The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street: March 7

4. Citi's Man in Dubai

Given the geopolitical strains that exist between the U.S. and the Middle East these days, many Americans have expressed unease about letting sovereign wealth funds run by Arab governments buy ownership stakes in the nation's leading financial institutions.

But the more pertinent question may be whether these Arab nations are dumb for pouring their oil money into our floundering banks.

Sameer al-Ansari, head of Dubai's sovereign wealth fund, said this week that Citigroup C will need far more than the $22 billion in fresh capital it has raised recently from foreign governments such as Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Singapore.

"It will take a lot more than that to rescue Citi and other financial institutions," said Dubai International's chief executive at a private-equity conference in Dubai, according to Bloomberg News.

Al-Ansari's fund has reportedly invested in HSBC HBC but not in Citi, which logged more than $20 billion in losses last year on bad loans and investments.

Merrill Lynch analysts expect Citi to take $15 billion more in mortgage-related writedowns in the first quarter and to post a loss of $1.66 a share.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the finance giant has started shedding clusters of U.S. branches in places where the bank lags its rivals. Its new CEO, Vikram Pandit, is trying to get the company out of slow-growing and especially risky businesses.

Pandit maintains that the company is "financially sound," while its stock shed 10% this week to make new nine-year lows.

The Associated Press cited an unnamed source familiar with Citi as saying the bank is not actively seeking more cash from sovereign wealth funds, having decided that $12.5 billion was enough.

Dumb-o-meter score: 79. The stock market seems to be going with Dubai on this one.