Feds Look to Unload Citi Stake, Collect $8B

At the time, throwing scads of cash at crumbling banks looked risky. But now it's financial genius as the Obama administration looks to unload its stake in Citigroup—and collect a tidy $8 billion profit in doing so. The transaction, which the Washington Post reports will be the second-largest stock offering ever, will cut nearly all TARP ties between Citi and the government, which holds a 27% stake.

Citi's stock has gone from around a buck a share a year ago to $4.31 yesterday—which means the feds' $25 billion stake, negotiated at $3.25 a share, has grown to $33 billion. "It's unprecedented to do [a stock sale] of this size right after the financial industry has been so battered," says an anonymous industry official. "It's just a very bullish sign." (More Citigroup stories.)