In an unexpected move, Citigroup reshuffled its top management, swapping out its CFO for the second time in four months. According to a July 9 statement put out by the bank, Controller John Gerspach, a 19-year Citi veteran, will move into the CFO job. His predecessor, Edward “Ned” Kelly, who quit Merrill Lynch for Citi in 2008, will become Vice Chairman and be in charge of strategy, including mergers and acquisitions.

Citi also named a well-respected banker with experience in running troubled institutions to head its commercial banking division. Eugene McQuade’s resume includes stints at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Freddie Mac. Analysts predict that there will be more management changes in the month ahead. Citigroup, which has received a $52 billion government bailout, is under intense scrutiny from Washington. The new appointments may help CEO Vikram Pandit stifle criticism from some quarters that its managers lack commercial banking experience.

Source: Bloomberg, Dow Jones

White House Releases Guidelines For Green Stimulus

The Obama administration on July 9 detailed guidelines for companies to apply for about $3 billion in government funds to support development of renewable energy projects. Under the new rules qualifying projects would get an average of $600,000 apiece. The Obama administration has set a goal of doubling U.S. renewable energy production over the next three years.

Source: Reuters

U.S. Retail Sales Data Disappoint

Rising joblessness nationwide and heavy rains in the West Coast and Northeast kept U.S. consumers out of malls and stores in June. Same-store sales were down 5.1% from the same month last year, according to figures jointly released by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. Analysts had predicted a 4.5% decline.

Source: Associated Press

China’s Car Sales Soar

China’s passenger-vehicle sales jumped 48% June, the biggest increase since February 2006, as government stimulus spending helped the country surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest auto market this year. Overall auto sales, including buses and trucks, rose 36% from a year earlier to 1.14 million. The China Association of Automobiles raised its full-year vehicle sales forecast to 11 million from 10.2 million previously.

Source: Bloomberg

BlackRock to Raise up to $5 Billion for Toxic Assets

Asset manager BlackRock plans to raise between $4 billion and $5 billion for a U.S. federal program that disposes of toxic assets. That would be far above the minimum investment required under the Treasury Department’s Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program.

Source: Reuters

Alcoa Posts Third Quarterly Loss

Aluminum producer Alcoa reported its third quarterly loss in a row as the global recession crippled demand for the lightweight metal. But the stock surged in after-hours trade, adding as much as 9%. Excluding one-time restructuring charges and losses from discontinued operations, the company posted a loss of 26 cents per share, which was better than the forecast for a loss of 38 cents a share from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Executives said they were seeing signs of stabilization.

Source: CNNMoney

Gap Remains at G-8 Summit over Gas Emissions

Developing nations led by China and India refused to back long-term targets proposed by the Group of 8 industrial nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, balking at reluctance by leaders of the world’s biggest economies to move more quickly on their own. Inability to bridge the gap between rising carbon-emitting countries such as China and the longtime polluters within the G-8 underscores the steep challenges involved in attempting to strike a comprehensive bargain to contain global warming.

Source: Los Angeles Times

U.S. Scales down Bank Plan

After months of back-and-forth with the banking industry, the Obama administration unveiled a scaled-down version of its plan to buy troubled mortgage-related securities. The decision bets on the assumption that banks have recovered sufficiently to help pull the economy out of recession. The Treasury, Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would commit up to $30 billion of public money to buy bad mortgage-related securities from banks.

Source: New York Times

Apps Ends Broadcast Mobile TV Hopes

As Facebook and Twitter disrupt business models for mainstream media, the one-size-fits-all approach of broadcast mobile TV got stuck before it even properly took off. The programs known as App. – short for application – that people download from online stores to run on their portable phones have enabled consumers to choose for themselves which moving pictures to take in when they are on the go.

Source: Reuters

A Bull Market for Investment Scams

Bernard L. Madoff may have pulled off the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. But his is far from being the one and only. Since the start of 2009, the Securities & Exchange Commission has filed 34 cases alleging investor scams, up from the pace just a year earlier. Why the rise in arrests and criminal charges? The downturn in the economy is outing more con artists, attorneys say.

Source: BusinessWeek

South Korea on Alert for Cyber Attacks

South Korea was on high alert for more cyber attacks with intelligence officials suspecting that North Korea was behind a recent wave of attacks on major websites in the country and in the United States. A computer security company warned that another wave of attacks was expected in South Korea on Thursday.

Source: Associated Press

AIG in Talks with MetLife for Unit Sale

AIG has rekindled talks with its U.S. rival MetLife, over the sale of American Life Insurance Co. in a move that could help the stricken insurer raise more than $15 billion to repay the $80 billion it currently owes U.S. taxpayers. The talks over Alico, which has operations in more than 50 countries outside the U.S., are preliminary and could founder as they did earlier this year when the two sides disagreed on price.

Source: Financial Times