Certainly, there was nothing reported today to make me think otherwise. What I still can't figure out is why the popular press and the talking heads got caught by surprise when about 5 minutes of thought would have identified the scenario. Despite what others would have you believe, banking is about people...just like most events in the world. Why would a very wealthy guy (an assumption) agree to the Chairmanship of Citigroup having been called out of retirement without the thought that he was planning to make it into his own image? To fail in the attempt? And why did no one investigate his background and past actions and not come to the conclusion that it was altogether likely that the course being steered by the bank's then-present management was about to change? I am constantly surprised by the lack of acumen demonstrated by those who present themselves as experts in the world of finance. It's about the people folks; it's always about the people. Know them first and then look at the numbers. And in that vein, watch to see if the new management is successful in retaining the key people needed to make this change in direction work. I'm betting that it will and frankly that will be good for the industry. Maybe with the success of Citi the rest of the industry will "'stop doing the stupid things" as Mr. O'Neill is fond of saying.
The cops and the Feds in New York today announced the arrest of some guy for Bangladesh who was planning on blowing up the New York Fed in a sting operation undertaken by the NYPD. Idiot. All he had to do was watch Ben and his boys do the job for him over the next few months with the enthusiastic support of Billy the Dud on Liberty Street. CPI was up 0.6% last month, the second consecutive such monthly rise. That puts consumer costs in the 10%+ annual range which is beginning to look a lot like Argentina. Ah, you say, but the core rate is only 0.1%, and to that I reply an old guy like me on a fixed income says, "Core, schmore. I gotta eat." What the policies of this central bank have done to the elderly in this country is surely a crime. O'Neill for Fed Chairman? A "stop doing the stupid things" monetary policy? Not a bad idea.
Meanwhile, across the pond, the big shot two day event starts tomorrow, and Frankie H. has already announced that it will ratify all that has been agreed on the bonding of Euroland over the summer and plan the implementation of the same by year end. Forgive me, but I seemed to have missed part of that and are therefore in no position to comment. What will probably occur is Greece getting a few more Euros to get them into next year, Spain will jaw-bone on what they will NOT have to do to get a bail-out and Angie will continue to talk nice-nice and say nothing allowing the ECB to set the agenda. Kinda like "leading from behind?" In advance of the pow-wow, market commentators have waxed poetic at the decline of bond yields across the southern tier. Nothing like a put to the ECB to put steel in the spines of investors. I'm beginning to wonder: is the Citigroup affair the last thing I will ever get right? I think I'm going to head out and buy a bottle of whiskey on such a scary thought. By the by, is whiskey part of the CPI or part of the core? Anyone have the answer?
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