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Rubin: Invest cautiously
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March 3, 2000: 1:24 p.m. ET
Ex-Treasury Secretary, on CNNfn, urges discipline in volatile markets
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - With U.S. stocks streaking up and down and with technology stocks posting double- and triple-digit returns, investors have to exercise discipline when it comes to investing in the stock market, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said Friday.
"I'm not going to get into the business of market prognostication," Rubin told CNNfn's In the Money. "But I do think it is enormously important that people who focus on investing decisions, and all decisions in business life, maintain their discipline with respect to projections, with respect to taking into account risks, with respect to valuation." (264KB WAV) (264KB AIFF)
His remarks came as he and other private industry leaders gathered in Atlanta to discuss how business and government can work together to better prepare for natural disasters and coordinate relief efforts after they occur.
Rating the Treasury
Rubin's comments also came as U.S. stock indexes climbed to triple-digit gains in the wake of an unexpectedly tame February employment report. At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 260 points, while the Nasdaq composite was up more than 130 points.
 Rubin also spoke about the U.S. Treasury market -- a topic close to his heart. Bonds took a punch early last month after current Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers announced the Treasury was significantly scaling back its bond-issuing program, reducing the number of 30-year securities in the market and making existing issues more attractive.
At first, bonds gained as investors concluded the demand for 30-year securities would far outstrip supply. Two days later, bonds plunged after Summers indicated the Treasury would reduce the supply of all securities, not just the 30-year benchmark.
Rubin defended his successor, suggesting that Summers and the Treasury did a good job communicating to the bond market. "As to what the market itself understands at the present moment, I can't speak to that, other than to say that the market tends to over-interpret and overreact, but those tend to be very short-term phenomenon," he said.
No job changes planned
Once again, Rubin quashed speculation that he might take over the helm of Citigroup (C: Research, Estimates) in the wake of chief executive officer John Reed's departure in April.
"In terms of myself, I said from the very beginning that I wanted to work in the management of Citigroup and I didn't want to be a CEO," Rubin said. "That's not what I want to do with myself at the moment."
Rubin currently holds the title of Chairman of the Executive Committee, which gives him an office in the executive suite at the New York-based bank but keeps his responsibilities as a leader of the company to a minimum. Reed is expected to retire from his post at the company's annual meeting on April 18. 
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Citigroup
U.S. Treasury
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