Why try to catch a falling knife? Guy is right too, they are going to be forced to cut dividends (AGAIN) as this credit crisis deepens. In the climate we have right now I wouldn't count any financial as a "long-term" investment. Who knows how long they will be around?
This one really stinks too. Ask your self this, why would the Arabs "lend" them money at loan-shark rates if they were such a good investment? A bank makes money by taking in deposits and paying a low interest rate on them, while lending out the money at a higher rate. This spread is how all banks make money. If Citi is lending out at 6-8% and paying the Arabs 14% how are they making money? Last week there was an
article saying that the Arabs were not going to add anymore capital to "save" Citi.
The markets have broken some key technical levels in the past few days and the future looks awful dim. Make sure you are really doing your Due Diligence on anything you look to get into. And don't buy into the CNBS hype about buying opportunities. Bear markets are vicious, ask the people who thought they were buying the dips all the way to the bottom in the last one.
For disclosure all my long-term investments are in Treasuries with a small slice in some inverse ETFs since we broke the 20 yr weekly S&P trend back in Feb. Maybe I am being cautious but in a bear market your motto should be "return OF capital" not "return ON capital". I have an account that I trade daily and/or play lottery tickets on but those holdings have nothing to do with long term outlooks.