Lehman Brothers might disagree with the old adage that no publicity is bad publicity. The US bank has been hogging the headlines this week and all for the wrong reasons – its attempts to raise capital after bad sub-prime losses, and predictions that total write-downs will reach $12bn. Today it emerged that, after holding ‘secret’ talks with South Korean and Chinese investors to sell up to 50% of its shares, Lehman was snubbed for setting the price too high. (Financial Times)

World’s biggest bank posts world record profit. (FT Alphaville)

But more bad news on the horizon for Goldman, Lehman and Morgan Stanley? (Reuters)

$500bn in losses? We’re a quarter of the way there… (Clusterstock)

Chief exec steps down from beleaguered Babcock & Brown. (Market Watch)

Nearly half of City employers expected to reduce recruitment. (Financial Times)

The UK’s biggest finance firms. (Telegraph)

Germany’s new ‘locusts’? Sovereign wealth funds, of course… (Guardian)

It gets worse for HBOS chief exec Andy Hornby – while away on holiday a fraudster nicked thousands of pounds from his bank account. (Independent)

Private equity firm buys German sub-prime victim. (Bloomberg)

The benefits (and risks) of investing in emerging markets. (Financial Times)

Hedgies missing out on distressed debt to private equity firms. (Albourne Village)

Would the credit crunch have happened if investment banks hadn’t gone public? (DealBook)

Gulf region will come good, say institutional investors. (Financial News)