The latest coming out of Citi, “we will not sell Smith Barney”. So far, based on the fun game, “What Pandit says and what Pandit does”, that means that SB will probably be sold by Monday, or they tried to offload it to raise capital but there was not a buyer. I would say that quote raises the probability of my musing earlier this week.
The company is fairly obviously in the some big trouble, but even so, sub-$4 share prices could be a buying opportunity. Here we go, off into another weekend of secret meetings, shotgun mergers, confused reporting, and hard to swallow announcements on Monday.
Update (3:24PM): I bought in. I figure the firm has better than even odds of getting through the weekend. Bailout terms could wipe out shareholders, but I see a buyout/merger more likely, and Citi has more than enough swaps to get a fight started…
November 21, 2008
“Sachs in the Citi”?