Lehman Replaces CFO and COO; Thompson Mortgage Posts Enormous 1Q Loss; South Africa Raises Interest Rates Again; OGX Petroleo Opens with $3.58 Billion IPO; Citi Closes Old Lane; Corn Hits Sixth Straight Record High; Competition for Esmark Heats Up; China’s Inflation Eases.

More than a million foreign nationals have crept into the costal regions of Mexico already… but that number is growing.

A Better Beige Book; Japan’s Daiichi Swipes Generic Drug Titan; Big Lots “Highly Motivated” to Expand; Corn Hits Another Record; Caterpillar Raises Dividend 17%; Russian Partners to Sue BP; Martha Loses CEO; Office Supply Merger.

How will we know the credit crisis and banking fiasco are truly over? We won’t.

Interest rates are set to rise next month!

I’m reading a strange little book this week. It is called The Fall of Northern Rock and is written by an ex-employee of the now nationalised bank called Brian Walters. I’m not quite sure why Walters was the one commissioned to write the book, for the simple reason that he doesn’t seem to have any more inside knowledge into the affair than the rest of us.

As I said yesterday, George Soros – the billionaire investor – who “broke the Bank of England” got his “celebrity status” by betting against the British pound…and now he’s looking to do the same thing by shorting the British pound again.

I was delayed on my way in this morning. By the Luftwaffe. Yes, an unexploded bomb in east London played havoc with the District Line.

The naivete of Washington’s chosen puppets in Baghdad is touching, just touching.

Continental’s Cost Cuts; Possible Eurozone Telecom Merger; Rising Tide of Foreclosures; Jobless Claims Drop; Inflation Controls Threaten China Stocks; Honeywell Shot Full of Holes; Dupont’s Bumper Crop; Novartis on the Guard Against Influenza.