Any takers for Citigroup?

Too unclear. The government is throwing money at it, it is separating in to separate divisions- I wouldn't go either short or long on it. Separating the group into safe and risky businesses is probably a good idea but might be too late. Any assets from the "safe" side that are already pledged as collateral could be at risk and if the risky Citi Holdings goes under you can bet that Citicorp will be pursued legally. Also the only way to secure Citicorp from exposure to Citi Holdings losses is if Citicorp refuses to back Citi Holdings', which may make it difficult for Citi Holdings to get adequate financing.

I'm thinking hard about at least a moderately sized purchase, especially with talk about the government taking over management- this could raise value at least 30%, with nowhere to go but up and no one willing to let her sink, there has to be some room to profit.

Why wasn't this company broken up earlier? Ego? I mean, many people, most notably Tom Brown from BankStocks.com, have been calling for the company to be split up years and years.

If the sound assets weren't used to back the weaker ones it could have cost the banks market share. Note that Citi Holdings will hold mortgages.

Lots of consumers would prefer to have all financial needs met in one place. Some may take offence if they are considered unworthy of a mortgage.

A competitor who picks off a mortgage may get the rest of the client's business, automatically getting a free pitch for other services and much of the client's goodwill.

So a bank that got out of the mortgage business because home prices were too high and the collateral unclear, could lose market share in the "safe" business.

There are probably a lot more issues, but with the pressure on banks to grow and merge and have complete services I think they did each other in wars over market share, taking to many risks.