Citigroup Stock Goes Below $1

Citigroup, once the largest bank by market value and by profit saw its stock go below $1 briefly today. The question now, is whether it will drop below $1 again and will it face eventual delistment from the NY stock exchange.

At the same time, in testimony on Capital Hill, Treasury Secretary Geithner, supported the idea of continuing to support these zombie institutions:

"It is very important -- and we will do this -- to make sure that the major institutions in our country have the resources and the funding and the ability to play their continuing role in our markets going forward...That’s a very important commitment," he said in response to a question about Citigroup.

We have, of course heard this before.

In November, 2008, the deathwatch on Citi began.

In the same month, it received its first government bailout. No one thought it would work.

In January it sold off Smith Barney to raise more cash.

Last week, the Treasury agreed to convert the preferred stock it owned in Citigroup to common shares, gaining a 36 percent stake in the company and boosting Citigroup’s buffer against future losses.

Citi and some of the other big banks are like a hospitalized patient with tubes running into all parts of the body. Doctors and nurses are scrambling to keep the patient alive. But the reality is, they are brain dead - zombified. No amount of work is going to bring the person back and at some point, the decision must be made to pull the plug.