Monday's Financial Winners & Losers

Citigroup upgraded the U.S. banking sector to overweight on Monday, positing that the merciless recent selling has been "overdone," but financial stocks mostly persisted in forging downward amid an otherwise rank outpouring of news.

Citi (C Quote) itself lost more than 5% after Goldman Sachs cut the big bank to sell, citing its exposure to all that is the current bane of the financial sector -- collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), subprime mortgages and leveraged loans -- on top of former CEO Chuck Prince's recent departure.

The "lack of leadership ... could not have come at a worse time," said the analyst, according to Bloomberg, as he projected $15 billion in CDO writedowns over the next two quarters. Citi announced moves to bolster its risk management after market close Friday, including the appointment of 30-year veteran Jorge Bermudez as chief risk officer. Still, shares surrendered $1.80 to $32.20.

Goldman also chopped $9 off E*Trade's (ETFC Quote) price target to $6 after last week's downgrade-catalyzed beatdown, which followed word of significant fourth-quarter writedowns at the online broker. Last week, shares partially rebounded from the initial Monday plummet; today they pulled back 11.6% at $4.81.

Also among those getting Goldman price-target cuts were Bear Stearns (BSC Quote), down 4.4%, JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote), down 3%, and Merrill Lynch (MER Quote), which lost 3.4% to $54.19. Merrill additionally revealed on Friday that it will compensate new CEO John Thain some $43.8 million in salary, bonus and restricted stock trading, in addition to largely performance-based stock options.