vikram is a person of impeccable integrity.cessfully led citi through the greatest recession in 75 years, recapitalized the bank, and executed a strategy based on a return to the basics of banking. his accomplishments have been essential to making citi a stronger global enterprise and is well positioned for the future. the board elected unanimously mike corbat as vikram's successor because we believe he has the ideal experience and pron track record as a leader. because we believe he will place a special emphasis on sharpening the company's focus on achieving sustained, strong, operating performance. in fact, mike, for some time, has been at the center of the board's comprehensive management and ceo succession planning process. mike has demonstrated his ability to execute over nearly three decades at the firm. he was the ceo of citi holdings from its inception where he managed to wind down noncore assets. since the beginning of this year, he was ceo of amia where he was successfully managed our business in the midst of a diffic

you wake up, and poof, vikram is gone, vikram pandit is gone. what happened?early it's the interaction between board and management that came to a head. but i also wonder how much of a role the regulators might have played. normally at an institution, you wouldn't make such changes in both ceo and coo without first consulting the regulator. so i wouldn't be surprised if some of the time lag that people on your show earlier complained about might not have been due to touching base with constituents such as the regulator. >> with your involvement in banks still, especially in the wake of the financial crisis here, i assume you have seen firsthand what regulators are doing when it comes to banks. >> they are, and they've gotten very heavy-handed of late. i think that wall street and the banks really did not distinguish themselves very well during the crisis, and what's happening now is what frequently happens, you get an overreaction to that. there's an old saying, bad cases make bad laws. and i think we're seeing a bit of that. >> sorry, wilbur, steve weiss. fro

vikram pandit than me. performance, has been the absolute worst. and it has been in place. and, and it is really eye-popping. cheryl: charlie gasparino joins us with more breaking details. what do you know at this hour? >> vikram pandit is out today. he is saying the decision was his but i don't believe that. my sources are saying sources close to citigroup no people on the board no one is going on inside that place, vikram pandit was essentially ousted. he resigned. the company officially released today but when he resigned under pressure, there is no doubt that citigroup has been unhappy with a series of events. it is not just one event that leads to this. is a series of events and the smith barney valuation, they have been selling chunks of smith barney to morgan stanley. the last jump, overvalue on the balance sheet, had to write down $5 billion, that is a big screw up on top of the fact that they failed the stress tests telling people they were going to pass it. put all that together and it is one thin

vikram was able to stabilize the company. >> and today he told me that vikram steps away with citi at its peak. so why did pandit resign abruptly? is more of my personal conversation with citi's former ceo coming up as well as the comments from the prince. >>> and don't forget, the new ceo is set to host a conference call at 4:30 p.m. eastern time. stay tuned. so anyway, i've been to a lot of places. you know, i've helped a lot of people save a lot of money. but today...( sfx: loud noise of large metal object hitting the ground) things have been a little strange. (sfx: sound of piano smashing) roadrunner: meep meep. meep meep? (sfx: loud thud sound) what a strange place. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. why they're always there to talk. i love you, james. don't you love me? i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires! uhhh. (cries) a machine can't give you what a person can. that's why ally has knowledgeable people there for you, night and day. ally bank. your money needs an ally. >>>

vikram and the board of directors. mr. vikram lost that. extremely unlikely that someone would walk away from a high paying, high-profile job in the middle of october. the compensation committee doesn't meet until november. so this was done quickly. i would note in terms of wall street voting on this citigroup stock is just down fractionally. while this is surprising and a big issue for most of us the stock is not reacting very much so the street doesn't feel that there's something particularly egregious going on. we have jpmorgan report, citigroup reporting, goldman sachs reporting and pmc beating estimates. so far the financials have been holding up very well. minor disappointment with wells fargo. we now have the bite with robert benmosche. let's listen in what he has to say about citigroup. >> don't know actually what happened. so i'm as surprised as anybody else. >> can you give us some comment about mr. pandit? did you know him very well? >> i've known vikram. vikram came in at a very difficult time as his team did in the crisis and h

