikram deserve everything he got? this was a great quarter. they delivered what they wanted. >> the american people would find that offensive. >> yes, they would. >> share price dropped 44% last year. but we have a lot of positive ratings from various people on wall street. >> rev new growth terrific. not even taking any reversal of mortgage losses, this was such a clean quarter. i congratulated him at the end of my show last night because i was blown away. i went line by line again in that quarter. i couldn't believe how good it was. >> so let me just do a speculation here. if it had not been for the pandit news today, what do you think the stock would have been doing on the earnings alone? >> stock i thought could go to $38. this is now the international bank.

it's no longer hostage to the united states even though i think the united states is making a come back. >> what do you think of the rally? high profile ceo on stepping down, market goes up. europe imploding, market goes up. >> what does that tell you? it tells you that this is a very strong market. industrial production was terrific. retail sales back to back really fabulous. you're not see the kind of -- other than in technology, the degradation that we thought we would see. a lot of people have to recognize that retail sales are the life blood of this economy. we are a service and retail economy. the fact that manufacturing didn't drop off a cliff -- >> never doubt the power of the american/australian consumer. >> somebody who has been to the short hills mall recently. >> maria speaks for vikram. i don't have that call. i guess what i rega get what i regard as the other

side. >> it will be debated for weeks. >> that's what we do. thank you so much for joining us. ready for a rematch, america? no, not cramer/greenberg. we are just hours away from tonight's presidential debate. but this one may not be a game changer for either side. we'll tell you why. and we'll show you how to decode every candidate's move. a body language expert is giving uses their guide. >> and talk about bad timing. the president has spent $5 billion in taxpayer money trying to push electric cars and today one of his pet projects files for bankruptcy. is this just the last straw? americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures.

helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪

this is a live picture of hofstra university where in a new hours president obama and mitt romney will take the stage for the second of three presidential debates. the obama camp surely hoping for a flawless performance. rules are much most of strict than last time around. and the event is held as a town hall style meeting.rst of stric than last time around. and the event is held as a town hall style meeting.et of strict than last time around. and the event is held as a town hall style meeting. of strict than last time around. and the event is held as a town hall style meeting.of strict than last time around. and the event is held as a town hall style meeting.f strict than last time around. and the event is held as a town hall style meeting. strict than last time around. and the event is held as a town hall style meeting. so let's eye bring in a psychologist and body language expert. and john harwood is here. john, how much does tonight matter? >> matters a lot because president obama did not do well the first time. mitt romney did exceptionally

well. his favorables have him prif im. president obama has to show some fight for democrats. he can probably stabilize himself if he can. >> to what extent is it all staged anyway? >> well, it's staged because the candidates have canned lines they want to come out with, but it is 90 minutes where anything can happen. they're going to be confronted with questions from town halls and you have to show empathy and respect from the people you're taking questions from. >> the 21 page deal that they made eliminate the spontaneity? >> i don't think that the deals that get made -- we saw in the first debate when the candidates blew through the segments, jim lehrer didn't exert a lot of control over the proceedings.

candidates can do what they want. >> can theed aien audience ask they want? >> candy kroucrowley has pre-screened the questions, she's selected which ones will be asked. she hasn't told the campaigns. we know what they are because people submitted their questions in advance. candy whether teill tell us whi. >> from a body language perspective, what do they need to come? >> they need to be real. one thing is that we don't have the split screen. so that's very important. i think it's a wrong move. the public is too sharp and we need to see it all. >> that's one of the deals that they probably made. don't do it because you didn't want to catch somebody off guard. >> but why not? it's human and we need to see

that and we need to have the whole picture. and it just gives us a little bit of that picture. >> how could obama do a better job? >> he needs to be more animated. he needs to stop with the huh, huh, because it doesn't work for him. it makes him sound weak. he needs to come across dynamic. four years ago, his speech was so dynamic and he really won the world. and he needs to go back to that. >> we're hearing that the new ceo at citigroup will get an annual based salary of $1.5 million. that's michael corbat. sorry to break in. i wanted to get the viewers that information. but in the meantime, do you think that a town hall setting is going to play to mitt romney? >> i think it will play to both of them because we'll really sea who they are as people. and we've seen the graciousness of both of them.seea who they a. and we've seen the graciousness of both of them.see who they are as people. and we've seen the graciousness of both of them. so the tension is gone. they can really talk to the people. but i do think the split screen

is a wrong move. >> okay. to both of you, thank you very much for joining us. and we'll have complete live coverage leading up right to the main event beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. you can catch john no doubt larry, who else is involved? >> mitt romney and president obama. >> they're there, as well. >> carl will be there, maria. >> and we have romney and obama. what a great lineup. >> by the way, whoever made that graphic should get a raise. >> fantastic. very retro. love it. >> well, if romney needed anymore ammunition, he doesn't have to look very far. why the company in this chart is sure to come up and what it means. a 123 systems. back after this.

