Quite frankly, while the stock has not performed all that well for the last dozen years, it actually has been building a very strong fundamental base in its balance sheet to sustain itself into the future.

FORBES: Three Safe Growth Stocks

"Over the past several years, we have rebuilt Citi's capital base and strengthened our balance sheet as well as shed assets and businesses not core to our strategy, " said Michael Corbat, Citi's CEO since October.

WSJ: Fed: JPMorgan, Goldman need better capital plans

Part of the reason is that a strong capital base and a liquid balance sheet--HSBC has one of the strongest Tier 1 ratios out of the big banks--is something the company has never parted from, Green says.

FORBES: Better Safe Than Sorry

But it has a strong balance sheet and diversified product base: 60% of profits come from assembling integrated chips.

CNN: Gone Fishing in Bangkok?

Hansen suggested that a 10-year doubling time was plausible, pointing out that such a doubling time from a base of 1 mm per year ice sheet contribution to sea level in the decade 2005-2015 would lead to a cumulative 5-metre sea-level rise by 2095.

FORBES: Breaking News: The Climate Actually Changes!

But even the positive numbers ignore the fact that Enron was at the same time dramatically increasing its asset base through mergers and by issuing debt (not even considering unreported debt owed by the off-balance-sheet partnerships).

FORBES: Pay Madness At Enron