vikram pandit ousted as citi ceo but why now? chris whalen says citi's board has explaining to do at the very least. he will join us in a few moments. lori: it is crunch time for president obama and gop nominee mitt romney. we'll see how it will shape the election three weeks away. ashley: everybody looks at body language and will be interesting. not a lot of smiles like joe biden. lori: i don't think it will be clear, the president is under a lot of pressure because he has to strike the goldilocks, not too hot, not too cold. talk about the markets. maybe they're setting up --. ashley: time for stocks as we do every 15 minutes. nicole petallides, not goldilocks. she is the qeenl of the nyse. >> long locks, not goldilocks, but you never know. dow jones industrials up 124 points where we're seeing markets take off to the upside. we have decent economic news and good earnings news as well. so we heard from goldman sachs today for example, one of the names moving higher. the vix, the fear index, no fear here. we're seeing it to the d

we've had the shareholders voting 55%, a resounding no to vikram's pay.n top of that, in the five years that vikram's been in office, the stock is down about 90%. and, you know, some major bank indexes are down much less than that. >> he inherited a big leaking ship, though, right? we had stuart in, and said who actually would have done better? >> well, you know, it's interesting, let's take a look at vikram's tenure. when he first took the reins, he looked like an improbable candidate to run a big commercial bank. even we at westwood capital said he's rearranging deck chairs on the titanic. but he got the joke. he figured out that he has to shrink the bank. it's incredible shrinking bank-like the dinosaur sponges you get when you're a kid. citigroup is the exact opposite. it's the incredible shrinking dinosaur. so he's done a lot, and, you know, a lot of times when you get through a crisis or hopefully through the crisis, investors want to see a new face and they're not particularly thrilled with vikram. i don't think we're going to find out the truth fr

vikram pandit said he was resigning but charlie gasparino says he was ousted vikram pandit has said he is facing pressure from the board. to said there was no way this was his decision? coming up we have sheila bair live praising the city grew bored but we will ask your should city group be broken up? , a test doeth pressure? the market feels no pressure at all. off to the races with good news from europe right now we're up 111 points but look at the nasdaq charging ahead s&p 500 up more than 12. we have until. and we have the cfo. caterpillar and boeing joining at the top pushing the market higher this is a broad-based rally we have traders at the new york stock exchange and chicago mercantile exchange. yes the ceo was ousted but the broad-based raleigh, what are people talking about? >> how the averages just one week ago now the nasdaq broke through with the 50 day moving average and has rallied. liz: to see the jump of 32 points is pretty significant? >> i think so. depending how you look at it that looks like a perfect head and shoulders. now rallying back to the resistance level.

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

but vikram himself reportedly says he was thinking of this for awhile and is leaving citigroup in good shape. but it was a bumpy ride to get there. "citi has been profitable now for two full years.." despite this message to investors earlier this year and citigroup's third quarter earnings of $3.27 billion, vikram pandit, the bank's ceo's resignation took effect immediately. "i think this surprised just about everyone." but jim sinegal, director of financial services research at morningstar, says pandit's tenure of the last five years has also seen the stock plunge 89% after a $45-billion taxpayer bailout. "a big part of it was the bailout. the added capital from the government diluted stocks and that was responsible for a lot of the drop in the share price." but citigroup's share price has hardly changed since 2009. financial analysts weighed in: jeff harte at sandler o'neill said "this is more the board reacting to the share price and wanting a more hands-on manager in the ceo position." anthony polini of raymond james said, "vikram has some regulatory baggage for whatever reason, th

havens is a top recruiter of vikram. everyone expected when vikram would leave havens would leave.happens to the big executives that were rumored to be in the running for vikram's ceo position, one of them jayme farese, a well-known high-regarded securities banker who has risen the ranks through citi, people are wondering let's look at who were the candidates previously and do they stay. >> jim cramer, another question, this was just brought up and it's hard to get your head around some of the things. some people say they rejected vikram's comp. at the annual meeting. i still don't understand the timing, i don't understand why it would be done in this manner. >> this is a complete shock. really no one expected this whatsoever. the divisions were all in very good shape. you know i don't want to for a second tell people that there was anything in the works to make this happen. >> that's what i mean, how old is pandit, jim? >> i'm not sure. >> 50s, right? >> 50s, yeah. >> why was anyone even think being replacing him? >> there was no one. he finally got it right. this was the quarter

