Morning Buzz: Jan. 15, 2008

As the packed primary season continues, voters head to the polls today in Michigan, where they will battle the cold and snow to pick a GOP nominee for the White House. New Hampshire winner John McCain and Mitt Romney, whose father was once governor of Michigan, seem to be competing for first, with Iowa winner Mike Huckabee trailing behind. Michigan's Democrats aren't as interested in today's results because Michigan broke national party rules by moving up its primary date and lost all its Democratic national convention delegates and half of its Republican ones. The only Democratic front-runner now appearing on the ballot is Hillary Clinton.

Citigroup Inc., the nation's largest bank, reported today that it lost almost $10 billion during the last three months of 2007 thanks to customers' inability to make mortgage payments. This is the largest quarterly deficit in the bank's 196-year history. To cut expenses, the bank cut 4,200 jobs last quarter and will lay off 17,000 workers this spring, with more job cuts to come.

As President Bush today headed to more talks with Saudi King Abdullah, he urged OPEC nations to increase the supply of oil on the world market to help decrease the price. Bush said soaring prices may create an economic slowdown in the United States.