a 1123 oig systems filing for bankruptcy. it warned it may happen. this company took $249 million in federal loans. if n. all the president has spent more than 5 billion in taxpayer money trying to push electric cars. you talk about maybe bad timing

for the president, as mitt romney really took obama to task on this in their first meeting. >> you put $90 billion like 50 years worth into solar and wind to solyndra and tesla. a friend said you tonight just pick the winners and losers. you pick the losers. >> let's bring in jimmy and phil. if you're mitt romney, you've got go right after this, don't you? >> i absolutely would if i were mitt romney. listen, the core of the president's economic plan for the future, how he says what he'll do in his next term, is to say that i'm still going to be able to create all these clean energy jobs through these smart investments, but they aren't paying off of. and frankly, once the cap and trade plan went down in congress, the economic viability of all these initiatives was put in doubt. >> phil, do you agree? where does the blame fall here?

i know they had issues with some of their suppliers. you can't sell batteries to car companies take maybe are slowing or stopping their production, right. >> and you can't create a market. you talk to most people in the auto industry, three years ago, they would have told you that the electric car maybe wasn't going to take off, but the development into the electric car was a smart idea so to speak. almost every automaker, the only one who said we're not getting involved in that is chrysler. because they said we are have other things we're worried about. over other automaker said they were doing something with the electric vehicle. since then, everybody has pulled back. toyota just said the we'll have a very marginal whether he can vehicle program, we're focusing on hybrids and internal combustion engine vehicles. so the market was never there. so if you want to blame anybody, you blame the fact that the bet was made the market would develop and it never developed.

>> the airline industry would not exist if it wasn't if subsidies. but if we had a surplus in america, if this was 1998, would anybody even care about a123? only reason people care is because we're broke. >> does this work ultimately. is this a good way to create jobs. most economists would say that if government wants to support an industry, it should support it through regulation and tax policy and being competitive. and maybe basic research. not taking money and directly investing it in companies. which is hard enough for investors to do. really hard for government bureaucrats to do. >> all right, we got to leave it there. we'll get more i'm sure tonight during the actual debate. thanks. all week we're bringing you

alternative investments and up next, why you don't need a million bucks to invest in very cool classic cars. >> and we're also going to show you the brand new linkedin professional social network out with a new improved design. we have your very first look. is it a reason to buy the stock, though? we'll find out.

wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know.

you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

citigroup shares up one-half 1%. vikram pandit ousted and the new ceo will have a conference call with investors and no doubt the media because i'm sure we'll be jumping on line, as well. >> that's at 4:30 p.m. today. we should also add that we have learned that the new ceo michael corbat will get a base salary of

$1.5 million annually. remember that's base salary. that is not including all the other things -- >> other stuff in there, as well. >> let's take a look at what's happening in terms of street talk. big news on apple. kind of getting lost in the citi shuffle. >> sending out an invitation for an event to be held next week in san jose, california. there is the event invite. we have a little more to show you. a lot of speculation that it could be theism pad mini. other people speculating new itunes, new imac. >> stock up 2%. >> domino's pizza, earnings with have a cheese. >> sounds good. domino's stock up 7%. earnings beat by two cents. sales beat by 2 million. comp store sales up 1.6% in america, but international was where it was at. we looked at some of the

tomorrow know tomorr domino's commercials around the world. 5% in sales gain around the world. and their ceo won the award. >> and the stock up 18% since. so would he have feeling vindy dated. he'll be on "mad money" tonight, by the way, with jim cramer. also kroger investors do something shopping there. >> kroger raised from hold to buy. analyst says it continues to gain market share. they add the valuation suggests investors will be vel rewarded. kroger has outperformed its competitors this year.

