But not to worry, because 2009 is starting off strong! Just ask CNBC! (Fire confetti into air, cheer loudly, raise hands into air, hug neighbor and pop Champagne corks.) Of course, Yogi Berra must have been thinking of the credit crisis when it said it's déjà vu all over again.
Credit Suisse posted a worse-than-expected fourth quarter net loss of 6.0 billion Swiss francs ($5.2 billion), bringing it to its biggest annual loss ever, due to a poor trading performance and restructuring charges.This time we should believe them. Just because they've been wrong so many times, it could not possibly mean they were wrong again. Could it?
But the Swiss bank said it had a made a "strong start" to 2009 and was profitable across all divisions in the year to date.
Switzerland's second-largest bank said on Wednesday that its net loss for the full year was 8.2 billion francs.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the bank to turn in a 4 billion franc net loss for the quarter and 6.3 billion for 2008. Swiss newspapers had said the annual loss could be as high as 8 billion francs.
"While our full-year results are clearly disappointing, we entered 2009 with a very strong capital position, a robust business model, a clear strategy and well-positioned businesses," Chief Executive Brady Dougan said in a statement.