vikram was a person of impeckable integrity. he goes on to praise michael corbat.ent to praise him you unanimously. now he is speaking about emerging markets. remember we spoke with dick bove. the internationalists are in control of citi. they're not as focused on the united states anymore as they are other markets. corbat saying we will remain focused on efficiency ratios and sheila bair may have something to say about that he said our strategy is unique and well-positioned for where we see the world going. liz? liz: thank you very much. he is going to break in if anything else happens on the call. adam, keep listening. we appreciate it. david, over to you. david: presidential candidate mitt romney says he wants to promote more trade in latin tin america. coming up next a former argentine economic minister tells us which countries about to sizzle and which are about to fizzle. that's next. it's a new day. if you're a man with low testosterone, you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underar

that's not vikram's fault. but it's certainly something you have to consider. >> could there be ripple effects for all of wall street? stick around, because we're going to have jeff sonnenfeld talking about why other banks should be shaking in their suites. we're going to bring you all the action, give you the trades right after the break. 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

citigroup c.e.o., vikram pandit, calls it quits. from pandit's legacy to challenges facing citi's new boss, the resignation is one of the biggest surprises on wall street this year. >> susie: i'm susie gharib. two tech titans report better- than-expected earnings-- intel and i.b.m.-- but both stocks fall in after-hours trading. we run down the numbers. >> tom: also, student loan servicers get an "f" from regulators complaining school loans are handled a lot like the subprime mortgage market. >> susie: that and more tonight on "n.b.r." >> tom: citigroup c.e.o. vikram pandit abruptly stepped down today in a management shakeup that stunned both investors and employees. he will be replaced by longtime citi executive michael corbat. he most recently headed the bank's middle eastern and european division. pandit not only gave up his c.e.o. position, but he also quit the board of directors. the news comes in the heart of earnings season for financial firms and just one day after citi reported stronger than expected earnings. shares of citi

vikram pandit abruptly stepped down today in a management shakeup that stunned both investors and employees. he will be replaced by longtime citi executive michael corbat. he most recently headed the bank's middle eastern and european division. pandit not only gave up his c.e.o. position, but he also quit the board of directors. the news comes in the heart of earnings season for financial firms and just one day after citi reported stronger than expected earnings. shares of citi climbed 1.6%, closing at their highest price since march. suzanne pratt takes a closer look at pandit's tumultuous tenure. >> reporter: the citi management skeup had many people on wall street scratching their heads today about the timing. not only is the big bank finally regaining its footing, but there were no hints about the boardroom shuffle during vikram pandit's conference call yesterday on earnings. but 24 hours later, citi's new c.e.o. michael corbat and citi chairman michael o'neill hosted a call of their own and explained what happened. so to be clear, today's changes do not reflect any desire to alter this

connell: there are some questions about vikram pandit.parino has some answers and he is up next. dagen: and take a look at some nasdaq winners today. ♪ [ 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 marke he goes with ople 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 bng ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you engineer a true automotive breakthrough? ♪ you give it bold new styling, unsurpassed luxury and nearly 1,000 improvements. introducing the redesigned 2013 glk. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. connell: this is a fox business exclusive report. wall street is talking a lot about the reporting of charlie gasparino. the sec now looking into the

vikram pandit is unexpectedly stepping down as citigroup ceo.s just on an earnings call late yesterday with no hint of this at all. and pandit led the bank through the financial crisis and even testified on capitol hill and look at citi shares in pre-market right now. they are going to be down and by the way, the number two man, chief operating officer stepped down and we're following the story and the stock throughout the program. to the big story, more than a month after the attack in libya killed the ambassador and three others, the administration is struggling to deal with the fallout and subjects say hillary clinton is taking responsibility for not providing more security there as reportedly had been requested. >> i'm responsible for the state department for the more than 60,000 people around the world. the decisions about security assets are made by security professionals. but we're going to review everything to make sure that we're doing what needs to be done, in an increasingly risky environment around the world. stuart: but she did not

liz: does vikram pan fit's he is si -- pandit's messy departure deserve an sec investigation?ary schapiro kind of sidestepped that question today during an interview with cheryl casone. >> one of the recent stories that surprised many on wall street was the exit of vikram pandit at citigroup. do you think that's something the sec's going to look at, in particular the way the board handled the release of the information about his exit? is. >> you know, i'm sorry, cheryl, that's really something i can't comment on. liz: but charlie gasparino is not holding back comment. at least she didn't say, i'm sorry, i can't hear you. >> with all due respect, kind of sidestepped? it was a direct question, she didn't answer it. i believe the sec is investigating this because -- now, do i know that for a fact? not yet. when i do find out, i'm going to come back and tell people this. but when you add up all the stuff plus that sort of nondenial denial that she just gave, add up the fact that we were the first to report -- not "the wall street journal" -- that he was ousted, he was ousted after

