Two hours after the opening bell, Citigroup (C 0.10%) is already up a healthy 1.36%, following in the footsteps of the rest of its peers. Last Friday's heartening jobs data is no doubt largely behind this big-bank rally, but Citi may have something extra up its sleeve, as well.
Happy investors, happy banks
But first, here's a look at Citi's peers on this Monday in the markets:
- Bank of America is up a big 2.29%.
- JPMorgan Chase (JPM +0.92%) is up 1.03%.
- And Wells Fargo is up 0.33%.
Foolish bottom line
All of the big-four banks, save for JPMorgan, got a boost on Friday with the better than expected April jobs numbers coming out of the Department of Labor. JPMorgan had its own issues going on last week, which overwhelmed Friday's good news. More on that here, if you're interested.
That jobs-based rally is very likely what's primarily behind Citi's upswing today, but there's also interesting news out of the bank's human-resources department that investors may be happy to see. I know I am.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Citi has hired UBS's Aidan Allen to head its "general industrials and financial sponsors" in Sydney. Allen is a private-equity specialist who's had his hand in some important deals.
His hiring is yet another sign the bank is moving and growing in new potentially profitable ways. In this case, it's showing the bank is serious about its investment-banking line of business. It's also another sign that CEO Michael Corbat is being proactive and thinking long term about the superbank. I'm a fan of Corbat, and moves like this just make me more so.
But always remember, Foolish readers, that investing Foolishly is all about investing for the long term: buy-and-hold investing. Not only is unnecessary to check in on your stocks every day, there's growing evidence that this can be harmful to the performance of your portfolio.
Check in on your investments once a month, or even once a quarter. Stay focused on the fundamentals of the companies you're invested in, and leave the daily ticker check-ins to the day traders.
