By Michael Winter (USA Today)

Red as far as the investor's eye could see on Wall Street today (except for those traders betting against the markets). By the time the closing bell rang mercifully, all the major indices had dropped more than 2%, dragged down by Citigroup's gigantic loss, a drop in consumer spending and more news pointing to the "R" word.

"Consumers tightening their belts, a disappointing Christmas season, the big Citi write-offs — it's all looking pretty bleak for stocks," Bruce Zaro of Delta Global Advisors in Boston told Reuters.

The Dow Jones shed 277 points (-2.17%), the Nasdaq said good-bye to 60 points (-2.45%) and the S&P 500 coughed up 35 points (-2.49%).

Behind Citi's $18.1 billion write-down and a fourth-quarter loss of almost $10 billion, Briefing.com highlights concerns that stretch beyond the largest U.S. bank:

The market didn't find anything to cheer about in the report, which also contained the unsettling admission that credit costs for its U.S. Consumer business increased by $4.1 billion due to increased delinquencies on 1st and 2nd mortgages, unsecured personal loans, credit cards and auto loans. This revelation triggered concern about the deteriorating state of debtors in the U.S. that weighed heavily on other banks in Tuesday's trading.