liz: right around the time, this is pre-vikram pandit and citigroup, chuck prince was running the show, about a week before the real news, you started to see incredible options action around citigroup stock. and if you read between the lines of these options, you get better and better at it, it looked like people were betting that chuck prince was going to go. he eventually did. >> that's right. very often you see that type of activity, activity in the options market can indicate what investors think may happen in the future. options have a certain timed expiration associated with them so that can indicate potentially when it is perceived that a particular event might take place in the equities market. liz: you have been having your best month ever at the amex options area. so either people are getting more comfortable with buying options or something's going on with the markets, which is it? >> i think it speaks to our commitment to grow our options business, you are right. nyse euronext are two option exchanges, jointly more than 28% market share which is a record for us. our amex ex

investors have long complained of vikram pandit's massive pay packages. >> people who receive social security will see a 1.7% increase in january. the cost of living increase its

vikram pandit stepping down effective immediately. the bank's chief operating officer also out. it was clearly a board room showdown of a type we haven't seen often or recently on wall street. there's the stock up 48 cents. kayla tausche, i know pandit spoke with maria. how do you filter the story? >> two of the key things he said is that he had been considering resigning for some time now and that it was he who called mike o'neal yesterday to discuss this, but nonetheless, a few more details with habout how th communication went down. sources say there were a multitude of issues for thepand performance. among them, the shareholder revolt over the 2011 pay package and a write-down of over $34 billion $34 billion losses. i'm told the decision evolved over the last couple of weeks.34 billion losses. i'm told the decision evolved over the last couple of weeks.4 billion losses. i'm told the decision evolved over the last couple of weeks. billion losses. i'm told the decision evolved over the last couple of weeks.$ billion losses. i'm told the decision evolved over the last couple of

vikram pandit is on the "wall of shame" during this incident.e didn't think he was acting fast enough, getting the thumb on citigroup's jugular because of mistakes from previous administrations, not from pandit's regime. and so i saw the strategy developing that could bring the bank out of the mess, one that could merge international growth, citigroup made hundreds of billions in bad loans, sure enough, it was not easy. vikram pandit had to report toit to -- he also had to preside over citigroup, made the government 12 billion on investments, something that couldn't have happened if vikram pandit was a terrible operator. the regulators embarrassingly rejected it. and yesterday, we got it. we got the picture-perfect quarter, all came together for vikram pandit at this company. taking major markets international. net interest margin was good. so it was a little jarring to say the least to find out that pandit was out as ceo after the university. he told the reporters he finished the job, wanted to leave all along. they said pandit got them as far

. >>> chaie gasparino has breaking newon the exit of citi ceo vikram pandit. >> we should say thiss from the great reporting of cheryl casone. sec is conducti what is known informal probe into the circumstances surrounding pandit's exit earlier in the month. they're looking at essentially disclosures. you remember how crazy, how weird that was disclosed. they had board m meeting that night. excuse me they had conference call that day on earnings. after the bell they reached their agreement or disagreement. they basically forced him out. th next day it was announced that he left and citigrp at that point said his departure was voluntary. as you know we at the fox business network and other networks first rorted that vikram pandit was ousted. thate was told by the board, airman. board, michael o'neill, they lost confidence in him and wanted him out. they did that after the bell that monday. that is not the story that mr. o'neill and that citigroup officials have been telling people. they went on a conference call the following day and said he left on his own accord. what we have right now

vikram is a friend. i'm sad to see he's gone. under vikram's leadership, the organization has stabilized. under his leadership, the organization is moving forward. yes, i'm not blind to the missteps. obviously, the board of directors was looking for a different leader. obviously, i'm not aware of what information they were looking at, but i am very bullish on u.s. banks. i think they're in a good position. not only that, i think citibank is in particularly good shape. most of their balance sheet problems are way behind them. they're one of the leading international banking platforms. their brand worldwide is one of the best. so hopefully the leadership -- the new leadership focuses on its brand and it focuses on its leading market position worldwide. >> i know the fiscal cliff has been something you've worried about. it certainly is front and center here in the u.s., particularly in new york and washington. you had an institutional client conference going on today. $5 trillion in assets under management. you're hosting some big c

