Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) stock is falling after company CEO Vikram Pandit said in a meeting with analysts yesterday after market close that the company will soon begin selling off some of its assets in an attempt to return the company to profitability in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis. Pandit is expected to disclose more details of his plan in May, but analysts present at the meeting do not believe that Citigroup will exit any of its major business lines. Citigroup is also receiving pressure from news of a liquidity crunch at Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) this morning, even after BSC was bailed out by JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM). If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on C.

After hitting a one-year high of $55.55 in May, the stock hit a one-year low of $19.69 on Monday. This morning, C opened at $21.47. So far today the stock has hit a low of $19.61 and a high of $21.58. As of 1:20, C is trading at $19.73, down $1.34 (-6.4%). The chart for C looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an April bear-call credit spread above the $25 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 8.7% return in one month as long as C is below $25 at April expiration. Citi would have to rise by more than 26% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

C was above $25 as recently as late February but has fallen since then and shown resistance around $22.50 recently. This trade could be risky if the Fed slashes rates again next week and the market responds positively, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance C might find at its 50 day moving average, which is currently just above $25.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in C, BSC, or JPM.