Prince Keeps Shuffling

Citigroup's(C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) CEO Chuck Prince has just played his last card in shuffling Sallie Krawcheck back to her old job.

Just days after announcing another round of mediocre earnings, Prince is sending the bank's CFO back to her former nook as head of Citigroup's global wealth management business. The move is no doubt an attempt to appease Wall Street, which has been calling for Krawcheck's head for months.

Deep down, Krawcheck is probably relieved too. Given her background as top analyst, she's better suited for managing Citigroup's brokerage firm, private bank and investment research team. Better yet, she no longer will become the lightening rod for criticism of Citigroup's middling financial performance.

If nothing else, Prince now has no one else to blame if Citigroup continues to muddle along. Either the bank's earnings improve, or he'll find himself out the door by year's end.

For the moment, Wall Street seems to like the move. Shares of Citi rose 44 cents to $54.94 on a day of heavy selling for the broader market.

"The company finally appears to be taking measures with regard to the CFO position," writes Mike Mayo, an analyst at Prudential Equity Group. He upgraded the stock.

But "if current changes do not result in better performance this year, the CEO's job could be at risk," Mayo cautioned.

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