The weekend is often the time when boards and the government decide the fates of companies and CEOs. It gives everyone involved at least two days, perhaps more, to weigh options and make decisions without the fury of stock market trading. A board of directors can start work on Friday at 4 PM and weigh options until 8 PM Sunday, when Asia opens, or 8 AM Monday if overseas trading is not an issue.

No one with any sense would believe that the board of Citigroup (NYSE: C), the FDIC, the Fed, and the Treasury are not working through this weekend, again. Most of the government people are so exhausted that those who leave with the current administration will be happy to have the rest.

A lot of options have been thrown around. But, the fate of Citi comes down to two things. At this point, the bank is believed to be in such bad shape that putting in a new CEO, even Jack Welch, would make no difference. Chapter 11 would wipe out too many firms that have non-insured deposits at Citi, too many companies that have loans with a bank that could be called, and too many common, preferred, and bond holders in the financial firm would lose everything.

That leaves the government taking over Citi the way it did AIG (NYSE: AIG) or forcing a sale as it did with WaMu or Wachovia (NYSE: WB).

Monday morning cold be quite a drama.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.