After a few days of speculation, Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley officially announced their Smith Barney deal late Tuesday. While the game of speculation ended for the media, it created a new flurry of articles. Deal Journal suggests that the two firms study Wachovia Corp.'s and Prudential Financial Inc.'s ill-fated brokerage joint venture that ended with the Rock selling its stake to Wells Fargo & Co.
Even before the deal's announcement, Dealscape's affiliate Corporate Dealmaker examined some of the potential integration issues facing the firms.
DealZone points out that the credit crisis has forced Morgan's John Mack to dust off some of the strategies of his predecessor Phil Purcell, who had emphasized the retail business over the white-shoe advisory business.
Meanwhile, Citigroup has pushed up its earnings announcement, after J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced the same last week. Clusterstock offers the thought that the banks are trying to influence how the Obama administration will use the second tranche of the Troubled Asset Relief Plan.
On the subject of TARP, Timothy Geithner, Obama's Treasury nominee, who will have a large say in how the money is used, faces a taxing confirmation hearing. Nonetheless, Portfolio's Market Mover blogger Felix Salmon expects the Senate to confirm Geithner, and InTrade data shows that most of its participants agree. - Matthew Wurtzel
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