And how is the restructuring going? So far, so good. The bank just posted a profit and it is on its way to end the year in the black.

Indeed, Citigroup surprised the market with first-quarter earnings of $0.15 per share. Citi beat estimates on all fronts: consumer credit, trading activities, and valuations of its impaired assets in Citi Holdings. The bank now sports a 9.1% Tier 1 capital ratio.

This is a typical phenomenon of a classic cyclical play (banks) in an economy that does much better than the expectations. Remember, banks are leveraged to economic activity in the markets in which they participate. So, when things are good in the economy, they are really good for banks.

The details of Citi's first-quarter revealed an economic recovery that's accelerating faster than the market expected. In addition, the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy of zero interest rates obviously provides a huge boost by greatly reducing funding costs and expanding the net interest margin (the difference between borrowing and lending rates, which results in the gross profit of lending activities). It also boosts the economy and thus improves results for Citi.