linkedin unveiling their brand new look today. stock up over 145% since its ipo in may of last year. joinings now is senior vp of products and user experience at linkedin. great to have you with us. how whether my user experience be better now? >> great to be here on "street signs." the way the user experience will be different with the new proceed file is you're going to be able to put your best professional foot forward and establish your professional brand on linked in through a very easy to see, easy to use visual branding. the second thing is you'll get a lot better insight market network and also from people you don't know. and you'll be able to broaden your reach with your network and connect with the appropriate people as a result of the new profile. >> let me put you on the spot here because i for example have

a linkedin profile and a lot of a lot of my friends do. we create it and then essentially we go away, we don't really interact with the site. so how do you improve and deepen the engagement of the user? >> so over the last two months, we've quickened the pace of i innovati innovation. we launched the gnaw honew home and we've seen a doubling of the sharing. and then about a month ago, we launched endorsements. so it will say that for example you are a tv news anchor and you have great public speaking skills. some of your colleagues in your network may endorse you for that and that will bring you back to the profile for you to accept that endorsement and while you're doing it, you will probably go and endorse other people and share your love and

appreciation for their professional skills. two weeks ago we launched another product called the influencer product which is about top leaders and the professional passions that they have and that they want to share. and this includes president barack obama, governor mitt romney, the office of british prime minister david cameron, and also one of kour coof your , becky quick. >> and do i beliei to believers their feedback on the site. thank you very much. coming up, p more on the shake up at citi. plus classic cars. great to look at. fun to drive. but can they make you money even if you're not a millionaire. yes. is that cuba oig? [ male announcer ] this is steve.

he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the market, he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade.

. dock coming up, bill yes, ss been tepid on u.s. stocks. we'll ask if he's sticking to his guns. also we're all over the evolving story behind pandit's resignation from citigroup. we'll talk to somebody who says good riddance. and then after that, ibm and intel set to report earnings. we'll talk to intel's chief financial officer stacey smith moments after those numbers are released. we'll see you at the top of the hour. here is a very deep alternative and very saucy investment. for just ten grand, could you have gotten your hands on a bottle of barbecue sauce sold for a short time back in 1992. it was basically a cheese burger bacon, onion and pickles and the

special barbecue sauce. a gallon was it sold. don't know for how much. we're continuing our series on alternative investments. today it is classic cars and how you can snag one for under 100 grand because we want the series to not just be about the 1%ers. we have a class he cic cars specially. it's easy to make big money when you already have the big money to buy the hot cars. can you by a classic car for under 100 grand and still make some coin? >> absolutely. what we're finding in today's market is the multimillionaires playing at that level have dragged up the rest of the market and you can see as much as a 10% to 20% gain annually through the investment. >> what's the minimum investment i would need? >> there are cars that can be found at all levels.

to really produce an annual increase, you want to be somewhere in the range between $50,000 and $100,000. of course the larger the investment, the larger there is in opportunity for gain. >> let's have some fun. what should i buy with my 100 bucks? >> we recommend in the unsder $100,000 category european sports carses from the late 50s to mid-70s. >> that's a hot car. >> absolutely. you can buy certainly 356 or 911 porsches. there are american cars such as corvettes. and all these cars can be bought within that range and also some jaguars, xk series. a lot of fun to drive. easy to use. a lot of events and clubs support and also activities. so whether it's something you want to use on weekends, use as a daily driver, it's a sole lid

investment and after a few years of enjoyable use, you will find investment and after a few years of enjoyable use, you will find investment and after a few years of enjoyable use, you will find investment and after a few years of enjoyable use, you will find you've made some money in the end. >> my dad has a 1977 vega that he loves. is it worth any money? i'm trying to tell him to get rid of it. >> there is a market for them. always tricky, though, with the off brand stuff. but everything luckily in today's market has moved at least a little bit. >> congratulation, sddad. paul, thank you very much. tomorrow we're talking wine. how you can get a piece of a vineyard. now a market flash. >> let's take a look at intel ahead of its earnings. stock is moving higher and other broader semiconductor companies also posting gains. take a look, all moving higher.

