It’s obviously a day for mildly-disappointing expected decisions. The
Fed has cut by a quarter point, and Citigroup has decided to appoint
Vikram Pandit its new CEO.
I doubt that many people can gin up much in the way of enthusiasm for either
of these pieces of news. A quarter-point cut isn’t enough to stave off recession,
if indeed we’re headed in that direction, and it’s not even enough to stave
off expectations for another cut at the next meeting. Meanwhile, Pandit is a
dull technocrat who has never achieved very much but who has somehow managed
to maneuver his way into the top job at Citigroup. The best we can hope for
is that he’ll be weak enough not to put up too much of a fight should Jamie
Dimon decide that Citi is ripe for the buying.
It’s weird that the Pandit news was leaked without any news on who Citi’s new
chairman will be, though. Can’t Citi even orchestrate the annoucement of its
new leadership effectively?