This was interesting too, "Net interest margin in the second quarter of 2009 was 3.24%, up 7 basis points from the second quarter of 2008, reflecting significantly lower cost of funding, largely offset by a decrease in asset yields related to the decrease in the Federal funds rate and the FDIC special assessment of $333 million. Non-interest revenue increased $13.6 billion from a year ago, primarily reflecting the gain on sale of Smith Barney, lower write-downs and gains on exposures in Citi Holdings
Operating expenses decreased 21% from the previous year, reflecting benefits from Citi's ongoing re-engineering efforts, expense control, and the impact of foreign exchange translation. Headcount of 279,000 was down 84,000 from June 30, 2008 and 30,000 from March 31, 2009"
None of that disputes what I am saying.
That equity capital base reflects “mark to fantasy” accounting.
I’m also not surprised that their earnings are up, again see what I wrote about that too.