In a conference call today

Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, said mortgage delinquencies and consumer lending will deteriorate for the rest of the year after earnings fell 57 percent in the third quarter…The percentage of U.S. real-estate loans where borrowers were more than 90 days behind on payments climbed to 1.8 percent, from 1.4 percent in the second quarter and 1 percent a year earlier…

Also, Citigroup and some other banks are attempting to form a new company to hold a large amount of mortgage financing

Several large U.S. banks unveiled a plan today for a fund to buy troubled assets in exchange for new short-term debt, in an effort to ignite demand in certain credit markets. The high-stakes plan to rescue banks from losses on mortgage securities amounts to a big bet that a consortium of financial giants — at the prodding of the U.S. government — can persuade investors to pour more money into the troubled credit market.