NOW WHAT WILL THE WINGNUTS SAY?

Clowns like Limbaugh and Hannity have been saying the Market doesn't think much of Obama's plans to help our economy. What can they say today?

Stocks in Europe, Asia, U.S. Futures Gain; Citigroup, RBS Rise
By Adria Cimino

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Europe and Asia climbed, pushing the MSCI World Index higher for the first time in 10 days, and U.S. futures gained on speculation the U.S. government will increase its control over Citigroup Inc. Treasuries and the dollar fell.

In reality, the U.S. already owns Citi:

Obama Bank Nationalization Is Focus of Speculation (Update1)
By Linda Shen

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration, which says it doesn’t want to nationalize U.S. banks, may find itself taking a step in that direction if it converts the government’s preferred shares in Citigroup Inc. into common equity to help the firm withstand losses.

The government holds $52 billion of preferred shares in Citigroup, five times the bank’s market value as of Feb. 20. If the U.S. were to convert all of its holdings into common shares, it would own more than 80 percent of the company.

And not only Citi:

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, which has received $45 billion in TARP funds in exchange for preferred shares and warrants, would be 66 percent owned by the government if its entire stake were converted to common equity, according to data compiled by KBW Inc., a New York-based investment bank. The figure would be 69 percent at Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Alabama, which has received $3.5 billion from the U.S. It would be 83 percent at Fifth Third Bancorp, the largest Ohio- based lender, which got $3.4 billion.