Citi CEO Walks Mean Street

Can new CEO Vikram Pandit get it done at Citigroup(C - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)?

To look at the way Citi's shares have been hammered over the past few days, the answer is a resounding no.

The stock is down nearly 10% since Tuesday's announcement -- just moments before the Federal Reserve announced its eagerly awaited policy decision -- that Pandit would be charged with leading the huge financial institution, and Sir Win Bischoff, who had been interim CEO, would become chairman.

Pandit, a former top finance executive at Morgan Stanley(MS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) who joined Citi in April, is said to be an affable banker with a penchant for problem-solving. Tackling Citi's myriad woes may be his biggest financial conundrum yet.

Still, for all his charm, Pandit held a rocky first call with analysts Tuesday and appeared stiff in interviews in the hours following his appointment. He seemed more comfortable sticking to a script rather than speaking freely and openly about the company's plans.

The new exec ought to be forgiven his initial impression, given that these were his first moments taking the wheel of a banking giant with a market capitalization of $177 billion (and shrinking). Wall Street, however, was unforgiving, dragging the stock down nearly 8% during the trading day Wednesday. Shares closed down 5.3% to $31.47.

Overall, Citi's stock is down more than 40% this year. It didn't help matters Wednesday when Pandit's former company, Morgan Stanley, listed Citi as its best short stock for 2008. In essence, Morgan Stanley's Citi short call indicates that Citi shares will continue to get worse, not better, under new management.