The analyst who downgraded Citigroup, which led to a broad stock market sell-off Thursday, says she has received several death threats, the Times of London reported Saturday.
Meredith Whitney of CIBC World Markets Inc late Wednesday downgraded Citigroup to "sector underperformer," saying the largest U.S. bank by assets might need to raise more than 30 billion U.S. dollars of capital and cut its dividend.
Her assessment triggered a 6.9 percent drop in Citigroup's shares on Thursday, resulting in declines of 362 points in the Dow Jones industrial average and 2.6 percent in the Standard & Poor’s 500, the biggest drop since August.
It also led to renewed calls for Citigroup Chief Executive Charles Prince to step down.
"People are scared to be negative, especially when a company has such a wide holding," Whitney told the Times of London.
"Clients are not pleased with my call and I have had several death threats," she added. "But it was the most straightforward call I've made in my career and I am surprised my peer analysts have been resistant. It's so straightforward, it's indisputable."
Source:Xinhua/Agencies
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