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KBW analyst Diane Merdian now estimates Citigroup will take $15.3 billion in writedowns in the fourth quarter tied to mortgage-backed debt and collateralized debt obligations, instead of the $11 billion previously estimated.

The writedowns stem from continued deterioration in the mortgage market. As mortgages — especially subprime mortgages given to customers with poor credit history — have increasingly defaulted, banks have been forced to cut the value of bonds and debt backed by the troubled loans.

Citigroup took about $6 billion in writedowns during the third quarter. Late last year, Citigroup anticipated it would take between $8 billion and $11 billion in writedowns during the fourth quarter.

To read more, click here.

Jackson Hewitt, a tax service corporation, announced the hiring of a new Chief Financial Officer in Daniel O’Brien.

Daniel O’Brien, most recently CFO of Honolulu-based Hawaiian Telecom Communications Inc., has previously held the CFO title at a number of companies, including Global Crossing, Genuity Corp. and GTE Corp. He succeeds Mark Heimbouch, who became chief operating officer of the Parsippany, N.J.-based firm in October.

O’Brien will replace Mark Heimbouch who was named the companies COO in October.  To read more about this appointment, click here.

This MarketWatch.com article lists the worst jobs; the criteria was the percentage of jobs in an industry that paid less than the median wage in 1979, adjusted for inflation, and had neither employer-sponsored health insurance nor a retirement plan.

1.   Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop – 87% bad jobs

2.   Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession and coffee shop – 87 %

3.   Ushers, lobby attendants, and ticket takers – 85.4%

4.  Fabric and apparel patternmakers – 82.2%

5.   Lifeguards and other protective-service workers – 81.6%

To find out the worst jobs that round out the the top ten, click here.