>> that's what we call live tv. now back to our top story. vehicikram pandit out of citigr. does the new leadership have what it takes to right the ship? we'll debate that next. americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first.

helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪

take a look at the chart of citigroup. it's currently up by 0.6%. this is the biggest news of the day, the resignation, quote, effective immediately, of ceo vikram pandit. of course, there's lots of conjecture on the subject. they also came out with some surprisingly strong earnings as well. brian. >> all right. let us bring in jake zamanski. jake, does this pass the smell test? >> no, i don't think so. i think this bank is a mess. they've lost their flagship retail outfit.

the architect of citigroup said we should be breaking up the bank from investment banking to commercial banking. they've just paid a whopping $600 million to settle shareholder lawsuits with more in the pipeline. i think it's a mareal mess. >> you think it needs new blood. do you think the new blood that's been picked, michael corbat, is the right guy? what does he need to do immediately? >> he has to run this like a bank. banks have to look at their customers and make sure they're being treated fairly. the old group just ran over their customers, sold, you know, mortgage-backed securities to anybody that would buy them. so they've got to have integrity. they've got to treat their customers fairly. if they do that, they'll be a better bank. >> paul, listen, i don't know what the heck went on at citigroup. very few of us do. i've been doing it long enough that when the ceo of one of the biggest companies in the world steps down unexpectedly along

with his coo, there's something usually there. >> definitely something there. i think the time here is just ridiculous. why the ceo needs to go now in contrast to what the previous person said, they have the best, you know, quarter they've had in years yesterday. it just doesn't add up. something happened between yesterday and today. we'll get down to that later on, but the big question that i haven't heard anyone really talk about is who are the people who made this happen? take a look at that board. you're going to see that there weren't the kind of people there that you would expect of the nation's third largest bank to be sitting there when this decision was made. these things were done the way they were done. i mean, you want to be a smooth transition. you don't want to have this horrifying reputational problem hit you in the face the way this did. mike o'neil was the head of bank of hawaii. i know he was cfo at bank of america, but compare that to a dick parsons and the experience

he had. you see they're handling the way you would expect someone like that to handle it. >> jake, do you feel the evolution of boards over the last few years has come to the point where they have a lot more power and we could see more of this thing happen? >> well, look, i happen to think that something came to their attention about pandit that they didn't like. could it be that there are e-mails in the libel scandal that attach to him? i don't know. it's very abrupt. i agree with the other guest. i think something suspicious here -- we the shareholders, we the customers need to know what happened. i think they ought to come clean about this. this stuff, whether he resigned of was kicked out, why can't we just find out what happened, and was it related to one of these regulatory or legal scandals? i think that's important for shareholders to know. >> paul, to your point, if i'm

an investor, why should i invest in this company? why should i have any faith in the board? forget about pandit. these things are happening willy nilly with one of the biggest banks in the world. >> yeah, i don't think it's pandit who's on trial here. if it was something specifically, his chief operating officer wouldn't be going with him. it's something bigger than that. the bigger question is who's on trial, pandit or citi? i think that's a really important question for people to be looking at for the next few days. this is going to be a huge story for days to come. if they don't come out and say something quickly, their credibility is going to be shot the way hp's was. >> paul, you think this does reputational and material damage to the bank this is? >> i definitely think so. i think it already has. we're going to see the effects of this over next few weeks. my sense is people are going start to question the leadership.

i mean, you want to have a transition to someone who's a strong person. i mean, the person who's going to be running the bank is not the person you would have picked off the top of your head to be running this bank. there's still a lot of things that need to happen there for the bank to go where it needs to go. it seemed like pandit was doing a great job. yesterday was the best of his career, probably. doesn't make any sense to me what happened. >> jake and paul, thank you both very much. great insight. well, blackberry fans are taking drastic measures to save face. that story when we return. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 this morning, i'm going to trade in hong kong.

tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 after that, it's on to germany. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then tonight, i'm trading 9500 miles away in japan. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the new global account from schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i hunt down opportunities around the world tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 as if i'm right there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i'm in total control because i can trade tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 directly online in 12 markets in their local currencies. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i use their global research to get an edge. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 their equity ratings show me how schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rates specific foreign stocks tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 based on things like fundamentals, momentum and risk. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i also have access to independent tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 firms like ned davis research tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and economist intelligence unit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus, i can talk to their global specialists 24/7. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and trade in my global account commission-free tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 through march 2013. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 best part... no jet lag. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-790-3801 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and a global specialist tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 will help you get started today.

blackberry shame. there was a great piece in "the new york times" today. it was a report on how blackberry users suffer from shame and humiliation. it talked about users who are hide their backberries when they're in public even. even more embarrassing are r.i.m. shares, which are down by 67% over the past year. let's let's look at walmart. no news on walmart today, but i thought it was interesting. shortly after the opening, it rose, which made it hit its all-time high since the 1970 ipo. can anybody say bribery scandal? >> what bribery