Is The Sun Setting On Citigroup?

As unbelievable as it sounds, it looks as if Citigroup's days may be numbered. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that there are high level meetings, including a board meeting tomorrow, that are reviewing the bank's options.

According to the Journal, among other considerations are the sale of various assets and the sale of the entire company to another. The usual suspects, Goldman and Morgan Stanley, are mentioned as potential acquirers or merger partners. It's hard to see how either would be materially better off if they did go to the altar but stranger things have happened.

Citi continues to maintain that it has ample liquidity and is in no financial jeopardy. The market which has beaten its stock down by 50% this week would seem to be of a different opinion. I wrote a couple of days ago that a Citi truly in trouble would be the ultimate headache for Paulson. Do you think that Citi might be the reason he left a lot of the TARP money in the bank?

Tom Lindmark