vikram pandit made too many mistakes.o be honest i don't know if jamie dimon can withstand another misstatement of fact like that. very difficult in this environment to be a ceo and say something, give 180 degrees mismatch on reality. you can survive these days. [talking over each other] charlie: i don't know. lori: just from our show today. [talking over each other] charlie: maybe an e-mail flowing from the top of corporate headquarters. get rid of it now. melissa: the retailers already worried about the holidays. drastic steps from wal-mart and target and best buy. look at today's winners and losers on the s&p 500 as we head to break. foods trading higher by 13%. we will be right back [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they picup some of wha

whereas for vikram pandit, there were some grumblings out there.maybe what we're seeing here is maybe both of these guys have gotten the fundamentals to perform better, what the boards want to see and shareholders obviously want to see is the stocks performing better. >> right. >> and that's one of the things citi stock has not done and b of a has add big run year-to-date. if it doesn't keep performing well, you'll probably start hearing more talk about brian moynihan regardless of how well he's doing on the fundamental side. >> jeff, how comfortable were you yesterday with how this news of vikram pandit's ouster was announced or completed by the board? seemed to have happen obviously literally seemed to happen overnight and happened overnight. does it make you anxious, nervous, are you happy about it? how do you feel? >> no, it definitely makes me nervous. any time you get a management departure quickly kind of suddenly like that, it implies there's some underlying problem. now, last night on the conference call, you know, both the chairman and th

gerri: talk about vikram pandit being tossed out. what do you make of it?d/she said. who knows? look at the facts. balance sheet issues and the stock when the s&p 500 has doubled nothing else has approached that return. i don't think he did do the greatest job regardless of his departure. gerri: no doubt tonight the economy is front and center. we have seen the good news from the jobs market but i am not convinced the economy is coming back. >> i think you are right. we had structural changes and used to be a manufacturing economy now we are a service recovery -- economy. having a jobless recovery we invented that 25 years ago. as long as the service economy this is the type you will have. for -- full disclosure will vote for romney but the president may be getting too much blame because you cannot legislate the business cycle. gerri: you can help it. [laughter] thank you. you'll be right back with the answer to the question. is a game set match if governor romney wins? the government coming into your private home? don't go away. ♪ with dedicated support te

give us some more. >>> vikram pandit gets kicked to the curb by citigroup. does michael corbat stand a chance fixing the megabank? i don't know. it will be tough job. >>> iran cutting the cord on the country's tv stations. oh, no! we have details coming up. ♪ . ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you turn an entrepreneur's dream... ♪ into a scooter thatalks to the cud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whater your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. melissa: citigroup's conference call with the new ceo, michael corbat and michael o'neill ending moments ago. the shockwaves from vikram pandit's ouster are beginning. adam, want to start with you. you popped off the call. we were talking about it in the commercial break. what was the most surprising thing you heard? >> that michael o'neill was trying to make it seem as if there was no big deal. this was simple transition to one or the other. are you captain of the concordia or captain of the qe3 here? they tried to pass this off, look, we've be

vikram pandit is the ambassador of the country, wherever he goes, vikram, vikram?orry. >> what's with you? some sort of mind -- >> i had this vision of vikram walking off a plane. this is the ground when he gets back. >> he's got some gravitas over there. >> he does but he's not mr. exciting. >> he's cooler than we are. >> we should point out -- >> the cfo of citi on the conference wall, we've had a lot of executives say positive things about the housing market including jamie dimon. not quite as positive. a bit more cautious than rival bank execs. seeing some elms of stabilization. still significant challenges to be faced in housing and questioned about citi's cfo whether the economy is strong enough to support the rebound. >> north american went to 8.74 to 8.50 but did release some things -- case-shiller housing index and point out this is not a mortgage bank, okay, it's just not. they don't do it. some things from wells fargo when the cfo was on, 40% of the servicing market, 33% of the mortgage market. no room for anybody else. and wells has done -- obviously th

