You Will Never Please Meredith Whitney
CIBC analyst Meredith said today that Citigroup's conference call to announce Vikram Pandit as CEO went "poorly...as the details were scant and the tone was defensive." To Whitney's credit, she conceded that had the details flowed like Mike's HL and the tone been lighthearted, her report probably would have reamed out the bank for trying to "distract us with particulars and failing to focus on the bigger picture" and "using a tone so delusionally optimistic, given the circumstances, that we wouldn't be surprised if the Citi brass spent its afternoons locked in Win Bischoff's office snorting E and wondering aloud why everyone's always "ragging on the 'group."
In related news, Morgan Stanley said it agrees with Bob Rub about shorting Citigroup in 2008.
Citigroup Continues Fighting the Previous War [MarketBeat]
Citigroup: Morgan Stanley's Top Short Idea for 2008 [Seeking Alpha]