A few days ago I did a blog entry saying Citigroup had given itself Junk bond status with it paying 11 per cent for The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's $7.5 billion bailout. And I warned it was a sign of more trouble ahead and that the world's biggest bank could be in for a bad fourth quarter.

Now confirming that, Bloomberg reports that Moody's is set to cut the top ratings on six of Citigroup Inc.'s seven structured investment vehicles or SIVs. Banks use SIVs to borrow money in the short term and then use that money to lend long term at better yields.

All of which points to the market;s trouble spots. The housing bust has hit the big banks hard, it's harder to get credit and the housing crash is starting to show up in other economic sectors, especially consumer spending and the odds of recession are, according to some, at 50:50. And the financial sector headed by Citigroup is leading the way.

"Financials led us down. Now they're searching for a bottom," Mark Lehmann, director of equities at JMP Securities told the San Francisco Chronicle.