you're a fan of his but not vikram pandit. did we need that corporate intrigue?> the chairman of the board is doing his job, frustrated sitting on the board for the past five yeerds watching dick parsons do nothing, i think this is all good. we have an operating in and coo now and it's good. and mr. o neill is a serious guy and fixed a troubled institution in hawaii and bank of hawaii is one of the best performers in the united states. >> but what about the way it was handle d? >> it's unseemly, sure, that's right. it should have been a decent transition but something was a catalyst and we still don't know the full story. >> todd, what do you think of how it was handled? >> it wasn't handled right. it's clear as day about that. but pandit also had a complicated tenure with the acquisition, $800 million in an all cash deal that just vested recently because it was a five-year investing schedule. you have to question what the culture was like at citi during this entire time. pandit went into a very stressful situation but knew he wasn't going to take on that much ri

she said john corbett replaced vikram pandit was on the ground the day before. team manages their operations from europe. that gives a few more indication of this thing was planned. that this thing was planned and premeditated yet they didn't tell analysts. i am not saying anybody is going to jail. i can just tell you during a financial crisis firms like citigroup, i can't remember, they were at the worst but all the big firms were guilty of this. they misdirected the market. people like me who didn't believe them but other investors were caught off guard. lori: the market wants two weeks notice. what would -- [talking over each other] charlie: if they ousted him say it. i don't think you lose anything. we have a differing view, we want to do something else, you are done. we told him to go. number 2, the way they did it, doomed before the earnings call, and do it at the earnings call. one of the things they're trying to avoid is to have korbut answer questions about vikram pandit. that may put him -- begged him to do it "after the bell" but very messy. there has

let's get to vikram pandit, never saw it coming, that was the consensus among wall street analysts asthey continue to be ridiculously pieced together the fact surrounding his very weird departure from citigroup last week that it may take a securities and exchange commission inquiry to figure out what really happened. ashley: charlie gasparino on the story has the very latest. what can you tell us which mark speak of is a pretty bizarre story. going out and hiring people who look at speech patterns to try and figure out. vikram pandit see it coming when he was, remember, he was given a conference call the day before the actual announcement of the firing and they have hired these analysts, former fbi agents and basically look at people's speech patterns to see if they're telling the truth. they hired them to listen to the conference call and what they're concluding is this guy was pretty confident, talking a lot about the long-term future of the company. they think he had no idea. later that afternoon the chairman of the board of citigroup would say i think you should go. now the questi

vikram pandit resigned suddenly as chief executive at citigroup. it was a dispute with the board over the direction of the company. vikram steered citigroup through the financial crisis and took a $545 billion government bailout which citigroup has since repaid. in another story today on finance, a new report shows that americans are having a lot less trouble with debt these days. it's an important step forward so we asked anthony mason to find out more. >> reporter: in dallas, sherry mafia used to dread getting her credit card bills. >> i maxed out discover, american express, and visa. hey, girl! >> reporter: the 62-year-old administrative assistant fell $15,000 in debt, in part paying her late mother's funeral expenses. but slowly she's been paying down those debts. now she looks forward to the mail delivery. >> because it won't be long and it will be a zero balance. >> reporter: and across the country consumer credit default rates have been declining steadily. a new survey shows default rates for mortgages and bank cards have plunged to their lo

liz: that doesn't make it okay to i just feel bad for vikram pandit. liz: oh okay. i know, i know. charlie, thank you very much. charlie gasparino, the closing bell ringing and 38 minutes. is it the cable business or an episode of dallas? the courtroom scenes. this business is evolving between battles of programmers and operators. the question is who wins. fox business it is a up next. cox communications cheap pat esser. he is getting into brand-new businesses that could bring in a lot of money. he is only here on fox business. ♪ ♪ we have big dreams. one is for a clean, domestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural ga it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all medical expenses, i looked

neil: vikram pandit s out at citi group. do you know, why?se he never adessed shareholders' concerns. he never addressed anything. he never took a stan he never said anything. i tried to pin him down on one thig. he said nothing. nothing. you liste you decide. december 2007 just in to his job forget about haring goals. he was not interested in sharing an opinion. >> been given this enormous powe not to bigfoot them bu will look at that? >> the board has made that decision. neil: is it fair to say because of the board's statement on the dividend, vikram pandit is against cutting the dividend? >> i will be very clear. it is the board's decision. neil: your sense of the political landscape? >> i will not comment onny of that. i will comment on what you want to talk about. neil: chocolate or vanilla ice cream? >> can you get me a twirl? neil: okay solely? forget about ice cream. step back. what does us series like that think? we're going into a meltdown. you cannot build a career on vanilla. you will be creamed. your favorite flavor does not matt

