The real thorn in Citigroup's (C) side? You might say the government generically. You might say Sheila Bair specifically. But when you get right down to it, it might be Wells Fargo (WFC). 

The New York Times notes that the West Coast bank has kicked Citigroup around pretty impressively through this crisis. First, it outmaneuvered Citigroup to buy Wachovia, leaving Citigroup execs fuming but powerless to do anything. They didn't even sue. Then, after Citigroup announced its TARP-exit pans and its massive equity offering last week. Wells quickly followed suit and managed to beat Citigroup to market with a smaller offering, about $10.4 billion, as part of its own TARP exit plans.

"Wells managed to complete its own, smaller offering that night, sapping demand from investors well before Citi brought its own sale to market," the Times reports. To add insult to all this, the government, looking at what happened to Citi's eviscerated stock, has decided to delay its sale. 

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