Good Morning on Wall Street

Citigroup and Wachovia put smiles on faces all over Wall Street.

Citigroup, which last week pledged to slash 17,000 jobs in their largest restructuring plan in a decade, reported Monday that first-quarter profit slipped 11 percent -- a figure investors feel good enough about to drive shares up by $1.90 to $53.50 this morning. Revenue at the world's largest bank jumped 15 percent.

For that, Citi can thank its stellar investment banking and retail brokerage businesses. Markets and banking revenue climbed a whopping 23 percent this quarter, and that represents record revenue in fixed-income and equity markets.

The dog among Citigroup's business units was the U.S. consumer business, handicapped by a tough interest rate environment.

Wachovia, meanwhile, said its profit jumped 33 percent and revenue climbed 17 percent to $8.24 billion for the first quarter. The strong results come courtesy of tighter cost controls, a lower tax rate, and the recent acquisitions of Golden West Financial and Westcorp.

Shares in the country's fourth largest bank are trading $1.45 higher Monday morning at $55.43. Analysts have been anxious about Wachovia's extra exposure to the mortgage sector following its purchase of Golden West, but today's earnings news proves doubters wrong.

The acquisition contributed to a net interest income climbing 27 percent for the quarter. The moral of the story? These strong results aught to help soothe the nerves of anxious mortgage market watchers.

by Liz Gunnison