Citigroup/Citibank vs. Wells Fargo vs. Wachovia

Today it was announced that Wells Fargo, not Citigroup, will be buying floundering Wachovia. Just the latest story on Wall Street... Was it inevitable that Wells Fargo would win this battle? I faced the three financial institutions off against each other:



Worldwide, Citigroup/Citibank had the highest Google-popularity, only to be overtaken by the other two in September 2008. Hmm... It looked like Wells Fargo jumped ahead only due to the takeover rumors of Wachovia. The long-term pattern favored Citigroup though. But wait, this was a US event so maybe we need to study only US Google patterns?



Indeed, this time Wells Fargo was the undisputed leader with Citigroup even falling below Wachovia at mid-2005.