the citigroup's costing of vikram pandit have gotten the big banks into trouble with the fcc? we talked about this yesterday. a possible not investigation but look into it by the fcc. investors have been better informed? charlie gasparino with the exclusive story. that is next. for everyone. the potential of fxcm unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. the potential of yelp unlocked. ny euronext. locking the world's potential. woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what y don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. >> did citigroup violate laws when they ousted vikram pandit as the sea last week? following news first reported by fox business, wall street is at odds if citi actually broke a law. charlie gasparino, what else is happening? >> this is a pr

>> i knew vikram pandit and i like him. do not know michael, but he comes pretty well recommended good the regulators like him and i think that is very important here. the regulators did not appear to like vikram pandit. i think you are stronger than any regulator in the room and i think that intimidated them. he works well with the board and the regulators. he plays nice. will allow the company to return capital. i think that is kind of a game here. vikram pandit really did a lot of stuff. he shrunk the balance sheets. dagen: anton, can you give me a couple word answer of the areas of financials where your regional banks, your big banks, the few investment banks that are left, which do you like right now? >> you have to like that investment banks. there is some good volume out there. fixed income and underwriting. we would like to see equity pick up a little bit. the markets are stronger. morgan stanley, goldman sachs, and obviously the companies that have capital markets within their balance sheets. bank of america has ha

vikram pandit, only two of the nine c.e.o.s have their jobs. most have received huge severance packages that appears not to be the case with pandit. he reportedly is not eligible for a golden parachute but he did make more than $260 million during his five-year tenure at citigroup. >>> if you think the u.s. congress hasn't done that much this year, senator tom coburn disagrees with you. he says they've been hard at work dolling out the pork. in his annual wears book, the oak -- waste book, the oklahoma republican outlines a hundred congressional approved programs that he says wastes more than $18 billion. it includes a loophole that lets the n.f.l. , nhl and pga qualify as nonprofit organizations. a $325,000 grant to build a robotic squirrel to see how the animals interact with rattle snakes. that actually duplicates an earlier study. and $24 million in spending to maintain contracts for selling typewriters. we don't know what the buggy makers think about this. >> there was one about foods we'd eat on mars. >>> 6:36. a new poll out shows how ci

investors have long complained of vikram pandit's massive pay packages. >> people who receive social security will see a 1.7% increase in january. the cost of living increase its lowest since annual adjustments were adopted in 1965. >> another big debate tonight and you can weigh in on your cell phone. i will show you how, coming out. >> a sunny day across the area. can we expect a repeat performance tomorrow? >> local products in basketball and football are being touted today, and the redskins take a day to get healthy and regroup. with over 200 varieties, keurig makes brewing a delicious cup of coffee simple. . how does it brew such great coffee? well... inside the brewer are these green fields of coffee and if you travel up this mountain, there's this huge coffee grinder. and then the coffee lands in this cup and water rushes through. actually, i just press this button. brew what you love, simply. keurig. pamela howze: it just seems like such an... infringement on our lives. how dare they step into my life that way. it's none of their business. he's trying to restrict us again. he

charlie: now you want to know why citigroup delayed the announcement with vikram pandit getting blownout. they were doing earnings and ready to pull the trigger on vikram pandit and they didn't want to do it all at once. this guy has to explain the screw up and the earnings all at once. that is what no ceo wants to do. what is his name -- liz: one of the founders. charlie: good dealing with the street. liz: he did not telegraph there would be a wider than expected loss. charlie: it will be a fascinating earnings call. one of the better ones. liz: google is down 7-3/4%. it had been 9% and it has halted and has reopened just a few minutes ago. trying to make it back. we will be back with more. dow jones industrials coming back down just 18 and had been down 25. everyone has goals. take the steps to reach yours, with us with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big stepsto little steps. since 18 we've helped guide our clients, so they can take the steps to help grow, since preserve, and passide along their wealth. so

