Newspaper wrap-up: Demand slows for ethanol, forcing up food prices

MAJOR PAPERS:

Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) recently received an unexpected call from a "prominent investment banker" inquiring about a merger with Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); it was rejected outright, and Citi instead turned to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a part of the Abu Dhabi government, for a $7.5B cash infusion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
As ethanol demands forced up food prices, and with questions about its capacity to be a significant oil substitute, demand has slowed, according to the Wall Street Journal, which doesn't help the prospects of newly public companies such as VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE) and Pacific Ethanol Inc (NASDAQ: PEIX).
The Financial Times reported that the SRM hedge fund increased its stake in British bank Northern Rock to 8.5% yesterday, probably in order to block Virgin Group from taking over the lender. SRM and RAB Capital, with a combined stake in Northern Rock of more than 15%, are backing a rival bid for the bank by British private equity fund Oilvant.

OTHER PAPERS:

A federal agency has subpoenaed Countrywide Financial Corporation (NYSE: CFC), in an attempt to determine whether the company abused the bankruptcy system in two Florida foreclosure cases, according to the New York Times.

WEB SITES:

MarketWatch's Herb Greenberg believes Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ: LULU) CEO Bob Meers may have "exaggerated a bit" about his job history. While it's true Mr. Meers was employed by Reebok International, he was not president and CEO of the brand for the length of time he stated, nor was he the president of the Rockport shoe and Greg Norman brands.

Tags: BAC, Bank of America, BankOfAmerica, C, CFC, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, CountrywideFinancial, LULU, Lululemon, Northern Rock, NorthernRock, Pacific Ethanol, PacificEthanol, PEIX, VeraSun Energy, VerasunEnergy, VIrgin Group, VirginGroup, VSE

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Joseph Lazzaro	50	0
2	Connie Madon	47	0
3	Steven Mallas	45	0
4	Steven Halpern	42	0
5	Mark Fightmaster	42	0
6	Zac Bissonnette	39	0
7	Tom Taulli	36	0
8	Tom Johansmeyer	25	0
9	Sheldon Liber	24	0
10	Brian White	23	0
11	Trey Thoelcke	22	0
12	Melly Alazraki	21	0
13	Paul Foster	21	0
14	Jim Cramer	20	0
15	Jamie Dlugosch	19	0
16	Jon Ogg	18	0
17	Eric Buscemi	18	0
18	Elizabeth Harrow	18	2
19	Brent Archer	17	0
20	Michael Fowlkes	11	0

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

Investors pressure private equity funds to cut fees Will an IPO bring more transparency to KKR? Will FDIC's new rules for buying failed banks deter private-equity investors?	Q2 to be tough on earnings, but some improvement My Activision Blizzard trade Cramer on BloggingStocks: The post-mark-up could sting industrials
Driving along in my automobile, with an iPhone or iPod iPhone 3GS ranked #1 in cellphone sales in Japan... for now. Talkcast reminder: 10pm Sunday, holiday weekend roundup	Limewire gets improved torrent support in new beta thanks to LibTorrent Hulu begins rolling out ABC shows RunPee goes mobile with a new iPhone app
The Classicist: $3 Million Jaguar Racer, 26 Ferraris & More on Offer in Monterey Bid On Dillinger's Derringer Rolex Watch Manufacture To Literally Grow Larger	Q2 to be tough on earnings, but some improvement Google argues that it isn't really that big after all Dell developing a pocket Web pal?