Even with government backing up-the-wazoo and a fat price from Morgan for Smith Barney, Citi has not looked very impressive; nor have any other financial stocks. This seems a clear warning that the strong consensus, even among reputable technicians, calling for a big stock-market rally to begin the new year should be viewed with heavy skepticism. Note in the accompanying chart how JPM closed beneath a well-defined midpoint support at 26.19, implying more weakness all the way down to 14.79. Citi is well above its corresponding midpoint support at 3.12, but that’s only because of the helping hand it has been receiving from a Federal Reserve evidently determined to chop up the bank and dispose of its parts before concern re-erupts over the quality of its assets.