vikram pandidtt, who led citigroup through the financial crisis, step down, and this came as a shock to many executives. the head of citigroup's division for europe and the middle east and africa has been named as pandit's replacement. monday, citigroup reported a massive drop in third quarter earnings. >> turning out to the automotive sector, sales in europe seeing a major slump. they plunged in september. >> that is for sure. yet another sign that many europeans in the current economic climate either cannot afford those big-ticket items or are putting off purchases and holding onto their cash. >> the financial crisis is taking its toll on french carmaker renault. sales plummeted in september. opel and ford reported slightly smaller faults. production has been cut. sales in southern europe have fallen considerably. in september, greece saw a drop in car sales of almost 49%, compared to one year ago. in spain, the number was 37%. while portugal saw sales crumble 31%. germany saw a fall of 11%, the eu average. britain was the only market where sales grew. europe's dealers are offering

e u.s.ankitigupas h the headlines but for another reason as ceo vikram pandit announced he will be stepping down. there is a little bit of a flurry in the financial markets, not a major impact, but it does come in the middle of earnings reports for banks and brokerages, so we'll see what kind of effect it has. another area that we really should be focusing on is the high tech sector in japan following earnings reports from intel and ibm both of which reported a bit of a slip for the third quarter citing lower sales in pc and hardware sales overall. we'll watch out for the latest shares here in japan such as fujitsu and toshiba just to name a couple there. let's not forget soft bank has been hogging the headlines for the last week, of course, as it moves to acquire u.s. carrier sprint nextel saying that it is not going to actually issue anymore shares to finance that. investors and share prices in soft bank really took good cheer out of that. we did see it raising 9.5% yestery. however, it did decline around 20% in the two previous days. a bit of volatility will track soft bank today as well

are one of citigroup's millions of customers, perhaps you heard the news this morning that the ceo, vikram pandit, abruptly resigned. pandit told cnbc today he's been thinking about leaving for a while. but then multiple reports say he's been fighting with the board of directors over strategy, and the performance of some of the banks division. citigroup stock finished higher along with the rest of the stock market. >>> this next story has consumed a small town in maine, not far from the famous home of former president of george herbert walker bush. suddenly it's in the news around the globe for something that started very small. a local exercise instructor, who is now accused of being the woman behind a vast local prostitution business. and the local cops are naming names of the accused male customers. nbc's katy tur reports tonight from kennebunk, maine. >> reporter: a modern day, scarlet letter story, set in this picturesque town of 10,000. in kennebunk, maine, scandal is afoot. >> it's not a big enough community where you can ignore something like this. >> reporter: at its center, the c

vikram pandit stepping down abruptly.shareholder, what's your reaction to the pandit departure and the way it was done? such a surprise. >> well, let me move beyond just as a shareholder. you probably know i've been personally, and we are very interested in corporate governance issues. one really wants to understand exactly what the board was thinking and the process that went on. more importantly, in addition to the corporate governance issue, what's the new ceo's plan? we have to give him time to think through that. he clearly wants to express that view. we have to wait and see what the strategy is going forward. is it going to be the same? is it going to be different? obviously with you get to a big bank like citigroup, it's not simply about the organization. it's also about the regulatory environment. one has to figure out how that's going to evolve. >> so all of these questions i guess you'll be looking at in terms of your next move for citi. what about the regulatory environment right now? dodd-frank, are we still s

his first conference call after hours following tuesday's surprise resignation from former chief vikram pandit. >>> elsewhere, a123 systems, a federally funded maker of electric car batteries, is now bankrupt despite nearly $250 million in government grants. >>> france's privacy regulator says google's new privacy policy violates european data protection rules. france could impose hefty fines if google fails to modify its policy. >>> foxcon, apple's largest manufacturing partner, has admitted to hiring student interns as young as 14 to work in its chinese factories. >>> meanwhile, rumor has it apple is ready to unveil the long awaited ipad at an event on tuesday. >>> well, we all know using your phone at a restaurant is a no-no. snapping photos with your phone is okay, in moderation, of course. this according to 67% of diners surveyed by zagat. >>> and finally forget 90210. 10065, a very exclusive area of new york's upper east side is now the priciest zip code in the nation sending swanky new jersey suburb alpine into second place. atherton in california's silicon valley, sagaponack in